Live Cruise Reports

Having benefitted hugely from others on CC who have written live / semi-live reviews of their cruises, I have decided to have a go. I have opted to call this a semi-live as I am not sure how often I will be able to update. Be gentle with me as I haven’t tried this before! We are still just over a week away from embarkation but we leave on Wednesday 12th for Rome. We will stay there for 5 nights before transferring to Civitavecchia on the 17th to start our cruise. I hope to be able to share a little of our visit to Rome and then some highlights from our cruise.

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Hi Everyone!  I just wanted to introduce myself and share that I’ll be doing a live review of my upcoming cruise on Seascape in case anyone is interested in following along.
 
A bit about me and my travel companion:
 
I’m Charla, 40 years old and from the US midwest (St. Louis, MO area).  My cruising addiction is funded via my day job as an advertising and entertainment law attorney.
 
I enjoy writing as a hobby (sadly contract drafting doesn’t leave much room for self-expression) and I’ve kept a travel journal since I was a kid so that I can read back and remember my vacation experiences in detail decades later. (You should see some of the stuff I wrote on my England and Ireland trip when I was 17, boy did I think I was grown and knew it all back then. 🤦🏾‍♀️) 

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“Do you feel lucky?”  That’s what I asked DH when I set the stage for our next cruising adventure beginning tomorrow, July 2nd!  Mind you, what you are about to witness started out as merely a test.  I had no intention of actually booking a cruise for July.  After all, we just returned from the Mexican Riviera in March and we have a cruise on the books for August and November…so July was pie in the sky and never meant to be a thing until it became a thing. 

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We’ve been onboard just over 24 hours now. @CruiseRaiderand I were saying how really lovely everything has been that “we” should start a “live from”. So here we go. 
The crew has been simply outstanding.  @CruiseRaiderand I had a bet about who would reunite with a crew member we knew first. crew you what’s ap with don’t count!  I won, lol. Within a minute of being on board I saw Michael. He was my Outrigger bartender on the Sapphire Hawaii sailing I took last November. He was so kind and treated us just like family then and of course now as well. 

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"Cruuuuiseday!!!" has arrived.  Let the good times roll!
Welcome to my “Live From” travelogue from home away from home, the Island Princess for the next 28 nights.
 
My wife and I were on this ship for 58 nights doing a circle of South America just as the first reports of Covid hitting North America was happening.  That was a great cruise and we are hopping for another great experience.

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We have travelled on about a dozen cruises split between Seabourn, Crystal and Silversea. Our last cruise was Seabourn post pandemic on Encore last Autumn in Greece/Turkey and this is our first Silversea since Silver Muse in Asia in 2018.
First impressions : we arrived quayside at 230pm , there was quite a line to drop bags but it moved reasonably quickly (although annoyingly our bags took over 2 hours to get to suite), we then had to do a form for health check, then a security check and then onboard, directed to Venetian lounge to handover passports and got suite card and told suite ready. One noticeable difference - no welcome onboard champagne or drink, however there was a bottle in the suite. The ship still seemed very new and clean, the spa area looked great and the crew very welcoming. The suite well appointed and huge orchid in it, very nice.

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Summer vacation is here so it’s time for our summer cruise! This year we decided to jump on the 9 night Vision of the Seas cruise out of Baltimore with stops in Bermuda, Nassau and Coco Cay. We love Bermuda and Coco Cay! 


 
I’m cruising with my two adult DDs and my SIL. Girls cruise! Watch out cause we are ready yo have some fun!
 

This coming Thursday we will be boarding the Emerald Princess for a 16-day Hawaii voyage from the Port of San Pedro.  We will be traveling with our almost 9-yr old granddaughter and her parents (our DD and SIL).  This will be our 9th Hawaii cruise and 10th voyage on the Emerald Princess.  The Emerald is one of our favorite of the older Princess ships.

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Hi all! It's time to start getting excited about our upcoming cruise around Japan with a couple of stops in South Korea!  We booked this family B2B cruise last September and it should be awesome! What's also cool about this B2B is that the only port we will be visiting twice is Osaka, besides of course arriving and leaving from Tokyo (Yokohama). We will be in the same Reserve Class Mini-suite on both legs, which is always a plus on a B2B.

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Hello! My dad and I will be cruising on the NCL Spirit on a back to back cruise from Vancouver to Seward to Vancouver.  Dad is 80, loves beer, cruising, complaining and wildlife.  My dad’s goals for 2023 are to drink more beer and to survive another year. 

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Day 1 – Reykjavik
 

Hello, Reykjavik!
 
Those of you who followed our previous live cruise report - Silver Cloud Live - Dublin to Reykjavik - June 15th to 25th - Page 6 - Silversea Cruises - Cruise Critic Community - were no doubt expecting our trip to draw to an end a few days prior. (We certainly were.)

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Getting the party started a little early.
We’re just about done packing two giant suitcases haha.
This will be my wife’s first time across the pond, but my second (went to open a new office in Leeds&London in early 2019).
This is our 5th Princess cruise (Platinum here we come!) First time on the Regal, but our other four were all Royal class ships. (We love ‘em!)

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My husband and I are on our very first Regent cruise.  We have previously sailed once on Royal Caribbean (Vision of the Seas), which was our first cruise.  It was a four night break in the Baltic Sea, circa 2009.  We’ve done three SeaDream cruises— two in the Caribbean and one in Europe.  And we’ve done five cruises on Hebridean Princess, which is very tiny and mostly only goes to Scotland and the environs.

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Hi Folks
Start the Live from totay.
Luggage is packed, nearly. Boarding passes for C flight LH, FRA to BCN issued saved on phone and print.
CI at X completed.....
First time Aqua class, normally we do Concierge or Balkony...
Start will be this night about 3Am, heading to FRA airport. 

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Boarded in Southampton at around noon today.  Very smooth embarkation process.  We breezed through and were aboard the ship within minutes.  Our first observation was that we have a somewhat younger crowd onboard, including at least a handful of children.  School is out, so it isn’t surprising.  Our concierge stateroom was available precisely at 1:30pm.  Everything appears to be in fine condition.  Of the public spaces that we’ve visited so far, everything looks fine, too.  In our stateroom, I did notice that we do not have the usual high-end toiletries.  Instead, we have what’s shown in the photo.  No conditioner, nor bath gel included.  We haven’t yet met our stateroom attendant to inquire about these, but wonder if this is a sign of cost-cutting.  

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Come gather 'round people wherever you roam...
It's jet-lagged Norris here, not awash in cheap grog from the rum barrel but awash in memories from our 4th Celebrity cruise. If ye'd sit a spell I'll tell ye a tale!
As usual in my Gentleman's Seafaring Journals there will be some "pirate speak" born from my love of the sea and my late dad, a ship's captain.
There will be a lot of APEX and the ports she sailed to.
There will be a lot of FOOD PORN and I'm not talking bole weevils in the ship's biscuits.
There will be PHOTOS (in color!) galore and videos too.
There will be hidden SONG LYRICS. Guess the song and you could win FABULOUS PRIZES- like this Broyhill 5 piece dinette set! (not pictured)
There will be MUSINGS on the Celebrity product and life in general.
There will, as always, be a CYBER BAR where you can drink anything you want but most of the top shelf stuff is gone (Mea Culpa)
There will be a lot of pics from AMSTERDAM (love at first sight)
 
Here, shipmates, is our Itinerary...
Day 1, June 3 Fly to Amsterdam from Chicago O'Hare airport

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Bless me barnacles-that's a lot of places!
We flew home yesterday .....
 
Norris

There are 6 of us, in two suites. My husband and I are in the "Deluxe Owner's Suite with Large Balcony"; it's also called the Grand Suite. Our daughter and her family (husband and 2 girls, ages 6 and 11) are in a Deluxe 2 bedroom Family Suite. The Deluxe Owner's Suite is huge for just 2 of us, but it's fantastic space to gather our whole family from time to time. It has a beautiful grand piano, which has a piano disc self play system. The system is pretty loud even with the volume at minimum, so we haven’t used it often. My favorite thing about this suite is the huge balcony which is the perfect spot for my morning readings. Our daughter's suite is great in that it has a totally separate sleeping area for  the kids, about the size of an inside cabin. It's separated from the parents' sleeping area by a good sized hallway and a door. And, it has us own bathroom with shower!

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Our first Alaskan adventure!
 
Our cats are concerned as the suitcases are out in the dinning room again…..it’s almost time for our next cruise and we are back with another live review!!
 
We are excited (and a bit nervous) for our next cruise, it will be our first one to Alaska.  My NCL app tells me it’s 15 days to go!  We leave June 30 and will be spending our Canada day, as well as American Independence Day, and (more importantly?) my birthday too, on this cruise.

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I was initially doing this cruise solo, but have convinced a friend to join me.  She is not a first time cruiser, but she IS a first time cruiser on more than a one night repo cruise.
Seattle has been great for the 1 night repo cruises between the Alaska and Mexico cruise seasons and we've always taken advantage of those for Girls Nights Out.  
So this will be a fun trip to introduce her to what an actual cruise looks like. 
I'll be posting dailies, menus, and pics of the activities we do onboard and off the ship.  
If you have any questions ask away and I'll do my best to answer.

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Hi everyone! I will attempt my first live thread for my 8-night sailing on the Equinox. This is an ABC (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao) sailing. I am excited because each of these ports is new to me. I started this thread a little early because our travel for the trip has already started! First, I’ll give you some background on me, who I’m traveling with, and why I have titled the thread “sailing on a budget.” This will probably be a long first post, and then they’ll get shorter and have more pictures. 

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I am about halfway through my Great Lakes cruise. @uktog did an excellent live from, so I'm not going to repeat that. But I can add a few details and suggestions.
 
I'm enjoying the cruise. Food and service are good, ship is clean. I do feel that I'm being herded like a third grader on a class trip. I guess they think of it as taking care of you so you don't have to think. But I'm an independent traveler and do research on ports so I know what I want to see.

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Hello all - long time reader, first time poster. I'll be posting updates as we make the trip from Dublin to Reykjavik aboard the Silver Cloud, with stops at Bushmills, Isle of Skye, Isle of Canna, Isle of Skye (Dunvegan), Shetland, Orkney Islands, St. Kilda and Western Iceland.
 
We are currently on board the Silver Cloud after spending last night at Anantara the Marker in Dublin, which was booked for us as part of our Silversea door-to-door fare. We spent the previous week in Dublin and Wales.

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My husband and I were very fortunate to be able to take this additional time off this month after spending a week on the NCL Escape at the end of May/beginning of June with our now 8 year old granddaughter and our oldest son and his fiancée (Granddaughter's uncle and soon-to-be aunt). We all had a wonderful time! My husband and I are so excited to get to the cooler weather and the beautiful scenery of Alaska. We hear the Spirit is a great ship and a favorite for those who have had a chance to experience it. 

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Hey everyone,
 
It’s ridiculously early in the morning and I’m about to head over to Vancouver’s Pacific Central train station to start the journey down to Seattle, where I’ll be boarding the Norwegian Bliss for its 7-day sailing to Alaska, with stops in Sitka, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan and Victoria, and scenic cruising up Endicott Arm to Dawes Glacier.

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Today is travel day!!!! Figured I'd give it a go with a semi LIVE thread of my Sky Princess Cruise leaving this Saturday on June 17th, from Southampton. I will be doing a Land of the Midnight Sun & Summer Solstice Cruise around the Artic Circle in Norway with a stop In Belgium. I'll be flying out today from Ft. Lauderdale to London, as I'll be spending a day visiting family prior to joining the ship.

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