KKB

Interesting. BIL & SIL just sailed the Sun last month & said it was great--gorgeous ship, great service & food, enjoyed the music around the ship.

I find that complainers seem to be more likely to post than those that were pleased. I look for patterns tho--if it seems many are complaining about the same thing, I avoid that ship or line. (I should have listened to those MSC reviews...) Have sailed Princess 9x in the last 3 years, 28 days on the Regal in April. I cannot think of anything major to complain about on any of those cruises. Had a great time on each one. And the food on the Regal was the best MDR food overall we have had in over 40 cruises in 30 years!

Other than the 1st (and sometimes last) nights, they do enforce. DH is like your husband & would prefer to wear a polo & shorts as well but got him some of these pants: https://www.32degrees.com/collections/mens-pants/products/mens-stretch-woven-pant

Uh, have sailed 6 Celebrity cruises in the last 3 years & have not observed this at all. Many cruisers in 40s-50s. Now, these have all been Caribbean cruises, 5 on Eclass, 5 were 7 days--all those traditionally bring a younger demographic. Now, kids are few on Celebrity which will skew the averages older.

DEFINITELY try Apex--we find the new Eclass ships to be bringing in more younger passengers (as it was intended to). Interesting...we have sailed Celebrity 10x in the last 10 years--5 on Eclass the last 3 years. I haven't really noticed ballroom dancers...perhaps there was a large contingent on your cruise? (occasionally there are those who choose to ballroom dance, but they are few & far between) One of the Eclass shows is a boy band show, if that tells you anything! I remember our 5th cruise was the week after Thanksgiving...the median age was much older than we were used to seeing. Didn't stop us from having a great time! We just got off 28 days at sea on Princess--the crowd was definitely a bit older overall (like 80% 60 & older), but we still had a great time, even with some of those "older" folk,lol. But music choices were many--strings (playing contemporaray music), piano, guitar & the popular dance band playing hits from the 60s-today. Were the music & activities geared to "older folk"? I haven't noticed that on ships in some years. I was shocked that there was a 50s night on my recent NZ cruise--uh, my parents consider the 60s their "youth" & they are 80 this year!!!!

You won't need that Sherpa if it's sunny & 65😉 But rain? It is COLD when it rains there...keep it close.

Good to know--thx!

Perfect, I do anytime dining.

Awesome--excited to try both!

@KarmaCruisers Key to Alaska (and Norway, btw) is LAYERS. You never know what you will get--freezing & rainy one day, sunny & warm the next. My AK experiences were Sept--thought it would be warm for you, but the weather looks comparable. If it's sunny, it will be warm. I found the ship to be warm. HAVE FUN--cannot wait to follow!

VERY curious about Princess... We are mostly TX Hold Em or video poker players. (tho I am finding the TX Hold Em table game allows me to play for hours & not lose much...tho I avoid the extra house bets) We sailed Carnival once after sending them our Caesars card. (during COVID there was nowhere else to go so 6 trips/yr made us look like bigger gamblers than we are, lol). We now have a constant stream of free rooms from Carnival. Interiors but we aren't in our room anyway. We are certain we gamble no more on Carnival than other cruises...but Princess is the only other one looking our way, and it is never more than a few hundred dollars of casino cash. I actually don't usually play the regular VP as it has 10 coin min. Usually play Super Times Pay or Ultimate X. Are you saying the regular VP has a 90% theo return rate? (seems it should be higher looking at the pay table, but I'd need to look again). Might be worth taking a decent bankroll on the next Princess cruise & see what we can do! Thoroughly enjoying your TR...I'm over at Sonia's site occasionally. (more cruising & less Vegas these days now that we retired). Just booked Celebration & very excited to sail her. Heading over to read your next one--we sailed the Discovery to Alaska Sept 2022 & loved it! (just in a lowly balcony, lol) Congrats on the weight loss...28 days on the Regal in April, food was amazing. We ordered what we wanted (rarely dessert, not our thing) & drank what we wanted...beauty of a cruise is the walking all over the ship! (plus lots in Europe ports) Only gained 2 pounds!

Just found this on carnival.com: Great news: on Carnival Celebration and Mardi Gras, your first meal at Cucina del Capitano is on the house… and additional visits are just $8! Sounds too good to be true!

We were moved to one of these balconies on the Regal in April (there was a loud mechanical humming in our original room that triggered my migraines). We were sailing the UK & were able to use the balcony at any time--while cruising or in port. I could see it being unusable in very windy conditions.

Did a cruise change last week via Live Chat. Took maybe 5 min to get in?

Next time you might post a question like this under European ports. But it was easy peasy.

On all the lines we have sailed, there is little 50s music. I was shocked there was a 50s night on a recent cruise...do not recall one of those in the last 10 years. (70s & 80s, yes) We are finding most music 60s-today, typically with a nice range. Even the strings players typically are doing contemporary songs as opposed to classic. We are 58 & 61 and enjoy a wide variety of genres & decades of music. One difference--I prefer the NCL ships that have the Syd Normans shows (late 70s/80s mostly) as opposed to the Cavern Club (Beatles). My PARENTS listened to the Beatles (yes, I know them & like them well enough...but my preference is later)

@Norwaylady YEAH--so excited to follow along again! Always enjoy your TRs. House looking good. If you ever need a cat sitter let me know.😉 Have a wonderful time!

All this! We too are traveling more than ever (thx retirement!) I often wonder--are our perceptions that things were better actually the REALITY? No way really to tell & I'm sure that could be argued to death here. But we agree--by & large cruise lines are more similar than different. (again, IMO) And by & large, things have not changed dramatically since COVID. It's still our fav way to travel!

When we sailed Celebrity for the 1st time 10 years ago, we felt it was a small step above Princess & RCCL. Now, I only feel that way about Eclass--M & S class are more alike most other mainstream lines. I have to dig a bit more for a good deal--we would still rather sail Celebrity over all other lines, but sometimes they price themselves out. But we recently booked Ascent for Dec w/ balc, drinks, wifi, tips & $600OBC for $3K. We also booked Beyond for Dec. 2025 with balc, drinks & wifi for $3K. NCL Prima was similarly priced in Feb. 2025--tho just an oceanview, and not wifi is minutes, not unlimited. (All Caribbean). in 2018 I booked the Equinox for $2500 balc w/ all the perks & thought it was a great value. So I figure $3K 6 years later is still a pretty good deal.

When it comes to the Caribbean, we have been so many times that the destinations are pretty irrelevant. Most places have a good beach; if not, we might just stay on the ship & enjoy a nearly empty ship. Therefore the ship is much more important in the Caribbean than other destinations where the itinerary is the draw.

LOL Oct is the only month I actually have 2 trips booked, and neither one a cruise! Oct-Mar pretty booked up; until next year!!

So @graphicguy what other cruises do you have booked? I've got some open months...

In Splendor in Feb there were 2 or 3 rolling cats that opened & were ful of games & books. Usually in Red Frog, karaoke bar or near Java.

When I finish a recent novel, I toss it in a bag & then toss a few titles in my bag when packing to leave in the library. On the Splendor in Feb there was a pretty good selection the 1st leg...but PRETTY slim pickings the 2nd leg. Figure if I can toss a title in & it gets read again (and hopefully again & again...), doing my 2 cents for Mother Earth. It appears all Carnival ships have this--I'm just confirming. Thans!

We were on the Prima in January 2024. There was one cupboard that I noticed in the Observation Lounge with books that appeared to be left by passengers. If I have current/popular titles at home in good shape that I already read, I often throw a couple in my suitcase to put in the library of a ship I'm sailing.