Crazy planning mom

First HAL reduces entertainment and now NCL. By default, then RCL would have the best entertainment then but I am not convinced they won't reduce entertainment also. As it is, they are no longer including Broadway shows on their new ships.

We did a Western Med cruise on the NCL Epic back in 2015 and there were lots of Spaniards and Italians in addition to Canadians, Brits, and Americans. Some shows even had Spanish language performances in addition to English language performances. However, just did a Greece/ Turkey/Israel cruise this past Fall also on NCL and most cruisers were American or British.

I wonder if the food cutbacks will lead to more people going to Virgin.

It is the off season for Bar Harbor so hard to know. However, there also was a lawsuit recently filed regarding the limit which could change things. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2023/01/04/bar-harbor-residents-voted-to-cap-the-number-of-cruise-ship-passengers-now-local-businesses-are-suing/

I am not sure that my husband and other family members would go for this. My husband prefers cruise line or private excursions and I am the only one who is an early riser. That's why i was hoping the cruise line would offer a Trunk Bay excursion. Since, its 2024 , they still could. Alternatively, would a cab tour of St. Thomas be good since they know the island?

We will be visiting St. Thomas for the first time on the Celebrity Apex in February 2024. I know that's a long way away. I like to plan. The largest cruise ship in the world, the Icon of the Seas will visit that day along with the Carnival Magic. Should I avoid Magens Bay? A friend of mine recently visited St. Thomas on a land trip and her favorite part of the trip was going to St. John. However, I am concerned about going to St. John due to the short port time (7-3). We like the beach but arent snorkelers. So far, the cruise line is only offering the champagne snorkeling excursion to St. John. My thoughts were to do a cruise excursion that goes to Magens Bay and the Gondola or do a taxi tour of the island and some beach time. I see that Paradise Taxi offers a beach tour that includes scenic stops and beach time. I also read about My Love Taxi on TripAdvisor. Thoughts.

Are you staying in Rome post cruise? So much to see there. We did a tour with Rome Cabs. Another day since we had our son with us, we rented segways in Borghese Gardens park. It was a very nice park that also has a museum called the Borghese Gallery.

I disagree Disagree. When we took our son, he had very little interest in Florence but enjoyed climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I don't know her kids though.

Arrive at your port city 2 nights before so you can explore it.

One ways include Seward as either embarkation or disembarkation port. Seward is wonderful. Round-trips from Vancouver generally allow for more time in Ketchikan than round trips from Seattle

Another recommendation for Guided Tours Israel. Used them in Israel this past October and they were great.

I emailed Lisa Lutoff- Perlo this morning about this. Someone from Celebrity just called me about it. She said no definite decision regarding the evening buffet was made and they would make an official announcement after it is decided. She said they are looking to improve things for guests. Of course, not sure how that is an improvement. I certainly advocated for keeping the buffet stations.

That's really unfortunate. I am vaxed and boosted as well.

NCL has an excellent spa with pools.

Unfortunately, that wasnt the case for me. I have some lung issues as a result of catching covid in late October. I am hoping they arent permanent.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=289

Just curious - why did you test if you didn't feel sick?

The CDC is no longer posting stats on their public website. You can information by making a FOIA request as media outlets have done. You could ask someone on the ship about your particular sailing. My husband caught it on our October cruise and we reported it. I later found out that there were 3 people in quarantine on our sailing while there was many more people coughing around the ship.

Glad to hear that you mostly enjoyed and that the service was great.

I am glad I have done a lot of bucket list cruises and trips the last few years. Now that I have done them and am now an empty nester, I think I will be looking more for budget cruises and local cruises.

I think everyone else gave you good advice. You may ant to spring for the social media package. Its cheaper than unlimited wifi but allows unfettered use of social media so she can post pics of the trip.

Actually, I like that the 24 hour restaurant is a sit down. On Royal, I can only get pizza. I like having more choices. Plus, on my last NCL cruise, the Great Outdoors Cafe was open until 11;30pm and had grab and go options.

You are correct. Sorry, I need to read more carefully.

Only transatlantics and cruises leaving from Australia

There used to be an excursion called Rome On your Own? Do they still offer that? If not, I recommend Rome Cabs RomeCabs.com