dulcemariamar

Wasserbillig is about 20-25 minutes from the airport. It is in Luxembourg but right on the border. The other side of the river is Germany

The country is so small

I am looking for advice to find the next new cruise line for my family. Currently my favorite cruise line is Princess but of the most popular brands I have never tried Celebrity. (Carnival, Princess, Holland America, NCL and Disney we have been on). 
 

I have one preteen and they are chill and can take or leave a kid club so I don’t need to do a typical kid friendly cruise 
 

I want to be able to explore smaller ports.

I want good quality food.

I like live music and trivia and the option of seeing a show or two.

I don’t want to be nickeled or dimed.

I havent sailed since the pandemic because of being more high risk but I promised my partner to give a cruise a try next year. A mega ship doesn’t appeal to me now and I have followed these boards and it seems the quality of things have gone down a lot the last few years on the major cruise ship lines. 
 

is this true for Azamara ? Any suggestions from experienced cruisers

Are you American? If you are coming overseas, I would make sure to have excellent excellent travel insurance especially if traveling with little ones to the States.

Taking a baby onboard sounds like a bad idea in the sense that kids can get really sick quickly and a cruise ship can be like a petri dish. I mean I don’t believe about keeping a baby at home but if they are exposed to that many germs and people then it is important that they have access to a pediatrician and medicine and that you are not on some ship in the middle of the ocean. The doctor on the ship might not be trained that great with babies.

Babies anyway are usually less bothersome than younger kids. I rather hear a baby cry instead of a temper tantrum 

But at what point does it become contagious? Could you board the ship not knowing you have it yet , or just even a crew member, and then pass it on? I imagine there wouldn’t be an outbreak but could you spread it from sitting in the same seats? 

I am just curious if you think monkey pox will become an issue with cruising since the government declared it a national emergency yesterday and cases are

rising. 
 

Is there any ways to take a preventative measures with thousands of people one one boat. I imagine most exposure would be low risk but I am just curious if anyone is a bit concerned about it.

Especially with the new variant that is supposedly is more mild? 
 

So if you are feeling sick and get tested during the cruise then you will get stuck in your cabin if you test positive? Wouldn’t most people just pretend that if they are feeling sick then it is just the common cold/flu to avoid getting stuck in their cabin and/or missing their return flight? Everything depends on the honor system at this point? Nobody is going to force you to get tested if you are hacking up a lung in the MDR? 
 

I am just curious because my partner wants to book a cruise and I am thinking that at this point that it is better to wait it out a few months because once onboard then it is basically every man for himself 

I also don’t have the travel bug anymore. They say that it takes like a month to establish a habit and now that is has been almost two years, it feels totally normal not to travel. This summer we did day trips and trips that only required 2-3 hours by car. We still had fun and explored areas that we wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the pandemic. It was crazy because I was hiking and I was never that person before the pandemic 

Can I have some information about the kid clubs? 
 

Can I have a general update on mask wearing and if you generally felt safe with the measures.

I wonder how much it costs for RC to send people home by private jet. I am sure they worked out some deal but if they have a small outbreak then I wonder if it is worth the cost.

so RC will only offer to take care of the passengers until the end of the year and then you have to pay on your dime?

At what capacity are they sailing? 

I think my worst nightmare would be flying in a small jet for a few hours. I hate flying and I would be worried about the planes they are using to transport people back. 

Is there a reason why you can’t stay in your cabin until the end of the trip? They could keep a crew member outside the door 

Ok... so 4 nights mean no test? 

1 minute ago, atricks said:

This has to be in response to what happened on the Edge this week.

 

What happened on the Edge? 

Thanks for the information. Sounds all good! How is the food in the Lido..? Does it seem that they are cleaning more often than before

The pork chop but everything was delicious. Unfortunately I ate there on my last night. I should have gone at least 3 times 

What will happens for unvaccinated kids? Will they have to wear masks all the time and not be allowed in some events and venues? 

I sailed Carnival a lot when I was a kid and then again as an adult we did 3 cruises on ships that were only a few months old. We had positive experiences on those sailings so we didn’t have any hesitation with booking with Elation and Breeze. Elation we knew was an older ship but we still had quite a nice time onboard but we did pay a bit more for better accommodations.

Then we went on the Breeze and that was actually worrisome our expectations with cleanliness. I guess now they will be obsessed with cleaning but I never saw bathrooms and public areas so dirty before... and unfortunately the main dining room was light colors so all the fabric was so stained... it kinda killed the ambiance. We also had issues with sewage in the hallways... we also experienced it on the Elation but it was kinda localized in the atrium area  (not sure how people could drink at the atrium bar but it was always crowded) but on the Breeze the sewage smell was worse.

I was actually surprised nobody got sick but we took extra precautions.The only great thing was the Italian restaurant. It was probably the best meal I had on sea 

Could a cruise ship legally take aboard like 500 people said around the ocean for like 8 hours and then drop everyone off at the end of day back in the port where they embarked? 
 

If transatlantic planes can fly for that amount of time, then why cant they do day cruises? 

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

They can’t. It wouldn’t be legal.


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Why not?

I have seen people board the ship and use its facilities for a day so I don’t think it is such a crazy idea.

If there is an outbreak at a hotel what would be the protocol? Would people be forced to stay at the hotel?

I think it also depends on the ship. Mega ships like from RC could offer a lot of activities that you couldn't find at your house or in a hotel.

Now that the theme parks have opened in Florida, would it be profitable to open the ships and offer a reduced number of day passes so people could enjoy the ships. You could offer the pools, put on limited capacity shows, and do some onboard activities. There are so many restaurants that you can definitely split people up. What do you think?

22 hours ago, seacruise9 said:

Hi, 

 

I recently did the 12-day British Isles cruise on the Crown Princess (Sep. 10-22, 2019) and had a wonderful time. Similar to you,  I also have done the 11-day Scandinavia / Russia cruise with Princess (on the Emerald Princess back in 2012). Both cruises were excellent but very port intensive.

 

On my recent Crown Princess cruise, I did shore excursions in all nine ports and visited such places as Dublin, Edinburgh, the Scottish Highlands, several historic castles and Loch Ness. In Liverpool, I did a very interesting "In the Steps of the Beatles" tour. In Belfast, I did a tour that included the outstanding Titanic Museum. From Le Havre, France, I visited stunning Mont Saint Michel. I honestly enjoyed this cruise more than expected. The ports were interesting and the people were very friendly.

 

There were very few children on this particular cruise, but this probably is due to the fact that the cruise was in September.

 

Princess and Celebrity are two of my favorite lines. I have taken 21 Princess cruises and eight Celebrity cruises. Each line has its own strengths and weaknesses, but I think they are fairly comparable overall. If you like Princess, I think you would like Celebrity.

 

I have never visited Iceland, but I know that it is becoming very popular.

 

Chuck

Thanks for the info. Celebrity is more expensive so I never tried it because I have always found a cruise for a better value. I would like to try it out since it is the last company I haven’t been on but I guess I will try when I stop enjoying Princess or if they offer a super exciting route

19 hours ago, reedprincess said:

We just did British Isles and Baltics cruises essentially back to back with Princess, so they're both fresh in our mind.

We were absolutely blown away by the BI and how much we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was an afterthought cruise, as add-on to the Baltics and some London travel to make our airfare more worthwhile, and some ports turned out ti be amkng the best if the entire cruises. It was outstanding, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

We're regular cruisers of both Princess and Celebrity (elite and Elite Plus accordingly), so we're pretty darn familiar with both.   We prefer Princess cabins actually, for the storage alone! On regal, you have the Deluxe balcony cabin which is perfect for us, all the normal amazing Princess storage plus small sofa sitting area.  We strongly dislike Celebrity's continued expansion of their class system, with some lounges, deck area, restaurants, etc only for certain classes if staterooms, and they're moving more and more with that rather than less. Unfortunately, Princess is following along, albeit a very far distant behind... 

For a young kid like that, Princess for sure. Better kids programming,more odds you'll have other kids, etc. 

Celebrity has a great buffet, but it closes throughout the day versus Princess being open continuously. And Celebrity doesn't have anything that compared to International Cafe. 

Better theater, by far, on Celebrity, but worse show times for us night owls.  Love music is generally equal between them. More activities overall in Princess, IME..

Food is comparable, service is comparable, etc. 

Given the two, we'd likely pick Princess over Celebrity (and usually do, all things being equal)

 

But - and this is important, at least to us - if the Princess itinerary isn't doing it for you, then don't pick it. Why sail to places you don't really want to go? 

 If the Celebrity itinerary is more interesting and visits more of the places you want to go, then that's the one you should go with. You won't be disappointed in Celebrity (unless you're one of those who can't do change or is constantly looking for problems). 

Celebrity is great, lovely shiosships, etc. You'll enjoy either way..

Thank you for your feedback about the British Isles cruise. It actually made me excited to try it out. 

And my kid loves Princess

10 hours ago, villauk said:

More alike than different; possibly X get the edge for food and Princess win on entertainment/activities. You’ll not find so many kids on X, especially for the cooler climate itineraries, even in the height of summer (and we’ve completed an Iceland itinerary and Baltic on X - not a BI as we live here 😉). They grouped the kids’ clubs together as there were so few children on our Baltic cruise.

 

TBH, Reflection is not a ship that we particularly like - mainly due to the extra deck of cabins compared to all the other S class ships (obviously, this is only my opinion). It’s one of the reasons we started looking at other options for cruise lines (a very overcrowded sailing on Reflection in the Med over the summertime), that and the ridiculous prices for the Med in the summer, especially on Edge (their new ship). We found that Princess were offering far more choices for itineraries.

 

We still have placeholders with X, so we do sail both lines. I’d say go with the itinerary that you most want to do, providing it gives good value for money, and check out those ports before you commit either way. The BI is very different from one place to another - just the same as each of the US states. On a side note, beware if you are taking the ‘free’ beverage package with X (as one of your perks) because there is now a $14pp per day fee chargeable when booking.

 

I’m sure you’d have a great time on either cruise.

Yes, Celebrity is quite expensive and so far we have good experiences on Princess. Food is important. I am not a super adventurous eater by I like good quality meat and fresh products. What grade would you give Celebrity food and which grade would you give Princess?

8 hours ago, sunsetbeachgal said:

We absolutely loved the British Isles ports on our Princess Cruise last year.  So much to see, we would actually love to do this cruise again soon.  Like you, We also loved Baltic, have done this twice.  In my opinion I would do BI next, then another Baltic.

 

I have not sailed Celebrity so can’t compare.  Last year the Celebrity BI cruises left from Amsterdam and the Princess cruises left from Southampton, and we wanted  to spend our pre cruise vacation in London, so decision made.  I choose my cruises based primarily on itinerary and I thought Princess had a fabulous itinerary.  One of my good friends just did a BI cruise in August on Celebrity and their cruise didn’t include a port for Edinburgh, for us that would definitely have been a deal killer! 
 

if you could provide the list of ports each of the two cruises you are considering I’d be happy to comment.  

To be honest I think it will be in the end another Princess club since my daughter adores the kids club and I thought the entertainment onboard is really nice for all of us.

How is is getting to the port in London. It is looks like a bit of a trek. 

6 hours ago, geoherb said:

Our British Isles cruise two years ago on Princess is one of my favorite cruises. I loved all the ports. We did the itinerary that overnighted in Dublin, giving us more time to see that city. Our last Celebrity cruise was disappointing in terms of food and service. 

Thanks for this info! I thought the Baltic cruise was exciting so I was nervous that the British Isles would be hard to live up to. 

Are te most of the ports, ports you can just get off and enjoy the area or do you need to do extensive additional traveling. Like in Sweden is was an additional 50 minutes to get to Stockholm