rmalbers

I'm starting to research Japan cruises and I'm wondering if Viking has changed it's sailings that include Japan much over the years. It's looking very sold for next year so I'm looking forward and wondering if what I'm looking at might be very similar to future years. (I know things can always change but anyway.)

On the cruise credit left topic: I couldn't believe how many people that were on Viking Octantis (Great Lakes) at the end of last summer, were doing it on covid cruise cancel credits. I have no idea how much cruise credit is left in the system but I'm sure there is some. On Celebrity ships, their biggish issue is getting crew on board and up to speed. On the financial side, all the lines took on a ton of debt and that will take years to work thru the system, even assuming full ships.

One thing, (I might have missed it) that I haven't seen mentioned is tendering, a lot of tendering with the 'regular' cruise ships. One advantage to small ships is that they can get to places the large/r cruise ships can't. That's sort of why you see a lot of the large ships going to the same places, and not much variety.

Sounds like the cabins they added where 1/2 of the Tunscan Grill was.

I can see X doing a sale like this, May is real hit or miss for Alaska, lol! (and most cruisers know that)

I sort of wonder if all this is to make up for less sales on the 'art' now that most people figured that one out.

Ya, the Viking new/newer expedition ships have IV, they have another name for them. That's been my only experience with IV. I didn't think I would like it but it was ok for the great lakes. The problem is if you are in an area with bugs, that's a problem. They have also had a few issues with bats.

I think it's safe to say that X wouldn't be doing it if they lost money doing it. It was sure popular on my last cruise. I had never heard about it before and only saw it when passing thru from the theater.

Panama canal cruise, that surprises me that there are that many elites on there. Maybe people are using it to go back to their CA homes after the winter in FL?

I did some rooms request on the Talkeetna Lodge's website (future dates) and it sure looks like there are rooms available but the price, wow, the rooms aren't that nice for that kind of money. I guess X must not have had the rooms under contract and when they tried they got some pricing they didn't expect.

None on Jan EQ Caribbean x cruise.

I've said it before on here: it won't make any difference for the new people that have never sailed in a cabin with a true balcony, they just won't know any different. People that have had and like balconies are aging out, basically every day, so it's just a matter of time and there won't be any IV discussions. It just another change with cruising, and changes with cruising have always happened over time. Other cruise companies are doing it also, it's about cost savings.

Wow, that's amazing, I wonder if it's a sign that the FCC is about done moving thru the system.

Sure seems like X's IT department strikes again, I can't believe they didn't notice it sooner rather than later.

But are the bars all open onboard, lol!

I think the cruise/s that X does to ancient sites/ports is a good way to see them because a lot of them were/are along the coasts. As far as European cities, a cruise is not really a good fit.

Those are great rooms and with the aft stairs on M class it's real easy to get to a bar!

I did a couple of move up tries but when the move up bids are more than the price of eating in specialty restaurants for almost every meal, that's too much for me, especially ships that don't have the real retreat upgrades.

The mini bar was empty in my CC cabin on EQ the end of Jan. 2023. I assumed the company that ran it went out of business during covid so I didn't ask about it. (I've often wondered how old that stuff in the mini bar was, in the past, when it was stocked.)

Sounds like there might be something mechanical going wrong with it, probably with the 'rollling' mechanism or something.

I've been on deck 12 cabin 2149 on EQ and deck 12, same cabin, on EC. At times you could definitely hear stuff above but it didn't bother us, that's why I've picked that cabin twice. It also really wasn't a problem while sleeping. That cabin is the aft most on the side of the ship and has a slightly larger balcony. I love deck 12 because of the pool level and it's easy to get to a bar, buffet, and other upper levels of the ship. Of course all this is very much a YMMV type of thing.

Yes, I've also noticed exactly what you are talking about. I might try an E class ship if they start doing longer cruises somewhere I want to go.

Yes, I agree, the escargot I had were great and larger than what I had on the previous X cruise, they were so tiny it was funny. I also used a tip I got here about dipping the bread in the escargot butter!

I looked at the Apex food pictures in the link above, the only dish pictured that I had on EQ was the duck and the duck it was good. I have had it before on X and it seemed the same as before. Most of the dishes pictured were not on the MDR menu on EQ at the end of Jan 2023. I have seen that before, it looks like the menus on E class ships have better selections than what is/was on EQ. Another good dish I had was a spicy, thick fish that was really good (I think it was Cajun something maybe) and actually was a little spicy, real change for X on that one.

Very nice review, a guy I golf with took a spill getting off a river cruise gangplank and really messed up his shoulder. It's no picnic out there, I need to watch out more and be in less of a hurry myself!!