LAFFNVEGAS

I was looking at The Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection for the fun of it, talk about crazy high prices but I saw an itinerary that makes no sense to me. Since it has been many months since anyone has even bothered to post in the CC Ritz Carlton board, I thought I would ask my friends here how this cruise is even possible. It is a 7 day cruise that starts in San Juan PR and ends in Ft Lauderdale??? November 20 2024 San Juan, Puerto Rico November 21 2024 Virgin Gorda, BVI November 22 2024 Sailing Time November 23 2024 Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos November 24 2024 San Salvador, Bahamas November 25 2024 Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas November 26 2024 Bimini, Bahamas November 27 2024 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA Last I knew San Juan was considered US and was not a distant foreign port to not have a problem with the PSVA Passenger Vessel Services Act They are selling their smallest Suite for $6900 per person plus port taxes of $253 but if you want to splurge their Owners Suite is just $46,700.00 pp for this 7 day cruise. This is on their newest yacht coming out this year called Ilma.

Kathi, that is wonderful news, I am so glad to hear it!! I am sure a cruise will be just what you need. Hopefully your stamina will improve to help with standing and walking.

No, that is definitely something new. Out of the last 3 HAL cruises 2 both when in a Neptune Suite we have been given about 2nd or 3rd day in a Gift Certificate to spend in Effy. The first one was for $500 and the second was for $300. We were not given one when we booked a regular balcony despite having previously purchased Effy when we got the $500 on board credit for them. I do have several Effy pieces and do not mind purchasing when I have a whole lot of SBC from HAL, when I have that and the $500 from them and then my bottom line is only about $250 I consider it a win. But with that being said I honestly would not pre buy $1700.00 or $1500. I see it is fully refundable but just not sure I would do it. Some of the Effy shops will work with you on pricing especially toward the end of the cruise 😉

@albingirl Thanks for your review. We love NCL and HAL each for different reasons. I think a lot depends on your cruising style and where you like to hang out. I will admit for the most part we do book The Haven. With that concept you have the best of both worlds. Lots of quiet places to relax, but yet you have the whole ship to see great entertainment and be out and about.Tom loves their buffet because they are open a lot longer and more hours than HAL and is actually very good. We love breakfast in the Haven Restaurant far better than Club Orange. We also love restaurants on board such as Le Bistro, Onda (but that is currently only on 3 ships) Ocean Blue and Q Texas BBQ are our favorites. We generally only eat night time dining 2 to 3 times in the Haven restaurant because we very much enjoy the specialty restaurants. I know it can get crowded and noisy on NCL but to be honest we just stay away from it. NCL tends to have a bigger variance of ages on board and everyone is friendly. To me it is kind of crazy I have never seen so many people chat with each other in the elevators like I do on NCL. People tend to not talk much on HAL to others in elevators (Princess is even worse) but on NCL everyone is happy and saying Hi to everyone. I find it kind of refreshing. If penny for penny was equal in comparing The Haven to Neptune Suite, I would probably never return to HAL but in my experience in the past few years since the return to cruising from the pause The Haven even in the lowest category for same cruise HAL offers is considerably more money. On more expensive cruises with HAL I can at least get a Signature Suite that gives me more real estate. Since we want to cruise more rather than less I need to look at the bottom line. We do have 2 upcoming NCL Cruises in the Haven for 2024 then next one is mid April. But I also have 3 HAL cruises booked one for 2024 and 2 for 2025. For the time being we are just going to split it up between the two.

Unfortunately the cam operator was MIA tonight but she is on the move for Sail Away

Hoping the web cam operator will zoom in soon to watch Wind Surf Sail Away which hopefully will be in about 20 minutes. Just 5 weeks till be will be on board 😄

We got out 21 points as well but we had already hit 5 Star in November and it was quick and applied for our December cruise. I certainly can sympathize with those moving to the next level with a cruise coming up very soon. It appears HAL has gotten it fixed.

Sails are up and she is on her way for the Classic Caribbean itinerary.

Unfortunately Web Cam operator is not zooming in like they did in the past several week she is sailing away now.

Here's our Wind Surf, Sail Away was to be at 7, looks like they are running late again, but then so were the two NCL ships.

I am watching again this afternoon, NCL Gem has left and they are just waiting for NCL Encore which should be leaving shortly. Surf was right behind the Encore so hard to see her all day. Looking forward to when the Cam operator returns to zooming into Surf Here is current web cam view

There is a weird Pink kind of sofa on the Rotterdam in the Aft Vista Suites as well and that was just as uncomfortable as the sofa on the Nieuw Statendam. Who ever sold this furniture to HAL for the Signature Class Ships were probably laughing all the way to the bank.

No, it was actually like a sofa with two cushions, I would say a Standard size bed or a large love seat. Tom and I could both sit on it but it is not overly comfortable to sit on. We actually would sit on those two chairs Tom is sitting in to read.

I was told by a Hotel Manager who has worked on all three of the Pinnacle Class ships and he stated that the Deck 5 corner afts are the most different from the other aft Neptunes. It does have a regular sofa but I have to say it is not overly comfortable to sit on. I did love the big shower. I was not sure if I would like the window above the bed but it actually was nice giving a lot of light in the suite.

Just last month I was on Nieuw Statendam in Neptune 5223 which appears to be exactly the same as 5217 on Koningsdam here was m pics

Thanks, I know it is hard to judge compared to other people's likes but as long as they are not super soft or super hard that makes them perfect with the movement of the ocean!!

Your question actually leaves me to the question...How are the Beds in general on Indstar. We will be on Sind Surf in less than 7 weeks. We cruise a lot but on those big ships. We have found NCL Haven to have comfortable beds, HAL use to have more comfortable but in recent years has become too firm so have requested egg crate. We have also been fine with Suites on Princess. Do most people find the beds comfortable?

You had a very nice Sail Away last night. In watching the web cam it looked very breezy earlier in the day but did look like winds calmed down some for you Sail Away. Thanks for the pictures!! I love this, not that I am counting but just 48 more days will we are there 😄

It appears base pricing is pretty much the same as any other One World Ship Spa that was formally Steiner. The big difference may be that other cruise lines allow you to pre book prior to the cruise and pay in advance giving a discount for port days. But since most days are port days especially with itineraries in Caribbean and Tahiti I guess they cannot do that but it would be nice if one could book in advance and maybe get a 10% discount.

The Sails did all go up Very Pretty Sail Away Tonight

She has left, might be a bit too windy tonight for the big sails

They just zoomed in closer

Waiting for this weeks Sail Away in about 20 minutes

Per Holland America and booking flights with them, flights are from 11:00 am on disembarkation day so 11:50 is more than do able. I know last year we did the luggage direct and had HAL transfers and we were at the airport at 9:15 and we were not on the first bus to the airport. We had to sit around for a couple of hours, then Delta let us around 11 for our 4 something flight.

I am speculating here but I suspect the Crew are going to get very tired of charging the additional 50 cents to a dollar and getting yelled at, as well as Front Desk Crew having to deal with Passengers complaining. Plus now raising the Crew Incentive Feb 1st. I Suspect they will make a big deal about increasing the allowance of the drinks on the HIA but also quietly again raise the price of adding on the HIA while it also reflects in the pricing of new reservations. Most likely will go to $60.00 or $65.00 per person per day. Most other cruise lines are actually considerably more so at $65.00 pp per day it is still a bargain.