poeticlicensed

We had a problem on our last cruise on the Millie with neighbors who smoked on the balcony. I would go out to find cigarette butts that had rolled over to our side . And the tobacco smell was nauseating. I thought of putting it on the steward or security but figured I'm a big girl and taught college for 30+ years, I'm gonna deal with it myself. When someone lit up, I leaned over and said you know every time you light up there's a cloud of smoke that comes over and I've been finding ash and butts on my balcony. Never smelled smoke again. If he fought with me I would have reported it. Did he think I was a witch? Probably. Do I care at this point in my life? Nope.

We did that on a cruise where the kids were 14 and 7. The cruise line wouldn't let me put both kids in the same room without an adult, so the paperwork said I was with one kid in the balcony room and the other kid was with hubby in the inside. Of course that was before drink packages and such were tied to your room. The kids were fine by themselves but if course they were older

I have been on several 3 4 and 5 day sailings on X and I have yet to categorize one of them as a rowdy booze cruise. When were were younger and our kids were little, a 3 or 4 day cruise was what we could afford. I'm sniffing a bit of elitism

I have no idea how port fees are calculated. I guess because the island is still in the Bahamas.

Ok hear me out. Aside from all the unhappiness about screwing up the Beyond med sailings next summer, I think its a brilliant move by Celebrity and RCCL. First, they get rid of Nassau, which is oft complained about by passengers. I hear they got rid of Key West on some itineraries. Now that would bum me out. Next the passengers get a beach day without having to buy an excursion and it saves on port fees. We were at Coco cay on an RC cruise and i got to snorkel for free. If we were in Nassau it would have cost me some cruise dollars. Finally, many cruise lines put their oldest saddest ships on the 3, 4 and 5 day routes. Good lord I've been on rust tubs with NCL and RCL for weekend cruises. If I was a new cruiser or wanted to do a short cruise to see if I liked it and had the opportunity to cruise on a relatively new state of the art ship, it might just hook me in to take more cruises.

$3000?? You can do a whole cruise for that.

I like the vibe. Not formal, but not party all night. I will be forever grateful for a cruise line that doesn't have belly flop and hair chest contests. Love the solarium pool, love the sunset bar and of course Cafe Al Bacio. Those are our favorite places in the ships. We also love the flavored butters in the dining rooms and the martini bar.

Not surprised that they are swapping Nassau for Coco Cay on some itineraries. I hear people endlessly complaining about Nassau when I'm cruising. Actually, the last 2 cruises we did that stopped at Nassau, we didn't even leave the ship. We've been to Perfect Day once. Its was fine and honestly if I was given a choice between Perfect Day and Nassau, I'd choose Perfect Day.

I second a public library. Places like UPS stores used to have printing. Probably a Staples can help you out.

We were there once. It was ok. I liked MSCs Ocean Cay better.

If it is Coco Cay, I hope they work to time ships schedules so that the Celebrity ships arent there when a 9000 person mega ship is. The island isn't that big!

Actually no. They end up being the same price pp.pd

Looking at booking a fall 2024 TA. Both leave within a week or so of each other from Barcelona and have similar itineraries. We've sailed both S and M class in the Caribbean, and we enjoy both classes of ships. This will be our first TA and I wasn't sure if there were aspects of a TA that would make one a better choice over the other.

Just curious, wondering if anyone who does the spreadsheets and math has a PPPD range they consider good, great, not good, and deal breaker. I realize it varies among people, wallets, plus itinerary and season . I know I got burned on a holiday cruise a few years ago, but I expected it, being the holidays.

MSC Aurea experience used to include drinks, plus unlimited spa access and their spas are wonderful on the newer ships. Good deal, but they have since removed the drinks, making it much less attractive. Looking at trying YC.

That was my biggest complaint with Royal. I couldn't sit by the pool deck. We ended up escaping to other outside parts of the ship to get away from the music.

That turned us off from NCL. We dressed smart casual for dinner on the first night and looked over and the couple next to us were in t shirt, Jean shorts and flip flops. Im not stuffy but it looked like they could be eating at McDonald's instead of the MDR on a cruise ship.

Suspect its a function of summer vacation and families traveling. I find a big difference in the passengers at different times of the year

I think Celebrity is trying to hit that sweet spot of marketing itself as the "grown up" cruise line and trying to appeal to a wider demographic than they used to but hanging on to loyal cruisers. I suspect that since the restart you have seen and will continue to see them try things, like changing menus, then back off if it doesn't work.

We like Celebrity. The food is better imo than other lines. We like other things about X. I think its a good $$ value when looking at pp/pd. My point is that I'm not gonna stress about the removal of an entree.

Maybe my expectations are just low, but I'm just so happy to sit down every night during a cruise in a nice restaurant instead of having to cook. Don't have to plan meals, cook and clean up after. Someone presents me with a menu and serves me drinks. Every day, every meal for the duration of my cruise. I'm a happy camper indeed.

We have been loyal to X for years. Love the food, love the atmosphere. Were on the millennium last year when they were at limited capacity and it was fabulous. We are booked for Alaska in August. We did an MSC at the request of our adult children and liked it, didn't love it. We were given a Royal cruise as a gift for a timeshare presentation (whole other story) so we did that pre pandemic. My issues with Royal are twofold. One, they don't bundle the bev pkg so you have to buy it outright. Paying for drinks as you go always leaves us with a big fat bill which I hate. Second, Royal is loud. They turn it up to 11. I couldn't sit by the pool it was so loud. Music blasting all day is not my idea of relaxation. Plus I dont think I can cruise with 6000 others. That said my eye is starting to wander to other lines. We retired during the pandemic, so we have much more flexibility and can travel for longer periods of time and and during off season. I've been looking at Princess, HAL and Viking ocean. Some of the upscale lines charge a lot more but they also include more in the price. I'd love to try Cunard but I know hubby would think its too formal. Some people have been raving about Virgin. Its worth a look. I'm sum, I like the X product, it aligns with what I want in a cruise, but I'm open to other lines, as they are all different. I also think that when we return from a trip we have an immediate reaction because we still remember all the details. Time softens everything.

I think different cards work for different folks and how they view travel and credit and money. For me, am terrible with cash back cards cuz I end up just paying a bill with my cash back. With reward points, I'll hoard them and use them to cut costs for travel. But I'm notoriously cheap and won't spend more because I didn't pay airfare. The points game is labor intensive, and lots of folks don't have the time or patience for it, so a no fee card is best for them. I am not hard core but I pay attention to earn rates and redemption rates and award seat release dates. I also don't card churn. Thats crazy IMO

One of the best features of the chase card are transfer partners. I can transfer my points directly to certain airlines and get a higher value than going through the credit card travel portal. But of course the trade off is the annual fee. There is no best card for everyone. Its finding the card that meets your needs.

We have Chase Reserve. The annual fee is high but travel but the earn rate is high esp for travel. Good set of transfer partners. I haven't paid cash for a plane ticket in 5 years.