jimdee3636

@ILgirl A quick follow-up: I looked at your cruise and was surprised to see that your solo balcony cabin was less expensive than either a solo inside or a 100 sq. ft "studio." I have no idea how NCL comes up with these prices, but you got yourself a deal and a half! Jim

@ILgirl That really is a bargain price you got! I haven't been on the Getaway, but my two short cruises on the Bliss and Joy were quite enjoyable. The dining venues---both the MDRs and the specialty restaurants---were surprisingly good. I hope you'll have time to spend at least a couple of days in Lisbon. It's a really nice city; actually, Portugal in general is really nice. Just be prepared for very warm---maybe hot---mid-June temperatures. Please do let us know how it goes. Jim

@Packetf1re This is certainly a cautionary tale, and I don't envy you. But it sounds like you got your money back, at least from Swan Hellenic. (I'm not sure about your airfare to and from Buenos Aires). I'm not saying you should be happy but it could have been a lot worse. Read some of the horror stories on this board from people who have lost similar amounts of money because of shady practices by Vantage Travel. In this day and age, if you get a total refund from a questionable company, you're ahead of the game.

Sorry for my carelessness: the first sentence should say "port" days (not "sea" days).

I apologize if this has been asked before, but I'm wondering if Britannia Club is open for lunch on sea days. After QM2 and QE cruises in Britannia class, we booked BC for a Queen Anne Northern Europe sailing in June and July of 2024. It's a 14-night cruise with mostly port days, and on port days we usually like to explore the port on our own in the morning and return to the ship around noon. I'm just wondering if the Lido would be our only option on such days or whether we can return to our "own" table in BC for a more leisurely lunch. Thanks!

@We_like_to_cruise: I apologize if this has been asked already, but I'm wondering about people who take world cruise segments rather than the entire cruise. Are they treated as second-class citizens by the "full" WC cruisers or even by the crew? I'm asking because, due to time constraints and financial reasons, I'd never do an entire WC, but a 20 to 30 day segment might interest me. Thanks.

@Shmoo here Push---and push hard, if necessary---to get your deposit back and forget about any credits you're giving up. They're probably illusory, anyway. If you give them any more money you'd be throwing good money after bad.

Unless they're violating a law or the terms of a contract, Silversea/ Royal Caribbean is free to sell cabins to whomever they wish to at whatever price they wish to. However, just because they can doesn't mean they should. It's a bad business decision. It alienates local customers like @les37b, and it cheapens the image of the brand. Apparently, the large group on Les's cruise was well-behaved, but that's often not the case with "alcohol included" lines like Silversea and Seabourn twhen they sell deeply-discounted cabins to large groups, many of whom will view it as an all-you-can-drink "booze cruise." And even if they don't over-indulge on the alcohol, people who get things for a bargain price will usually brag about what a deal they got. Once the word gets around that you can book a SS cruise for, say, the same price as a Celebrity or Princess or Holland America cruise, the SS brand may never recover its cachet. As the old saying goes, it's penny wise, pound foolish.

The likelihood of getting a fixed-dining table for two is greater if you request late dining (usually meaning 8:00PM). Early fixed dining is almost always more popular.

If Regent/NCL is truly pocketing thousand dollar (or more) refunds from the airlines and not passing it along to the "downgraded" passengers, it's outrageous, illegal, and simply bad business. It's outrageous because it's a brazen attempt to get something for nothing. It's illegal because the FTC and many states have consumer protection laws forbidding "unfair and deceptive business practices," and this sure sounds like one. But it's also bad business because once this kind of news gets around, Regent's reputation will take a major hit. I've cruised multiple times with Silversea and have been considering Regent, but I'm going to hold off booking anything with them until I see how this plays out.

If you ask a hundred different Americans you'll probably get a hundred different answers, but here are my thoughts: You are expected to tip cab drivers. They probably prefer cash, but if they take credit cards (and most do these days) you can certainly add it to the amount charged. I would say about 15-20% of the fare is average, but I've often given more if I'm "rounding up," especially with cash. In hotels, I personally only tip the valet guy if he actually unloads the luggage from the trunk of the car or cab (the cab driver, though, would normally do that) and brings it up to my room. Unless you have a ridiculous amount of luggage, I think $5.00 or so is fine. When you check out, if the valet guy calls a cab for you and/or loads your luggage into the cab, I'd tip him a couple of dollars. At hotel restaurants and bars, I normally tip the server or bartender 15 to 20%. I also leave a few dollars in cash each night for the housekeeping person---just leave it on the bathroom vanity counter. Unless you ask for and get detailed service from the concierge (making hard-to-get dinner reservations for you, securing theater tickets, etc.), there's no one else at a hotel that I'd feel obligated to tip. Good luck! Jim

Like everyone else who has commented, I loved the Prinsendam on the spring transatlantic (FLL - AMS) we took in 2015. The one thing, though, about the ship that I thought was odd was that the bartender area in the Ocean Bar was a good two feet below the floor level of the adjoining area. Standing in the "hole," the bartenders looked like midgets! I could never quite figure out what the ship's designers had in mind.

All the hassles over long waiting times for dinner, having to use your butler to "beat the system," etc. are not hallmarks of a "luxury" cruise experience. Is Regent promising more than it can deliver?

@chris24a I'll tell you one thing: this does not inspire confidence. I feel sorry for you, but I'm glad you warned us of NC's shoddy business practices. Good luck in making the most of this. I do like your spirit and attitude. Jim

I'm four-star with HAL but until very recently the largest HAL ships I had been on were the Oosterdam and its sister Vista-class ships. But last month I was blown away by the overall beauty and appeal of the Koningsdam---not to mention the excellent specialty restaurants and other dining venues unique to Pinnacle-class ships (e.g., New York Deli and Grand Dutch Cafe')---so much so that upon returning home we immediately booked another Koningsdam cruise for later this year. If the question was 12 days vs. 12 days for essentially the same price, my advice would be to go with the Rotterdam. But 21 days on the Zaandam for the same price as 12 on the Rotterdam? The Zaandam gets my vote in a heartbeat. It's still a very nice ship, capable of providing a relaxing and enjoyable cruise experience.

Based on my recent experience on the Koningsdam: No, Club Orange does not have its own bar. The Ocean Bar, which is almost directly across from Club Orange, serves as the "de facto" bar for Club Orange as well as for the nearby Pinnnacle Grill. From what I could tell, all drinks for those restaurants are made by bartenders working "out of sight" behind the main Ocean Bar area (when sitting at the bar, I would constantly see servers from C.O. and Pinnacle walk into that behind-the-scenes area and emerge with a full tray of drinks a few minutes later). From what I could tell, the system seemed to be working fine.

@theotherKennyB I don't blame you for cancelling---SS's non-communication does not inspire confidence---but be sure you understand, and can live with, SS's refund policies. If you booked it as a "door-to-door," I believe a portion of the deposit ($500, I think) is retained by SS as an "administrative fee," although that could be applied to a new booking within two years. In any event, the advice that many here have given you about finding a competent travel agent is good advice. And that goes for booking cruises with any cruise line, so don't rush out and book something with Seabourn or Explora without first getting a travel agent. Good luck! Jim

@tnm6217 A belated thanks for an insightful and even-handed review. The good must really have outweighed the bad if you're going to do a similar itinerary again. I was looking at one for this coming fall (Boston to Fort de France), but if I were to go it would be as a solo, and for that sailing there's a 100% single supplement---i.e., I'd have to pay the same rate as two people sharing a cabin. it seems odd that, with such low occupancy rates on these kinds of cruises, they wouldn't offer a "no solo supplement" deal (they do it for many other cruises). The single supplement, unfortunately, makes it unattractive for me. In any event, though, I hope you'll post another detailed review after your Gloucester-to-Belize cruise. Thanks again.

I haven't cruised with Princess post-covid, so I can't say one way or the other if the OP's points are valid. But I can say that he's lost any leverage he might have had with Princess by flatly announcing he's done with the line. If a customer---any customer in any business---has irrevocably decided to stop patronizing that business, why bother responding to him?

@Melly4Tea I'm glad you had so much fun. HAL needs more passengers like you! Jim

@ex-koelner A quick follow-up to what I wrote previously: The informal "solo group gathering" I would see each morning on the QM2 was in the Carinthia Lounge. Also, the Chart Room bar in the hour or so before dinner was a very lively place, with both singles and couples easily intermingling. And finally, here on Cruise Critic, if you scroll down to "Special Interest Cruising" you'll see a section on Solo Cruising. I'm sure you'll find some helpful things there (although they won't be specific to Cunard). Good luck!

@ex-koelner Welcome to Cruise Critic! Although I'm married and usually cruise with my wife, I've cruised solo a few times when she was unable to travel or didn't care for the itinerary. I would choose the late Britannia dining, and request a table for two. Although none of my solo cruises were on Cunard, when we were on the QM2 for 21 nights in 2019 I noticed every day a fairly large group of solos who seemed to be meeting every morning for coffee. If you have a reserved table for two and meet someone compatible, you can always ask that person to join you at your table for dinner. And even if you dine alone some nights (which I often did on my solo cruises), you'll almost always strike up conversations with people sitting nearby (the tables are fairly close together in Britannia). In my experience, dining alone is vastly superior to dining with incompatible or disagreeable strangers.

I can't speak about P&O, but I've been on two Cunard cruises (QM2 in 2019 and QE in 2022) and I agree 100% with what @D&Nsaid about the Cunard beverage package. It's too restrictive. The $12 and under wines-by-the-glass are, at best, basic. If you really like wine you'll be almost forced to pay more, and thus lose the main benefit of the package. And if, as my wife and I do, you enjoy a pre-dinner martini or other cocktail, you may be surprised to find that your favorite one is priced slightly higher than the $12 limit (e.g., our favorite Tanqueray martinis were $12.25 on both of our cruises). There's probably a martini you could get for $12 or under (Gordon's maybe?), but it wouldn't be what you really wanted. Just pay as you go and you'll probably be better off.

@AussieBoyTX Thanks for correctly clarifying the "free cruise" offer, which I evidently misread on the website. The offer would also allow me to get a free Malaga-to-Dakar cruise if I were to book the previous Lyrial cruise, which is Civitavecchia-to-Malaga---not as exotic as Dakar-to-Santos but considerably less expensive. In any event, thanks to you and the others who have posted. Jim

@CruzinFeraBruzin I don't blame you for feeling miffed. This is yet another example of how ill-conceived Silversea's "all inclusive" policy is. They promise a lot and deliver little. The $59 "city tour" is a joke.