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I have cruised a lot on different cruise lines. Did MSC once; my second one is coming up on Thursday. I had no problems with my first MSC cruise. None. I do think I'll enjoy my second MSC cruise, plus it's about 50% cheaper compared to Royal (I'm traveling with a family of 5).

LI, NY has spring break on 4/22-4/26. Yes, we'll be on the cruise. Let kids be kids. I'll be having my drinks and enjoy the break. Cheers.

5 hours ago, Biker19 said:

The terminal is also somewhat small. It probably wouldn’t work well for anything Voyager class and up. 

They can always make the terminal bigger, that shouldn't be an issue. The question is if there's a large enough cruising market (which I think there is).

Yes, both of your replies makes sense!

The problem with the clearance of the Francis Scott Key bridge, is that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is (also) limited to 185ft so I'm not sure if they will be raising the collapsed bridge.

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Found this project to increase the clearance of the Suspension Bridge near Savanah, GA to be quite interesting.

 

https://apnews.com/article/savannah-suspension-bridge-georgia-south-carolina-49440d932d0abcff20351a6fac33620d

 

They did the same thing for the Bayonne Bridge in NJ

https://www.portbreakingwaves.com/raising-of-the-bayonne-bridge-one-year-anniversary/

Also, Cruise ship was right to ditch the late passengers in Africa, travel writer says

2 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

  I read earlier that NCL would hold the ship and not leave people behind if on the ship's cruise . The HAL policy is the same and yet we were on a cruise thru the Panama Canal where they did in fact leave 33 people behind on a ship's cruise in Costa Rica . Here's the video of the Captain's announcement while we were at dinner .

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing. How interesting. However, the time slot for the panama canal is really something that is inflexible. At least these guests seemed to be well taken care of.

I'm still not sure about the group that missed the boat, but why on earth would you book a private group if you're not a fit, young person in a third world country where private tours aren't used to cruises (and their "hard" time requirements)? I purely blame these passengers for making this decision, and I do not blame either NCL or the ship's captain. Despite all the negative posts, I'm pretty sure the captain waited as long as possible (it seems that the ship already departed late), but there's always a point of no return. And probably the passengers crossed that threshold.

Additionally: when I do my private tours (and I do plenty), I *ALWAYS* make sure to be back on-board at least 2 hours before 'all aboard'. These people did so many things wrong with the cherry on the cake their 'blame NCL media tour'.

I have cruised NCL once on my Honeymoon, absolutely loved NCL and don't consider myself pro/against NCL one way or another.

6 hours ago, Luke110150 said:

In my opinion, I was never a fan of Labadee. I would prefer a extra sea day than anything else.

If so, you could stay on the ship and enjoy lots of space. Much better than a sea day. And I personally love Labadee.

Hi all, does anyone know how much a taxi from the cruise port to coral world (6 passengers). Need to know how much cash to bring. Thanks!

Not surprised.

2 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Huh? There is no drink limit on MSC.... That's Carnival/Princess....

 

Cool. Got confused with HAL, my last cruise.

Don’t forget that speciality coffee counts toward the 15 drinks a day limit.

23 hours ago, MemawP said:

Does anyone know for sure if the Ocean Cay closure is still on track for April 7 to May 2? We're due there next week and again end of May. So, hoping we did get lucky to miss the closure!

It looks like it.

You mentioned to be lucky? My April 21st 7 day cruise was changed to an April 18th 10 day cruise with a much better itinerary (original: Port Canaveral, Nassau Ocean Cay). So I consider myself lucky with the closure!

53 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

The facts don’t bother you. He has been trying to get back. His plane as on the way and had to divert. They took over the airport to specifically block him. 

I understand the logic, but why doesn't he fly to the DR and drive over?

5 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

This could happen at any port stop. Most of the Caribbean countries RC visits have a significant crime issue.

Most Caribbean countries have at least some sort of a working police force and military, although corrupt to a certain degree. Here you have an armed rebellion, yes, a real insurrection.

46 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

and what are they going to steal in Labadee? What is the profiteering motive to overtake the peninsula? 

Imagine if a crew of armed criminals overruns the peninsula, and makes it on-board. Just imagine how much money is in various staterooms. And there will be no help coming, at least not for hours, and hours. I'm not saying this will happen, but it definitely could happen. And it's up to RC to determine the risk factor here.

For the record, I doubt that the ship will set sail leaving passengers behind if there's an incursion in the Labadee area. But what do I know?

Diamond on Royal here. Did MSC in 2019, loved it, and am doing another MSC out of Brooklyn next month. It's literally half the price of RC, and considering I'm a family of 5, it adds up. Having said that, I'm also planning a Wonder sailing later this year, mostly because I haven't been on an Oasis Class ship. Wanted to book Icon but pricing there is really out of control.

So yes, I am definitely looking around.

I'm a bit torn on this one. I love Labadee but the situation is very unpredictable. You just need one incident (either by land, or by boat, remember that they can use small maneuverable boats) for this to become a major incident. Now if the people that are saying: nah, these criminals have other things to worry about: look what's happening in Mexico were frequently innocent tourists are caught in the crossfire. The powers to be at RC HQ have a difficult decision to make here. Personally, I wouldn't cancel a cruise that stops at Labadee, but I can't blame RC if they decide to skip Labadee until things settle a bit in Haiti.

Might be too early to ask but how does this compare to Oasis Class ships so far?

Thanks for your review so far! We'll be on a 10 day in April out of Brooklyn. Have fun!

On 1/10/2024 at 10:58 AM, smokeybandit said:

I couldn't get a land vacation for cheaper that would take me to multiple locations in the same week.

Now of course RC is moving towards a "the ship is the destination" approach, but there are still plenty that sail because they're going somewhere (even if any given "somewhere" isn't overly attractive)

We used to fly to all-inclusive resorts in Punta Cana a lot. Basically fly JFK-PUN, 7 days all-inclusive. So similar to a cruise with the drink package. Financially, flying is very expensive, especially with a family of 5. Now you can make an argument if you cruise out of Florida you also have to fly. We only fly non-stop, sorry! True. However, when I do a (local) cruise out of NY that's no longer the case.

I did a mock booking for the same time as my upcoming RC cruise.$7,599.10, for 5 people, 2 rooms, all-inclusive, non-stop flights. Not bad, but is that much cheaper?

On 1/10/2024 at 8:36 AM, Engineroom Snipe said:

I have not seen any sales or discounts on the $3,499 over water cabanas at all on any of my cruises since August of last year.

I am still enjoying the memories when I booked one of these for $999 during my August 2021 cruise out of Nassau. What a time that was!

On a side note, my deluxe drink package is 30% off today at my upcoming Wonder sailing. Haven't seen this price at all. Might be just 'my' sailing but it's worth checking out if you have an upcoming cruise.