catspaw1

We sailed full time in the Caribbean for 7 years. We love Bonaire- you can easily snorkel off the beach. Walk north from the cruise ship dock & before the marina. Be careful around the sailboats as you need to watch for dinghies in transit. You can easily hear their motor. Diving is great but not as good as it used to be due to coral bleaching with climate change and higher temps.

I just compared prices for an OV selecting a cabin & HAl was $500 cheaper.

I posted this on the Princess site also & everyone said go Princess over HAL. Interesting.

Thanks for the helpful hints. We went to AK before the TV show northern exposure which Talkeetna is based. Loved it then. We also went to Denali & Seward before we went on a week HAL cruise. Wish HAL still sailed our of Seward! We may just take all of your advice so a big thank you. We do like a smaller ship- we don't need bells & whistles!

Thanks. I don't mind kids but it's the ones I have seen running crazy creaming around the ship I dislike. I didn't know Princess has a kids program & that's great. That's a lot better then. I guess we will try for either or- whoever has the best deals!

yes both have similar ports & the same number of hours in each port. fares about the same- Princess gives more with their all inclusive package. My parents did their 50th wedding anniversary trip to AK on Princess & really liked it but that was 15 years ago.

Thanks for the response. Yes I agree that HA seems to have an older crowd- mostly in 70's & 80's. We normally go to bed around 10pm but will stay up to 11pm on cruises. We do like the martini bar that Celebrity has!!! We usually travel off season so are concerned with having lots of kids onboard for early August. Our TA mentioned that's why she thought we might like HAL better. Any thoughts about lots of kids in August? We don't want to cruise with lots of misbehaving kids!

Hi all, We haven't been on a HAL cruise in over 25 years but previously loved AK so much we have decided to return. We are retired 66 & 70 and very active. We can hike up to 5 moderate miles a day. We are doing a bear trip into the bush next July for 3 nights at a bear/fishing lodge. Than will do some inland traveling as we did before & then would like to cruise again. We are looking at the Nieuw Amsterdam or Princess Sapphire for August 2 or 3, 2025 out of Whittier. Both have almost identical itineraries. Which cruise line would you chose and why? We love Glacier bay so want to return.

Hi all, We haven't been on a HAL cruise in over 25 years but previously loved AK so much we have decided to return. We are retired 66 & 70 and very active. We can hike up to 5 moderate miles a day. We are doing a bear trip into the bush next July for 3 nights at a bear/fishing lodge. Than will do some inland traveling as we did before & then would like to cruise again. We are looking at the Nieuw Amsterdam or Princess Sapphire for August 2 or 3, 2025 out of Whittier. Both have almost identical itineraries. Which cruise line would you chose and why? We love Glacier bay so want to return.

Thanks everyone. Haven't taken a cruise since COVID.

great! Are they still running embarkation discounts on specialty dining?

Hi all, we have never eaten in the specialty dining room and are considering it. Can you use the classic and premier beverage package in the specialty dining rooms? Is there an extra gratuity to use it? Or charge for drinks? sailing in July back to Bermuda again.

We ask the cabin attendant to either lock or remove the refrigerator. I bring a cooler bag with us & ask him to put ice in it every day. I get drinks from our drink package & put them in my cooler bag. I bring the cooler bag to the beach to have drinks just like I'm going to the beach at home. I also bring a helinox chair one with me for going to Bermuda. It weighs 2lbs & I have my own beach chair!

Our cruise planner showed flash sales for an upgrade to premium beverage package for our Bermuda cruise this year from $15pp per day to $11. Also a number of excursions also. We booked the upgrade to premium but will keep checking every day to see if it decreases.

Just an FYI on ocean temps in Bermuda in May... they will be cold. We have local friends in Bermuda that told us locals don't go swimming till after Memorial Day as temps are too cold. We did take a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda Memorial day week once & the water was indeed cold. We sailed our boat there in November on the way to the Caribbean & the water was cold then. In January when we returned to our boat, water was frigid.

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. Based on all of your advice, I am booking the upgrade package to the premium package tonight. Love that martini bar! I do understand I have to pay gratuities also. Jim, I have followed a number of trips reports you have posted & really have appreciated them. I learned a lot from you so a big thanks! Are you switching to Oceania permanently now?

this offer was only 25% off. Usually we wait till we get onboard to use our OBC but this way we can spend it on something else! We do have $100 we can use now of OBC. How often or when do they offer 50% off?

I saw a discount offer from Celebrity today for upgrading to the premier beverage package from $15 to $11 pp per day plus 20% gratuities. If I buy it now & the price decreases to $7 like some people on CC mentions happens, can I cancel mine if i paid for it & re-book at the lower price?

Thanks everyone. So to make sure I understand this correctly, since our cruise package included the classic beverage package I will NOT have to pay a separate price for tips. Is that correct? Also our TA included tips as part of our package. The last time we cruised- pre pandemic we didn't have to pay extra tips for the classic beverage package. We did upgrade to premium so understand we will have to pay the extra for tips. We got OBC from our TA. Do I have to wait till I get onboard to use it to upgrade to the premier package? Do Captains club member still get 10% off? Do I need to call celebrity directly to get the discount? Or have my TA do it? Same things for specialty dining with OBC. Can I make a reservation now or do I have to wait till on baord to use TA OBC? Cruising is sure different from the old days when we started cruising! I miss the midnight chocolate buffet!

When you get the all included package with classic beverage & wifi do you have to pay an extra separate price for tips? If you upgrade to the premium package do you pay extra for tips also? Thanks everyone

When you book the celebrity beverage & wifi package do you have to pay extra for tips? Or is it included in the package price?

We are on the July 7 sailing. Native NYer here. I drive back & forth to LI all the time. No traffic to Bayonne if you leave early Sunday am. The later you leave, the more traffic.

I can't find anything on the Bermuda site to see if they accept a certificate of recovery. Does anyone know? Someone said they do not. I will, of course, call Bermuda on Monday. I know Celebrity accepts it as I checked. I'm hoping I don't test positive. I understand from a lab tech friend that you can test positive for over a month once you have it. We leave in less than two weeks!