bruzin_for_a_cruizin

I have booked a two-tank dive directly with RCL during our stop in Cozumel at the end of August. Does anyone know the operator they use? Is it a cattle boat, or something a bit more intimate? Do they do the more southern sites like Santa Rosa and Palancar Gardens? I do like that it's a 12:30 start, so I don't have to be part of the scramble to rush off the ship first thing upon docking, but I really don't like diving on the same boat with people doing Discover Scuba excursions.

I did just hear from one of my preferred operators on the island that they have a spot available on their 10:00 a.m. Express Boat. I'm thinking that might be a better choice, since I've dived with them before and have a pretty good idea of what to expect (small boat, 4-6 divers max, more northern dive sites). 

6 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Not just Celebrity, that happens on many ships. Keeping them crisp and fresh is nearly impossible at sea.

Oasis-class ships always have individual bags for grab-and-go in the Park Cafe. It does suit the "theme" of the venue, but if they can do it there, it's certainly not impossible at sea.

On 7/15/2022 at 2:23 PM, edrussell said:

We had our first on Enchantment on our first cruise and really enjoyed them.  They weren't served on Adventure on our May sailing and we missed them.  Not a huge deal, but we hope they are served on Oasis.

 

Oasis-class ships serve the sandwich in the Park Cafe. It's a staple there.

First time on NCL, and we will be on Prima in April 2023 (to Bermuda from NYC). Our last cruise was in Celebrity's Retreat, and we really enjoyed the quieter, more-exclusive sun deck. I'm assuming this is similar to that, and at less than CAD$600 for two, it seems like a good add-on to our Balcony stateroom.

I was able to book it through the website just now.

13 hours ago, Psych0St@r22 said:

 

Thank you so much for this information, I'm new to diving and this will be my first time diving in Cozumel. I will also post on the Scubaboard.

 

I'm really looking forward to diving in Cozumel, I've heard some pretty awesome things. I have a trip planned for Bonaire soon too.

Cozumel and Bonaire are my two favorite islands for diving (in my still-limited experience). Cozumel has beautiful reefs with some great drifts. Bonaire is all shore diving with tons of sealife over the reefs.

Good luck finding a buddy for the 29th!

Dive Paradise is great. I've used them on my last two cruises to Cozumel. I would join you on this one, but you're in port a day earlier than I am!

I've had luck posting to the Roll-Call threads in the past (in fact, I've met a dive buddy whom I will be diving with on a cruise again next year!), so you should be able to find someone. There's also a Cruising forum on Scubaboard, if you're a member there. You could post something there too... you might even catch a board member who just happens to be in Cozumel that week who will join you for the day. 

I'm a regular cruiser with Royal/Celebrity, and we are booked for our first cruise with NCL on the Prima in April 2023. 

This trip is all a bunch of "new" stuff for us, aside from a new cruiseline: cruising out of NYC, staying overnight in port for multiple days, using the cruiseline's air program... 

We are coming from Toronto, so I figured it would be hard to screw up a route with something like 20 direct flights available every day and 1.5 hours gate-to-gate. But then I've been reading how so many people have been routed on crazy connecting flights and have missed connections or lost luggage. It's an insanely cheap add-on -- with the promo, it was only CAD$225 for two people return -- so I'm reluctant to cancel that feature and book direct. I'd be looking at flights around CAD$1000 booked separately.

How does NCL offer this service and seemingly execute so poorly? Should I cancel and rebook? Am I just being neurotic and giving too much credence to the horror stories on CruiseCritic? Airports will have to be better by April, won't they?

1 hour ago, TheGrandSnackoneer said:

I think I'll lose 50% but given the prices at YTZ aren't too insane and I can (hopefully) avoid my luggage getting lost and rebuying everything it's a trade-off I'm willing to take.

How sad that's a calculation we all have to make now when planning travel. I don't anticipate much improvement in the status quo until at least this season next year, if ever at all.

In the pursuit of profits, human decency and customer service are brutal casualties. 

On 6/26/2022 at 4:45 PM, exm said:

Good information guys. Great article in WSJ today: this graph says a lot:

 

Can you elucidate for us investing n00bs who really only a few shares for the OBC?

What I take from this is that all three major cruise lines took on a ton of debt in the past year to... stay afloat (sorry for the pun!). I presume that is anathema to future profits? Even though the 2023 number appears to be much smaller and more manageable? 

IIRC -- and it's been a few years since we paid for the inflatables -- it's a timed event. So, you show up early to get your lifejacket and the safety briefing, then they walk everyone out on the dock and you go in on the hour. After your hour, they pull everyone out and let in the next group.

An hour was plenty time. Those inflatables are huge, and just climbing onto one was enough exertion for me!

I don't think we'll see acquisitions within the industry. The ships and the USPs are too divergent between cruise lines.

We may see a venture/vulture capital firm swoop in and buy a company. With the stock prices at near-all-time lows, that is indeed a possibility. But, I don't see that happening either. Cruising isn't a business you can acquire, make a bunch of cuts to improve profitability, and turnaround for resale quickly.

I just think we're going to see low stock prices for a little while longer. I anticipate it'll take until the end of 2023 for things (labour shortages/wages/supply chain/FCC/etc) to settle down. I'm holding on to my shares in RCL at $79. I might buy some more if it dips below $30 to DCA my position.

Of course, nobody should listen to me. I'm terrible with money and make poor choices all the time. I'm just chiming in with my opinion on something I really know nothing about. Ain't Cruise Critic great??!!

24 minutes ago, Diav said:

We are going on the Symphony of the Seas in three weeks. I booked this trip about 12 months in advance.  On Black Friday 2021, I was able to get great deals for our cruise.  We have Coco Cay water park for $53.99 per person (now $129/each), our deluxe beverage package is $58/per adult (now $78/ea) and Soda package is $5.99/each (now $8.99/ea), we got the key cause the internet was only $3 less per day thank the cost of the key. The savings really add up!

 

So book on BLACK FRIDAY sales if you can.  I monitor the prices at least once a week for this year and never saw better prices thank what we got.

Are you me? LOL!

I love the Black Friday sale. It's usually the best of the year, and last year (given the circumstances) the deals were particularly strong. I picked up the $50 water park passes, the $58 DVP, and a couple excursions at strong discounts. 

Of course, this doesn't help anyone who is traveling before then, but it does give some hope for those traveling in December or beyond.

We did this "excursion" back in November. 

It is quite hokey, but once you get through all the explanation stuff, the massages were quite nice, if short. I especially enjoyed the hammock massage.

That said, I wouldn't do it again, nor would I give it a "must-do" recommendation.

I'm long on 200 shares at an avg. cost of $79. I'm tempted to transfer some more cash to my trading account to buy up more and DCA down, but I just know if I do that, the stock will drop even lower!

I was in Vancouver just last week, and needed a rapid antigen test to get into the United States. I got mine at the Parq resort right downtown. It was CAD$70, IIRC.

1 hour ago, jerseygirl3 said:

It really is a shame that dressing for dinner has been so dumbed down.  I always ask people who say they wear shorts and flip flops to the MDR, would you wear that to a wedding in a formal venue?  If not, then you shouldn't be wearing them into a formal dining room on a ship.  I know, "it's my vacation, I paid for it, I'll wear what I want."  And we wonder why people in this country have no respect for rules. I know it's not actually a "rule", but there is such a thing as respect and common sense.  Which apparently many are lacking.  The waitstaff dresses for dinner; is it that hard for the passengers to do the same? What you wear won't impact my dinner, I think it's disrespectful to the venue and staff.  My opinion, just like those who wear shorts have theirs.  

Love this. You have encapsulated my feelings on the subject perfectly.

It comes down to Respect. Respect for the rules, respect for others and respect for self. It seems in the last 5 or 10 years, that has been in extremely short supply.

I pack a couple pairs of long pants for each cruise. I only wear them during dinner, and often change right back into shorts immediately after. 

Respect.

My wife has a very limited palate, akin to a 6-year-old: plain pasta, cheese pizza, chicken fingers, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese...

On our last cruise, she had the same thing every night: onion soup and ceasar salad. For 7 nights. 

My point here is, the staff will accommodate your dietary requirements. Don't worry about it.

3 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Everywhere I go I see "HIRING NOW" signs.  Why should cruise ships be any different?  

How did we as a society get into this situation?  

Quite simply, when the pandemic hit, industries literally shut down for months/years. Staff were furloughed. Now, two years later, and things are opening up at a fast pace and personel have moved on to other jobs or even other industries entirely. 

I read a piece the other day about the airline industry. It suggested that many airlines offered early retirement to much of their pilot roster, and now that travel demand has increased, there is a dire shortage of qualified commercial pilots (one can't just learn how to fly a Cessna and then jump on the stick of a 400-seat 747).

There really is no point in complaining about it... it is what it is, and it will be this way for the next few years until things level off again and people find their places again. 

I have a booking in a Sky Suite on Edge in November. The only Retreat booking available now is for the Villa suite at more than 2x what I paid!

Sounds like The Retreat amenities are really resonating with customers!

3 hours ago, PennyHusted said:

We’re booked for next year to Bermuda on the Prima. Haven courtyard, so I can report after that.

We're booked on that same itinerary for April, albeit just in a Balcony. 

It's our first cruise with NCL, so I'm keen on seeing how they differ from RCL/X. I do like the idea of moving more of the ship outwards, unlike the Oasis-class ships which are very inwards-looking.

This is the most-expensive cruise I've got booked, looking at it per-person, per-night, including OBC, but as a new ship, I'm okay with paying a bit of a premium.

No decorations, but I will leave my dive gear out there to "dry" out between port dive stops (usually just overnight), and my wife and I will clip wet bathing suits to the chairs to get some of the dampness out.

With the Caribbean humidity, nothing really dries dry, but it is really lousy to put on a still damp wetsuit...

For me and my wife, the premium upgrade is totally worth it. I just fold the expected cost into my budgeting for the cruise price.

I completely understand the supply chain issues. Running any business in 2022 is a challenge, as ingredient supplies and logistics capacities are strained to their limits. In the wine & spirit business, there have been challenges for some producers to get the glass required to make their bottles, causing product shortages! We often don't think of the complexity of modern supply chain. It's quite astounding when you drill right down to it.

All that said... I believe the cruise lines are doing their customers a disservice by not making accommodations, either by offering more-equitable substitutions or lowering the cost of the Premium upgrade. It is, IMO, disingenuous to cry "supply chain issues, sorry" and then increase the price of the upgrade. 

How low can RCL go? I have some cash in my trading account waiting to buy so I can dollar-cost-average my holding down from $91/share. 

We are already at the 52-week low ($59.82)...

21 hours ago, Oville said:

Have you actually sailed in one?

Fortunately, no. We were on Apex last November, booked in a Concierge Class IV cabin, but won our minimum bid to MoveUp to a Sky Suite. Absolutely loved everything about The Retreat experience.

We did, however, make some friends on-board who were staying in an Aqua IV cabin, so they let us visit to see what we were "missing." I was surprised X tries to pass those off as balconies, because they most assuredly are not. We were even happier we won the MoveUp, because we would not have enjoyed a week with that window. 

I have no issue with the cabins, or those who enjoy them, but I do believe calling them balconies/verandas is a bit disingenuous. Overall, I think the E-class ships are quite spectacular. In fact, we've got two more sailings booked in the next 18 months: another Sky Suite on Edge in November '22 and a Sunset Veranda -- a real balcony! -- on Beyond in November '23.

8 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

Especially E-Class with the 4 MDRs. Love that! I think X missed the mark not saying “we have 4 Specialty Restaurants on E-Class but we will allow All to enjoy them Free”!

Heh, that wouldn't even been much of a stretch for a Marketing department with the nerve to claim IVs are anything but really big windows! 😂