MJfromCA

We are considering a South American cruise around the Horn in early 2017, either Valparaiso to BA or BA to Val. Is it better to have a Port or Starboard cabin for a given direction, and if so, why? (I know, I know, pick a stern balcony and I won't have to worry!)

Also, I've seen a lot of happy Celebrity reviews on this BB. Do they have advantages over HAL or Princess, or should we pick primarily by port/time?

Thanks for any help. After reading so many of your posts, this looks like an amazing trip!

Two of the areas being worked on during this Dry Dock are new laundry equipment and redo of the cabin interiors on the two lowest passenger decks. I am sure there will be more done, but these were being started as we disembarked in Long Beach on 12/4. Our dinner table was told by an officer about these two projects and he said many more things were going to be done. Being dry dock I would expect that the hull, particularly below the water line, will be worked on as well. The dark red area (waterline and below) needs cleaning.

 

As we got off in Long Beach many, many contract workers were getting onboard to sail on the ship to San Francisco and start their work at sea. On our cruise contract workers were rewiring in the ceilings of many passenger decks. We were told it was in part in preparation for "improvements" in the internet capabilities and updated hardware and software. I will be interested to see if any change is noticed on the World Cruise by the many folks who were on the Asia/Pacific cruise this fall and are going on the World as well.

We'll be stepping into our Main deck cabin next Wednesday, so I'm delighted to know it may be refurbished! Thanks for the info. I'll report on it in January when we get back.

Thanks all for the reassurance that I won't miss it!

See you there, fm6175. I'll be the one with a Stanford shirt that day.

-- MJ

I'm hoping the Amsterdam will show the Rose Bowl, which is on ESPN.

Thanks, KrazyKruizers. We'll bring multiple bottles, then, while we still can.

Is there a limit on the number of bottles of wine we can bring if we board next month? We're not huge drinkers but on a 2-week cruise, it would be nice to bring more than two of our favorites to dinner or to have in our cabin.

Thanks for the help on our Embassy Suites vs. Marriott Waterside decision, Salt, Jim and Bev, and Jessemon. We are going at the height of high season (between Christmas and New Year's) so the Embassy and Marriott are almost the same price, and the S4B Marriott price is a lot higher. I think we are going to opt for the Marriott, like Jim and Bev.

Does anyone know if the new Embassy Suites actually opened this month? If so, does the inside seem finished? We booked both it and the Waterside Marriott for the end of December and are trying to decide between the two. The Embassy Suites breakfast is a plus, but a new paint smell or missing facilities would be a minus. Thanks!