spethstation

Wow, love your blog! I will be referencing it for my upcoming Med cruise!

@laurieal I am appreciating your live review so much. The pictures of your food & beverages have me drooling! 🤤 I keep finding myself hopping on NCL ships lately but you've convinced me to try Oasis. I had such a great time on Harmony and I need a repeat! Hope you've got some smooth sailing ahead over the Atlantic!

Definitely Barrachina's for a pina colada! You can take one to go if you wish. I also went to Cafe Manolin for mofongo, it was incredible!!!! Their espresso was also 👌

Just the cruise fare - no onboard purchases, excursions, or drink packages. And not on NCFs anymore. Sometimes there will be commission on cruise line insurance or air purchased through the cruise lines.

On my first cruise I took 8 pairs 😂 Generally I can average 5 now...I like variety. And one pair is usually water shoes!

This is correct. TAs get very little commission on airfare, sometimes none at all depending on the airline, so it's not unheard of to have a ticketing/service fee for flights. They are doing the work for you. Can't get your seats assigned with the airline? The TA can...another thing they don't get commission on. You got a price drop on a cruise? Great, now the TA/agency makes less commission on the product, so in effect is now making less on doing more work. It's not unheard of to have a small fee for making a change or doing a price drop. You cancel your trip? Ok, now the TA has to call every supplier and put the work into getting your your money back and invoicing the refunds...also not making any commission anymore because your trip is cancelled now. I understand this $100 cancellation fee. So much work TAs do is not paid for, including travel research, being on hold for sometimes hours to fix or rectify one small thing, dealing with flight schedule changes or cancellations...the list goes on. If I had to pay a $150 deposit to have a complex itinerary worked on, I would, because I don't want to do that myself, and otherwise it is free labour. And like @CDNPolar said, the cost of the cruise is the same to the client, so why not give that $ to someone who is working for it on your behalf, rather than the cruise line itself? TAs provide a service and like any other industry, they deserve to be paid for their time and work that goes mostly unseen by the general public.

I would recommend NCL or Royal for either itinerary! They offer so much on board for teens, especially on their Breakway/Breakaway+ class or Oasis/Quantum class ships. Hard to know what ships will be where that far in advance, however. In terms of Hawaii, NCL has the only ship that does Hawaii from a Hawaii port - the Pride of America (does not leave from the mainland US or Vancouver.)

Grease was just fine on Harmony, but what really shone for me was their aqua show, The Fine Line! Breathtaking! Having a boardwalk view balcony at the aft was also a great spot for watching rehearsals!

It was closer to 1.5 days for me in December!

This is such a refreshing and great way to look at it! I have so far never taken any drink or bundled package for any cruise, but I did for my upcoming one. So I imagine I will finally feel a little bit more freedom not worrying about what I should or shouldn't order! That's a true vacation for my brain. 😎

What are you paying for then?! 😂

Personally I love the newer, bigger ships. There's just more to do, more venues to explore, more options for restaurants, and usually the latest/greatest innovations. A lot of experienced staff go with the new ships, too, so I find the service level is really fantastic. The rooms and architecture also don't usually look as tired. Love more of a modern look, too. That being said, I usually give it a little time before I sail a new vessel just so some growing pains can be worked out.

Guess I'm booking cruise with a stop to GSC for 2026 now... 😁

You may start to see a little but they really come full force in mid-October!

I enjoyed your Princess live, @TxTeach79. Following along, thanks for sharing your adventures!