Hlitner

For those reading this thread and wondering about cruise/travel agents I will offer some advice, Make sure to perform your own due diligence on any agency/agent that you are going to consider. Read the fine print of their terms/conditions, ask around (a good place to do this in on a cruise) and understand that there are significant differences between cruise/travel agencies. I will also say that we currently use two different agencies (we have a long history with both) and a preferred agent at each of those agencies. One has over 30 years experience and the other has about 10 (we helped break her in). Both have done lots of continuing ed (and have the various industry certifications to back this up) and are consummate pros. Neither want to spend a lot of time "hand holding" since time is money and these folks are very busy (because they are good). For those who want a lot of "hand holding," they should look for agents that are happy to give them the kind of time they demand. What I expect are agents that know their way around the cruise lines, have personal contacts, and can easily handle more complex issues. I am not going to bother my agents with questions about hotels, airlines, etc. In fact, my favorite cruise agent wants nothing do to with cruise/air since she admits it is not her expertise. She also cannot know what is in my mind when I am looking for a good deal on business class to Japan or Europe. For those that need help with air, there is the air blog here on CC and some other excellent air travel sites where posters have lots of experience and excellent advice. I also do not rely on cruise/travel agents for insurance! Most agencies sell one product and they do that to earn a nice commission. When it comes to insurance, if you do not know (or do not want to take the time to read every word of various policies) than call a decent travel insurance expert (Trip Insurance Store is often mentioned here on CC). Hank

On one of our Seabourn cruises we had several thousand of non-refundable OBC. On that line, since just about everything is included, we opted to spend lots of money on high priced wines. It was a lot of fun, the head Sommelier became our friend, and we did have some fabulous (and over priced) bottles. That is also an option on Princess, although we have never been wowed by the Princess wine list. A nice bottle of Puligny Montrachet would be nice in Rudi's, but not sure Princess would even have a decent offering. A great Pinot would also be nice in the Crown Grill. We shall see. Hank

On far more than 100 cruises we have never had an issue with a 15 drink limit :). At my age, 15 drinks (even water) would likely put me in my grave.

A few years ago we actually had a Princess rep reach out to us...and it was a shock. A rep actually called our home number and said she would love to have our business (at the time we were cruising at least 30 days a year on Princess). I simply ask her if she would match the deals we could get from either of our two favorite cruise agencies and she explained to me that "Princess does not compete with their authorized agencies." She did suggest we could book direct with Princess (which would be her) and then transfer the booking to our favorite cruise agency. That made me laugh and I asked her "why would I want to go through these multiple steps when I can simply book with my cruise agency with a few clicks of the mouse." That was the last time we ever got a call from Princess :). Now we have to deal with a fun issue. Have an upcoming 14 days on the Sky where we have the Premiere Package (a free upgrade from Plus because of a brief promotion for veterans). We also have over $2000 of OBC (partially because we use a cruise agency). Trying to spend that on a Caribbean cruise (where we usually do not bother getting off the ship or doing excursions) will be a challenge. And looking at the perks of the Premiere Package it has occurred to me that many of the perks will go unused. Guess we will have to try some of those "healthy" special desserts :). Hank

Those of us who routinely use cruise/travel agents not only get all kinds of extra on board credits, but we are deprived with having to listen to the Princess reps. Very sad :).

We have been at this cruise game for 50 years (17 cruise lines and over 75 different ships) and always use a decent cruise/travel agent. Why? The quick answer is we get money, which can vary from about 3% (with some luxury lines) to over 10% of the cruise fare. That money can come as On Board Credits (often refundable) or as a rebate (that comes to me as a check or a direct deposit). Since we cruise over 100 days in some years, our savings from using cruise agents amount to thousands of dollars every year. For folks booking 1 short cruise, your savings will be a lot less. But there are other reasons to use a decent agent. They work for me (not the cruise line) and the agencies we use are part of huge "consortiums" that give them a lot of clout with the cruise lines. If there is an issue, a quick e-mail to my agent generally gets it resolved. No time sitting on a phone hold, or trying to deal with cruise line "order takers" who often do not have a clue! Another reason for having a cruise agent is that, those of us who deal with many different cruise lines can simply deal with our agent. As an example, in the next 12 months we have bookings with Princess, Oceania, Seabourn and Silverseas. We might soon add a cruise with MSC. All that can be handled by a single agent. And, as previously mentioned, our savings are in the thousands of dollars. Hank

Some of us simply do not like the herd mentality found on large group tours/excursions. There are some places (such as remote China) where there might not be an alternative. But in places like the Caribbean and Europe, there are few problems for those of us who enjoy just doing our own thing. This is not a right/wrong issue, but simply a matter of one's preference, spirit of adventure, and willingness to do some pre-cruise homework. Hank

You and I both have a lot of curiosity about that Vista ship :). We also have our first Silverseas cruise in 2024, and we really wonder how that will compare to EJ, SB, and O. Lots of fun with the variety that is available. Hank

The App can make life a lot easier, especially when onboard. I will normally sit at the International Cafe (with my cappuccino) and look at the evening dining options. Many times I will change our MDR reservation time, or book one of the alternate restaurants for that same evening. This is easily done on the App. As my cup becomes empty, if there is a normal morning queue over at the IC counter, I simply use my App to order another Cappucino (which will appear at my table in a few minutes). There are some evenings when DW and I might be sitting at one of the bars, and want a snack. Decent bar snacks have all but disappeared on Princess, but I can simply go on the app, order some french fries from room service, and they will be delivered (by a waiter) to our bar. At any time I can pull up our onboard account and check on our remaining OBC and any errant charges. When we are sitting in our deck chairs (usually far from the pool area) and want our morning drinks (Bloody Mary, mimosa, etc) we can simply use the app to order the drinks (which will eventually appear at our seats). Is any of this "not needed?" We could certainly live without the app, but it does have some useful functions. Hank

I wonder if this is the result of much stronger bookings. No secret that a few of the mass market lines (i.e. Princess, HAL and some others) make use of "Players Club" specials to help fill unused space. As normal bookings improve, players club specials, are likely to decline and/or the deals not be quite as good as in the post COVID days when bookings were not strong. Hank

We always smile when we say that we are "equal opportunity cruisers." It is not in our nature to become loyal to a single cruise line. Today I was comparing some July, Aug 2024 EJ offerings (in the Med) to Seabourn and the prices are nearly the same cost per person/day. If we decide to book something for that time frame it will be a tough decision. Hank

Such is life on social media. But one cannot dispute the fact that the R ship bathrooms (in the regular balcony and outside cabins) are not up to the standard one would expect from a "premium" line. One tendency we have noticed on multiple CC Boards are the ability of "cheerleaders" to defend their favorite line/ship without being honest about shortcomings. Hank

For us, it is simply a matter of comparing Flightease options (easily done online) with options if we would directly book our air with an airline. There are times when Flightease will have fantastic prices for international Business/First Class and other times when the prices are about the same. Hank

We can't get too excited about the Caribbean (although we still cruise, once a year, in those waters). Their European itineraries are of some interest, and it looks like the OT1s are pricing about $525 per person/day. That is a decent price for the EJ product, but unlike Seabourn, Silverseas, etc. the EJ folks do not offer the business class bargains we can get with those lines. We are still scratching our head at the lack of marketing for this product. Consider that we are now past passengers and seldom hear anything from EJ about promotions, or upcoming itineraries. My e-mail boxes are full of info/marketing from nearly every cruise line except EJ. In fact, when we mention EJ to most friends, they give us a blank look because they have never heard of the line! Go figure. Hank

No surprise and we warned, months ago, of our opinion that EJ has made a lot of unforced errors with their marketing and insistence on short (mostly 7 day) itineraries. While DW and I truly enjoyed our 18 days on the EJ1, we had paid about half of what the line wants for future cruises. Coming off the cruise our opinion was that we had little interest in the short 7 day itineraries at the current pricing and would rather be on Seabourn (or some other lines) for less money than EJ. Even at a substantial discount (such as with this sale) we cannot get excited about the EJ itineraries. We will take a good look, but our excitement "meter" is not moving off the gauge. Hank

This is where having a decent cruise/travel agent is helpful. A quick e-mail to our cruise agent would make this happen. She would figure out the best strategy. If you have a refundable deposit, you could always cancel your booking and rebook your Vista Suite. With that leverage, a decent cruise/travel agent would likely just get your category (and price) lowered. Hank

I am not a big guy, but those tiny bathrooms and showers are just not up to the standard one should get from so-called "premium" cruise lines who charge premium prices. Hank

I do not know about the market in Villefranche, but will toss out an alternative suggestion in case you decide to venture out and about. Take the regional bus (I think it is bus #15) from Villefranche into Nice (this will cost you 2 Euros). In Nice, walk or grab a taxi to the Flower Market (you want to go in the morning) which is on the seaside of old town. This market is the best in the region, is enjoyable for its flower and food displays, and is also in a decent neighborhood loaded with cafes. Hank

Sad failure. My understanding it was a combination of bad policy and bad luck. To being with, the company was somewhat under financed. Their no children policy was, perhaps, ahead of its time but limited their market. And by not using travel/cruise agencies, they did save paying commissions, but alienated the travel agent industry that handled about 80% of cruise bookings. And then 9-11 caused many folks to stop traveling/cruising and they could not survive. One interesting thing about that line were their ships. They all had the same exact design, right down to the soap dishes. This was done by the owners with the thinking that crew members could easily move between the ships with no need for additional training. DW and I actually had breakfast with the marine architect (a British gent) who designed the vessels, and he told us the tale. He actually sketched out the ship design on a restaurant napkin (while out to lunch with the owners) and that led to the order for 8 identical vessels. The lounge area outside the alternative restaurants was designed to look somewhat like the London men's club where they had that luncheon. That Marine Architect was also the person who came up with the design for the Sovereign of the Seas (the first ship with a large atrium) which led to him being knighted by the Queen. Hank

That was Renaissance Cruise lines. They had 8 ships, R1-R8 which are now referred to as the R ships. The vessels are still sailing with Oceania and Azamara. Renaissance only allowed direct bookings, had a ship-wide no-smoking policy, and had a 16 year old minimum passenger age. Have

Agree with Flytertalker that one should not overthink this simple issue. Uber/Lyft is our first choice and just grabbing a taxi (they now use their meters and no longer have a flat rate)is another good option. The only reason we would consider booking a private "black car" would be if we had unused OBC and could arrange it through Seabourn (which is than charged to our onboard account). We strongly dislike cruise line transfer buses. It can take a long time until they are fully loaded, and the norm is to drop folks at one central drop point at MIA which might not be close to your desired airline. And to add insult to these cruise line buses, they usually cost more than just grabbing a taxi Hank

Worrying about "healthy" will give you anxiety and cause lots of health issues :).

We know you are too young to remember Sitmar 🙂

We are well aware. Of all the cruise lines we have sailed (17 to date) the best food (by far) has been on the new Explora 1 (Explora Journeys Cruise Lines). That ship does not even have a MDR, but relies on 4 distinct restaurants (2 of which require reservations), another tiny venue that features food by a Michelin 2 or 3* Chef) and a Lido buffet which has an interesting assortment of food such as their raw seafood bar which might feature oysters on the half shell, cracked crab claws, giant shrimp, mussels, etc. There is also a fresh sushi station and a grill where you can choose from things like salmon, 2 types of lobster, etc. As to "suite restaurants" we have generally been underwhelmed. Some would argue that the "Grills" on Cunard are top notch, but others would disagree. MSCs Yacht Club has a dedicated restaurant, but the quality and prep of the cuisine is far from what one would expect in a decent land-based venue. I do think that over the years, the general quality of cruise food has gradually deteriorated to a level that most would not consider for a land-based meal where they had to pay real money. What some now call the "suite restaurants" are barely at the level we used to expect on a normal cruise ship back in the 70s and early 80s. We are very curious about the new Ritz Carlton ship, but have yet to talk with anyone who has actually been on that line. We did recently meet a lady who is an owner on the World, where she claims the restaurant cuisine rivals shoreside venues. Hank

The Hilton is accessible via an enclosed overhead walkway (you access it through the garage) which takes you to an elevator that drops you right at the front entrance. It is the perfect option for a really late night arrival. You can use one of the airport luggage trolleys in this walkway which makes the long stroll tolerable. Hank