Hlitner

We were in an ordinary OT3 for 18 days with few complaints. Our suite was quiet, plenty of storage in the walk-in closet and drawers, and the bathroom/shower was perfectly fine. As to the overall size, it does matter what you are used to on ships. If you come from a vessel where you had a huge suite, than the approximate 300 sq feet suite will seem small. If you come from a ship with smaller cabins (like the R ships on Oceania) the suites will feel adequate. Hank

Just some deja vous for you :). When we first cruised on RCCL (now RCI) in the early 80s, it was on the 18,455 ton Sun Viking which held over 800 passengers. Food on that vessel was very good. There were only two sittings (no open dining or alternative restaurants) and the waiters wore white gloves. All the side dishes where served, by assistant waiters, out of large silver serving bowls and platters. When we would order a baked potato, our waiter would open up the potato and spoon-in what ever toppings we desired. I still recall, on lobster night, our waiter bringing an extra large platter full of lobster tails, which he put on the table for those who wanted more! That waiter (Gary Branch) later became the dining room manager on the same vessel :). In those days there was a huge midnight buffet every night of the cruise. Times have changed. And no, we no longer cruise on RCI. Gave it up about 20 years ago when the cruise line "sold out" quality in favor of mega ships. Nothing wrong with that for some folks, but just not our style. Hank

A few comments aimed at the OP :). We have been cruising (extensively) for about 50 years and also routinely do independent land travel. When it comes to Europe we seldom book excursions and generally rely on our own independent plans. We do sometimes book private tours (or cruise line excursions) when there are things, we want to do that cannot possibly be done on our own. All of your ports can be handled, independently but the whether that happens is a very personal thing. For those of us who like to be on our own, have some spirit of adventure, and lots of "travel sense," we can and do handle these ports without tours. So, the quick answer to your question is yes, you can do this without excursions or tours. The question is are you willing to put in the pre-cruise homework and will you be comfortable doing things on your own in countries where there are some language challenges. You can get lots of help right here on Cruise Critic by simply going to the appropriate "Port of Call" blogs and reading/searching for your specific ports. You can also post any questions or doubts and there are quite a few folks who will be able to answer your questions and give you the details you might need to do stuff on your own (oft referred to as DIY). Some of your ports are easier to handle than others. For example, Kotor is a very easy DIY port for folks that simply plan on exploring that town (and not venturing too far from the port). Rome (a fabulous but huge city) is somewhat more difficult because of the distance from the port (more than an hour) and the size of the city. But plenty of cruisers do Rome on their own (we have done this dozens of times). If your cruise embarks or debarks at Rome we strongly recommend adding a few extra days to your trip and staying in Rome! Hank

Losing an hour every day (or so) is not a big deal and folks seem to adjust. Some cruise lines have adopted a practice (arguably started many years ago on HAL) of turning the clock ahead in the early afternoon. The idea is that one's sleep is not impacted and the only adjustment (for most) is when they want to have lunch. Hank

Just an observations from one who cruises on many different cruise lines (5 in the past year). Every line we have cruised (luxury and mass market) really seem to have lacked the quality and selection we used to see in the ole days of cruising. It seems like a lot the emphasis on desserts ended when the late night buffets became a thing of the past. It is terrific to see HAL bringing this back and perhaps it will start a trend. Hank

I guess the new HAL marketing campaign will revolve around "Let them Eat Cake!" Hank

Now that got my attention...since we never heard of that stuff 🙂

In other words, "have been takien for a ride" by a south Fl taxi. Over the years a couple have tried, but since we used to live in the area (Plantation) we are well aware of the proper routes :). But, I do have a simple piece of advice for folks that use taxis anywhere in the world (including south FL). Before you even get to your taxi, put your destination into one of your phone apps such as googlemaps or Apple maps. You can than follow along and get a good idea if your driver is "taking you for a ride." Just keep in mind that traffic in south Florida does sometimes mean a slightly different route might be faster....so give the driver a little slack :). Another thing about south Florida hotels Since there are lots of hotels with similar names, we generally give the driver the name of the hotel and the street (i.e. Embassy Suites on 17th St). Hank

If you were to get an Uber, at this minute, from Ft Lauderdale to Miami the cost of an Uber X (a normal car) is $40.99. A larger car (Uber XL) would be $64.70. The thing to understand about Uber is that the pricing is always changing (surge pricing). Having lived in that part of Florida, and also having embarked/disembarked on more than hundred cruises from those two ports, we have our own strategy. We generally arrive in the area the afternoon before embarkation and choose our hotel based on where we plan on having dinner :). Our normal "go to" restaurant is Kellys Landing, which is a no-reservations popular seafood place (think Maine Lobster, terrific lobster rolls, great chowder, etc). This is very convenient to the popular Embassy Suites (17th Street) which is a hotel badly in need of an upgrade to its rooms. For us, getting from airport to hotel and hotel to port (either Port Everglades or Port of Miami) is on us. Some hotels do have free shuttles (from the airport) but they are not usually where we choose to stay. We have also had plenty of lousy experiences with free shuttles (to hotels and to the ports) in terms of waiting, crowding, making multiple stops, etc. From the airports we will often grab a taxi because it is convenient and fast. From hotel to port (either port) we generally use Uber/Lyft. Even when our hotel has a shuttle we still prefer Uber just to avoid the hassles with hotel shuttles. Also keep in mind that a shuttle to the port may stop at several ships before you get to your destination. Folks need to sometimes make a decision whether to "go cheap" or "go convenient." I should add that the hotel prices in Lauderdale and Miami have become somewhat ridiculous, but that is the nature of our current economy. Hotels that used to cost about $120 now can get over $300 (especially during the popular cruise/tourist season). There are less costly options (especially close to the airports) where you might need to get an Uber or taxi to get to a decent restaurant for dinner. No right or wrong with these options, just a matter of your preferences and budget. Hank

As a young boy in NYC, we knew what and where to get a real egg cream (which has no eggs or cream). The recipe is simple and uses whole milk, fountain seltzer, and Foxes U-Bet Chocolate syrup. Many years ago, I took a good friend into the Stage Deli and we decided to sit at the counter and have an egg cream. The counter man, who had worked at the Stage for decades, told us that he actually preferred using Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (in place of the Foxes) to which I quickly responded "blasphemy!" That got a small cheer from a few other patrons that overheard the conversation. DW would say that a real egg cream should be accompanied with a real "black and white (cookie)"

So let me think out loud and get it straight in my little mind. HAL offers a non-refundable deposit, and if you accept those terms, you get a lower price on your booking. When you later want to make a change, HAL simply holds you to the original agreement. Is that wrong? I cannot help but wonder that if a non-refundable deposit let you make changes, like with a normal refundable deposit, why would anyone ever book the higher cost refundable deal. Where do I have this wrong? Hank

You are wrong. Here is a link to the MSC Status Match page Status Match Program | Reward Program | MSC Cruises (msccruisesusa.com) Interesting thing about MSC is that DW and I seldom have any interest in the various get togethers for loyalty folks, But the first time we cruised on MSC, we decided to go to the various parties just to see how they stacked up against other cruise lines. MSC really did a great job. Unlike what we see on many other lines, the MSC functions had lots of support from senior staff (including the Captain). As to being the "weakest loyalty program" they do give a 5% discount (off what you pay for the cruise) which is a lot more generous than a free cocktail :). Book a 2 week cruise in the Yacht Club and that status match might save you over $500. Hank

I think your terminology is flawed. Most of us do not say we get lower prices (that would generally mean the cruise price) but we do say that we get significant discounts in terms of generous on board credits (often refundable), pre paid gratuities, etc. I will give you an example in concrete terms. A couple of months ago we took a month-long cruise on a luxury cruise line. We booked through one of our two favored cruise agencies and paid the exact same price that anyone would have paid if they had booked through the cruise line. But because we booked through an agency, we received $1900 back. We could have had that as an onboard credit or a post cruise rebate..and took the rebate (cash). On another (Sept) luxury cruise line we got several thousand dollars in on board credits ($1200 was later refunded to bank account as a rebate). This would not happen when booking directly with the cruise lines. Next month we have a 2 week cruise on a mass market cruise line. We paid the normal price which is what any of us would have paid if we had booked direct with the cruise line. The difference is that the cruise agency gave us $450 (about 6% of the cruise price) in refundable on board credit. On another luxury cruise we booked for 2024, a different cruise agency is giving us over $2000 in refundable on board credits (that means spend it onboard or take the cash). Another issue for us is that we book many different cruise lines. We can do all that with a single cruise agent/agency (although we prefer to split our business among two). If we have any issues we simply sent a quick e-mail to our cruise agent and the issue is handled. One of our favorite cruise agencies actually posts multiple prices for the same cruise/cabin. One price might include a generous onboard credit and some other perks while another much lower price might include a very small OBC. There are lots of options out there for those who shop around which is why we like to say that folks can often save 7-10%. But this does not mean that the cruise "price" will be 7-10% less. That is simply the way things are and have been for many years. For those booking the lowest cost cabins on the shorter mass market cruises, the savings (from shopping around) will generally not amount to a lot of money. As one spends more for their cruises (i.e. longer voyages, more expensive cabins, more expensive luxury lines, etc) the overall savings can be quite dramatic. Hank Hank

No joke for us (a 5 mile walk would be fine) but agree that most cruisers would grab a taxi. The truth here is that shuttle buses are "cruise line specific." Some lines provide free or low cost shuttle buses at most ports while other lines prefer to coerce their charges into booking very expensive excursions. Since the OP did not specify the cruise line...hence the answer.

Shuttle services (whether they exist, are free, of have a price) vary by cruise line. A taxi will probably want about 20 Euros (for the taxi) which, given the distance, is somewhat of a rip-off. Shared taxis (which you can sometimes find loading in the old port area, are the best deal as the larger van/taxis may cost as little as 5 Euros per person. We honestly do not even worry or think about any of this and just do our own thing. If and when we need to get back (from the Vieux Port area) we simply grab a taxi, shuttle, or allow plenty of time so we could walk/crawl if necessary :). Hank

We are in loyalty programs with more than a dozen cruise lines and only MSC expires. For what it's worth, the benefits of loyalty programs have been consistently "watered down, by many lines. This has usually been accomplished by changing packages and normal onboard benefits (such as Internet access). As one who has very high status with multiple lines, we NEVER even consider those benefits when choosing a line or cruise. What are the best benefits..industry wise? That might be an interesting topic. But we would give high marks to the lines that give real discounts on cruise bookings (MSC, Silverseas, etc) and free laundry. The free laundry becomes quite valuable on the longer cruises and not nearly as important on a short 7 day voyage. Hank

Having fun with this, but no joy! Using your info (thank you) I was able to get into our reservation on our laptop. It offers the same exact options as we get through the iPhone App. If we want to make any reservations it will charge our credit card. If we try to hit "reserve" without telling it which credit card it simply does not make the reservation. In case anyone would ask, does the system actually say we have the Premiere Package, the answer is yes. It is all there in the usual Summary screen with all the benefits listed (including 2 included alternate restaurants). We will just chalk it up to the Princess software issues (which does not seem to work the same for each person). Having been on an awful lot of Princess cruises, we could write a book about all the various software issues (over the years) so this is simply one more to add to the mix :). It was interesting that the Princess phone rep was not surprised by the issue so we assume they hear it over and over again. Hank

I appreciate your tip, but it does not work (we get "the booking number has already been claimed"). Apparently, this happens because we already have the booking linked to our phone apps. Kind of fun playing with this stuff (a bit of a techie here) but when it comes to Princess software nothing surprises. To be honest, we do not sweat this kind of small stuff.

We do leave the tiles behind. Have no idea why DW tossed the Medallions in the luggage, but we shall somehow survive :). This is not meant as a slight to HAL as we leave that kind of stuff behind on every cruise line. As DW likes to say, just more "stuff" for which we have no use.

You can buy them on ebay :). A bronze medallion is now selling for $11.56. Too funny.

Somehow we will survive :). Since we prefer to dine late (8:30 is not very late for us) we generally have no problem booking alternative reservations onboard. On Princess, we have found that late diners seldom have issues getting into the MDRs or alternative venues. We can hope things have not changed. In fact, the way folks are, these days, I can imagine a queue for dinner at 3pm :). When we started cruising (back in the 70s) it was very difficult to get the late seatings (usually at 8:30). Gradually, over the years, North American culture has changed to earlier and earlier dining times. Folks now go to dinner at tea time! Imagine! Hank

The credit situation can be somewhat of a con. Say you book some excursions (using your credit) and one or more of the excursions are cancelled by HAL. At that point you may not have any opportunity to use those credits (i.e. no available tours or perhaps it is the last port) and you simply lose the credits with no recourse. Hank

LOL. I am not even interested in how many medallions we have. In fact, I think DW has likely just thrown away all that stuff. It cracks me up when we see some HAL cruisers actually wearing those tacky things....but everyone to their own taste. We once tried to sell some medallions and HAL pins at one of the onboard auctions (HAL does this towards the end of some cruises) but HAL had a rule that you could not sell those particular items.

Since we do not use Google Play (on our laptops) there is no way to install the Princess app on anything other than Apple or Android devices. I should add that even the Princess folks (who answer their phones) were unable to make reservations using our included specialty dining. As I posted last week, those Princess "experts" elevated the issue (which in Princess speak means nothing will ever get fixed). Such is life/ Hank

We had once heard of a cruise line, where the pool staff would go around to empty loungers and "politely" fold the towels and leave them on the loungers. If they returned in a half hour and the towels were undisturbed, they would than clear everything off the loungers. On our last Princess cruise in the Caribbean, DW and I stayed aboard during one port day and relaxed on deck. Next to us were a bunch of "saved" loungers with nothing but towels. Those folks finally showed-up more than 5 hours later and told us they had been ashore on an excursion.! Kind of sad. Hank