losfp

We have large thermos-style water bottles that are amazing at keeping drinks cool all day so we like to fill up with ice and water before setting out on shore excursions. Because of their size, I wouldn't dream of filling them up directly at the dispenser as there's a hygiene risk having the bottle that close. I'm happy enough to fill up cups and then transfer into the bottle - that's what we've done on our last couple of cruises.

I think just being able to get up and not worry about work, school, housework, cooking etc for 13 days. The thing about the last couple of years is that it's been so much harder to just get away for a few days to reset the body and mind... So we are very much looking forward to our first post-covid cruise in Jan.

I feel like that close you MIGHT be able to hook onto the shipboard wi fi? Or maybe there's something you can print out and they check you in anyway. They can't seriously expect every single passenger to have a compatible mobile to show at checkin.

Yeah I'm actually not sure. Every time I've sailed out of Sydney, I've just used my regular mobile.

That's a fair point - I guess it's nice to have a bottle that you can pop the lid on instead of having a cup that you have to either drink or carry/leave. But it's not a deal breaker either way. For that price difference I'm more than happy to drink the provided tap water.

At the moment for my two booked cruises (Greek Isles on Explorer, Transatlantic on Odyssey), it's showing me: Explorer: 12.32/41.10 Odyssey: 15.87/51.36 for the soda/refreshment packages. I feel like we'll probably just go soda and then get coffee cards. Would love to be able to pick up bottled water, but the price difference is ridiculous. Not even considering the unlimited drinks package. In normally circumstances we are basically non-drinkers so it's not even remotely worth it (at best I would have 1-2 drinks a day on holiday)

For the first time ever, we have 3 upcoming cruises booked (Don't think we've ever had more than one booked in advance before). I think there is appetite for cruising, but a lot of it is still unknown so if you're booked... you're making a few assumptions in hope. Our next one in Jan is to New Zealand, I have reasonably high hopes that will go ahead without too many issues. The two after that are Europe/Transatlantic cruises and since they've restarted for quite a few months already, I actually have slightly higher hopes for those ones (plus they are 16-17 months away). I definitely didn't have any wish to book something in the first few months though, I will see how it goes with the first few cruises to see whether I panic or not haha

I have sailed on Majestic (and will do so again in January to New Zealand). She's a lovely ship, but maybe a smidgen too big for my tastes.. and there's a few things about her that I'm not sure would work well in Alaska - no walkaround promenade deck in particular. I have not sailed on Sapphire, but I HAVE sailed on her sister ship Diamond Princess in Asia. I loved that cruise and the size I think is ideal for Alaska. We've done Alaska twice. Once on a small ship cruise (IMO that is the absolute best way to cruise Alaska.. but they are in a completely different price point entirely) and once on Star Princess. Loved both cruises and Star was perfect for Alaska. I think if the itineraries are otherwise identical (For Alaska, I highly prefer to cruise one-way so that I can sneak in Denali National Park, and I will completely refuse to step on any Alaska cruise that doesn't go into Glacier bay hahaha) I would lean to the Sapphire for various reasons as listed by others here.

Keeping an eye on this - hoping they sort out all the kinks before our cruise on Majestic in January! 🙂 Have gotten all the green ticks apart from the health stuff that needs to be done shortly before, so I think we're... ok for now?

Josh Kennedy has been suspended for a week. And likely will miss several weeks with a hamstring strain suffered in said incident. Some other players had niggles and knocks, but as far as I know, no one else seriously.

Aaaaand not to be. We win 3 of the 4 quarters, but that one quarter we lost... it was a real, real bad one. Onto next week!

Well.... halfway there. Good comeback quarter by Swans has Carlton leading by 17 at 3/4 time. Much better fight in that quarter, but still a lot of work to do.

Yeah no, I think we're not coming back from this, barring a miraculous turnaround. Getting smashed in possessions, contested, uncontested, stoppages, you name it. Can't go with them tonight unfortunately. We are kicking very accurately for goal, otherwise it'd be 10 goals down at halftime.

I would think that any cards that have your information printed on them, they'd let you keep as they can't exactly reuse them anyway. From memory, the very first cruise we went on in 2002, the cards were blank, but pretty much any cruise we went on after that (next big ship cruise was 2015) had our names etc printed on them. We have all of them kept in our holiday keepsake boxes (I like to keep all the documentation etc stored) for the relevant trip. Things like theme park passes, personalised hotel room keys etc as well. It's sometimes nice to go back through and have a laugh at old prices or what we did on a particular trip

We have a good agent who we have used for 20 years, since our very first cruise (Pacific Sky, 2002). She's wonderful. She'll sit on line to airlines, cruise companies and hotels to chase up issues, rebook things for us, provide the most recent information on visas and restrictions, insurance etc. But if you don't have a good agent, then it may well be better to handle everything yourself.

We hope to have a bunch of money in super and various investments to go cruising once we retire, but we're a fair way off that (wife and I are both mid 40s, with two kids, 9 and 14). So we try and take trips where we can.. and dream of a time when we can take off and only have to pay for two people 😄 😄

Hey OP - a couple of things: 1. You are completely entitled to cruise the way you want to, no need to justify it. If you want to forego cleaning for a week, simply discuss with your cabin attendant on day one and see what they can do, or what else they can suggest. I would think they would do all they can to accomodate your needs and maybe they can suggest a compromise that would make you happy. 2. I hope you take the feedback as more reassurance that things will be fine rather than people insulting you for wanting to be different - at least most of the responses I've seen are in that vein.

I assume they are just like software terms and agreements. Everyone just clicks on OK without reading anything 😄 We've been able to bring on lots of soft drinks in Vancouver (Star Princess), Singapore (Diamond Princess) and Sydney (Majestic Princess). I'll double check the contracts for our next one on Majestic in Jan, curious to see what it says.

100% agree. I've switch pretty much exclusively to quick-drying lightweight pants from Kathmandu, Uniqlo or similar. They fold up in half the space of a pair of jeans, and dry much much quicker when you have to wash them. Hell, I never wear jeans anymore, fullstop.

Six is an excellent choice for a cruise ship show. High energy, great numbers, empowering themes, small cast and simple stage, single 90 min act. I saw the Australian production 4 times in Sydney and loved it each time. Cats... yeah no. I saw it a few years back. I'm glad I saw it. The performers were great. I don't need to ever see it again (but if I found myself on a ship and it was "free"... then I would drag my kids to see it as they haven't seen it and I feel like they should suffer like I suffered). We were considering Symphony for our first RCI cruise and I think we would have enjoyed Hairspray as we've seen it a few times and enjoyed it. But we ended up booking Explorer and Odyssey.. so no Broadway cruise shows for us. The other shows mentioned here, I like Jersey Boys, Grease is ok (but the ending is terrible) and Mamma Mia is fine if you turn your brain off and just enjoy the ABBA music.

If they can't access your stateroom, they simply leave paperwork/patter etc at the door. In addition, if you have the room set up for 3/4 people, they set up the additional bunk beds etc, that I believe are not possible to do by yourself unless you have the right tools (room/ship dependant) We have on occasion skipped a cleaning (if someone's taking a nap etc etc) but I would think that confined space would get pretty gross without proper cleaning for a week. IMO as long as they're following proper protocol, and you ensure that you're not there when they go to clean up AND you're not going back in straightaway, the risk is minimal.

Oh there's a stated limit on cans now. Is that new? We've had no problem taking on lots of cans in the past. I think on our last cruise pre-pandemic, we had something like 3 24-can cases of soft drink that I slapped luggage tags on, and they made their way safely to our stateroom along with our luggage 😄 (Diamond Princess out of Singapore)

The other way of looking at it is that for a first timer, you want to give them as good an experience as possible. A seasoned cruiser might pick a cheaper or less desirable stateroom, knowing full well what they're getting themselves into. A new cruiser might be put off the whole experience entirely if their allocated cabin just isn't suitable. Anyway. I hope OP has a nice time.

Booked 2 Europe cruises for Oct 2023 - Excitement high! Browsing the drinks and internet package prices - Enthusiasm now waning 🙂 We have months to go at least, so I can wait and see what end of year sales bring. If it's simply not worth it, we can go for a week or two without internet (have booked a 7 day and a 15 day back to back-ish) and PAYG for drinks. The constant fluctuations are annoying, and also the prices differ between the two cruises we've booked - I don't know if it's to do with the ships being different, or the itinerary or....?

EDIT: oops, dupe post