navybankerteacher

Because you are also spending free time (which for most of us is not unlimited), shouldn't it also be the best way of using that particular resource?

Of course if one is seeking the cheapest fare for the most bare-boned cruise experience, he should stick with the likes of NCL and Carnival. But once good food well, served, comfortable accommodations, and some amenities (such as included Wi-Fi, the ability to bring aboard wine for cabin consumption without charge, free room service, etc.) are figured in (as is the case with those who seek more than bare bones when sailing with NCL or Carnival) the pricing comes very close. Quite a few folks who do sail with the mass market lines and opt to upgrade from barebones cruising DO wind up paying totals “in the same ball park” for a given cabin type.

Obviously — if one is thinking of the best cruise line in which to invest one’s retirement savings. Of course, that would make it unlikely for it to be the best one to cruise with.

Are you saying that those 50 spots would go unused?

Your favorite lines are shown as Princess and Royal Caribbean - two of the mass market lines which have joined the race to gain market share by holding fares down - which must result in decline in quality of food, service and entertainment. How can you expect anything other than the decline you mourn? I suggest you try spending just a bit more and getting the quality experience you now miss. Azamera, Seabourn, and Oceania - to name just a few - offer the sort of quality which you seem to miss. After all, when you first cruised, you decided to pay for a cruise experience which cost more than, say, a week at a local motel with meals at Denny’s. You were then willing to pst more than the bare bones minimum for your vacation experience. The same rationale holds today: if you want something good, you should be prepared to pay for it. If you want the cheapest vacation possible, do not expect to enjoy it very much.

Renting a car in Italy only makes sense if you will be visiting smaller towns and rural areas - we found it great for visiting the hill towns while spending a week in Greve in Chianti, or parking at the big garage near the Venice rail station, but driving into Rome, Florence, Naples, Milan, etc. is a sure recipe for a bad time.

Take the cruise you prefer - rather than the less expensive one. If what you prefer most is based on lowest price, can you really afford to cruise in the first place?

Are you SERIOUSLY claiming that passengers boarding NCL cruise are not permitted to park at the Baltimore cruise port?

“Amazing” can be read two ways. Norwegian Gem provided my most amazingly bad experience, while Oceania Insignia was amazing in the other direction

6 - on QM2’s non-stop TA. I doubt there are many sailings without one or more stops scheduled per week. A great break from day to day routine - which cruising is meant to provide. I am inclined to pity people who can’t stand a half dozen such days.

My preference is to pack appropriately - depending upon the anticipated duration, activities pre- and post-cruise, shipboard expectations, etc. ; and preferring not to spend time hunting for, or using, laundromats or the bathroom sink. I see no triumph in travelling “light” - strictly limiting myself to carry-on -preferring to attain the purpose of the trip: having a good time. There is the occasional limited-activity and short-duration which makes carry-on only appropriate — but for most travel will bring what I want and need: which entails checking luggage.

Nor if it a ferry boat.

And there are many who serve on ships (and boats) which are not wind-driven - who are still referred to as sailors.

If I lived within walking distance of the pier, I might consider one. The fact is the first day really starts in early afternoon - after you get through the boarding process - and part of the third day is taken up by repacking. Then- you are hustled off fairly early on debarkation - so there is no arithmetic which gives you 72 hours (three full days) on board. I can see a first-time cruiser trying one to see if he/she liked being in a ship in the first place, but the hassle and uninspiring ports (Nassau, for example) makes a three day cruise a dismal exercise.

I suspect that some people just get off the ship, walk on the pier a bit, and then get back on board. Thinking of anything much more than that without being aware of the crowds (i.e. the number of ships in port with you) just does not happen.

Seabourn Quest Miami-Miami 12/19- 1/4- 450 passengers, or Oceania Insignia , also Miami 12/17-12/29 - 650 passengers.

Starting to sound like a suicide pact. Unless BOTH sides are willing to accept SOME compromise, this sort of negotiation is pointless and hopeless.

Which is very difficult if you do not plan for heavy traffic, crowded beaches, unavailable local transportation , etc. Planning for heavy crowds is just as important as planning what to see and how to do “…what you want.”

There are days when there are 5 or 6 ships at Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, for example,- dropping over 20,000 passengers on an island with just a few multiples of that as a permanent population- crowding the town, roads and beaches. It is difficult to see how that could have zero impact on anyone going ashore - as opposed to the days when there might be just a couple of thousand pax.

I assume, then, that you do not ordinarily go ashore at cruise ports of call. My experience is that any port much smaller than New York will have a noticeably different flavor if there are up to tens of thousands of other cruisers visiting it the same day your ship pulls in.

The bottom line is the ONLY reason they sail in the first place, or think of the pax experience at all.

Agreed - they have attracted a broad market of customers who appear to be satisfied with what is now offered - so they will have no incentive to restore previous amenities; rather, having learned that they could cut services to reduce costs, they will be inclined to seek further cuts.

XII

When to buy tickets is a question similar to when to invest in the stock market. Do it BEFORE prices go up, or AFTER they come down. An itinerary which sells well will see price increases up until sailing date (or until all cabins are booked) - while one which is not selling well will see prices go down until the ship finally sails with some empty cabins. The intelligent cruiser will decide on the itinerary and the accommodations he wants and will book it when the price seems right. If he continues to track prices, he is much more likely to regret his decision than to be happy with it. On any sailing, only one (or very few) will have paid the least - everyone else will feel unhappy if he compares. Make your decision and live with it.