Itchy&Scratchy

I did say I could only afford an inside on an older X ship, didn't I? However, I expect a steerage class X apple to be somewhat better even on an older ship than a steerage class MSC apple on a newer ship. Hence, the comparison. I am certainly not comparing an older X apple with a new Princess or RCI one.

I am paying it for 3 people, though, and we are limited to school breaks. well, good luck to us all finding that price during the holidays. I haven't paid this kind of price in many years.... I wish, but the reality is quite different. I did find a solo fare for $1,200 on MSC on our cruise for my MIL, but she cancelled before final payment.

we didn't see one on Seascape (we didn't look), but I wouldn't be surprised if there was only one with long lines to use it.

I agree 200%!

we were just on MSC Seascape, and while we didn't exactly 100% enjoy this cruise, we were super pleasantly surprised that the casino was non-smoking. We didn't gamble, but it was conveniently positioned and had a well stocked bar, so we used that bar a lot and crossed forward to aft and back through the casino all day long. Imagine my double surprise when I found out that it just recently became non-smoking, and that only a couple of months ago people were very unhappy with all the smoke that was coming out of it (it has no doors).

check out Spirit within 90 days of the cruise and Southwest way farther out from the cruise. We don't cruise for points, and we are limited to school breaks. My DH refuses to drive from Atlanta to either MIA or FLL, so we always fly.

were you INSIDE the casino? In that case, yeah, bad smoke. We don't go to the casino at all, and that may be the reason the casino smoke on Enchanted wasn't a deterrent for us. On the two NCL ships we were on, the smoke from the casino went EVERYWHERE in the middle of the ship. And that was gross.

aaah, liquid sugar. Gotcha. 🙂 We ended up with a premier package on our upcoming Enchanted cruise, but we barely drink ever, and I cannot handle more than 2 drinks a day (tested on our recent MSC cruise)... so, Nutella crepes for the entire family (not for my diabetic dad, though) is our guilty after dinner pleasure. I sure hope they still have them in June.

we didn't notice any bad smoke coming from the casino on Enchanted unless I was walking right by the casino's entrance (Nov 2022). Believe me, the smell of smoke was the main reason we were one and done with NCL Getaway and Jade ships. Bad food was the other reason. But Enchanted in 2022 was wonderful and non-smoky at all. I wonder what happened since then.

they don't have time to pick out customers who booked an accessible cabin out of 2,000 emails per ship... These are marketing emails and are sent in batches per ship. In addition, you may not be able to walk which I am very sorry about, but people traveling with you may be able to, so I am sure a cruise line would be happy to sell an excursion to them. We are going to travel with my parents in June, and my dad can barely move. I am thinking about booking some excursions for us and my mom, but not for my dad, because he won't be able to walk a mile for a river tubing excursion. We once ended up in a handicap accessible cabin without even asking for it. I did have a boot on at that time, but the cruise line didn't know about it, and I was able to walk.

well, people on the Celebrity subforum are saying that things are quickly going downhill on Celebrity ships. We'll be on Enchanted in June and I can't wait! don't we only get 2 of them with Premier package? For free, I mean. our favorite after dinner pastime on Enchanted became nutella crepes in the buffet.... Ooooh. So good.

no, they do not. How old is the infant? check out these boards for more info on traveling with your own car seat (or without one, especially if you didn't buy an airplane seat for your infant). https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/28-family-cruises/ https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a10635/traveling_with_children I highly recommend getting a light, compact travel seat, like Cosco Scenera NEXT. You can attach it to a stroller or a hand truck with bungee cords. Use it on the plane to ensure its safety. You should learn to install this seat with a seat belt lock clip because sometimes cars in the Caribbean nations do not have locking seat belts or lower latch anchors (aka isofix). It's a couple of bucks on Amazon.

We enjoyed the food very much. The cowboy wasn't singing the entire time, I think he showed up about half way through our late lunch. We got way too much food, but it was all super delish, but I hate wasting food, so I stuffed myself until we ate everything (3 of us, but our preteen eats very little despite being a very big boy). We got a 3 meat meal, and a 1 meat meal with smoked wings (I wanted the smoked wings). here is my brief review of our bbq lunch: and the post after this one has the menu as of April 2023.

if it's on a battery, what is it plugged into?

not at all in this situation. I am extremely frugal, and we are not rich. Why do you think we are in an inside cabin on Celebrity's older ship? Because that's all I can afford. I now look at the overall price. Look - I provided it above. Celebrity Reflection, 8 night, ABC island, inside, 2 parents, 1 kid, no frills fare - $2,600. MSC Seascape, 8 night, Western, inside, no frills fare, 2 parents, 1 kid - $2,334. The difference is not all that ridiculous. If you are only looking at the breakdown, you'll be surprised to know that sometimes this breakdown is quite ridiculous for other cruise lines as well, like Carnival. When I was pricing it before the pandemic, the fare for person 1 and 2 was $549 each, and $949 for the kid as a 3rd person. Talk about a ridiculous breakdown. Now I am looking at the bigger picture, and we are sailing on Carnival Horizon balcony, 3 of us, Thanksgiving, ABC islands, for $2,700, no frills fare. I did get a soda package for the kiddo for $6.95 a day. what things? We had to pay extra for things other than kid's club, water slides and water park, which my kid doesn't use anyway. Even the soft serve was for a fee on MSC.

I got my confirmation yesterday! So, Jan 9 booking request to Jan 16 confirmation. Thank you all! I will confirm with Hyatt directly just in case, because I do that, and I am looking forward to staying there for the first time.

are these complimentary?

what was the charge back to? OP sent cash to the TA. TA paid Carnival with something - we don't know what. What was charged back? TA's credit card? Obviously, no t OP's credit card, because he sent cash. All OP has to show for it is the cash that left his bank account. neither should be the customer who was thrown under the bus by the TA.

"Your Time 5:30-9:00 Edit Dining does this mean I have "my time dining"? Do I get to make a reservation for a certain time, say 6 pm or 6:20 pm, like we do on Princess and RCI through the app? How does it work on Carnival? We'll be on the Horizon.

yes, indeed. We are limited to school breaks since we cruise with a school aged child. 🙂 everything is more expensive during school breaks.

what, why? My kid loves Princess and is looking forward to trying Celebrity. Not every kid wants water slides, rock climbing, or even a kid's club. Mine doesn't. What mine didn't like about MSC is the lack of the free soft serve and having to queue up for ping pong (long lines). We also hope that the MDR food will be better on Celebrity and that we won't have to pay $5 for a second+ entree. Seascape was also crowded to no end, and don't even get me started on embarkation procedures in ports of call. That was an organizational disaster and clusterfudge. I disagree. We are going on an 8 night ABC island itinerary in an inside cabin on Celebrity Reflection, no frills, not AI, for $2,600 for 3 of us for spring break 2024. Oh, and $300 OBC. I have just priced a spring break 2025 Seascape cruise for us - 8 night Western Caribbean, Fantastica inside no frills, no package cabin, $2,235.34 for 3 of us, no OBC. Yes, it's $400 cheaper, but steerage class experience on Celebrity and steerage class on MSC aren't the same, and the difference in price is definitely NOT 2 times.

thanks, but Hyatt Place Miami Airport East on November 22 starts at $307.... I booked Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon just in case prices don't come down at all. We liked it a couple of months ago.

I already treated my family to a multi thousand dollar vacation. They can spend it without a $32 sunday. They are not going to get it at home either, because that's just a waste. I still have to pay for braces, you know. If they want a treat, we'll get a gelato or a fancy coffee drink under $5 onboard.

Royal Caribbean if you can afford it (lately, their prices have been out of control), new Carnival and new Norwegian (NCL) ships. Book 2 connecting cabins: 2 adults + 2 youngest kids in one, and 3 oldest kids in a connecting cabin. How old is the infant? You may want to book it this way, though: 1 adult and 3 kids in one, and 1 adult and 2 kids in another cabin. Once onboard, you can have the oldest 3 sleep in one cabin and parents + 2 youngest in another. You can go to Guest Services to rekey your guest cards (to open doors). Most cruise lines will not let 3 minors to be booked in one room online, so you have to call them to book two connecting or adjacent (not necessarily connecting) cabins. But you can book one adult in each cabin with the kids. The cruise lines consider people under 25 to be minors for booking purposes.

we saw all three for the first and only time in 2022. My parents will see them for the first time in June 2024.