LB_NJ

I meant a la carte as opposed to their tasting menu.

I have a cruise booked on Eclipse in Aqua. It looks pricey however thinking about a dinner in Murano (ala carte). The sample menu on the website lists appetizers, entrees, and a cheese course. First, besides cheese are there also deserts? I assume you are limited to one entree however are you limited to one appetizer? Finally, is the food much better than Blu?

I don't know about Ascent however, on some ships they will let you order off the MDR menu when you are in Blu.

My comment about iffy weather was not really about storms, although they are possible, it is that depending on the route in can be cold and rainy. This is not the Caribbean or a summer cruise TA cruise. As others have said it is the luck of the draw. As long as you understand that weather can be unpredictable go for it. Fyi, cruises that start in the US and end in the Mediterranean or vice versa can be up to 15 days long. It is like a Mediterranean cruise coupled with a 7/8 day TA.

Interesting, my insurance policy doesn’t have that, however, it looks like that only covers airline change fees, not the cost of a new ticket or any other costs related to the change of itinerary.

Does your policy specifically cover a change of embarkation/debarkation ports? I would like to know which insurance carrier covers that circumstance.

Except for Cancel for any reason insurance (almost double the cost and you only get back 75% of your loss) travel insurance probably won't cover what happened. I looked at an old travel insurance policy from Trawick which was underwritten by Nationwide and it would not cover this. Also, this is not the airlines fault. They shouldn't suffer any losses. BTW, most airlines will let you make a penalty free change (except for the most basic airline tickets) except you have to pay the current rate on the new itinerary. The company responsible is the one that owns and/or was operating the cargo ship. They should pay for everything. However, they probably did not have enough insurance to cover everything and they probably put the ship into its own corporation to prevent anything like this being charged to the parent corporation.

Also, people cancel which opens up a spot or two. And even if you book an excursion Celebrity sometimes cancels. Happened to me more than once.

However prepaying gratuities gives Royal’s crack IT group another opportunity to screw up with your money. FYI, start a spreadsheet to keep track of the refunds. They don’t always come back in straightforward amounts.

Yes cancel cruise planner before a cruise. If it doesn’t put you into another penalty phase give it a couple of days between when you cancel cruise planner items and when you cancel the cruise.

Repositioning cruises (almost all TAs except the Cunard QM2 are repositioning cruises) tend to sail when the weather is iffy. We had pretty bad weather when we sailed. Cold and wet with rough seas. We were on Enchantment which is a smaller ship. It was aTA NJ to Italy with stops in Spain and France. We also went to Monaco on an excursion. We did Chops lunches for 2 of the days for a change of pace. Other than that we did the MDR for dinner all the days. I was OK with the food. In the end you have to decide if you are OK with eating in the MDR for that many nights. There are a lot of sea days so I learned to love Sodoku. If you get bored easily don’t do a TA. Pre-buy Euros if you are doing Spain, pounds if England. It is NOT the Caribbean where you can get away with using dollar bills. We spent an extra week in Italy at the end of our cruise and were happy we did. We booked that all on our own. If you have airline points use that for airfare. ONE WAY AIRFARE BACK TO THE US IS COST PROHIBITIVE. Fyi, my wife loved the cruise and wants to do another. I was happy I tried it once but not sure I would do it again.

Royal is still showing a cruise out of Baltimore at the end of May. I think they are being a little optimistic. They really should warn people that they might be switched to another departure port.

Are they planning on staying in Norfolk through the rest of 2024? If they can't get back by the end of drydock then they can't get back without canceling a cruise or cutting another cruise a day short.

I read somewhere that the official cruise parking lot for Norfolk holds 1200 cars. Would this be an issue if Vision were also to dock there?

I don't remember the dollar limit on Premium however if you purchase over the limit you will be charged the difference plus 20% on the difference plus any applicable tax on the difference.

I have. There are always last minute cancellations however, low bids will probably not succeed.

Royal is NOTORIOUSLY BAD at keeping passengers informed!

Some minor items that I have experienced. May not be true on all ships. Anything can change at any time. e.g., Celebrity used to let PAX take on 2 wine bottles per person vs. Royal's 1 but that changed. Almost forgot, it doesn't really bother me but irritates my wife, Celebrity provides hair conditioner in the shower, Royal does not. At least that is what I remember. Also, I think Celebrity does twice a day room service (ie, turndown in the evening), Royal went to once a day. Not sure if it was mentioned, I seem to remember that Royal allows smoking in the Casino and Celebrity does not. I think Royal still has formal nights, Celebrity has Evening Chic. Not sure that there is a real difference other than the names. Celebrity has Aqua Class and Royal does not. Celebrity doesn't make you sign out pool towels, Royal does. Royal sells a coffee punch card so you can prebuy specialty coffees at a discount (lots of discussion on the boards as to whether it is a true discount however for me it is). Celebrity doesn't really limit the amount of non-alcoholic beverages you bring on, Royal does. On the ships I have been on Celebrity usually has an outdoor grill near the pool that is free. Royal does not, Royal typically has a Johny Rockets that is extra charge. Probably much more stuff that I don't remember.

I thought that by a certain time there was a fee to cancel.

If you really don't want dinner in the MDR you can buy a pass for the specialty restaurants at less than the cost of a suite.

What is the current route around Baltimore that DOES NOT have a tunnel? You really don't want hazardous/explosive material in a tunnel.

I never buy cancel for any reason because it is significantly more expensive so I forget about that version. I was thinking of the standard variety travel insurance.

If they are sure they will be able to sail out of Baltimore fine, but if they can't then this is false advertising.

FYI, Royal is still selling June departures out of Baltimore.

I do not think most travel insurance would cover this. Travel insurance tends to be "named peril" and changing departure ports usually isn't listed as covered in the policies I've seen.