prmssk

Northern is similar to Inner Southern is similar to Outer Although, it isn’t a perfect match so double check any ports that mattered the most to you.

The Northern Loop is very similar to the Inner loop. If there were any specific ports you were looking at though, check the itineraries.

I'm not a foodie and am more than content with the MDR food so I'm not interested in spending my money on specialty dining. I would rather spend it on excursions or upgrade to a nicer room or save up to take more cruises.

If you are in concierge class, there is usually an embarkation day lunch in the MDR. (I think Zeniths and back to back cruisers can join this lunch.). Suites have access to Luminae for embarkation day lunch. And I believe the newest premium pass might include access to the MDR for embarkation day lunch. For everyone else, you are stuck with the buffet or the burger place. The Sushi speciality restaurant is also usually open for a fee.

You can't go wrong on the itinerary choice or the month. There are amazing things to see on each loop in any month of the year. We did the northern loop which is very similar to the inner loop. My live thread is in my signature if you want to see all the details. This loop includes Bartolome Island which is a climb to one of the most iconic views in the Galapagos. It also usually includes a stop at North Seymour Island or Genovesa which are both great spots for people who love birds. Genovesa Island was closed due to the bird flu on our trip but our stop at North Seymour Island gave us a chance to see up close mating and breeding Frigatebirds and Blue Footed Boobies which was amazing. I think the fur seal is usually only found on this loop. The outer and southern loops are the only chance to see the Waved Albatross. I understand the beeches are softer sand on this loop. This loop usually stops at the post office which I understand is a unique experience to leave a post card and pick some up to hand deliver. Our naturalist said that this loop can get a bit more rain although that is pretty unpredictable. Both loops get you up close to the giant tortoises and to the tortoise breeding center. And you will see more Blue Footed Boobies and sea lions than you can count on either loop. We booked the 10 day land/cruise tour. The plane between Quito and Baltra is a standard sized plane charted through Avianca. Celebrity really has the details of this land/cruise tour so thought out that it was a completely seamless experience and well worth it, in my opinion. We booked direct through the Celebrity website and called the Galapagos desk with any questions. It worked well for us but if you have a good travel agent you work with, you might want to book through them.

Almost everything posted to social media has been edited, clipped, etc. to fit the goals/agenda/bias of the person posting (regardless if they intend to actually deceive anyone). With AI now at everyone's finger tips, videos and photos can be completely fabricated with almost no effort. I disagree that social media is any reliable or accurate source of evidence. At best, it points to who might have some video/photo evidence. Someone would have to dig into the raw photo/video files and metadata to look for any reliable evidence.

The government is not focused on money in the same way a private business is. There are many factors that go into the decision of how much time and resources they put into an investigation.

In my experience, when an investigation results in no criminal or civil charges, very few details of the investigation can be/are released to the general public. So I'm not sure the limited articles I have seen necessarily reflect the complete scope of the investigation.

There is usually a QR code in the daily planner part way through the cruise. We have done this a few times. Once, we even received a few chocolates in our cabin for taking the time to leave a comment.

This comment in the Power Up points thread has a link to the webinar.

The promotion when we booked was a $750 fight credit or a $500 discount on the cruise fare. I don't know what the current promotion is. It is a comfortable and simple but not fancy ship. It was perfect for our needs. If you want more luxury, you may want to consider the Flora. FYI - The Xpedition does not have any elevators and the zodiacs used are not the modern ones that Flora has which I understand are a bit easier to get in and out of.

We cruised on the Xpedition doing the northern loop in November. I did a live which is linked in my signature. @mahdnc was on the Xpedition right after me doing the southern loop and also did a live thread. @KenTheCruiser had a live thread in December of the Flora Inner loop I believe. There's been one or two more recent threads as well. Those might be some good places to start comparing the differences. The inner loop has a lot of similarities to the northern loop. The outer loop is more similar to the southern loop. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the itineraries. We chose the Xpedition because it is built for 100 passengers but now only holds 48 so figured it would give us more space. It also was more cost effective than the Flora and we didn't think we needed the latest amenities. We were a bit intimidated by the small size of the Xploration. As someone else noted, it appears they only released Flora as an option for 2026. I don't know what that means. I see there is a PowerUp webinar about the Galapgos that I haven't watched yet so I don't know if it has any more information. Flights can't be booked until just under a year before your trip. If you book with a fare that includes a flight credit, you don't call Flights by Celebrity until you get to that point. Our flights were more than the credit so it was a good deal for us and made the experience really seamless. It truly is all inclusive including the alcohol. There is a small gift shop on the ship. Massages are extra. The Flora has glamping. But that really is it unless you do some extra days or touring before or after.

We have been on three different cruise line shore excursions that came back late for all aboard. In each case the ship waited for us. Any cruise line excursion comes with a guarantee that the ship will either wait for you or they will get you to the next port at their expense (a cost they do not want to incur, so I have never heard them resorting to that option).

There is no use for OBC. The Xpedition wasn’t even set up to handle it as you don’t have a traditional account set up like on the big ships and there is very little that costs extra on the Galapagos ships.

I was on the cruise where Princess transitioned to two drink packages. We were in the middle of a B2B when the change happened. My experience was that a lot of the wines we were enjoying on the Plus package week 1 were no longer included week 2 and I have seen drink price menus where wine prices have only grown higher. I also thought I had read that Good Spirits drinks are no longer included by Plus. The transition was such a mess that bartenders didn't know what was and wasn't included anymore that second week of our cruise. I followed cruise critic and other Princess groups after that cruise for a while to see how it all shook out and it still seems like quite a few drinks are no longer covered on Plus that used to be.

I must be a teetotaler because my husband and I combined don't drink enough to make the $60 a day/pp package worth it? $120 a day is a lot of money to spend on internet, tips, and drinks for light drinkers (we don't see value to the other perks with Princess Plus). When we book cruise only, our daily onboard charges don't come anywhere near that. We have never been able to justify buying a stand alone drink package. You do realize, cruise lines offer packages like this because they make money off them, right? That means enough people who don't make full use of the package get it for convenience. I'm always puzzled when people try and convince others that it is such a great deal. We all cruise differently and so it isn't going to be a great deal for everyone. People should do their own math based on how they cruise and what they expect to spend. Back to the topic of this thread, because AI packages aren't a great deal for us, it isn't a deciding factor for us between Princess and Celebrity. That said, I understand why the differences could be a deciding factor for those that regularly book AI packages.

All Included used to include gratuities. We usually book cruise only so it is not a deal breaker for us but for those who normally book AI, it was a fare hike. To be fair, Princess has played with their all included packages quite a bit over the past couple years. When we cruised with Princess in 2022, the packages were actually at a price point that made sense for us and so it was nice to have a more included fare. Since they have increased the price and changed the drink package structures so we would be back to booking cruise only again with them.

My issue is that the way so many ships are designed the smoke from the casino doesn't stay in the smoking section of the casino. Smoke filtering into the bar where I want to listen to music or get my favorite drink can really ruin the experience for me. Celebrity's no-smoking anywhere inside policy is one of the things that draw us to Celebrity.

Big picture - they are more alike than different and so I'm not surprised that different people will have a different preference for which one they prefer. Both offer a pretty solid product. I will personally never sail the Caribbean Princess again. When we were on her in 2022, it had so many maintenance issues that it actually did affect things daily and this was about a month after its dry dock when you think they would have addressed maintenance issues. (And for the record, I'm not the type to notice or complain about things like rust, torn curtains, etc. so I'm talking about significant issues like AC, plumbing, elevators, etc.). I hope these issues have since been addressed but it just left a sour enough taste in our mouth for the ship that we will avoid it in the future. Aside from that one ship, we have two issues that make us hesitate booking Princess for future cruises. First, cabin layout is really tight unless you book a mini-suite (older ships) or deluxe balcony (Royal Class) or higher. They prioritize a huge closet over actual space to walk around or somewhere to sit. Some may like that but it just doesn't work well for us. It looks like the Sun Princess may address this issue for us. The second thing is that they don't do as well with my food allergy. In the MDR, I was always served food I could eat but it was usually unseasoned, flavorless, and very repetitive. And this was across multiple ships so it wasn't just a not so great chef. I understand they are using more pre-made sauces which make it harder to customize meals. In the buffet, the variety is so much smaller than Celebrity which makes it harder to find things I can eat. Of all the cruises lines we have sailed, Princess was the hardest for me to find food I enjoyed that was safe for me to eat. Also, just a few thoughts on the medallion, I think the concept is very intriguing and when executed well is a huge plus. That said, on two different ships, the technology just didn't work well for us. Even getting our door to unlock was an issue for multiple people in our group on both ships. We spent more time than I wanted in line at guest services getting medallions replaced and then the replacement medallion didn't always work or only had partial function. I realize cruise cards can fail but not anywhere near the rate I've had medallion failures. I have heard a lot more positive reviews though on the medallion from the newest ships so maybe the infrastructure is better on those that were built on the medallion technology vs those that were retrofitted.

Accurate menus for your cruise won't show up in the app until the last week before your cruise (and they can even change after that point). What you are seeing right now is just placeholders often based on the current itinerary for your ship. So it can be really hard to plan specialty dining this far out around meals you don't want to miss in the MDR.

@Fedic I'm really enjoying your review! And the photos are great! So glad you got your camera back! It takes me back to our trip on the Xpedition last November.

I had diamond vouchers to use on disembarkation morning when I disembarked the Adventure of the Seas on April 20.

No, it’s not new news but it is clearly new information to some people. I personally don’t recall the last time (before this post) that I saw a thread about the shareholder credit for Royal/Celebrity. That’s not to say it hasn’t been talked about but it’s not something that has hung around on page one long enough that when it has that I have caught it. I say this as a shareholder so I think I would have noticed threads about it on page one on the days I log in. As a shareholder of Carnival too, I feel that one gets talked about far more frequently on the various boards and groups, probably because it has a much lower price point and so I think a lot more cruisers are shareholders.

It is a nice benefit for those who own shares. We picked up cruise stock when it hit pandemic lows as well.

Yes, you can share internet packages with as many people as you want by sharing the login you create at the start of the cruise. A 2 device package just only allows two devices connected at the same time. You can log on and off of devices as many times as you want.