jonyboy

My wife and I are thinking about a cruise to the Galapagos.  Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated. 

4 minutes ago, ONCRUISEMODE said:

Wow.  The burgers make up for not having tacos.

 

I agree.  Fries are good also

4 minutes ago, Crew News said:

The Dive-In is located a few feet from the indoor pool and provides window take-out service (trays).  Dive In Menu   There are lots of tables nearby to eat or you can take your tray of food back to your stateroom.  The nearby tables have stewards offering free iced tea, lemonade, and ice water.  In addition, bar servers from the pool bar (a one minute walk away) will take drink orders.  Pool Bars Menu

 

Typical Vista Class Dive In

They have great burgers and fries

22 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Welcome back to HAL! I've not been on Zaandam, so can't speak specifically to that ship. I've sailed K'dam several times, as recently as Dec '23 - Jan '24 Hawaii and Mexico Dec '22.  While I VERY much enjoy the Thermal Spa and Grand Dutch Cafe, the MDR dinner was a major struggle. The dogs 🐕 K'dam continues to allow onboard (photo documented as recently as this month by current passengers and me Dec & Jan) is beyond insulting to actual service animals and will have me booking other ships.

Also cruising Carnival, I agree that HAL entertainment is very different.

I hope you'll come back and give us your opinion of the Zaandam and HAL. Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

While we like HAL, our last cruise was on Celebrity Edge and the dining options and service was quite a bit better than HAL

12 minutes ago, bnurick said:

Life pretty much improves with grilled Caribbean lobster!

Going to be in Puerto Rico next week and that's on list

I'm ready for anything with lobster, sounds great

3 minutes ago, bnurick said:

We essentially do this itinerary every January. Usually we try and find a Dominica port stop, but not this year, unfortunately. Kinda have all these ports down and do many private excursions with a couple repeats we like through X. As I post on each port stop you will see a few grilled lobster themed days. Cheers.

Lobster days sounds great.  We did a similar cruise on Edge and looking forward to Beyond

Planning to do this trip also, curious to see how much you all like it

18 minutes ago, seaoma said:

 

I just do not like sleeping in a watch. I have tried for a few years with my Fitbit. I can only manage about 5 days. I'm also someone who takes off their wedding rings and earrings every night too.

This 72 year old will not leave the house without a watch on.  I think I have about 8 of them now.  One of the glow in the dark one goes on cruises and any other vacation with me

7 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

 

Apples and Oranges.  On similar sailings, you’re paying 50% more on Oceana vs Celebrity for a balcony room

 

 

I agree

13 minutes ago, Smmessineo said:

How many .kids are on the Celebration on a 5 or 7 night cruise? How nice is the smoking area on the Celebration? How's the drink package?  How are the inside staterooms? Those are important to me and I've seen some ships that I recognize as great..but not great for me. 

All these comments remind me of when I was younger and my dad and my uncles would discuss, sometimes heatedly, which was the best car brand, you were a Ford man, a Chevy man or a Chrysler man.  In retrospect all had pros and cons but you could never convince any of them of that, they all had there favorites

3 minutes ago, Nashna said:

I have sailed on Celebrity, Carnival, RCCl, Princess, and HAL.  You do not want to sail on HAL...you are way too young for the clientele onboard.  Shoot, I was 72 at the time and too young!  Try Celebrity or Princess; you would enjoy those two more than HAL.

Totaly agree.  I was 67 when we did our first HAL and felt like a kid compared to most of the passengers

38 minutes ago, eroller said:

 

Take all the negativity with a grain of salt.  Yes there have been cutbacks (on every line), but overall Celebrity is still a great line with some of the most stunning ships afloat.  It’s not all doom and gloom.  The vast majority enjoy their cruises on Celebrity but those are not the people you are going to hear from on Cruise Critic.  
 

Unfortunately the entire cruise industry is going through a bit of a transition right now.  Mostly because of COVID.  All the lines are looking for ways to increase revenue and generate positive cash flow after years of no profits let alone income.  So for the foreseeable future expect to pay more and get less.  

The library closed due to covid, same with magazines in waiting rooms

2 hours ago, RichYak said:

 

It's not Carnival's inability to control the situation, it's their unwillingness to change the environment that leads to these situations.

 

These unruly passengers are choosing a product that best appeals to them. Short, cheap itineraries with a loud club music vibe can lead to occasional mayhem. That's simply the cost of doing business for Carnival.

Different cruise lines have different clientele.  Disney for kids, HAL for older folks etc.  We love Celebrity and fall between those two generations

2 minutes ago, eroller said:

All Celebrity ships offer a main dining room, a buffet, and specialty restaurants.  The Edge Class takes it up a notch by offering additional specialty restaurant dining choices as well as four smaller themed main dining rooms instead of one large one.  
 

All Celebrity ships also offer veranda cabins but only the Edge Class offers the Infinite Veranda. This is the style veranda where a glass window lowers to railing height opening up the cabin to outside.  All the other Celebrity ships have traditional step-out verandas.  There is already endless debate about which is superior but at the end of the day it’s a matter of personal preference.  

Thank you for the clarification

41 minutes ago, RichYak said:

No, just the new Edge class ships: Edge, Apex, Beyond, Ascent, and one more yet to be named.

Is that a no for veranda and dining venues?

On 9/19/2023 at 2:21 PM, RichYak said:

Celebrity is not the new Carnival. The brands still have completely different vibes. The ships are all roughly in the 2000-3000 passenger range so no mega-ships. Carnival is louder and more "in your face" while Celebrity is still more subdued--think boutique hotel.

 

That said, subdued is not for everyone. Celebrity has no dedicated comedy or piano lounge. Night life exists, but not to the extent that it does on Carnival.

 

Where Celebrity is becoming more like Carnival is with its overall move to shorter, more family-friendly Caribbean itineraries and away from longer more exotic ones. Food is always subjective but the cutbacks on Celebrity have been well documented on this board. Having sailed both lines in the past year, I would say that Celebrity no longer excels with dining overall (unless you really like mashed potatoes 😂).

 

Lastly, you don't mention what ship you might be interested in. If it's any of the new Edge class ships, make sure you are aware of what an Infinite Veranda cabin is. You may like it, you may not, just know what it is before booking one.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

We sailed on the Edge just before covid shut things down.  Loved the Veranda and all the dining options.  My question is do all the Celebrity ships have the same dining options?  The same type of Veranda?  Thanks for your help

6 minutes ago, Nickelpenny said:

I refuse to buy water!! 🤑

I agree

Can anyone explain to me the difference between Main Dining Room 4, Main Dining Room 5 and My time dining room and if you prefer any of them 

New to RCL.  Can anyone tell me what the difference is between Main Dining Room 4, Main Dinining Room 5 and My Time Dinining Room?

We are going on our first cruise with RCL.  Wondering about the MDR and if anyone has suggestions to alternates 

10 hours ago, Beach Nut said:

I've given up searching. I have a few questions:

1.  How does the food on HAL compare with the food on Celebrity now? We'e been only cruising Celebrity and really like their food.

2.  How good are the beds for a person with a back that can "go out" on a too soft mattress? I now travel with Flexeril, but I'd rather not have to use it for 21 days!

3.  Are the pools with the moveable roofs heated and are these areas quiet solariums/ adults only restful spots, a la Celebrity

4.  How easy is it to get a table for two at open dinner (or even at the set dinner times, with a reservation)?  

I've got my eye on a HAL cruise.  Any info is appreciated.  Thank you!

I prefer Celebrity for dining.  HAL is okay but for us a set dinner time is not always convenient and there were times we had to wait for up to 30 minutes if we wanted to dine at a different time than our reserved seating time.  I did find the beds comfortable and I also have some back issues

41 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

@LivetoTravel88Same - I use a pill organizer for 14 day cruises and never had an issue no matter the port, cruiseline or ship.

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

Same here, and I make sure they are in my carryon

25 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

If you will be happy with the least expensive cabin in the CATEGORY (such as: inside, obstructed view, ocean view, veranda, suite, etc.)  YOU SELECT, you might want to save that money.

 

A glass half empty person would say that picking a specific cabin will cost you $1,200, while a glass half full person would feel that letting the line assign the cabin (in whichever category you select) will save you $1,200..

It will be a balcony room, we know that much

2 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I'm curious as well - I finally gave my tux to Goodwill after not wearing it for nearly 10 years. I have not worn a jacket in nearly that long as well (Celebrity, NCL, Carnival, Royal), and I'd have to go to YouTube to learn how to tie a tie !  😉

 

Tom

On our last HAL cruise, in 2019, I think I there were 3 or 4 gentlemen I saw in a tux.  I was not one of them