vacruizer

There’s lots to do near Kona. There’s a neat little tourist area with plenty of shops and restaurants if you want something simple. You can rent kayaks or paddle boards right there, too. If you can rent a car, check out the beach at either 69 beach (that’s the milepost) or Kaloko-Honokohau NP. Or visit Pu’uhona O Honaunau NP. From Hilo visit Volcanoes NP or go north to Akaka Falls. Pahoa is a neat little artsy town near Volcanoes with shops and restaurants.

I am kind of wondering the same about nightlife and crowd. I am booked for early December. - I’m a married 50 yr old (yikes - how did THAT happen since I was just 35 yesterday!) but sailing solo and hoping to not have the sidewalks rolled up by 10pm! I’m not a wild partier but love to stay up a bit late on vacation and enjoy cocktails, live music, shows, etc. with a nice crowd.

Hi Celebrity experts! I’m looking to book my first Celebrity sailing this fall and am not familiar with their pricing structures. Please note……I am not looking to name TAs or agencies or asking for recommendations for one since I know that’s against CC rules. I’m just curious if this is normal with Celebrity. I know with some other lines TAs sometimes have some small discounts or perks, but typically nothing significant. As I’ve been pricing a particular sailing using the all included rate, I’ve got one large online agency quoting many hundreds of dollars less than several other agencies or what I see on Celebrity’s website. Are they possibly just selling group space? Or are they just not being upfront with what costs really are or what’s included? I’ve done a mock booking online and called them as well and both website and agent claim the rate has the all included tips/Wi-Fi/drinks. Anyone run into this? The skeptic in me says “buyer beware” but the bargain hunter in me wants to save the extra money - and we are talking well over $600pp so not a small amount.

I’m so glad to hear this. I should clarify that the crew tried really hard and just couldn’t keep up. We waited 2 hours one night in the MDR and food was rock hard and cold. Couldn’t even flag our waiter down and manager just shrugged and said they were short staffed. The hallway incident was unfortunately more than just a random drunk and involved lots of screaming at security..who threatened to call the local authorities the next morning but couldn’t seem to remove the guy. There was discussion of a possible attempt to harm another passenger as well. It went on for over an hour.

I can sail on the Apex in December for around. $650pp or just over $1,000pp with drink package, gratuity, and wifi included. Infinity sailings this fall are running as low as $395pp. And no single supplement right now if my husband can’t go and I decide to sail solo. Carnival might be slightly cheaper on base rate for a 7 day, but add in drinks & tips and it’s pretty comparable or cheaper right now. I was surprised, too.

Personal opinion here only…. Others will tell you none of this matters. I’ve sailed the Pride three times and it’s one of my favorite ships. But….I personally am not booking any more Carnival sailings for now after a recent Sunshine sailing, albeit a short one, that made me actually question safety. I’ve also sailed NCL and like the experience, but they’ve lost their minds with pricing. The older Carnival ships have really been let go unfortunately. We experienced broken elevators to our floor (in an accessible cabin so stairs not an option), sewage in the hallway that maintenance tried to fix and couldn’t, sewage backing up through the shower drain in our bathroom, broken furniture all over the ship, rust, broken railings, broken windows, holes in the deck…it’s was shocking after 20 Carnival trips and knowing the ship I was on had just been in dry dock a couple months earlier. What were we not seeing behind the scenes that wasn’t maintained if this is what the customers saw? I sadly wasn’t surprised when news of the Freedom fire and Magic fumes issue (with payoff offers to not sue) hit not long after we sailed. Food and service were not good and the crew was working crazy long days due to the staffing issues. They were trying…and were tired, worn out, and many stated they would not renew contracts. MDR food was the worst in 24 cruises. Music was one terrible band and one even worse solo guitarist with very few daytime activities anymore, either. You’ll have a totally different crowd in Europe of course, but we also noticed a lack of security at the deck parties, nightclub, etc… had something gone south….and it did outside our cabin the last night…. there was not enough security to handle it. My next cruise is likely MSC or Celebrity. Both are far cheaper than Carnival right now, too. All lines have staff and supply chain issues right now, but I was shocked by the badly deteriorated ship. Security was I’ll equipped to handle the incident outside our cabin at 3am and either would not or could not remove the persons involved. The screaming and threats went on for over an hour with security present and we drove 7 hours home the next day on no sleep. Just my two cents as a once loyal Carnival cruiser who loved the experience. I’ll give them a couple years to work the kinks out and likely only consider newer ships with them now, though.

The Sunshine in May was in similarly bad shape. I understand that they let things go during the shutdown but was shocked at how much. Sunshine had been in dry dock only 6 months prior. It made me question what else wasn’t being maintained that we couldn’t see. Add the short staff situation and not so great food and I’m not in a hurry to book again right now. I’ve sailed old ships before and not seen the issues I did in May. Rust, sewage in the hall that they were trying to stop for several days and couldn’t, broken elevators, broken glass, broken tables and chairs…it was sad to see what the ship had become.

I just had one come up with air from Virginia to Miami priced at $7,000. In October. A few days ago it showed as $400.

I am so happy you made it! I was having flashbacks to a similar incident I had about 15 years ago - I was booked on an evening flight to Florida the night before my cruise and there were massive weather delays all over the country. I ended up making the cruise but not without much angst, tears, and worry. To this day I’ll now only book a morning flight the day before and sometimes go in two I can be off work the extra day. No flights were available the next day that would get us to the ship, too far to drive, no trains. Just as they were booking flights to Cozumel to meet the ship 3 days later, The airline finally found 2 seats the next day, then more weather delays in the morning, a 20 minute flight connection, and damaged luggage. I thought I’d kiss the ground when I got to that cruise terminal in time to sail.