etravel

Wonder of the Seas, several years ago on Allure my brother in law went with a Boardwalk balcony almost at the aft of the ship...Can't remember which one or what deck!!! Want to do something similar again on the Wonder..Suggestions? 

Booked on Aqua, next May! Have they released what Broadway show will be onboard? And it looks like Syd Norman's Pour House and Cavern Club will be on board? Saw mention of the Bull's Eye a pub perhaps? Any other info appreciated! Thanks!!!!

21 hours ago, laudergayle said:

We did FWD-facing CBS on the Prima.  NYC to Bermuda.  We were very disappointed in our cabin choice.  The balcony is way too windy, and the bottom is metal so in order to see anything you need to stand up.  We will likely never do a FWD facing again on any ship…just don’t want to take a chance.  

Laudergayle...oh boy those are some good points!!! Maybe better stick with the mid-ship cabins!!! Thanks for the heads up..

Any disadvantages to the Forward Facing Club Balc. suite? The mid-ship Club Balcony are more expensive on the dates we are looking at..just wondering if anyone has done both and have any thoughts one way or the other? 

Looking for my daughter and son-in-law, for a seaplane operator besides Wings Airways..who we love by the way..we did the 5 Glacier and Taku Lodge a few years ago and it was the best tour probably we have ever done..I told them to book early!!!!  They are on NCL Encore and NCL is sold out on that tour and Wings only has 1 seat available at this point...So just wondering if any other operators might be an option for them...Thanks! 

On 3/18/2023 at 1:22 PM, cristine said:

Sun Princess is doing a TA from Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale on Sept 23, arriving Oct 9 2024

Thanks Christine...so hopefully then after the 9th, she will be doing Caribbean! 

It looks like Sun Princess will be doing Med through September of 2024..but wondering about October or November....I saw a couple of comments that she would be sailing to the Caribbean later in the fall...anyone else hear anything yet? Thanks!!! 

2 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

No lobster on Europe cruises!

Oh well darn!!! But, that makes sense! 

Hi there...we are making a few reservations for dining and want to make sure we don't miss Lobster night in one of the main dining rooms...We are sailing on the Odyssey at the end of May..I heard it's on the 2nd formal night so is that correct and when might that take place?  We have a suite Gte so hoping we can eat some dinners in the Coastal Kitchen, not sure how difficult that is to do if we will probably be in a junior suite! We also have the Chops plus one, so thought we would do Chops and Giovanni's..So thanks for any input! 

Euro cruiser..Yes, the Nazionale does look like a very central to the areas we want...We get in at 7:45am that day, but who knows with flights these days...so we were hoping to go to the Vatican that afternoon...I know we will be tired from the flight...and then in the evening hope to just walk around and see Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, etc and have a nice local dinner..in the morning I doubt we will have too much time to see much! 

The Hotel Forum was another one that looked nice, good rate, and good location? 

5 hours ago, George C said:

Totally agree that rccl is a superior line to ncl, but in Europe it’s more about ports , which ports do you prefer , i would pick rccl because it includes Naples which I love .

George...I'm pretty sure we are leaning that way! So for Naples is there an excursion or excursions you prefer? We are thinking about the Capri and the Amalfi Coast..looks nice! The couple we are going with have been to Pompeii so I don't know that we will do that although I'm sure it's amazing..Then there is also Sorrento & Amalfi Coast do you prefer Capri or Sorrento? 

I know I'm asking this in a Royal board! But having a tough time deciding between the Odyssey Med cruise (out of Rome..Santorini, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Naples) and the Jade (out of Athens) which is a Greek island every day...The Jade a lower rate, but both look awesome..It seems like it's much easier to get into/out of Rome for the Royal cruise, but any thoughts on either cruise? Decisions! 

Update Alexander Keith's Brewery added some tour times for Oct.8th...so we are scheduled on that for 2pm, one hour tour and the stroll the waterfront and back to the ship...

so in the a.m. we will probably visit the Maritime Museum, public garden (if time), check out the Citadel and watch the gun shoot at 12 noon, head to Salty's for lunch, and then our beer tour! Sounds like a pretty good day...How long does public garden take to tour it? 

So we will be in Halifax on October 8th, decided to tour the city on our own. We will be in port from 8am to 5pm. So thinking about hitting these sites, not quite sure in what order! 

1. Halifax Public Garden

2. Citadel National Historic Site (check it out and watch the gun shoot at 12 noon)

3. head to lunch at Salty's (or similar) 

4. Maritime museum 

5. Keith Smith Brewery (I don't think the tour is available that day, but hoping we can still go in and have a beer!) and/or Garrison Brewing Company

6. explore historic Halifax and the waterfront. 

Anything we should really add or take out? How long would you allow for the Maritime Museum, the gardens, or the Citadel? Thanks for any advice...

Salty's sounds great!!! Maybe after the Citadel Noon Gun?? Is Salty's on the boardwalk, have a nice view? 

Thinking we are going to see the sights in Halifax for our day off the ship...spend some time in the Boardwalk area...Citadel, Maritime Museum, Keith's Brewery, the garden, etc etc...what are the fun/great restaurants in that area that offer lobster/seafood where we could have a nice lunch? Thanks!!!

12 minutes ago, mpk218 said:

August ....... The Leaves dont really change until October and September it rained the entire trip when we went .. Not that it will rain for you , but , it was terrible . Rained sideways ..

Flip a coin  😉

Yikes on the rain!!! That stinks! 

So decided on NCL Escape for 2023, there is a end of August New England Canada and end of September as well...so end of September does Newport R.I., Portland, Bar Harbor, Saint John, and Halifax and 1 day at sea...the end of August date includes 2 days at sea, and does not do Newport...also very similar pricing...would you steer towards the earlier or later date as far as weather, and thoughts on Newport is it a city not to be missed? Thoughts? 

16 minutes ago, The Shrike said:

 

I'd do Canada/New England if you're looking for something different.  Bermuda is nice and I'd go back there, but if you've done a bunch of Caribbean/Mexico it will feel similar.

Thanks Shrike..I appreciate that! Good point!

Interested in this conversation! We are trying to decide about a NCL New England or one of their Bermuda cruises...We've done quite a bit of their Caribbean and Mexico and we just did Alaska in early July which we loved...So looking for something different! 

20 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

We've sailed on both ships and enjoyed our cruises on them. We also enjoy Celebrity and NCL, for different reasons. I would describe NCL as more "laid back" than Celebrity, or maybe describe Celebrity as a little more "refined," and the food on Celebrity, overall, as better than the food on NCL, but not necessarily meal for meal or even buffet for buffet. 

 

As you've noted, both the Jade and the Infinity are older ships.  They are both very comfortable ships. The Jade does have the fabulous Great Outdoors, which is one of our favorite public spaces on any ship we've sailed.  Personally, I have no interest in Aqua Class on Celebrity, as the Blu restaurant holds no great appeal for me.  YMMV.  If you do book the Infinity and don't book Aqua, I would suggest a Concierge Class cabin, which is larger than regular veranda cabins on that class of ship.  As for a Club Balcony Suite on the Jade, if you book that, please be very careful in terms of cabin selection, as many of those cabins are underneath the pool deck and other noisy or potentially noisy spaces. 

 

Without seeing the itinerary, I suspect it's probably a port-intensive cruise; if that's so, the itinerary might be the deciding factor for you.  Do you want to post it here so folks who have been to those ports can comment?

 

Enjoy whichever you decide!

Yes, here is the NCL Jade: Depart Athens...Kusadasi, Istanbul, Volos, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Santorini,back to Athens...Celebrity Infinity: from Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Santorini, Hydra, back to Athens..The Infinity is on June 17, 23 the NCL Jade I'm looking at is May 28, 23...one difference I noted is that Celebrity is in Kusadasi and lot longer, 8am to 8pm, where NCL is 630 to 1230 (prob just long enough to see Ephesus I would think? So pretty similar, but thoughts on this? Good point on cabin selection too!!! We did consider the Western Med, (liked the idea of going out of Barcelona and to France, Rome, Florence, etc) but are leaning toward the Greek Isles..Decisions!!!!

Looking at the Jade or the Celebrity Infinity for Greek Isles next May/June, out of Athens both have pretty much the same itineraries with awesome ports...So leaning towards Jade, but has anyone done both ships/lines and any opinions? Will probably do a Club Balcony Suite on the Jade and the Aqua Class was pretty reasonable on the Infinity...they are both  a little older ships and Jade might have been refurbished not too long ago, where the Infinity was supposed to be but probably not until a few years down the road...There are some of the islands that the Infinity does seem to stay a little longer in port. So any thoughts on the two ships/lines? 

So, last year I did ask a similar question between the two itineraries and then we ended up staying a bit closer to home and doing the Eastern Caribbean! So for 2023, looking at the Edge (I know a way newer and more deluxe ship, departs Barc. for Cannes, Portofino, Florence, Rome, Corsica) or the Infinity (Has/will it be modernized by then?) departs Athens for Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Santorini, and Hydra....The Greek Isles has intrigued me but there are some great ports on the Edge and I know it is a lot newer ship...just wondered if anyone has done both of those itineraries before and/or several times and which would you choose! We've done lots of Caribbean cruises and a European river cruise we loved..wish I had more time and would do one of the sailings that combines some of these, but my DH can't be away that long from his business...Any opinions would be welcomed!!!