Mauidiver

You can always go to the Oceanview Cafe instead where there will be a lot more choices. 😉

I was going to say the same thing, “healthy eating” is very subjective.  It could mean anything from strict carnivore to strict vegan….and everything in between!  Tell us how YOU define healthy and I’m sure you’ll get some great answers pointing you in the right direction.

Frankly, I find there are many varied options on the cruise ships and haven’t had any difficulty staying within the boundaries of my personal eating preferences, which many feel are very restrictive (though I don’t).

SV balcony cabins are only on the aft of the ships.  All of the decks you mentioned are good for them.  Negatives would be long walks to the cabin and the potential for motion.  Positives are large traditional balconies, quiet location, and gorgeous aft wake views.  

We were on deck 10 on Edge in an SV and when outside we could definitely hear when the party was rolling in the Sunset Bar.  It was happy noise though so we didn’t mind.

We always book the SV cabins as we love seeing the wake while sailing and really enjoy the views while in port as the ships often back in.  They’re a trade off as it’s a long walk daily, and you might feel a bit more movement being aft.

We did LPC once on Edge and thought it was charming and loads of fun to do once.  We also booked it “on sale” so felt it was worth it for the price and novelty entertainment value.  I recommend it to people who are curious and if they can get it at a discount.  We won’t be doing it again though. 

It’s actually a standard gauge railway as it was converted many years ago to allow for standard freight cars.

And remember not everyone is eligible for MoveUp. If you book through Costco, for instance, your reservation isn’t eligible (unless that’s changed in the past year).

Just for information, for AK cruises departing Vancouver, BC the priority embarkation/suite folks were in a separate area and boarded before everyone else who were staged in a huge warehouse type area.  It was well organized.

You’ve asked such a personal question regarding preferences.  We cruise for itineraries more than the ships being the destination, so we choose our itinerary first, then the ship when there’s a choice.  Were I cruising just for the ship experience, then it’s E class for us. 
 

We like that the E class ships are more modern than other classes in the line.  We really like the 4 MDR concept over a traditional dining room as for us it feels more “restaurant” than “banquet” style.  And we love the pool deck and public spaces on E class as there are so many choices for hanging out.

I agree that if you want an aft cabin that you should book it asap.  We booked our November NZ Edge cruise last May and literally had 2 SV cabins to choose from.  There hasn’t been an available SV cabin since June last year for our cruise.  
 

We were in a deck 10 SV cabin on Edge in January 2020 and absolutely loved it!  We like the distance from everything for the exercise, we found the cabin to be VERY quiet (no hallway noises), and not only enjoyed the wake view while underway, but also really loved hanging on our veranda in ports as the ship often backs into ports and people watching was excellent.  😊

My problem is that we book SV rooms, which are always sold out quickly (especially on E class ships).

I booked a specialty reservation 3 months ago for our November 2024 cruise. 

We also won our bid earlier this year.  We were charged and notified 5 days before the cruise.

That’s a super personal decision. One nice thing about Concierge class is the embarkation lunch in the MDR, as well as being on a higher floor, but whether it’s worth it to you is something only you can decide.

For example, on our AK cruise last May, we won a Move Up bid from Oceanview to Concierge for $225 each, and it was 100% worth every penny considering we only paid $399 each for the Oceanview to begin with.  On the other hand, we very likely wont be putting in a move up bid (if available) for our upcoming NZ cruise since we’re in a sunset veranda on Edge and don’t want to give up our aft cabin.

Yes, Edge class ships have great aft viewing in Eden (indoors), the Sunset Bar, and the Oceanview Cafe.

I would think an aft view of the sounds would be just as amazing as a forward view (similar to inside passage cruising in AK).  Fortunately there are good venues for  spectacular aft views if you’re not in an aft cabin. 

The biggest question in my mind when making this type of decision is what is most important: the experience on the ship or the itinerary?  Once I’ve decided that, I typically make a pro/con list just based on that criteria.  Usually it becomes clear what my decision should be.

We’re doing a NZ cruise next year on Edge, but ours is round trip from Sydney and we plan to arrive at least 5 days early so we can not only explore, but also not be jet lagged for the cruise.

one thing is for sure, whatever you choose it’ll be an epic trip!

That’s such an incredibly personal decision, but we’re also thinking along the same lines for our upcoming Edge cruise.  For context, we absolutely adore the Sunset Veranda cabins and feel that aft cabins are the best for views on any ship.  We are intrigued by the idea of putting in a move-up bid (if that’s an option) for a suite mostly for the easier boarding process and access to The Retreat.  However, giving up that aft view is a tough one as we really love sitting on our balcony and watching the wake, and shore activity since ships often back into ports.

Much of our decision to bid or not will honestly depend on how much the minimum bid is and the perceived trade-off for the move.  I will predict that IF we bid, it’ll only be the minimum if it’s a relatively low starting bid.  The aft cabins will likely attract high move-up bids from passengers wanting a true veranda, so I’ve heard the move up bids to suites from folks in sunset verandas are often accepted.

We did a dive Excursion through Celebrity in GC in 2020.  We liked the dive operator and the boat and gear were in excellent condition. Crew/dive masters were very good.  We did 2 dive sites that were between 30-50’ deep and both dives were 45 min to an hour.  We are advanced divers (1000+ ocean dives) and found the dives to be enjoyable, typical reef exploration type of dives.  We felt the excursion met our expectations of what typical “cruise ship diving” is and had a good time.

We’ve had much better charters by booking ourselves, like diving the Vandenberg from Key West and the Rhône in Tortola, but we’ve also had worse experiences in Cozumel and St. Thomas.  We feel that managing expectations definitely help when approaching cruise ship excursions, especially dive ones.

Just make sure you go to your muster station well before the ship is scheduled to depart.  The ship can’t leave until everyone has done it and the repeated announcements get annoying after awhile.

Saved nearly $1000 with this sale!  Hadn’t planned on booking this early for my late 2024 cruise, but the savings were too good to pass up.

I don’t believe that cruise ships will be stopping in West Maui/Lahaina for the foreseeable future, probably even for years. It is even in question when tourists will be able to return to the resorts in Kaanapali given the lack of infrastructure (power, water, restaurants grocery stores, gas stations, etc) to support them, not to mention having enough employees to staff the resorts. There are far more questions than answers right now with the first priority being how best to support the residents of West Maui and Lahaina through this tragedy and forward. Please donate to support the people of Lahaina either with cash or by donating miles to Hawaiian or Alaska airlines.

That happened to me, but the next day I could edit the pending reservations (I had 3 marked pending).  Check back tomorrow if you’re considering changing your bid.

We select anytime dining and prefer to make reservations so we don’t risk long waits.  In our last Edge cruise we saw wait times of up to 45 minutes more than one evening, even when trying different MDRs.  I make our reservations to rotate the 3 dining rooms we prefer so we have a different venue each night.

May and June are typically our sunniest months, with rain starting mid-July and into August and beyond.  That said, this year it has rained until about a week ago when we are finally seeing sunshine everyday.  If it were me, I’d do the cruise/tour in June as July is VERY busy with tourists and Alaskans traveling around the state.  June is a little less busy since the salmon aren’t running yet.