Laurie JJ

We've cruised on Quantum and loved it. We also did 10 days on her sister ship Ovation to Hawaii and were never bored. The 270 is a great place to relax in the day and it is a great entertainment space as well. The solarium is my favorite on any ship I've been on, just get there early!

We have sailed on Ovation and there were no milkshakes. The patisserie has some Starbucks drinks and fancy hot chocolate on our Alaska cruise but no milkshakes. They could possibly be a secret menu item in the MDR but we never saw one. My husband loves milkshakes too!

I don't really remember for sure but I think we booked it day of the reservation. My husband thinks we booked it and then changed our minds but we can't really remember. Whichever way we did it, it wasn't a big deal for our cruise. We booked it for the day we were in Cabo. You might have more people staying on board on Christmas day as I would imagine lots of places would be closed in port that day. Hope you enjoy it!

We used a casita on a port day on Navigator last spring and had no trouble getting our choice of casitas. We looked around the day before and chose a couple of casitas we would prefer. We did show up about half an hour before the appropriate bar staff were there but no one else was waiting. Maybe it was the slightly cooler weather or just the mix of people that sailing but not all of the casitas were booked and stayed empty. We had chosen our casita location based on what would be a quieter location. The hardest part was trying to determine where the shade would be as we didn't know how the ship would be sitting in port in relation to the sun. We really enjoyed our time in the casita but it did get hot when the sun came around to our chairs.

We did the other direction on Quantum last fall from Vancouver to Honolulu and loved it. The Quantum has lots to do and the solarium and Two70 are great places to hang out in cooler weather. We had rain and cool temps until 2 days out from Hawaii so pool deck time was limited. We also had rolling seas but not really rough and my scopolamine patch took care of that. We loved the 5 sea days and the chance to really enjoy the ship at a more relaxed pace. It felt crazy to have the dance parties and shows in the middle of nowhere. We were never bored but we are easily entertained and enjoy relaxing. We had an overnight in Maui and another overnight in Honolulu before disembarking so felt we had good time in Hawaii. Then we just hopped a cheap flight to Kauai for a few days at the end which you could do prior to your cruise if you want more tropical time. We are hoping to take that cruise again in a few years. Have fun if you decide to go!

I'll look at that too. Thanks!

Thank you!

Thank you both for your input! Looks like we’ll “suffer” through another night in Amsterdam. I really don’t mind the excuse to explore another day in what looks like a beautiful city.

We are fortunate enough to be going on a Norway Arctic Circle cruise next July from Amsterdam. We are coming early from the states to spend 5 days in London and southern England and then flying over to Amsterdam the day before our cruise. It will be a long trip so we were hoping to fly home on disembarkation day but the best flights I'm looking at leave Schipol at 11:40 am with a change of planes in London. Is that too early? Or should we plan to stay a night in Amsterdam post cruise and catch that same flight the next day?

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences! We are doing a similar trip on Jewel July 2024 and can't wait! I do have a question for you. You mentioned tendering once. Sounds like you got on an early tender but was this a big deal? Did you tender in many ports? The Key is on sale and we are trying to decide if it is worth the extra money. For us it sounds like the main advantage would be getting priority on tenders so we can easily make any non ship excursions and maximize our time in port.

Thanks so much for your review! We are cruising on the Jewel to Norway 2024. Appreciate the info and the beautiful pictures!

Don't know if you've already made your choice, but another consideration is that Norway is closing some of its fjords to all but electric ships in 2025 or 2026. You might want to cruise there before they are more limited.

Thanks Ine, for your response. Your info is very helpful! We are excited to go to one of these towns! I'll try to come back here after our cruise in May with a report on our choice and experience.

We are going on a 7 night cruise next spring stopping in Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. There are two excursions that look similar and both interest my husband and I. In Puerto Vallarta there is a day trip to San Sebastián. The other is from Mazatlan and goes to Concordia and Coppola. Has anyone been to either of these towns? Would one trip be better than the other. I would love to hear some input. Thanks!

BermudaBound2, thanks for the heads up on Black Rock. I had not heard that about the dangerous currents. I appreciate the heads up and will be extra cautious or maybe look for a safer spot as I am not a strong swimmer. Thanks also for the advice on the road to Hana. Will follow it all!