rj59

I went on Discovery in July, on a mostly-full ship, and the lack of an outdoor covered space meant everyone was crowded in inside venues, including the buffet. To me the worst part of Princess ships (I'm Elite, so not a Princess hater) is the lack of a forward viewing lounge for Alaska. The Sanctuary is a liability in Alaska, as well as on a coastal cruise I was on going under the Golden Gate Bridge in the morning with no forward place to get a great view. I went on Celebrity in August, and I really loved having a forward lounge, as well as a warm solarium pool area. HAL also has covered Lido pool decks and a forward Crow's Nest lounge. The only exceptions are a few older Princess ships who have a small covered pool area, and the Majestic, which has a wonderful pool and forward observation area, full of quirky xylophones and loungers and topiary. Hot Asian noodle soups on Majestic really are nice on a cold Alaska day too.

I was on Discovery in Alaska in July, and they had Spotlight and Rock Opera. We were at near-full capacity, and both early and late shows for both productions were at capacity seating, with the usual conflicts of people saving seats despite the no-saving announcements. I arrived half an hour early to Rock Opera to get a seat, with people around me constantly moving about and people trying to get saved seats. The end result was I got Covid there most likely, according to a contact tracing app on my phone, but it was fortunately on the final sea day so I was able to get home before symptoms set in. I'll be on Discovery next week, so if the theaters are full I probably won't try to tempt fate again.

I went on 3 Alaska cruises last summer, and the constant theme was that with record numbers of cruisers and many Covid shutdowns of tourist businesses, most excursion companies were having huge trouble finding enough labor to handle all the demand. A lot of their labor supply comes from students and others in the lower 48, since the cost of living up there is so high, and the job market elsewhere is so good that it's difficult to attract enough workers to supply the demand, especially for remote lodges, and a lot of people didn't want to live in communal dorms with Omicron active. It's the human equivalent of the supply shortages of other things on ships. So it's difficult for cruise companies to plan for next summer when the companies they hire don't know how many workers they'll be able to handle, especially when there will be more passengers and more ships this year as restrictions have gone away. I found it's actually easier to book my own tours when I get off the ship, since most towns have kiosks or a tour center at the pier. Sitka has such a nice totem pole park and seawalk along their harbor that I wouldn't want to do anything else there, and there are other interesting options that don't involve sitting on buses or trains or overcrowded whale watching boats (I saw dozens of whales as Discovery neared the WA coast, all right next to the ship outside on deck 8). My favorite self-tour is renting an electric bike in Skagway and going out trails to Dyea, full of history and beauty.

I usually find that Princess drops fares enough closer to a cruise that it outweighs any sale specials, although I occasionally see great deals pop up for me as a solo farther out. But then I tend to cruise to Mexico and Pacific Coastals and Alaska, where Princess has a larger fleet now than normal and more competition, with much of Asia still closed and Australia only recently opened. They're also caught between the usual dilemmas of needing revenue, and the higher demand of cruising versus the economic threats of inflation and a possible recession, and of course increasing costs for food and fuel and labor. I'm also retired and live between Seattle and Vancouver, which also makes it easier to wait for a good fare drop close to a sail date.

HAL tried to do something similar a few years ago, but dropped it after outcries--I think they even wanted to charge for a second entree. Instead the upscale lines seem to be going towards adding extra-cost entrees like steak, and doing the same with room-service, to encourage you to splurge. Ordering 3 or more entrees with the intent of sampling seems wasteful and sort of disgusting, although I can see if someone doesn't like a dish and wants something different, or wants two desserts, or a second lobster tail instead of a steak. But then I feel vague guilt over taking a single piece of bread from a bread bowl, knowing the rest will be fed to the fishes, as a waiter once told me. I blame it all on parents nagging about the poor starving children in China and being encouraged to be a 'clean plater' in childhood.

It's printable, but I find the app easier to view and use on a tablet, when I need it. The tv system also works for room service and viewing menus and making dining reservations, especially if the app isn't working. I find the large screens throughout the ship also can be valuable if you want to see what's going on and where. The most blessed thing about the printed patter now is that it's not full of ads, as the lines used to do.

I did a RC cruise last September. I'm a local, so I canceled 3 before I found out with decent weather, otherwise it was lots of rain, and the Royal Princess that left 2 days after us spent the first day in Seattle, to avoid a major storm off Vancouver Island. On my cruise, we had heavy seas on the way back that made us arrive 4 hours late back to Seattle, but we missed hurricane-force winds off Vancouver Island the day before. So in September you have more rain, shorter days, the salmon have already spawned and died, and a higher prospect of rougher seas on the open ocean if you go out of Seattle. The advantages would be fewer people in port and less competition for excursions, fewer kids, and lower prices, and maybe less ice in the water so you can get closer to glaciers. Juneau gets 8 inches of rain in September, vs 2.5 in May. You also get 225 hours of sunshine in May, vs 125 in September. I went this year on last-minute deals the first week in June, July, and August, and had wonderful weather for all of them, other than a few showers.

I'm Elite level on Princess and my first two Celebrity cruises have been on Solstice, so I agree with most of what you said. I like Princess MDR food better, with better chilled soups and the Chocolate Journeys desserts. Besides the lack of a pizza place, I also miss 24-hour International Cafe, so as an early riser I didn't have an espresso/snack option on Solstice. The other thing I sort of missed was the outdoor movie screen dominating the pool deck, especially for Sunday football and things like concerts during the day. The one thing I loved about Solstice and hate about Princess is the Sky Lounge, for a forward observation lounge with comfy chairs, live and recorded music throughout the day, and beautiful views. Princess only has a paid Sanctuary that isn't open late and doesn't protect from cold and wind. As a solo cruiser, Celebrity has mostly been out of my price range, but I found lots of good deals on Solstice so have 4 cruises booked on her through April (with varied itineraries, which I also like), including my next two with the included beverage package, which should be an adventure.

On my 3-night coastal on Royal in September, they listed a formal night in the Patter, which was a surprise, and they had photographers out everywhere, as on a regular formal night. I suspect it's just a way to allow those who want to dress up to do so, and more importantly, a way for them to get more photo income.

You can't really generalize, because each line has dazzling, larger new ships and older classic ones, although HAL got rid of many of their small ships during shutdown, alas. The 3 newest ship also abandoned what was for me the main advantage of HAL--an outside teak wraparound promenade, which was perfect for someone like me who hates crowds and noise and just wants to be close to the sea and watch whales and sunsets. HAL has also steadily cut back offerings and corporatized and standardized almost all experiences, so each music venue will have a corporate sponsor and play the same setlists on every ship, every cruise. They've also gotten rid of singers and dancers and production shows on most ships, so you get a choice of two dance shows and a nature movie. There's also very little diversity on HAL--only male Indonesians work in the dining room, and only Filipinos get to handle money or serve in the buffet. The advantage of HAL is that they don't have a class/tier system like Celebrity and they're less pushy for selling packages and things--they even did away with art auctions, thank god. Another HAL advantage is their ships all have retractable roofs over the Lido pool area, which helps for Alaska and other colder climates, and they do more long cruises than on Celebrity. I also like that they cruise out of San Diego for Mexican cruises, and have a much stronger presence in Alaska than X. HAL tends to have an older, more sedate crowd--so no disco parties at 10 pm, and as one young guy remarked to me once on a HAL cruise, "I've never seen so many mobility scooters in my life" (Joke on Solstice last month..."They put carpets with the day of the week in Holland America elevators so people can remember what day it is...are there that many people with dementia on their ships?").

With 3 different dining rooms, I prefer to vary things on the Discovery and try to find a dining room and time that works best for me. Being flexible also allows you do dine when you want, the entire point of Princess dining, especially in Mexico where you might want to be outside enjoying a great sunset in Cabo, going to a late production show to get a seat, or my biggest problem, not feeling like dinner because I had a full Alfredo's/Gigi's pizza after returning from a port. I also find that sometimes there's something in the buffet I might want to try, and like the flexibility to either do a light grazing in the buffet early or late. I also find I get the best service simply by avoiding peak times, and it's easier to get a nice table without a lot of people around me.

Celebrity hasn't been as commited to LA as other lines that sail more frequently out of California cities that would allow a R/T, whereas Princess and Carnival have multiple ships that do longer Mexican and Hawaii itineraries. It looks like Celebrity is evening finishing up in LA in December 2023, with the Eclipse leaving LA on December 7 and not returning until April before the Alaska season. Having been on a 1-way HAL cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii, hitting a surprise storm with waves crashing over my balcony, and going stir-crazy not seeing land for 7 days, I don't think it would be a big enough draw for a a younger X crowd that might still be working and unwilling or unable to be on a ship for over 14 days. Besides low demand, they also don't get much excursion money, even more important to X since they provide drinks packages to most so they'd lose a lot of that income potential. If you want a super-long cruise from LA, though, the December/April Eclipse trips are to and from Chile, 16 days.

I did the pool bar beer deal--Heineken was the best available beer for me. Some people buying tequila didn't have it confiscated returning from Cabo, but it's YMMV--perhaps they don't bother as much with so many on all-inclusive. I suppose you could fill a bottle of twist-off wine with a more potent alcohol of your choice, or fill mini-bottles or coke bottles with booze in a port. I did a lot of free cocktail/beer sampling at the Captain's Club reception, the first Cosmopolitan and Sidecar in my life. I think the best option, though, is to buy drinks on shore, since you're meeting locals and supporting the local economy, particularly if you're supporting a less-touristy spot. The same goes for coffee. I also simply buy a can of beer in Mexican stops in an OXO convenience store and sit and people-watch while drinking it. Just realize that the first two days of a cruise, Celebrity gets very aggressive about pushing drinks packages, even in the MDR and coffee shop, and they add the irritation of having to sign a slip with a spot for additional tip whenever you buy a drink, which their competitors HAL and Princess don't do. That's why I like the idea of the beer packages, since it limits the irritation points and you can carry a beer to shows and bars or the pool deck without being hassled to buy drinks.

I went on Solstice and it's great for Alaska. The main reason is the viewing areas--the Sky Lounge with lots of seating, outdoor forward viewing areas on decks 12 and 15, and plenty of outdoor viewing space on the outdoor promenade on deck 5. Of 3 ships I was on last summer leaving from Seattle, Solstice was the only one who got within viewing distance of the Dawe's Glacier--Carnival and Princess captains chickened out because of ice in the water, but Solstice as a smaller ship went through with no problem. It was my first Celebrity cruise and I loved it, and booked Solstice 4 times to Mexico and Pacific Coastal cruises. The only drawback is that HAL and Princess seem to have priority for berthing in places like Juneau and Skagway, so we had a long walk or bus ride in the former and had to tender from the pier in Skagway to avoid rockslide dangers. The other disadvantage is that some HAL and Princess ships visit Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, which are much more impressive than Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm fjord glaciers. If you want the new Edge-class ships and you like Celebrity, then you can just book them later for the Caribbean, where scenery is less important than in Alaska.

It’s not just inflation or recession, but also decrease in house/stock/bond household wealth that cause people to cut back on discretionary spending, especially retirees. Covid fears/annoyances are still active on cruises (sip-and-cover signs at bars on a 3-nt Princess cruise last week). I also think there’s an oversupply of ships, with so many in the US now due to much of Asia closed and Aus/NZ just opening, so I saw 10 or so ships in Mexico this week, when before shutdowns there were only a handful (Celebrity/RC only started here last year). Finally, price-conscious solo passengers like me have gotten used to low fares the past year, so if lines try to increase fares significantly to increase profits, I’ll cruise less, especially since full ships make the experience less pleasant, after luxurious 30/40% occupancy.

I was on the Soltice last month, and will be on her 4 more times through April. I didn't notice any problems, but then again, I don't go looking for such trivial things. My stateroom was large, attractive, and comfortable, and I enjoyed the Alaska views from the Sky Lounge too much to care if a window wasn't clean. The only thing I noticed was some frayed parts of the lawn, but that's to be expected in Alaska weather and a lawn on a cruise ship. All I can say is that I went on the brand-new, spotless, gorgeous Discovery Princess the month before, and was bored by Princess sameness and stressed by too many passengers and full venues. On the other hand, I loved Solstice for the creative venues, varied activities, friendly crew, lack of masking and judgment, and fine food, which is why I booked it 4 more times when I got home. I find that sometimes the older designs can be more interesting than the new, large, cookie-cutter ship with fancy gimmicks that remove things I love, like wraparound outside promenades or the Sky Lounge. I even have enjoyed the surreal, gaudy, breast-centric, Vegas-nightmare Carnival ships designed by Joe Farkus (Solstice has some of that--the overhead yellow light-sculpture in the atrium looks like a female body part to me).

They surprised me by giving me OBC the same day I sent it in last time, whereas before it would take weeks. I'm also grateful for this board for listing the phone number to call in case of problems, since I had a last-minute cruise and the OBC wasn't there a few days before I left, but I was able to get through and a nice woman handled it for me.

I sailed on Discovery to Alaska in August, and would love it for a 5-nt out of LA, particularly for Cabo. In February you're likely to see whales and dolphins all around Cabo--the outdoor areas at the aft of deck 7 are ideal for watching them on the morning of sailing into Cabo, since the dolphins jump and flop on the wake on the side of the ship. I have 4 Celebrity Solstice sailings booked out of LA, but Discovery Princess is such a nice, new ship with modern design. It also has a big outdoor movie screen that's wonderful for watching movies in Mexico (or NFL playoffs), a tasty and free pizza/Italian restaurant, Gigi's, and at sailaways the captain sounds a horn that plays the Love Boat theme. If you're going to do Celebrity, I'd wait and do one of the Edge-class ships out of Florida, and they do more interesting 7-nt cruises with a better itinerary. Food is subjective, but I'd say I prefer the buffet in Celebrity and MDR food on Princess, but I think the pizza restaurant on Princess and the greater variety of food available in the International Cafe/coffee shop (and 24-hour service--the Celebrity coffee shop doesn't open until 6-7 am) make Princess better for me. I'm going on Princess tomorrow and Celebrity next Saturday, so I think both are great, but I'd choose Princess for the newer ship and better itinerary.

If you have Amazon Prime, they allow you to download shows on a device and play later. I also burn DVDs on my computer and load the files on my pad to watch on ships where I don't have wifi. There are probably some good Rick Steves and other travel videos you can burn and download of the places you're visiting. Celebrity also has many video-on-demand movies, classic and modern, all genres, and I've never failed to find something interesting. Watching Netflix in Europe is quite the bucket list item, though, I'm sure it will be a treasured travel memory.

I find the Celebrity packages a little stressful and annoying, since so much is excluded on the classic package, compared to other lines I sail on, and they raise almost half the beers to $10 or higher so it's really difficult to know what to order, especially since there's no thorough drinks menu in any bar. It's even more annoying when I didn't have a package on my last no-perks cruise, so I just had to guess on prices without a physical or app menu for most bars, and I really don't like having to sign a slip asking for an extra tip beyond 18%. I also got nagged aggressively everywhere I went the first two days, trying to convince me to buy a package, even in the MDR and coffee bar, places I've never been package-pressured on any other line. Finally, I signed up for the classic non-alcoholic package for my next 2 cruises, but nowhere does it say if mocktails are included on that--it only says the premium package gives 'frozen mocktails', and the verbiage for the classic/premium coffee menu is also vague and unclear. I realize it's a way to convince people to upgrade and to maximize revenue, but I just don't feel the same pressure and pain points on Princess and HAL, either with their all-inclusive fares or buying individual drinks with OBC. What I really do like about the Celebrity packages, though, is that they allow you to buy them at a reduced price using OBC before the cruise, and the non-alcoholic ones seem a little cheaper than ones I looked at on Princess and HAL.

Princess is good if you like pizza, since they have the best at sea, and if you get on a ship that has Alfredo's, you get full, excellent pizza. It's also the best non-paid, informal restaurant at sea, and has salads, pasta, and desserts, so it makes a great free alternative to the MDR or buffet. I used to be deterred by formal night, but now I see that a lot of men wear just a shirt and slacks, so I feel fine and not out of place. I think the destination aspect of Princess is good because of the piazza, a central gathering place with a nice cafe (also a good MDR/buffet alternative, with 24/7 snack options), and a large outdoor movies screens with comfy loungers and blankets. I take the same approach, staying close to home on West Coast cruises, even though I've been on Mexico/coastal/Alaska cruises dozens of time, so I just want a nice ship experience that's comfortable, pleasurable, and affordable. Princess meets that experience best for me, although I try to find the best in any cruise experience (this summer I sailed to Alaska on Carnival, Princess, and Celebrity, and found things to enjoy about all of them). As a solo cruiser I'm sometimes shy or stressed by the MDR experience, but I find the best way to avoid that is to eat late, after 8, when it's not crowded and eat at your own table, so you can ask for quick service (they have a dining speed option in the app now). Another way to avoid the MDR, besides the buffet, is to try Holland America or Celebrity, which allow you to order MDR menu items through room service.

On HAL Captain's Q&A I remember the Captain would always have a glass of ship's tap water to emphasize how safe it is to drink. That doesn't stop different lines from trying to upsell you in the MDR by asking if you want bottled water as a default choice, or selling bottles of water in staterooms, with discreet price tags, or the people blocking the water stations to fill up large water containers, or the coffee station to fill up large thermoses of hot water.

I booked 4 Solstice cruise out of LA in October, January, and April with no single supplement charges that ended up being all from $200-400 for a solo inside cabin, two with all-included and all with some extra OBC. I only cruise solo and mostly stick to the West Coast and Alaska, so Celebrity really hasn't competed in the past for me on price and itinerary options, but when looking for a last-minute cruise in August, I saw a really good solo price for the Solstice to Alaska, and so my niece and sister also went, each getting a cheap solo fare and $250 in OBC. I looked on a major travel site that allows me to search cruises for a single person, and then I used a favorite TA site to find the ridiculous bargains that I ended up booking, along with enough OBC to buy a non-alcoholic package. I also was really delighted to Celebrity matching my RC loyalty status, and by the RCL price dipping enough for me to buy 100 shares and getting $500 more in OBC for my upcoming Celebrity cruises.

As a West Coast cruiser, I'm of the opposite opinion. To me the Sanctuary is the chief design failing of Princess ships, especially after having experienced the forward observation lounges on Celebrity, HAL, and NCL. That's especially true with ships going up towards full occupancy, when a gathering/drinking/events spot to get people away from crowded Piazza spots would be ideal, and then it's a significant drawback for Alaska. That's why I loved being on Majestic twice in Mexico, because the Hollywood Pool and Conservatory were spacious, covered, quirky, and free. While I'm dreaming, they can call the new ships whatever they want if they'd just put back wraparound outside promenade decks, even with the annoying front stairs to climb on older Princess ships. I don't go on cruises to be pampered or to get more skin cancers, but to view the sea, sunsets, scenery, dolphins, waves, and whales.

I've had some shipped from Singapore, while others came from Princess HQ in Miami. It slightly complicates things if you don't have a medallion to show at initial check-in, at least when I went through Seattle. A bit of advice--if you use Medallion with the lanyard, hang it on your door as soon as you enter, so you don't forget it when you leave the room. I confess I was a little creeped out when I was in Alfredo's and saw a tablet at the entrance with photos of all the people dining, using our Medallions to identify us, but then I'm completely mystified how bartenders in some bars can ring me up in an instant using my Medallion, while baristas at the International Cafe and a guy at Vines write down every purchase on a sheet of paper, which defeats the purpose of Medallion technology and results in false charges (I got charged for somebody's else's wine). On the positive side, I've found baristas on every ship who don't bother even charging me for some or all espresso drinks, since the supposedly seamless process takes them too much time and bother.