jlawrence01

It was a guaranteed. Honestly, we always book the cheapest available cabin as we rarely spend much time in the cabin.

I booked a cruise on the Niuew Amsterdam and the final payment is due next week. There was a $2045 balance due after deposits. I paid using 4 - $500 gift cards that i purchased from AARP at an 8% discount. The balance, I placed on my credit card. This was done by providing my travel agent with the account numbers on each on the four cards and their related PINs. The rest was charged to my credit card on file.

On my last cruise on the Eurodam, we reserved an inside cabin. We received an unobstructed Oceanview cabin on the 1st deck,

The major differences that I see between Royal Caribbean and Celebrity: 1) The service on the ship is MUCH better across the board on Celebrity. They have a lot of very experienced staff that has been on the ship for years and they do a great job of anticipating your needs day after day. The royal Caribbean staff was generally less experienced and was very irritating - they were constantly talking about the cruise surveys. 2) The Celebrity ship officers are constantly present and interacting with the guests. i noticed that a lot of the officers knew past cruisers. these folks anticipated any issues to ensure smooth sailing. 3) In general, the menus - MDR and buffet - are much more creative on Celebrity than Royal Caribbean. While the food is a lot better on Celebrity, both lines have had several dishes that were complete misses and should have been caught in the kitchen by a head chef. 4) Celebrity is a much older crowd, especially on the older ships. They like to make the claim that the crowd is so much younger than HAL. However, I did not see that. Royal Caribbean has a lot of families although not as many when you avoid the summer months.

I really like ships where I can walk fully around a Promenade deck because I can get 3-5 miles a day walking in more protected environment. I find walking on the top deck exposes me to too much sun and wind. We have gotten into the bad habit of waking up at 6 am and walking a mile before breakfast on some of the HAL ships. While I like FLL, cruising out of Galveston allows me to drive in from Tucson for the cruise and take a week on a road trip through the great state of Texas.

I am looking for a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, especially, the ABC Islands. The best itineraries that I have seen are on the Regal Princess and the Emerald Princess. We did a Western Caribbean cruise on the Regal Princess last spring and really enjoyed it. What are the differences, if any, between the two ships?

My wife was at the local Goodwill store and purchased two of the Silverseas Expedition 3 in 1 parkas for $40. We live in Southern Arizona and will be heading to Alaska for three weeks in September. Since our supply of cold weather/ rain proof clothing is very limited we have been looking for something like this for months. Is this parka something that Silverseas sells or is this included in the fare of an Antarctica cruise? I guess that I am looking for the story behind it and the price of this is purchased new. Thanks.

I agree with you completely about Discount Cruise Parking. They do an excellent job at getting you to and from the cruise port. I was in my car within 30 minutes of stepping off the ship. As for hotels, I stayed at the Microtel Inn by Wyndham right across from NASA. It was close to dozens of restaurants and supermarkets that are reasonably priced. I think that I paid about $70 a night. Texas City is yet another option. It is about a 30 mile drive from NASA to the cruise port. We always take TX-146 which is a more scenic route.

I have never been a great fan of travel agents and fired our corporate travel agents and brought the function "in house" when I was still working. However, I always use a travel agent when booking a cruise for the following reason: - TAs will monitor pricing and get a lower rate - TAs often have deals like OBC that you do not get through the cruise line. - TAs can offer advice and relay past experiences. - My travel agent is Houston-based and is a NATIVE English speaker. My last calls to Celebrity Cruises have been routed to the Philippines and have been difficult to understand. (Yes, I have run a call center in Manila and was teh person who evaluated English fluency for our employees.) - if we go through another COVID type event, it is easier to get ahold of a TA than a cruise line. - TAs website has a nice 90 day Ticker that allows me to find deals easier than others.

How about a completely different idea - try a Windstar Yacht cruise. They have six ships that are active in the Caribbean, the South Pacific and the Mediterranean. It is an all suite product and the ships hold between 160-350 cruisers. There is no dress code other than business casual at dinner. All dining options are included in the fare as are non-alcoholic beverages. They have partnered with the James Beard Foundation and have upped their food game. Their focus is on the actual ports and they attempt to minimize "sea days." A typical seven day Caribbean cruise has six port days. Being a smaller ship, they can go into ports that are closed off to larger ships. They are NOT inexpensive. However, their fares are fairly similar to Disney as well as the suite prices in many of the "new and hot" ships. I hope that helps.

I am a budget cruiser. When we have purchased a cruise on board, we always feel like we did not get a great deal even when we have received some form of compensation for it. Therefore, we prefer to wait until about 3-6 months before cruising and look at the deals available on the 90 Day Ticker. YMMV.

I would agree with that. I think that the only thing that I would not order in the MDR are some of the steak entrees which tend to be rather tough. I was really surprised how much better the Regal buffet was that the HAL Eurodam. There was so much variety.

Personally, I would like to see more stops in Newfoundland and the Maritime and maybe fewer in Maine.

I went to Louisbourg once in September or October and honestly, it was one of the best attractions that I saw in Cape Breton or Nova Scotia as a whole. I very strongly recommend going during the summer months because the day we went, there was over 2" of rain and honestly, I have NEVER been so WET even while working boots and ponchos. Louisbourg is about 35 minutes by car from Sydney.

It would be more correct to say that Billboard TRIES to do country music. I was on the Eurodam in January listening to a guy with a high tenor voice TRY to tackle a Johnny Cash song. It was so bad that several people were holding back laughing. Let's say that country music is NOT a strong point.

Excellent method. I do the same thing when I account for all of the Southwest Airlines gift cards that I purchase. In that case, any credits I get for cancelling a Southwest flight is held by the airline not credited back to the card.

Cruisemapper also works very well. https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/juneau-port-407 Whatsinport is also very helpful. https://whatsinport.com/Juneau-AK.htm I like this site as it gives you a lot of port information in addition to what ships are in port by date.

RCI has smaller ships that are similar in size to most Princess, HAL and Celebrity ships. However, they have so few of the real amenities that would make them special, why cruise with them. IMO, the older ships on RCI do not compare well with Carnival ships in terms of service or available food options.

One of the problems that I have in comparing Celebrity with other cruise lines is that it is HIGHLY dependent on the ship. One of my friends does a YouTube channel on food just showing all of the food options with limited commentary. They did a cruise on the Apex and one on the Millennium. There were dozens of different options available on the Apex that simply were NOT available on the older ship. Let's start with food. Both have very creative MDR menus and generally the food is very good. Celebrity has a few more upscale options in the MDR. My major complaint with Celebrity is that there are also ways a couple of technical issues with the food that could have been resolved had a chef actually tasted the food. Risotto is served that is really not even el dente and lentils were also undercooked to the point they were inedible. I saw fewer issues with Princess but the quality of any beef steak product in the MDR was mediocre. The buffet was more varied on the Regal Princess than the Millennium but bother were very good. We liked the entertainment on both ships a lot. However, the lighting and sound in the main theatre on the Millennium is primitive The performers deserved better. The enrichment talks on Princess were the best that we experienced. Also, the port talks on Princess covered EVERYTHING that was available at the port including THIRD PARTY excursions and off the beaten track shopping opportunities as opposed to the usual ones. In terms of service, Celebrity wins hands down. I have never seen a team of servers in the MDR work seamlessly to provide excellent service all six nights like I saw on the Millennium. They anticipated every need and after the second night were bringing out beverages before they were requested. Princess was professional and did well but they did not engage as well. Both of our cruises were in 2023. It seemed like nearly all of the Celebrity staff were very experienced. The Princess staff was doing a decent job but you could tell that about 25% of the staff was on their first contract and some were having difficulties. I think that Princess was hit harder with COVID and they lost a lot of staff who decided not to return. I have heard rumblings from some of my Filipino friends who did not feel like they were treated right after the outbreaks and don't want to return. I do not feel like Celebrity or Princess push shopping and other services to the extent that you experience on NCL or RCCL where it is a constant. I agree with some of the other posters that the itineraries on Princess (and HAL) are far more interesting than you will find on Celebrity which tends to focus on shorter cruises. In addition, I find a lot more value on Princess (and HAL) than on Celebrity. For the record, I have two cruises booked on Celebrity and a 14 day on HAL this year. And we are looking at a Princess Cruise in the 2nd quarter next year.

Or their ministry is in academics. My cousin worked as a high school counselor and did retreat work most of the school year. For several summers, he worked for one of the Alaskan diocese as vacation relief. All week long, he would be flown by bush pilot to remote villages. It was a great way to spend a summer.

Two comments on the subject. We have been on eight cruises on seven different lines. The ONLY cruise line where we were always hounded for a good review was RCCL. It got to the point of being annoying. When we finally did get home ten days after the cruise, the link to the survey did not work as we had waited too long. Second, if you are unhappy with any aspect of service, it is better to take it up with a manager immediately as it is likely that others are having the same experience. That allows the problem to be resolved. On my cruise on the Millennium, I only had two comments - that the sound system in the Main theatre was not good and that certain dishes in the MDR were not properly prepared. They were minor issues.

The priests are provided by a ministry called the Apostleship of the Seas and are on nearly all HAL cruises.. https://www.aos-usa.org/ The priests are considered to be cruise employees and are provided room and board. Many serve three to six months at a time. In general, the perform a Catholic Mass daily, not just on Sundays. The times vary by day.

I have a question about the Veal Kroketten that is served on HAL in the dining room and the Dutch Cafe. When we have Veal Croquettes at home, the texture of the veal was a relatively course ground and was similar to a typical meat loaf. On the Hal ships - in particular, the Konigsdam, the veal tasted like it had been pureed like baby food? Is that typical of what you would find in the Netherlands? I like to see a good variety of ethnic foods on all of the cruises.

I do not have any problems having 100 shares of three companies in a large portfolio of stocks. There is no requirement that the stock be held for longer than it is necessary to get the shareholder discount approved.

Personally, if I were strictly looking for musical performances and the food, I would probably choose one of the newer Holland America ships. The problem with the NCL ships is that the entertainment venues tend to be relatively small for the size of ship. We found it almost impossible to get into smaller venues unless we were there over an hour in advance. Also, the food selection, quality and the service was inferior to the other cruise lines that you mentioned.