CruisingWalter

Travel agents are always the way to go. Getting through to a cruise line can be difficult when things like Hurricanes or Pandemics break through. If your travel agent is a roadblock you used the wrong TA. We've had the same TA since 2006 and they've been amazing. I would never book a cruise with a TA, but if it works for you, keep doing what you're doing.

Two things. 1: Never book air travel through the cruise line unless you're cruising one of the deluxe luxury lines like Regent Seven Seas. Always book your own air travel independently whenever possible. 2: Always use a travel agent. Then you're not on the phone wasting your time trying to get through to people at NCL. Agents have their own lines with specific agents and will work to get a resolution for you. We've been cruising since 2006 and while we could easily book our own cruises, we never do and are thankful every time something like this comes up. We have had agents spend two days working through resolutions with cruise lines for us. I hope everything works out for you with this situation. We have thoroughly enjoyed cruising NCL and the other 7 cruise lines we've sailed.

Not sure what you consider pricey, we usually stay in South Beach. It's a bit more expensive than staying in some of the cheaper spots closer to the port, but we have easy walks to the beach, restaurants and activities. We usually end up spending within $40-$50 of what would have spent for a 'cheap hotel' so it usually works out for us plus we really love the Art Deco hotels. Kimpton Surfcomber is where we stayed most recently, really fun little hotel and literally right on the beach. Easy walk to some really good restaurants an the Lincoln outdoor mall area. El Paseo we've stayed at a few times, it's part of Espanola Way which is a street plaza with restaurants and shops right there along with an easy walk to other attractions and the Lincoln outdoor mall. Villa Italia Hotel is way down one end of Ocean Drive, really SoFi. It's actually a lovely little hotel, but definitely off the beaten path with a longer walk to the beach than the other two. But again, close to some really good restaurants, especially Italian restaurants.

That's an incredible experience and so different from so many stories we see here on CC. Most people have very bad experiences with Cruise Line offered travel insurance. Very refreshing to hear that the VV experience was a good one for you!

Ask the bartenders when you're onboard. They always know. That's how I always find out how many people are onboard a particular sailing. 🙂 Depending on which shows you want to see some of those reservations might conflict. The most important thing to know about VV meals is that they run from 90 minutes to 2 hours+ depending on the venue except for Pink Agave. That's a 45 minute meal easily. There is no 'rush' at VV to get out of the restaurants. Test Kitchen was 2 1/2 hours, Gunbae was 2 hours, The Wake was 2+ hours, Extra Virgin would have been 90min - 2 hours except we told our servers we only had 70 minutes for dinner to get to Duel Reality. They turned the 4 course meal into 3 courses. That's the most important thing about dining, if you are pressed for time, let the hosts and servers know as they are seating or certainly BEFORE you order anything. They can work with you but they have to know.

Looks like you're on a leisurely track under the Keys right now and you'll probably head up towards Port Canaveral later today. Barring any issues with the channel you should be coming back in tomorrow. Port Canaveral's website still showing Zulu this morning with no updates on the channel inspections yet nor any updated information on their Twitter feed yet.

According to James Van Fleet, Chief Meteorologist for Royal Caribbean, Port Canaveral will have a channel inspection that will start Friday morning and they hope to have it completed by Friday evening. Until that is completed and the channel is given the all clear, it sounds like the port will remain in Zulu (all stop) condition. The Friday inspection is most likely why the Disney Wish announced it wasn't going to return until Saturday.

I. LOVE. THIS. It's not too much to ask for putting on pants and if that's the dress code then it SHOULD be enforced. The fact that the Maitre'D went back in and kicked him out is AWESOME! Makes me want to cruise MSC even more. We've sailed 8 cruise lines so far and MSC is 'on the list.' Thanks for sharing!

Any cruises that were scheduled for Western Caribbean will be altered. I see Royal Caribbean is sending ships around the eastern side of Cuba to essentially go behind the storm if they can still make any of their Western Carib stops. Most likely cruises are being flipped from Western to Eastern just as many were flipped from Eastern to Western last week to avoid Fiona. Right now, Miami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral should not get all that much affect from the Hurricane other than some possible bad rainstorms. Tampa looks like it will get hammered based on the current tracks. If you're not following James Van Fleet on social media, you should. He's the chief meteorologist for Royal Caribbean who posts daily during normal weather and multiple times per day during storms. He not only reports on the weather but what the Royal ships are doing and where they are altering course. While it's not MSC, most of the cruise lines do coordinate with each other during hurricanes and if you will get a sense of what is happening in the cruise world based on James' info on the Royal ships. James is on Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn

Our friends got theirs about a month out, we never got them until we checked in. The only difference is that if they send them to you, your names are on them. If you get them at check-in it's just standard text. We were both in Cheeky Corner Suites, actually on the same deck, they had their sent, we didn't. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for who they send them to. We literally booked together on the same day, same cabins. 🙂

those sound like AMAZING stops!

Our 10th wedding anniversary in 2006, we were both 40 years old. Caribbean Princess on a 14 night back to back East/West Caribbean. Not a bad way to start our cruising adventures especially since I didn't even want to go! That was 18 cruises ago and counting.... 🙂

On the beef issue (where's the beef? 😂) I would agree that upgrading to Waygu in Gunbae is probably not worth it. But one our party did the Tomahawk steak in The Wake for our final dinner because he had a bit of Sailor Loot to use up. Now THAT was really good and the presentation at the table was awesome. Totally not necessary to do any upcharges anywhere on the ship, we didn't, but since he had the Sailor Loot left he decided to treat himself. I used my extra Sailor Loot to purchase some bourbon and tequila from the Booty Store. 🙂

Very true, we have not experienced that yet, but I really love what MSC is doing with that overnight at their Ocean Cay island. We were supposed to have done a Havana overnight on our original Scarlet Lady cruise we booked back in 2019. Then the US government said we couldn't go there anymore and then of course the pandemic. We JUST took our Scarlet Lady cruise three years and four rebookings later. 🙂

Great Stirrup Cay (NCL) is still somewhat natural. Princess Cay (Princess) is still 'old school' without a lot of frills. Bimini Beach Resort (Virgin) is developed, but a lovely beach and two gorgeous pools, but that's about it. It is part of a larger resort but I absolutely loved that I could walk out a good one hundreds yards or so in the water and my feet were still touching the sand. Labadee (Royal) is far less developed than Coco Cay, though I will say the Coco Beach Club at Coco Cay looks stunning and we're actually booked there in December. . Ocean Cay (MSC) has about 10 years or so until it'll fully grow in. Disney is planning to make their next island much more natural than Castaway Cay.

Better to post this in the Royal Caribbean Forum. You'll get many first hand answers. We're actually going to Wonderland on Symphony OTS in December. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

My wife always has some sort of a tote with her when she's wandering the ship. Some folks have phone cases with credit card slots on the back so they can carry their sea cards with them. I've seen fanny pack types of things, lanyards and such. Personally I LOVE what Virgin Voyages has done with the very small sea band bracelet so you literally don't have to carry anything with you except your phone. One thing you will want is some sort of waterproof pouch or case for your phone if you plan to do any sort of excursions, especially if you plan to go out on a boat such as a snorkel trip or a boat ride. Smaller boats tend to get water splashed in them. They also have pouches and cases that float or have a float on them so your phone won't sink in the water.

It's a brand new Quantum Ultra Class ship. It won't be sold for another 20-30 years, or more likely, scrapped by that point. 🙂

Generally about a month unless it's a major overhaul, then it can be 2-4 months. But 11 months is out of the question. Most likely as someone suggested, it's due to Japan not being open to cruise ships yet and Royal is rethinking the deployment of that ship. When they do something like that, they can't simply 'flip itineraries around.' It takes months and months of planning and coordination to get the new itineraries set before they can be announced to the public. Only so many slots at so many piers around the world with over 300 cruise ships all using the same ports. Give it probably about 3 months or so and then Royal will probably have it figured out enough to at least release the first 4 months of sailing on that ship.

I wouldn't call NCL a 'discount' cruise line, especially in light of their Haven experience, their Breakaway Class ships and the new Prima. That Indulge Food Hall that is included in the price of the cruise on the Prima class looks amazing from all who have been posting from the ship. Carnival doesn't have anything even remotely close to that Haven experience, nor the Prima or even the Breakaway Class ships. Carnival is an amazing value for what it is.

I can say from our experiences on NCL Getaway and Escape, the MDR food is meh like Carnival, but their specialty dining is fantastic. Better than Carnival except for Rudi's Seagrill on Mardi Gras. That is in its own orbit it's so good. But Food Republic, Ocean Blue, Cagney's Steakhouse, Teppenyaki, all excellent restaurants on NCL with Food Republic being our favorite.

Welcome (hopefully) to the wonderful world of cruising! I actually started both a TikTok channel and YouTube channel specifically to help new cruisers and the cruise curious. Our goal is to give straightforward answers so you can make informed decisions on what is best for you. I'm not permitted to post links directly to the channels but you'll find Where's Walter TV on YouTube and whereswaltertv on TikTok. In particular on the YT channel there is a playlist called "New To Cruising" and the TikTok channel is pretty much all info for new cruisers. We always recommend using a travel agent, ESPECIALLY for new cruisers. Travel agents are absolutely free to the traveler, they earn their commissions via the cruise lines. We are not permitted to recommend travel agents on Cruise Critic so you'll have to research a good TA on your own. But they can help you choose the best cabin for you and tell you about all the other perks on the ship. As far as getting started, for starters know that if you are prone to seasickness at all, you'll want to book a cabin in the middle of the ship and in the lower decks. The middle lower section of the ship is the smoothest ride. The higher you go on the ship, the more you may feel the movement. Cruises are very unique in travel in that your itinerary can change for a variety of reasons, most often weather. You can miss stops, change ports and even change your entire itinerary right up until you leave and even when you start cruising. For instance this past week Tropical Storm Fiona forced multiple cruises to switch from a Eastern Caribbean to a Western Caribbean itinerary on the day they were leaving. Cruises have two types of dining, included dining and specialty dining. Included dining will be the Main Dining Room (MDR) and often another eatery or two. Specialty dining is just like going to a restaurant on land, it's an extra fee to eat at them. Most times it's a flat fee per person, but some are ala carte with regular menu pricing. All entertainment onboard will be included and will consist of theater shows and individual acts throughout the ship. You are not required to leave the ship at a port of call. You are absolutely free to stay onboard if you'd like to take advantage of a mostly empty ship. We call it a ship day. Usually about 75% of the guests leave the ship giving you free reign to enjoy the pools and all the activities onboard the ship. And if you fancy a spa day, the spa is always discounted on a port day. That should get you started, happy to answer any other questions you may have. 🙂

Cruising is one of the best economical values in travel today. Hotel, meals, entertainment and destinations rolled into one price and my hotel is in a different place every day. 🙂

Common for cruise ships everywhere in the world. If it's a pier location, the waves and wind have to be below a certain criteria or the ship will not come in. 18 cruises so far and I think we've missed 5 or 6 ports of call on those cruises and our Hurricane Irma cruise had a completely different itinerary than we planned one to stay away from the storm. Rolling with weather, mechanical and other issues is part of becoming a seasoned cruiser. You may not always get the exact cruise you signed up for. 🙂

Have not had an issue thus far, but the one cruise port where we will not exist the cruise port area is Falmouth, Jamaica. Once you leave the gates of that port, it really does feel dangerous. I didn't even feel comfortable on the cruise based excursion. That's a Ship Day for us when it's on the itinerary.