Cruising89143

On 5/21/2023 at 4:54 AM, ISABELLA said:

We are back from our first Haven cruise. Lots of pros and cons. 

 Will post our opinion shortly. 

 

Looking forward to your comparison between the two. We cruised on Bliss in the Haven shortly before the pandemic. Will be interested in your take on NCL and the Haven.

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

IMHO, the only thing Miami currently has going for it is the number of different cruise lines, demographic levels, and itineraries that it supports relative to PC. Adding Princess to PC may help a bit, but their PC itineraries are unimaginative at best and the reality is that Princess (since it was acquired by Carnival) is just another RCL/Carnival/MSC clone from an experience perspective. The only line out of PC that is showing any imagination right now is RCL with longer cruises sailing to Bermuda, the ABC islands and other ports that typically don't show up on PC itineraries. If PC really wants to keep its "title", it needs to attract more lines that elevate the cruise experience - not just replicate it, and show some imagination in where they sail. Celebrity would be a good start, and something like Silversea or Regent would be even better.

Miami has a lot going on with new terminals. They will be taking that title back. Not crazy about either port but Miami is building. I read that PC is looking to add another terminal over the next two to three years as well. 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/03/msc-breaks-ground-on-new-miami-cruise-terminal/

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/28b-royal-caribbean-portmiami-deal-gets-green-light

Mailed mine in three weeks ago. It arrived in two days. Expedited. Check was cashed the day after they received it. Hoping to have it back within the next few months. You can check the status online….https://passportstatus.state.gov

8 hours ago, Ashland said:

Any idea what they'll be doing? She looked great the last time we were on her.

General routine maintenance. Nothing special. It will only be in dry dock for about two weeks. I was told that this was the only shipyard available since the ship is on the west coast. A good amount of travel time to and from Singapore. 

It will be in dry dock. Heard that from several crew members last month. The ship will be traveling to the Sembawang shipyard in Singapore which is why it’s has the month of March zeroed out for cruises. 

We had MSC YC booked five or six times but all during Covid and all sailings were canceled due to the pandemic. We were anxious to try them but after having to deal with their customer service reps in FLL trying to obtain refunds we changed our mind. Incompetent and downright rude. I have read that one should stick to the YC. We found the same situation on the Norwegian Bliss just before Covid hit. We loved the Haven but outside of the Haven, the ship was a zoo. 

7 hours ago, Ethanol95 said:

do you have a source?

My source was a UK travel site that attended the tour where Bayley was present and spoke. It was posted on an RCI group on Facebook. I’m not linking it here as it might be in violation of CC. 

43 minutes ago, Coralc said:

I think it will probably go away. 3 cruises, and we still haven't been in there. I'm not really a fan of Promenades anyway. 

It’s been packed on our last four or five cruises. Personally I will take the R bar or the Viking Crown. I’m not a fan of sweet cocktails. It has a nice atmosphere. 

Read an article this morning that stated Michael Bayley alluded to a possible seventh Oasis class ship after Utopia on the media tour of the Icon yesterday. 

We were back on a few weeks ago. Food is gone in the Bamboo room. Drinks only.

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

well I have a heard a lot DO want this class ship.  She can do trips to Hawaii then

They can want all day long. The O class does not tender. That leaves out Catalina Island and I have doubts that it could fit into Ensenada or many of the Mexican Riviera ports if any at all. Cabo is a tender port. Also, there is no current terminal out here that could handle this size ship. Won’t happen for many years if ever. Also, there’s nothing keeping RCI from doing cruises to Hawaii now with the NV. 

41 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

And the folks on west coast continue to wish one of the big girls would come to them. So again they are disappointed and rightly so.

Not all of us want an O class out here. I like the NV just fine. Was back on an O class in October (SYM) and it reminded of me of why I stopped cruising on them. 

There is no charge for the movies on the pool side screen. She is confused and must be referring to the TV in her stateroom.

We were there last year twice on a side by side cruise. The first was the Freedom only which had around 4300 give or take. The next week we were back on the Symphony along with the Independence OTS. The total was around 9500-10,000 with both ships. It wasn’t bad but we could definitely tell a difference from the prior week. It was doable but get off when the ship docks and find your choice of chair/umbrella. 

We did this tour some time ago on the EQ. There are a LOT of steps in some of the towns like Positano. Also a lot of walking (Pompeii) and if it’s hot as it was on our visit then it will be even more strenuous. 

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Gotcha. The world of comps is completely new to me but I totally agree with you about flying. After our fiasco with American back in March and nearly missing the boat as a result, I’m done with flying for a while as well. We leave out of Ft. Lauderdale in November and though we would normally fly in from ATL, we are breaking up the 12 hour drive over 2 days instead. 

Unfortunately we caught Covid on our Symphony OTS cruise last October and we had the flight from hell from Miami to Palm Springs. Since then I will only drive to Los Angeles. 🙂 We have turned down numerous offers from X on cruise from Alaska. I remember your adventures of flying from ATL to LAS. Many of us were following your every move. 

8 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Good to know. That disclaimer is/was not visible nor has the question been asked at this point, anyway. I will keep an eye out for this. If so, I would not qualify as my last Celebrity cruise was early March. 

🙂 You would not know until you tried to accept the offer. We have other offers from MSC and Virgin but we’re not willing to fly for a cruise at this time. RCI sends us offers weekly. Much better than what X sends us weekly. 

You cannot accept an offer on URcomped if you have sailed or booked a cruise within twelve months on a specific cruise line and in this case it would be Celebrity. There will be a process where you will have to answer those questions in order to accept the offer. It will reject you if you answer that you have cruised in on X within the last year.

7 minutes ago, Cruise5life said:

Just wow.   What’s sparking todays gains.  4.80 as of right now 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/05/royal-caribbean-reports-q1-2023-earnings-increases-guidance/

Just arrived home from the Navigator today. Room was serviced twice daily, ship was very clean, crew was great as always. Ate dinner one evening in the WJ with plenty of choices. Chops was not that great. Izumi was good but slow service. Jamie’s was great as always. 
 

We had around 500 kids on board. Saw no issues. Royal Caribbean is a family line. They don’t even try to hide it. Why do people go on a family focused cruise line and expect something different?

We were back on Celebrity two weeks ago and we found that our experience this week topped Celebrity. 

Currently on the NV in a JS. Lavazza coffee maker in room. Exact same type machine that we had on the NV, FR and SY in October of last year. All three was a GS. 

8 hours ago, CruisersTimesThree said:

Always had our 1st night dinner in the original Qsine, was so sad to see it go! The Le Petite restaurant doesn’t interest me at all. 

Add us to the list. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Found Kermit’s.  It was ok but not great.   Not real tart but it blooms on your pallet.  My taste is more of one that makes you pucker up. 
 

For us it’s Blue Heaven when it comes to Key Lime pie. 🙂

52 minutes ago, hcat said:

Jim 

Guess you could try those if needed,  but...Tampa  airport & area  roads  have become very congested..I flew out  of TPA for business a few weeks ago .  What a nightmare!  Switched to SRQ for my return.

 

 from Orlando it's a long drive down and across...and  there are congested roads at times esp thru Sarasota..

 

Allegiant  Air goes to Punta Gorda...semi rural 

 

try Ft Myers.( RSW) .nice drive across Alligator Alley..if its dry! or even Sarasota ( SRQ)

 

on the East Coast there  are Jacksonville and West Palm..but we are more familiar with  SW Fl west coast

 

you are one of the most experienced travelers on the Boards..so  I know you will find a way for it to work out

 from Orlando it's a long drive down and across...and  there are congested roads at times esp thru Sarasota

From Orlando you do not go through Sarasota unless you’re planning to take I-4 to I-75 south and the long way around. You also do not need to go across Florida. My point to Jim is that it may be easier to get a flight to one of the other major airports. 

3 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Ugh.... It's going to be a wild day for sure.      Just got a call that they will be keeping FLL closed all day.   I immediately jumped on the line to AA and as you can expect the lines are clogged.  Luckily I had a premium number that helped.

 

All flight to all origin airports near us and in the Miami / FLL area are totally sold.    Best I can do is fly today to DFW and overnight in DFW.     The only flight I could get doesn't depart Dallas until 8:00 PM Friday getting in around 11:00 PM

Jim, not sure if you want the drive but have you tried Orlando or Tampa? The drive from Orlando to FLL is not bad going down the turnpike.