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We've had a few charges, on the final bill that was processed after we left the ship. Took them a while to correct them after we notified them.

Well, I don't think the attic cruises will be a big hit with us! 😜 Thank you so much for all the time you spent on your reviews. Sante`

Ha, ha, ha, enjoyed that! Thank you!

Interesting. My parents were big time cruisers. Our first cruise as a family was from Honolulu to Los Angeles in 1971. SS Monterey. LA was so full of smog, it was awful. My mother had done some banana boats to Cuba in the 40's with girlfriends. Fast forward. They did lots of cruises in the 80's and 90's. They did 1 Crystal cruise and were totally turned off by the snobbish clientele. They liked the ship and even bought me the Crystal Cookbook. But they never booked a Crystal cruise again.

Many years ago, we went to the Quebec Yacht Club for lunch. Being adventurous, I ordered the Poutine. Not wild about the cheese curd. It was OK, but I would have rather ordered the Lobster Roll that my DH ordered. We noticed there were Poutine fast food places, and even McDonalds sold it.

I think we would enjoy Ponant (and your particular cruise without flying over the pond). Celebrity Silly TA booked for this Fall, Equinox booked for January, 2 Star Clipper cruises in March, and Oceania Vancouver to Alaska/West Coast cruise to LA next September. Looking at Blue Danube Cruise on Tauck in Spring 2026. So many options!

Jim, do you have an overall conclusion on Celebrity vs Ponant? Merci beaucoup and Sante`

When we lived in Europe, this was standard practice. This was not limited to France. We were told it would "offend the chef" if we waited to start eating.

Thank you, but what about your port stops, excluding Ketchikan now???

Hi Feta, We are booked on this cruise next year. Although we have cruised Alaska before, do you have any comments on your port stops?

We always try to escape the frigid temperatures in Northern Florida during the winter. Yes, it even snows where we live...😎

Thank you for posting. We leave on her on 8 January 2024. It's our last Celebrity cruise that we have booked (Elite+). Have three other cruises booked for 2024 on other lines. Now looking at a Blue Danube River cruise in 2025. Also, waiting to see how Jim_lain's Great Lakes cruise on Ponant goes. 😎

We did the same research as you. Our son built a casita as part of his home and was one of the first 100 Airbnb owners. I think he listed it for about 5 years before customer burnout. We got to stay for free 😁 I forgot to mention, the owners upstairs are renting it out for 1 day minimum. Not cool. 🙄

Just a Heads Up for All. We used to do a lot of VRBO's and some Airbnb's in the early days. It got to the point that many places were not as advertised, included a lot of extra fees, and cancellation time requirements were too strict. Normal hotel prices/ cancellation requirements ended up much better, especially if you have a hotel loyalty program. What really turned us off is... We bought a second home in a small gated association community, a first floor unit in a 4 plex (35 units in all). Minimum 30 day short term rentals allowed. Two years ago, a young couple (37-40) bought the unit above us. They started advertising it on Airbnb before they even closed on it. They are techies and made lots of false reviews even before anyone stayed there. He even bragged that all owners do that now. They were Super Hosts in a heart beat. Hopefully, our association will get them removed.

Elite+. A TA on Silly this Fall and then a January Equinox Ultimate Southern Caribbean. After those, 2 Star Clippers (we are sailors and have been on them @ 14 times), then an Oceania Alaska/West Coast Cruise next September. A few land trips sprinkled in. Also looking at Ponant and Regent.

Many years ago, we sailed on the Tahitian Princess around French Polynesia. It was based there. She was number 4 of the R ships. 680 passengers. It is now Oceania's Sirena.

We are glad you started this thread. After reading a lot about Oceania, we booked this same cruise for 2024 (pre-Simply More). Although it's 12 days and skips Juneau (Tracy's Crab Shack) and Skagway (rent a car in advance and drive to Carcross in the Yukon--Gorgeous!). We have been to both. Celebrity Elite+ jumping ship. Have been on several R ships before--Renaissance and Tahitian Princess, and other lines. We had our own sailboat for 30+ years in Hawaii and Florida, and have rented canal boats in France numerous times. Needless to say, we like the water experience. We will be interested in all your comments about the ship and land comments. Enjoy!

We did a Transatlantic on the Royal Clipper in October/November a few years ago. Lisbon to Barbados. Smooth sailing all the way. We have also done 5 TA's on larger ships (max 2200 people) in the same time period Oct/Nov. Never hit any big seas-even on a northern route from Southampton to Boston. All were Westbound. Have heard the Eastbound TA's are not as smooth, but you never know...

Whatsinport.com is pretty reliable and includes lots of local information, maps, etc.

I understand why people "look back". But starting today Simply More is in effect no matter how you crunch the numbers. The price is the price.

The web site does mention lunch and dinner only. There is also a link to their Terms and Conditions. Bottom left of first web page "Read More".

Why does all that matter? Their fare went up $2,000 in the new program. They are happy staying with the old program.

Yes, understand that. Just showing people the difference.😎

As a newbie, y'all recommended that I book a couple weeks ago. I did. Cruise only. Mine went up $400 per person=$800. We will stay under the old program.

Google Port of Balboa--it's there.