avcruz

Cruised the Breakaway to Bermuda in April and overall we enjoyed it - it had been 10 years since our last NCL cruise. We also like to cruise Celebrity, but keep coming back to Princess.

I found the evening entertainment on NCL a little livelier and enjoyed the promenade deck with the indoor/outdoor restaurants. Also give a slight edge to NCL for a couple of their special restaurants - the sushi and the churrascaria were excellent. Having said that, the reason we ate in the specialty restaurants was because we found the food in the MDR to be sub-standard.

Our balcony cabin was lovely, with a sofa in the seating area, however I found the storage a little lacking. Shower was much more spacious that in a standard balcony cabin on Princess. Balcony itself was tiny.

Spa area wasn't as luxurious as Princess and the casino was too smoky and the way it was laid out you could smell it 3 decks up.

In contrast, Princess specialty dining isn't as inventive, but is still good. (I have yet to try Share). The MDR for the most part is very good, if traditional. Evening entertainment can be a little more pedestrian - no cirque type shows. A quiet elegance, if you will. Great martini bar!

Storage in the balcony cabins is fantastic and if you are on a ship with the larger Caribe balconies - they are heaven. Drawback is no sofa, just a chair in the sitting area and a small shower with a curtain that will molest you every time you soap up!!!

Lotus Spa is one of the nicer spas I've encountered on a mass market ship and I appreciate the non-smoking nights in the casino (and throughout other areas of the ship).

Just my quick observations & comparisons. I will cruise either line again. Hey, it's a cruise, right? [emoji4]

Not true in the UK Market. There are several airlines (one of which who flies to 6 major USA destinations direct from my local Manchester International Airport) where bookings are currently open up to and including October 31st 2017!

 

 

 

For European flights we have at least 2 airlines whose flights are open for booking, again up to October 2017. believed me and insulted me to the point where I left those boards.

Here in Canada we too have a couple of charter airlines that have their schedules out over a year in advance. Mostly to sun destinations and Europe. It's just the scheduled carriers that have the 330 day limitation in the GDS.

Congratulations on your first Cruise Critic post.

It is unfortunate that this happened to you, however it is quite common with all cruise lines, not just Celebrity. They frequently charter out the entire ship to special interest groups. If they had not cancelled your reservation on that sailing, you probably would not have been happy either, as the large group would have monopolized many of the venues and amenities.

It is fortunate that it happened so many months out - gives you plenty of opportunity to find something else to substitute, and you're not committed to any airfares or other non-refundable arrangements.

I hope you manage to find other arrangements that will suit you and your family.

I've never heard of anyone paying for that coupon book. Have gotten it for free many times, and when it contained the coffee card coupon - that was worth it. I think I used it for a dvd once too. But pay for it - never!!!

Makers Mark is bourbon, so you'd probably be better if you looked under bourbon. I don't believe that it's included in the classic package.

What happens in Vancouver is you have to go through Canadian customs, then United States customs as you are going to Alaska, Hawaii or down the US coast to Seattle. Then Celebrity check in.

Why would you have to go through Canadian customs? You already did when you arrived in the country. You may be confusing it with security.

J- You did not just go there! :eek:;)

Yes, she did! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji56]

If those of you who cruised before, say, 2010, remember the Martini glasses, you will remember they were very special, large to say the least. Bartenders just poured into the shaker, they never measured and filling those glasses took at least 4 oz, closer to 5. While they don't use shot glasses to measure now, they are measuring in the shaker and very carefully. The pour is right around 3.5 oz. and the martini glasses that used to be at the other bars are now the standard ar the Martini bar. They are much smaller.

True. I have fond memories of the Martini Bar on the Zenith in 2000. Not only were the glasses larger, but they were an eclectic bunch. It seemed like no two glasses were alike. I can remember being served in a glass with a "cactus" for the stem, or a curved blue stem or a lightening bolt stem. It was part of the fun - which glass will I get tonight?

Mess uniform *does* look spiffy and I like having occasions to trot it out. :)

As a Navy Brat born and raised within spitting distance of CFB Esquimalt I STILL think nothing looks as good as man in his mess uniform! Love to see it.

Which sailing date are you looking to do?

Yes to capris if in a city, visiting museums and churches. Shorts maybe if doing a beach/country walk excursion. Depending upon the ports I might also take a shawl or pashmina with me in case I need to cover my head and shoulders for a temple or mosque.

 

I guess my point of view comes from working for an airline. We have service standards for our flights. Those standards vary from market to market and time of day and to a lesser extent by equipment type. But for a given flight, the service should be the same no matter who the flight attendants are and no matter what plane is assigned. You'd probably think it absurd if someone asked (in a forum such as FlyerTalk) "I'm flying from AAA to BBB tomorrow on flight 123. I see we have plane 8424 assigned to it. Does plane 8424 serve beverages before the meal or with the meal?" Yet, at least to me, that is the nature of some of the ship-specific questions that get asked.

Your airline serves meals??? [emoji848][emoji6]

90% of questions asked on these boards are available from the cruise line yet people seem to have no clue. If you booked why not ask the line and not here where you will get 3 diff. answers to the same question or many opinions that don't answer the question. I understand if you are a first timer but some are just ??? (dress code). Flame on

It's called peer review. We as a society put more stock in the information and advice we get from fellow travellers than that we get from the cruise lines. We then apply our own personal filters to decide what works best for us.

Think about photos in a cruise brochure or website vs. the ones taken by passengers. The cruise line is going to take their photos in a way that presents their product in the best light (the empty pool deck, the fat lobster tail). The traveller is going to take an honest photo. They are also going to focus on minutiae that is important to them (power outlets, grab bars in showers) which the cruise line usually wouldn't think were important.

That's why sites like this or Trip Advisor are so popular. Plus it can be fun to participate!

I did it on one cruise and won a pack of playing cards with 52 different martini recipes. Still have them. [emoji846]

I am flabbergasted by this response. I hope you are joking.

I hope they're not, as I tend to agree. [emoji50]

When did age become an excuse for inconsideration? It's not like there aren't plenty of other places to play cards outside the eating venues. [emoji848]

There is no charge. Someone said unless you take it home. Once you see it you won't want to. :eek:

 

Tony

Actually, the ones we had on our last cruise were nice new, white waffle robes. Just the kind someone MIGHT want as a souvenir. [emoji6]

I believe that's in reference to the credits/incentives that TAs receive when they block cabins on a ship.

Princess asked if I wanted robes available in our cabin. Is there a charge for robes?

Only if you take it home with you...[emoji5]

I thought it was going to be a link to one of Sailor Jack's chuckle-a-minute reviews, but this one's good too!

I've used a US agent for years and never even given it a thought The cruiseline has my money, not the agency

True enough. And it looks like they've been established for a number of years. Hate to do this to my long-time TA, but it's a savings of USD $1100 for a 12-day cruise.

I don't ever book with the cruise line but I know what you mean about stepping into the unknown with someone you haven't used before. I will say my perks are awesome. We booked just a balcony and we got all 4 perks including the premium package and an extra $100 obc from the agency giving me a total of $400. I just noticed my one category upgrade price wasn't reflected on the invoice and it was fixed within 5 minutes by email. I'm happy so far

As a fellow Vancouverite, can I ask you if you had any qualms about booking with them as a Canadian? Thinking that if anything happens to this online TA we wouldn't have any recourse with BC Consumer Protection as they aren't a Cdn company.

Thanks,

Adrienne

Last night I went to the store to return a pair of shoes I had purchased the day before. The cashier asked for my email address and phone number. I told her, "no", and insisted that this information had nothing to do with the transaction in question. She replied that it's "policy". I told the clerk that I too have a policy, and it's to not give personal information unless legally required, and if she needs to input a phone number and email address so badly, she could make one up or use her own. :p

Love it! Or you could do what I once did. Same scenario and when I asked why she needed it was told "because I'm told to ask", so I made up a really long email address - and watched her struggle to enter it. At least be honest and tell me it's so that your company can spam me...

Thank you for the remedy suggestions! I only knew of Gravol (in Canada). I would rather try natural remedies like ginger, apples, or booze. :).

I buy a small package of candied ginger from Purdy's. Helps the tummy and tastes delicious at the same time. :-)

 

 

 

One recommendation I'd give is for your friend to try and pick up a US Customs Declaration at the counter or gate in YVR so they can complete it on the flight to YYZ. Since it's a domestic flight, they won't hand them out as a matter of course and may not have them on hand. Just one less thing to deal with once they're on the ground at Pearson.

They don't offer paper US Customs Declarations at YVR any more. Because of the pre-clearance its all done on kiosks now.

I am not sure just how this worked out so well for us but we did a TA on the Royal last year and got fantastic prices as it was a "repositioning " cruise. It was also a SiP & Sail promotion. I know our price, for a balcony was less than $100 a day apiece. We drank away all those sea days by going through the extensive menu at Bellini's :-)

Yes, I like the fact that Princess will offer Sip n Sail on TAs. Celebrity won't offer the free beverage package on TAs. Nice to take advantage of it on all those sea days!

You might get a better response if you post on the general Princess board. This board is more for shore excursions, hotels and other landside arrangements.

On the other hand, although I'm not from the UK, when I convert that price into dollars that seems like a deal to me!