BettyCruiser

22 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

OK.  Has anyone done a Princess Norwegian Fjords cruise?  It is looking like HAL vs Princess right now.

We sailed Sky Princess out of Southampton 14 nights to Norway, loved it.

We sail both Celebrity and Princess most often they are mostly similar. Lately there have been a few comparison threads that can inform on the differences. 

When you walk out to the Retreat sun deck on the side with the bar look to your left, there are 5 or 6 lounges under a pergola that are mostly shady.

They usually start boarding the ship about 11, so for sure you can get into the Retreat lounge before then. I’m sure others with recent experience will chime in. My advice would be to be the last to leave the first ship and then make your way to Beyond and I’m sure you can get into the terminal. 

Radiance class is built on the same hull as M class. In some ways is nicer since there is more glass and views to the sea.

Royal Caribbean doesn‘t have any class equivalent to S class, maybe Q class is the closest but I haven’t sailed that class.

Royal Caribbean does still have some smaller ships, smaller than M/Radiance class if that interests you. Vision, Granduer and Rhapsody.

I have not cruised NCL Jewel but have sailed NCL recently. NCL tends to be more family oriented while Celebrity has a more mature clientele. NCL dining  is very casual, think shorts and baseball caps perfectly acceptable in MDR. NCL specialty dining is very good and less expensive than Celebrity. NCL has moved to only once a day stateroom servicing. NCL drink package does not include packaged water. 
 

I mostly sail Celebrity but will on occasion sail NCL. Read the NCL boards ask some questions over there.

They serve lunch outside on the Retreat deck everyday, the menu is somewhat limited, I like the chicken sandwich.

I like the sunset bar better on Eclipse, along the wall instead of an island.

I like having the Lawn Club Grill on the Reflection rather than the hot glass show.

My favorite room on S class is on the pool deck, so doesn’t exist on Reflection since there are no cabins on the pool deck.
 

I think the Sky lounge is bigger on Eclipse because it lacks some suites that are on that deck of the Reflection.

Reflection is the most different of all the S class. It has a higher passenger capacity, some find it feels more crowded but I haven’t noticed that.

If you want to try something slightly different then pick Eclipse.

11 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

Same vessel is not a requirement to violate the PVSA. It's same carrier - in this case Celebrity - so you couldn't take another Celebrity ship either. You can get around it by adding an overnight in Vancouver or switching cruise lines.

This is not true. PVSA applies to the vessel. A change of ship for either leg, be it Celebrity or another cruise line will satisfy PVSA. 

We prefer the Lawn Club Grill when sailing Silhouette.

7 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Not just Concierge or Aqua.... the majority of cabins are IV.

Yes, of course, I specified since the OP indicated they were looking at Concierge or Aqua on Edge class, if they were considering Retreat on Edge class they would have a real balcony.

And the obvious difference, on the Sun Princess you would have an actual balcony while Concierge or Aqua on an Edge class is just a window that opens.

3 hours ago, skynight said:

I believe in your case the EZ Air protection will not work. The cruise is RT San Francisco. The first port of call is Santa Barbara nd actually all the ports are U.S. ports except the last one in Mexico, a near foreign port.  It's a PVSA violation to board at Santa Barbara and disembark in San Francisco. You would not be able to board until the ship docks in Ensenada. You should fly in a day early.

4 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We’re doing the same on our Canada New England cruise from New York in August.  We are literally an hour and a half from Toronto to N.Y.  and there are loads of flights all day.  We booked through EZAir for an 8:00 am flight.  We just didn’t want to spend a night in a NY hotel.  If something happens, we’ll catch up to the ship the next day.

5 hours ago, IndyKid said:

So I've been toying around with the idea of doing the Saturday, October 26th 7-day California Coast cruise on the Ruby Princess later this year. The ship embarks at 4 PM, and there's a non-stop flight available from our local airport that arrives at just after 8 AM. We've usually adhered to the rule of arriving a day earlier "just to be safe" but I'm wondering how much risk there would really be. I really don't care to burn an additional vacation day along with an overpriced hotel for the night. I went and looked into EZ Air and it mentions their Same-Day Late Arrival Protection? How does that work? They certainly aren't going to hold the ship for someone who's late, correct?

skynight is right, round trip SF and round trip NY would not be able to board at the first port if they missed the ship, it would be a violation of PVSA.

6 hours ago, voljeep said:

when is Princess going to learn its demographic, ditch the ladders, and build a few steps with a handrail to get in and out of the pools?  how about the SUN P?  would it really be that hard or expensive?

Royal and Regal have steps in the Retreat pool. I guess they ditched the steps when they added the cabins around the pool.

Are you checking for only two in a cabin? My guess is that Celebrity was initially only showing rooms for two and now they have opened rooms for more than 2 to be booked by those only booking 2.

Any ship except E class. S class for the ship, M class for better storage.

Beginning this year they no longer refund the future deposit if not used.

We did not receive one on the January 2nd sailing.

2 hours ago, Tyler414 said:

Just saw a video on this.  I'm on Beyond in March, is this an Ascent only pool party?  Seems like the other E-class ships I've been on miss the mark for evening pool parties.  Virgin Voyages sets the standard IMO for pool deck night time fun.

I’m just off Beyond and there was a Metallic Deck Party under the stars. I didn’t go so I can’t comment on the actual party.

On 12/27/2023 at 5:01 PM, cusematt4 said:

Hi all,

 

I am very familiar with icon and can’t wait to sail on her.  I know it’s the first newly designed ship since the Oasis class.

 

 

Thanks.

Quantum class launched after Oasis class.

They might have recently renegotiated the price and the excursion might be reposted at a higher price. 

2106 is my favorite room on all S class ships except Reflection. I have not experienced noise from above. On occasion a noisy neighbor but that can happen anywhere. 

Watching you sail now! Have a great time!

The amount of time it takes to credit to your visa has nothing to do with Celebrity at all it is totally dependent on your credit card. The visa I used to use takes 7-10 days, now I use my AMX and it takes one day. 

I spent 15 nights on NCL Joy in January and 15 nights on Celebrity Silhouette in August/September. I thought the food was better on NCL, both MDR and Specialty restaurants. We were not in Aqua, so can't comment on Blu. The MDR had twice the number of choices on NCL, supposedly Celebrity will be adding more choices soon. I liked Cagney's better than Lawn Club Grill. I have not yet experienced only once a day servicing by the cabin steward on NCL, the Joy switched on the cruise after ours. That is one thing that I'm apprehensive about when it comes to NCL and other cruise lines that have changed to just once a day. 

I have future cruises booked on both Celebrity and NCL.