leaveitallbehind

I was more curious than anything as I have not experienced that. But as I said, I am not the best authority on that as we don't book ship sponsored tours. (Other than certain things at the cruise line's private island, where they control the pricing - and in that case it most certainly does change. And usually up! - LOL)

I understand price fluctuations with beverage and wifi packages, but aren't as familiar with changes on excursions once offered. But to be fair we don't (typically) book excursions through the cruise lines so I don't often monitor that. But that would seem unusual to me as they are third party contracted by the cruise lines which typically fixes the pricing for each itinerary.

It depends on whether you are booking them through the cruise or independently. You don't mention which cruise line you are considering, and If you are booking through them it would depend on which cruise line you are sailing with as they may have different timeframes in which you can book. But most of them have on line cruise planners that open for bookings anywhere from 3 - 6 months in advance of the sailing date, some maybe longer. Booking when they are first offered will help assure your space as many popular ones may book full rather quickly. Most on line cruise planners also let you cancel or change a booking without penalty so booking far in advance would not be an issue. However, many require full payment at the time of booking, so that may be a consideration. But if I were booking through the cruise line I would do so as soon as they are offered on the planner for booking. If you are booking independently many operators will accept bookings up to a year in advance and may have flexibility with how much you have to pay and when. You just have to seek out those operators based on port of call on your own and see what they offer.

Just to clarify, the reason for the reduced fare has nothing to do with hurricane season but is based on the fact that this is a one way repositioning cruise, which as you indicate repeats in the opposite direction in the spring. Many cruise lines offer these itineraries at a reduced fare on a semi-annual basis to accommodate their seasonal ships' repositioning. As you acknowledge, sea conditions are based on weather, which can change daily making sea conditions impossible to predict. And just because it is hurricane season does not mean hurricanes will occur on your route, just that conditions are favorable that time of year for storms to develop. As you indicate, the captain will reroute the ship to avoid these storms whenever possible. But your stateroom on the front of the ship is in a location that will be most affected by the up and down motion of the ship as it moves forward through the seas. (The higher decks will feel this more pronounced). So if this is a concern, perhaps consider moving to a mid ship location. The side to side motion felt by waves going across the ship's path will be felt the same anywhere on board (higher decks more as well) but will be mitigated by the ship's stabilizers.

Not to mention that most cruise lines - including Celebrity, the OP's line of choice on this post - do not have self serve laundries on board. So along with the sink method, you would be waiting on - and paying for - the ship's laundry service.

If you are looking at these sites for information relative to any specific cruise that you may be on, the information provided by the cruise line and the published itinerary is all that is necessary to have and would be the most accurate. Otherwise, the only value IMO in these sites in terms of potentially useful Information would be relative to other ships that would be intended to be in port with our ship at the different ports of call on our itinerary.

Pack less and bring more cash. (For port of call spending - and the US $ is universally accepted in the Caribbean). Just my opinion but there is no need for shoe storage bags, over the door organizers, wall magnets (to hang what, exactly?), or other such extra clutter as the staterooms have plenty of well thought out storage for anything you would typically need to bring. Make sure you have extra prescription medications on hand and any other personal OTC meds that you would normally take. One thing we learned early on is to store your luggage under the bed so it is out of the way, and each day place any dirty laundry from that day in it. In this manner your worn clothing is out of the way each day and by the last night of the cruise you are 90% packed for your return trip home. Nothing unique to Celebrity (great cruise line!) or the Caribbean in terms of suggestions other than to enjoy your cruise.

IMO aft view staterooms are very desirable, as they often have larger / deeper balconies and offer a unique view from behind the ship. (Most cruise lines also price them as premium locations). I doubt that the beam will take away from your enjoyment of this location.

No more cumulative trash than land based resorts. And there are very strict guidelines on how this trash is handled on board with segregated recycling and clean burn incineration. The cruise lines, for the most part, are very responsible in this effort or face rather stiff fines in consequence. And even with your valid point, there are still almost 300 times as many commercial ships as cruise ships as sea, which IMO still has to be considered in scale with any environmental concern. The cruise industry is very regulated when it comes to environmental impact and for the most part I believe they do a very respectable job with this. My opinion with this entire discussion is that most conversation and criticism of the cruise lines don't do so in full context or always with accurate information.

To add, most cruise lines publish their upcoming itineraries about 18-24 months out, and typically roll them out seasonally.

Everyone who cruises has their first cruise and there are likely to be a number of other first timers on board with you, so I wouldn't worry about that at all. I'm not sure what difference that would make anyway and would not be anything that would concern me. As to the nationality mix of passengers, there is likely also going to be a variety of countries represented as most cruises have people from all over the world on board in our experience. Keep in mind that to my understanding, only about 10% of cruisers are aware of Cruise Critic, so the sampling of people who would be on any given Roll Call would be very small in comparison to the total number of passengers on board. Not sure that would be a factual representation of who you will encounter on your cruise. My suggestion would be to not worry about whether or not this is your first cruise and go with the intent of enjoying what is offered on board and with the ports of call on your itinerary. If, as most of us do, you enjoy your first experience, it will most likely not be your last. And then you can look to spot the first timers on your next cruise - LOL.

Not all cruise lines are "add-on" based. There are those that are all inclusive to include gratuities, wifi, beverage packages, as well as some to include specialty dining and shore excursions. And although large cruise ships also mean large passenger volumes, their design allows for many varied venues to mitigate large crowds in many areas and long queues. In our experience the lines were waiting to enter the MDR and the first to depart the ship in ports of call, in particular when tendering is necessary. But it certainly is not for everyone and your tastes and preferences are valid. Unfortunately I think the article continues in many of its' points to perpetuate the misperceptions of many about cruising.

Idubs - See my response above to that. I do not believe cruise ships - in particular the newer ones - are harming the environment nearly as much as the 10's of 1,000's of commercial freighters, tankers, and other similar vessels on the high seas. The math just doesn't support the environmental harm argument IMO.

Not surprising as the Mexican Riviera, while very nice weather wise, is still considerably north of the Caribbean - more in the latitudes of the Gulf of Mexico, which is above the Caribbean. Still a pretty big difference weather wise that time of year.

We have done numerous Caribbean cruises in that timeframe and all have been excellent weather wise. The Bahamas, which is much further north than the Caribbean, can be less predictable as it is essentially southern FL weather, so what is normal that time of the year there will be similar in the Bahamas. IMO yes, you are "extrapolating". Stick to the Caribbean, plan at least a day travel in advance to help mitigate any weather related travel issues from the north, and enjoy your cruise. BTW the reason some of the fares are lower then has a lot to do with peak vacation travel with Christmas and New Years, when children are out of school, and the weeks before and after when family travel is much more limited.

Perhaps others can update with an alternate options based on recent experience, but IMO of all the options you mention my choice would be Uber. I don't think there will be any more convenient option that would be much less costly. There likely are multi passenger options that may improve on the cost, but you are then sacrificing convenience, personal service, and timeliness. We have used Uber many times in FL to include MCO / Port Canaveral, FLL / Port of Miami, MIA / Port everglades, FLL / Port Everglades, MIA / Port of Miami, etc., and always have them as our first option. Will do so again next week, MIA / Port of Miami. Just our preference.

LOL - I thought you meant RCCL! Senior moment! So much for useless information. Like Radiance class as well. A couple of our favorite cruises were on Jewel and Serenade. I guess in reality - as they say - any ship I'm on at the time is my favorite!

Referring to RCCL that would be the case with the Vision class ships, of which Enchantment of the Seas is one. Several of the their other class ships (Radiance, Voyager, Freedom), however, have full circumference promenades that also allow access to the helipad on the forward deck. Oasis class ships also have full circumference promenades but do not provide access to the forward helipad.

Probably a good thing as in our experience with behind the scenes tours we have accessed crew stairways on more than one occasion and they typically are open steel steps that are a bit steeper than the passenger stairwells. They are also not as readily accessed. Just my opinion, but I can't imagine that they would intentionally be used during an actual muster drill other than as an emergency secondary access to the main stairwells. I certainly could be wrong, however.

I just take issue with the negative environmental issues in reason 14. Nearly all of the newer cruise ships are very environmentally friendly and most of the older ones have had to undergo upgrades to make them more green. But IMO the real issue is with the implied scale of the problem. In fact there are approximately 119,000 commercial vessels in operation globally. The number of cruise ships globally is just over 450. (Look it up). Whatever negative impact results from cruise ships IMO must be relatively microscopic compared to the potential impact from the sum total of the rest of the commercial vessels. Do the math. How green are they? But that context never seems to be reported with any negative focus on the cruise industry.

And for some unexplained reason when RCCL built Harmony of the Seas, at the time the third of the Oasis class ships, they eliminated the pool in the solarium. Big mistake, as this is the only adult retreat area on the ship. Go figure. This was the only ship in that class to do so. The first two and every one since includes it. I guess at times even the pros get it wrong.

@SPacificbound nailed it correctly! We have been to Cozumel in January a number of times and it is indeed hot. Shorts and short sleeves for sure! I don't think you will need anything but a light jacket or sweater, and that would only be on board at night while cruising. I know you say you aren't going to the beach but if you did, the beach and swimming would be very pleasant. Assuming the balance of your itinerary is Western Caribbean, which will have all of your ports of call in a similar weather pattern - if not hotter, in particular south of Cozumel. Enjoy!

Again in our experience, but we have not had any issues retrieving our luggage early. While it is true that the lowest tag numbers are supposed to be handled first to the luggage area, all of the luggage has typically been available by early morning. You can also go to guest services to request a low number for early departure to assure it is available when you disembark. We have never had any restrictions imposed on us based on cruise line versus our own flight arrangements with this.

No judgement here, but glad you noted the timeframe reference as, to my understanding, cruise lines today frown upon crew interacting with individual passengers in the crew areas.

That sounds like personal time and not something typically sanctioned in terms of a tour by the cruise line.