leaveitallbehind

I think the older demographics may likely relate to the cruise length as TA's and 10 day+ typically attracts older, retired people without kids to worry about as they are more likely to have the time and $ to take these cruises. And IMO many cruise lines with these itineraries would likely start to approach HAL as a result. (No disrespect intended for HAL cruisers). We did an 11 day partial transpacific repositioning cruise in 2019 (Hawaii - Vancouver) with RCCL that fit those demographics v the typical RCCL family cruises. There were also 600+ higher tier loyalty members on board as well for the same reasons. Talk about drinkers.....LOL. Again, good feedback!

Just to add from my first response. We too have done this several times on RCCL / Celebrity, but not with any casino promos and didn't know if that would add any restrictions.

Here's the main difference: RCCL's primary target demographics is families with children. As you are aware, in particular with their mega ships, they are like floating amusement parks with the different activities an venues. They have excellent entertainment as a result with the Aqua Theater, Ice Show, and (on many ships) the Broadway shows. Celebrity's primary target demographics is adults 50+. As such they have none of the amusement park activities and venues and their entertainment is primarily ship staff shows, headliners, and different musicians around the ship. A much more adult focused, pure cruise atmosphere. But they do not roll up the sidewalks early. Basically polar opposites cruise lines. IMO the food (which I realize is very subjective) is a little better on Celebrity and they have several very good specialty restaurants. When our family was young we cruised with RCCL for all of the above reasons. Now that they are all adults, we typically prefer Celebrity for the opposite reasons. Their Solstice and Edge class ships are our choice of preference, with Edge having Eden, which is very similar to Two70 on RCCL Quantum class ships.

I've not had any direct experience with this, but IMO, in general normally you would just move them into one stateroom together. Just notify the stateroom attendant for each stateroom so they are aware of the changes and also have guest services issue the correct stateroom keys for each. This is also to assure the correct stateroom billing accounts for each. This would also apply to whomever (your sister and you) is together in the other stateroom. The only concern might be if the fares (based on two casino promos + two individual fares) are based on the current stateroom assignments and there would be restrictions, or fare changes, based on that. But as long as the net fares paid to the cruise line would be the same, and the casino promo doesn't restrict anything regarding changing staterooms or individual billings, etc., then I would think you would be ok. You don't mention which casino promo or cruise line, so I don't know if that would make a difference either. Maybe others with direct experience can comment.

Rather than base your decision on others' comments, my honest answer would be to see what your experience is in May and judge for yourself and then decide. But you've pretty much eliminated all but the premium lines in your consideration, so you either have to continue with Celebrity or likely add a premium to your budget and look at Viking Ocean, Regent Seven Seas, Oceana, and Silver Sea, as examples. To your other possible options, Virgin is upscale all adults (18+), and Princess would IMO be more similar to Celebrity.

At which you would pay the a la carte item prices as ordered. They should not have a separate fee or cover charge. If you are thinking in terms of including an a la carte restaurant as part of a specialty dining package, I believe the consensus would be to not do that as the fixed fee covers the normal specialty restaurants regardless of what you order and is typically higher than what you would spend at the a la carte venues - especially as that is directly dependent on what you order a la carte, which is in your control. It's pretty basic: the base cruise fare you pay includes meals at the MDR and any other included venue. If you want to eat at a non included specialty restaurant, you pay a separate fee for that venue, which typically includes all items on the menu with no additional charge. (other than perhaps gratuities). If you eat at an a la carte venue, there is no separate fee to do so as you pay as you go for items ordered at their individual pricing on the a la carte menu. Because of the pay as you go nature of the a la carte venues, you would not typically include them as part of any specialty dining package as the fixed fee would typically exceed the pay as you go total. This is most common with (a la carte) sushi restaurants.

Not to keep bouncing you around to different forums, but I just checked and saw the the NCL board has a thread describing the different staterooms on board the various NCL ships. Here's that link as well if you want to search for information on your (or similar) stateroom: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1981007-ncl-cabin-information-compilation-no-cabin-questions-posted-here-please/page/17/#comment-56024247 Here is the NCL board as well: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/64-norwegian-cruise-line/

Welcome back - LOL. As far as location I will include the response I provided with your original thread. This stateroom is the furthest forward on that deck, which will subject you to feeling the up and down motion of the ship the most as it moves forward through the waves. The higher your deck the more this will be felt. Also, the more central on the ship your stateroom is the less this motion will be felt. This could be a concern if you are sensitive to this type of motion. Your deck is relatively low in terms of the stateroom decks, so this will help reduce this. You have staterooms above, below, and around you, which is always best for quiet staterooms, so noise from any public venue would not be a concern. Just to note, the rolling motion that results from waves hitting the sides of the ship will be felt similarly anywhere on the ship, but is mitigated by the ships stabilizers. All of this category's staterooms have similar balconies and there is not any obstructions with your view, so I don't think any one stateroom's view would be better than the other and would expect you will have a great view of the starboard side of the ship, as well as forward and aft. I will add that we have never sailed on this ship or stateroom category, so my information is not from direct experience, but from 32 years and 50+ cruises, and I believe it will accurately apply. Maybe someone else with direct experience with this - or similar - stateroom will confirm. If you google your ship and stateroom number you will likely find more information and possibly some pictures of your stateroom and its view. This may help provide a preview of the stateroom's layout, size, and furnishings to help you determine if it best fits your expectations. Hope this helps! Enjoy your cruise.

Not necessarily so with many cruise line's sponsored insurance where it cannot be purchased post final payment. See the last comments made by sparks1093. Some of the various levels of coverage as you refer also may have time restrictions relative to booking dates, as I previously mentioned, for purchase.

Our only issue with RCCL is the number of children and the amusement park atmosphere of, in particular, the Quantum, Oasis, and Icon class ships. That was fine when our children were young, but 35+ cruises later, not so much. Celebrity having none of that is more appealing in that regard. I am interpreting that your cruises were single itineraries each, which would definitely mitigate that issue with RCCL! Agree the shows are better with RCCL, although with the Apex class ships, Eden being very similar to Two70 on RCCL Quantum class ships brings that entertainment up quite a bit. Disagree in general with the food quality comment, but that is always subjective so it is what it is. Although the older Summit is lacking somewhat, in particular with limited specialty restaurant options, so with that ship I would tend to agree. But I agree that the older ships you mention would likely provide me with the same result you had as well. Most of our Celebrity experience is on Solstice class ships which are IMO a significant step up from the older Celebrity Millennium class, of which Summit is one. Appreciate your perspective.

You could always ask your stateroom attendant but my guess would be no.

Your question is a bit confusing. Typically with most cruise lines, the fee you pay for dining at specialty restaurant is simply that - the fee you pay to eat there and that is the cost for whatever you have from the menu. It is not in addition to any other charge. (Although gratuities may be separate). There may be unusual and specific items on some menus that are "premium" in nature that may carry an additional charge, but that is not typical. A la carte charges are also what you pay for the individual items that you order those restaurants that have that menu structure. There is no separate fee as the a la carte item charges are the fees you pay. I believe that is the program with NCL's specialty restaurants.

I am not questioning your experience on this one Celebrity cruise but only want to point out a different perspective based on a much broader sample size. You are a frequent poster with, IMO, valuable contributions to CC. We have been on about 15 Celebrity cruises, and while there has been a broad range of ages on board from families with children (though not their primary demographics, Celebrity does offer a children's program for the small percentage of children who are on board) to the older HAL demographics you point out, that demographic is not the typical or primary demographic on board. In our experience, the more typical ages are the 50+ as is their target demographics. The older set that you experienced is more typically the lesser group within that 50+ age group. There have been many younger couples as well. Any ship can have any age group on board and I am certainly not disputing your experience. We have seen your description in a fairly large scale on RCCL as well even though their target demographics are families with children. I am just suggesting that it is not typical in our experience with Celebrity, and that your sample size of one cruise out of two total may not be representative of the typical demographics. It is also a shame that your experience with that cruise was not favorable as that, in our experience, has also not been the normal case. Again, not challenging your experience, just suggesting an alternate view based on a larger sample size.

You and I have been down this road in what I felt was fair and honest discussion with both of us and in an effort to find objectivity in the discussion. I agree there has been bad press on solo pricing with Celebrity, but I also think the best advice is that which you just gave in that the OP should - either through a travel agent, Celebrity directly, or via the Celebrity website - check the specific itinerary(s) that they are interested in and secure solo pricing mixes for their own direct comparison. That will provide the reality of what they would actually pay as a solo and they can then decide if it is at an acceptable budget for them.

Per their initial question, the OP is not talking about Guarantees. They are talking about upgrades through a bid program. Not sure which cruise line they are booked with so it may not be through Royal Up, but a different program.

As long as we've deviated completely of the OP's topic, the PR dish that is a favorite of ours is mofongo.

Well that certainly just reduced my odds, at least - LOL.

Learn something new every day! Guess I need to spend more time in the MDR.

And since you are new to Cruise Critic, to help you find it easier, here is the link to the Alaska board in the Ports of Call forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

Likely even harder to find on board - LOL. I thought the main ingredient of menudo is tripe? I also thought pozole is the the normal non-tripe counterpart that uses chicken and pork instead. But what do I know?

We are also D+ / Elite. When we first started cruising and our family was young, RCCL was the choice as families is their primary demographics and their mainly mega ships are well oriented towards that with very good children's club programs and activities venues. Now that they are all adults we cruise with Celebrity for the opposite reasons as their primary demographics is adults 50+ with very few children and non of the related activities and venues. The entertainment with the Aqua Theater and Ice Show is more diverse and very good with RCCL. Celebrity is more traditional with the ship cast and highliners but is also very good. Eden on Apex class ships is very similar to Two70 on RCCL on Quantum class ships. As @CruiserBruce mentioned, Celebrity is more upscale with smaller mid sized ships with less passengers and a more refined cruise atmosphere, very good dining, in particular with their specialty restaurants. Their base fare is somewhat higher in our experience than RCCL, but they offer both standard fares with beverage packages and wifi separate, and all inclusive fares that include the standard beverage and wifi packages, with premium packages at an upcharge. Gratuities are separate with both pricing programs. Really, the two lines are polar opposites, and that difference now is the primary attraction to us. Both lines IMO are equally oriented towards solo cruisers, however Celebrity's Apex class ships have dedicated veranda solo staterooms that are a little smaller than standard but are priced measurably less than the typical 100% less port fees and taxes supplement for solo passengers in standard staterooms RCCL's loyalty program is the stronger of the two and their are no elite benefits that exceed that of RCCL and overall it is not as attractive. (Compare the two on each website). As example, with RCCL at D+ you receive 5 drink's per day every day at anytime at no charge, whereas with Celebrity there is a cocktail hour that runs between 5 - 7 pm commencing on day 2 that, when they enforce it, is supposed to be limited to 3 drinks during that time. Celebrity also does not have a dedicated loyalty lounge for elite members whereas RCCL has the Crown Lounge. These differences only impact us with regards to whether or not Celebrity's AI fares are attractive on any given cruise for the option of the beverage package. However they are the only two lines that I am aware of that offer direct reciprocity between their loyalty programs, which IMO is attractive. In particular for Elite and higher with Celebrity sailing on RCCL. Between the two, overall, while we do still cruise with RCCL, our primary choice now is Celebrity. And our ship class preference would be Solstice or Apex classes. Millennium class, while attractive and well maintained as smaller ships, IMO are getting a bit old and somewhat tired. (Not unlike Vision and some other RCCL ship classes).

Perhaps not a bad plan but may be hard to find on board? JMO but I would prefer pozole - not a fan of tripe.

Officially I believe with NCL the answer is no. I know a number of years ago they specifically prohibited soda, water, and other non-alcoholic beverages from being brought on board and I am not aware of that changing.

Probably depends on the cruise line, but we have. Along with soda and water.

The cruise lines can't share information they don't have. Nor can they simply waive other country's policies. And as pointed out by others, the hundreds of countries with individual policies would be difficult, at best, to track. Your not very well thought out 1-2 cruise line employee solution would likely fall well short of success. But as it is your idea, why don't you run with it and create the website and put together an organization to provide this information - you could likely be the next mega dot com success! You also indicate that you and your wife have cruised the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, which include numerous countries with visa policies. With the disgusting lack of support you suggest by the cruise lines, how have you managed that? The cruise industry is also currently at a very high pace of bookings, soon likely to exceed pre-pandemic levels. Their terms and conditions regarding visa policies have been in effect for decades. I don't foresee this costing them anything near term, long term, or ever. When I cruise I recognize it is my responsibility to have the correct documentation for my intended region of travel. If I have difficulty in understanding those requirements, as sales agents for the cruise lines, I would contact a travel agent to see if they could assist. Their experience and expertise with global travel would likely have them in a position to help.