cruisin from florida

Gin works, too.

I am the perpetual Susy Sunshine of our family, and generally enjoy all our travel and cruises, sometimes making lemonade out of lemons. That said, I also look for value (to me... extremely subjective calculation), and if the experience doesn't provide the value I'm looking for, I won't repeat it. We did one extremely inexpensive cruise, on a line I won't name, after the restart. It was what it was, and we had fun, but I won't be going back to that line. I'll pay more for a better experience. And if that's the calculation I've made, and I've paid more, and the experience isn't what I thought I was paying for (the issue, legit IMO, that folks are having with the current changes), I'll have a great time and use my vacation dollars differently in the future.

I think that like workers everywhere, staff found other ways to support themselves and thei families during the shutdown, and (just like everywhere) many are choosing a different work/life balance than before. It's something that almost all employers are having to deal with.

I think the rising prices may impact the "new blood." We started cruising in the '80s, and the comparison of land vacation vs. cruise made cruising a no-brainer. As those numbers get closer to each other, the number of new cruisers may decline.

Is Yacht Club what MSC calls their suites? They do have some very cool itineraries!

I think even first time cruisers would have noticed the service issues in the MDR on our Oasis cruise in December. It was clearly understaffed, with orders taking forever and staff running around red-faced, no refills on water or bread, not bringing the littles their food quickly or even at the same time as the other diners, bar service not getting wine to the table in time to drink with main course (and the main course took ages.) I'm hopeful that that is not the case on Silhouette. The rumors were that X and the new ships were being staffed before the older ships. Who knows. Didn't ruin our cruise. The Covid we all caught had a much bigger impact. Sigh. If things go even moderately well, I'll be booking some future cruises onboard. We have a gap between this August and November of '24 that is begging to be filled!

I've read a lot of the "sky is falling" and "you're overreacting" threads over the last month or so. Here's what I've gleaned: -Staffing shortages are impacting the cruise experience. -Price pressure and supply chain issues are impacting food options and quality. -There are charges for things that used to be complementary. -Cruise prices are increasing. These factors will drive some folks away from Celebrity and/or cruising. Others will accept the changes and make the most of their cruise until the final straw for them, which is very individual and subjective. Celebrity and other lines will continue to try to strike a balance between returning to profitability/paying off debt and retaining their core identity and customer base. Personally, I'm very interested in people's perceptions even/especially the negative, so that my expectations are appropriately set fo upcoming cruises. I'll be on the Silhouette in a week and a half for a girls' trip. It will be my second Celebrity cruise (did Apex last February - it was wonderful!) and my friend's first X cruise. We usually cruise Royal, but liked the X product a lot. We've done about 5 cruises since the reopen. I'll post about our experiences, both the positives and negatives, in the hope that it will help others set their expectations as well. Cheers!

Thanks!

Lol... No doubt! If there has been no powder replacement, will I be OK?

Hello, We're doing a 6 week trip (NZ +TP + before and after) in March. We'll be flying into Sydney, and I know that Australia is very strict on what you can bring in. I take a daily protein supplement, in powdered form. I will of course declare it, and it will be in our checked bag as opposed to carry-on. Do you think this will be allowed in?

Hello, We're doing a 6 week trip (NZ +TP + before and after) in March. We'll be flying into Sydney, and I know that Australia is very strict on what you can bring in. I take a daily protein supplement, in powdered form. I will of course declare it, and it will be in our checked bag as opposed to carry-on. Do you think this will be allowed in?

Imagine how much it costs to "build" and staff a cabana versus a ship cabin. They are practically printing money at these prices. As a stockholder I'm glad they're making money... I just hope that cruise prices don't follow.

LOL. Not that trip, but if I get a Royal Up on our upcoming Transpacific, you may see me running down the hall in my nightie!!

If I got upgraded to a Suite class, you bet I'd move. We got our Royal Up from a JS to GS last summer in Europe. I'd switch those cabins again in a heartbeat, even if we were onboard and unpacked!

Right before Hurricane Ian we got the "we'll let you know onboard" email. Almost immediately we got the congratulations email. Unfortunately, because it was a girls' trip and we would have been leaving our husbands in the path of the storm, we ended up cancelling ourselves.

Also, a lot of shorter Caribbean cruises only go to Labadee or Coco Cay. You miss the boat, you miss the cruise.

I'll bet that during the recent airline messes, there were a lot of last minute cancellations or no-shows.

Just like Nassau... We stay on the ship and enjoy the emptier ship. We live in Florida three minutes from the beach. The cabanas are nice, but the prices have gone insane. Pay more for a cabana than it cost for the whole cruise? I don't think so.

Now that we are retired and cruising more, and longer (our next b2b will have us on the ship for 28 days) the food is actually less important. I can't eat rich food and drink like I'm in my 20s for that long. As long as they have some nice fresh salads and veggies, and a selection of well-prepared protein options, I'm good. BUT that doesn't mean they should skimp on the quality and selection for everyone else!!

That fixed it. Thank you!

It's been doing this for a while. Is anyone else getting this message?

I cruised a few weeks after meniscus surgery. I have a lightweight collapsible walking stick ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0711TBVJD ) that I take on all my travels now. Used it a lot in the early post-op (with ortho's blessing), a lot less these days, to reduce impact on arthritic knee and add stability over rough terrain. Based on friends and family who have had total knee replacement, I think you'll be fine at 12 weeks.

Yes. You each get one 8x10.

Maybe for ships with the digital photo kiosks. On older ships where they print the pics you just take the photo to the desk and buy it, no questions asked. Even on the newer ships you can get a photo transferred to your account. We did that to get a photo of our three sons on our recent Oasis cruise.

If we don't want our pictures, on ships where they still print photos I find someone looking at a print and offer to get it for them for free. We've also given pictures to non-diamond traveling companions.