NutsAboutGolf

2 hours ago, Tierun said:

RCL and NCL are both more expensive. MSC is the best priced. Celebrity is middle of the pack. 

For RETAIL pricing meaning flash sales and promos do NOT apply, in order of MOST expensive:

NCL

X

RCI

MSC & Princess (tied)

CCL

HAL

Then all of the MAJOR luxury lines which charge no more than $30/day

Just now, Atebir said:

These days they regularly have a collection of pre-owned Rolex, restored & guaranteed by an arguably questionable company. 

Thanks.  They're Rolex's that Rolex won't service and therefore not as valuable and won't appreciate as much as a watch Rolex would service.  The questionable company providing the warranty service would be a drop in the bucket for most.  

4 hours ago, mrsbunder said:

I'm glad I found this topic, I was on the Apex last month and was on the Edge the year before.  I will be on the Apex in 2025, and I was curious to know which brands of watches they carry.  I thought that the Edge's store seemed larger and had more selection than Apex.  I know the store will have Rolex, other than that, I'd appreciate any input on what brands Ascent carries.

Unless something has changed, they do not sell Rolex's.  Generally, once per sailing, they put up for auction a used Rolex that Rolex won't service

On 5/16/2024 at 2:24 PM, ScottC4746 said:

Yes Scuba that is what I am thinking of.

 

S-N-uba.  Snuba typically uses the same mouthpiece (primary regulator) as scuba diving uses with fins, is restricted to a shallow depth and you will be monitored.  A company called Sea Trek came out with these snuba helmets where you don't don't wear fins and instead, walk.  This is because if the helmets are not kept upright, there's a risk the seal could break

On 9/3/2023 at 7:31 PM, jelayne said:

The ship will not leave until the excursion is back.  More likely the excursion time will be moved up to align with the time in port.

I know exactly what you mean, in this scenario, the ship won't leave until a scheduled tour returns at its scheduled time.  I'm just pointing out some incredibly rare scenarios in which ships have left ports early due to unexpected fog.  Also, ships can and have left during the scheduled time despite missing a tour that hasn't returned on time.  In the T&Cs, X would take care of accommodations and transportation to get you back on the ship

4 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

I skipped the long video, but I can say that we did a MoveUp to AQ for the first time ever on Solstice last December and I ordered something off the MDR menu every evening when we dined at Blu. Nice service and ambiance but I didn’t care for the food as much. 

To piggyback off this, I was pretty much thinking the same.  The biggest advantage to Blu is the ability to order off both the Blu and MDR menus yet some ships (perhaps per the M'Ds request?) restrict MDR ordering.  Blu's food is the same quality as the MDR however you get some more premium selections.  On a typical 7 nighter, assuming nothing recently changed, Blu will offer filet, duck, and lamb at least twice.  Also, assuming nothing recently changed, you can get as many lobster tails as you want for free

I didn't watch the video yet if the topic is appealing, I'll happily watch an individual's YT video.  In this case, it's a double whammy no as it's long and I really don't care what others think about the food.  If a first-time X cruiser says the mast grill burger should be awarded 3 Michelin stars, it doesn't change my actual opinion that I believe it's the worst complimentary burger served on a mass-market cruise line.  X doesn't seem to care that Carnival puts out a good burger.  I've always thought they should spend the money on comfort food items so one is more likely to fill up on it and eat less at the MDR which I'd imagine the MDR food is more costly

11 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

No, not at all,. I never print my luggage tags anymore. I just wait until I get to the pier and the Porter hand writes some for me. 

This is accurate however some ports like San Pedro (L.A.) require you to wait in a baggage tag line where the worker looks you up on a list to confirm you have the correct room versus taking your word for it.  We were on a Nov 2022 sailing out of Sand Pedro and the porters could use the blank ones, they changed this by the NYE cruise and it had more to do with bad timing but we were in that line for a solid half-hour.  So one doesn't need to print them out but worst case scenario you may need to wait in a line

11 hours ago, zitsky said:

I’ll do a spreadsheet when it comes time to really think about it.  We may book on our Bali cruise in January to get the $100 deposit.  For cruise in May/June 2026.

If you go sail only, I'm sure you know, that purchases like the wifi, drinks, etc., are fully refundable if you cancel them.  Therefore, as soon as there's a flash sale, you should purchase to lock it in which protects you from the inevitable wifi retail price increases yet you do have the flexibility to cancel if a bigger flash sale appears

4 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Thank you for this! I've done Alaska twice when I was on a running cruise, and it was ok, but I don't get the OMG that so many others do. I've been off and on pondering Norway but afraid I'd be "Meh" again - and that's a lot of money to be "Meh". I'm glad to hear that a) I'm not the only one not totally bowled over by Alaska and b) Norway is different.

Norway cruises go out of England so there's an opportunity to visit some European countries pre/post cruise.  We pre-cruised for a couple of nights in Paris and post-cruised for a night in London.  Most Alaska sailings start and/or end in Seattle or Vancouver, both are fantastic cities yet Paris and London are on another level

34 minutes ago, PurpleTraveller said:

Last June we had 5 ships (one was a small ship) in Skagway, 5 in Juneau and 3 in Ketchikan. In Skagway we did an excursion to the Yukon where it wasn't crowded. In Juneau we went to the Mendenhall Glacier early in the morning where it wasn't very crowded and stayed away from the city centre when we returned to Juneau as it was absolutely jam packed with cruisers. In Ketchikan we got off the ship early and visited Creek Street before the crowds and then did a hike. Maybe going out early will help with avoiding some of the crowds.

 

It seems that many places that cruise ships go to are getting busier and more crowded. I must agree with @NutsAboutGolf about Norway. I went to Norway in June 2019 when the sun didn't set for four days. It was one of my favourite cruises and I would love to go back again one day.

 

32 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

This is our next ocean cruise …

I didn't want to do a Norway cruise thinking it would be an Alaska 2.0 and was pushing for Japan but "Ms. Nuts" really wanted to go.  Glad we went because the scenery was amazing.  For those who enjoy terrible puns, Alaska and Norway were a night-and-day difference

I just want to mention, that if someone is on the fence with an Alaskan cruise, strongly consider a Norway cruise instead.  Alaska was a one-and-done for us, perhaps when there's more to do in the ports we'll consider it again.  The Alaska Fjords were enjoyable, but the Norway Fjords were stunning in comparison plus you get 18 hours of daylight.  It was just magical to walk around the outside of the ship at 9 pm and it's still sunny out illuminating the Fjords.  In the Alaska ports, after you finish your tour there isn't a whole lot to do besides tourist shops, bars, and restaurants.  Much more to do in most Norway ports as they berth in major cities which are often several hundreds of years old.  Norway was occupied by Germany in WW2 so there's some interesting history in most ports

Their best free dessert, ice cream, is available all day, usually opens when the buffet opens for lunch, and closes when the buffet closes for dinner

They used to stack them but you can no longer do so

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

My thoughts/questions are:

1) Do you really need the Wifi? Our free Elite + Captains Club minutes are more than enough - share one lot and once that's used you will see if the second lot will last until the end of the cruise. If not use the second lot as a discount on a full package as by then there could well be a special on the remaining days. Free WiFi in every port.

2) how much do you drink? All speciality teas/coffees/chocolate are free if you are Elite+. Japan is port intensive so not much drinking time in the day. 

3) if you are a couple do you both drink the same amount of alcohol?

Do the maths (sorry math) and you may find neither WiFi or drinks packages are the best option. These products are priced to give X a profit I.e. the majority of passengers lose.

No right or wrong just personal choices.

To expand on the alcohol, you can carry some wine and "forget" that you left some wine in your checked luggage

In a single word "maybe"

6 hours ago, markeb said:

 

Everyone's taste is different. I've always found the choices very good. My wife sometimes has issues with them. That's why I was asking.

 

Was that the Ginger Crab Cake? We've had that before and it was excellent. Makes me wonder if they were doing something different. Again, it's one shot one night on a cruise and if it's wrong, it's wrong.

 

We're on Summit in 11 days and I'm curious about our wine service. We had good wine service in November on Equinox, although we had to work harder for selections some nights. We had a lot of OBC and just bought a bottle a couple of times. But the sommelier was responsive. This time we paid for excursions in Alaska, so that bottle is our money...

Never tried a ginger crab cake but give X kudos for introducing bold flavors as I feel their MDR crab cakes have too much filler.  We live near a restaurant that serves award-winning (non-traditional) crab cakes called Fishing with Dynamite in Manhattan Beach which has ruined us.  While they use a crust made with Ritz crackers and Worcester sauce, they don't use fillers at all with the idea being you can dip the crab in the sauce if you wish.  I grew up in New England and was never a fan of the Maine-style lobster rolls which are served with a mayo filler.  Always preferred the Connecticut-style lobster roll which is served with hot lobster dipped in butter and often some herbs and spices

9 hours ago, Syd58 said:

Observations from recent Reflection cruise (Aft -Sunset Sky Suite):

 

Entertainment - Great, the best I've seen on any ship: 5 out of 5

Food - Mixed Bag: Luminae not as good as expected: 3.5 out of 5

Service: Mixed bag - butler excellent, although he had 21 suites on different levels; cabin steward, poor, always asking us if we wanted him to clean our room; Luminae, some excellent service, some poor:  3 out of 5

Room: very roomy, loved the huge wrap around deck, but room decor is dated:  3.5 out of 5

Ship: very nice decor, better than expected: 4 out of 5

 

Overall: 3.8 out of 5

 

 

Would you mind expanding on the entertainment?

9 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

We were on a cruise last September with an Abraham Hicks group. There were several hundred members of the group onboard and I read a lot of concerns prior to the cruise (they sail on different ships every year). They weren't an issue at all. The group used the theatre for their sessions during the day, and they all lined up at Cafe al Baccia at breaks, but otherwise they weren't an issue. A few of them loudly shared their beliefs but that's no different from non-group passengers.

 

A more impactful issue was Christmas on Ascent when large family groups booked most of the specialty dining well in advance. 🤷‍♀️ The positive was that there were so many family groups in SD that Blu was empty and we never had a wait. 

We were on the same sailing, was a very rough crossing and I personally was sick of hearing how disappointed folks were about Maui being canceled.  Their group was a good group, I don't believe recruiting others was part of their group.  Spoke to several who shared their life event reason for joining the group 

11 hours ago, OrtonPark said:

Hi! I’m curious as to others’ experiences with large groups at sea; things like conventions, reunions, common interest groups, etc. 

 

Our last cruise was back in 2014, so it’s been a while, but we did have a large group of some sort of wellness multilevel marketing affiliates on board. I was hit up at the gym a couple of times with a sales pitch, and the entire group decided to dress up in wacky 70s costumes for formal night, but other than that, it wasn’t too disruptive.

 

any stories to share?

 

 

Life is too short, just interrupt them and say "No thank you"; if you want to be social can follow up with the usual "Where are you from?".  For us, a couple of times we've had other passengers pitch us to join their independent tour presumably to get their costs down.  We usually have our tours booked well before stepping foot onto the ship

9 minutes ago, OttawaJohn said:

Thanks all.

 

I didn't mention Blu as, from what I had read, it had it's own menu separate from the MDR's and we wanted to try a variety of stuff.  Our basic plan was just to look at the menu's each day to decide where we would go.

Our most recent E-Class sailing was a year ago on the Beyond so things may have changed.  Was AQ and in Blu, they would allow you to order the MDR classics but not the MDR non-classics

45 minutes ago, hcat said:

 Can you pick the dining rm we prefer?    we prefer Cyprus and Tuscan..early dinner, 2  of us at a window.

 

In the 2 larger dining rms, the long tables of 2 across from each other are quite uncomfy and like a boarding house!  We  got stuck  first night of our first EDGE cruise but never again after that!

Previously, if you had E-Class had the traditional option, you were assigned to one MDR.  You could go to your M'D and request a night in another MDR.  If you have select/anytime dining, you can go to any MDR you want.  If traditional is back, you'd imagine it would be the same but that is an assumption, not a fact

4 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Just off the Edge and they do have set dining.  Not sure how it works but they have brought back Set dining at least on Edge.  It was at 5 and 7:30, see below.

Other than seeing traditional dining times in the daily, do you know for sure traditional dining happened on your sailing? 

Others have claimed despite being able to make traditional MDR reservations in the app, the reality was E-Class ships only had select/anytime

Here's one random thread...

I see your sig that you appear to be going on the Beyond which is E-Class which does have multiple dining rooms which are all anytime.  The E-Class has no traditional dining even if the app says it does.  The S/M class doesn't have multiple dining rooms beyond one for traditional and one for anytime/"select"

Very suspicious, haven't they had loungers for decades?  Wouldn't be surprised if its a cutback, "want a lounger?  Book a suite!"

13 minutes ago, Muushka said:

OK, I give up.  What is SMH?

 

As far as your question, I have no idea.  IHNI 😊