terrydtx

Don't forget plenty of high end Tilapia in the MDR. Yummm

We are Elite with Celebrity and 3 Star with HAL. After 3 years of Celebrity suites and the same menus in the Suites only Luminae restaurant we booked our first O cruise on the Marina for 2025 of South America. The food has gone progressively downhill on Celebrity since the restart after Covid and we are getting bored. Our biggest problem is that Celebrity is pricing future suites so high that Oceania is now competitive with them. For example the 2025 Equinox Sky Suite for 14 days going from Santiago to Buenos Aires is $200pp more than a Concierge Class cabin on the Marina for 18 days and 3 more ports. Our current cruises this year and next on Celebrity in Sky Suites were 20-30% less when we booked over current pricing and we would not have booked at current pricing.

In 2019 we flew in the day of departure and going through customs at the airport and again at the cruise terminal was a nightmare, it took almost 2 hours of being in lines and getting through customs at Canada Place. That was the last time we ever will fly in the day of departure.

We did Alaska in 2019 on the Noordam her sister ship and she was fine, just doesn't have all the dinning upgrades the newer ships have. The cabins have been upgraded with wide screen interactive TVs and electronics. The Westerdam had a big refurbishment in early 2019 and two smaller maintenance and refreshing ones in 2020 and last month. I wouldn't do Alaska on any other cruise line, they have more Alaska cruising experience than any other cruise lines. You will be fine on the Westerdam.

This is why we buy 3rd party travel insurance through our TA, if we cancel the paid insurance premium can be moved to any other cruise on any cruise pine. This came in handy with so many cruise cancelations in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

We plan on trying the Sel De Mer on the Koningsdam as well. I will agree that the Canaletto was much better on the Oosterdam last year than I remember from 2019. The last time we could dine in Tamarind was in 2014. Since then, all of our HAL cruises have been on Vista ships.

Here is the sofa picture. I could not find any with the couch made into a bed.

Here is the CC Thread with updated list of HAL dry docking and charters, your cruise does not show up on either, unless this is a new charter just signed or a needed last minute hull maintenance before the Zaandam starts the Alaska cruise season. We are doing the Koningsdam coastal cruise in November this year, so far nothing about the possible cancelation of our stop in Monterrey Bay.

Our first HAL cruise was in 2007 on the Volendam and since we have cruised in 3 Vista ships and both Signature ships, in November we have our first Pinaccle ship cruise on the Koningsdam. Next year we will return to the Volendam for a Boston to Montreal cruise which is ideal for a smaller ship because some of the ports they can access that larger ships can't. We have always booked either Vista or Signature suites for more room and a balcony (Volendam) The only thing we miss on the Volendam and Vista ships is Tamarind which we think is the best specialty restaurant of any cruise ship we have cruised on. On the Koningsdam in November we plan multiple nights in Tamarind. We will be doing an Alaska cruise in 2025 with our grandson and hope that one of the Pinnacle Class ships will be in Alaska in 2025 so we can book on them.

Thanks for posting this, it answers my questions about the Volendam having a recent major refurbishment.

I was thinking Decend would be appropriate.

On the Oosterdam last year in Trieste we arrived at the terminal from Venice at 11:00 am and we were on the ship by 11:30 with virtually no crowds. We had a noon boarding time assigned.

The app still sucks, we have 2 future HAL cruises booked and I can not find how to switch between the 2 on my app, all it keeps bringing up is the first one in November this year.

We are doing 18 days from Santiago to Buenos Aires in March 2025 and am following to get a glimpse of what we will see.

Passenger size wise the E Class are not much if any larger than the last S class ships. I would hope that Celebrity stays in the 2800-3200 passenger range so as to not become mega ships. For the mainstream cruise lines smaller ships are a thing of the past as they cannot generate enough revenue while keeping their prices competitive. Even HAL who still has a couple of small 1400 passengers size ships has gotten away from smaller ships and is now producing 2600-2800 capacity ships in their Pinnacle Class.

The only confusion I can think of is when the window is open and the doors are closed the already cold AC air in the cabin will not go out the window as fast. However in this case the AC is definitely off and the cabin will stay cool for a while but the AC will not come back on until the window is closed.

You are the one who is lying and giving false information, I doubt you have ever been in an IV cabin. Go Troll somewhere else, please.

Again false information, the AC sensor controls are in the window not the accordion door, as many many here have stated repeatably.

Celebrity has raised prices across the board, so we are getting less value for a lot more cost.

yes that was the story we were told on the Reflection last year after so many complained about inedible steaks in Luminae. The running joke was that we eating old milk cows.

it seems that Celebrity has made the most dramatic cuts in the MDR's as they know not everyone can afford Aqua or suites. I see some differences in the Luminae menus but nothing like the MDR cuts on our booked cruises.

That is exactly how it works in IV cabins. On our Edge cruise in 2019 from FLL when we opened the window, the AC would shut off and the cabin would get so hot in just a few minutes. When we closed the window, it would take at least 30 minutes to cool the cabin back down. We complained to guest services as we thought something was wrong and it was explained to us that when the window was open the AC shuts off to conserve energy. That was our one and done with any IV cabin and now we only book Sky Suites with real balconies. Some here on CC like to give out false information on the IV cabins.

Read some thread on Princess, seems like they are also cutting back in their MDRs too.

I just looked in the app for our June Equinox cruise and I found no Prime Rib, no beef Wellington and the only steaks were sirloin on the everyday classic menu. No lobster any night but at least the Tilapia and Pork and Beans that had been on the menu a few weeks ago was gone. We are in a Sky Suite so we will be able to dine in Luminae, but even those menus have been tweaked some recently. The only lobster is some kind of lobster casserole and the surf and turf is now Scallops and pork belly.

You also stop in Livorno. last year since we had been to Florence 3 times prior, we did this full day tour of Tuscany that include two wineries and a lunch at one of them. We also got free time in San Gimignano one of the most beautiful Mid Evil villages in Italy that still has 12 of the original towers. This was a fantastic tour too. Full Day Tuscan Countryside and Wine Tasting | Livorno Shore Excursion | European Cruise Tours (shoreexcursionsgroup.com)