elcuchio24

It hasn't meant much for a while, and doesnt mean much on other lines either. We have no interest in them, and cruise multiple lines with no interest in what we have/dont have in loyalty levels. 

4 hours ago, aborgman said:

MDR coffee service is... awful.

 

Half the time I never get it.

 

The other half the time it's the worst coffee known to humanity, scorched/oxidized past recognition, and lukewarm.

 

I've just given up on that.

Its bad. We always do the drink package so thank goodness I just get Espresso which is quite nice. 

Its actually one of the things I like the most....

I'm not really convinced any of the lines ever actually have 'sales'!

Maine here. Pack layers. The ship temp wont deviate much from normal. But right now for us for instance, near Portland, nights vary from the mid 40's but days can be upper 70's. Keep in mind the breeze while under speed on the ship. Sweatshirts/t-shirts/sweaters. Raingear. 

Enjoy. JUST starting to get a bit of color here, next couple of weeks you'll really see the change. If you're going to portland/bar harbor/boston happy to offer some suggestions of things to do.

5 hours ago, ocdb8r said:

 

Seriously....this community is bonkers sometimes.  Ask about bringing a small coffee machine, the same type of which Royal provides to those in mini-suites and above, and get ridiculed as if it's a "ridiculous" request.  Ask about Christmas lights, magnetic hooks, upside down pineapple decals, rubber ducks, extra curtains, travel routers, TV sticks, tupperware...etc and get posts offering full guides on how to "maximize" your cruise.

 

FYI, we have brought our small Nespresso machine on three RCCL cruises without issue.  I was ready for it to be confiscated the first time but figured it was worth a try, but have not yet been stopped.  We have always taken it with us in our carry-on...and have not had a cabin steward flag it as an issue.

I'd be to worried something would happen to it during travel/being confiscated. I am too attached to it. It would break me if it was injured...

I agree with not being scared to go outside the reserved cruise areas. But, this itin switcharoo is a tough one. Thats a decent itin to a pretty poor one. Sorry.

Euro ports are all over the place. Some will take it, some dont care at all. Western Med we found that no one really cared, but it was hit or miss in the british isles.

4 hours ago, Teeara said:

Not in Barcelona!

People who haven't done these sailings or has never tried to bring on alcohol will just post the general RCL rules. The truth is they could care less if you bring on alcohol during port/embarkation visits. Its just a different vibe over there. 

We always do the premium drink package so not such a big deal for us, but typically get a bottle to keep in the room and more importantly buy nice local stuff to bring home. 

16 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

 

I can't believe this is the first time I'm hearing of this 😂

They dont care in europe...

always Uber it 

It's certainly a balancing act with smalltown ports. We've been dealing with this with Bar Harbor near my hometown in Maine. There is a sweet spot to both support local businesses with cruise $$ while not overburdening the area and locals. It comes down to setting a throttle on the number of ships at the local level, which I suspect you will see more of in Alaska and other places. 

On 8/14/2024 at 9:25 AM, Heatherco said:

Hi there! Wondering if you guys can help me choose!  My husband and I are in our late 50’s and have been long time cruisers mostly with Royal.  We have only done one Carnival cruise on the Valor to Canada many years ago and had a great time.  Have also sailed Celebrity and Princess.  While we love Royals ships (particularly while our kids were growing up) we have loved every cruise we have been on.  

 

We are looking to book a last minute to us cruise out of NY/NJ this fall so we don’t have to fly and have narrowed it down to either a 10 day Eastern on the Carnival Venezia or 7 day Bahamas on Royal’s Symphony of the Seas.  We love Royals ships and have been wanting to try their Oasis class ships and thought this one might be a good time to just “try” the ship since the itinerary kind of stinks.  Port Canaveral isn’t really a stop in my book.😁. So we would do that one primarily for the ship and just to enjoy being on it.

 

Then I saw the Venezia has a 10 night out of NYC to the Eastern Caribbean and thought that might be fun too.  Because it has five sea days, however, I wanted to ask here and get some opinions on the ship itself.  I saw that the pool is small which is fine by us, Are there lots of shows and activities?  Is the ship nice?  Food?  Overall vibe?

 

Which would you choose?  Thanks fo any input!

Not sure if it would be of interest to you, but the Kennedy Space Center tour in port Canaveral is pretty great, if you're into that kind of stuff. We have done it twice and are doing it again in November!

last couple of times we have gone, its been underwhelming. 

still on our Oasis itin for February. Can't imagine we end up there, but its still on...

no. its a weird set up, not a fan of this ship. 

I'd second south beach. It was pretty quiet the last time we were there even with Wonder and some other smaller ship in at the same time. Obviously more options the earlier you go, but it never got over busy. Loved the palapa bar out in the water and plentiful food and other bar options close. 

I like the old Spirit class. They have a good layout, and offer some interesting Itins. 

I have it, use it just for CCL expenses. So, its fine. 

They have prime games, cant remember if they have them in the room but definitely watched in the sports bars, etc. 

About 90% of the time ours are 7 day in Balconies. Sometimes Suites are not much more. But short cruises are not for us. 

15 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

Smaller ships will continue to exist not because people and cruise lines want them (they don’t - people enjoy mega ships more, as do cruise lines since they have lower per person costs and more opportunities for revenue generation) - but because there are oodles of ports throughout the world that can’t handle mega ships.  
 

Not to mention, Europe has only a modest exposure to mega ships - and certainly not the latest and greatest - and there’s already backlash over the environmental impact they have.  Wouldn’t be surprising to see some European ports at the very least limit the number of calls these ships make. 

I guess modest is a relative term, but we did MSC World Europe in November out of Barcelona for a Med cruise. It's the 8th largest ship in the world only behind the big RCL ships, and its not far behind even then. Many similarities to Oasis RCL class. Megaships will be all over the Med sooner than later. 

I was also impressed with a ship that size easily navigating in ports like Malta and Genoa which can be a bit tight. Never felt packed and the metropolitan ports handled the volume of passengers well. 

18 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Anything is possible, but it is human nature to resist change and if you started on huge ships, you might have a tendency to stay with them.

Well said. 

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Marketing programs, e.g. loyalty programs, have a desired result which could include a target market.

 

As an example, MSC used to match Carnival Diamond to MSC Black, but no more. It dropped down to Gold. Why? Carnival "elite" whine about Faster to the Fun. Why?

 

If people have the resources to purchase a more expensive product and desire to, they will. No bribes required.

I totally agree. Loyalty programs dont, and never have, been a factor in our cruise planning. 

19 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I see things converging. Younger people need their kids to be entertained, and older people are going to need floating, affordable nursing homes. It makes sense to me to partition the behemoths by age.

 

Are young people today never going to age?

 

The need for smaller ships is never going to go away. Too many ports can't take, don't want large masses of people. We are seeing more push back these days.

 People will certainly age, but if in 25 years those people who loved the big ships when they were 40 suddenly going to hate them when they're 65? Maybe. Maybe I will too. But once you're used to certainly levels of amenities/activities I'd be more in line to think they'll be more apt to continue to cruise on the large ships.

Of course, the 'large ships' of today may be the small ships of tomorrow. THAT's what I'd expect more than anything. In 25 years I'll probably be complaining about how I dont want to go on the 400,000 ton new ships, and stay with the older 220,000 ton ships of yesteryear that I love...