Cruise Junky

Also, read the fine print. Some cruises are including the crew tips in the have it all. That definitely changes the math.  If that’s included the amount you need to spend on drinks drops.  

6 hours ago, CeCe_ said:

 

It appears going really fast.  When itineries first came out 3 days ago, pricing had yet to be available.  We checked back the next day, almost 30% of cabins across all categories appeared "booked".  Last night, more than 60% appeared booked.  More categories are offered in guaranteed bookings.   The Island Princess is an Old Lady, nothing wrong with that, just wish that Princess would give us a Royal Princess or better for that price.

I’m not saying it’s not selling but have you checked all legs?  Perhaps there are different cabins being held  it’s being sold in at least 4 ways.  It’s absolutely possible it’s selling very well but Princess has a habit of only releasing some per leg. 

19 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

never understood who would do a 1 nighter.  

On Princess it gets you a cruise credit. Book a suite it gets you two 

1 hour ago, conifercruiser said:

And yet, not many cabins available. very sad! 

A lot of people may have done curtesy holds. Likely drop off in a couple of days.  

Some are already on HAL’s site. I was just looking at the Pacific crossing for 2025 and the 35 Hawaii South Pacific is there.  

5 minutes ago, warren buffet said:

what i think you are failing to see is the amount of money employers pay canada residents in wages is probaly higher to make up for the inflation in the currency.  does the average product cost more money in canada than the US? How much does a 2 liter coca cola or pepsi brand cost canadian in a big supermarket?  as an example

Just picked a random large grocery chain, I didnt price search. A 2 litre of Pepsi is $3.49. On sale, you could probably find under $2.  I grocery shop in the US quite a bit.  Some things are indeed cheaper in Canada but others are far more expensive. 
 

I have several US direct reports, they are paid higher than their Canadian counterparts.  Likely due to health care costs.  

It’s a common promotion.  Border towns in the US do it all the time. Just means we’re both paying $1,000 for a cruise and not US residents paying $1000 and Canadian residents paying $1,300.   Disappointing to see politics/policies being brought into this.  It’s no different from a residency rate.  

On 3/1/2023 at 11:03 PM, shamrockace said:

We even have a bagpiper on board that occasionally plays. 

Pretty sure that’s a friend of mine 😂

Problem I have with Celebrity’s current prices is they’re coming close to Oceania. And side by side itinerary, Celebrity will lose every time.  Completely depending on what you cruise for but if it’s itinerary, it won’t be on X for us.  

1 hour ago, SusieAV8R said:

But wait a minute:  on B2B or B2B2B cruises, the ship must be zeroed out so ALL guests must disembark the ship.  Those doing these types of cruises disembark each time, go through customs and re-embark  the ship.  This will be done with each leg.  Something is not correct with the given scenario.  I would contact the sender of the email.  (It may be some bureaucrat has misunderstood the law.)

Irrelevant.  I believe it has to be 24 hours between sailings.   It is an illegal cruise and has been for decades.  

You only have to look at the embarkation port and the disembarkation port. You’re doing a one way Honolulu to Seattle without hitting a foreign DISTANT port.  Can’t be done.  See if you can find another ship to do the Alaska portion.  

4 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

That is fine if you live in Vancouver, but if you live in California, it is much easier to use a CA port.

 

If I was doing a one way from BC, I'd choose the Disney Wonder or RCL Ovation of the Seas.

Why?  Disney is 2x the price and Ovation might be a good ship but the itinerary is garbage.  

2 hours ago, memoak said:

Why would you want a 1 way. We always take the Princess 2 way. Can’t beat all the sea days especially round trip Seattle  Tired of the fights between P and C go with what floats your boat and don’t slam the other lines

 

 

 

 

Well given a choice I’d rather be in Hawaii than in the Pacific with dicey weather, but that’s just me 🤷🏻‍♀️

6 hours ago, TenneSea said:

I can't get past the lack of balconies on the new Celebrity ships.  That's a deal breaker for us.  What was Celebrity thinking ?  People cruise to sit on their balcony and soak up the sunshine.

Not an issue for Hawaii. Book an S class instead of edge.  For Hawaii celebrity would win hands down because of being 1 way.  Princess has a one way and the itinerary is crap.  

On 2/16/2023 at 3:49 AM, southernbreezes said:

We have stayed in Hawaii for extended periods of time and like it. Never would I consider a timeshare, condo, etc. My wife is on vacation also so no cooking, cleaning making the beds, etc.

We are cruising to Hawaill because we love cruising the sea days are wonderful. I would never consider NCL its not for us. As far as tendering my cruise says none but with the Edge Class ships having the magic carpet it is not an issue if we do. Flights to Hawaii from Florida are long over 13 hours many over 20 hours Vancouver is 8 hours. The same can be said about every vacation destination fly and stay longer but we cruise there then stay then fly home.

I think we’re talking about two different things. You’re referring to Florida to Vancouver and I’m talking about Vancouver to Hawaii.  There are now direct flights from Vancouver to a couple of Florida cities.  

1 hour ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha.  It is fascinating how each island has such a unique character and charm that there truly is something for everyone.  Having been born and raised in Manhattan, we find Kauai to be too laid back for us lol.  The big island is wonderful but it rains to much on the Hilo side and Kona can also lack in energy.  We will sometimes fly to Maui for a few days but we love Honolulu because the vibrancy aka craziness reminds us of Manhattan lol. Also the variety of restaurants provides a real comfort level.  All of the above being said it truly is paradise.  Enjoy!

We really enjoy the North Shore of Oahu. It allows us to pop into Honolulu for the day and then escape. Best of both worlds 🤷🏻‍♀️  Big island is the only one we haven’t done a land trip but have been three times on a cruise.  

I’ve been to Mykonos numerous times, not once have we done a ships excursion 

5 hours ago, southernbreezes said:

Maybe in the air but the flights are not nonstop. Look my closest friends live in Vancouver they have been coming to visit us for the last 9 years at least once a year. I know the flight times very well.

5:55 am – 11:23 am

Delta

1 stop

ATL

8h 28m

PBI

 ‐ 

YVR

There are 2 airlines that offer non stop from Vancouver. Air Canada and Westjet. Who in their right mind takes the routing you are showing above, that’s crazy.  We usually use Alaska via Seattle as I have a companion ticket every year.  

11 hours ago, southernbreezes said:

We have stayed in Hawaii for extended periods of time and like it. Never would I consider a timeshare, condo, etc. My wife is on vacation also so no cooking, cleaning making the beds, etc.

We are cruising to Hawaill because we love cruising the sea days are wonderful. I would never consider NCL its not for us. As far as tendering my cruise says none but with the Edge Class ships having the magic carpet it is not an issue if we do. Flights to Hawaii from Florida are long over 13 hours many over 20 hours Vancouver is 8 hours. The same can be said about every vacation destination fly and stay longer but we cruise there then stay then fly home.

It is absolutely not an 8 hour flight from Vancouver.  It’s 6 1/2 at most and usually quicker with a tail wind.  

I thought most of the complaints were around dinner, not lunch?

23 minutes ago, bassethounddog said:

My lobster dinner from recent Silhouette cruise. 

That is just a really really sad looking plate 

We have two Hawaii land trips coming up this year. We also spent a month there last September. We’re lucky we’ve been renting from a guy for years and he’s kept the rates reasonable.  Friends of ours on Kauai have a time share, their maintenance just went up to $10k a year so I wouldn’t go that route.  VRBO and Airbnb still seem ok.  We stay up at turtle bay on the golf course.  Eating out has gotten very expensive but you have Costco liquor to off set that.  🍹🍹

I’m no HAL cheerleader, but I like this ad.  It’s on Canadian TV quite a bit.  

2 minutes ago, brovol said:

I agree.  Deposit promos are not even a deal.  Who cares?  You pay for the cruise regardless, and deposits are minimal anyway. I cant believe anyone is drawn to a deposit promo.

It’s a way for people to book multiple ships/itineraries and then pick one later.  If you’re only booking 1, the deposit doesn’t really matter.  

I remember last year when the $1 deposit sale hit people were booking a lot of cruises just to hold a cabin.  I hope for HAL some stick.  We booked two. I wouldn’t have done that without the $1 sale, so yes, I think it does effect the numbers.