Markanddonna

Enjoy the small differences. To me, the biggest difference will be your choice in MDR dining options. NCL doesn't have the dancing/singing waiters, which I find VERY painful to watch.

I loved our RCL transatlantic and thought they did an excellent job with a full ship of discerning, experienced cruisers. I'd take either cruiseline in a heartbeat.

The only roll calls I'm involved in are the ones for transatlantics or possible anything at least two weeks. It is nice when your trip is complicated and you would enjoy others sharing rides or port excursions. These have been valuable relationships.

I think listening to the rangers is great but I missed out on some of the best scenery of the day while listening to them. My husband took some great photos while I was in the lecture.

I would base it just on the ports. The Star is better, IMHO, but the Epic trip should be slightly warmer with it being the Med. rather than the northern route.

Also, I saw that there is a new high speed train service from Barcelona to Paris that just opened up making the trip just six hours. The flights in Europe are pretty inexpensive, though, so that isn't a big issue.

Dancer Bob is so correct. You don't know if the review only sails with one line because they are in the "elite" status for that cruiseline or if they are owner suites types. I always look at the type of cabin a review reported staying in. Then, there are the cheerleaders for cruiselines. I recently tried HAL because it was described as more upscale. It surely was not (we had a balcony) and I think the hype sort of set me up to expect more. IMHO, I think RCL is perhaps at the top of the mass market pack, but then that all depends on the sailing. A European cruise is a very different experience than a 3 night Bahamas cruise! Cruise experiences are so apples and oranges.

I love the spirit of do-it-yourself that I'm hearing from everyone. As far as hotels, I use a combination of recommendations from tripadvisor and Rich Steves. I tend to book directly through the hotel. I like being able to confirm directly with them and feel I get the best rates, although I would be just as happy to book with a site if they were significantly cheaper.

I think the worst type of box travel agency is AAA. I go there for info at times and sometimes test out the knowledge of their agents. I used to think that they knew so much more than me because they had computer access and we didn't YEARS ago, but now things have changed. I remember the last AAA agent told me that they don't sell or recommend NCL and she had NEVER taken a cruise. I think most of us could run circles around her.

I would ask my friends and family is they have any TA that they have full confidence in, but personally, I would only go in that direction if they gave me a great price and special offers of ship board credit. I think the people who are most successful with TAs are the ones who book more expensive cabins and their TAs have some wiggle room to comp. If you are a budget cruiser, a TA doesn't have much incentive to spend hours on research for you. We have never traveled higher than a balcony and we have been happiest with our own work. It is really hard to find a travel agent who really knows the cities and port areas and they can usually give you only their perspective which is probably pretty narrow and maybe dated. I am guessing even the best ones just read from the same info that is offered to us.

We have traveled in Europe three times and found that our research gave us the best experience. I arm myself with lots of advice from this site, tripadvisor and Rick Steves.

Listen to lots of people, including TAs you may interview but realize that you are ultimately in control. We were on a TA right before Hurricane Sandy hit and I can tell you that all the promises went out the window. They wouldn't do anything proactively and finally just turned us over to some guy in India who didn't even know about a hurricane coming... If I hadn't taken action, we would have missed half our days in Rome.

Might I suggest that you consider your heritage and possibly select a city from that country? We are going to Krakow from Copenhagen. Krakow is SO much less expensive than anywhere in Scandinavia or London and the flights are relatively inexpensive one way from Copenhagen.

We are doing a Transatlantic to Copenhagen in May and I am pretty surprised that the only cabins left are the very expensive ones. I'm sure that some people will cancel when final payment is due but the prices just kept going steadily up since they were first posted. The price of airfare will also increase. We just purchased a one way flight from Krakow back to Ohio for $800 and it was about $500 back in the springtime.

We also love cruising and have found it is an efficient way to see many parts of the world I would have not considered. My favorites are European ports and Alaska. The Caribbean seems like all the same with sandy beaches and palm trees and lots of poverty, so that destination has to be the bargain of the century before I go on a cruise there.

We have tried to encourage our best friends to come but they bought a condo in Florida, next to her elderly snowbird parents' condo. I think they quickly saw their mistake (they get to tend to very elderly parents down there) and now rarely go down there but their travel funds are wrapped up in little used real estate.

One benefit of cruising is that you don't wrap up a huge amount of retirement money in an RV or little used condo.

I tried HAL because I

1. had the option in Alaska

2. wanted a different itinerary than I had done before

3. HAL seems to have more cheerleaders on their board

I discovered that

1. our sailing (June) had a LOT of people of all ages.

2. The Westerdam seemed dark and sort of gloomy in many places and maybe some folks interpret that as more elegant.

3. The food was just slightly better on HAL.

4. The MDR service was the worst I have ever experienced on any ship.

5. The staff was subpar in friendliness, but competence was just fine outside the MDR.

6. HAL's upsell was really a good deal, but you can't count on getting one. We were just lucky perhaps.

7. The overall experience on HAL was no better than RCL or NCL.

HAL is in third place of our cruise lines. They just didn't live up to the high standards some frequent HAL cruisers reported. I learned that one has to be careful of who you listen to. It isn't that HAL supporters are incorrect, but all the loyalty benefits some of them receive probably makes it a different experience.

Do you know what areas your ancestors came from? We are going to Krakow in May after a TA cruise. We understand it is a wonderful city to visit and has a lot of history AND we will spend a day in the countryside trying to get a sense of where a few of our ancestors came from.

I read somewhere that Poland is not the best country to rent a car. The point was that some of the roads are in poor condition. I suppose it is a matter of opinion and where you are traveling.

I will be in Sweden next spring and am trying to find the town my ancestors came from. The documents say they are Swedish, parents born in Sweden but their place of last residence was Christiana. Where would you guess they lived? Isn't Christiana in Copenhagen? The time period would be the 1890's.

I was in Italy (Rome) and Spain late Oct thru early Nov and there was NEVER a need or opportunity to wear capris. I always had a lightweight jacket on and had a black rain jacket because it was cool and rainy about 1/3 of the time.

While it is somewhat futile to attempt to look like you fit in, I would advise wearing darker solid colors with perhaps a tasteful silk scarf to add the "drama". That big floral top will give you away as an American. I wore very comfortable black shoes because the cobblestone is a killer on the feet- be careful!

Of greater importance is having a plan for your valuables. I have a Scottevest/jacket and never had a problem. I also carried a daybag that had my Kindle with some Rick Steve's downloads for tours, water, maps, etc.

It is about a 15-20 min. drive and sometimes is standing room only. There was some confusion at the dock because people with the wrong color ticket thought they were getting on the blue bus.

It really isn't that complicated, but be sure to NOT tear off the small voucher tag. The driver out there was really gruff about that and then the return driver didn't even ask for ANYONE's ticket.

Just don't cut it close. The last bus leaves at 6PM. The rangers WILL call for a taxi if you are left behind at Mendenhall.

We were on the Westerdam and saw that the Solstice had to tender in Juneau which I thought would be very disappointing for all the Celebrity folks. I think that would be something to consider when picking a cruise but you would have to do some research and the schedule for docking positions doesn't come out far enough for some folks. Your ship looked amazing though! It was featured on the Seattle station this past weekend and I envied lots of features you enjoyed.

It seems Alaska gives preference to the cruiselines with most seniority and I wonder if that might be the problem with you all having to tender rather than dock.

I was on the upper level (assigned seating). My casual observation was that maybe 50% of the folks used the dispenser before entering the MDR and it was outside the dining room. I imagine less than 20% used it entering the LIDO. So, the majority of the passengers do NOT use it unless forced to by the staff.

HAL does have stewards at the entrance to MDR dispensing hand cleanser. What else is that steward supposed to do? Is he to take temperatures, decide who is too sick to enter for dinner? What would be his measure?

 

I just got off the Westerdam and can tell you that there was NEVER a steward or any staff member reminding passengers to use the hand cleanser. Not in the MDR or LIDO. Royal Caribbean and NCL have someone there all the time. Maybe that is a new HAL cutback?

I am in Seattle right now with a sick DH who picked it up on our Alaskan cruise. I was surprised that HAL doesn't station a crew member at the entrances to restaurants like other cruiselines do. That may contribute to the sharing of germs in the Lido.

Things to consider that may or may not be an issue:

- price- worth a few hundred, maybe but not 1K more

- time of year and route- an early spring or Nov TA or one that goes more northerly will be cooler

- smoking- some lines allow passengers to smoke on the balconies making a balcony essential for a smoker, maybe not so good for your neighbors adjacent to your room.

Everything is relative depending on your circumstances. I found that I could use the balcony on only about a third of the days on my Nov. TA. First, you have less light in Nov. and it is dark by 6PM. We didn't use it on port days since we were so busy. I don't enjoy the mist/spray that we often experienced, so didn't use the balcony on most of the sea days. We did use the balcony more once we sailed nearer the Caribbean.

We booked an obstructed view (upgrade from an inside) for our next TA which will take us on the more northerly route. I would rather spend the money on excursions and traveling within Europe.

Bring home either smoked salmon in the box or canned salmon wild from Alaska!

taking the Leonardo Express to Termini and using a company called enjoyrome dot com and doing one of their tours to the Appian, Way, Aqueducts, Catacombs, etc. We took that our and enjoyed it very much! You can explore the museum near Termini also.

Ship - Mariner

Deck - 6th deck

Stateroom # - 6284

Stateroom Category – E2

Starboard or Port Side - starboard, midship

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Very quiet, there are no staff doors or rooms nearby. We never heard sounds from above or below.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - no

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Normal

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal

Was wind a problem? - This was on a TA so we unfortunately did not use the balcony as much as we would have liked. It was too windy at times, but nothing ever blew off the balcony.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - NA

Any specific problems with this cabin? - We were very impressed and happy with this cabin. A good choice!

Any other comments? -

I've been trying for two different nights- one 3 and then a 3 1/2 star downtown and another night a three star Seatac. Two years ago, I got Red Lion downtown for $75 and a great one at Seatac for $45. This year, I stopped/as rejected at $85 3 1/2 star and $75 3 star downtown and $70 three star Seatac. I just booked Sleep Inn at Seatac both nights for $71 on their site. Tripadvisor gave them really high ratings.

I've been to downtown Seattle a few times so I am not enthralled with staying downtown for a high price. BTW- these dates were for end of May/June.

When I was on a 16 night TA, there was a Catholic priest who did daily mass, someone who did Sabbath Friday services for the Jewish passengers and a few groups of Christians who did Bible studies in the chapel, but no formal service. There was a nondenominiational service for Veteran's Day lead by a PCA pastor. These were mostly posted on the communications board with the main events in the daily.