Spudd

Crystal demographic is older and richer than Princess. They had the Magic Castle on all cruises when it was running, didn't matter where it originated from (and Crystal sails all over the world, they try to make itineraries that can be strung together to make longer voyages). They didn't have their magicians under contract - they were guest entertainers so one magician would come for a few cruises (maybe 2-3) and then be replaced by a new one, etc etc. I went to the shows a few times on Crystal and it was a lot of fun. They only had around 15 guests max though (I don't know the true number but it was definitely less than 30). It was free of charge but space was limited so you had to reserve. Obviously Princess will probably charge.

Just wanted to say that if you haven't been to Pompeii before it is well worth the trip. It's an amazing thing to see.

We had no problem with the shuttle from the airport. It took about 10 minutes or so to show up after we called them. They do have a shuttle to the pier but it's expensive. I think it was either $15 or $30 per person? Probably cheaper to do a taxi but we did the shuttle for convenience and it was good. The hotel itself is very nice. We liked it a lot. Nice location with lots of nearby restaurants.

On their website they advertise a "stay and cruise" package which includes a cruise shuttle. Presumably this is more expensive than just staying, though. The link is broken so I guess you have to call them to find out.

No input on this hotel, but the nearby Hyatt properties are very nice (Hyatt Place and Hyatt House). I stayed at the Hyatt House in April and it was lovely. Spoke to some flight attendants who were at Hyatt Place right across the way and they said it was nice too.

HAL's food seems to be still getting good reviews. Currently the Celebrity board is all in a tizzy over the food having taken a serious downturn lately. I haven't sailed with either yet but I have looked at the new Celebrity MDR menus and would agree they are mostly uninspiring.

To clarify what "mom says" says above, if Canada issues a travel advisory to avoid travel to a destination after you bought the insurance but before you travel, that is considered a valid reason for cancellation and will be covered by insurance. If you travel there with an advisory in place, you will not be covered for anything that happens on your trip.

You might want to Google for farmers markets in the ports you'll be stopping in - my local farmers market has a guy who sells not only maple syrup from his own farm but also walnut syrup!

You can ask your TA to flag them as "no upgrades". The default is "open to upgrade" and I have seen it happen even though two reservations were flagged as traveling together.

How exactly? Which cruise lines are you thinking of?

Manulife also offers this (premium protection plan they call it).

It's under the profile, under the name of your next sailing there is "select a different cruise" and then within there at the bottom is "browse our ships".

I have one additional piece of info to add to the puzzle. I'm with Koodo (Telus discount brand) and they don't support wifi calling outside Canada (boo!). They also charge $14/day for roaming which is RIDICULOUS. I found out I can disable the "Roam like Home" add-on in my plan settings. If you do that, receiving/making phone calls will cost $1.50/min (if I recall correctly) and there's no charge for incoming text messages. So my new setup is: 1. Buy a local e-sim for destination data usage (if desired - I always desire, LOL) 2. Set phone to use the e-sim for data and the normal sim for calls/texts 3. If I receive any calls while abroad, tell the person I will call them right back, so the charge is only $1.50. I'm VERY unlikely to receive 10 calls a day so I will never exceed the $14. 4. Call them back using Whatsapp or VOIP on wifi or data.

Just book it as a double and call in to remove the second person. The reservations reps are happy to do this for you.

You can certainly do it by calling in if the app won't let you.

It's an espresso machine, I don't think they have drip coffee.

I'm not certain, I might be remembering the total instead of the per person. Sorry!

You also don't have to. It will just take longer at the port if you haven't done it, but it's not a big deal.

We stayed at the Hyatt House last time we went. It has a free airport shuttle, and a $30 per person cruise port shuttle. It was a very nice hotel, the rooms have kitchenettes and living rooms, and it's located in a nice area with a ton of restaurants. Oh, free breakfast too. On the shuttle we met people who were staying at the Hyatt Place and they said it was also very nice (basically right next door so same area).

Thanks. They are telling me it can be applied to excursions but only after they board. But nobody wants to wait until they board to book their excursions! Hopefully if I keep at them we can get this sorted.

I'm a travel agent, and I booked some clients on an Azamara cruise. They got $750 in OBC with their booking, under the "Three Free Nights" promo. Now Azamara is telling me that this is "flash OBC" and can't be used on excursions, it can only be used once they get on board. I can't find anything in the terms & conditions about this. Has anyone experienced this? Is this an actual thing? Thanks!!

It's in September of this year, so definitely not more than a year out!

I booked a cruise on Saturday. In the app today, I can see the cruise there, but I can't see any excursions, beverage packages, etc. Does it take a few days to be able to access that stuff?

I would personally want to plan to spend at least 3 hours. Transportation there is easy if you are walkers. From the pier in Sorrento, it's about a 15 minute (pure guesstimate based on memory) walk to the train station. There are frequent trains to Pompeii and there's no transfers required. Hop on and when you get to the Pompeii stop, it's literally right across the street. We wandered around on our own and occasionally glommed onto other people's tours for 5 minutes or so at a time just to hear a few tidbits. Amazing, amazing place. One of my top 10 things I've seen in my life.

On Regal all they have is the gelato sundaes. They're not that great. They're fine and all but if you didn't have plus, definitely not worth $12 which is what they charge for them.