hubofhockey

Aren’t there already separate threads that relate to retreats, aqua, or other classes? Kind of looks like one of those topics where the OP is having fun stirring the pot a bit.

We have some good history with Carnival too a while back, really when our kids were young. Just because we haven’t been on Carnival since the early 00s doesn’t mean we don’t have great memories. That said, even my kids thought dining when John Heald was running color wars in the dining hall. Cheesy cruises and cruise lines have expiration dates at some point.

I wouldn’t book expensive suites on mass market lines either and agree about value on more premium lines. I don’t value the mass market experience like others do. I do like more casual lines though. I like Azamara, but will not bear the risk of Sycamore owning them, so Oceania next. More expensive? A little, but better value with all inclusions.

Well, isn’t that the reason mass market cruise lines don’t build small ships anymore? The only way to make them work is by charging more per passenger. You pay extra for that experience. Some pay much more for high level suites on Celebrity and some pay more for Oceania or much more for Regent. It’s a bunch of trade offs. We’ll know things are different when Celebrity builds more M class ships after the current ones reach the ends of their useful lives. That’s about 10 years away.

I canceled my cruise and it's pretty far out. I am not willing to take on the risk and headaches of a new independent player in this industry. I feel good that refund has been processed and will feel better when the deposit is posted back to my credit card. Not a "Journey" I'm willing to continue with Sycamore right now. I hope they return to what they were and even build some new ships to replace an aging fleet. We can replace our cruise with Oceania. If it's not as good, it will be good enough.

Sycamore still has a lot to prove to Azamara’s customer base. I had one booked and just canceled because I’m a little nervous about them. They aren’t taking upgrade bids and can’t get OBC straightened out.

At one time, Princess was my cruise line of choice. They failed to reinvest and refurbish older ships and they became worn down. Their new class of ships had smaller balconies and they downgraded Sabatini’s (specialty restaurant). Now, they’re charging for their once free pizza place on the Royal Class. I love the M class on Celebrity for every reason I moved on from Princess. I can get good everyday meals in Blu and I understand I have to pay for it. If I’m not booking Celebrity, it’s because we’ll book more premium lines.

I noticed for our Japan cruise next May that the open cabins are the AQs. We book because on M class, there really aren’t a lot of specialty venues. Hate the fact that you have to buy all of the extras with it.

I love many kinds of food that I would not get on a cruise ship.

They sold more fake waygu beef burgers than cookies.

Agreed, but many of the classic Indian dishes that many would want are made in that kind of oven. Not saying an Indian cuisine couldn’t be done on a cruise ship, just maybe not an Indian restaurant.

We had Liverpool as a stop on a BI itinerary and loved it, but of course it was a chance to do and see everything Beatles (did a private bespoke tour). Enjoying your review @Hanoj . Vista will be our first Oceania cruise and it’s more than a year away. Hoping to see more videos on YouTube but right now those are mainly from travel agents.

I would doubt an cruise ships have tandoori ovens.

There are options for everyone. It's probably a matter of time before there are more a la carte options for cruisers where some lines will charge extra for everything but the cabin (and maybe the buffet) separately like they do in hotels. I'm about to book my first Oceania cruise (just canceled an Azamara cruise and replacing it with Marina after refurbishment) and simply more doesn't seem burdensome. Some will move on and some will replace them.

My travel agent told me that Azamara said the credit to my Amex would post 7-10 business days.

I went through a travel agent. I'll give them a shot first and then Amex, beginning in late October.

I just canceled my cruise. While I think two weeks is acceptable, I understand that Sycamore is "challenged" and will just be happy when I get it. I am a bit nervous about the brand right now and that's part of the reason for my cancellation.

That’s not the case anymore. There is no more $700 applied to future cruise. X keeps the entire thing. The way around it is to book with FCC and that way only subject to loss of $100 (or $200 not sure). My point is that all cruise lines are doing this. Oceania is just following the others.

My routes will be. Narita airport to Tokyo. Tokyo to Kyoto. Kyoto to Yokohama. Sounds like I’m good. We have an overnight on our cruise in Osaka, so no need to get there by train.

Azamara is $75 per person up to Final payment. We have one for them 16 months away that we are considering canceling and booking Oceania instead. With Azamara having been sold to private equity firm, nobody is going to risk much more than that $75. The transition to Sycamore from a systems perspective has not gone smoothly. No doubt that if Azamara were still with RCCL, their cancellation penalties would be similar to Celebrities (awful). If I cancel my current Celebrity cruise, I'm out my full $900.

I am thinking of booking Green class. Hoping no problems on large suitcases in that class, but I hadn’t heard of this change.

They HAVE to change because their sweet spot is probably 35-55 in age. 35 year olds of today aren’t the same as 35 year olds 10 years ago. As we have gotten older, we have moved to lines that deal better with people a little older. We’ll still go Celebrity, but now Azamara, Oceania, and maybe Viking (some friend love Viking,but doesn’t seem like a fit for us).

You name the cruise line and you'll see similar complaints on all of them right now. Inflation has hit the travel industry hard. The cruise business is very competitive when it comes to pricing and all of these lines are either cutting corners and going for more a la carte pricing, raising prices, or dropping favorable deposit rules to keep ship capacity up or to get customers booking at higher refundable rates. The truth about new customers is not that they are suckers. As people get older, they naturally shift from Royal Caribbean and Carnival to Celebrity. The base is there.

Thank you for the reply to my post. The older ships don't scare me. We are doing Japan on a Celebrity M class ship and have Panama Canal scheduled on Azamara Journey. Of course, that next cruise is short term. O's decision NOT to buy A was a long term strategic decision. It would be nice if they could steal pages out of A's playbook relating to multiple days in port and some of their itineraries. Azamara, itself, makes me nervous and that relates more to Sycamore. Looking at the Marina for Canary Island to Portugal in 5/25. Always wanted to give O a shot and haven't done that itinerary. Thinking of scrapping Panama Canal on the Journey (12/24) and doing 5/25 Marina itinerary instead. There will be other opportunities for the Panama Canal.

Thanks, looking forward to our overnight in Osaka (doing Tokyo and Kyoto before the cruise).