FLcruiser2011

I am interested in taking a European cruise where I would leave the ship at a port other than the scheduled conclusion of the cruise. I realize I would not get any rebate for the last part of the cruise, but does anyone have a Costa email address where I could check on whether this deviation would be approved? Thanks in advance

I am booked for the 2024 World Cruise. I am interested in leaving the ship in Singapore, flying to India to spend more time there, and subsequently reboarding the ship in Mumbai. Who would I email at Viking to see if this would be permitted? Thanks in Advance

Well, my original stateroom was toward the bow, and my new stateroom is toward the stern. I don't think there is a location price difference -- though the way they display categories on the website (without displaying the differences within a category) makes it impossible to know this. But they TOLD my TA prices had gone up since WC bookings were first opened to Crystal Society members.

Even more amazing, I booked an Aqua class cabin on the WC when the agents didn't know the difference between the old PH (which I wanted) and the Seabreeze Penthouse (which I didn't want). Guess which I mistakenly got. And when my TA and I discovered this, they told us there were no more PHs available. This past week, they told me they had a PH and booked it for me. BUT, when my TA called to inquire if the price was a mistake, they said the prices had gone up since my original booking -- and they declined to honor the previous prices. This is no way to run a new cruise line.

I suppose OneWeb is another possibility, though I have not yet heard of any cruise line trying it. They have said they plan to market to shipping. News below is from Bloomberg today. OneWeb Ltd. launched the final 36 satellites of its initial 616-satellite “constellation,” allowing the rival of Elon Musk’s Starlink to offer global broadband coverage this year. OneWeb now has enough fast-flying spacecraft in orbit to offer broadband to businesses and government customers in the lower 48 US states in May, and ultimately global coverage by the end of 2023. The launch took place in Sriharikota, an island off the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It concludes a tumultuous chapter for the satellite venture that was founded a decade ago by serial space entrepreneur Greg Wyler.

Well, we had taken six cruises on OC in 31/2 years -- including the pandemic shutdown -- as well as 11 cruises on other lines, so 5 in 3 years on NC doesn't sound like an impossibility.

BTW, thanks to the OC deck plans you posted some time back -- which alerted me to the fact that my Aquamarine booking on the new Serenity WC was a Seabreeze penthouse, which I did not want -- I have finally succeeded in swapping it for an old PH. Do we get to meet you on that cruise to say thanks?

Well with all due respect, Keith, I disagree. Replacing a port that most who have visited seem to say offers very little (Salalah) with a port that is for the first time opening up Saudi Arabia to the outside world would strike me as an extremely positive move.

I notice that Viking -- on its world cruise -- has recently swapped out Salalah (Oman) for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Wondering if New Crystal might do the same on its 2024 world cruise? I would certainly be more interested in seeing Saudi Arabia.

Well, as long as you are in sea lanes that are covered by Musk's little satellites, it is far better than anything that existed before. I've been using (or trying to use) internet from cruise ships from the days when you had to go to guest relations and swap out your phone for one with a modem, and Starlink is by far the best option yet.

Does anyone know whether New Crystal is going to have Starlink Internet on Serenity and Symphony when they return to service this summer? A number of cruise lines are signing up for this, and it would be GREAT if Crystal was going to have this higher-speed internet on its ships as well.

That's about as useful as saying, Bring a few boxes of sushi from Safeway, and VOILA -- your own Asian restaurant. The addition of Uma Uma to Crystal is a BIG step forward. For some, the addition of a good casino would be another.

Now if Crystal only could find some non-Genting way of operating a casino.

More than a little concerned by the comments about the food. We are currently deciding between a 2024 WC on Neptune and a 2024 WC cruise on New Crystal, and given the length of time we would be on the ship, our big concern is how we will feel about going to dinner after 100 days. BTW, just returned from a nearly two-month cruise on Oceania Marina -- which we booked after reading all the raves by Oceania fans about "best food at sea" -- and it was VERY disappointing.

I'd appreciate the contact info for the guides as well. email milt at uss1 dot net Thanks in advance.

From the Miami Herald this morning under the headline: Spring Break is coming to South Beach

We have been very happy with the Intercontinental, which is just across the street from the port.

We live several hours drive north of Miami Beach, and each year our local television news shows the wild drunken goings-on during spring break in South Beach featuring mobs of unruly youths in the street and police struggling unsuccessfully to maintain order. I would think more than twice about going there during the spring break season.

Anything less than a 2-to-1 ratio -- two bottles per passenger per day -- will not be adequate. But I am not going to book until I see an exact number of bottles per voyage.😉

Last week, when Crystal first began accepting bookings for the 2024 World Cruise, I immediately asked my TA to book an Aqua suite. The price was high, but I liked the itinerary. I put up my $27K deposit, and thought I was all set. Over the weekend, I discovered that my Aqua suite was one of the old Seabreeze Penthouses -- which I do not particularly like. The available deck plans, BTW, did not show this. On Monday, I asked my TA to switch me to one of the "classic" Aqua suites -- which was the older Penthouse. When she contacted Crystal, they told her a "classic" Aqua suite would be an additional $22K! That pushes the price of an Aqua suite to well over $200K -- which I think is more than a bit much for a relatively small suite that has not been significantly remodeled in some years. I will miss Crystal, but I reckon I can find another way to spend what is a considerable amount of money. Do I sound unhappy?

So would it be correct to conclude that all the Aquamarine cabins on deck 11 are classics -- the former PH and not a former SH?

Keith, I have booked an Aquamarine cabin for the Serenity WC that appears from your deck plans to be a former SH. That will not work for us if it just has that one teensy little desk. I reckon the Aquamarine classic cabin would be the former PH, which if I remember right has a desk and a makeup table. I don't really want a tub but we need the two desks. Could you help me understand where the Aquamarine classic cabins would be on the new deck plans? Thanks in advance.

Well, for what must be close to 29 years then, the Royal Caribbean casino department has run its own casinos. They have a very professional operation. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival on behalf of all of its cruise lines, NCL on behalf of its three cruise lines, all have casino departments that run their own casinos. No one uses Casinos Austria except Silversea, and I would guess Royal Caribbean will take their casinos over when the contract Manfredi had with Casinos Austria expires.

Name one other than Silversea. They run a number of third-rate land casinos in Europe, but none on any cruise line.

Actually, the casino on Serenity was very professionally run. Genting knows how to run casinos -- they just didn't know how to run a cruise line that could survive a pandemic. BTW, the casinos on Silversea when Manfredi owned it were operated by Casinos Austria. I fear that's what we have to look forward to if NC does have casinos.