steviek49

Hometown cruising is having numerous ships departing from numerous ports such as NYC, Baltimore, Boston etc instead of just major ports that you need to first fly to in Florida such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale to begin your cruise. 

People from these cities can save time and $$$ from no need to purchase airfare

Royal Caribbean continues to copy NCL

specialty Dining

Hometown Cruising

automatic tipping

My Time Dining

Now Royalup

these programs were started by NCL and after much success were copied (to some degree) by Royal Caribbean 

My wife and I are booked on a December, 2019 7 day Empress Western Caribbean cruise. I was wondering now that Empress no longer goes to Cuba, does she still offer the "everyday brunch" with free Mimosas?

Would appreciate info from anyone who cruised on her recently

Thank you

:confused: Considering there is a travel warning, will NCL waive cancellation penalty for those who wish to cancel their cruise based on the United Staes travel warning?

NCL Rebuttal:

 

Norwegian Cruise Line’s cruises to Havana continue to operate as scheduled. The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our first priority and we continue to maintain the highest security standards as we do in all ports of call. There have been no reported incidents involving tourists or other cruise ship passengers. Reported incidents have been isolated to diplomats and government officials residing on the island. Our shore excursions and tour locations have been thoroughly evaluated and none are military owned or operated. The visa issuing process for our guests remains unchanged. We continue to believe that the best way to travel to Cuba is via cruise ship and look forward to continuing to offer our guests the opportunity to explore Cuba’s beauty, culture and friendly people.

We just go off he Gem today from our 12/13-23, 10 night Caribbean Cruise. The Gem docked at approximately 8 am. The Captain came on the PA system early this morning stating that docking may be a little delayed due to fog.

We will be leaving on the Gem tomorrow on a 10 night Caribbean cruise out of NYC. Although we are not big drinkers we have selected the UBP for the cruise. Can anyone provide us with a list of drinks included and/or not included in this package?

I do understand that all drinks up to $15 are included but I'm not sure that the prices of each drink will be available each time I order by the pool or in the restaurants.

It is also my understanding that bottled water and fresh squeezed juices are NOT included. Is this correct?

Thank you for any and all assistance

So We also bought the $40 per phone Verizon plan. Is it true that we will NOT have to purchase the NCL wifi package and still be able to call home and text just using our 100 text messages and 100 calling minutes??? We are on the 10 night Gem cruise tomorrow. Thank you for any clarification

Sorry to disagree with previous poster but celebrity guests are hit and miss with the dress code, especially in Europe when the itinerary is intense. More and more people are not traveling with formal clothing due to airline baggage restrictions. No worries, it's your vacation. Enjoy!

I am glad to hear that. Although my wife and one daughter love to dress up and take photos on formal evenings, I prefer not to pack suits or tux when going on vacations. I do realize that Celebrity is a bit more formal than the other 5 mainstream and upscale cruise lines that we have been on but maybe I will compromise and pack one suit and 2 shirts.

If the ports are similar to my Western Med cruise on the Gem, and it will most likely be hot in August- I prefer to bring lots of light clothing.

And yes- Air travel is making it much more difficult to pack and bring different types of luggage.

I just posted on ports board asking for recommended tour companies at the 3 Greek ports (Athens, Santorini and Katakolon). Hopefully I will get some good recommendations.

Thanks to all

Just booked Celebrity Constellation Greek isles cruise out of Venice for August, 2015 and was wondering if anyone can recommend a private or semi private tour company for the 3 isles on our cruise.

Our cruise (family of 4) makes ports of call at Santorini, Athens (Piraeus), and Katakolon.

When we did a similar cruise (from Barcelona thru Italy) on NCL Gem a few years ago, we had one tour company that met us at each port. It was a fantastic experience and we would love to do the same for this trip. We also call at Kotor, Montenegro.

Any recommendations? Thank you

PS- If I am not permitted to ask for names of tour companies- please accept my apologies.

Thank you for the help.

I will follow your advice. Any information on Constellation or how different or the same it is from our other cruises will be appreciated. We have cruised on NCL Crown, Dawn, Spirit, Gem and Sky- Carnival Imagination and Victory- HAL Westerdam, Sky Princess, and RCI Freedom of the Seas.

Considering her size I would probably compare Constellation to NCL Dawn and Gem as well as HAL Westerdam.

We (family of 4) have recently booked our 1st Celebrity cruise. We booked 2 OCV cabins on the Constellation (Greek islands from Venice) for Aug, 2015. We are looking for any assistance from any veteran cruisers who have done this cruise in helping us find a highly recommended tour company for the ports of calls on this cruise (Montenegro, Santorini isle, Athens and Olympia). We prefer either small group (15 or under) or private for the 4 of us.

Just some background: This will be our 11th cruise and we have cruised HAL, Carnival, Princess, NCL and RCI. We took a very similar cruise back in 2009 (I believe) on the NCL Gem (out of Barcelona) and found a great tour company (thru Cruise Critic) that met us at 3 Italian ports (Naples, Rome and Florence). This tour company helped make that cruise our favorite.

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

Just wondering how the Gem did on this "stormy" cruise?

Was the ship rockin'?

Did she miss any ports?

How was the weather in Cape Canaveral, Nassau and GSC?

Overall, How was the cruise?

Anyone?

I too just booked Sky's Oslo deck Oceanview cabins.

I'm glad to hear that they are quiet. NO elevator should be no problem.

Do these cabins have Port holes or Picture windows?

Thanks