cruisinsince75

Do they have porters to collect your bags for you when you debark? Hadn't thought about the elevators. Going from ships with 600 PAX capacity to a ship with potentially 3600 PAX, might be a bit tricky for us. Thanks!

Good points. Makes sense that the app is not tied to wifi. Also, that Princess has only been sailing from Galveston for 3 weeks and facial recognition. We sail next fall, so I'm sure they will have plenty of opportunity to get some of the kinks worked out. Also, a good idea to wait until later to board. Thanks!

Having only sailed on smaller all inclusive ships recently, such as Seabourn, Silversea, and Regent, we have a few concerns after reading the past three Live from reports. We are both mobility challenged and chose our upcoming cruise because we could drive to the port instead of flying. So we have a couple of concerns. Embarkation/Disembarkation. I have read that there are horrendous lines at check-in. Leaving people lined up outside of the building for over an hour. That the Green Lane and handicapped access lanes aren't until you are inside the building. My plan is to drop my DW with her scooter and luggage with the porters and park our car at the Express Lot next to the terminal and drive my scooter back to meet up with her ti board the ship. Not sure if the logistics for that. Same as for debarkation in reverse. Medallion Issues. Great that you don't need to sign for anything. Not so great when the wifi is down or you get charges for drinks, etc that you didn't order and have to go to the hassle of trying to get them removed. Like somebody charged $250 plus for a bottle of Dom Perignon that wasn't ordered. I thought it was a repeat from Fletch, but his name wasnt Underhill. 🤣 Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks. We will check it out. Been wanting to try Oceania for awhile now. Hopefully there will be some 2025 cruises on there.

We did an 18 day TA on the Ruby back in 2011. Venice to Ft. Lauderdale. It was pretty full, however I think it depends on the itinerary. We have done a few from Lisbon with only a couple of stops and those weren't full at all.

I am disappointed that TKG will be disappearing. It was always a special treat for us, but I will say that it was a far from perfect on our last Ovation cruise. My wife's favorite is the Dover Sole Meuniere and the presentation of fileting the fish at the table, but this time they butchered it leaving chunks of flesh instead of an intact filet. I had the Snake River Rib-Eye, and while it was a perfect mid rare, it was very tough. I agree with the previous poster on staff. It was always crowded on our Odyssey cruises, but lots of empty tables on our Ovation cruise. I'm not excited about the menu for Solis, but will reserve judgement until we have tried it.

Things we now enjoy on sea days: Breakfast on our balcony Finding a quiet place by the pool to read or listen to an audiobook Music Trivia Regular trivia Afternoon tea Wine tasting Two that we we did on our first cruise, that are no longer available for obvious reasons: Skeet Shooting - Upper Deck Golf Ball Driving Contest - Aft

This has been a very interesting thread. It has made me think through all of my own sailing experiences and how that has evolved over the years. Let me set the backdrop. Our very first cruise was on the Carnival ship Mardi Gras. My wife and I were 22 years old and had never flown, let alone been on a cruise. I saw an advertisement for a 7 day Caribbean Cruise including RT airfare from LAX to MIA for $399. It was a red-eye flight with a day room before boarding the ship. Our cabin was an inside stateroom with a lower berth and a folding upper berth. Our bathroom had a toilet with a shower head directly above it, and you had to go to a separate room if you needed to use a hairdryer. Our at sea activities included a golf ball driving contest off the back of the ship as well as skeet shooting off of the side. There wasn't an outside pool, but there was a small one inside. The itinerary was Nassau, San Juan, St.Thomas. We didn't have anything else to compare it to and loved every minute of it. We have had quite a few cruises since then and our tastes have completely changed over the years. Been on a couple NCL cruises early, another Carnival, and a few RCL cruises on the smaller Vision Class ships. Our favorite top 2 cruises out of 40 are vastly different from each other . The Seabourn Legend 7 day Caribbean for our 25th anniversary. A 10,000 ton ship with a max 212 passengers. The other one was an 18 day TA on the Ruby Princess for our 40th anniversary with a large group of friends that we met on CC. 113,300 tons and 3000 pax. It was a blast. Two worst cruises. Trip that I won on the NCL Southward. 3 day Mexico cruise in an inside cabin. Too short and not the best time to discover I had claustrophobia. The other Celebrity Infinity 7 day Caribbean cruise, balcony cabin, but 30 days post 9/11. Everything in a bit of disarray. Favorite premium larger ship lines are Princess followed closely by HAL. I would try Celebrity again. Favorite premium smaller ship line is Azamara. Would like to try Oceania but pricing has always been a bit high, Favorite luxury line. For me it is Seabourn over Silversea and Regent. It is still elegant, but less formal than Silversea and a better value IMHO than Regent.

Thanks! Will Do!

I booked our cruise online and we are in an accessible mini-suite. We want to make sure that they don't upgrade us to a different location. Is there a place online to check a box no upgrade? If so, where is it? Thanks!

uberX: $44-58 (~3 min away) uberXL: $84-111 (~3 min away) UberBLACK: $153-202 (~3 min away) uberSELECT: $107-141 (~3 min away) UberSUV: $185-243 (~3 min away)

I had problems on our November 2024 booking SD on the app. However, I was able to do it directly through the website on my laptop and booked them without issue. Later when i went back to the app, it showed them as booked. We are platinum. Under booked guests choose Cruise personalizer. Then choose Check-In (even if you have already done so). It will ask you to download the app, but there is a link at the bottom to do the web version instead. Once there, scroll down to DMW and make you choices there. Hope this helps.

Do full suite passengers get to use the Sanctuary gratis or is there still a charge?

Thanks to all for your answers. Since we are in a mini-suite, looks like we will have some writing to do. Breakfast is generally the only meal we do room service.

Can you get things like eggs Benedict or Omelets for Breakfast in suite room service?

Looks like all your DMW reservations MUST be done using the app now instead of the website. Is that correct?

We are booked on the Regal for a Caribbean Cruise next year. Both of us are disabled, both both like to spend time in the pool. Looks like the Retreat pool is the only one with steps and railing to get into. However, it didn't look like it was shaded and it also looked like it only has loungers. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

We are booked with friends and are both wondering if coffee makers are inside staterooms? Thanks!

We like both. I agree the only opinion that really matters is your own, and that can change from cruise to cruise. We found the service, the food, and the passengers to comparable on both. Overall we found the entertainment on Seabourn to be a little better than Silversea. That too is subjective to taste. We also found Silversea to be more formal than Seabourn.

What temp do you set the washer on for Sous Vide and how do keep the bags sealed? Also, do you use the iron for searing??? LOL

We were on the Ovation in April. We did not care for the refillable bottles. They were too difficult to drink from in the middle of the night and didn't care too much for the taste. There were two sizes. Basically, a full liter and half liter.

Yep! We had the same thing on our Ovation cruise. We were in suite 550 and the entire area between our suite and the staircase was blanked off.

We are booked in a V1 accessible suite 550 on our TA crossing next year. SB is offering a two category upgrade to a V3 accessible suite of either 664 or 665. We are familiar with suite 550 having just had that suite on our last cruise. We are trying to compare to decide whether to take the upgrade or not. Thanks in advance!

What a pain to have to check in at the old terminal and then be bussed to Fusina and back post cruise. Venice is lovely! Enjoy your trip!

I stand corrected. Yes an adapter.