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This is exactly the department I was going to suggest. I would recommend calling within normal hours. They are very helpful usually. Email works also but not sure their current response time. I have had things resolved in a day or two or in 2 weeks.

If you have not done so already, visit halfacts.com. There is detailed information and traveler photos on many cabins on all of the HAL ships.

Absolutely not. NCL will not waive the penalty to shift. It is treated exactly the same as a full cancel and rebook. I was in a similar situation due to a work conference that popped up. Ended up cancelling and booking a different cruise line for the previous week. It totally sucks but they are well within their rights to enforce the contract and they absolutely will. The only exception is if you bought their insurance in which case you get a percentage as a future cruise credit.

Dismemberment only applies to guests without the have it all package. Guests with HIA may wait comfortably onboard until the dismemberment process has been completed before disembarking like normal. It is hoped this will help to reduce congestion in the terminal when claiming luggage.

The difference between economy and premium economy varies drastically depending on the airline and aircraft you are on. On domestic US, Canada, Caribbean & international operated by a narrow body aircraft the difference is basically a couple inches of more legroom in premium (economy plus, comfort plus, etc). On long haul international flights the difference can be more substantial. Delta has Premium Select which has larger seats (a bit wider and more legroom). I believe AA/United/Air Canada are similar. If you’re traveling on a foreign carrier such as Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Emirates, Etc) you probably will have a more elevated experience than what our North American carriers offer. Definitely check the airlines you are looking at for what their premium product is on the specific route (AND aircraft) you are flying. Sometimes domestic routes are assigned an international wide body aircraft and this can get you a much better economy plus seat than one on a 737/a320/757. Some international routes, particularly the Caribbean, Central & parts of South America are still on narrow body airplanes so the seats will be the same as on domestic flights. I generally find flight ease has savings on international flights. On domestic it is the same or in some cases more expensive. I don’t usually use them unless there is either a significant savings, or it is a very expensive or flight on a carrier I would not travel on so that I can take advantage of paying for air at final payment. Otherwise I prefer to have the control over the ticket and be able to work directly with the airline. A great resource for flight information is flyertalk.com which is basically cruise critic for hotels & airlines and the folks over there will have tons of information and post on all sorts of airlines

For folks who have done a B2B does NCL usually treat each cruise separately for your guest account, or do they roll over your bill and any OBC to the second cruise?

Short version - Easy choice. Book Glacier Bay. Absolutely, 100% Long version - You will find that the Encore sailings with Glacier Bay are more expensive than the Bliss ones with Icy Strait Point. There is a good reason for this - Glacier Bay is absolutely stunning. Regardless of the premium, it is worth the cost. You spend the day in a beautiful bay looking at multiple stunning glaciers and rock formations. The Bliss will go to Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier for scenic cruising. This is scenic, but not really comparable to Glacier Bay either. Additionally as others have noted you can get much closer to the glaciers in Glacier Bay and it is extremely rare to have to cancel. Glacier Bay would be on every itinerary but it is restricted to 2 ships a day and the cruise lines have to fight over who has access - HAL and Princess get the most slots because they started sailing to Alaska first. The other cruise lines get Glacier Bay if they can and then have to use Endicott Arm (Dawes Glacier) or Tracy Arm (Sawyer Glacier) or in the case of North/South cruises Hubbard Glacier. While all are beautiful, I would choose Glacier Bay every single time. Icy Strait Point is basically a fake town built for the cruise lines next to the native village of Hoonah. It is a tourist trap built for the cruise lines. Think of it as a shared cruise line private island without the beaches and water sports. There is the world's longest zip line (roughly $185 for a pass to ride as many times as you want), a gondola ride, a couple tours featuring native culture, and overpriced gift shops. Holland America stops there for 3 hours after Glacier Bay on some itineraries. IMO this is more than enough time there. An 8 hour day is really pushing it.

The way they do confirmations & amenities is a honestly bit confusing and takes some getting used to.We bought free at sea with streaming wifi and every time we log in it still promotes and offers the upsell to free at sea plus. On my first cruise I accidentally bought it twice because I thought it didn't go through the first time. When I got my credit card statement I had to call and have them sort it out. It looks like they may have fixed this because when I log into my future bookings it is no longer frantically trying to sell me the upgrade I have already bought. On top of all of that it when you buy a shore excursion or other items pre-cruise, the amount got added to your cruise total on your confirmation, and then the payment gets added to your payments. I was so confused the first time that happened. Absolutely could not figure out why the cruise price had gone up when we had already made final payment. It looks like they have now at least separated out the onboard purchases, but the online payment for shore excursions still pulls in. All of this to say NCL definitely does their confirmations differently than anyone else and it does take some getting used to. Rest assured it all works out in the end.

I haven't sailed on Princess in quite a while, but from my experience on Celebrity & HAL which are in a fairly similar category, the days of people wearing tuxedos are pretty much gone (short of sailing on Cunard or possibly some luxury segment lines). Maybe a couple or two might have one, many will wear nicer clothes such as a button up, jacket and slacks for men or a cocktail or other dress for women. Ties for men are hit or miss. If it is fun for you then you should absolutely do it! But if you go a level down you will definitely fit right in.

Thank you so much for the review! Does Princess still do the paper copies of the daily program, and if so would you mind sharing one or two?

Long time HAL cruiser who has started sailing with X for about the last year. I think the biggest difference is the entertainment. I found that X had way more activities throughout the day. I realize this is very subjective and depends on what you like to do so I am including a couple HAL programs from my cruise in May. On Celebrity there is a mainstage show with two performances every night (production show or guest entertainer). HAL has this most nights but not necessarily embarkation day or late night port calls. On these days there may be only one performance and it may be an EXC talk given by the Cruise & Travel Director (their new and improved title for cruise director). The EXC talks are all very good (highly structured/scripted with video integrated), and very informative, but IMO not a main stage show. Some nights the main show (with 2 performances) may be a BBC documentary or even a movie. The main shows on almost every ship (except those few that constantly do extended itineraries) is the Step One Dance Company. They have 4 shows and dance only with pre-recorded music. Same 4 shows on all ships. Two shows have some live music with the singers from either BB Kings or Billboard Onboard (who will thus not have their own shows, or have only one performance). Some people love these shows and some people hate them. If you are looking for a traditional broadway/production show you will probably be disappointed. If you like relatively modern music and dance with an LED display that has various projections on it that integrate with the show then you will be happy (imagine dancers standing in front of a picture of an elevator and getting in and dancing in front of it, or splashing paint from paint brushes against the backdrop and the color of their paint brush splatters on the wall behind them). The key entertainment feature on Holland America at night is the "Music Walk." On most ships this is either BB Kings Blues Club or Rolling Stone Lounge which plays mostly blues and other music from the 60s or so. On Pinnacle class ships add the Rolling Stone Rock Room which plays rock & roll (obviously). They also have Billboard Onboard which has 2 pianists who sing and play a variety of songs. No DJs on HAL. They do have "Dancing to the Hits" which is a preset mix of the same songs you might expect a DJ to play and usually goes after the last set in BB Kings. HAL doesn't really have cruise staff like other lines do. They have the Cruise & Travel Director who gives the EXC talks and introduces shows and what not. They also have an Entertainment Host who leads a lot of the activities/game show type things (name that tune, trivia, etc). Atrium is very quiet, on HAL. None of the activities that you would usually find on X around the atrium (paper airplane contest, axe throwing, golf, etc.). They don't have any of that sort of thing whatsoever. On X ships the atrium is used as somewhat of a hub with Cafe al Bacio, activities, bars, etc. all right there. On HAL it is just more of a design feature but not a central hub in any way. You will probably find a flower arranging, oragami or cooking class at some point. In Alaska you will have a naturalist onboard. We do not usually dine in MDR or the buffet so I cannot really give a fair comparison, but have not had bad meal on HAL or X. Buffet on HAL is all served by someone, no self service of food at all. Dive In is far better than the Mast Grill IMO. Really like X pizza, but HAL pizza has cook to order that you can order through on the app on most ships. Be aware there is no lobster included on HAL on 7 night itineraries. You will pay a supplement in both the MDR and in specialty dining if you want lobster. What category cabin do you typically book? There are some substantial differences in the suite products if you are looking at a suite. If booking an interior/ocean view/balcony I think they are pretty comprable (except in the case of the infinite verandah on X). X has really gone up in pricing across the board. I found most of the shore excursions on X were significantly higher priced than the same exact tour on HAL. I always pay substantially less on my HAL cruise at every step (cruise fare for comparable cabin, excursions, other add ons). HAL has a much larger selection of in room movies than X. When we cruise we enjoy relaxing and are mostly interested in being left up to our own devices for entertainment and like having everything taken care of. We may take in a show or music at night but it is not central to our enjoyment. Compare that with my recent Celebrity Cruise.

I believe you or your TA have to call.

It is not, I think Silhouette and Reflection only.

Alas parting is such sweet sorrow. I really had a delightful cruise. I was very glad to see that it felt like the same Celebrity I know and love. A final trip for Gelato. The strawberry is delicious A night time stroll around the pool area. I had one last breakfast in Luminae before disembarking. I was able to get a porter easily (they were lined up and ready to help folks). Luggage was very easy to find. Last time I returned to Los Angeles they had given us "suites/zenith" tags which were in a separate room that was harder to find. This time we got #1 tags and all the porters knew right where they were because it was a number rather than a separate area. It was really easy to get an Lyft to go to the airport (check Uber and Lyft prices! It was about a $20 difference. I found this to be the case both going and coming although Uber was cheaper the other way). If you have not done it, I highly recommend the glass blowing! It is a lot of fun and they guide you through the whole process. You get to pick your colors and they have pieces ranging from $120-200 depending on how complicated it is. All three of mine came out great and they made it home in one piece (I did put them in my carry on, and it did flag with TSA for extra screening because the glass was too thick for the xray to see clearly).

For my final dinner I returned to Luminae. I can't believe I forgot to picture the menu, but the ravioli was a main dish (I believe beef & cheese ravioli). The other dish was the best thing I had the entire cruise - I think it was a veal chop. Keep an eye out for it on 8+ night cruises in Luminae, it is really good. Multiple people expressed the same thing. Day 7 Program Day 8 Program

Around noon the ship finished the customs process and we were cleared to go ashore. I independently booked a 90 minute harbor cruise with City Experiences/Cruises (formerly Hornblower yachts). This was a lovely, albeit cold, way to spend the afternoon and we got great views. We went out to the harbor entrance and then back and under the Coronado bridge before circling back to dock. The tours leave about a block down from where the cruise ships dock, and next to the USS Midway. There were also tours offered by Flagship Cruises. I believe my ticket was around $40. It may look like midnight, but we actually left around 6. It sure gets dark early this time of year!!

With Luminae closed for lunch I had one last meal in Sushi on 5, basically a repeat of my favorite items. - Chicken and ginger gyoza - Kobe beef burger - Scallop and Shrimp Dynmite - Baked scallop roll

With the early arrival I decided to order room service for breakfast. My butler brought it right at 7 (I requested 7-730 delivery window). He has actually been on 3 out of my 4 Celebrity cruises (although this was the first time he was actually assigned as my butler). He did a really lovely job the entire cruise. I am very low maintenance, particularly when sailing solo. Mostly I like to have the mini bar stay stocked with my preferred beverages, and the laundry taken care of. Both of these were handled perfectly, and I also had the usual assortment of nightly sweets/snacks. There are also some little touches that were never asked for but were nice. One day they left a fruit plate and when I had eaten all of the grapes out of it they actually removed the stems so that it would look fresh. They also pulled out the tour ticket from the excursion envelope for each port and left it out on the table each night so that it was ready for me the next day. Some of these little touches just really made the whole experience special. Customs in San Diego I have to give Celebrity an A++ on the whole customs process in San Diego. They gave us a letter with our group number before hand. Once you cleared customs you had the choice to go into town or return to the ship - passengers returning to the ship then had to wait to go ashore until the process was completed. I was assigned to group 1 and asked to meet in Michael's club to be escorted down. There were probably a total of 30 of us so I am not sure if it was only upper suites, or if a bunch of folks opted to just go on their own. They escorted us down right at 8 as the announcement for groups 1 & 2 was made. We were the first ones off the ship and through customs. For everyone not escorted, they asked people to come to deck 3 midship where they had stanchions set up between the two midship elevator banks so people could line up and be escorted downstairs. We were walked right past that and down to deck 2. Both of the mid-ship doors were being used to let folks off and your card was scanned twice - I presume once was the scan off the ship and the other was to track who had gone for customs. We then walked into the terminal and through the customs line. Customs took our picture and glanced at the passports (this part of the process is of course not controlled by Celebrity). We then were given a sticker for our key card when exiting the customs area. Again there was an exit to town, or you could circle back to the ship. When returning to the ship we boarded via the forward gangway/elevators and did not need to clear security again. Celebrity had a lot of crew members helping to make the process efficient. I saw entertainers, junior payroll pursers, IT officers, and a bunch of other folks that they had called out from their various offices to guide folks through the process. Altogether it was less than 15 minutes to go through the entire process. Everyone I spoke with (both retreat and non-retreat guests) were very impressed with the whole process. This was also great because upon arrival in Los Angeles we could just walk straight off the ship and leave with no need for customs or immigration clearance. Once customs was finished they took in the forward gangway and boarded only via mid-ship. When returning from town you actually went through security in the terminal (commingled with folks from the Crown Princess docked next to us), and then boarded back via the midship elevator with no need to be screened by security. I went to Luminae right after clearing customs for a 2nd breakfast as I only nibbled on my room service meal. Luminae was very busy as basically everyone had the same idea to do breakfast right after clearing customs.

Day 8 - San Diego We had a scheduled 8AM arrival into San Diego this morning and I decided to get up early to watch the sail in as San Diego is a scenic harbor.

Day 7 - Thanksgiving at Sea Lunch in Luminae - the shrimp po boy was great! Thanksgiving MDR Menu Luminae Dinner - I actually had reservations in Le Petiti Chef but wanted to sample a couple of the Thanksgiving items. Turkey dinner/traditional Thanksgiving meal - turkey and stuffing were good, was not impressed with the green bean au gratin. Le Petit Chef - delightful as it always is. 7 of the 8 nights had the same menu which was not at all exciting to me, but they had my favorite menu for Thanksgiving so I went ahead and booked. They actually brought me both salads because they had an extra. Everything was perfectly cooked and delicious.

I did not see any sign of holiday decorations yet. Enjoy your cruise!!

It was delicious. First meal: Chicken ginger gyoza Kobe beef slider Scallop & shrimp dynamite Baked scallop roll Second meal: Lobster & shrimp wontons Kobe beef slider Lobster ramen Shrimp tempura roll (not pictured but very good, particularly if you don’t like raw fish) Chicken ginger gyoza The only thing I would not get again is the homemade lobster and shrimp wontons. The filling was sort of ground lobster/shrimp which had a consistency of like tiny balls the size of rice grains. It was just kind of a weird texture.

Day 6 Program Michael's Club held a private magic performance from one of the guest entertainers. I didn't make it there, but heard it was great. ]] We also got our instructions for the San Diego customs process. More on that later.

Day 3 Program Day 4 Program Day 5 Program

After the bridge tour I had another nice lunch in Luminae. ' I also did the Captain's Club behind the scenes theater tour. Didn't get a chance to take pictures but is interesting seeing the back stage area. They do a lot of with not much space. The cast trains for about 2 months to learn all the shows on shore in Miami and then come onboard for about 6 months. The first 3 weeks is an install period where they have a whole team come onboard with them to install the crew onboard, fix costumes, etc. The cast has to apply for captain positions such as the arial captain, vocal captain, costume captain, etc. and those cast members have added duties Dinner in Luminae was another lovely meal. The chicken came from the main dining room and was really good. I enjoyed all of the MDR items I sampled this cruise also. Very glad we were the first cruise where they added back the larger menus.