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Ship cam shows the Island in dry dock today. 

Yes, there are very good options out there now.

We're currently booked on three Princess cruises, primarily for the itineraries - we are long-time Princess cruisers. In recent years, we tried other a couple of other lines - Celebrity and Viking Ocean - and enjoyed the difference in services and amenities. We're currently booked on the Edge for October in a Sky Suite, based on pretty much what you described, similar to which we had heard from friends.

The suite itself, an S1, resembles our usual digs on Princess, a mini-suite, but the amenities significantly outshine that which we have on Princess. The cuisine of Celebrity has also seemingly been upgraded, while Princess has slipped a bit, imo.

Viking is really a whole different experience from the big ships, but one which we thoroughly enjoyed as well and we will almost certainly return for the right trip. 

Point is, good options! Princess keeps us because the perks, but the other lines are snatching folks like us away by meeting or exceeding those perks - loyalty or not. 

36 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

I don't mind if someone explains the survey, and then asks for a note or comment giving them feedback if there is anything they should do to improve. We have all seen complaints on here where someone gripes about a stateroom attendant or waiter who forgot or omitted something the customer expected, and the griper admits they down-rated the person without ever voicing the expectation. Often it was something they had gotten in the past and it seemed they were basically punishing the crewmember for not being a mind reader.

 

We have actually been told by some higher-ups that some bosses treat a failure to complete the survey as equivalent to a low rating. I will always be understanding of any request to fill it out, and if the crewmember asks us for help in doing better, or urges us to just be honest, that deserves top-rating in my book!

 

As for car dealers, I get very disgusted by service departments saying that we need to contact them first before giving a low rating on the mfrs' regional surveys. They are saying to not be honest, and asking us to be their service supervisor. Really stupid for something as objective as that.

So true. Surveys were developed to find out areas that needed improvement in a operation/business/service. Nowadays, lazy managers who don't know how to manage use them as a cudgel to berate the staffs that they failed to develop or train properly.

You mentioned the car dealers. Several years ago we purchased a new vehicle from a dealership that we only used because our pre-purchase research matched us up with them. We used Consumers Report and AAA "Best Price" tools. 

Of course, upon arriving, the dealership used every trick in the book to wring as much more out of us as they could - we stood our ground. The salesperson was a young man who predictably had to run virtually every conversation we had with him through his "manager". It was unnecessarily taxing but completely unpleasantly consistent with most car dealerships. Then came the survey, and the almost begging by the salesperson for five stars on every question. A few weeks later I got a phone call from the salesperson guilt-shaming me for the accurate rating I gave! Needless to say, I'll never go there again!

I often wonder about that experience when the cruise surveys are sent out. They know who you are. Does the staff know too? We all know about the one bad apple metaphor!

17 hours ago, gbphipps said:

In case anyone was interested in the Chef’s table experience on the Edge we thought we would post how it went for us.  Sorry not to have pictures of the food as the other 6 people were so much fun we  enjoyed visiting and didn’t take you any food porn. Lol. 

 

We had to get ready for our 5:45 dinner rather early, but the meal and wine pairings were fantastic:

 

We began with sparkling wine with lobster and cantaloupe amuse bouche in Café al Bacio on Deck 4.  The head chef introduced the evening, but the noise from the Grand Atrium was so loud that he could not be heard.  The eight of us then went up to Deck 5 to the tasting room at Fine Cuts where the spectacular five course meal began.  

 

We started with curried cauliflower soup with saffron and apples accompanied by a Gavi dei Gavi, La Scolca Bianco Secco. All the wines paired so beautifully with the food that we were so happy we sprang for the wine pairing.  We never could have chosen as perfect of wines on our own.

 

This was followed with mushroom risotto persillade with aged parmesan accompanied by Les Tuilieres Sincerre 2018.  The persillade was a parsley foam.  It was amazing!

 

The fish course was sea bass with Za’atar with fennel, sweet pepper, lemon tomato vinaigrette accompanied with Gran Moraine Yamhill’Carlton Oregon Chardonnay 2014.  

 

The main course was a duo of beef filet and short rib with root vegetable boulangere and mushroom-red wine sauce accompanied by Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley 2016.  

 

All of this was followed by a dessert of Java Grand Cru Cacao, Sumatra Coffee Cremeux with licorice Gelato accompanied with Blandy’s Madeira 15 year old Malmsey.  I am not sure we ever needed to eat again.  It  was that perfect.

 

All this wound up about 8:45 but we lingered over another glass of the Cabernet before leaving for a stroll through the jewelry stores on the way to Eden where we listened to the jazz band for an hour or so before heading off to bed a little before 11:00.  It was a brilliant evening.

That sounds fab! Thanks for the very tasty review! If you have time, could you answer a couple of questions?

Did you have to book this onboard? We're unable to book it online as of now for some reason.

Does the wine pairing work off the premier beverage package or is it a separate charge?

Of course, all of this legal maneuvering will be moot if even one more COVID variant worse than Delta arises, and the chances of that occurring are high. 

We're teetering on the brink of yet another shutdown once again if the current situation continues unabated. 

The irony is that if the cruise lines can reject unvaccinated passengers, the ships may well be the safest place to be! 

Like many on this board, we're long-time Princess cruisers and have been quite loyal to the brand. We currently have three future cruises booked, with an additional one on Celebrity.

Frankly, we don't really know how different the experience will be when we finally return, but we expect it to be different - noticeably different. We hope it's not different in a negative way, but if it is...c'est la vie.

Mr. O'Brien's sudden departure - at such a early stage in the return - is not a good omen, imo. While we don't necessarily care much as to who is the CD or ED on our cruises, we do notice that some are much more - let's say - corporately orientated than others. The job clearly isn't for everyone and if you take it, you are expected to carry the water for corporate, like it or not. MattO clearly did not.

But the bigger point is competition. After we tried another couple of lines, we did miss the things we're used to with Princess, but we also really enjoyed the differences. 

Things change, people change. cruise lines change. We're all free to come and go as we please. I suspect that the long disruption of service will change the concept of "loyalty" in cruising as well. After all, even Princess has changed their concept of loyalty as noted on other threads.

Best of luck to Matt in his future endeavors though.

Thanks to Jeremiah1212 for the breaking news.

We immediately called our TA with this information. She, with us on the other line, immediately called Celebrity for clarification. The Celebrity agent who handled her call was not aware of this! The agent asked for time to contact their manager for further info and, after several minutes, came back on the line confirming NO B2B's! They added that an official notice will be issued next week to all reservation holders.

We're not about to fly to St. Martaan, at a considerable expense, for a 7 day cruise - which we normally avoid anyway as we like long cruises. So, the adventure ends.

Good luck and safe sailing to all who go through with this cruise! On to December with fingers firmly crossed!

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks, but since our PVP rechecked with Celebrity management yesterday and was told no, we've moved on to focus on the options we might have with our originally scheduled 3 Edge cruises out of Ft Lauderdale in July. Those sailings of course depend on whether or not the CDC and RCG come to an agreement by May to restart limited sailing from there.

Hi Ken, condolences on the Tide's exit from the Big Dance (or are you an Auburn fan?!)

Hate to keep rehashing the b2b saga but we're still holding our two for July 10 & 17. It's a big Anniversary for us and we really would like to go.  

Must tie it all up by April 6, so we keep going back-and-forth on the planning. One day it's on and the next it's off. Today, we planned our beach days. 

We have spoken with a couple of Celebrity agents on the phone and still - we're being told it's no problem. Frankly, I don't know what to think at this point. Out TA is very nice and efficient but in the same fog regarding b2b's as we are.

I do wish Celebrity would clearly state the policy before we commit as we would rather not sit on FCCs when we have 2022 already accounted for cruise-wise.

Hope your Edge sailings are a go! We're booked for December out of Lauderdale on a 14 day Princess and I'm getting skeptical of that sailing now too.

Some times we're living through these days. 

Appreciate your work on this, Anne.

We just called Celebrity - again - this AM to confirm our b2b booking for the St. Martaan sailings in July after seeing your updated info.

We were told, again, that our b2b reservations are perfectly fine. 

Where is all the misinformation regarding b2bs coming from?  

Certainly the St. Maartan insurance mandates requiring additional $30 payments for each reentry into the country are prohibitive enough as it is! (That's at least two purchases, three for a b2b.)

This is starting to fall apart quick!

2 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

How many hours is a flight from Miami to St. Martin?   Is Business or First Class really needed?   I understand if it is an overnight flight or if you have money to burn.   We recently took a flight from Hawaii to Chicago.   We were in Business and it was packed, every seat taken.   The tourist cabin had so few passengers that each passenger had at least one row to themselves.    I would look carefully at the seat selection before I would pay for Business Class especially for a 5 hour or less flight when you don’t need a lie flat seat.

Jet Blue flies direct to St. Maartan from Fort Lauderdale - it's about a 3 hour flight. Both coming and going are day flights.

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have to ask, did you book the two cruises online under separate primary names, through a TA who simply figured out a way around your 2 cruises being officially labeled as a B2B, or by some other ingenious method? Curious minds want to know. 🙃

We didn't attempt any trickery as we had no idea, based on everything we read from Celebrity, that b2b wasn't being allowed. Frankly, we're still don't. We have spoken with a Celebrity agent regarding flights and some other details - they obviously seen our reservation - and still no pushback. As far as we know, the 7 day limit is a CDC rule and this cruise is outside of their jurisdiction. 

Our TA did book the cruise(s) this AM - she didn't mention any restrictions either and she booked the two legs - with Celebrity  - with us on the phone. We use a cruise-centric company and the agent is well experienced. 

We have no reason to think that our reservation will change and if it did, we would probably cancel the whole thing. I'm not paying the airfare to fly to St. Martaan for a one week cruise. 

Like for everyone else, the air fares and trip insurance will have to be finalized and paid for very soon.

If there's a one cruise restriction, I certainly hope we're notified pronto. 

4 hours ago, davekathy said:

Anyone doing or considering a B2B for the two different intinaries? 

We're booked for the b-2-b's for 7/10-24, although it's booked as two separate reservations, in one cabin thankfully.

Suites were already sold out for those dates by 9am - we're going concierge level. 

3 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

 

 

Not snoozecrooze but, some well-known flaws in the Royal-class are:

• Balconies ridiculously narrow.
• Soot on aft balconies.
• Initial builds without mid-ship stairs going all the way up to Lido deck.
• Venues that don't work, i.e. the original Princess Live and that god-awful Club 6 (now Take 5 on newer builds).

 

 

• Wrap-around promenade deck

I agree with just about everything in this thread so far, so I'll add my little peeve: wine service.

Can we please get all available glasses or bottles of wine onboard in the MDR - and served (without asking, in a whisper, for a real wine glass) in a proper glass? Of course this would require dedicated wine/beverage service in the MDR which is sorely needed back again. It's a folly to have to run over to the Vines to get a good glass of wine while eating. 

While they're at it: include a Vines on all ships, please. The newer ones have apparently eliminated this popular spot.

I would think that anyone of us who love to travel would be sizing up alternatives to cruising these days. That said, cruising is still our preferred vacation and we are anxious to see the industry rebound.

The cruise lines have an interesting problem ahead of them, aside from the obvious current layup, and that is how to regain their market. Many folks on these pages are "givens" to cruise lines - we cruise whenever we can and more than a few of us already have several bookings in the que. We're ready when they are.

It's everyone else that the cruise lines must attract back. To that end, they must "wow" us, not repel us with noticeable cutbacks in service and quality. It's a rather delicate predicament for the industry after well over a year without revenue outside of deposits. 

I expect differences at sea much in the way I see differences in everyday life on land. 

But back to alternatives. We recently began planning a road trip that would take us about ten (10) days to complete. We got as far as the first stop with the planning, detoured, and ended up booking another cruise, our third in the future category. We'll stick with the day trips for now.

Cruising will change, just as many other facets of our daily lives will also change - including alternative forms of vacation. But don't think that that cruise lines will use this layup as an excuse to cut back on amenities when amenities are their (sorry, but) bread AND butter.

Agree - it was a pretty nice card too!

Happy Birthday!

We were halfway through our 28 day RT LA-Hawaii-Tahiti.

Valentine's Day was fun onboard.

Hard to fathom - a full year of this.

We like them long now - at least 21+ if possible.

The last one, Feb '20, was 28 days RT from Long Beach to Hawaii and Tahiti. We've had several 25+ TA's with the first or last European cruises added on. Whatever the length - it goes too fast!

The whole experience. As several posters have already said, just getting to the pier and seeing the ship waiting for you is always a big thrill.

Others:

• Walking onboard and taking that last step inside the ship from the gangway.
• Being greeted by the staff and recognizing a crew member from a previous cruise. 
• The first steps onto the balcony and imaging the sites you will see from here.
• The sail-away!
• Making new friends - with crew and fellow passengers alike!
• Sea days!
• The first cocktail!
• Meeting the waiters on the first night.
• Everything!

Lost two already, with another two booked - one for late December 2021 (Caribbean), and another for April 2022 (TA and Northern Europe).

Skeptical for the December cruise with the vaccination rate abysmally slow here in February already. Also have to remember it's not just here in the USA - the rest of the world must also be safe. 

So, for odds sake: 

December 2021? 50% chance.

April 2022? 70% chance. 

Of course if a variant becomes widespread, these chances get much lower. 

We live in strange times now. 

On a related note, interesting, and ominous, article in today's WSJ about the worldwide problems with the manufacturing and distribution of the COVID vaccines. 

Only 10 countries are currently projected to vaccinate up to 1/3 of their populations by year-end 2021, the USA being one of those ten - others include: Bahrain, the Seychelles, Israel, the UK, Romania, UAE, Malta, Iceland and Serbia. Even more alarming, these countries are projected to reach only a 21% rate, at current rates, by year-end 2022. Granted, "current rates" are expected to improve, but to what effectiveness with these numbers?

This is not a good look for cruising.

Even if the USA exceeds its' projections, where we will go, and who will man the ships?

The Philippines, for example, home to many cruise crew members, has projected that 70 million people would be vaccinated by YE2021, but the IMA Asia group, a peer panel of leading business experts in their respective countries warns that "We doubt if half the 2021 goal can be reached."

We're sitting on two bookings now and are very anxious to get going again, but the reality of this crisis is quite upsetting. 

Can the cruise lines even survive a two year layup? 

Any replies that help me ease off the ledge are appreciated!

Good stuff!

Our first cruise was on the old Star, in 1992.

Still had the Italian service, with the flambes, and the midnight buffet (never could quite figure out why that existed!).

It was a magical voyage, Venice to Athens, via the Black Sea with Istanbul, Odessa, and Yalta included, along with several Greek Islands. 

I never forgot being greeted by name by night 2 at the cavier bar asking if I wanted the same drink as the night before. Good times...

Thanks for posting!

On 11/20/2020 at 9:13 AM, CineGraphic said:

As my 5th grade teacher used to say, "Sugar, Honey, Iced, Tea!"

 

We were really looking forward to our 14 day sailing from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale, next October.

We booked this back in September of 2019.

Now we'll just have to wait another 2 years for 2022 to roll around.

 

Thankfully, our other 2 bookings for 2021 are not affected. (yet!)

A friend of mine just booked Oceania from Montreal to Miami - it runs in October '21 & '22.

Nice itinerary - includes Bermuda. Worth a look.

I'm surprised that the terms contain the upcharge. On each of our last few cruises the bartenders were quite adamant that we only pay the difference from the $12 allowance - I figured it was the policy based on their assurance.

Once we're back to normal operations I would expect the upcharge though.

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

I can't search for cruises, see saved cruises, or my future sailings.

Yes, same here - doh!