Dolebludger

We haven’t been to Mexico in quite a while, via cruise or land stay. But we were on a Caribbean cruise last March (no Mexican ports) and all the ports were extremely crowded, so much so that we will not be doing that again! Are the Mexican cruise ports similarly crowded? If so, could it be that Mexico is using taxation as a was to stop “over tourism”?

Just a suggestion. Ask the Hotel manager what he meant by “the transition”. Many cruise lines have been having “transitions”, and they always mean less service, less content, and higher prices for the guests. Some lines have “transitioned” to the point that we won’t take them anymore. Hope that’s not the case here.

Glad to hear that this mess was corrected. A properly stocked (and restocked) in suite min bar is very important to us, in the price class of Windstar with AI package. It’s a convenience that should accompany a fare at this level. We usually cruise Regent but have been considering one of Windstar’s motor yachts. On Regent, the mini bar includes soda, beer, wine, and a bottle of spirits. We never take any of the contents when we disembark, because the last thing we want is for our luggage to be any heavier! 

Unless my memory is faulty, the PG did have a laundry package ten or so years ago. I recall it was around $150 per suite for a seven night cruise. Of course, the ship had a different owner then. Given the nature of the cruise (water activities and heat), the package came in very handy.

Oh, we have no problem with life vests on snorkeling excursions. Even though I can swim (a little) I always wear one, even when I have a choice, because it allows me to work less and see more. We’ve been to Stingray City several times. It is walking around in shallow water to see and interact with the stingrays, and fins are appropriate there — more of a problem than a help. But the water shoe ban I don’t understand. Mine are made of soft material and mesh. Couldn’t hurt anything.

My wife cannot swim. In the Caribbean, a life vest is a must for her. But in the Society Islands (Bora Bora, etc) she cannot sink. IDK why this is. Water temperature? Saline content? So in the Caribbean, I can understand the life vest requirement. But banning fins? I can’t see any reason for that. And, as a fairly regular Regent guest, it appears to me that the number and type of shore excursions has been shrinking and the number of extra cost excursions has been increasing. 

Did you find any advantage in the French balcony, oner a window cabin, as I understand, they are the same size.

Most of these surveys aren’t very scientific. The voters come from a limited subset of them cruising population. If your favorite line made it to the top ten, consider it good.

We were in a concierge suite on the Splendor last August, and as best as I can recall, there was a lounge chair on the balcony.

Those who like to be with “dressed up people” in the evenings on their cruise do have choices — like Silversea for example. Even Silversea has dialed it down a bit. Back around 2006, a Silversea cruise was the equivalent of getting a Rolls Royce car. It was a Northern Europe itinerary. I actually bought a tux for that cruise, which was the prevalent evening attire of guests. It was a great cruise — and the last time I wore that tux.

Well, not quite. Jeans should not be “ratty”. Other than that, X doesn’t check where you bought them, and at what price. I once was visited by an adult daughter who lives in  Dallas area. (I live in SW Colorado). She arrived in torn jeans. I told her that I didn’t like to see my daughter (about age 50) in those jeans, and I would take her out and buy her some new Levi’s. She said “Dad, these are new $300 jeans!” Well I think that the jeans she wore might not have passed muster on Celebrity, but the jeans I offered to buy her would have. That is the best explanation of the “jeans rule” I can offer.

True that. I have worn jeans that I bought cheap that look and fit as good as possible on me and were in good shape, and have worn them to dinner on Celebrity with no complaints from anybody.

What I posted was that Celebrity had the most casual dress code of any line I’d been on. There are many lines I’ve never been on, including Carnival.

Never cruised Carnival and don’t intend to. According to their dress code I found online, it does not allow jeans at dinner. An interesting story about jeans, though. I have some slacks that are cut just like jeans but are made of a totally different fabric than denim. Our last cruise was on Regent which doesn’t allow jeans in the evening — and I’ve seen it enforced. But my pants made of a non denim material passed muster! 

Most cruise lines don’t allow jeans in dining rooms for dinner and/or after 6:00 PM in any public area. But Celebrity does allow them if they are in good shape. Celebrity has a very casual dress code and in practice — the most casual of any line we’ve been on. 

It’s complicated. If you booked before July 1 in concierge or above, you are supposed to get one night pre cruise hotel and ground transfers. In the past the hotel has been the Anchorage Hilton, which has pretty bad user ratings. In the past, transportation to the port has been by bus, for those who use Regent’s air. But the situation with Regent provided ground transportation has me confused. On one hand, it has been reported that instead, Regent will give qualifying guests a $500 credit for Blacklane limo service. On the other hand, Blacklane doesn’t operate out of Anchorage. Who knows?  

Yes, as I posted a few months ago, Regent was going for less than X Retreat, all things considered. Don’t know if that’s true now since Regent stopped including air in their fares. The cruise lines must be struggling under the burden of huge debt at “junk bond” interest rates incurred to get through the pandemic shutdown. Thus, many lines (not just X) are charging more for less. Prices and content seem to change frequently, as does the price to value relationships among the lines. We can’t assume that the best value we found a few months ago will still be best. We have to constantly shop around. It’s getting to be too much like work.

Princess, sure, if it has the room and inclusions you want for a lower price. But, as mentioned by others above, stay away from NCL. In short, not good.

Yes, I’ve heard that RCL group is using this price strategy. The comparison with land resorts seems wrong. Those are an entirely different kind of vacation than a cruise. One destination vs several. A stay in a single destination vs a brief view of several. I have never heard of anybody trying to decide (in general) between a land resort and a cruise. And RCL must be using the highest priced land resorts to compare and set its prices. There are nice all inclusive properties for less than  places like Marriott.

All cruise lines are really expensive these days. Sounds like X just hiked its prices before Princess in this case. So we all have to shop around. But just make sure you compare apples to apples. Compare room size, inclusions, perks, and the cost of “extras” such as auto tips, drink packages, and other “packages”.Then go with the best deal for you. Considering all these things, I agree with you — X is too expensive now.

When we disembarked at Miami last March it was an absolute horror story. At the port, immigration was horribly understaffed (one worker to clear 750 guests). Then the wait for a cab was a long time. And when we got to Miami airport the REAL “fun” began! That airport is a spread out affair with no busses, trains, or people movers. Lines to check luggage were immense, which we avoided by having only carry on, but finding our gate was difficult. As a result we avoid that arrival port and airport in the future. We never book a return flight before noon, even if we are going from a better port and airport. For Miami, we’d add another couple of hours to that, if we were ever there again, which I doubt.

As our experience in the Retreat a few years ago was definitely different than what I am reading here, it sounds like X has really messed up! Then, ALL of our tips were included. We only tipped one butler who did “beyond call of duty” service and no one else. And now, as X is auto tipping $23 per day pp, I had assumed that other than that charge, the Retreat situation would be the same. It appears that significant other tips are now “expected (?)”. Personally, I like the “tips included” system some lines have, where no tips are expected — like it was a few years back in the Retreat.

When we cruised in the Retreat (suites) near the end of the last decade, ALL tips were included in the fare (USA bookings). Once we had an exceptional butler and we did tip him. Now (if I understand correctly) tips are not included in the Retreat fare, and $23 per day per person is added automatically and additionally to the fare for tips. (This can be removed on request, but nobody does that.) So is this thread about tips in addition to the $23 pp per day auto tip?

Yes, X seems to be always changing the rules on tipping and a number of other things. I wish they would stop that. It is confusing. And when bookings are made well in the future, you never know exactly what the deal will be for your cruise. 

I’m confused. A few years back, tips were included in the fare for suite guests. Fairly recently, I understand that inclusion was eliminated, and suite guests were automatically charged something like $23 pp/pd for tips. Has that changed? If not, we would give additional tips for “above and beyond” services, and have done so in the past. But otherwise, we would not give additional tips if the auto tipping were still in place.