sofietucker

We discovered after a few days on our last cruise that there was a second full set of linens (for the bathroom) under the sink...

Oops, replied to JackE for your post...

Ooh, one of our all-time favorite itineraries! Depending on your interests, the university of Tromso's museum has a great anthropology exhibit on the Sami people (you will be in the Sami nation that far north). Also a cool Arctic native plants garden. In Honnigsvag in June, the locals were all in shorts and tee shirts, but the Cape requires at least a good windbreaker and scarf, lol. Astonishing geography! And reindeer, just wandering about...

I suspect our encounter with (I think) the Scarlet Lady in Rhodes last Sept. may have been a one off: our tiny Azamara ship docked next to them at the same pier, and bunches of pax disembarked at the same time. The V folks seemed overwhelmingly to be in their 30s (college prof here; I guess age ranges pretty well). And partiers, based on overheard conversations. Our small private tour was mostly V folks. They regaled with fun events such as regular pajama parties onboard. Typical or no?

And he put together the *best orchestra ever*. Bobby Hackett, anyone???

We quite liked the Edge in a Sky Suite, only done AQ once as a fluke & no need to repeat--but it was not Edge-class ship. You will love the spa on Edge! Spoil yourselves silly with those AQ freebies. We also have dined all over all the ships and found that Luminae and Blu are sufficient for great food. Maybe Eden. But LPC is a cute cartoon gimmick--NOT about the fairly ordinary food--and you can still get a great steak off the Luminae/Blu menus unless you are particular about dry-aged/Waygu. We also found that, with our premium bev pkg and that fact that they didn't sell bottles of Caymus but only by the glass, the upcharge for the glass actually we came out ahead! And drank up all their bottles, lol. But no Molly Dooker to be found at all! bring your own.

And that's really a key for us: the itinerary. Both O and our new favorite, Azamara, have great interesting voyages because their smaller ships can get into smaller ports. Like the Gironde estuary in Bordeaux! We still forsee being loyal to X for winters in the Caribbean.

We're on the "edge" of becoming elite plus, so have cruised X for awhile... The only Edge-class ship we've sailed was in fact, the Edge, first cruise out after the pandemic. They took only 350 pax! (The big booboo on their part: they filled the suites, leaving the rest of the ship empty, so the Retreat and Luminae were crowded: pool bar was wall-to-wall, lines for dinner, no Retreat loungers, the small pool filled with--eek!--children. So much for distancing. But the martini-glass hot tubs were always empty, as was the big pool. And really everywhere else aboard.) We loved so many spaces: the rooftop garden, the weird sculpture garden on the way to Eden, the cozy hidden cabanas alongside the pool... The amazing spa (M and S class Persian Gardens, etc., don't hold a candle). And FOUR very varied MDRs!! Brilliant. Plus much fab entertainment. We were prepared to not like it because it was so BIG. Our favorite ships have been less than 800 pax (Prinsendam and lately Azamara Quest). But someone on these boards rightly pointed out that it--and the Apex--actually carry fewer pax than the S-class ships! They hold 3,148 people; the Edge & Apex hold 2918! Plus two S-class, Reflection and Silhouette, actually carry 3,324! That being said we've not actually booked another Edge-class cruise--mainly because of where we are cruising next.

A tip to anyone considering buying ParkWest art on board: PLEASE, before you attend an auction, go to EBay and search for your preferred piece by artist and title. Excellent chance you will able to find what you want, that someone else bought previously and is now selling. For instance, we saw a Michael Cheval starting at $2500 (at auction last week on Connie) selling on eBay (framed by PW) for $1600. A print of same on EBay for $17. A giclee of same (print on canvas, the usual medium--BTW, ALL the artwork sold by PW are reproductions of various sorts--paint on lithograph, etc.) in many sizes at Amazon, for $53 for the size sold on the ship. But then you have to add the frame. (To be fair, ORIGINAL Chevals sold by his own rep are painted on aluminum, not canvas and sell for an extra zero in the price. But still. I got my SIL her preferred work of art from Amazon instead.)

Lol, stated in contrast to Oceania... We've only sailed Oceania once (Elite on X) and won't go back. The vibe was verrry staid: not laid back/relaxed, just stuffy and uptight. Not fun. As my friend nicknamed it, everything about both the pax and the ship was "tasteful taupe" (well, except for the dreadful art all over the Riviera, which we assume the owner took with him when he left last year). Bad experience in Tuscan too.

we were charged zero for our room service breakfast last week... We did give him a cash tip, as always.

This was on the Connie, for the March 2024 11th-23rd cruise. On the Silly in January, it was a paper menu with the horrid upcharge across the board--but no mention of an overnight extra charge. Maybe they're making changes ship by ship. We rarely use room service, unless ill or for the last-morning breakfast, as it will invariably be either too cold or an error in the order. (And THAT is across the industry, not just on cruise ships, lol. Oddly, the WORST room service has been fancy hotels--such as at 2 different Fairmonts...) But if X reverts back to a low or no-charge service, that's less offensive, lol.

Yep, we'll be on her again in October, before her TA back to this side of the Atlantic. The crew was great this past couple of weeks, but most won't still be onboard at that point.

So I watched the power up points video about Ascent, Australia, etc. When they got to the Q&A about the timeline for updating the older ships, I turned the sound down for a family member and missed her answer. But I noted a dramatic change in her body language! She'd been smiling and laughing all along until this question, when she suddenly turned grave in her answer. The next question about Southampton port, she got all smiley again. So. What did she say? (I know the Connie is going into drydock next month, as soon as they get to Marseille--they are underway on that TA as of today.) I'm guessing they may be selling off some of the M and S class ships...

Just off the Connie. Unlike the room service menu in January on the Silly, there was no mention of a charge of $12 (rounded up, for $9.95 plus 18% gratuities) for all room service except morning bev and cold/continental breakfast. Yay! Guess that hadn't gone over too well. BUT they did include a new $4.95 charge for any food ordered between 11pm and 5am. And a shortened menu. And it all needs to now be ordered off the app instead of a paper menu.