cgolf1

I have seen this on other lines, maybe guests set them outside, but would agree that at the retreat level for sure this would be unacceptable.

When we were on the Edge in February for the 1/2 PC Transit cruise, the magic carpet was almost always full and it was really hard to even get a seat, which irked me because on our first Edge cruise it was hardly used and it became our favorite spot to sit. Now if the E Class had something that was even a half ****** attempt at a promenade deck it wouldn't have been an issue. Not a lot of oceanview seating on the Edge and I assume the other E class ships.

So even for the deep water snorkels you can get the snorkel vest? I am an ok swimmer, but can't float or tread water, as my body naturally sinks. Even as I have aged and not as lean as I was I still sink. Having the snorkel vest would give me the extra comfort to do those excursions.

Thank you so much for doing this and including the menus. I am gluten free and was worried because the Galapagos desk has been telling me there won't be much to eat for me. I do have a question on what lenses you are using on your camera. I am pretty settled on brining my 400 with, this thing is super heavy, but am always curious what others bring. Love the pictures and the detail you are including.

Thanks for doing this and have a great trip! We go on the expedition next year so following along:)

I am curious how you filter through the crap for on reviews, chain motels in our instance. It seems that 90% of the chain motel reviews we look at, for WI, all are loaded with bad reviews the last year or so. From our experience they all can't be right lol. Trip advisor seems to be the worst offender, while google reviews haven't been as bad. So I fully agree with you, it is just a bit more sleuthing now to find something good. Reading the reviews did lead us to a gem of a hotel and I was glad we found it.

It was there in 2021 up in the top deck entrance area to the bar/entertainment area that looks out the front of the ship. Disney ships used to have them too, so I was the odd one to notice it and know who made it.

The problem we are currently seeing with reviews, especially for hotels, is that they are all over the top negative, and borderline unbelievable. This is even with some of the mid level name brand hotels. We have stayed at a few despite the reviews and they were fine and what we expected of the respective brands. I wonder if some of the bad reviews are random or put in by disgruntled employees. That said last weekend we stayed at a small semi upscale hotel for 200 a night in the middle of nowhere WI and hand written welcome note, a note stating what local coffee they put out and where you could get it were really nice touches along with heated tile in the bathroom. I don't ever remember seeing this stuff at a hotel in this price range ever in my time. This hotel did have really good reviews though, and I wish the cruise port hotels we pay 300+ for were half as nice.

Even now when I can afford much better, Bic Round Stics are my go to at home and work, and I really like when ships or hotels use those. I have also liked the Bic Atlantis click pens too. For some reason those pens just work and don't leak. I have tried better pens and brands and always go back to these. Maybe I am using the better brand;)

So a balance due showing 2.5 times greater than your paid in full balance is an acceptable glitch? I don't think so, as some may see that and pay the extra! If the glitch is caught, it may take a while to refund the money, or X may just get a bonus? Who knows how often this happens, and if the number is smaller, some may just pay. Have a great trip on the Expedition, we go next year.

Long as they leave that last option off we are good. I always do khakis and either a short sleeve button down or polo shirt each night. Only time in a tux that I know of was when I got married.

Or it’s a typo. When we were on the Connie, not on the app but the paper sheet they had Undresses instead of sundresses. Thankfully no one followed that. Seriously though not sure how they set up the app, if they need type some lines in or they just choose from different pre made options.

Great pictures. I am curious what you used for lenses. Currently I am leaning towards my 400 max zoom lens, but would love to take my 300 instead. The 300 is over a 1 lb lighter than the 400. I can make it work, but I had shoulder surgery and working with the heavy lens is still a challenge. Hoping by the trip the shoulder will be good enough.

I was really glad to see the 22lb limit on the carry on. Over the phone I had been told 15lb and I was getting worried. I have an under seat bag that will carry my cameras, lenses and my CPAP. I am trying to avoid putting my CPAP in its own case and have 2 carry on bags. Leaving it home is an option I may take though.

Thanks for posting this. We go next year, and a quick read you have information I haven't seen before. Will do a much more thorough read through tonight.

35$ an hour is a lot of money. I know a lot of young engineers that don't make that. Could be where we live too. Living in the midwest sucks, because you can't move east or west coast due to the change in cost of living. Coming from the coasts you can get some some great deals on houses and bank some money moving to the midwest.

So I first want to say that we always tip extra when the service warrants it, but it is not a huge amount like 100+ or something, but extra. We have even given a bartender an extra 10 at the end of a cruise for just being super nice and providing great service. The thing that always bugs me is that they are being paid way less. Compared to what I make in the US, for sure. But we have talked to more than a few people, and some are working hard now to retire early, because their cost of living is so much lower where they live. We had a server that had owned one convenience store back home where his mom and wife worked at and planned to buy another and retire from active work in his 40s. I know I am not doing that. Could they be paid a bit more to lessen the tip burden, sure. Should they be paid the same wages as workers in the US, not sure there really is a good answer here.

That was the same itinerary we did and it was amazing. We had a hotel close to the port and we walked to the port, and got some really nice photos. So different than sailing out of a US port. The MDR food on HAL was very good as was the prime rib. For me equal to X in flavor. The difference was HAL never ended up having escargot, they replaced it with something else the one night and my wife seemed to prefer the food we had on the Edge vs HAL. It’s hard with food because we all have different tastes.

They didn't have them in the MDR last February, but the buffet ones were good. Veggies and potatoes are plate fillers to me so I don't get excited either way. Mashed would be better than a bunch of beets that taste like dirt to me;)

We might try a larger HAL ship in the future, but our traveling companions on that cruise who sailed HAL before the Zaandam had better entertainment in the past on that ship. Honestly we love that size of ship, knowing there are some trade offs of course. We really enjoyed the Connie last year as well.

We do sail insides. The onboard entertainment on X is much better. HAL had a dance group multiple nights and one night played part of the BBC Earth show with some live musicians playing along. HAL did have a really funny comic though on our sailing. How HAL handles Gluten Free is way behind X and I ended up just eating at the burger bar most days for lunch, and grabbing mashed potatoes from the buffet, not kidding as I always grab mashed potatoes on X as well for lunch. The difference on X is the have gluten free gravy which is a treat. HAL ran out of gluten free buns in the burger bar with three days to go. They also ran out of amaretto, which in my eyes is inexcusable, as booze doesn’t have a shelf life. my wife wasn’t impressed by the buffet either, and found desserts went quick and weren’t always refreshed. The way HAL handled the seating in the dining room was chaotic and we never had the same serving team. Being gluten free it is nice to have the same service team every night. We like a quickly paced meal. overall it just wasn’t as smooth as an X cruise, but we would sail them again for a unique cruise, but if X has a similar cruise we would sail X.

Nope it isn't. We sailed HAL like 2 months after our Edge cruise. After all the excitement died down from an amazing cruise because of the port intensive itinerary, it dawned on me that while HAL is an option for us in the future, X was the far superior cruise line, even with the cuts. But wow that Canada New England cruise was amazing, and I really liked the design of the Zaandam and the ships we have sailed from that have come from that builder in that time frame.

I hear prime rib is back. In February, on an 11 night cruise on the Edge Prime Rib was not offered at all. Also have heard the nigh time buffet has improved. As someone that eats a gluten free diet, the night time buffet in February would have been a challenge for me to get a proper meal.

To the Ops question I say bring it on with the kids. We are so used to it with Disney and RCCL that it has really never bothered us and we did cruises with just the wife and I on those two lines. I know it does bother some, but not us. IMO it might lighten up the crowd. I like X the cruise line, but the crowd is different than the other lines we have sailed.

When my daughter was in her teens we found ways to make it work with inside rooms on Disney. It is tight at times, but since we weren't in the room much we were able to deal with it. X has well thought out storage so room for clothes should not be an issue. One thing we did find was that sideways inside rooms with the door on the middle of one side had a much better layout and more floor space, not sure if X has these.