KKB

North Star is broken & has been for some time. It has been widely shared that it won't be fixed until Quantum goes into dry dock.

Don't sail MSC...

Which is a better deal?

Thanks! I just saw some notes about it in a very random place in my planner--glad I asked. I'll make note in my notes!!

OK we haven't sailed RCCL in 5 years & are now Platinum since we are Select w/ Celebrity. Will there be a coupon book in the room for the perks (2-50% off drinks, matchplay, etc), or do I need to ask at Guest Services? Thanks!

Like to get AARP Princess gift cards to apply to our account. Just found out can’t do that in Australia. How about Europe?

Would love to know when/where/what ship these are for!

We had the same issue at Taste! Never an issue at Manhatten; we hit it off w/ a server the 1st night to requested him nightly. Too bad about the difficult passenger...bound to happen once in a while.

Sound much like the one we did. Sorrento--same wooden box demo. We power shopped for 45 min...would have loved more time there. Then we hit a dairy farm. Mostly ho hum BUT the most FABULOUS ricotta I have ever eaten. We all wanted a big bowl of that & nothing more! Then Pompeii; by that time DD & I were over our bus of 50 people. Saw the shell demo. (I think they do this to give us access to bathrooms). Then she & I opted out of the Pompeii tour & sat & had a cold drink, shopped a little then had an Aperol. It was lovely.

We do feel AK is where a balcony is best used. Spectacular scenery. I didn't have one in Norway...and I was less stunned by the scenery there. Perhaps w/ a balcony I would have felt differently?

Betting it impacts FL more, but you are right, certainly will be more that week than others in Feb. NCL is now Starlink. It was fantastic last month--I could even watch videos. Could not say that on Princess. BE CAREFUL--Celebrity Eclass is a step above other mainstream lines imo. I'm an Eclass groupie much like I am a Syds groupie😉 But we truly find mainstream lines more alike than different (except MSC...I don't recommend) When we sailed Celebrity for the 1st 10 years ago we found food & service a touch above other lines. (had sailed Princess, RCCL & DCL up to that point). Eclass is a step above itself, imo. Now people said we would hate Carnival. Sailed 14 day Hawaii cruise in January & LOVED it. Great service, activities, comdedians, food. (production shows, meh)

We are early diners, so by 6PM typically no. We ate at the Manhatten room as we like the entertainment; the night Burn the Floor performed there at 6PM, there was a bit of a line at 5:30. We managed to get good seats by 5:45. Food was quite good. I think DD's steaks were the only thing she felt was just OK. We only ate at the buffet once or twice, usually on off peak hours. We find that if you go to the back there are nearly always seats. We ate at O'Sheehans a number of times & never waited to get in & service is very quick. Food was better there than on Getaway last August.

BTW regarding service/product... NCL can be a bit louder & busy for sure. So perhaps you could call Princess a bit more "refined" But service--EVERY cruise we have taken has been EXCEPTIONAL service. (Encore was a one off--they just seemed short staffed. They were trying but overwhelmed). Oh there are occasional frustrated, staid crew member over the years. But even on my MSC cruises (which I didn't love), the crew was fantastic!

Did you have Plus package? They were NOT giving it out free last month! Last summer on the Getaway I could always get it from my casino bartender complitmentary.

THX! BFF & I. She is SUPER excited. She is a flight attendant so usually doesn't like to travel when she is off, but she likes cruising w/ me!

Have done 11 Princess in 20 years; 6 in the last 15 mos. Enjoyed them all. Have done 5 NCL cruises in the last 5 years; 4 in the last year. Encore in Dec. was "meh" others great. Sailed the Breakaway last month. OK...itineraries are irrelevant. Feb is NOT big kid season--most kiddos have spring break in Mar-Apr (retired teacher here). But there will likely be more kiddos on NCL at any time. The Breakaway pool are is MUCH too small for the size of ship, kids or not. (there is a "kids" pool & an another pool; plus one for Haven guests) It DOES have Spice H2O area--doesn't fill as fast as the pool area, tho still be there by 8:30-9 on sea days. ADULTS only (supposed to be). No pool, but it has a waterfall/splash pool. Tho you have 4 port days. You can get your beach on those days, OR enjoy a quiet pool deck! You could also spring for the Vibe pass--about $250 each for the week. No issue getting seats, great service, but NO POOL, tho it does have hot tubs. Not sure it is worth it with 4 port days. Regal has 4 pools & they are bigger. Breakaway carried 500 more passengers. Food--honestly we enjoy MDR on both; NCL specialty dining is better than Princess IMO. Generally a tie for me. I do appreciate that Princess drink package includes water & coffee. Edge to them. Internet--both fine but NCL is minutes & Princess is unlimited so edge to them. Activities--things like game shows, trivia, musicians, are fairly similar. NCL offers the sports complex & water slides; nothing like that on the Regal. Breakaway is a step above in shows--Six (tho sadly it will be ending in Jan), dueling pianos, Syd Normans. Princess production shows are "meh" & offer no dueling pianos. I am a Syd Norman's groupie & honestly choose my NCL ships ONLY if they have it. (the only ones we sailed that didn't have it we won) Syd's is a show that feels like a fun 70s-80s cover band. If that's your jam, you will love this. ('84 grad here...right up my alley) 4 different shows/week PLUS a 5th show: the Rumours album from top to bottom with the stories for every song. (done 2x one night) Line up EARLY (like 45 min-1 hr)--small popular venue. I don't wait in line for much...but it's worth it. Bring a drink.😉 Another thing Breakaway has is Waterfront--EVERY ship should have this. It is the Promenade Deck 2.0. Nice seating runs along both sides PLUS a bar on each side! AND they pipe Syd's music out there during shows (Starboard side) so it's great if you didn't get a seat inside. We spend LOTS of time out here...reading, napping, drinking, socializing. It is covered enough that even rain is rarely an issue. Both are great options. After our Encore cruise in Dec, I was worried NCL was cutting costs & affecting product, but we didn't find that last month on the Breakaway. Other than the Encore, we find service in mainstream cruiselines nearly identical. My choice would be BREAKAWAY. (PS I like the Prima option--we are trying her in Jan; but I TOTALLY understand the confinements of an educator's schedule...the joys of retirement now!!)

Glad to hear! We board next Monday. We did Sitka instead of Ketchikan--too bad, I preferred Ketchikan. But not a huge deal. Vancouver or Victoria? Sorry you missed a port, but goodness knows ports are missed for lesser reasons. I am never bothered adjustments due to a medical emergency--could be me or someone I love someday! We just got our upgrade from interior to balcony & was thrilled it's a great location! Can't wait! Did you see the Aurora? (chance of rain all week; but it was that way last year & we really only had light rain 1 day. Unfortunately cloud cover didn't allow us to see the Aurora)

Of course it's to make $--they would rather fill otherwise empty rooms with people willing to pay a bit more to get a nicer room. BUT I am only bidding what is LESS than that room would have cost me in the first place. IE: Friends paid $1500 more for a balcony than we did for an interior on the same cruise. We bid $150 ($300 total) & got upgraded to balcony. WIN for us (and win for RCCL--they got more $) We are nearly always fine booking interior; if OV is $100pp initially (or less) more then we book that. If balcony is $250pp more, we book that. And that is our general limit from interior to balcony bid--$250pp. (now if we booked balcony, our suite bid is higher) Remember--there are more balconies than ANY OTHER cabin class on every ship. You are generally MOST likely to be upgraded to a balcony. (now last month we only got INT to OV, so it is no guarantee!) I'd say on all the lines we sail, in the last 18 mos. we have gotten upgrades 7/14 times.

HA-not sure about that! You can call me Stacey's Mom....

Just a black dress—the crew had the crown & sash for me when they announced me as Prom Queen. I was caught completely off guard! Sadly I had to give them back!!

OK have not seen the aerial show (cancelled on our Allure trip) My list: 1--Syds (I admit it, I'm a groupie) 2--Choir of Man 3--We Will Rock You (Anthem of the Seas) 4--Million Dollar Quartet--just not my music (nor my parents), but I can appreciate it. (Jersey Boys would be #3 had I seen it on a ship) DD25 was with me on the Breakaway last month. She was "meh" about the regular Syd shows but she went NUTS for the Rumours show (which they had not done for months due to being down a guy). She said it is one of the top 5 albums of all times! Watched the 1st show...sat on Waterfront & listened to the 2nd show. (last summer on Getaway I had a guy say he saw F. Mac in concert & the Syds show was as good as that!) And THIS happened at prom: (yep that's me!) OF COURSE it was the 1 show DD opted out of, lol. (WHY is it sideways??!! CC, ya need to figure this out...)

Interesting--we LOVED Valetta! Wandered as we did in Athens--including a lovely hand painted scarf of the Valetta skyline. Ate some Maltese food, shopped a bit, took many pics. Alas I missed Sicily as I pulled a hamstring that morning. DD walked around & said I didn't miss much. She said she heard Taormina was the way to go--tuck that in my notes for next time!

I'm glad to hear your report. We did this cruise the 1st 2 weeks of Aug. We had selfie tour in Santorini booked--to avoid those initial long lines as earlier suggested. Well, DD was overserved the 1st night & I knew there was NO way she could tolerate the tenders, the heat, the crowds. So I accepted eathing our tour. We docked at 1PM & at 1:45 they halted tenders due to port congestion. They did not start up again until 3:45--in the end, they cancelled & refunded ALL excursions, so we actually got lucky, lol. In Athens we grabbed a HOHO bus at the port. I loved HOHO in Belfast...this one, not so much. Got to Acropolis; thought we would stay on & see more of Athens. NOPE--that bus was going back to the port. HUH?? Mass confusion there, big crowds. We opened Uber app, called a cab & went down to La Plata & just wandered for hours. It was lovely.

Sailing Quantum 9/18. Casino comped interior booked. $260 bid got us balcony. Officially obstructed, but it's over Jamie's outside space, so not really obstructed. Larger balcony. Midship deck 6--great location to easily get to activities on decks 3-5. VERY pleased!

Oh gee there was…of course I deleted the email🙄