nybumpkin

My experience is very pre-Covid - 2013, the last time a Carnival ship sailed from Dover. We did a Baltic cruise with Amsterdam as the last port. Here's a link to my review - Amsterdam is post #36: https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/1814587-carnival-legend-july-3-15-2013-the-baltic-blowout/page/2/ We did an hour-long canal cruise with Lovers (www.lovers.nl) - just booked it when we disembarked. The ship docks near the train station and canal cruises are nearby. I really enjoyed the tour and it gave us a good overview of the city, although we didn't have time to visit sites like the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum. After the canal tour we went to a cafe for beer and snacks and then walked back to the ship.

Completely agree. We've received several offers and what we try to do is evaluate the amenities of the upgraded cabin versus the per-day cost of the upgrade. Which brings me to our favorite upgrade story. This was a number of years ago, when we were looking for a President's Week cruise for us and two of our sons. We wanted an aft wrap for us. When the searching was done, we had an aft wrap on Conquest out of Galveston with sons in the aft cabin next door. So yeah - we booked the cruise for the cabin, not for the ship or the itinerary. Two days before sailing, DH called me at work. "Carnival called." "What do they want"?" I already knew they wanted our cabin. "They want to move us and the boys to a grand suite. It's an extra $500." "So they want us to give up the cabins we deliberately chose - and pay extra? I don't think so." DH sighed. "I thought that's what you'd say. I'll tell them no." Two hours later DH called back. "New offer - if we move to the grand suite, they'll give us the boys' fares as OBC." Well, that was another story - essentially they'd pay us to move. Yeah, we took that one.😀

We're also sailing this itinerary in June 2023. Looking forward to your review!

Yep - That's part of the Victory decor.🙂

Jim, I apologize for going OT.😐

Jeff, the contrast is rather striking.😃 Sorry I'm late to the party, but I'm caught up. Great review as usual!

Nice to know they thought about them!🙂

I think this is what you're looking for - the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail: https://www.walkingoffthebigapple.com/2020/08/in-washington-irving-country-walk.html. Walking between the sites on the trail is fairly easy. What you'll need to figure out is transportation to and from the houses to where the ship docks. Public transportation isn't great and you're probably docked in a fairly industrial neighborhood or a yacht club, and there's a main train line (Amtrak/Metro North) running along the river.

Jim - I enjoyed your photos and video. Looking forward to your video of Butchart Gardens! We sailed the Puget Sound cruise last year on American Spirit. Sorry your missed Friday Harbor and going up into Olympic National Park while in Port Angeles. If it's any consolation the folks on our cruise who did the whale watching tour in Friday Harbor saw one whale - which was one more than folks saw the week before.😮 Of course, being 2021 we didn't get to take the ferry to Victoria - Coho sat forlornly at her dock. You're right about this being a very different experience from large cruise ships - and it's all for the good. jklc123 -am I correct that your Hudson River cruise is rescheduled from last year? I'm a local - I've seen the ships out on the river, and can help with questions about the ports.

When we sailed QM2 three years ago, we thought we'd enjoy the ballroom dancing - we're not very experienced and, living in a rural area, have little opportunity to dance. We tried a night in the Queen's Room but were thoroughly intimidated by the majority of experienced dancers who seemed to have little patience for those like us. After that, we spent most of our evenings in the Chart Room enjoying the jazz trio. It was a perfectly wonderful alternative. mcloaked, thanks for posting about your Norway cruise. Loved your photo of Olden! We're booked on another line for a 10-day Norway trip out of Dover next summer, and decided that our trip back to New York afterward would be on QM2. Now to decide how to spend our three days traveling between Dover and Southampton....

I know a fair number of people who bruised their shins on the seahorses on the stairways, but I liked them.🙂 One of my complaints about the newer ships (without having been aboard Mardi Gras) is that they all have the same decor. Although I often said "What was Farcus thinking?" about some of his designs, at least they were unique.

It's deck 11 that's open, not 10, so you should have a cover. Our first Victory cruise was a balcony on deck 10 and we loved the location. Looking at the deck plans, they've classified deck 10 balconies as "Cloud 9 spa balconies," while the spa itself is deck 11.

We sailed our first ACL cruise (Puget Sound) last summer, after 25+ cruises on larger ships (mostly Carnival, but also including QM2). Our ship could accommodate 100, and we had about 70 aboard. It is a very different experience - you won't get tables for 2 in the dining room (our ship had tables for 6) and it's open seating. There's a happy hour before dinner with an open bar, and on our cruise there was also an open bar during the evening. Nightly entertainment was local performers who came aboard at the various port of call. Overall, it's very laid back. We still sail large ships - right now we have two Carnival cruise and a QM2 crossing booked between 2022-23, but we liked ACL well enough to book a New England cruise in 2023.

Looking forward to this! Victory was our first cruise in 2004 and we sailed her three times after that. We sailed Sunrise in 2019 for a short 4-day Bermuda cruise and you could see some of the old Triumph designs like the globes on door handles. From what I've seen of Radiance it doesn't look like they kept much, but I'll be interested in your thoughts. Spa Deck balconies aren't my favorite - I don't like their being open overhead - but hey, a balcony as you described is a deal!