Honolulu Blue

Thanks for the notes. That reminds me that I need to order the Kindle version of Mr. McDonald's book so I can actually read it sometime soon. I've been busy with other things, so I've let it go by the wayside. I'm sure he's lived an interesting life.

I wonder too. Please keep us posted. 🙏

I have a question about what I highlighted above. First the question... did you mean the January 2025 cruise instead of 2026? I see they're only selling '25 currently on their site. It would be quite unusual for a cruise like this to sell bookings nearly 2 years in advance.

Thanks for sharing your experience and the link. It sounds like they're a lively, interesting bunch. The music they like is a decade or two older than my preference, but that's all right. The most interesting thing that I saw as I went surfing on their site is the fact that they do passenger matching for those who are traveling solo and want to save $$$. They even have a guarantee - if they can't match you up, you'll get the cabin without the single tax. Nice if you can get it. 🙂

My room service experiences have steadily gotten worse as the ships have filled after the restart. On the Regal in December '21, I ordered several times with all but one delivery within 12 minutes. That ship had under 1000 passengers. On the Majestic in April '22, my deliveries were done in 20 to 30 minutes. On the Ruby, my first delivery was 45 minutes, and the second I cancelled after 90 minutes. 😯 On other cruise lines, I expect and mostly receive RS to the cabin in 30 minutes or so. Anything beyond 45 minutes starts to irritate me. I try not to take it out on the delivery person; it's not their fault. 👹

I know the group that has all those charters, four straight weeks of them on the same ship. They're all full charters.

I've done one cruise on HAL about 5 years ago on one of their oldest ships (which they no longer own). It was all right, but for some reason I don't remember a lot of details about it. I'm sure others here will have more constructive comments on them. I've done three Princess cruises in the past three years, have another scheduled in 6 weeks, and two more in late 2025. I'll go through your questions for my experiences on Princess. Keep in mind that this is only one person's experience. The food in the buffet and room service were of good quality and there was usually a good selection. I've never tried the MDR on Princess, so I'll defer to others for details on that. The entertainment on the 80s themed Princess cruises was great! I'm a child of the 80s and I thought they did a really good job of theming with background, trivia, entertainment, etc. Alas, there are no cruises on the current schedule with that theme. I hold out hope, but it's fading. ☹️ The entertainment on the other Princess cruise I was on seemed to be aimed at people who are older than I am. I think your parents will like it more than you or me, but YMMV. As for other activities, they have most of the standard stuff that other cruise lines feature. Here's a newsletter from my non-themed cruise that seems representative, but YMMV. All in all, Princess is a perfectly fine cruise line that should serve you well. Enjoy your cruise!

A couple of notes: 1. I wonder if you're local to New England or Canada's east coast. I have found that people in their local area tend to underrate how interesting their areas are. I'm doing this route (though not these ports) in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll be interesting, if not romantic. IIRC, Princess in the Love Boat era just had a couple of ships. I know they did the Mexican Riviera and Pacific Coastals, but where else did they go in the 70s and 80s? I'm sure the Princess veterans and LB fans will enlighten me. Pretty please? 🙂 2. I think the VIP package is designed so that super fans can get close access to their favorites from back in the day without disturbing the riffraff too much. I appreciate your respect for Ms. Whelan, and I imagine she would have too.

OK, I'll keep you updated here when I get some news, but you might as well sign up for their mailing list on their homepage. That's all I've done so far. BTW, the OBTC's date is also close to the Super Legends Cruise, which reduces my interest in it. But they COULD round up a nice lineup that would force me to spend the $$$ on it. We'll see. P.S. Except for the McDonald LaBelle Cruise, all the music charters I've been on have had several artists that weren't of interest to me. Obviously, it didn't stop me from booking them. I'm perfectly willing to let others have their fun, as long as they let me have my fun in my own way. 😛

Thank you, OP, for bringing this to our attention. At the risk of raising the ire of the hard-hearted cynics and people who flat out don't care about such things, this transaction and its announcement does intrigue me. Most of what intrigues me are the answers to the questions that I'll never hear (mostly because they're none of my business), such as: How far up did the approval process, if any, go? Maybe LHB and Jason got their notice at the same time we did, but somehow I doubt it. Does this mean that these pieces will be introduced on her ship when she returns to active duty? Or will they be introduced on ships Celebrity-wide sometime? Did Captain Kate get an endorsement fee, does she get commissions, or both? My cynical nature refuses to believe she did this totally out of the kindness of her heart. 😍🤑 Will we be seeing other captains on X following up with similar deals? It's hard to imagine Captain Pierre hawking jewelry, but who knows? I'm glad that Kate found a side hustle that works for her, and I hope that it benefits both sides. Maybe it will even benefit Celebrity somehow; that would be even better. Back to lurk mode.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I've never had a balance to refund, so I don't have any insight there. I wonder which I would prefer - the check or the GC refund. I suppose if I had only one or two cards to keep track of, or if Carnival sends a new card for the balance, then a refund there would be fine. But I think it's a PITA to have to keep records of multiple GCs in case Carnival chooses to refund one of their choice, as I've found out when this happened to me on another cruise line (long story). Then again, a loose check is also a PITA these days - especially when you don't know when it will arrive. I just wish Carnival would stick with one policy and communicate it to its guests.

On the Blue Cruise has announced that they're going to do something a little different with their 2025 cruise. It will be August 22-29 on the Norwegian Gem. It'll sail round trip out of Boston and head to Canada and New England. Funnily enough, I have a Canada-New England cruise in a couple of months. It's not a charter cruise, a themed cruise, or a music cruise, and it's not on NCL. This is the first music cruise that I've heard about that's going to that region of the world. It's also an unusual time for a charter; most are between October and April. The last On the Blue Cruise was in April. They expect to make an announcement in mid-July with more details - including the exact itinerary and some of the performers. OTBC has been one of the cruises I've been following even though I haven't booked it yet. I'm unlikely to pull the trigger on this one, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. If something happens with this, I'll let you know.

From my cruise on the Magic last November:

OP, thank you for posting this. I didn't know until now that the first, embarkation day, singles meet was hosted. I thought hosted solo gatherings were exclusive to NCL. It might be worth a second look the next time I'm on X.

I'm not sure I'd like to be called by name on a cruise ship, unless there was a specific need for it (e.g., I lost something & GS somehow found it). I think there's some value in the anonymity that mainstream cruises and cruise lines (like Carnival) provide. Obviously, others think differently.

Thanks for the brochure link and the thread link. The cost was roughly as I expected (feared 😯) for such an experience. It does look more luxurious than Jazz Cruises (or indeed other music charter cruises) these days.

Mr. Lazaroff told an interesting story in his latest newsletter. It involved a 2014 sailing of the Signature Jazz Cruise, where 400 passengers on a Seabourn ship sailed in Europe where the passengers flew to Nice, France, and had a special concert experience in Monte Carlo. I call this to your attention because apparently this is what Michael L. was referring to when he discussed past European luxury cruise experiences during his Q and A. Also, my wallet started screaming when I thought about how much a charter cruise on Seabourn would have cost. 🤑 I also thought of how far I would go, and how much I would pay, to see my favorites.

The Ruby had a library as of April 2023.

I have not. I guess I have a lot to look forward to. Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for sharing this. I'm a little surprised they let the crew smoke in areas where passengers are likely to encounter them, though I suppose at some of their jobs, they're in place for so long during the day, they'd need some place to go that's relatively close. I'm also a little surprised that the crew would want to be in a place where they can show off this habit in front of the passengers.

The Super Legends Cruise 2.0 edition for 2025 announced their lineup a couple of days early: Of the relevant performers, the Isley Brothers, Sheila E., and Jody Watley are all duplicated from the one I booked. Only WAR moves the needle for me among the additions. This one is missing Heatwave, Tavares, and the Mary Jane Girls from the other cruise. I think I'd take that trade and officially am not interested in switching ships.

I've taken the Carnival shuttle from the airport a couple of times. It works fine for me, but I wouldn't recommend it for your group. First, because you're getting in the day before the cruise, you'd have to all go back to the airport the next day to catch the shuttle. Second, it would probably cost less to rent a couple of buses or a small fleet of cars than paying for individual seats on a shuttle. And third, you need to figure out what you want to do with regards to transportation to the port and then work backwards. Galveston has a few hotels within walking distance of the port, but they're small and expensive. Houston's airports have some nearby hotels and you can probably get transportation from any of them straight to Galveston's port through a private party. And there are hotel options in between. Make sure you choose the right one. Good luck. 🙂 Several years ago, I got a pack of used Carnival casino cards from the cashier. Not free, but it only cost $1. I'm not sure they now give away packs at the casino or GS, mostly because I haven't tried in a long time. YMMV. Carnival's app doesn't allow you to find your fellow travelers, but you can sign up for a separate chat program with those you're close to onboard. The reviews of this aren't great, and I haven't tried it myself, so YMMV on this too. I'll defer to others on the details of the afternoon tea. I've never attended one. I can't think of many across-the-board recommendations for Carnival. If you like burgers, you'll probably like Guy's and its fries. BlueIguana serves good burritos and tacos; don't expect authenticity there. And there are some quiet places to hide on each ship, though it might take a day or two to discover them. Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

I'm from the States and I know this. I almost never hear an American use this term. When it was used, it was much more often used as an unkind term about a group of people. I wonder if my UK friends used it in this way. I assume they did.

I've done 11 cruises on four different cruise lines since the restart with several more scheduled. I think all of them are doing most things right, at least as far as I'm concerned. Most of the standards that you, I, or anyone else could set are subjective, but one standard is much less subjective than the others - financial performance. And here there's one standout - Royal Caribbean and its affiliated cruise lines. I've been impressed by how often they can get near premium cabin prices for their newest ships - of which they've had quite a few. I'm sure that's boosted their bottom line a lot. Also, I think Royal, the cruise line, is as close to "all things to all people" as any cruise line. They have enough fun stuff to do onboard. Their crew is good enough. Their food is good enough. Their itineraries are varied enough and interesting enough. Their ships are pretty enough inside and out. And they have a fair variety of sizes of ships to please almost everyone.

Thanks for sharing this. I was on that cruise in March in kind of the opposite of a royal suite with no drink package. I wonder if the fact that it was a charter made a difference in their enforcement of this?