Honolulu Blue

I'm sorry this happened to you. I've taken three Princess cruises so far and I've been upgraded by them on all three. I didn't have any "no upgrade" option checked, and I found the upgrade acceptable for my needs and wants, and thus I kept them all. One time they gave me a mini-suite on Lido deck (wherever it is) on the Majestic. It was convenient for buffet dining, but a hike to almost everything else. I don't use elevators much (and since this was during the pandemic, I had even more incentive to avoid them), so I mostly took the stairs. Climbing 8-10 flights of stairs multiple times a day isn't fun, I assure you. Good luck getting your original cabin back. 🙏

On one level, all the ships I've been on have been amazing. I sometimes take time to think about the logistics involved and the hundreds of millions of dollars thrown at one sailing vessel and I'm in awe of everything about it... I tend to not favor the newest or biggest ships, so I haven't tested out the latest and the greatest. However, I do have a cruise booked on Royal's Ovation of the Seas next year. For several reasons, I'm expecting that ship to amaze me. We'll see if it does.

There might be something to this. I applied for my passport back (expedited) in December 2021, before the current slowdowns. I got my new book in 3 weeks.

Thank you for your perspective on things. It's good food to chew on. As for combined shows, with all those performers (31 acts!), it seems that Rock & Romance might have to try some. Deniece Williams and Evelyn "Champagne" King did a combined set on the Soul Train Cruise earlier this year in the main theater. Speaking of Soul Train, they announced some details about their 2025 voyage on their FB page. I'll just put in their graphic which lists all the info we know about it so far:

Thank you for sharing your experience. I've had five great experiences on Celebrity so far on sister ships Summit and Millennium, and I'm looking forward to another one on the Summit in a few months. I guess the rumblings are true - the Infinity is the redheaded stepchild of the fleet. I hope it gets an extensive refub at its next drydock. That said, a better ship wouldn't have addressed all the issues you had. Get well soon. 🙏 P.S. I apologize to the redheaded stepchildren out there.

You may be right about the headliner thing. None of them really stands out to me as BIG NAMES other than Foreigner, though it's interesting to see how the top 7 lines up and changes. And I'm sure the new acts are designed to fill up the secondary theaters.

I woke up to a pleasant surprise... it seems Rock & Romance has been busy adding EVEN MORE performers to this cruise. I don't think they've subtracted any since Ms. Manchester dropped out, Here's what it looks like they've added: Troubadours (the music of Carole King and James Taylor) Being With(out) David Bowie Rockin' the Yacht Bee Gees Gold (if I didn't them earlier, which is entirely possible 🙃) By my count, they're up to 31 acts! That's quite a few cabins!! Aruba's airport is going to be very busy with all that switching around.

Cruiseplum.com has an option to search by vessel build year. The options are several years wide (2002 or older, 2003-2012, etc.), but there is an option for 2022 or newer which seems to fit the OP quite well.

Of limited relevance to dedicated Carnival-ites, but possibly of interest to the other vegans out there, but Princess also released an updated vegan menu at https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/princess-cruises-introduces-expansive-vegan-menus-plant-based . It looks like they have different items than Carnival.

According to unconfirmed Internet rumors, The Trammps and Boogie Wonder Band will be joining us on the UDC - if StarVista decides we're worthy. As I mentioned some posts back, they were on this years cruise, but I didn't go see them. I did see one of BWB's concerts by the pool. I'm looking forward to seeing them again. This is them:

I have a two word phrase for it, but in the interest of political correctness, I will refrain from saying it. 🙊 I will just say there was a hit song about it some decades ago, and an episode of a popular sitcom about it a couple of decades later.

Yesterday I listened to a random American Top 40 countdown from November 9, 1985. It had five songs from performers that I saw, or will see, on my various musical travels. There will be photos, so this post might run a little long for that reason. I won't be offended if you skip this one and move on the post about the latest Jazz Cruises announcements. First, at #36, was Ray Parker, Jr. with "Girls Are More Fun". This is a cute song that he may or may not play on The 80s Cruise next year. I stole this photo from the TEC site; I swear the rest of them I took by my own hand with my own equipment (for better or worse): At #18 was "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" by Paul Young. I have a love-hate relationship with this song. I found out much later in life that this was a remake, like his much bigger hit from the same era. I saw Paul on last year's edition of TEC: At #17 was "Fortress Around Your Heart" by Sting. As I've mentioned before, Sting is my favorite singer. This is my favorite song from him as a solo singer. I saw him in Grand Rapids about a year and a half ago. He didn't play this song. ☹️ I suppose I forgive hm: At #9 was "Be Near Me" by ABC. Good song, not my favorite from them. They were on TEC last year: And #6 was "Saving All My Love For You" by Whitney Houston. As I'm sure you all know, Whitney has been dead for some time. But fortunately, we had a talented tribute artist named Ashlie Amber sing some Whitney songs for us on the Ultimate Disco Cruise earlier this year. This was Ms. Houston's first #1 hit on the pop charts, it happens to be a favorite of mine, and yes, Ms. Amber played it: Seeing the results of this, it turned out to be kind of fun. Don't be surprised if I do it again sometime. 🙂

This is a quick note to apologize for missing a detail. I should have known that the dates for the UDC overlapped with that of one of the Smooth Jazz cruises; therefore, it could not have ever been on the Summit. I suppose Celebrity preferred a confirmed reservation to a contingent one - or maybe Jazz Cruises just asked first.

I'm in receipt of Michael Lazaroff and Jazz Cruises' weekend enewsletter The Weekender. This one was quite informative, especially about the recently announced 2025 sailings for the Smooth Jazz Cruise. Here's a TL,DR: There's a detailed explanation of how the members of The Summit, the cruises' superband, were selected The confession that though many of them have performed with each other, The Summit members have never all performed together at one time Nearly 550 pre-sale reservations have been made for the Smooth Jazz cruises as of Friday The Jazz Cruise '24 has under 40 cabins remaining, while Chris Botti '24 is under 20 They have discount codes available for the remaining cabins. The Jazz Cruise '24 has a new "Get Ready" letter that was released Thursday. It's in the "Booked Guests" portion of the site. The McDonald LaBelle Cruise has the same discount code available. It's now up to 63% reserved.

If you're both (all?) under 50, then Virgin Voyages is definitely looking for you. They're adults-only, as mentioned elsewhere. Their entertainment and atmosphere are distinctly mature. And also as mentioned elsewhere, almost all cruise lines have adults-only areas. Curiously, I've heard that Disney has the most. I like my music charters when I get the chance to take them. So far, they've all been 18+ or 21+. The passengers onboard can get a little wild. 🙃

Official press release about Celebration Key: CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE OPENS ITINERARIES FEATURING CELEBRATION KEY™, NEW GRAND BAHAMA CRUISE PORT DESTINATION | Carnival Corporation & plc

It's normal to pay double for a cabin, but there are ways around it. Dedicated solo cabins house one and are priced as such. And cruise lines sometimes reduce the single tax or eliminate it entirely.

Update: solo interior cabins are completely gone for the UDC 2025. Other cabin availability seems low. It looks like a very successful first day. We!! played, StarVista. 😎

Great minds think alike. I was writing when you posted this. I thought I saw 20+ solo interiors available when I booked. That's exactly the kind of room I wanted (StarVista doesn't have any solo OVs or balconies available).

UPDATE: I booked my cabin on the UDC for 2025. It's on deck 5, near the stairs and also a little closer to the main theater than I'd like. Maybe the doors will be thick enough? We'll see. There are just a few solo cabins left as of this writing. That's encouraging. 👍 I didn't check the other classes.

I'm quoting myself because the UDC has updated their site with news about the upcoming 2025 cruise. I'll do a TL,DR for those with busy schedules: It's on the Norwegian Pearl. New ship, so no dibs on any cabins. No performers announced, but (direct quote) "We are working on another fantastic lineup as we speak, which we can promise will feature many of your favorites from past Ultimate Disco Cruises, plus some very exciting new names." Alumni rate is $2399, plus $300 in grats/port fees. $2700 total all-in. Could've been worse. 🤑 All right, for the die hards out there (and me, in the future), here are some notes from the site: There's a 30 second promo video with scenes from past cruisers. "Disco Inferno" from the Trammps is in the background. Is this a hint? They were on the cruise this year. I didn't go see them. We have dates and a ship - February 19-24, 2025 on the Norwegian Pearl. I'm sailing on the Pearl next year with the McDonald LaBelle Cruise. We'll see how it goes. No itinerary announced, but with only 5 days, we can't go very far Quoting the site again: "One of our most exciting cruises was the Ultimate Disco cruise, which sailed 2019 through 2023. As wonderful as this cruise experience was, it did not reach the same level of customer support and commercial success as our other cruises have achieved." It didn't sail in 2021, because nothing sailed in 2021. And yes, it was exciting - a great experience. I get that they were disappointed with us, but the '19 edition was its first sailing, the '20 edition was sailing on the edge of a pandemic, and the '22 edition sailed in the middle of an ongoing pandemic. I'd say it's got some excuses for being disappointing. It's nice to know we're getting a second chance. The gauntlet is thrown. Another direct quote: "The decision to sail is contingent upon guest demand and we will judge that demand by asking for modest deposits from guests." Gauntlet details #2. Quoting: "We will assess guest demand and confirm if we are sailing no later than November 20th, 2023. Should we decide not to sail, your deposit will be fully refunded within 45 days." It's disappointing that they plan to keep our $$$ for up to 45 days if the cruise doesn't go, but maybe that's just corporate CYA and they'll do refunds much faster. Suites have a $600 per person deposit; it's $300 for the rest of us peasants. The bottom features a list of performers that have performed on past cruises. It appears they're relying on this to hook us. I've seen many of them live and shared the ship with some of the others. Since there doesn't seem to be much of a hurry to get my $$$ down (the deadline is November 20), I'll put the cash down in the next few days. I want the UDC to rise again! 💃

Today is the day the UDC is supposed to announce its return! Here are my burning questions: Which cruise line and which ship? The two sailings of the UDC I had were both on the Summit. The rumor mill is pointing toward a return to Celebrity but possibly another ship. If it's the Celebrity Summit, do I get first dibs on my previous cabin? I had the same cabin on both UDCs. It would be nice to reward my loyalty by saying that I could have my previous cabin no matter what. Of course, this goes out the window if they choose a different ship or cruise line. Will they announce any performers today? If so, who? Will any of them be the non-disco-era performers they seemed to transition to? I'd love for them to announce a tentative lineup. I'm especially rooting for KC & the Sunshine Band and Kool and the Gang, though I think the latter is much more than disco. Speaking of being more than disco, I liked Expose on last year's cruise, along with Queen Nation and Ashlie Amber on this year's voyage. I'm sure I would have liked Billy Ocean had she showed up to perform. How big will the price increase be? Prices for just about everything have gone way up since 2019. I paid about $2400 all-in for UDC 2022 and $2500 all-in for the '23 edition. I'm bracing for sticker shock. 😮

I'm sorry this happened to you. Yes, cruise lines DO bump paid passengers from booked cruises, but not that often. They also usually give 12 months or more notice. Chartering companies also usually don't target big, new ships. The group(s) that caused the cancellation must have paid a pretty penny for the ship. I'm curious about why they did this. It's a little early for the Olympics. Formula 1 and Monaco?

There were exceptions to this. On my last two Journeys cruises, we P&D guests were told that our cabins weren't guaranteed to be ready before 1:30. This is, of course, because there were so many of us.

A few notes: Your family might be well served with a consultation with a good, experienced travel agent. To say more risks trouble from the mods, so good luck finding one. 🙏 The closest direct comparison to NCL is Royal Most of the mainstream lines offer some sort of flexible dining in the MDR. They all offer buffets, which offer some flexible dining. Many offer casual dining outlets in various locations with various hours. I don't have much to say about MSC that hasn't already been said. The reviews say that while they have their assets, they have some definite liabilities. I haven't sailed on them and I'm not hurrying to book with them. This little nugget may or may not be helpful. Disney is on its own island as a cruise line. There aren't any real comparisons to them as a complete experience, though all the mainstream cruise lines have kids' clubs, and many have tie-ins to other kid-friendly content creators. I'll put in a good word for Carnival, since no one else has so far. They have a lot to do for all ages, lots of food choices (especially the newer, larger ships), especially friendly fellow cruisers, and some nice cabins. One thing I'll note is that Carnival likes to have lots of activity by their main pools, which may not be what you want. March is the middle of spring break time, which means a fair number of families and lots more college students than usual. This may be what you want, or it may be something that needs to be planned around. I assume your daughter will be 18 at the time of this trip. 18 to 20 are tricky ages for all cruise lines to handle - they're too old for the teen clubs, yet most adults-only activities onboard aren't built for them. I hope my ramblings have been of help to you in some way. Either way, I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip. 👍