Honolulu Blue

Several things: It didn't cost that much The crew seemed happy and were willing to please There were lots of nice ports to look at and explore There was plenty offered to do on the ship Immigrations and Customs were easier than I'd seen with land trips There was a casino onboard with some pretty slot machines Fun note I mentioned a time or two here... my second cruise was exactly the same as my first, but three months later. Same ship, same ports. We did have a different CD and I did different things off the ship.

I notice that Celebrity has added a new sub-page to their specialty/themed cruise section at https://www.celebritycruises.com/specialty-cruises/lgbt-gay-cruise-vacations . X has always (for several years, at least) been noted for being LGBT friendly, so I guess this is the next logical step. They hosted the Pride Party at Sea on the Edge, which just sailed on Saturday. They're expanding it fleetwide, month-long for 2024. Here's a snippet from their page (emphasis mine): We’re expanding our annual fleet-wide Pride celebration to the entire month of June in 2024. Across the world, all month long, our award-winning ships will host daily LGBTQ+ gatherings, fabulous guest entertainers on select ships, a flag raising ceremony, and our signature Pride Party at Sea to cap it all off in style. Stay tuned for more Pride Month at Sea details to come. Also on the page is mentions of events onboard their regular cruises, along with the chance to get married onboard. Last, but certainly not least, is a link to VACAYA's charter cruise in February on the Apex.

People sometimes ask me why I don't go to the MDR for breakfast. Frankly, I'm afraid of getting treated like you did in your post. I'm pretty sure it was a one off, though. Celebrity's a good cruise line with good staff. Maybe join me at the trough next time - though, of course, it gets crowded there at times. The portion I highlighted above gave me flashbacks to my childhood. I've always been a finicky eater and also stubborn. I wouldn't tolerate anyone but Mom and Dad telling me to eat something I probably wasn't going to like. "It'll put hair on your chest", Daddy said to me a few times. Hair on my chest was a long way off. Anyway, even from the folks I admired most, it only worked sometimes. OK, back on track... Thanks for sharing this. I always enjoy partial charter stories - especially ones involving music. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the experience as much as you could have.

AUS$14,000 is about equal to US$9,000 at current exchange rates

I generally agree with the philosophy mentioned in these quotes. I absolutely agree with you too. I've never had a bare-bones cruise with poor experience or bad food. Some of the itineraries have been meh, but that's a recent development because I've been to some of these places several times before. Funny thing about the Bahamas on NCL. I have an upcoming 3-day cruise that I paid far more than $100 for on the NCL Pearl. It's a music charter similar to what @George C explained above - only there's just two headliners and some other performers. Next year looks to be the most expensive year I've ever had for cruising. The four cruises are on four different mainstream lines (Carnival, NCL, Celebrity, Royal) and are a mix of interiors and oceanviews - no great luxury for me. Three are music charters and the other one is a longer cruise that will give me $850 in OBC if I can somehow make it onboard. I added them up and they're costing me about $11k for the lot of them. This includes the base fare, port fees, and "mandatory" grats, but nothing else. I'm not bragging, but I think I made about the best deals I could on the type of cruises I want to go on. I don't have any interest in the more upscale lines for now, but who knows where I'll be in 10 years or more?

You're right. I used RS on Celebrity when they didn't charge and haven't used it since they started charging. Though Princess does have extra cost items on their room service menu, and they charge for drinks. It's hard to say why I like the Summit more than the Millennium, the two Celebrity ships I've been on. Perhaps if I'd been on the Revolutionized Millie first, I might have liked that one more. I guess I'm at the point where I know where at least some of the good cabins are on the Summit. And its layout is familiar and comfortable.

Wading through all those photos isn't that big of a deal for me - the scrolling function in Google Photos works very well. And I often put related photos in a group (e.g., Lou Gramm concert), which also helps. And I like the default naming scheme of the photos (date and time) so helpful that I rarely change names unless I'm posting them somewhere else. Sometimes I wish I didn't take so many pictures so I could more completely enjoy the experiences in the moment. But I see the results, and it really does help me to remember and savor experiences in the long term.

Thank you for sharing your comparisons. This is a very interesting format. I hope you don't mind if I steal it for the next few minutes. I've been on five Celebrity ships, the last being the Summit in March. I've been on three Princess ships - Regal, Majestic, and Ruby - the latter being my last sailing on Princess back in April. I should note that two of my Celebrity cruises and two of my Princess cruises were themed cruises. I'll try to note when they affect things. OK, here goes: TV and VODs - even. I don't cruise much for TV. I can't say that I've watched any television programming on either cruise line. I've sampled some of the VODs on both. The themed cruises offered a better selection here than normal. Internet - even. I've had good luck with Princess, even without Starlink. The pings can be long and the speeds are erratic, but I had few problems streaming. It's relatively cheap for a cruise line, especially for those with status. On Celebrity, I'm convinced their basic plan (RIP, except for their all included) is throttled at 1 mbps down. Premium is faster, but costly at $35/day. They have Starlink on all their ships now. Embarkation/disembarkation - Celebrity. I've always been able to get on and off smoothly with Celebrity. In fact, I've often been able to be one of the first ones off the ship even when not trying to do so. I had a big issue with Princess on the Ruby when I was stuck in line with the other 90% or more who didn't have their Medallion sent to them. That took an extra half hour that I didn't want to give up. Entertainment - Celebrity. On one of my non-charters on the Millennium, we had a production show and a soloist of interest in the main theater. They were good. And the entertainment on the themed cruises was outstanding (as expected, and as I paid for). Otherwise, on my regular cruises on both lines, I didn't find much of interest. Pastries - n/a. I rarely bother with pastries on cruises. Coffee bar - n/a. I'm not a coffee drinker. Friendliness and competence of staff - even. No complaints; most everyone on both lines went out of their way to try to make me happy. Friendliness of the other cruisers - even. I found Celebrity had more extensive travelers - on cruise ships and other ways of getting around. Ruby had a big group of newbie cruisers; they were a lot of fun to interact with. Cookies - n/a. I choose other things for my empty calories. Desserts - even. I'm not big on desserts when cruising. But the ones I tried were all right. Overall food - Celebrity. I'll note that I've only dined in the buffet on both lines. Celebrity always had food of good quality and quantity when I was there. Princess? Not so much. And their buffet design is less efficient that it really should be - especially on the Ruby. Cocktails - n/a. Coffee isn't the only thing I don't drink. Beds - even. Both gave me more pillows than I wanted, but that's a minor thing. Activities - even. No major differences noted. App - even. Celebrity's app is good but less ambitious. Princess' Medallion App is much more ambitious, but everything doesn't work all the time. Spa - n/a. Not a place I hang out. Toiletries - even. Both cover the basics well. Ice cream - n/a. Another thing I don't consume. Burgers - even. Neither are in the Guy's neighborhood, but they're suitable for ordinary use. Casino - Celebrity. It's brighter, less confusing to walk around, and even offers some gaming lessons. Dining room service - n/a. See "Overall food" above for my experience at the trough. Room service - Celebrity, I suppose. Celebrity has a limited menu that's been consistently delivered to me in a decent amount of time (30 minutes or so). Princess' history with me is very interesting. On the Regal, room service (which I used a lot; blame the pandemic) was fantastic - 10-20 minutes for meals. Did I mention that the ship was under 30% full. On the Majestic, RS was 20-35 minutes. That ship was around 75% full. The Ruby was full and it seemed to show. My first room service delivery was done in 45 minutes - not good. The other one failed to be delivered in 90 minutes, so I canceled it. Now you understand why I've soured on Princess room service. I'm not encouraged to try again, but maybe I will, someday. Overall ship condition - Celebrity. I've only been on the Summit and Millennium on Celebrity - none of the newer ones. Both were kept up very well, IMHO. The Ruby had a few signs of wear and tear, fewer on the Regal or Majestic. Other - Princess. I've had good luck dealing with their customer service department on my pandemic canceled cruise, dealing with the gift card department, even writing random letters to John Boy in Santa Clarita.

I've done a few Celebrity cruises in my time. I haven't really detected any snootiness among them. The ones I interacted with tended to be more experienced travelers than the typical Carnival passenger, and some of them are proud of it and like to talk about it. I've never had a suite on Carnival, but as a Platinum VIFP member (flashes Platinum card), I get all these bennies other than the bathrobes for whatever cabin I choose. Granted, it's just one 1 1/2 liter bottle, but you'd be surprised at how far I can make that last.

I've been to Dominica, Grenada, and Martinique. They all have their charms, though I thought Martinique was very French - for better and for worse. I'm curious about the other two. Those seem to rarely be stopped at by mainstream cruise ships. I'll probably get to them eventually. For other views on these islands (and many more), check out the Caribbean ports of call forum at Caribbean Cruises Q&A: Find Tips & Recommendations - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums .

Back to the future? My cruise on the Summit back in September '21 featured this set of service.

Hudson made it just in time for my one cruise with him. He'll go on several more with me, but none for the next few months.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I've been on... (counting on my fingers) nine cruises since the restart (including the Summit twice) and I can't recall any of my captains announcing any cases of COVID-19. I must have been very lucky. 🙏

I'm going to tell a very special story about booking onboard that's going to apply to only a few other people, for reasons you're about to find out. A bit over a year ago, the charter cruise I was on (on the Celebrity Summit) offered future bookings for that cruise and a few others the charter company was offering. This is unlike the regular future cruise desk on ordinary Celebrity cruises, where you can pick from any Celebrity cruise that's offered at the time EXCEPT the charters. Anyway, I saw these ladies and I was hooked. I was waving my credit card to everyone in sight begging someone to take my $$$ for the next edition of the same cruise: OK, so I exaggerated slightly. I waited until the next morning to book. 😆 For my particular booking there were some advantages - I could book the same cabin if I wanted, I would have first dibs on any available cabins if I wanted to move around, the deposit was lower, and there was a live rep to talk to or answer any questions I had. Your experience with a Celebrity future cruise rep will be different, as I'm sure other, more experienced posters will soon tell you. P.S. I think the Summit is a very nice ship.

Rock & Romance has just added Gino Vannelli. Some research needed, but my initial reaction is that I don't wanna stop... by and see him perform. But I assume others are excited about him.

From the Always Something There To Remind Me department, chapter 606: On my drive into work today, the first two songs I heard were "1999" from Prince and "Lights" from Journey. Recall that we had tributes to both acts on my Ruby Princess 80s adventure. Both songs were played by their respective bands. The drive continued. I heard another song, then I heard "Our Lips Are Sealed" by The Go-Go's. We had our lead singer Belinda Carlisle on The 80s Cruise last year. She played this one.

That's a very interesting list of ships and evolution of tastes - both yours and the cruise lines. Thank you for sharing. I think you were on the Rotterdam V back in the 70s. I sailed on the Rotterdam VI back in 2019. It was OK. I sailed on Navigator OTS earlier this year. It was also OK. I preferred it to the other Royal ship I've been on, sister Mariner OTS. I haven't been sailing as long (just under a decade), so my list isn't as exciting. Basically, it's Carnival Valor -> Carnival Liberty -> Carnival Horizon. Honorable mention to the Celebrity Summit, which is a nice and recently updated ship that's of a size that music charter companies tend to favor.

I used the Princess shuttle from IAH to Galveston when I went on the Ruby in April. It was pre booked several months prior. It did the job. It cost me $29. YMMV.

I found my original bill from the Regal on that cruise. It seems that I did use my Medallion to pay for a few bucks in souvenirs. It's heavily redacted and it doesn't say everything I'd like it to, but this is the only proof I have, so here it is:

They were wonderful indeed, but I didn't do any of them on Carnival. ☹️

I'm impressed that you have something that was made in 1964 that runs on batteries and still works. I guess it's true that they made them better back in the good old days.

i guess I'm from the new school - I sometimes like those pretty video slots and the old 3-reel slots mostly bore me to tears.💤 Sometimes the video slots can be tough to figure out what pays what and when. I'm also unusual in that I occasionally glance at the instructions to help me understand how I'm going to lose my money. But mostly I trust in the machine, its manufacturer, and its lessee to give me proper payouts. So far I've lost within normal limits, so I must be doing something right. 🙏

I'm pretty sure at least one of the gift shops on Princess Cays took the Medallion for purchases when I was there on the Regal a year and a half ago. I'm less certain that I actually used my Medallion there. If I can find documentation of it, I'll follow up.

And the skeet shooting targets and rifles. 😃

I'm not surprised. What excuse did they give for dragging those things out of storage? I haven't seen them on any of the Princess cruises I've sailed on (all since 2021).