Cruise Wonderland

Only MSC has status match with hotels.

From your signature I guess you are asking about Spectrum in February 2024. It is a smart decision that you have booked early. The fare of this cruise will certainly keep increasing.

I sailed on the CNY cruise on the sister ship Quantum in January 2020 (roundtrip Singapore going to Malaysia), almost the last few cruises of the ship before it suspended service for the pandemic.

It was almost fully booked but I don't think it is in chaos. There was some special activities, and countdown party just like 31st Dec (on my cruise it was in the Seaplex, and Two70 was another party for crew only) . The MDR also has special menu featuring some Chinese new year dishes.

I have this close-up picture taken last month.

It clearly shows that which cabins have the wraparound balcony.

Deck 10

10726 (left, Category SM): NO

10226 (right, Category SM): NO

Deck 9

9732 (left, Category SN): YES

9232 (right, Category SN): YES

Deck 8

8670 (left, Category SM): YES

8170 (right, Category SM): YES

Cabin 9455 is 201 square feet (comparing with 135 square feet of other regular inside cabins).

On 8/19/2022 at 12:18 PM, Beezo said:

What I do find interesting as well is how they’ve maintained the dark purple funnels with light blue logo on top, even though most of the ships (excl Sky, Sun, maybe Star) today were not in service with the old purple and gold branding. Nothing against it - Just always figured they’d paint all the funnels the light blue color. 
 

For those interested, here are some logos of past. Any favorites? 

I also found this picture of logo evolution at a corridor on Norwegian Getaway.

On 8/24/2022 at 11:15 AM, Chiliburn said:

I agree about the central government but Hong Kong is supposed to be separate.

I read a different article they said spectrum.

If not what other ship could it be?   It would have to be Spectrum.

And Wonder would replace Spectrum in Singapore.

Since there is only one ship in Asia, and Spectrum is already confirmed to be in Singapore until spring 2024, I don't see any chances that Royal Caribbean will have cruises departing from Hong Kong in 2022 and 2023.

It is also unlikely that Royal Caribbean will re-deploy another ship to Asia. Which ship(s) still do not have 2023 itineraries? Seems none.

On 8/24/2022 at 8:23 PM, Marmaduke said:

I think Azamara need to sort out next years itineraries first.  When looking on line to see what was available for Summer 2023 I noticed that they were still advertising several Black Sea cruises.

The 28th May 2023 Black Sea cruise on QUEST just changes its itinerary to Greece and Turkey.

I have the models of both Azamara (in the old logo) and Oceania.

Sister ships but in different colours 😊

On 8/13/2022 at 1:03 AM, flossie009 said:

Last time we were in Hong Kong before a Regent cruise was in 2019 and we arranged our own accommodation at the Marco Polo.

Not the poshest hotel in HK but a good location and, if the ship is docked in Kowloon, very handy to have a short walk to the cruise check-in (with the hotel concierge taking the luggage for us 🙂)

This is definitely the most convenient pre-/post-cruise hotel, if the ship docks at Ocean Terminal in the city centre (but not the further away Kai Tak Cruise Terminal). It directly connects with the shopping mall and cruise terminal, so you can easily access between these places without going outdoor in inclement weather.

It mainly depends on your itinerary (the countries involved). Sometimes the guest's nationality is also a reason.

If you go to exotic voyages, or countries that will stamp your passport / require visa, it is more common for the cruise line to keep your passport, so that the local immigration officers can inspect and stamp the passports more quickly (the cruise line will reserve the conference room or card room for them to handle this).

European voyages usually do not keep your passport, as inspection is not required across different EU countries.

Here in Asia, our passports are often kept by the cruise line, even it is just a short cruise to one country only. The cruise line will collect all the passports on Day 1. Immigration officers will stamp all of them overnight (yes, sometimes they may stay onboard and travel with the passengers to the next country), and the cruise line will return the passports to us the next day.

On 8/19/2022 at 3:42 AM, DarthCruiser said:

Regent scheduled us to stay at Le Meridien Barcelona next Tuesday.  In June we were at the Majestic Hotel & Spa.  It seems Regent moves the chosen hotels around very frequently, probably based on the price they are able to negotiate.

Even for the guests on the same voyage, they can be assigned to different hotels. Sometimes I don't think the same hotel can accommodate all the concierge and penthouse guests. Regent may need to look for a 2nd or even 3rd choice.

If you book early, Regent may assign you to Hotel A. Your friends who book later will probably be assigned to Hotel B. If you want to be in the same hotel with your friends, you can try asking Regent to change but of course this depends on availability (or if Regent can swap it with other guests).

For your reference, Majestic E309 on Deck 8 starboard side

On 4/30/2022 at 1:03 PM, Travel Junkie Judy said:

We are sailing on the STAR in October and then the ESCAPE in November.  I know that it is early, but I'm wondering about officers and concierge on both ships.

Hope this picture helps. Here are the officers on STAR (Jul 25 - Aug 04 voyage).

Although the Concierge is not shown on this list, I spotted a notice to the suite guests that the concierge name is Amit Chauhan (not sure if there is only one Concierge or more than one?)

Yes for both, on my recent cruise onboard Marina 9th July 2022.

The cruise schedule of the port of Reykjavik may give you a general idea.

https://www.faxafloahafnir.is/cruiseships/

NCL Prima will be there in late September on her transatlantic cruise to Southampton to New York. But this cruise only stops at one Iceland port in Reykjavik.

It is simply because of the ship's size.

Also I believe there are only 1 berth for medium size ships and 2 berths for tiny ships. If 2 Azamara ships arrives on the same day, then 1 of them still has to anchor at sea.

I was there on Aug 3rd. Even as large as Holland America Zaandam could moor at the pier. Our Norwegian Star was at anchor.

Yes it has both. In this picture, the bathtub is on the left, and the shower is on the right.

7 minutes ago, Gilly said:

Interesting.  If it's the hotel I'm thinking of, years ago it was called the Regent Hong Kong too - with almost the same logo.  Kowloon side, waterfront setting?

Exactly! In the last century it was The Regent Hong Kong, but rebranded to InterContinental in 2001. Soon it will be converted back with the name Regent again.

13 hours ago, Rob_H said:

I don't know how it works if the two segments are on a single booking number (sometimes possible through an agent), we've never done that.

NCL seldom combines two segments and sells as one cruise having only a single booking number now. In most of the cases, it has to be booked separated by two booking numbers, then they will link the bookings together.

Oceania and Regent is more often to offer "combo cruises". You can book a 17-night voyage in a single booking, instead of booking 7-night + 10-night separately.

7 hours ago, susiesan said:

I still think NCL owes me the port taxes for Copenhagen that I paid in my ticket. Even if it is a small amount, it is dishonest of them to keep that money. I'll take OBC and buy a few cocktails with it to soothe my disappointment.

Cancelling a port does not always come with a port tax refund. I have experienced many times of port cancellation on NCL or other cruise lines. In most of the cases there were neither refund nor OBC.

On 8/2/2022 at 10:18 AM, GOARMY said:

As for Hong Kong:  

 

This was about seven years ago.  Hotel Intercontinental.

InterContinental is now under renovation.

After it is completed this year, its new name will become, coincidentally, The Regent Hong Kong. 😉

On 7/26/2022 at 2:45 PM, Yanvii said:

I recalled they have trips to Hong Kong in May 2022, but I cannot find any reviews, so wondering if anyone have been successfully disembarked in Hong Kong without quarantine?

No, those cruises were eventually cancelled.

Dates of the new 2023 Alaska voyages on Crown Princess

3 hours ago, casofilia said:

It is actually very interesting to look, in the NCL website, at the whole period between the Jewel in October 2023 and its return to Seward in April 2024.   There are lots of holes!!

The hole from 11th Nov to 11th Dec is likely to be drydock period in Singapore.

It is for certain percentage (usually 10%) off for your next cruise.

Since the exact discounted amount is not yet known (it depends on the fare of your next booking), it is just shown as $1.