Ken the cruiser

Glad to hear the Blu menu is now including the MDR menu's Classic desserts, such as cheesecake and chocolate cake, on their dessert menu. But then the last time we cruised in Blu was on the Eclipse for 30-days back in April.

Whelp, since I'm not seeing any Moscato or German Riesling on any of the various wine packages, I guess we will stick with the Plus Package for now. But thanks for letting us know!

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For us finding places to cruise where you can see wildlife in their natural habitat can be an awesome experience. In January after this cruise we will continue to get our penguin fix on a 30-day SA cruise with 4 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula, where we will hopefully be able to visit the Falkland Islands twice as well as a variety of stops in Argentina and Chile where various types of penguins roam free! 😁 I see you have been to Madagascar. If you look in my below expanded Signature area, you’ll see a Live From thread covering our 38-day B2B on the NCL Jade from Athens to Cape Town by way of Dubai we did last year. We had a fun time on the second leg checking out the Lemurs in Madagascar as well as going on 3 safaris in South Africa, ending in Cape Town with a visit to see some of their penguins.

No, we've worked too hard to get to Elite on PCL, 4-star on HAL, and Platinum on NCL so we can get all that free laundry!! 😂

To be quite honest after our upcoming Galapagos cruise on the Flora, we won't be booking any Celebrity cruises in the next 3-4+ years. Their increased prices, minimal All Included perks (when compared to other cruise lines we book with), and their 5-11 day cookie cutter itineraries have caused us to move our business to PCL, NCL and HAL. But then we're in our early 70s, which is definitely not their target demographic.

Thanks! You read my mind as we were just talking today about when PCL might release these cruises! 😁

My “memory” stands corrected. Thanks for keeping me straight.

Our 10-day Galapagos booking on the Xpedition was from Nov 29 - Dec 8, 2015. On that cruise the rule was you could not get within 6 feet of any animal you might come upon. For example, we ran into a bunch of marine iguanas, around 100+, on the trail and had to find a way to walk around them. However, if they come up to you, all bets are off. For example, my DW had a splashing contest with a seal that decided to come visit her while she was sitting on the beach with her feet in the water. Another time a mockingbird landed on my hat I was wearing while I was watching albatross try to land, which is a whole different story! 😁

A couple things to keep in mind. The Aqua cabin is a little larger than a veranda cabin and a Concierge cabin is a little larger than an Aqua cabin on a M-class ship. The Aqua cabin also has a walk-in shower whereas the veranda and concierge cabins only have shower/tub combinations. Personally, our favorite Aqua cabin on a M-class ship is one of the aft-facing ones, with the center one being the best. As far as Blu goes, the menus are "healthier" than those found in the MDR. However, the big draw for us is the "anytime dining" option. As far as comparing the value of Blu's menus to that of specialty dining, there is none. In my opinion X now charges way too much for what they offer in any of their specialty restaurants. But I will add, the desserts in Blu are also "healthier", so we usually go up to the buffet to have a chocolate dessert most nights as they rarely offer them in Blu.

As we continue to get excited about our upcoming wildlife adventure, I glanced back at some of the photos we took on the 2015 Xpedition "Southern Loop" itinerary. Needless to say, there were a lot more wildlife varieties than just the "major" ones listed in the above table. I can only imagine how many photos are going to be taken on this cruise. I just hope my iPhone SE can handle the load! 😂 Baltra Island – Brown pelican Espanola Island - Sea lions, Galapagos mockingbird, Oystercatcher, Christmas Iguana, Sally Lightfoot crab, Galapagos Hawk, Galapagos Dove, Waved Albatross, Masked Booby, Swallow-tailed Gull, Blue-footed Booby. Floreana Island - Sea lions, Greater Flamingos, Green Sea Turtle, Sally Lightfoot Crab, Blue-footed Booby, Galapagos Penguin, Whimbrel, Cocoi Heron Isabela Island - Galapagos White-cheeked Pintail Ducks, Green Sea Turtles, Flightless Cormorant, Galapagos Land Iguana Fernandina Island - Marine Iguanas, Galapagos Lava Lizard, Masked Booby, Galapagos Penguin Santa Cruz - Land lizard, Yellow Warbler, Cattle Egret, Sea lion, Swallow-tailed Gulls, Red-billed Tropicbird, Cocoi Heron Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) - Saddle Tortoise, Galapagos Tortoise, Lava Lizard, Lava Gull, Magnificent Frigatebird, Giant Tortoise Antisana Eco Reserve - Black Caracara, Andean Gull, Ecuadorian Ibis, Giant Hummingbird, Western Emerald Hummingbird

Of course, my ultimate goal will be to take a photo of the elusive Galapagos dove (pigeon) while on the cruise. 😂 But after doing some specific research regarding the “Inner Loop” itinerary using the above chart, here is some of the other wildlife we might see at each of our stops along the way. Isabela Island - blue-footed boobies, flightless cormorants, fur seals, giant tortoises, land and marine iguanas, Nazcia boobies, penguins, sea turtles, and possibly some whales Daphne Island (cruise only) - dolphins Rabida Island - blue-footed boobies, dolphins, marine iguanas, and pink flamingos Santiago Island - dolphins, fur seals, marine iguanas, penguins (Sullivan Island), sea turtles, and sting rays Bartolome Island - Marine iguanas, penguins, sting rays, and dolphins North Seymour Island - blue-footed boobies, land and marine iguanas, dolphins, frigatebirds, and hammerhead sharks San Cristobal Island - blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, red-footed boobies (Punta Pitt), and sea turtles Santa Cruz Island - blue-footed boobies, dolphins, land and marine iguanas, and giant tortoises

I added this reference material to help understand what wildlife might be seen at the various stops on the Inner Loop itinerary. This chart will come in handy to determine the likelihood of seeing certain wildlife once we arrive at a location and possibly when cruising between them. For example, seeing albatross flying around might be somewhat remote since most are found on Espanola, which we are not scheduled to visit. A more detailed map listing the various Galápagos Islands.

I also found a WWF website that offers some pretty cool wildlife information, to include a Galapagos Islands Wildlife Guide. https://www.nathab.com/know-before-you-go/galapagos-islands/wildlife-guide/ In addition, it provides a month-by-month breakdown of what observations might be uniquely encountered in the Galapagos at any particular time. For example, “All Galapagos seabirds are seen year-round except for the albatross, which is absent from January to March. Because birds breed at different times, you can witness courting behavior or hatchlings in nests during any given month. A variety of whale and dolphin species visit the Galapagos throughout the year, from the smallest common and bottlenose dolphins to the largest blue whales, as well as orca, pilot, sperm, humpback and other whale species.” As far as unique wildlife experiences that might be observed during our December visit: - waved albatross fledglings appear and begin departing - marine iguanas begin mating (through February) - Galapagos sea lion pups abundant in water at central and southern islands (through February) - giant Galapagos tortoise laying eggs (through March) - Bryde’s whale on the western archipelago (through May) - bottlenose and common dolphin in central and southern archipelago (through May) https://www.nathab.com/know-before-you-go/galapagos-islands/wildlife-seasonality/

For those interested I just found this web link that gives a little more detail with regards to Flora's Inner and Outer Loop itineraries, and what to expect at each stop. https://www.galapagosislands.com/cruises/ship/celebrity-flora

No, we try to just book longer 3-5 week "single itinerary" cruises during those times, especially during school breaks and holiday vacations, if at all possible. We usually find there are very few children and young adults on the longer ones. However, sometimes you just can't avoid it, especially in the summertime. In those instances, we try to book a B2B where one leg is at least 14-days long.

Mary, we battle with our cruising addiction every day while at home waiting for our next embarkation day. We're finding it takes about 30 days to recover from the last cruise, as will be the case for our upcoming 30-day Antarctica/SA cruise in January, before we start getting excited about our next one, and around 90 days before we really start to feel withdrawal symptoms! Thank goodness for CC and FB, which keeps us in sync with the cruising world until that next cruise comes! 🤣

On our July 2022 Regal B3B in the Med, there were at least 400 children and young adults on each 7-day leg, and BTW the onboard drinking age in the Med is 18. Our lesson learned from that cruise was to make sure to book 3-5 week "single itinerary" cruises anytime school is out. 😉

FWIW we upgraded our "wet landing" shoe inventory the other day after reading a comment @prmssk made in her Nov 11 Live From thread. "For wet landings, we each had a pair of closed toed Keen sandals which we usually would just continue to wear for shorter walks." We were originally going to bring some cheap slip-on wet shoes for the "wet landing" excursions, and then change to our normal walking shoes once on land. However, her reference to the Keen sandal got us to rethink that idea. Now we don't need to carry a second pair of shoes on that type of excursion. 😉 Thanks @prmssk for suggesting this great idea!!

I have some Live From threads, to include a few from recent Princess cruises, in my expanded signature below. We are in our early 70s and have a great time on our Princess cruises, but I'll let you be the judge as to why.

You should be able to book your flights now if your itinerary starts May 10. We booked our flights early and got nonstop roundtrip flights out of Atlanta in Delta Comfort for just a few $$ more out of pocket. We have definitely learned from past experience that it pays to book as early as possible when booking flights to/from a cruise.

You’re going to have such a great time! Yes, we’re using Celebrity Air as we just couldn’t turn down the $1500 air supplement they were offering to book the cruise.

I’m confused. I just took this screenshot with the latest version of the StockPerks app? But I will add I’m using an iPad and that app hasn’t been updated in about a month.

I just thought I would add this CruiseNext T&C link for future reference, if and when we have to cancel our Getaway cruise to Egypt next fall with all that is going on over there right now. There is a lot of good information in it, to include if there is a double up promotion going on. Norwegian Cruise Line - Promotions Terms and Conditions (ncl.com)

I just posted my Dec 8-18 Galapagos Live From thread if anyone might be interested in following along. If you have never been there before, the wildlife is truly amazing!