MamaFej

We will be on the Eclipse. In addition to the mostly NZ cruise, we have a port stop in Auckland on the way home, sailing from Sydney to Honolulu. We also have 10 days of driving around both NZ islands on this trip, so we hope to still get an excellent taste ot the lovely country, even if we lose some sites.

A bit off topic: I do think that part of the Reykjavik problem is the timing. That weekend is a huge holiday in Iceland. My understanding is that nearly 1/3 of the population of the country comes to Reykjavik. That puts undue stress on the hotel, restaurant, and cab systems. Fortunately, we had a transfer to the port as part of our 6 day self-drive tour. We had planned to drop off our bags, get our sea passes, then go to Flying Over Iceland. Yeah... no. It was a zoo out there! Celebrity picked the same weekend for the Reykjavik turn around this year, too. We are doing the cruise again, as our friends who had been unable to board with us because they tested positive upon arriving the night before are doing it, along with a group of family and friends, and they really wanted us to come along. We allowed them to twist our arms. Gonna drive to the few areas we haven't gotten to on our previous trips. Back on topic: we did not have to disembark for our Ravenna, Italy, nor our Boston turn around days last year. We chose to on one of those days.

Thanks for a straightforward post with the good the bad, and none of the hyperbole.

I guess I jumped the gun. I should not have assumed that you had sailed more recently than I had. Maybe it is one of those things that is not consistent across ships. In the name of research, I shall check on the Eclipse in the next few weeks.

That is fantastic news! I really enjoyed getting them up through my May cruises. In August and September, B2B2B on Summit, it was no longer allowed. There was a barista who would make an "Almost Affogato" if passengers brought a scoop of ice cream down from OVC. I'm very happy to hear that they are back. _ _ _ _ _ My cardiologist probably preferred when they weren't so easy to get.

Thanks so much. Those images are positively heartbreaking. I did check, and we can cancel for a full refund any time up to 24 hours in advance. I'm sure we will have far more information well before that, including if the port call will be canceled.

Thank you for this. We are supposed to be in Napier on 22 March. I think I'll go check the cancelation policy for the rafting tour company Hubby booked with.

With all this talk of Spam, I'm wondering if there is a fee for those not in Retreat Class for the use of the defibrillator? 😉😉😉

I have not. I've only been on M and S class Celebrity ships.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Those look more like a fudgy shortbread than brownies to me.

I hope (and expect you will) think of him and smile while you are enjoying the fresh air and views.

One of my favorite lines from the TV show LOST:

True. I also believe that management makes an enormous difference. When we boarded Summit on August 19 for B2B2B, beverage service at bars was surprisingly dismal. We were very surprised. Within a couple of days, an Assistant Beveage Manager, Leigh, was jumping behind the bar or counter whenever there was a crowd. Soon, even when she wasn't on site, service had improved dramatically. Our first cruise was also hers. She was extremely visible, friendly, and personable throughout the remainder of those 3 cruises (and after, I'm sure). Our cabin was mostly clean, but a few days in, an unidentified pink toothbrush suddenly appeared, neatly placed, on our bathroom counter. We guess it was found while mopping the floor in more detail than had been done in a while. Who knows how many cruises ago it had originally been dropped? Our steward hadn't changed, but attention to detail had. Maybe there was also a recent change in his management team? In Jim's Live From thread (we overlapped for two cruises) a couple of us onboard (not in suites) commented on how a few things had changed dramatically in a short period of time. I was lucky. I never had a bad, lazy, or sloppy boss, but I know plenty of people who have, including my own kids. They tell me that the difference in managers (bosses, principals, department directors, etc.) makes a tremendous difference in the work environment, and, therefore, the workers.

How on earth did you know we got moved to Retreat before I did? I literally just got the email 4 minutes ago. The point of my post that you quoted was that X has supposedly taken away from non suite guests (like I almost always am).

We just got notice that our Move Up bid was accepted for the first cruise of our upsoming 5 cruise trip. That means we will have the first cruise in Retreat, immediately followed by two B2B in Aqua (for B2B2B). After a week and a half on land, we have another Aqua sailing, then more land time, and a standard verandah for the last 18 day cruise. This will give us plenty of opportunities to see for ourselves how these three classes of crusing on Celebrity compare on the same ship in a fairly short period of time (57 days of cruising on an 82 day trip). I kind of wished it had worked out in reverse. Starting high and going lower might not be quite as much fun as moving in the other direction. NGL: we'll probably bid to move up on the last cruise, but it has been mostly sold for a long time.

I've been getting pretty good at the Points Game in recent years, with a few jaw-dropping deals. Some of the Points folks I follow are: Travel Like Tommy Mommy Points Max Miles Points Jaina Anne Sites like OnePointAtATime and ThePointsGuy often feature good, often short-lived deals. It sounds like the OP's daughter is also a great source of information. The points game can be frustrating, but the great deals we sometimes get make it worth it for us. I recognize that not everyone wants to deal with the hassle.

Then again, many of us paid for a full glass. According to many recent reports, X decided to take out some of the contents of the glass for those of us who are not in suites. I'm cautiously optimistic that my glass will be more full than empty on my upcoming cruises. I hope the same will be true for everyone else's glass as well. .

We were B2B2B onboard Summit late last summer when the announcement was made that the vaccination requirements were being ended. We had three different crew members tell us that they decided they would finish their contracts and not come back. They (and their families) did not want to be stuck on a ship with increased risks of outbreaks and maybe exposures to new variants that their own vaccines might not protect against. I imagine there are folks who didn't originally come back because vaccines were required. I don't know which group is larger. I don't pretend that the folks who mentioned their feelings to us are a statistically representative sample.

In my experience, they appear on or around the 14th of the month after they are earned. I expect the points from this past week's webinar to appear near the 14th of March.

I truly appreciate all the different perspectives. We have never tried an AI, and we've only had three cruises from which we did not fly to the embarkation and/or disembarkation port(s). Before we retired, we only did on two cruise vacation. These days, due largely to the expense involved in flying to fantastic locations, we tend to string together and/or include multiple cruises on trips that we fly to (and/or from). We leave for an 82 day, five cruise trip on Saturday. We have two more big trips with 3 and 2 cruises later this year, and a 6 cruise trip next year. So far, we have one two cruise trip in the planning phases for 2025. Maybe we will incorporate AIs at some point. Maybe we will do a trip that is just an AI someday. I am so grateful to all the people who share their experiences and opinions about different types of travel. You all help me to learn.

I've always said that our kids have had more experiences than things. They are 20, 23, and 27 now, and all very grateful for the experiences we gave them. We still occassionally travel with them, most recently in 2021 to celebrate our 30th anniversary, one college, and one HS graduation. We are hoping for anohter big family trip in 2025 to celebrate a 60th birthday, a 30th birthday, 2 Masters degrees, and a bachelor's. Because they are all so genuinely appreciative, Mom and Dad heavily subsidize the kids' travel costs. If they weren't, we wouldn't.

Welcome, @TwinMamainMN! I'm so glad you have come to join us here. You are creating wonderful memories for your children, and yourselves.

The cool kids get married in August, so I'm not surprised you did, too. 😁

We have discovered that we are not Sit by the Pool or on the Beach at a Resort folks. We need to be more active, as well. different strokes for different folks. As for RVing, we drove our old one to 49 states and parts of Canada. Our new one has been as far north as a few miles from Canada in Montana and as far east as Alabama. We were camped along the Pacific Coast in SoCal last week. We now alternate between long trips and several days to a few weeks in one place. I love the variety that both cruising and RVing afford us. You might be interested in joining the Cruisers who love to RV and RVers Who Love to Cruise thread in the 55+ forum. Don't worry if you haven't reached 55 yet. I started the thread well before I was, and nobody smacked me. This used to be my profile picture here (and probably will be again).

We were camped along Rincon Beach in Ventura County, CA last week. Anacapa Island reminded me of the silhouette of a cruise ship. Time to get back onboard!