GeorgeL

Here my experience with it - first your TA needs to call HAL to find out if club orange is available for your cruise. Then you pay deposit for the least expensive cabin in the category (let's say obstructed balcony grnty) and pick any balcony cabin available. Please note that Club Orange will need to be paid at this point together with deposit. I'm not sure what the process is after you book the cabin and want to add Club Orange.

Thank you. I contacted insurance company and it also works in California - insure only money paid within specified period after paid.

1 hour ago, sandiego1 said:

I have done this for several world cruises. This is an acceptable strategy per my insurance broker. I purchase through another company that has participated in this forum in the past.

Thanks!Will check it out.

16 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

I suggest you just insure the deposit. As you make non refundable payments or payments towards the cruise, you can notify the insurance company and increase the insurance coverage.

I do not think it will work with insuring pre-existing condition. My understanding that you need specify at least full price of the cruise.

I just paid a deposit for a cruise about 1.5 years from now and at this point I just know the cost and dates of the cruise. I will also need to buy air tickets and most likely will have a week of land vacation before or after the cruise. Should I just put the dates of the cruise for now and then start adding dates / costs as I make reservations or try to guess the dates and total cost (very hard to do) now?

Thanks,
George

I just booked a cabin using club orange and moved from VH guarantee to VA. Actually I wanted to book VB but they did not have any available cabins. My question is following - will it be possible to change from VA to VB later if one becomes available on deck 4? By the way, the total price for the VA cabin with orange is still about $500 less than booking VA without Orange. Great deal just by getting the upgrade.

We noticed that Club Orange seems very popular but what was your reason for booking Orange? It seems to offer not much beyond a separate and smaller venue than MDR.

I am curious what the reasons were for people who have booked Orange on past or future cruises.

We switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. It has free messaging, data (for fast need to pay extra), and cheap call rates (25c / min) from many countries. Ship calls, of course, not covered unless they are over wi-fi.

Jim, thank you for great explanation. I always was wondering about this shaking in the past.

Thank you!

Thinking of booking a cruise (first time on Viking) and we are wondering if Viking Ocean allows using onboard credit to pay for gratuities.

Also, how do the ships perform when in rough seas?  How good are the stabilizers on Viking ships?

Thanks!

We have been cruising mostly on Celebrity for a couple decades and have never tried Norwegian although we heard a lot about it. We just got back into cruising after the pandemic and were thinking of trying Norwegian.

From other cruisers who have been a lot (or some) on Celebrity and also on Norwegian, how do the two compare?

Any input will be appreciated.

Long time Celebrity cruisers but haven't been on Celebrity since right before pandemic. We love Blu (our main, if not the only reason, for cruising in Aqua class).

What have been the changes in Blu during that time?

13 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

 

We wonder if X has created more Aqua with Aqua suites.  Never had to wait in Blu.  Every night on last 2 cruises, long wait.  

Have they made Blu larger on E class than it is on S class ships?

Has quality of food in Blu changed as well?

2 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

Aqua changes since restart and Laura chops:

..no fruit on Embarkation in room

..no daily herbal tea

..no canapés and even when we asked as per Laura, answer no

..no totes etc

..individual bottles of shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, body lotion now big jugs you pump

..room service charge if anything beyond Continental breakfast

 

reduced staffing

 

So what left of Aqua? Just access to blue?

I have not been on Celebrity cruises since pandemic (after 25 prior cruises on that cruise line) and I am wondering what changes have other long time Celebrity cruisers observed, whether positive or negative,  since the pandemic. We have a cruise coming up in the fall of 2024 and wondering if we should adjust our expectations.

For anyone who has done this cruise before and stayed on 10th or 11th floor, forward, I am just wondering if those cabins had a lot of rocking motion (in December, to Baja California).

Thank you in advance for any information.

Thank you so much.

This is very helpful information. It has been a long time since our previous winter transatlantic cruise. Last one was to Scotland, Iceland and Ireland, among other places. By the way, we really enjoyed beautiful Scotland and the lovely people there.

As far as this cruise, I guess it's "anything goes" (within reason, of course :)) as far as clothes. But I may leave my summer maxi dress at home in California...

Thank you for the information.

I am not sure about what to wear to the different eating venues, daytime and evening. Or just to wear onboard. For example, I don't want to wear summer maxi dress if no one else will be wearing these types of clothes.

My husband and I are on 15 day Silhouette transatlantic cruise istarting early this November from Civitavecchia.

I have no idea what clothes would be appropriate to wear onboard on such a cruise. Would I wear more of fall type clothes ( warmer fabrics, long sleeve dresses and tops and long pants).

Any advice would be very appreciated.

We are cruising on Celebrity Infinity thru the Panama Canal down to Chile in December. Never cruised on Celebrity before (NCL). I understand that the specialty restaurant US United States, has a cover charge of $35. That seems high. On NCL the specialty restaurants are $10-25.

If the specialty restaurants are that good, is it because the basic restaurants are not?

On many occasions it's worth it but there are times when the food at MDR is on par , if not better, than that in the specialty restaurants.

We always go the grocery stores. We went to on our first night in Rome and had a ball. We bought cheese, salami, wine and bread and had a picnic in our room.

We do the same. I find out quite a bit about local culture from the local stores where locals shop, not from souvenir kiosks.

As the saying goes: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

I always find it interesting to check out local grocery and hardware stores when travelling. Seeing what they have for sale can be revealing about the local culture.

This was amazing to read because I could been the one who wrote the exact words. I guess I am not the only one who thinks this way and perhaps we are kindred spirits. My husband knows about my penchant for local supermarkets and hardware stores and always tries to find some for me wherever we happen to be. I have checked out hardware stores all over the world :)

I happen to dislike the idea of shopping for cheap, tacky souvenirs and I never buy them. I think most of these end up in people's garages and then in garage sales. Total waste of money! But the interesting things which I had purchased during my travels and which came from local supermarkets or hardware stores serve a useful purpose in my house (and elicit many compliments from visitors).

Glad you enjoyed the post :)