Hlitner

The Med is a fabulous place to cruise and we suggest that the itinerary should be the primary factor. This is more than just ports as you need to look at the times in each port (long days are the best) and, in some cases, the day of the week. So, for example, a cruise that goes to Civitavecchia (Rome) on a Sunday will likely find the Vatican Museums (including Sistine Chapel) closed. Or, if you are in Istanbul on a Tuesday, Topkapi would be closed on a Sunday the Covered (Grand) Bazaar is closed. Also beware of really large mega ships that go to tender ports (such as Santorini or Cannes). In other words, you should do some real homework before making your selection. Hank

MSC Yacht Club would be an interesting choice. There would certainly be younger folks (generally outside the YC) and they would access to the entire ship. Overall quality on MSC, outside the Yacht Club, is something less than they get on X. But the wonderful part of being in the YC is that you can go back to that enclave at any time. But you mention that your SIL did not like the Haven and that has me wondering why? There are many similarities between the Haven and Yacht Club (I would give the edge to the Haven suites/cabins). I cannot comment on RCI since we have not cruised that line in about 20 years. Hank

I assume you have a lot of experience at ATH and other European airports 🙂We are mere newbies with only about 55 years of international travel. What you call "acceptable" regarding an airline's check-in requirements is far different than the time needed to get through security, Passport Control, and to one's gate. The road to missed flights is paved with folks who said "I checked-in on time." That being said, we have found that things move along faster at ATH than at many other European airports. So, the old saying applies: "Are you feeling lucky?" Hank

You need to study some of the local geography. Marseille is part of Provence. The region is over 31,000 square kilometers. of about 12,000 square miles. So you need to be more specific on where you want to go in Provence (you can easily drive hundreds of miles). French taxis are very expensive so this is not usually a good option unless you want to stay in a relatively compact area. As to how to get around, you have many options including excursions, tours, rental car, trains, buses, and even your feet :). I will tell you that we have spent many weeks in Provence and have not even come close to seeing most of the region. Hank

That would be correct, There is a nice beach within easy walking distance of the pier and it is lined with various restaurants/cafes...most of who rent (or loan) loungers. We also enjoyed some decent food and drinks on that beach (I no longer remember at which cafe). In an older post (on this thread) we suggested that folks try to negotiate a good deal on loungers with the best deal being Free. Why would anyone let you have loungers and umbrella for free? You can try to make the case that you will spend money on lunch and drinks :). Hank

We have never been able to get our Explora online account to properly function. It throws out several different error codes and does not show our confirmed booking (done through a cruise agency). My thinking is to give Explora a few more months to get their IT act together and than give them a call 🙂

Our last X cruise was in May of 2019. We are currently back to cruising over 70 days a year (will likely go over 100 days a year) but no X cruises on our radar. Given the right set of circumstances we will certainly be back. Just 2 weeks ago we deciced to book a late 2023 Caribbean cruise and we again looked at X as well as MSC, Princess, and Seabourn. We decided to book a mini-suite on Princess since it was a far better value than X and we do enjoy the Princess ships. To be very honest, our preference would have been to book MSC (Yacht club) but their itineraries were awful except for the usual visits to Ocean Cay. So lets put it all in perspective, value wise. If we had booked a Sky Suite on the Apex for 2 weeks it would have cost us somewhere around $15,000 (with all the nice amenities). A mini-suite on Princess will cost us about 1/2 of that price (with tons of amenities and lots of OBC). Even if we were to give extra points to X because of the Retreat benefits, there is just no way to justify twice the price! If we had booked 2 weeks in MSC's Yacht Club it would have cost approximately $9200. And the YC actually has a much nicer set of amenities than you get with the Retreat stuff. The Seabourn Quest would cost about the same price as the X Sky Suite...but that price does also include over $2000 in fees/taxes because of the Panama Canal tolls. We are Elite Plus on X and long time Elite on Princess so do have a good feel for both lines. There are some things better on X and some things better on Princess. We used to rate the food on X far superior to Princess. But no more. So how does one justify spending twice the price to go on the Apex? For us the decision to go on Princess was a no-brainer. Hank

If LLP has restored the previous included bottled water, in Aqua, then that is a plus. We have not given up on X and would book tomorrow if we found the right deal on the right itinerary. But, given the current pricing on the smaller suites (which we prefer) it is unlikely we would book X because we find better value on several other cruise lines. When it costs less, per person day, to cruise on lines like Celebrity, MSC's Yacht Club, or the new Explora Journeys than it does on X (in a Sky Suite or similar) our decision making is very simple. As to the AQ water thing breaking the camel's back (even camels need some water) that was just a very minor issue. What we found more disturbing was that the things that drove us to cruise Celebrity in the first place, very good cuisine, excellent service and decent entertainment, was no longer up to the standards we had always expected from X. As frequent cruisers, DW and I will admit to missing the S-Class ships and some wonderful friends we had made within the Celebrity family. Our history with X goes back to the Meridian but may have ended with our last X cruise. Kind of sad, but such is life. Hank

Hmm. Why not also go to the Lido, get your dinner, and bring it to the MDR! Enough of the excuses. You go to most restaurants and the waiter will stop at the table and ask if anyone wants to order a cocktail, glass of wine, etc. That is called dining! Happy dining,

There is some humor to these packages. A few years ago, shortly after LLP started her "death by a thousand cut-backs" we were in Aqua Class on a cruise. The 2nd or 3rd day we ran out of bottled water (was always included in AQ and simply the cheap plain bottled water) and ask our steward if he would replace our water. He got his supervisor who explained that the policy had just changed, and Aqua Class only included the 2 small bottles that were in the cabin on embarkation day. That was followed by an apology and explanation that the new policy "came from the top." Since we had the premium drink package, we simply asked for 2 bottles of Pelligrino whenever we left a bar to return to our cabin. We even used that Pelligrino to brush our teeth (it is quite nice) and drank a lot of the stuff instead of the cheap bottled water that USED to be included for Aqua. That was also the last Celebrity cruise we have taken since that voyage. We normally would have been on X for at least a month every year, but we replaced that with other lines (Seabourn, HAL, Princess, MSC Yacht Club, etc). All because LLP thought it was good business to take away a few cents of bottled water from AQ. For us, it had nothing to do with the cost of the Celebrity bottled water (it cost the company no more than 10 cents a bottle) but the principle. Yes, we could replace that previously supplied bottled water with all the bottled water we wanted..as long as we got it at a bar. And since we had to stop at a bar to get water, we would usually also get a glass of wine or a cocktail to take back to the cabin. So that cost cutting (by eliminating a 10 cent bottle) ended up costing X a lot more money for Pelligrino and quite a few extra glasses of wine. And we have talked to others who had a similar attitude. I get it...when cruise lines want to enhance their bottom line and think that cut-backs are a good path. But what looks good on a spreadsheet can often have unintended consequences. A company (like Celebrity) can spend decades building goodwill with their customers, but a CEO like LLP can throw away all that goodwill over a few minor things like a bottle of Celebrity water. Hank Hank

In your situation I would simply call HAL. The reservations clerks (who answer the phone) do have the ability to access the air options and if they cannot find a solution they can move you on to the real air experts (a third party company who handles Flightease). Even if you book through a cruise/travel agent, the HAL folks will help you with Flightlease issues. I do not buy the 200 day comment as Flightease is able to handle flights 330 days in advance (although it will usually default to 330 days from your debarkation date). If they told you 200 days I would call back and politely be asked to be connected to a Flightease expert. Also keep in mind that the best deals are usually capacity limited and contracts can change at any time. So a deal that was not there last week, might be available this week. Hank

Heavens no! And you would be missing a real treat which is to have lunch at Pasteis de Belem and enjoy their incredible pastries. Hank

Whenever I think of being in Portimao, by first thought is about having sardines for lunch :). I would also suggest not necessarily eating at the first place you see. Walk along the water (there is a nice promanade) to the far end of the town where you will spot a few cafe/restaurants near the water that will likely have signs about sardine specials. Yum. For those who have never had fresh sardines (and these are very fresh) it is a treat. Nothing like that stuff we used to get out of cans. Hank

I would need a wheelchair and a physical therapist after that tour, but the itinerary does sound fantastic for those that want to try and "do it all" on a port day. DW and I really enjoy that port (been there 4 times) and would also suggest that you want to be up on deck (or i a location with a good view of the bow and sides) for at least 1 1/2 hour before arrival and after departure. It is a very scenic area. Hank

I do not understand why it will take over 3 hours to begin debarkation, but we would certainly not dismiss the info from Princess. If you are booking through Princess EZAIR, and they permit the booking, then we might gamble. But if doing our own air, and Princess sticks to their 7:30 debarkation, there is no way. That would likely get you to the airport less than 2 hours before the flight, which is just not acceptable for an International flight. Too risky, Hank

We would want to know the hotels in question, before commenting 🙂 Hank

Agree with going to Taormina. No need to pay for a guide in that town, which is essentially two streets (at least for tourists). Within Taormina the Greco-Roman Amphitheater is a must and, otherwise, you just walk through the town, enjoy a nice lunch, and perhaps do some shopping. My only caution is that in the afternoon you will find that some shops/boutiques will close from about 1-4. Hank

We have seen fellow cruisers become totally exhausted on Med cruises while others join us nightly for relaxing late night cocktails, late shows, etc. The difference is that some of us have learned how to pace ourselves. The Med is a wonderful area (we think it is the best part of the world for cruising) and there is no way you can do it all. So you simply have to do your pre-cruise homework, be realistic on how much walking you can handle, and plan your days accordingly. There are some ports (Civitavecchia and Naples quickly come to mind) where most folks are going to have long port days and likely wear themselves out! But there are other ports (such as Kotor or Dubrovnik) where it is possible to plan a relatively relaxing day with a nice long lunch. One suggestion is to avoid the heart of the summer (July-Aug) when you are more likely to run into some very hot weather. Walking in a place like Pompeii can be a wonderful experience on a nice comfortable day. But that same walk on a hot, humid day in August can be awful. Hank

It was a promotion through Princess which I believe (not completely sure) was part of their Best Sale Ever. I simply spotted a post somewhere here on CC and, since we were planning to book a Princess cruise, I mentioned the promotion to our cruise agent and ask her to "check it out." Within 10 min she sent me an e-mail and said the upgrade (to Premiere) was already showing on our account. We later learned, from some other posts, that the promotion was limited to only certain cruises. Hank

I think the term "group discount" is somewhat misleading. These days, in most cases, the price you pay for a cruise will be the same whether it be with an agency or booking direct. The major differences happen with amenities, On Board Credits (OBCs), and with some agencies a post cruise rebate (essentially sharing of commissions/overrides, etc). There are also situations where a high volume agency will offer some of their own "adjustments" which can be further enhanced by stuff from the Consortium. Many bookers will not have a clue other than they get X and Y. We have one upcoming booking where we are getting a generous OBC from the cruise agency and an additional OBC directly from their consortium. This is not the norm, but it does happen and can be quite generous. So again, we go back to our recommendation (for many years) that shopping around among several reputable high volume cruise agencies can pay some big dividends (for time spent). I am not a personal fan of small agencies (especially one person agencies) for a whole host of reasons. But we do have friends who love their small agencies so that is one of those different strokes kind of thing. Many folks already understand that the skill and knowledge of agents varies in a very big way. Some folks might deal with an "outside agent" who has hardly any training, little knowledge of the cruise industry, and is simply working from home for a small commission given by their home agency. Other agents might be highly trained with various industry designations (ACC, MCC, etc) and have lots of valuable knowledge that they can pass on to their customers. We are always "all ears" when on cruises and enjoy hearing the booking ideas from other experienced cruisers/travelers. I have learned an awful lot from just sharing large tables on cruises, and DW and I have put that knowledge to work in our own trip planning. Not only has that knowledge saved us many thousands of dollars, but keeps giving us terrific ideas for more independent travel and cruises. Hank

I do think that Lenqixotte66 has it right. What some used to call "Group Cruise bookings" are not a common thing these days and has long been usurped by high volume cruise agency deals and often their related agency consortiums (something not often discussed on these boards). What does this mean for the cruise customer. That they should simply shop around among reputable high volume cruise agencies for the best overall deal. While a so-called group discount can happen for various size groups, there really is no advantage over what is done by these high volume agencies and their related consortiums. The whole concept of an agency booking "large blocks of cabins" has been generally replaced by consortiums (these are essentially large groups of cruise/ travel agencies) that use their volume clout to negotiate with cruise lines. These consortiums are truly a win-win-win for customer, agency and the cruise line. Many folks who deal with travel/cruise agencies are not even aware that their favorite agency might be a member of a large consortium such as the Signature Travel Network , Virtuoso, Nest, or other similar groups. The good consortiums not only give their members the advantage of a very high volume booking group, but they also provide some training to their member agencies/agents. Hank

No one size fits all answer. It varies because even the cruise line may not get a lot of notice about delays in the yard. And there is also the chance that one or more serious problems are found during an early "shake down" voyage which sends the ship back to the yard. We do have a very recent example although it is not with Princess. The new Explora I (from the new Explora Journeys Cruise LIne) was supposed to have its maiden voyage in May. But about 6 months ago, the cruise line became concerned the global logistical delays in deliveries would possibly cause last minute delays. So they cancelled nearly 2 months of voyages just to be safe and this was done about 7 months prior to inaugural. Those booked did get their money back as well as a generous Future Cruise Credit. Just keep in mind that unlike Princess (which is part of CCL who has a big problem with about $32 Billion of debt), Explora Journeys is backed by MSC which is a company with excellent cash flow and reasonable debt. Hank

Many long time cruisers (we have been at it for over 50 years) have learned to not only avoid inaugural voyages, but to also avoid new ships for a few weeks/months. The problem with inaugurals is that they are too often cancelled/postponed, you may well find yourself on a ship with many workmen still laying carpet, completing projects, some public rooms not open, etc. There is also the huge issue that it takes time for a crew to come together and work like a team. I still remember when DW and I took the inaugural (actually did back to back to back) of the Enchantment of the Seas back in July of 1997. During that first cruise (from Southampton) there were still workman all over the ship. large unpacked boxes of furniture, etc. By the third cruise, most of the boxes had actually been unpacked, but workman were still all over the ship. Carpet laying was an issue since (at least in those days) that does wonders for the air quality. The really sad thing about that first voyage (which was only 6 days) was that RCCL really did nothing special to celebrate. Why? Because they had already had a very short (I think it was 2 or 3 days) "pre inaugural" for some VIPs and travel professionals (this was unannounced). Although ours was the first voyage with paying passengers, I guess the company could care less. Hank

Another fall out from that incident is that Princess did a refit of all their ships and added both smoke detectors and sprinkler systems to all the balconies. Of course, this extra cost was passed on to all cruisers. Hank

I guess having gruel, 7 days a week would be fine if using your standard :). But some of us do think that if we are paying for caviar we should get caviar. And if paying for steak, but only getting dried out chicken might not be acceptable to some folks. Hank