Hlitner

Will absolutely have more kids/teens. It is that time of the year (even on the West Coast) and folks are coming back to cruising. HAL still has a decent presence on the West Coast, without the incredible competition that exists in the Florida market. We have long posted that if folks do not want to be surrounded with tons of kids/teens, do not take a short cruise (10 days or less) during spring break months. Hank

We discovered MSC's Yacht Club about 6 years ago when the Divina came to Miami. The first time we tried the YC it completely blew us away and we posted that it was the best value in the entire cruise industry. At the time the YC cost about $300 PP/day and this was all-inclusive (except for tips). We thought the YC was a true luxury cruise experience within a mass market vessel. These days it costs at least $400 pp/day and we still think it is one of the true values in the travel industry. As to cuisine, we recently cruised on the new Explora Journey 1 (Explora Journeys Cruise Lines) and that luxury ship had the best cuisine (by far) that we have ever experienced in 50 years of extensive cruising (on 17 lines). Seabourn also remains a terrific value if one can find a cruise for about $500 per person/day. While that sounds very expensive one should consider it is on a luxury line with a space ratio of about 70:1 and the price is truly all-inclusive. We once spent a month on a Seabourn cruise and debarked with an onboard bill of zero! That line includes everything except excursions. The first time we cruised on Seabourn I recall my first evening in their Observation Lounge when I asked the bar tender to please order me a double order of caviar. About 15 minutes later a waiter came over to my bar seat with a large platter with a huge helping of delicious caviar surrounded by all the usual fixens (blini, egg, onion, sour cream, etc). I washed that down with a nice glass of French Champagne...and of course there was no extra charge. Hank

We would not call ourselves "fans" of any mass market line, but have done over 30 cruises on Princess and more than 20 on Celebrity. We stopped cruising on Celebrity after LLP took over the helm (she was recently "retired") and started a series of cut-backs along with cost increases. That being said, we have always considered Princess and Celebrity more similar than not. Each line (and the various classes of ships) do have their pros and cons. We do have some interest in trying one of the "Retreat" suites on Celebrity's Edge Class, but they have always been priced out of our interest since we can cruise on Seabourn for less total money per person/day. A few years ago, many (including us) considered Celebrity to have the best cuisine of all the mass market lines. But after all the cut-backs that would no longer seem to be the case. Hank

Agree. NCL was my first cruise line (Sunward II) and remained our go to line for much of the 70s. The last time we cruised on the line was when they still had the Norway (the old France) which was an amazing vessel. When NCL decided to cheapen their product and promote the "Freestyle" thing, they lost us to RCI, Princess, Sitmar, and Celebrity. Now, even though we have cruised on 16 different lines since our NCL days, we have never returned,,,although we have some interest in trying their Haven Suites. Hank

Count us among those who really enjoy the interior of Sagrada Familia. DW and I first visited that place over thirty years ago, and it has been fascinating to return again and again to see the progress. While some project it will be finished in 2026, that remains to be seen (and we are skeptical). The first stones were laid in 1882, so more delays would not shock anyone :). Hank

A taxi has always made sense if you share with 4 (or more). But, the problem with taxis (and the cruise line shuttle buses) can be very long queues which is where that T3 bus or a very long walk do come into play :). We always suggest that folks know their options and then make decisions "on the fly" as warranted by the current situation. We have met folks who waited over an hour for a cruise line shuttle bus, and this is a lousy way to spend part of one's day. Hank

A few related things about "tickets" in Europe. Unlike here in the USA, most speeding tickets (and ZTL violations in Italy) are handled by cameras (some hidden and some well known). If you get nailed by a speed camera (it recently happened to me in the Czech Republic) you will not even no for many weeks (or months). Speeding tickets are generally handled by your rental car company who must pay the fine (usually under 100 Euros). The rental car agencies will later charge your credit card, add their administrative fee (usually about 25 Euros) and send you some kind of notice. End of problem, and other than losing some money it is not a hassle. But parking tickets can be very interesting and varies between countries and even places within a country. We used to laugh that we could paper a bathroom wall with all of our Italian parking tickets. In many cases, these will not be handled by the rental car company so we have no clue how many we have received and never paid. But in one case, we got a parking ticket at a small commune in Chianti. We saw the police leaving our car as we were returning from a market and that ticket quickly became more trash. A few months after we got home, we received a Registered Letter from that small Italian commune. The letter, written in Italian, explained the parking ticket and demanded payment in Euros! I recall that the postage to get that letter to us was nearly 20 Euros (which they paid). We kept it for a souvenir, and it generated some laughs at parties. To this day we joke that we will get locked up when we return to Italy (it will not happen as even many Italians do not pay parking tickets). I do not know how ZTL violations are handled (we have never had one) but assume it is also processed by the rental car companies which means an extra admin fee. My advice with Italian ZTLs (only found in cities and some larger towns) is to do your pre-trip homework. You can find ZTL maps online and many of them are in obvious places such as much of central Rome and Florence. There is also a tricky ZTL around Pisa's Field of Miracles which can be avoided if one is aware. Hank

This is the kind of issue that is easily handled by a decent (emphasis on "decent") cruise agent. I know, for example, that one of our two favored cruise agents, routinely handles lots of HAL bookings (including when we have booked HAL). When she calls HAL, it will usually be to discuss multiple bookings (from various clients) and she speaks to different HAL staff then PCCs and the reservations clerks who handle individuals who call the toll free number. For those not familiar with working with good cruise agents here is how this would work. If I spotted a significant price drop (I do not bother with small drops) I simply send an e-mail to my cruise agent, mention the booking #, that a saw a price drop, and would she please check it out. If I have special amenities or Club Orange with the current booking, I will mention to the agent that I want to maintain those amenities (which includes CO). She will usually get back to me within a few hours and explain whether she did reprice and if there were any issues. All very simple (for me) and it takes less than 1 minute to send that e-mail. While I am pretty good with dealing with cruise issues, my agents are true professionals (with various industry designations like MCC, CT, etc). There are times when using a professional does result in benefits. Hank

Don't confuse RAM with storage. For example, the latest iPhone 15 only has 6megs of RAM. My iPhone SE (2nd Edition) only has 3 Megs of Ram and can easily handle nearly any app including the Princess stuff.

For us, it does get a bit complicated since we usually have multiple bookings with different cruise lines. In our case, we have a couple of excellent cruise agents (that handle all cruise lines) so its just a matter of sending a quick/short e-mail to our agent asking her to look into the options, We usually will hear back within a few hours and either of our favored agents will lay out all the options along with her suggestion. Since we generally take longer cruises they also can involve the option of whether to book under a single booking number (i.e. one long voyage) or multiple booking numbers (back to back to back, etc). Our agents also look at those options since it can make a big difference on longer voyages. Hank

I do find "one cruise wonders" posts quite interesting. Am all for folks posting their experiences/opinions and we find it fascinating to read conclusions based on a single experience on a single line. Also fun to read Heidi's posts about the ole days on various vessels. As we have previously posted, having done dozens of both TAs and Trans Pacifics, we are truly addicted to the longer cruises with lots of lazy sea days. But at this point of our life we do avoid the ships that still have "hairy chest competitions," diving for spoons, etc :). My ideal cruise would be 10+ consecutive days at sea without a single PA announcement 🙂 Hank

When it comes to price drops, it is incumbent on the cruiser to constantly monitor pricing (on HAL's web site or a cruise agency web site) and promotions. If you see a significant drop (or positive change in amenities) contact your PCC, cruise agent, etc. and ask about getting your reservation "rerpriced." While some agents will give their clients a "heads up" regarding changes, most will simply depend on the customer (that would be you) to inform them of changes. I should add that since DW and I usually have 5 or 6 cruise bookings (often with 5 or 6 different cruise lines) I spend about a half hour, twice a week, checking on the various bookings for price/amenity changes. It is not only a "labor of love" but will often save us thousands of dollars every year. Hank

The OP needs to cognizant that there are dozens of cruise lines, and each does their "own thing" when it comes to activities. Lines like Disney and Carnival has lots of daily activities where other lines (especially the high end luxury lines) have few daytime activities. Hank

For those in the USA, using a major credit card comes with various protections (from both Federal Law and the credit card company) that you do not get with a cash transaction. Also consider that with some credit cards (especially the higher end affinity cards) using a credit card can get you valuable points (to be used for other things) and various insurance coverage. For example, the Chase Saphire Cards (both Preferred and Reserve) can get you up to $10,000 pp in cancelation insurance/interruption insurance, medical evacuation, etc.

Always good to have a knowledgeable sounding board. in our case, we became interested in EJ as soon as the concept was announced, because of our high opinion of MSC's Yacht Club. Like many, we assumed that EJ would be some kind of extension of the YC in terms of service (2nd to none) and concept. The reality is that there is nothing similar between the YC and EJ except that they have common ownership. We do think that EJ will have a good future, but it will need to make some changes. A good friend (who only cruises on luxury lines) asked us our opinion of EJ, and my quick answer was "it is not ready for Prime Time." I cannot help but wonder how many cruisers are truly impressed by a line that boasts (3 Steinways per ship) without having a single bottle of Rye :). Hank

You are living in a "dream" world. Yes, those of us who have cruised on EJ1 during its first 6 months, had the extra benefit of a ship that was well under capacity. But Explora (and its MSC owners) were not born yesterday and are already taking steps to fill their ships. They have done this by temporarily changing itineraries away from North America (where they have failed to properly market). It is likely that future cruises on both EJ1 and EJ2 will be close to capacity as proven by the latest "sale" which heralds a big change in EJ's attitude. Their earlier statements that they would rather operate below capacity than compromise with "sales" has already proven to be a myth. They have obviously determined that they cannot sell enough berths at their normal pricing, so it will be interesting to see if "cost cutting" becomes their next internal "strategy." What will those ships be like with over 800? None of us can be sure, but it will certainly mean more difficulty getting reservations for Sakura and Marble, and some waiting times for both Fil Rouge and the Med Yacht Club. The days when DW and I could simply walk into the Conservatory and grab perfectly located loungers will also come to an end. We spent a lot of relaxing time in the Conservatory, and the place was generally empty (during our 18 day cruise) because our ship was only at 25% of capacity. That is going to change. Nearly half the furniture in the Conservatory is uncomfortable (but it looks good) and remained completely unused during our cruise. An indoor pool area with fewer than 30 loungers (for 900 cruisers), Why in the world do they have so much wasted lounging space in the Med Yacht Club when they could have easily put in another dozen dining tables (and mitigated queues when the ship is near capacity)? We were truly blown away by the amazing interior design of EJ1, but DW expressed it best when she wondered if they had put design over substance. We need to make a decision (probably today) on whether to book a future European cruise on EJ1 or the Seabourn Encore. The price is similar, and we are familiar with both vessels and lines. Weighing the pros/cons the only advantage I can give EJ is the cuisine. Everything else favors Seabourn. Just a simple thing like wanting a drink with Rye Whiskey (they had none on EJ1) or having some decent Cognac (included) or perhaps a large selection of included single malts, is enough to point me towards SB. Hank

We can agree to disagree. When it comes to cruise vacations, many folks want the "hand holding" that only comes from dealing person to person. And even many frequent cruisers (such as myself) want to have some personal business relationship with an "advocate who has clout" vs dealing direct with a cruise line or doing everything online. In fact, I do nearly all our bookings online through one of our two favored cruise agencies. Both those agencies kick back 7-10% of the cruise fare in OBCs and/or other perks that I would not get by booking directly with a cruise line (be it online or through a PCC). What sometimes get forgotten is that many of us spend a lot of money on cruises. In fact, some cruise bookings can cost over $250,000 for a single booking! Yes, that is the exception, but spending $10,000+ is not unusual. For most of us, that is a major expense, and it is very nice to have an expert/advocate when there are "issues." I do agree that more and more bookings will be done online, but a high percentage of those will still be through various travel/cruise agencies who provide extras. Why on earth should folks pay an extra 5-10% for the "privilege" of booking directly with a cruise line. We sometimes like to compare booking direct with the person who buys a new car at full sticker price or who would buy real estate online. We will likely book another luxury cruise today! I will do that online, but it will be done through a cruise line online site (linked directly to the cruise line) and it will get me over $1500 in On Board Credit that I would not get if I booked (online or via the phone) with the cruise agency. My cruise agency is closed on Sunday, so sometime in the next few days I will send a follow-up e-mail to one of my favorite cruise agents (who works for the agency I use) giving her a heads-up about the new booking. From that point she will serve as my "advocate," will handle any questions/issues, and take care of "repricing" (if the cruise price were to drop) or any cabin change. That will generally be done via a quick e-mail with no wasted time (on my part) waiting on the phone and/or trying to get to an employee who has a clue. Hank

We have $1910 OBC for an upcoming 2 week Princess cruise in a lowly mini-suite. As to Celebrity, we gave up on the line when LLP started her "death by a thousand cut-backs" (my words) plus big price increases. Bottom line for us was that it made more sense to generally cruise on luxury and premium lines with a occasional mass market cruise. So called Sales and Promotions mean little to us, since those are simply words, We look at the adjusted real cost per person/day which makes it easy for us to compare various cruise lines. Hank

When we cruise out of Port Everglades, we always have a wonderful lobster dinner. It is at Kelly's Landing the night before we board the ship :). I generally get a 2 1/2 pound Maine Lobster and DW enjoys her lobster roll. Hank

Two reasonably priced options. The train or the Flixbus. Once at Le Havre it is a short taxi ride to the port or a pre-cruise hotel. Also keep in mind that the trains all depart from the St-Lazare Station and you would probably need a taxi to that station and than have to hike through the large station and to the tracks, dragging your own luggage. You also need to get your own luggage on and off trains. Hank

You got me thinking back to the early 80s, and I recall men needing to wear a jacket in the MDR on formal nights, but also do not recall anyone enforcing a tie requirement. At one time, we recall some cruise lines actually having some extra jackets at the door, for men to borrow if they did not have a jacket. I cannot recall if this happened on Celebrity or Princess (after 17 cruise lines they all run together). Hank

That is limited to emergency and urgent care (with most plans). Like most foreign coverage, the patient will need to pay their own bills (generally prior to discharge) and later seek reimbursement. Patients (and their representatives) need to be very careful to seek the maximum available documents prior to leaving a facility. When DW was treated in Japan, we left with nearly 50 pages of documentation including x-rays. CT Scans, photos, etc. All this was very helpful when we later submitted our claims (in our case GeoBlue was Primary and we never used our Medicare Advantage coverage). Hank

If you are the type traveler that prefers to take large group excursions (i.e. being put onto a large bus) than you should certainly consider going to Nice and/or Monte Carlo. But you do have other options, which are generally going to save you significant money and give you more flexibility For Nice/Monoco you will likely port at Villefranche sur Mer which is a tender port. That means you will need to deal with the tender process which is a reason some folks prefer to do a cruise ship excursion. If you go ashore on your own, there are regional public buses (the cost to Nice or Monte Carlo is about 2.50 Euros per person) and also trains (the line goes to Nice or Monte Carlo, which are opposite directions on the same train line). The train station in Villefranche is within easy walking distance of the tender pier, but does involve a long stairway up the hill. Trains cost more than the regional buses and the train stations in Nice and Monte Carlo are not as conveniently located as the bus stops. As to Santa Margherita, much would depend on where you dock/tender. I suggest you take a good look at all the offered cruise line excursions to give you a good idea of what can reasonably be done during that port day. While some folks are happy to spend their port day in Santa Margherita, many others will want to visit Portofino (a picturesque place with not a lot to do other than shop, eat, and perhaps take a very long walk). Hank

There is a general "rule" that seems to be consistent throughout the cruise industry. Most cruise lines have two types of main theater shows which are categorized as "production shows' and "guest entertainers." On a majority of lines that have "production shows" they are done by an in-house group of singers/dancers that will be aboard for many months. These folks have a limited repertoire (usually about 3-5 shows) and those aboard for multiple segments will generally have some repeat performances. The other type of entertainment (Guest Entertainers) is a mixed bag. These folks will often have contracts that have them moving around from ship to ship (sometimes with multiple cruise lines). While it is possible to get repeats of Guest Entertainers (who will often stay aboard long enough to perform two different shows) it is more likely that the Guest Entertainers will vary. We bave some friends who are long-time cruise ship "guest entertainers" and they lead an interesting life when on the road working ships. I should add that some lecturers (especially those who have proven popular with passengers) will also sometimes move around among ships/cruise lines. On lines that have lecturer programs, frequent cruisers may run into the same lecturer (and lecture series) again and again, Hank

We often do guarantees (been doing this for decades), but there are a few tricks of the trade :). When you book a guarantee, do so with the idea that you might get the least popular location in the very category that you book the guarantee. Upgrades are NOT guaranteed and do not always happen. That being said, your odds of getting an upgrade are greater, with a guarantee, than if you choose a specific available cabin/suite. We do not generally book a guarantee in the lowest category cabin since those often have too many awful locations (such as night owl cabins located under or near a late night public venue). But when we are booking on some ships or cruise lines (Seabourn quickly comes to mind) when they have lots of different categories of the same type cabin (such as balcony cabins) and the locations are all OK (for us) than we often do a guarantee. DW and I are not choosy about our cabin location, could care less about being near the center of the ship (we do not concern ourselves with ship movement or being seasick). We actually prefer cabins towards the bow (the least popular with many folks) and dislike rear facing cabins (very popular and unlikely to be assigned with a guarantee). One poster asks why cruise lines do guarantees, and these days it works to the cruise line's benefit. Many folks play games with their cabins/suites and will ask to have their locations changed or get involved in the newer "bidding schemes" where they are willing to pay for upgrades (called an upsell). As folks move around (usually inside the final payment period) their original cabins become vacant and will often get assigned to those of us who do guarantees. Ironically, these are often very good locations. I should mention that some cruise lines are better than others when it comes to free upgrades to those who do guarantees. Probably the best (for us) has been Seabourn where we often do a category V2 (a normal suite in less popular locations towards the bow) and almost always get an upgrade to a V3, V4 or V5 (similar suites in more popular locations). And finally, the odds of getting a free upgrade to a treasured large suite is not likely these days (although it can happen). With many lines now having a "bidding program" the really nice unbooked suites will generally go to folks willing to pay extra money (through the bidding process) for an upsell. Hank