mnocket

As I said, I guess people see things differently. What he actually said was... It's one of those over-priced trips pitched at people arriving on the ships for its novelty value, and at railway enthusiasts wanting to tick it off their bucket list. He was saying he felt it was being pitched for its novelty value (hard to argue it isn't novel) and to railway enthusiasts. I guess people who are attracted to things because they are novel are novelty seekers, but why do you see that as disparaging? People do things all of the time because they are novel - nothing wrong with that in my eyes. I don't think people who take the "polar plunge" on antarctica cruises do it because it feels good. They do it because it's novel. They do it to be able to say they did it. I certainly don't see people who do things because they are novel (i.e. novelty seekers) as "shallow and trivial", but to each their own.

Honestly, I don't think he said anything disparaging about anyone. I guess people just see things differently.

Our first visit to Montreal was this past September. I'm originally from NY and am always seeking out traditional NY delis in other cities. I didn't know about Schwartz, but will definitely stop by next time I'm there. One question.... I looked at the menu online and they simply list the sandwich as "smoked meat". It looks like corned beef, which is fine, but I wonder if that's really all they have (other than turkey and salami which is also listed)?

Shake away. I find money belts to be annoying. I'm a wallet in the front pocket kind of guy. I've never had a problem, but if I get nailed, I'll be the first to admit I probably should have listened to you🙂

Anytime you send cash to a stranger, especially one in another country, you are taking a risk. The best you can do is look for references and decide for yourself if the risk is worth it to you. Personally, I have no problem finding and booking tours from reputable companies that accept credit cards and offer full refunds for cancellation - right up till the day before the tour. Now if the tours you're looking at don't require you to send a cash deposit in advance, I guess the only real risk is that the tour may not happen or they may claim an inflated price once you show up. Maybe it's a common practice and perfectly normal, but I haven't gone that direction.

Well this certainly seems to be an area where MSC could make improvements. I'll venture to say that this happens often on embarkation days.

Because it wasn't perfect? Perfection is an aspiration that is rarely, if ever, achieved. Some critics will never give a perfect score as it's akin to saying "nothing could ever be better". Only a true pessimist could believe such a thing😄

Sometimes one must just accept that things are simply not the way one wishes they were. For whatever reason, cruise lines, including Regent, have decided that they will not enforce their "no reserving pool lounge" policies. This has been a problem for so long and there have been so many complaints about the issue. If they haven't decided to enforce their policy by now, it's very unlikely that they ever will. For the sake of one's blood pressure, this is a case where the adage to "accept the things one cannot change" comes into play. Or perhaps this is a more fitting quote... Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable. (Denis Waitley) Yes it's surrender, but sometimes surrendering to reality is the best course of action. Still, for those who are determined to continue the good fight - I wish you well🤞

I also thought you could likely skip the photo, but others posting here have said that it is required. Maybe a few others could chime in on this?

Windstar has some nice itineraries for Croatia. A big advantage is that these are very small ships, so unless there's a megaship in port, the crowds will be a bit better. Small ships aren't for everyone, but for this itinerary, I really like them. Here's one to look at, but there are many more... overview (windstarcruises.com)

For a Caribbean itinerary, I don't really need any hand holding and so I'd probably be inclined to book with discount TA, or if the savings weren't significant I'd book direct. jmho

I pretty much expect that cruise line excursions are going to be twice the cost of booking independently. There are times when I'm willing to pay that markup, but I typically do the research and book my own excursions.

I don't always book with a full-service TA, but I did for my upcoming AOV cruise to Antartica. The TA I chose was one who posts frequently on FB and is very knowledgeable about AOV. I didn't get a discount - that wasn't my motivation. AOV has earned a reputation for abysmal pre-cruise communication. For that cruise I wanted a TA who had personally done the cruise several times and could provide the type of pre-cruise guidance that AOV fails to deliver. I'm happy with my decision. For a different AOV itinerary, I probably would have gone another direction.

We stayed at the Borg in September. It is perfectly located and very nice. However, the day before boarding we were informed that our ship would not be docking at the pier that's right in town and easily walkable from the Borg, but instead would be docked at another pier several miles further from downtown. Just something for people making their own arrangements to be aware of.

Why hasn't this post put the matter to bed?

You seem pretty firm in your belief that cruise line call centers will negotiate prices. Why don't you give it a try and report back. I'm with those who think it's a lost cause, but I'm always willing to be proven wrong.

Yeah, ours took a bit longer, but nothing like the waits that people were reporting a while back. However, I'm kicking myself for not requesting the larger passport with more pages.

That's been my experience too. If I upload a photo, they ignore it at check-in and take their own photo. I think this is probably a case of out-of-touch back-office management thinking asking customers to upload photos is solving a real problem and saves the company money - when in reality, the front-line workers know it's far easier to just take a new photo. Taking the photo at check-in simply isn't a problem that needed solving. It's quick and it's easy. It's faster and easier than pulling up the photo the customer uploaded and checking its quality and framing and deciding if it's good enough. I know the business management trend is to look for opportunities to shift work from your employees to your customers, but it's not a one size fits all solution, and this is one of those cases where it benefits neither the company nor the customer. Unfortunately, the people who thought this was a good idea are unlikely to recognize this reality.

Not a very impressive looking invitation🙁

Does this other cruise line offer low price protection even after final payment?

As far as I'm aware, a low-price guarantee that extends past final payment simply doesn't exist on any cruise line. Switching to another cruise line will not make you less vulnerable to this reoccurring in the future. So that leaves you, and everyone, with a choice... A) Book early. Watch for price improvements up until final payment. Realize that you will miss out on any last minute booking deals that may occur. B) Wait to book in hopes that there will be last minute deals offered after the final payment date. Realize that no such deals may be offered, you may wind up paying more than if you booked early and you may not have a good selection of cabins, excursions, etc. Whenever one has a choice, there's always the possibility that time will show that the wrong choice was made. That happened to you in this case. It happens. You could have waited to see if last minute deals were offered. You didn't. I don't either, and sometimes I miss out on last minute price reductions. However, given that I don't live within driving distance to the ports, I care about having a good choice of cabins, I don't want to book my airfare at the last minute when prices often rise, I don't want to find the most popular excursions already booked, etc... I find the risk of waiting is greater than the reward. Lamenting that low-price guarantees aren't offered past final payment is perhaps understandable, but ultimately pointless.

Wow, thanks👍 That is great news!

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I had a brain fart. We are sailing on the Wind Spirit not the Wind Surf as I said. So it's the drydock schedule for the Wind Spirit that I'm interested in.

Has anyone studied the cruise schedules to find gaps that may indicate when each ship will be in drydock? I just booked a cruise aboard the Wind Surf for September '25. Just curious as to whether improvements will be made prior to that time.

I've pretty much reset my expectations regarding food on any cruise line. I took my first Windstar cruise in September and I found the food to be acceptable, but it did not come close to matching the rave reviews I've read on this forum. On a related note... I also found the Windstar passengers to be a nice group, but VERY loyal to the cruise line. A surprising number cruised only on Windstar and this no doubt narrowed their perspective and basis for comparison. I then took my first cruise on Regent in December (yes, I'm one of those who is stepping up from Celebrity, Princess, etc.). Once again, while perfectly fine, the food didn't really live up to the high expectations that had been set by posters on the Regent forum. And once again, I found many passengers to be VERY loyal to Regent, although a greater percentage did sail some other luxury lines. I've come away from this foray into higher-end cruise lines with the impression that although reviewers will often speak in superlatives about the food - even comparing it to fine dining at land-based restaurants, it should all be taken with a grain of salt. As I've said, I've reset my expectations. I expect good, sometimes very good, dining when cruising, but not something that rivals fine dining on land. Service, lack of crowds and itinerary now drive my choice of cruise lines. I've just booked a 17-night cruise aboard the Wind Spirit🙂