suech1970

Curacao….love going to pig beach to spend the day snorkelling. We just catch taxi from port, $120 return for 4 people, up to Playa Porto Marie beach. Beach entry and chair $6.50 pp and snorkel hire $10 from bar. Easy and excellent snorkelling, beach shoes useful btw. Great chilled beach with good facilities and pigs. Much cheaper and less crowded than any ship excursion. Irie tours are also great right from the port on Curcao.

We’re doing Celebrity Beyond, 10 nights, Southern Caribbean Feb 2025. If you’re travelling from UK, a 7 nighter is a bit short, unless you’re looking for a back to back. But you could always add on a couple of days in Miami or fort Lauderdale. It’s probably got the perfect itinerary for us, St. Marteen, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Antigua. Plenty of beaches, shopping, snorkelling, sightseeing to be had in all. It’ll be our 1st time on an Edge class ship, previous have been smaller older ships, but loved em all. We also love the ABC islands, which are slightly harder to find on itineraries but Marella cruises do them. Advantage with Marella is that they fly straight into Barbados, so there are less sea days, plus it’s an all inclusive. We’ve done a few with them and really like them but Celebrity is a step up in class, for sure. You could also look at Norweigan, they have some very good itineraries, we are big fans of them too. They usually sail out of Miami, but wouldn’t recommend going out of the Dom Rep. The great thing about the Caribbean islands is the easiness of just getting off the ship and picking up an island tour or beach transfer with local drivers. We're not into ship excursions, unless time on shore is very limited, expensive and herded about like sheep. Highly recommend Harbour Lights on Barbados. That’s our usual hangout but this time took their Chair & Snorkel this year for $35 pp. We had 2 snorkel sites and were the only 2 people on the boat, so had the max time in the water. It was like our own personal charter😆

Thanks, I’ll await your update, I’ll take any tips too😉 Enjoy your cruise! I thought that may have been the case after watching a Disney cruise vlog. They had the old units in bathroom but also new one in cabin. I’d rather take my own than use that old knacker😆 Obviously our 1st time on Sun but only sailed Jewel class and Sky previously. The size of those ships really suits us and it’s always the itinerary that determines our ship. Thanks both 😁

Anyone sailed on Sun recently?…Do they only have the useless hairdryer in the bathroom to use or is a decent one supplied in main cabin? Cheers All 😁

Yep, that’s pretty much how this month has been. So if UK on your hit list, take KKB’s advice and bring waterproof layers 😆

Yeh, rumour has it we did have some nice days back in April, we were in the Caribbean so missed them😆 But seriously, we do have some amazing places to see in the UK and some Cornish beaches easily rival the Caribbean, just can’t guarantee the weather unfortunately 😫

Have you seen our weather lately 🥶⚡️🌤⛈🌧💨🌧💨☔️ 🤣🤣🤣

Thank you all for these posts, learnt so much😁 I have just one question…we are 1st time Platinum for our next cruise, with 1 FAS speciality dining but are travelling with friends who are 1st timers on NCL. Can I make reservations in the specialty dining restaurants for all 4 of us in advance??

We’re sailing the Sun Fiji to Tahiti Sept 2025. I was looking at independent excursions for ports and came across the limitations on Bora Bora on CC Ports of Call, Pacific islands. I did read from newspaper reports that it had been passed by the government but then reversed it. Of course I can’t find the link now🙄. If they don’t change the itinerary, which NCL have done on us 3 times on other cruises, maybe they will limit amount of passengers going ashore? Perhaps only people on ship excursions allowed off? Wouldn’t put that passed them$$$$$$. If they change it it will probably be after the balance due date, I guess. This itinerary was a complete bucket list ticker for us, so if Bora Bora cancelled, we’ll be disappointed but it won’t be the end of the world. There are plenty of other stunning islands on the itinerary but if it’s a deal breaker for you, I wouldn’t trust any cruise line, Mother Nature can be a 🤬, you just never know.

A cruise is a great way to get snippets of Europe and no doubt you’ll find places that you’ll want to return to to spend more time. We discovered Malta and have been back several times for holidays since, highly recommend! Ports are definitely a personal taste, people rave about the Fjords, but they hold little appeal for me atm. So when you’ve narrowed Europe down a little, look to see what appeals to you in and around the ports. Some ports are quite a distance from the landmarks that they advertise, Rome, Pisa, Paris etc. We loved our Celebrity Med cruise, Oct last year, a great mix of people from all over the world made for an even better cruise. NCL also has great itineraries around Europe. Try to avoid July, Aug for Mediterranean though. Too many ships in one port can totally spoil a beautiful port.

Gem was our first NCL, we loved her!

Sideways….You can lie in bed and look out of window? I’ve looked at them a few times, but never booked, personally I think they do look bigger but usually same sq footage as regular. The Free at Sea drinks package includes any drink, apart from specialty coffees, up to $15. So yes😁

Did you know that drinks purchased on board or within US waters, regardless of drinks package are applicable to state tax. (PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong) Not everyone is aware, as we weren’t before we sailed out of Miami the first time and had hammered the drinks package before we sailed. No big thing for a day but I guess it all mounts up if you are in a US port every day. I’d still do the FAS though🍸🥃🍻🍷🥂😉

Absolutely a kitchen!

Not sure if you’re meaning the Mediterranean by Europe cruise, if you are and you can, avoid July / August if possible. Temperatures get stupid for sightseeing and won’t get the best experience with multiple ships in port. Try June, Sept or Oct. Weather and crowds much more tolerable plus a little cheaper. I was in the market for Med cruise next year and even from here in the UK the prices are just crazy, so we’re of to the South Pacific 😆

Sept 2025 NCL Sun Fiji to Tahiti and a lot in between🥳

We are disembarking that cruise on 17th and have to over night at hotel for very long flight home. So yeh it’s all about the flights. We’ve had to fly out 30 aug to make cruise on 3rd Sept with scheduled flights, the time difference is disturbing🤪 Glad I’m leaving flights to our TA!

Cabin reviews right here on CC if you look for your specific ship, both Editor and passenger reviews. Best and obvious advice is to use the ships deck plans and pick one that has cabin decks above and below and on both sides. Avoid anything below lido/pool decks, MDR and Buffets and the large white areas, which could be kitchens, crew areas and anything under or above a bar/nighclub. Personally I find cabin decks at the aft the quietest, away from lift with little footfall.

Celebrity’s French Onion Soup is the BEST at sea!! A must try 😋

That’s great info to be going on with, thank you😁 Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Enjoyed reading your cruise very much, just booked 14 nights on Sun for South Pacific next year😁 Would appreciate your recommendations and details of 3rd party excursions on the islands you visited, when you get chance. I’m not one for ships excursions either. just one random question, can you legally bring vanilla back with you from the farm? Thinking my cakes could do with a real kick😋

Just booked our 7th NCL cruise to South Pacific and like so many others, it’s not the ship it’s the itinerary. Also turns out we’ve bagged some cracking cruises after NCL cancellations and “redeployments”. About to take our 3rd sailing on Sky, guess age means nothing to us. I quite like a creaky ship, feels like the the ships got a bit of character and gives you the feeling of actually being at sea😁

🥳🥳🥳🥳😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰 Superb pictures, did a GREAT job for me. I’ve just woke up, what a great way to start my day. BIG thanks 81Zoomie😁

🥳🥳🥳 maybe when he’s finished the officers v passengers pool volleyball game?😍

So enjoying reading these posts, big thanks 😁 I’m very jealous to see Giuseppe is your CD plus he’s doing the The Naughty List tonight! Our most memorable night with him by far! Totally adult only entertainment but I’ve never ever seen my mother in law laugh so hard😂 Any pictures of that crazy Sicilian will be gratefully appreciated 😉