KmomChicago

Sounds wonderful, please let us know the scoop after you sail!

I agree with just about everything here. Having sailed Disney (as a cast member, well over 20 years ago), I do realize it's very nice. And the shows aboard were nothing like anywhere else at sea. And the food was excellent. On the other hand, I was a disneyphile for much of my life but have now worked most of that out of my system, and my family is ambivalent about it. As for Carnival, I think 4x in a year was definitely max capacity for me as well. On top of that, for Alaska, they are not actually usually the cheapest or even close to being the cheapest, plus they don't do the one ways at all that we want. I am good to try something else.

Very helpful! There is one Celebrity ship doing the route we want. I’m considering Seattle to Vancouver round trip because we want to begin or end up near Anchorage but obviously I’m not exactly correct there. I do like the idea of trying something different in any case but want to enjoy it.

just noticed the upcoming friends of bella cruise. Is that a John and LaLa thing? I’ve been away from the RCI boards a while.

Do you find food and entertainment as good on NCL small ships as new ones?

So how was that smaller NCL entertainment (and everything else) experience?

Any idea about evening entertainment on NCL older snd smaller ships? Because no B or B+ ships going to Alaska one way for NCL. They are definitely in the running.

How did you enjoy Princess?

So what happened on Halloween?

Hello @ilovesparky13. A few months have passed and we’re looking at a one way Alaska cruise next spring/summer 2024 and Carnival only does the round trip. Our party plans to do Alaska just this once so the itinerary is taking precedence over the ship choice. I certainly would have kept them on the short list.

@AQW if you are still out there, your NCL Alaska cruise is now getting closer and I would like details. I am just starting the planning process for an Alaska cruise for May 2024, and my party wants to do a one way itinerary with days on our own in Alaska for 3-4 nights before or after the cruise, preferably before so we can wear ourselves out and then relax on the ship. The one-way itineraries really limit your ship/line options and eliminates Carnival entirely, which is perfectly fine. Being me, Kmom, the ultimate overthinker, I'm all over the place on what to choose, but anyway both NCL and RCI have a couple of ships doing this route. Other options will be Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and the prices are not much different among them. This could be that chance to branch out as NCL is the only line I have sailed. However as they are all smaller ships, around 100k tons or less, I don’t know if it will be very representative of the current situation for any of those.

Yes this is a big deal as the resort fees are enormously vexing and weeknight rates at the lower end Vegas resorts are sometimes actually less than the daily resort fee. I have MGM Gold (from a status match from my World of Hyatt membership) and I have been making out very well at MGM properties in Las Vegas, have now saved hundreds of dollars in resort fees and parking fees on rooms that were also partly comped. Very worth it if you visit Vegas. . . and I really love that MGM has a full spread of quality levels from their cheapo Excalibur (which IMHO is actually a cool place) up to much nicer places like Aria, Mandalay Bay, and Bellagio and I assume Cosmo eventually.

We also were getting disappointed with Playlist - having sailed Triumph when they were one of the last Carnival ships with the live orchestra and more elaborate production shows, the smaller cast and recorded music just didn't compare. I felt on Mardi Gras in 2021 that the performers were competent but the costumes and backdrops and the shows themselves were dull and flat. However, on our three most recent Carnival cruises, I did see improvement. They have added some live musicians - i.e. like a guitarist and a drummer, not a full orchestra, but it did add to the show - and some interesting little lighted drones, along with more creativity overall in the themes of what they were providing. On the other hand, I am pretty much done with the Punchliner. I'm finding the material just not very funny / maybe I am an old grump and just don't get the jokes. 🙂

Thanks for the response. I did a live review from the second sailing of Mardi Gras and we enjoyed one of our best cruises ever. If they send an Excel class ship to Alaska we’ll certainly add it to the short list.

Everything you describe sounds good to us. We like RCI's entertainment and their largest ships, but overall we find Carnival to be a solid value. . . however, we are early birds so having the entertainment close down by 9 or 10 is fine for us. We really like good production shows and Playlist on Carnival is hit or miss and not really blowing us away anymore, and I am finding the Punchliner comedians less funny over time so feeling open to considering other options. We really enjoy daytime enrichment activities on Carnival which are mostly trivia or silly games, but I think we would be ready to switch that up with some of the educational talks and sure, maybe ballroom dance class, why not? We are just now considering an Alaska cruise for 2024 and I was leaning toward RCI since they sail a Quantum class on that run, though I know Princess really specializes in Alaska, and has the rights to the best scenic routes. You've got me thinking to put them back in contention.

Hartford (Bradley International) is a small airport. Looks like Frontier is the only airline with a daytime flight at all to San Juan. . . JetBlue does them but looks like later in the day so you are back to the overnight in the port departure city again. In fact it looks like morning flights are in short supply at that airport across the board. So the answer is, no, there is no earlier flight to San Juan direct from Hartford each day and this is the only flight remotely possible to avoid the overnight. Larger airports would have more options, certainly. Logan in Boston is less than a 2 hour drive from Hartford and LaGuardia is just a bit over that, but I am sure it's a miserable drive to either, and anyway with the weather issues at that time of year, if it were me, I would just suck it up with the flight the night before in exchange for the massive convenience of using an airport right near the house, not have to park for days at the airport at an extra cost, not having that additional stress, not having to get back on the road when you land after it's all over, etc. (we are far enough from Chicago that getting to either airport is a significant extra stressor on top of any cruise).

Hi, Arctickitty. Hope you are well also! Everything is good here; my job is pretty great, my family and I have a lot of non-cruise travel coming up in the next six months and I am very busy at the rescue in my spare time; it's really my only hobby and I get much more out of it than I put in. I don't visit CC regularly when I am not actively cruising either. I logged in to mention Fighter because a few folks were so kind and invested with me in his wellbeing. He had a great last day. It was unseasonably beautiful weather, he had been given extra pain meds, and he briefly ran around outdoors, enjoying himself and acting like a young healthy kitty. It was brutal to take him and hold him and watch him fall asleep and stay that way, and yet I am grateful to have been with him. I am getting better with our hospice kitties, at waiting to grieve until after they are gone, rather than each time I think about what's to come. With Fighter, I was stronger than usual through the procedure but I woke up crying the next morning and I'm doing it again now writing this.

Fighter held on almost another four months. RIP November 22, 2022. Today at the farm before our ride over to the vet.

Fighter held on almost four more months and his large wound healed, but recently he lost significant weight and his overall skin condition continued to deteriorate. I took him to his final vet visit today after giving him a sponge bath and a nice long brushing session, then taking him outdoors at the equestrian farm to smell fresh air, feel the breeze, and see the sunshine. Later I held him as he fell asleep peacefully. RIP sweet little man, November 22, 2022. He came to us terminally ill with advanced Feline Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 18 months ago in May, 2021. He has had some chronic symptoms the entire time but with a lot of loving attention and medication, he has shown a desire to carry on. That spark has been fading but not quite extinguished, making the timing of the decision difficult but ultimately the best for our Fighter Cat. I am grateful to have been there with him. They say the only thing cats leave in their will is their human’s love, to another kitty who needs it as they did. And we have plenty of others to receive this bequest.

I agree with this prediction. Spirit class needs a significant refurbishment nearing the Sunshine treatment. They are not in very good condition and the cosmetics are tired, but the designs are pretty great, they have a low ratio of interior cabins and a very high ratio of balconies.

Wow what a perfect memory!

I can’t imagine leaving free cheap hooch behind!

Hope you are enjoying your bumpy journey!

Finally a good blogger pair

Grooks we expect a full live review