navybankerteacher

Maasdam, Zuiderdam, Zandam, Noordam, Westerdam, Osterdam, or (my far away favorite) Prinsendam?

Agree on both points.

Am I one of the despicable ones or one of those with whom you might have made friends? Without focussing on time frame (I have been cruising since 1980 - so things tend to blur), I believe have sailed Royal Caribbean, Princess, NCL, Holland America, Celebrity, Cunard, Azamera, and Oceania --on itineraries from Harwich, Southampton, Barcelona, Civita Vecchia, Pireaus, San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York (Manhattan), New York (Brooklyn), New York (Bayonne), Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Quebec, and San Juan (plus possible others)

Celebrity does have 13 sailings from Bayonne to Bermuda for a few months later this year -- hardly "regularly".

I've met very many people - some interesting and some I would prefer to avoid -- but you will never know if you are unwilling to interact with people you did familiar with before boarding the ship.

Yes -- there is no overwhelming necessity to comply with reasonable requests for the courtesy of advance notice as long as you are confident can do what you want when you want without clearing it with anyone. But sometimes an unanticipated snag might crop up.

Good advice: trundling your bags to the ferry, and then to the subway station, then boarding and getting off at Penn Station - can be done; but remember: you booked a cruise to have a good time - why beat youself to save a few dollars at the end.

Some people seem to like hanging out in cargo pants and hiking boots, ignoring requested dress standards, and resisting interacting with people they did not come on board with — and seem interested in calling fellow cruisers stupid. Others like to have a good time with new experiences- and are not afraid of meeting people.

When you said that you only cruise out of Bayonne you were effectively saying that you would only cruise RCI. What other lines sail from there (other than a very, very rare Celebrity)? p.s. You did not infer anything, you implied - and from that I did the inferring.

Since OP is from Louisiana, they may be flying - and hopefully would not mess with a local rental car as public transportation in (and between) both cities is very good (while driving is a headache).

If you were in a badly maintained ship, with a dirty cabin, on an itinerary which only had a tender call at Freeport and the tenders were cancelled due to heavy weather, and the food was poorly prepared low quality sloppily served swill - it might be said that you would not have received “good value” even you had only paid $25 for the week. Low price does not automatically mean good value.

On the cruise site I check (which cannot be mentioned here) Venezia is shown as continually sailing out of Manhattan starting this May.

By the time you considered the time (to/from) BCT to Penn Station in NY, the waiting time to board trains, and the time (to/from) Union Station to what you wanted to see/do in DC you are talking about 12 or so travel hours for that overnight jaunt> No one can get from BCT to any place worth being in DC in anything like 3 hours.

Agreed - it seems an ill-conceived (and probably expensive) short-term fix for a long-term problem -- but is the fact that the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is being temporarily misused a rationale for limiting your cruising experience to just one provider?

Apparently you prefer Royal Caribbean over Cunard (and sometimes Princess). There is no accounting for tastes.

Of course -- but not when the itinerary offered can be counted upon to sell out.

Agree that it seems unfair, but a line which generally sails with all cabins sold is going to realize that one person in a two person cabin will spend less on board than two would - so there does exist a valid (if arguably unfair) rationale. Yes - they do discourage solos, because solos negatively impact their bottom line (the reason they are in business).

I remember seeing my sister and her new husband off on Queen Elizabeth II in 1969 - a great party. A lot of changes in recent years have not been improvements.

If you are heading to Baltimore, you’ll have a lot of trains to choose from. The more in advance you buy your ticket, the less expensive it is likely to be - by by quite a few $ in some cases. You can probably be certain of being able to make a 1:00 PM or later train, so you might want to plan on something around that time and save money by booking your ticket now. You will have an opportunity to grab lunch if you get to Penn Station much earlier —- while not having to sweat possible delays. As an example - a coach seat on a Northeast Regional train from NY to Baltimore bought now for a train in the next few day would be $104. The same seat for a few months out would cost $28.

If "back home" is in Maryland as it seems, you would want to get to Penn Station, not Grand Central.

The cruise lines rents out staterooms, not berths. They figure every warm body on board will spend some money -- so they want warm bodies, not minimally occupied staterooms. Look at it this way: if you were going to rent out your Florida house for the month of February while you were on a long cruise, would you rent it for half as much if a single person, rather than a couple, were renting it?

My major was American Studies with dual minors: Naval Science and Economics. In those pre-computer, pre-calculator days, you always carried a slide rule. Leaving the Navy with zero marketable skills, I landed a training program with a major bank - leading to 35 years before taking up teaching.

Could you let us know ship and itinerary? Of course: since you say it “was” an inside room, it occurs to me to ask if it “was” many years ago.

A free room has to be worth at least what it costs you. Of course, they only gave it to you because they think that you will lose more to them in their casino than they could get from a fare paying passenger for whatever space they give you (and they are the professionals ---- so they know a whole lot better than you what your chances are). I would suggest you plan on dining in alternative (extra cost) restaurants; NCL holds down fares by economizing on included meals. From my recollection of both lines-- you will wind up preferring HAL -- but then: free is free.

Usually set out on a table right next to the gangway.