Cruise4Twos

I feel your pain as I have a cruise in October that lands in Australia. AA only flies out of Australia once a day at 11:15 am. All the other airlines are significantly more expensive (in our situation). Our ship is scheduled to arrive 8:00 am. Ship's are typically early. But you don't want to be one of the minority. Someone on my roll call is planning to take that flight that day. The cruise ends on a Sunday, the Monday flight is $50/person cheaper. So we decided to leave Monday. I found a hotel for a little over $100 + we'll need an extra transfer (food I can get from the boat for lunch). For piece of mind, we left that this would be the best decision.

I hope this helps.

“cutbacks and reductions in service, same tired old ports”

It looks like you’re looking for a change.

IMO the increase in cruise line industry has been reasonable. Whereas prices in the airline industry have increased considerably.

Economical cruising boils down to research and flexibility.

My Caribbean cruises are cheaper now than they were in the 90’s. Of course my perspective is different. I don’t need the midnight buffets. The internet has really changed the game in getting good prices.

I have never thought of cruising as any sort of value.

Just an expensive tan...

Cruises < 30 days can be very inexpensive. Even decent airfare to common ports.

Unless there's some sort of premium entertainment that's advertised on a few specific ships, there's not good info on entertainment in order to do comparisons.

NCL has Free at Sea but I swear their prices increased when they added Free at Sea.

Royal brought Empress back with the intention of going to Cuba. Empress was ready to go before Cuba was opened up so rather than let Empress sit idle they did do some non-Cuba cruises. These cruises were MUCH cheaper than what Royal is charging to go to Cuba on Empress. Not sure where you were going with your original post, which I quoted above, or your edit.

No need to know where I was going. Where I went was on the Empress 2016.

Royal used it for non-Cuba cruises in 2016.

RCI acquired the Empress. It was formerly operated by Pullmantur Cruises.

When booking direct up until final deposit, I always check for price reduction. If so, I get the price reduced. When booking guarantees checking helps for possible room negotiation. When planning cheap last minute getaways, tracking helps. If it's a more structured trip, I still check. I try to see it there's anything I could do better in the future.

Corrected. See my post above.

The higher price definitely has to do with Cuba (meaning it's attractive not wrong). I rode the Empress in 2016 in an OV for $48/person/night.

The itinerary is typically a bigger factor than the type of boat. It's when there's more than one type of boat going to a location that most consider the boat type.

I think what Royal figured out is that there's something for everyone. They are continuously building bigger ships. Recently they acquired small ships for people who want a more intimate feel. The bigger ships have exclusive activities, more variety of shows, more eateries (even free), teen lounge which attract families. Years ago B4 the big ships, I was on a cruise where the teens were a complete nuisance. Not adults but too old for the kids club. They were always sitting on the steps in the way. Nothing to do, no place to hang out. I'm glad that Royal recognized this and created a place for them on the bigger boats. Different boats for different people. I didn't have any issues with the ton of kids on Oasis. I hope that Royal corrected the AC issue they had in the Empress casino (even though I don't gamble, it brought down the feel on the boat). Empress also has 2 cafeteria lines vs. stations which crowds the buffet lines. Other than that the feel of the boat was the same as the mid-size boats for me. I enjoy them all.

Cruise Critic is an information site that allows people to plan. It's as simple as that.

You're going on the Allure (big boat, lots of activities, lots to do). Do you research on everything you can. You said, "I want to be able to do as many things aspossible, including the ability to dine at different places". If you don't plan, you'll be sad otherwise. Add to it using the daily planner.

I cruised Oasis. I'm so glad I planned it, building in time for relaxation and all, not afraid to flex. I didn't realize that I would like the surfing as much as I did. We skipped Cozumel which we've been to several times for surfing that day.

Planning allowed me to retire early. Now my days are much less structured and my vacations are much more planned than ever before.

Here is a question related to the "Sail Away Insides" .....

I saw a cruise that was a latitudes insider cruise, which means you get double points for the cruise. Do you still get credit for those extra latitude points if you take the "Sail Away" special deal, or does that go away like the "Free at Sea" promos do when booking that deal?

 

Has anyone here gotten a Sail away cabin? Were they good, or were they noisy cabins (like over the auditorium).

I have a Sail away cabin booked for a cruise in October. Currently the cabin is an OV X cabin which is indirectly above the karaoke bar (heavy sleepers). According to NCL the room can change so, we're taking that chance. If you're interested in a sail away, I would go to NCL and do a mock booking. When I did this it gave me the room number online, we researched the opinions of others that had that room then booked. Now that category does not show the #so I bet they've sold the 2 X OVs.

Fairly typical on both small and large boats.

On the Jewel they typically do outdoor deck themes a few times (just outside the indoor buffet area) about every 2-3 days. The indoor themes are more subtle than some of the other cruise-lines. If you don't like the buffets, there's free restaurants.

Dining attire is much more relaxed than 10 years ago.

Check online. If there's an adjoining or close room available, book it online with the 2nd adult if that's what you really want.

When I was on an NCL Mediterranean cruise. They held the passports of US citizens who had another form of ID. If you said that your passport was your only form of ID, they let you hold onto it.

Thanks to Norwegian for adding flexibility to the general cruise industry.

Due to the prejudice comments that we've encountered on more than one cruise, we now prefer a table for two. We've done a family cruise and 3 cruises with work associates where table sharing was great.

I found some info on the _X categories. https://www.ncl.com/promo/sail-away-rates

"Plan your next vacation with Norwegian's Sail Away Rates - our best available rates on select cruises! Simply choose a cruise below, then pick your stateroom category - Inside, Oceanview, Balcony or Mini-Suite. Next, select the corresponding Sail Away subcategory: Sail Away Inside (IX), Sail Away Oceanview (OX), Sail Away Balcony (BX) or Sail Away Mini-Suite (MX). Then, proceed to check out and we'll do the rest!

Your stateroom number will be assigned by us when you check in on your sail date. And the best part? Sail Away guests are eligible for a complimentary upgrade to a higher category stateroom based on availability at check in. Please note that as our best available rates offer, Sail Away Rates cannot be combined with other offers and promotions, such as Free at Sea. "

I wonder if this is honored or not. I've heard that you can't make changes at check-in without paying. Typically sold out is posted at the check-in desks even if there are open rooms on the boat.

I'm with you Triptolemus.

It's the information in the thread not the age of the thread that's valuable.

It's rare to run across guarantee assignments that happen almost immediately so it's good to know not only that it can change but also when it could change.

I am so glad that I ran across your post. I was wondering if you got a guaranteed assignment whether it could change. I am in this scenario for an upcoming cruise. It actually happened by accident as we changed from a chosen inside room to a guaranteed oceanview OX (no other oceanviews were available) in order to get some sunlight and a possible view.

I'm sorry that there is some bickering going on that's really semantics. Nevertheless, I am happy that this is still around. I am a new member, so it is new to me. I encourage anyone else in this scenario to share the results of your cruise after it occurs regarding whether the room changes or stays the same.

I guess I'll be the guinea pig regarding Norwegian's Sail Away Rates Promo.

_X categories. https://www.ncl.com/promo/sail-away-rates (Norwegian's words, not mine)

WTang please let us know how this turn out. I also booked a guarantee (called sail away) OX and was also automatically assigned a room. My problem is that nothing else in the oceanview category is showing available to pick and balconies are sold out. There are categories higher available but they are out of my price range.

I found some info on the _X categories. https://www.ncl.com/promo/sail-away-rates

Plan your next vacation with Norwegian's Sail Away Rates - our best available rates on select cruises! Simply choose a cruise below, then pick your stateroom category - Inside, Oceanview, Balcony or Mini-Suite. Next, select the corresponding Sail Away subcategory: Sail Away Inside (IX), Sail Away Oceanview (OX), Sail Away Balcony (BX) or Sail Away Mini-Suite (MX). Then, proceed to check out and we'll do the rest!

Your stateroom number will be assigned by us when you check in on your sail date. And the best part? Sail Away guests are eligible for a complimentary upgrade to a higher category stateroom based on availability at check in. Please note that as our best available rates offer, Sail Away Rates cannot be combined with other offers and promotions, such as Free at Sea.

I would love to know if you get upgraded. Anyone else have any experience with this? I don't sail until late October.