newtocruiseinblue

I find it inconvenient that HAL has no shore excursions for an upcoming 5-day Scottish adventure. I already have shore excursions for a summer Celebrity cruise booked. I know HAL wants our money.

Call me a nerd but I like the travel webinars. Usually play them while cooking a good meal and drinking wine 🍷

Also agree with you on the suite class with Celebrity. People really get into it and love to flaunt that they are suite class, which is great. I'm not sure if they realize that most that aren't in a suite don't really care if you are ☺️. We just usually do veranda, which allows us to travel more and we love it. I haven't felt the difference between veranda and suite class amenities on any of my cruises, but it is something that turns me off of the whole concept by Celebrity. I feel you on that.

We sail both.... I feel HAL has better itineraries, but Celebrity has more excitement on the ship. HAL is more affordable than Celebrity. Celebrity seems to be more financially secure than HAL and HAL is struggling more since the restart. I keep wondering if Carnival will merge princess and HAL. I have to keep my options open because of that. For example, cruising in April with HAL and they still don't have shore excursions available. Already have my July shore excursions booked with Celebrity. Hoping for a fabulous cruise with both this year. Glad you enjoyed your HAL cruise!

The Greek theater in Taorimina (Sicily) Either Amalfi, Positano or Capri in Naples The Celsus Library in Ephesus

Uhhhh clothes shopping! Duh! 🤣 Did you purchase packing cubes, yet? Review all the latest travel accessories? Plan a photo shoot onboard? Vow renewal?? Looking ahead to 2024 isn't absurd. I plan all of my travel way in advance and safe tons of money doing that. Prices never go down and if they do I rebook stuff.

And now we know why your screen name is "Moochi" 🤦🏼‍♀️

What time does your ship depart? All aboard is usually at least an hour to an hour and a half prior to that if I am correct. We are doing the Greek isles in July and I think we depart at 10 pm. I would think that would be all aboard would be at around 8:30 pm?

We were there in November but offset the cost with some point redemption. I wasn't crazy about having to spend that much on a hotel for a moment that we would probably not remember. I would probably choose the Hampton inn next time. Our goal was to just get there a day in advance for our cruise. I do feel booking the hotel waaaaay in advance is the best way to go, if possible. Then rebook if prices drop.

We stayed at the embassy suites Fll and I believe the shuttle was $10 pp, which was a bargain compared to what the Uber rate was running that morning. Did not love the embassy suites though.

What about salmon? Is that still on the menu? Sorry you were disappointed and I hope your next cruise goes better. ❤️

Are Nieuw Statendam and the Rotterdam exactly the same layout? We sailed NS in November and it was a beautiful ship. Sailing RD in the spring. The only thing was I missed the openness of the lido area on other ships. It felt closed in to me. Thank you!

So are the other responses more misinformation? I'm not trying to disrespect the other replies. I just feel like I have to sift through a lot of misinformation to get the realistic picture.

Holland America serves afternoon tea in their main dining room.

That's awesome to be so close! I wish I was that close. I will keep an eye out for February. Maybe they will do something for the Super Bowl!

We need a January PUP. I should get a PUP just for reading all of the complaining on this board ☺️☺️☺️

Will do. I've been reading these boards for five years and about 40% of what I read on here is true and only about 5% has ever affected my trips. I cruise for the ports and to see other countries, the good food is a bonus for me. A few years ago, when I was going on a trip that began in Barcelona, I would check the weather app for the forecast. On the first full day that we had to sightsee in the city before our cruise, there was a thunderstorm cloud. I quietly stressed about that thundercloud for a week before my arrival. When the day arrived, it was a gorgeous day, we had a full day of sightseeing. At the end of the day, we were laying in bed, the balcony door was cracked and the most soothing sound of rain began falling. That was the thunderstorm. Moral of the story: don't stress about the thunderstorm and learn to dance in the rain.

I just checked my menus on the app for my cruise and they're great. Maybe the European cruises will be different than the Caribbean market.

I just checked my mdr menu for Greece this summer and there is crème brûlée and lamb and prime rib and all of the other food that was on our Italy and Greece cruise last summer. I've also heard people say that if there is something you really want, you can try asking and they could possibly make it for you. But yes, one can see the mdr menus on the app once they book.

I feel X puts a huge emphasis on the retreat and suites. In that respect, it is not cheapening their product. One could argue that it is creating an environment of have and have nots, but we did a veranda cruise and we never felt that we were missing out on the suite life. We were happy and satisfied. Prices are rising globally. The added recent cuts don't affect us as we only get continental breakfast in the cabin prior to an early shore excursion, don't order room service, don't really care about a second lobster tail, would prefer to eat in the mdr for dinner; etc. On our most recent Mediterranean cruise on the reflection, the ship was excellent, the service was excellent, the food was excellent, the drinks were excellent. Our waiter in the MDR was one of the best waiters we've had in our entire lives any place. These new ships aren't cheapening their product. They are elevating it.

Sailed in November on NS and the food was excellent. The only food change that we noted was that we felt that the desert selection in the desserts themselves were not as good as they were pre-pandemic. When we sailed before there was a different kind of cheesecake offered every day and this time there was not. The cheesecake however that they had was very good. We just felt that the desserts had gone down since the pandemic. But that is a very small thing to complain about. The salmon with the ginger rice in the main dining room was excellent.

So very sorry for your loss and my deepest prayers and sympathy to you and your family ❤️ I love the toast that you made and will start making it with my husband in honor of you and your husband ❤️ Cheers to your many years of happiness together 🍷

I do love HAL itineraries. They tend to have a better selection of interesting ports.

We cruised both last year and I enjoyed celebrity more. They are very close but I give Celebrity the edge over HAL as others have said, celebrity is usually a little bit more expensive. We did 10-day Reflection in the Mediterranean and 7-day Caribbean on Nieuw Statendam. Even though the Statendam was much newer than the reflection I felt that the ships were comparable. I actually liked Reflection better than the Statendam. The service was better on Celebrity. It was just a more electric vibe on Celebrity. Both cruises were great. HAL seems to have better itineraries and celebrity seems to have higher prices. Celebrity has more entertainment around the ship and Hal used to have great port lectures. I was bored with all of the up-selling in HAL that I encountered. I felt that celebrity handled the pandemic better than Holland America did as far as communicating with guests and keeping them engaged. I feel, overall, Celebrity is a stronger company than HAL and will outlive the downturn the industry is experiencing now climbing out of the losses from the pandemic. It still seems questionable to me if Carnival will keep HAL forever or maybe merge it with princess.

Absolute love booking far in advance! Do you think prices might go down in the future? Probably not and, if they do, I can rebook. Plus, I can get the best airfare prices by booking ahead. so glad that we booked our summer 2023 cruise to Greece last April when no one knew what summer 2022 was going to look like in the cruising world. We got a great price and always included. Booked airfare for at least $600-$1500 pp LESS than it is today and bought shore excursions before prices went up. We can't cancel now - we got a great deal! The staff did such an amazing job on our Mediterranean cruise last summer that little adjustments here or there are not going to bother me. I'm there for the ports and to see the world- not for a second lobster tail in the dining room. ☺️