mac_tlc

I am also looking forward to your experience. I keep looking at YC but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I am hesitant due to the number of passengers and the continued reviews of the non-YC areas. Have a great time ! mac_tlc

Symphony has one 9-nighter departing on July 4, 2025 and one on April 30, 2025, They usually do one to switch their departure day from a Friday to a Sunday. (July 4th). The one on April 30th gets their departure day to a Friday. And those four cabins that were $9,700 in 2023 are over $28,000 for July 4, 2025. mac_tlc

We are in a similar spot. We had 4 adjacent balcony staterooms on Oasis last year for a 9 night cruise out of NJ. Total cost about $9,700. Looking at a cruise on Symphony in 2025 -- and its only 7 nights -- same exact four cabins is over $17,500. I didn't dare look at the Symphony 9-nighter in 2025. mac_tlc

We just did the Beyond in February and stopped at Aruba and Curacao. We did not do any ship excursions, just got off ourselves and wandered around. Curacao was fun walking to the floating bridge and then wandering through the old part of the city. We really liked the ship and the itinerary. More info and pix on what we did here: mac_tlc

I did not include the grats, that would be another $23pppd. The deposit requirements are an intangible to me. I would probably never pay the extra $$ for a refundable deposit on X. You are correct— will never know if you don’t try it. I probably would not go all the way up to a Medallion Suite to find out! mac_tlc

Have been investing early 2026 myself. I can find any price relationship anybody wants 😂😂. I was intrigued by the “$408pppd more than Regent” . For 2: Celebrity Ascent - Feb 23, 2026 - 11 nights - CS= $17,849 = $811 pppd Silversea Silver Ray - Feb. 27, 2026 - 11 nights - Medallion Suite= $21,200 = $963pppd Regent Grandeur - Feb. 28, 2026 - 14 nights - Penthouse Suite C= $25,283= $902 pppd. No air in any of those numbers. What am I missing? As an engineer, I have a spreadsheet for everything —- except the intangibles. Ship size, passengers, activities, entertainment, food—- I wish I could have a formula for those. 😂. That 14 night itinerary is nice. mac_tlc

Great picture of the Vista. We should be on her this November for 15 days from Rome. Its great to see that "a&l_1720" is back home !!😉. Looking forward to the next week. mac_tlc BTW - not to sidetrack but did you pull the trigger on Beyond for July???

Thank you. It was a lot of fun. We really like the E-class ships. mac_tlc

It's partly pricing as to why we have no Royal cruises on the books for the first time in 20 years. Its also the emphasis on 3/4 nighters. No desire for that. Finally at a point in life where we like to choose a suite. Icon, Wonder, Star, Utopia suite prices are beyond crazy. Frankly, any Oasis class is also much more than other options. Only "reasonable" one is Harmony out of Galveston but not interested in departing from there. $1,000+ a day for a GS to not worth it to us. Icon/Star sometimes approach $2,000/day for 2. Last week I had a Villa Suite on hold on Symphony for July 2025. It was 70% more than the Villa Suite we sailed on Harmony in 2022. I couldn't pull the trigger though due to the price. The next day, it was still available and the asking price was $8K more than what I had held -- a full 100% more than the Harmony in 2022. Moved most of our recent sailings to Celebrity, but they are drinking the "corporate suite price KoolAid" and we are looking elsewhere there too. mac_tlc

Took me a day to find this and I'm already on page 3?? I'm in !!! Have a great time .. mac_tlc

But boy did they have a hike to get to that Retreat sun deck! We could never manage an aft SS. More of what we would use is up front. We will keep looking for a deal and maybe grab our favorite, 10123. The extent of the chair hogging really startled me. Celebrity knows it’s a big issue —- Captain Kate opened her talk on the last day at 10:15am thanking everyone for coming and giving up their loungers by the pool. Even she knew that any attendees just left a towel behind…. mac_tlc

@CruiseDoc79, The forward looking Retreat prices are giving us pause as well. DW loves the E class so we may “downgrade” to a sunset Veranda, if you can get one, or maybe a porthole veranda. The issue we have with those is it’s a walk to the elevators and with my wife’s mobility challenges, that is not ideal. mac_tlc

Duh! post has been edited !!!!

I have signed up for Go Green for our January 2024 Ascent, February 2024 Beyond, August 2024 Edge and 2026 Xcel sailings. Didn't get the Ascent points, just got the Beyond points this week when the regular cruise points were credited. I called the Captains club and spoke to someone and explained the issue. He put in to get the Ascent points. That was last Saturday so I’ll give them a little time before so call back. mac_tlc

So, we are now back home in the grey chilly dreary state of CT. Not a bad drive up. For those interested in such things, we head up I-95 from FL into SC, then hop on I-26 to Columbia, I-77 to Charlotte and beyond (see what I did there?) to I-81 in Virginia. Finally to I-84 in Pennsylvania. One overnight in Salem, VA. Total time on the road about 21 hours. A funny thing happened on the way to a final invoice for the cruise. As you may recall, we went to the Rooftop Garden Grill on day 11 for lunch -- had about $100 OBC left at that point. Figured we would use about $60 for RGG and have about $40 left. So, we went to the casino and downloaded $40 😉. We waited and waited for the bill at RGG, finally flagged someone down and asked for the check. I figured I had to sign something. The hostess wandered over and said, no you are good to go.. What ? Ok, I figured they had our room number and the charge would appear. Wrong assumption. Nothing ever appeared. Sounds awesome, but I don't like leaving money on the table and when I saw the invoice on embarkation day, it was too late to "play" more in the casino. so I had a -$66 OBC balance 😔. Luckily (?) we missed Grand Cayman so those port charges were refunded to our account as refundable OBC and were credited to our credit card, about $25. Still not quite sure about RGG but oh well.... Next up is Alaska in August on the Edge. My son and DIL will be with us with two sunset verandas. mac_tlc

Inside the port area in Falmouth, there is a small building called the Patty Port. Look for the red picnic tables off to the side. It is very good. We have often seen crew members grabbing a quick patty there. mac_tlc

Thank you ! Here were the concierges last week:

We were in 9154 in January and April last year, opposite side of the ship than you but almost directly opposite. We did not have any noise. Just got off Friday, had cabin 10123 which is almost directly above 9159, no noise. Over on the Oceania boards there are many complaints on Vista of "thin walls" and being able to hear your neighbors conversations and TV. Seems these newer ships have challenges. mac_tlc

Thank you for the Viking info. The one that concerns us the most is the entertainment aspect. Although we also loved the Beyond the Podium speaker on Celebrity and Viking touts their lecturers so I am sure we would like that. My wife likes the casino more than I and she has indicated a willingness to forego it. We were looking at the PV2 for a trip that long, and its $481 pppd, still less than the Apex or Ascent SS, comparable to the Silversea Port-to-Port fare but more than the Silhouette.

And I didn't even know I wanted to go to Bermuda 🤣. Thanks @RichYak

Here is the link to the Viking cruise. Caribbean & Panama Canal - Itinerary - San Juan to Los Angeles, California | Viking® (vikingcruises.com) We have not sailed either but are thinking about branching out. We do have two Oceania cruises on the books on their new ship, Vista. Both are TA's. The November 2025 has great pricing. Like you, I am not sure it's a fit but I'll never know if we don't try. Often, the Viking sailings are very very port intensive -- that's not our sweet spot. This Panama Canal only has 5 ports. For some that is too many sea days -- we like those. mac_tlc

What date is your Sun Princess sailing? I understand the house thing. Both our kids bought houses in 2020 —- no travel money spent that year, so…….. The Viking sailing was actually a 16 night full transit of the Panama Canal from San Juan to LA. It was the only Viking sailing in North America released so far for March 2026. Silversea was a 10 day Caribbean. If you really want to see a good price, their transatlantic right after the Caribbean one was less than $350 pppd. And it’s on their newest ship, the Silver Ray which debuts in 2025. mac_tlc

Thank you, Patty !

We sailed Ascent last month and just got off Beyond today. We have our first HAL cruise in January 2025 on the Koningsdam, 18 day R/T Hawaii from San Diego. Looking forward to a new line. Any comparative info would be appreciated. mac_tlc

In case anyone is wondering, I wanted to add MSC Yacht Club and Oceania to the Spring 2026 comparison but they have not released itineraries out that far. The other option we are considering is the New Sun Princess or Star Princess. mac_tlc