kwokpot

Can you be more specific? Do you mean Luminae for all meals AND Retreat Lounge?

How does one become a contestant?

We did a B3B last summer on Carnival totaling 31 days. Mediterranean and then Norwegian fiords. Happily we had zero repeating ports (We could have stayed on for a 4th sailing which wasn't reapeating but it was the Baltics which we've been to). Since they are separate cruises there will be repeating menus and production shows but the Headliner entertainment should change. European cruising is all about the Ports and there were several new to us ports especially the Norwegian fiords. One thing you do need to do is pacing with regards to long full day tours. In other words with so many Port stops resist the temptation to go full out all day strenuous tours. Wandering around on your own in the City Center exploring the streets, shops, etc is just as enjoyable as going on an extensive 8 hour busy guided tour. Carefully pick and choose the stops you want to do long full day tours. Both your pocketbook and your body will thank you for that!

Which ship are you on? Yes, you can dine in Blu also no charge but unless your friends are in Aqua they definitely won't be able to dine in Blu since there's no pay option in Blu as there is in Luminae.

Best thing to do is DECIDE if you want to always dine with your friends in the MDR or would you switch off a few nights dining with them and a few alone in Luminae. That's your first decisions. If you don't mind skipping Luminae altogether them problem solved. What we did when we had a similar situation with my parents who weren't in Aquaclass is we dined alone in aquaclass a few nights and then in the MDR with my parents a few nights. Definitely driven by the nightly menu in Blu. They Cannot check in with you nor can you bring them into the Retreat lounge or Retreat Deck.

What is your source of this information?

Some of your cons have been changed on the Beyond and Ascent. Yes Deck three where Guest Relations is located does seem to have lower ceilings. Your comment about public spaces maybe should be amended to USABLE. The E-Class ships have LOTS of corridors that leads to other usable public spaces. Some of these corridors/passageways actually are usable but in reality they aren't used at all, either because there's no furniture OR there's furniture but they are in awkward areas. Some of these areas include the space on Decks 3 & 4 in front of the MDRs Those areas should have seating for people to sit on if they need to wait for a table. The corridor leading to Eden has some beautiful sculptural chairs but I never see anyone sitting in that area. Another space is on Deck 5 just beyond the shops there's this very nicely setup sitting area but NO ONE EVER sits there. One of my biggest pet peeves about E-class wasted space is the forward outdoor deck in front of the Spa. There's this HUGE beautiful forward facing outdoor deck, the only one in fact bedies the Retreat Deck, and it's totally wasted. NO ONE ever is using this space. As a spa space, there's no hot tub, no chairs, no loungers, nothing except for some sculptures. How can a cruise ship that has a finite amount of space waste such valuable property? The Club on the Beyond has new windows so when the space is being used during the day there's natural light coming into it. Photos highlighting wated and/or space that's not used. The little tibbits about the Xcel seems to imply even more changes to counter some of the comments about the E-Class design.

Art gallery quality photos. Bravo on your work and thank you for sharing them with us!

With the mosque being one of the major things to visit there I can see why you didn't particularly enjoy your time there.

Did you go to the giant Mosque?

There will always be a chic night on any regularly scheduled cruises.

In 2019 we did a post cruise road trip from Southampton to as far north as the Lakes District then over to Leeds/York where we ditched the car hire and trained to London for a few days before flying home, spending a total of 7 days in the UK post cruise. We were with my elderly parents for whom spending lots of money on a nice meal isn't how they enjoy utilizing their savings (Pretty typical attitude Asian Immigrants despite being in the US for six decades but I digress). We did in fact patronise several Witherspoon company establishments in the various cities we stopped in and what we liked was the wide variety of menu choices at reasonable rates. I do utilize my mobile phone to source more locally recommended eateries and in London where the choices were endless it was much easier to find more unique places that were reasonable priced but also offered a nice variety of choices. Our most expensive meals but probably the best were in the wonderful Inns in the Lakes District. But in other cities it was nice to be able to go to a place that was walking distance, housed in a nice historic building that wasn't a modern new build, and with lots of food choices with reasonable prices.

Don't they serve a specific purpose as an inexpensive place to eat with a wide variety of choices? Are they fine dining, no. But I rather go to a Weatherspoons than a nondescript Fish and chips place for lunch or dinner.

One thing good about Charles Schwab that hasn't been mentioned is that if you open an investor checking account it's linked to your brokerage account, has no fees or minimum deposit to open or maintain, and BEST OF ALL it includes unlimited FREE INTERNATIONAL ATM WITHDRAWALS. Perfect for all those ports of call you go on whether the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe, Asia, South America, etc. It's out go to ATM card for foreign cash withdrawals. Never had any issues using it around the world!

Using different airlines would solve that problem. My IDEAL flight is on American LAX to HNL 1pm-4pm but obviously they also know that is an ideal time since it's priced at a ridiculous price of $600/pp/ow!!! Meanwhile SWs noon flight is a cheap $158/pp/ow for only one hour earlier but in my case that one hour is all the cushion I would want, but not at $450!

That's why the main pools on E-Class ships are so nice, they are certainly long enough to swim laps.

My response regarding the Beyond was based on my actual sailing in October 2022 and directly from the daily planner which I saved (memory can be faulty). Having said that you are absolutely correct that there are sailings where the Spa Cafe isn't open on embarkation day. The same could be said for The Eden Cafe on E-Class ships. Generally it isn't open on embarkation day but there have been many exceptions that are well noted here on CC. Best advice is to check the paper planner and/or app when you get onboard!

You know I've asked this question and based on your advice and our general traveling style changed our post cruise flight to Honolulu from day of disembarkation to early morning the following day. While my preference would have been to disembark and take a noon flight to Honolulu which would get us there around 3PM, our new plan is to stay in Long Beach another day and take a 7AM from Long beach airport which will get us to Honolulu around 11AM. Less stress worrying about get off and to LAX. Having said that I MAY STILL reserve the noon flight on Southwest with points and play it by ear? 🤔

We did that this past February on the Solstice. To ME, of the three ports, PV is the most enjoyable/has the most things to easily do/nicest port with Cabo the least, so I enjoy Cabo,Maz,PV ports order the best.

No. Buffet, Spa Cafe, Mast Grill, Le Grand Bistro($), Luminae(Retreat Class)

Best choice is the buffet then. The only other choices are Mast Grill and maybe Spa cafe if it's open. Even if it's open the Spa cafe is waaay too limiting. The buffet with have lots of choices. Edit:PS My profile photo is from a washroom on the Summit!😜

Ship and cabin class?

I've sailed with Captain Dimitri on all the Edge Class ships he captained and as a daily gym goer he seems to be also since I see him every time I'm there. He's extremely fit and is always very focused on his workout with very little if any chit chatting. Of course I will always say hello and when I do he breaks out of his more serious workout mode and become quite engaging and funny.

Photo of the ribeye from Blu on the Beyond in October, 2022. It was very tasty and grilled to our specifications.