kwokpot

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I'm a little confused with what's offered when. The implication on port days is break fast only and no lunch? What if you stay on the ship?

If it was fully comped you'll get the Port fees and taxes refunded.

Are we allowed to dropoff carry-on luggage into room?

That's very funny. Just to be clear, it's not so much about hoarding but Asian cultures enjoy eating lots and lots of fruit. In Asian cultures showing outwardly love and affection is not generally done. One way a mom may demonstrate love to her children is to bring them a plate of peeled and/or sectioned fruit. Asians generally prefer fruit to be peeled and cut,so for example,one doesn't eat a whole apple or pear by biting into a whole one; instead the skins would be peeled and the apple or pear cut up into little pieces. A mom that presents that to her children is showing love,care,and affection. https://tastecooking.com/bowl-cut-fruits-asian-moms-say-love/ Edit: I'm 62 and my mom is 86 and when I go visit my parents my mom still does this for me.

I knew that,but as an Asian-American I had no issues talking about my own peoples. My parents do exactly that.

The only demographic i know that would hoard fruit are Asians. It's very specific cultural thing for Asians from a wide variety of countries. Prefered choice of beverages are Orange Juice, hot water (Chinese). Shellfish of all types are also hoarded.

Looking more into your situation, I see that Virgin is going to be more right off the bat despite having some more inclusives. I see why you had originally considered the Celebrity Silhouette, The prices are actually quite competitive for a Celebrity cruise. But given your concerns, I think NCL is the way to go. I was looking at the Escape which is a 5 nt cruise 1/6-11 and It's probably the best deal at under $2K for a balcony with drinks, a specialty restaurant meal, and gratuites. Couple that with a big newish ship and one more day than the Celebrity cruise and better nightlife options I would say that's what you should do!

As others have said I do hope you realize that the cabins you all have don't have real balconies? They are Oceanview cabins with a panoramic window that opens and with bifold screens that you close to simulate a balcony. But in reality it's just a window that opens. You cant 'step outside'.

One of the better writeups of someone's first Virgin Voyages cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3003539-roguepersons-live-scarlet-lady-4212024-transatlantic/?do=findComment&comment=67367133

I was thinking how to respond to this. First of all Celebrity is my favorite cruiseline. The point I was trying to make is for one's cruise vacation, there are activities that one enjoys doing that are pleasurable and satisfying, but isn't necessarily fun. Yes in the wider sense fun, pleasureable, and satisfying can be all synonyms of each other. But I was looking at the narrower definition of fun and I can enjoy two different cruiselines but for different reasons. I LOVE nothing more than spending early evening after dinner on a Celebrity cruise sitting at Cafe Al Bacio with my husband having coffee and just watching the comings and goings on the cruiseship. That is enjoyable and satisfying for me, but I wouldn't use the word fun. Going to the Scarlet Night pool party or the resident drag queen show on a Virgin Voyages cruise I would describe as FUN activities. https://inspirationlocation.com/2012/07/04/the-difference-between-fun-and-pleasure/

For basis of comparison, here's the same dish on Virgin's Valiant Lady which was excellent!(Extra Virgin Restaurant, all restaurants included with regular fare), followed by the same dish at an outdoor plaza-restaurant in Livorno,Italy when we made a stop on the Carnival Pride.

I was on the other ship, the Ovation, and the ship position was constantly changing, so I don't think we dropped anchor either.

https://kauainownews.com/

That's a great deal!

Celebrity and Royal don't seem to be interested in doing a real Hawaii cruise. Besides NCL's dedicated ship, which is basically a floating and moving hotel, Carnival has the most sailings to Hawaii of the mainstream cruiselines. Their itineraries are all round trip LA, SF, or SEA and visit the four main islands;Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Big Island. We've done two Hawaii cruises with Carnival, one with Princess, and have had stops in a couple of Hawaiian islands on Royal and Celebrity as part of longer TPs.

To get this back on track I see the OP has sailed Carnival in the past, so they would be judging cruise nightlife against that. Celebrity isn't going to provide the nighttime fun they're looking for. There have been some CC posters that feel Virgin is sorta like Celebrity. I don't agree at all. I would say Virgin is an adult version of Carnival. The whole point of Virgin Voyages is having ADULT FUN. I don't cruise Celebrity looking for fun, I cruise Celebrity to look for a more relaxed, upscale and refined vacation experience.

In the '70s the drinking age was 18 across the States. It didn't change until the '80s in order for States to get Federal highway funds. Having said that bars and discos in Manhattan never checked ID. I was going to bars and dance clubs when I was 17. I never told my parents I was driving 1 hour into Manhattan. In my senior year of high school('79) I took my sister, who was 14 at the time,into Manhattan and into the top dance clubs. Mind you,this is when we had a 1am curfew,so we literally have just under 2 hours to dance, and had to leave when the clubs were just getting crowded,to make it home just past curfew. For the record,it was never about drinking alcohol and all about disco dancing!

As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks? Is the Ascent deck party more to your liking or a pass on that too? That's OK too,and the beauty of a cruise holiday. For the record I'll be 63 in October and growing up in the suburbs of Manhattan went to the Discos that defined the '70s era. I moved into Manhattan after Uni and continued enjoying the dance clubs of the '80s-'90s. While I no longer go 'clubbing' as such, the availability of a Virgin Pool party allows me to indulge in the fun, and then I can go home after the cruise and after dinner on Sat night be in bed with my spouse and sleeping before Sat Night Live come on the TV, lol.

JUST a towel NEVER holds a chair just for the mere fact that on Celebrity there's no charges for beach towels, so no one needs to account for one at the end of the cruise. What that means is when people are done with their lounger they just walk away, and don't take away their used towels to put in a used towel bin. They expect the pool attendants to do that. Furthermore Celebrity usually puts out clean towels on every chair, making it even harder to figure out which is taken. If I don't see a personal item on a lounger, and no one sitting there, and there are no other loungers available, then it's fair game for the taking.

Yes. https://www.virginvoyages.com/casino?utm_source=cordial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=casinoloyalty&utm_content=04232024_sl-casino-loyaltyprogram-members&cID=61bd0ccb1777aa736602c452

I was on the flagship Ascent in January and although the nightlife was vastly improved as compared to previous Celebrity cruises it's not in the same league as Carnival or Virgin. Here's the DECK PARTY on the Celebrity Ascent in January vs A POOL PARTY on Virgin Scarlett Lady. Look at all the ADULTS of all ages and types having fun at a Vegas level pool party!( This is from my July '22 sailing to demonstrate that Virgin's pool parties are that fun on all Caribbean sailings!) PXL_20240118_030836576.mp4 PXL_20220729_030144090.TS.mp4

Based on what you've posted Celebrity isn't the best fit, and as others have said Virgin would make the most sense. It fits with exactly what you're looking for. Please don't let the absence of drink packages deter you from considering Virgin. TBH that's really, REALLY foolish. Virgin's nightlife beats Carnival and their Scarlet Night deck parties are the best deck party of ANY cruiseline. No kids, excellent food, fun and unusual entertainment. Seems like it's a perfect fit for you. Video from Scarlet Night when I was on the Valiant Lady. PXL_20230120_040423544.TS (4).mp4

On E-class ships the coffee from the Spa cafe is from one of those fancy espresso-based automatic on-demand machines. So it's a different setup from the M and S Class ships.

IMO $1K is quite alot of money to go from a totally casino comped oceanview room to a balcony. For me I would only do it if it was half the amount. Put it another way with MSC $1K would be the total cost of two more casino comped cruises.