kwokpot

https://yourdaytours.is/iceland/tours/golden-circle-full-day/

The Venezia doesn't have a full thermal suite, what you see in the photos are all the facilites.They are complementary.

The tour I'm taking in two weeks with another company is two hours longer, but it stops in a couple more places. Judging from the tour description only the Geysir is longer with an additional 30 minutes, but that's to account for lunch since this is a morning tour.

You seem very disappointed by this Golden Circle Tour. I understand the desire to spend more time at each place, this is not unlike going to Paris from a Le Harve Port stop or Berlin from a Warnemude port stop. Having said that do you feel it was still worth the time, effort, and cost?

Overall? MSC (Non-Yacht Club). Where Carnival falls down is their buffet and MDR. It's inconceivable that anyone would rate Carnival's buffet over Celebrity. If you do then you're not being objective. Where Carnival excels is their fare included lunchtime offerings, especially on the Excel Class. I'll be on a new Royal ship (Odyssey) next month, the first Royal since 2020 literally a week before the shutdown and it will be right after a 12 night Celebrity Apex to Iceland so I'll be able to compare the latest Royal offerings. The next Carnival will be 30 nights on the Luminosa on the TP from Seattle to Brisbane.Then in December I'll be on NCL's newest flagship the Viva after my last cruise on them since 2017.

Isn't it kind of stupid to have two types of steak as entree choices?

Have you actually sailed on Virgin? If not you really don't have a basis of comparison. And tbh if you compare the fares between a Virgin cruise and on Excel Class on Carnival you'll probably find that Virgin isn't more expensive if you factor in that Virgin bundles gratuities, soda and other soft drinks and unlimited specialty level dining that qualify as add-ons with Carnival (steakhouse, bonsai sushi, Rudi's, Emirl's).

The article mentions Virgin and it's all included food fair,yet doesn't rank it above Carnival. Not very consistent logic and i can't imagine anything thinking Carnival's food is overall better than Virgin. Look at these photos from Virgin and you tell me Carnival's Excel Class is better than this? (BTW, NONE of the food shown in the photos were extra, it was all included in the cruise price!)

I don't think I have ever seen any kid under 10 use any cruiseship gym. So it's going to be a hard no for your younger son. When I do see young kids that age with their parents touring the facilities they are usually playing around on the equipment in an unsafe manner and I'm gritting my teeth just waiting for someone to get hurt. (BTW No implication your son does this) On the S-Class ships gym hours are 6-10. The spa/gym locker room will have a complementary sauna.

Totally WRONG. There's no extra gratuity unless you CHOOSE to give more.

Technically not a brand new ship.It's been sailing since 2019.

The issue is that it's not on an exterior wall.There's cabins and then it's the dining rooms.

Agreed. TBH there's really nothing that can be done to the E-Class IV cabins. There's alway talk about changing the bifold doors to make them airtight and then having the AC stay on when the bifold doors are closed and the window open. That will NEVER happen since as we all know th IV cabin is all interior space without a weatherproof window area, so there can NEVER be a situation where the window stays down in inclement weather. In fact on the Icon Class they did away with the pretense of creating a faux balcony and eliminated the bifold doors; there's only fabric curtains if you want to close off that space.

What time do you get on the boat to Oia? Wasn't there tons of people doing the same thing? We're going to Santorini on the a tuesday, July 25th and will be there from 1:00-11:00, and there will be f ships that day. I'm not sure whether to do the ship's Oia on your own ($64/pp) or do what you did and go with what's available at the port below Fira. I know it's cheaper but I'm just concerned about scheduling and finding available seats on a boat taxi since we dock at 1:00pm. Thank you for any insight you have based on your experience!

TBH I haven't noticed Italians employed on non European cruiselines in positions lower than officer level and even that's far and few. It all has to do with salary levels for lower level workers.

Are you in the same cabin? TBH probably the most important aspect of a B2B. Reason being is if you have to change rooms not only do you need to pack you things but there's no guarantee your new cabin will be ready before everyone else's. Which means once the ship has cleared the previous guests and the B2Bs are free to reboard the ship you won't be able to go back to your room but instead have to stay in the public places until your new cabin is ready. If you're in the same cabin you can literally go back to your room and/or do anything else you want.

I'm curious as to what is your concern if you have to get off as a group, clear passport control, and then be escorted back on the ship?

I highly doubt you'll find Italian chefs on most mainline cruiseships.

Those chairs were originally in the Infinite Verandas until they swapped them out for more upright seating position chairs.

I'm on the July 7th sailing with almost the same itinerary (We have Glasgow and Cobh instead of Liverpool) and as I'm gathering my wardrobe for packing I'm reading with bated breath the weather and temps. I literally just applied my first coat of Scotchgard waterproofing spray to my walking shoes. I don't want a repeat of last year's issues on a Norwegian Fjords cruise where we got drenched in Bergen and my shoes were soaked throughout.

Although that's the case on the Edge and Apex, Celebrity thankfully changed this on the Beyond and Ascent and removed a lifeboat so that almost every table save a few at the very rear have uninterrupted views BEYOND the ship.

Correct. As we know for most of Carnival's itineraries Carnival only has seaday brunches,which now end at noon, so it definitely can't be considered lunch. As I also said I know the exception to this are Journey/longer itineraries which do offer lunch service in the MDR. That's why it seems odd to me that the Luminosa is offering lunch in the MDR on 6 and 7 day Alaskan sailings. I'm curious what's the rational and why it can't be applied to Caribbean cruises.

What ship are you on? If you aren't on an E-Class ship then no, you have assigned Early set Dining and can't just go to anytime whenever you want. You would have to go to the buffe ton the evening you want have dinner later.

That's why I asked the question. There doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern of itineraries, at least it's not apparent, where they offer lunch.