rj59

I got there 45 minutes early or so on Joy, but the time before that just stood in the crowd in the back. You can also hear the show by standing outside on the Oceanfront with a drink. If you don't want to do that, they usually do a mainstage show, which is more entertaining, because from farther away it's easier to preserve the illusion of them being the Beatles, and they have interesting videos going on behind.

Until recently, talented developers could get rich through stock options by working at tech companies, and then work from home if they wanted. If you work for a cruise ship IT, you're not going to get rich through salary or stock appreciation, especially since tech companies have billions in cash, versus billions in debt for cruise companies. The financial motive also plays a huge part, since they tried to put so much into the app, including gambling, and they have to deal with limitations, like poor bandwidth and wifi at sea, with a app demanding huge resources. Now they have to deal with tiered privileges--only some people get access to OceanNow delivery, and regular room service. The only solace I take is that many of its functions I use are easier on the stateroom tv, and its useless activities calendar usually has a Princess Patter to show things in a format I can actually use. The only usable apps are on Royal/Celebrity, which have useful functions that are easy to use and that don't try to do too much, and menus and activities are designed to be readable on a small phone screen. The last time I use mine on board Princess is when I start the endless safety video, mute it, and set my phone on the table during embarkation lunch until it's finished. Unfortunately, the app and services weren't really tested or thought through--like what would happen when 3000 people are ordering drinks and slices of cake and fries delivered all over the ship, with frustrated, overworked crew trying to track people down (I saw some idiot having a slice of cake delivered to him in the buffet). Or the effect on app usage if most people have an unlimited wifi plan and are sucking up most of the available bandwidth, so app functions have to try to compete.

I've had the Lavazza from urns on various Celebrity ships, and Lavazza espresso in their cafes. I don't think it's anything terribly special, having tried a dozen or so Lavazza varieties over the years, so I suspect they're using a cheaper bean, and a brand partnership usually means higher espresso drink prices for the non-Plus proletariat. You can usually find 2-lb bags of their coffee for good prices online, which are usually better than their American-styled brands sold in supermarkets, and I used to bring back bricks of their ground coffee from trips to Europe. I'm not much of a fan now, and prefer to try different types of fresh beans, freshly ground. A Ruby cruise last year brought to mind the three things I really dislike about some older Princess ships--syrup coffee, cattle-pen buffets with a single entrance, and an outside promenade deck where you have to climb stairs at the bow and then walk through a smoking area to do laps.

I had weird shortages on K-dam last Dec in Mexico. None of the Dutch beers were available in the cafe. None of the Coke freestyle machines were working. Worst--no ship tiles! I found I prefer the older ships--wraparound promenades, more buffet seating with chairs that don't weigh 200 lbs with torn covering. The only thing I really loved about it were the spacious showers, with actual glass doors. The theater is nice, but deafening, and just makes me sad they don't have any production shows, as they once did. Bigger ship also meant more stressful embarkation, dining, and buffet experiences. I'm going on them again in October on the coastal to SD, though, and they have some Mexico trips in 2025 that visit LaPaz and Loreto, so I'll try to have a better experience--I better get a tile, though :).

That's a disheartening cutback and puts it behind every other competitor, like Cunard, Princess, and Celebrity, which all vary lunch menus. To make it worse, all the officers and spa/shops crew eat lunch in the Lido, so it gets packed. The bright spot is I no longer need rush to get on board for embarkation MDR lunch, since it's not worth it. I find the Distant Lands rotating Asian station good, the buffet usually has great breads, sandwiches, and Beecher's mac and cheese, or it can be a good time to get a Dive-In burger or NYpizza, or just order room service. The newest ships also have Dutch foods in their cafe. To be fair, the MDR lunch menu is fairly extensive, with brunch/breakfast items for all the HAL partiers up all night, and their breakfast menu is the best I've had.

I used the new one today, and got the automated receipt response.

HAL ships are about Solstice-class sized, but with a single coverable Lidi pool, instead of Solarium and uncovered pool. Less sales pressure to get or upgrade packages. No real class system, as on Celebrity, except for cabanas that you won't want on that cruise. Crow's Nest is like the Sky Lounge on X. HAL got rid of production shows and have corporatized music venues, the same on every ship, so there won't be the great Celebrity shows. Buffets are more varied on X, and HAL doesn't have the open area with islands, so you get in lines and mostly have food served to you. Best part of HAL for me is the wraparound promenade decks, where you can walk and enjoy views close to the water. I have over 150 nights on HAL, but took 5 cruises on Solstice last year, and one on Apex, an amazing ship. You'll probably see an older crowd on HAL, less diverse crew, but a British Isles cruise will be mostly about destinations, so I think HAL is probably the best for varied itineraries, combined with comfort and pleasure.

My last on Koningsdam it was 50 percent off in one bar for an hour or so, so it was a little insane trying to get a drink.

Enjoy meeting Mr. Brainwash and seeing his "art" installation he'll be creating on board with his spray paint cans. They heavily promoted him on the Van-LA leg, even the captain on his daily announcement. I had to look him up, and many claim he's a hoax invented by Banksy. Unfortunately, you get funnelled through the art gallery on deck 3 and can't escape his ugly art, like a graffitti artist imitating Warhol, most starting at $20k. I couldn't imagine a less-Cunardy artist or experience.

I always cruise solo, and Princess is quite nice. You request dining time and a private or shared table in their app or on your tv. I like privacy, so I usually dine late and ask for a distanced table. Princess doesn't have deckside gimmicks, so there are plenty of secluded areas to be alone, and Sky has some outdoor seating aft on deck 7 close to the water where few people visit. The retreat pool area also gets few visitors, since most want to watch the screen by the main pools. The same is true of the wake view bar--I like to take buffet food out there. The buffet also is huge, so you can find secluded areas there. The atrium is also a good place to hang out, particularly early, when I get coffee and breakfast and sit by a window to watch sunrises. Best thing for solos is that you get double cruise credits, so you can get to Platinum or Elite status based on number of cruises, not total cruise nights.

There are other themed ones, with naturalists or others. Usually they're on low-demand cruises, like CA coastal or September Alaska ones. This started last year, with generic Comedy or other themed cruises, one with Gavin McLeod--there are probably striking actors and writers happy to take a cruise gig now.

I was actually a dedicated HAL cruiser, then switched to Princess, and only tried Celebrity last summer in Alaska and 3 times in Mexico on bargain fares for a solo inside. I also went on the Apex once, and was amazed. I'd say Princess is closest to Celebrity for me, but without the class system. Princess is pushing their all-inclusive plans, which used to be standard on X. They all have their pluses and minuses. The huge outdoor movie screen on Princess is a plus over Celebrity's, they have great pizza, and a beautiful atrium, where most things on the ship are centered. NCL has good entertainment and Broadway shows, and a dedicated Haven area, if you want an exclusive area. HAL ships have a forward Crow's Nest, similar to the X Sky Lounge. Personally, I find Princess MDR food the best, then HAL, then Celebrity. I'm also trying Cunard for the first time tomorrow, which also is an option. Personally, I'd go for variety and find ships and itineraries and experiences you like, since I think it's easy to get stuck in a rut if you get sucked into loyalty, status,

Thanks for the review, since I'm taking my first Cunard cruise on QE this week, only 3 days to SF. To me it looks like a British version of HAL, with the same basic ship design as their Vista-class ships, although maintaining things that HAL has done away with, like libraries and a dress code and wraparound promenade decks and adding things like a proper pub. I never order drinks at a meal, especially now with packages and all-inclusive so common, because I want them focusing on getting food, so I bring my own drink to dinner if I want one. The upside-down photos made me think the ship had a Poseidon Adventure capsizing. Rudeness at shows is common on all lines--I had young ship officers on Princess chatting during a show there, so I usually sit close to the stage, at the very end of an aisle, since there are usually exits there on the lower level and I can beat crowds out that way and avoid annoying post-show cruise director patter.

Why not just do a cruise search for a solo passenger on the Princess website? It's glitchy, of course, since in order to get low-to-high prices you have to start with high-to-low and then reverse. The two largest travel websites also allow searches for a solo person, so you can compare different lines. Then I go to my favorite TA website and see if they can beat the published fare. I've found amazing solo deals that way for HAL and Celebrity, but minor savings on Princess and NCL. For me the most important thing is overall price, not the supplement or whether or not there are studio cabins. Princess, Carnival, and NCL are the only lines that respect solo cruisers enough to allow a cruise search for a single passenger.

Easy for me--wraparound wooden promenades, which allow me to escape crowds, find a quiet place to read, get exercise and fresh air, and be close to the sea for whale/dolphin/glacier viewing. Unfortunately, they went away with Koningsdam, they can get crowded with crew sneaking out to use their phones, some ignore the 'no jogging' signs, and there's a cultural pressure for everyone to walk counter-clockwise.

The problem won't be Princess, but rather the local port people, particularly security and US Customs, who probably have no interest in waiting until later in the evening for a few people to check in.

I think the International Cafe beats similar lines like HAL and Celebrity for variety of free, 24-hour food. I'm an early riser, so would get a coffee and a breakfast of fruit cup, egg muffin, and pastry and find a nice window in the atrium with a sea view. Slice pizza still is the best at sea, with daily specials--I wait until I see a new pizza coming out of the oven, whereas Alfredo's has more inconsistent quality, often with little choose or burnt crust with bulges. If you go on Majestic, they also have a great noodle bar, also with daily specials. On some ships I remember a free pub lunch on sea days if there's a Salty Dog pub, and a free pizza/pasta lunch in Sabatini's, but that may have changed. The hours of the buffet are also quite extensive, and overlap quite a bit, so there always seems to be at least one section open at all times from early in the morning until late at night. I believe it's the only line with 24-hour food through the International Cafe, except for maybe stale pizza or cookies on Royal C. I also find it convenient to keep some food in my cabin, such as cereal boxes and milk, bananas, and I use a plastic tray to bring back my own room service, like a cheese/fruit plate for a late-night snack, or I bring back some popcorn from Swirls when there's an evening movie (if they haven't yet started charging for outdoor movie tickets for non-Plus people).

On my last cruise on Majestic in May, they just had the room steward change out the minibar. It was done immediately, with no calls or waiting, whereas on previous cruises it took several days for them to get around to it.

Good timing, since I was torn between cheap N/S Alaska cruises on either Princess or NCL. I was going to go with Princess due to the dual military/shareholder benefits, but NCL is cheaper to begin with and now offers 10% off the base fare for military. The same calculus now goes in play with HAL, who offer a straight $100 military benefit, combinable with shareholder benefits. In the past the military benefit was usually refunded, which was in effect a fare decrease, but now that's no longer possible either, so in effect for me either benefit is just covering most gratuities. It's a blow to my Princess loyalty, since I just went on two HAL cruises because they offered both military and shareholder credits, and I'll probably choose more NCL for Europe and Mexico because they offer 10% military discounts for their already low sailaway fares (like $600 solo for a 10-night Ireland trip last month). I'll also simply sail less, especially since I'm not really enjoying the Royal-class ships at fuller capacity now and I'm getting bored with the MDR and buffet menus, even desserts, and even the Alfredo's pizza on my last cruise didn't seem particularly wonderful. I can see the point of all the cutbacks and price increases, to cut down debt and their stated intention to make cruising as costly as land travel, but my future travel to Europe will be on land, as will most winter warm getaways, whereas in the past it's mostly been Mexican cruises.

That doesn't seem to be the case now. All lines are cutting service and costs and increasing prices and fares, yet prices for cruises (along with hotels and flights) are very high, which means people are going to cruise anyway. RC and NCL are sailing at over 102%, and I think Carnival is over 90%, with a lot of new, younger passengers who don't know what previous service or price levels were for comparison. I went on 3 Alaska cruises out of Seattle last year, and prices this summer are 5 times or so higher than what I paid, and the ships are selling out. I don't know what RCL is doing better than Carnival, but they're stock has skyrocketed, from $40 when I bought it to over $95 today, so my purchase just to get stockholder's credit really paid off. Other lines have actually made even worse cutbacks--I was on NCL Joy in February, and steward cutbacks meant my rooms was never ready before 4:30 pm, even on embarkation day, and all other lines besides HAL and Princess now charge for room service, but people are still filling the ships. Just realize, though, that all the cruise lines are relying on passengers to pay off their immense debt and to become profitable, but fortunately, we have the freedom to make choices about how much to contribute, through shopping, photos, spas, ship excursions, drinks, specialty dining, and gambling, as well as stateroom choice. I've never spent a dime on gambling, bingo, photos, or the spa, and I've always been happy with an inside cabin, but I still love my cruises, since it's about where I visit, the people I meet, and being on the sea, and I've never gone hungry on a cruise, even if the days on HAL when I could get cold soups, chocolate covered strawberries in the coffee cafe, and unlimited lobster in the Lido are long gone.

The same thing happened to me several years ago on Zdam, in Kiel, Germany. They had dinghies and kayaks surrounding the ship, and some climbed on the front navigation bulb, whatever it's called. We were delayed by 6 hours or so, since nobody wanted to confront them, so it got really ugly, with passengers on board hurling abuse and threatening them with violence, so my image of polite HAL passengers was tarnished, since so many acted like they were on Jerry Springer. We were late getting back to Copenhagen, and they only rebooked flights for those with HAL flights, which is a good lesson to have flexible plans when arriving and leaving Europe--I made sure I stayed an extra night before leaving, so I was fine.

All the Alaskan ports have really good microbreweries with a variety of beers too, so I get beer flights in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. On board HAL ships I've been drawn more towards bottles of Grolsch, which are 16 oz and resealable, so I can take advantage of happy hours and take bottles with me to sit out on the promenade to drink. Unfortunately, craft/draft beer is usually an afterthought on cruise ships, with maybe some Heineken or Newcastle, no doubt because there's more of a markup/profit on cocktails and wines. The exception would be the Local brewery on newer NCL ships, which has a huge menu of varied bottles and drafts, and some Carnival ships make their own beers or stock cans of Carnival brews. The Edge-class Celebrity ships have a sort of brewhouse, but like their pubs on RC ships, the selections are meager and dull, and their pricing too high, to encourage people to upgrade drinks packages.

I'd hope I'd never have to see such things on HAL. I get it all the time on RC and Celebrity, particularly from Indian waiters, and one on an NCL ship even had the gall to offer a review form to me to fill out at dinner, even though I'd never seen him before and he was a poor server. To me, it's the same as an American server asking for a generous tip, instead of doing a good job and relying on the generosity of the patron, because begging for money or a rating isn't his/her job and makes things me feel uncomfortable. Begging for a good rating also breaks down the fantasy that they really care about providing good service and are being friendly because they like me. At the same time, I've felt on cruises lately that dining room staff are just overworked and with low morale and are just slapping down plates, without any personal interaction or real warmth--I noticed that particularly on Koningsdam. I call the HAL dining room staff the Indonesian mafia because they don't seem to have any supervision or accountability, with no competition from other nationalities or even females, sort of like some union or government positions in the US who don't care because they're not going to be fired whether or not they provide good service--sort of like visiting a post office, or my carrier strolling along listening to music, while the UPS guy has his every movement tracked but still is friendlier than the postal carriers. I'd give more leeway when a room steward asks me to fill out a survey, since I see their work and friendliness every day, and they have a more difficult job, with few opportunities to get off the ship or even see sunlight.

You seem to be comparing old ships to each other, which isn't really fair. I've been on Discovery and was impressed, but it's not that different from other Royal class ships. I was on Apex, and it was the most amazing experience, in terms of design and uniqueness and wide variety of entertainment and other venues. Gary Bembridge on Tips for Travelers says the same, that Princess hasn't really innovated, whereas Celebrity has. I disagree on other points: 1--Internet. Celebrity throttles the basic internet, and makes it as painful as possible, to induce you to upgrade to a more expensive plan. Princess internet has a single speed, and is upgrading to Starlink as well, and Elite's get it for half-price. 2--Desserts--nothing on Celebrity can compare with the Chocolate Journeys desserts, and newer ships have a gelato ship and offer it for free in MDR lunch. 3--MDR is subjective, but I like having only anytime dining, without the multiple caste systems of Celebrity. Again, though, the new Celebrity ships offer the great innovation of 4 different MDR restaurants, each offering some unique items. 4--Room--Celebrity seems more spacious, with usually a loveseat or couch even in inside cabins. All Celebrity bathrooms have glass shower doors, unlike awful Princess curtains, and Apex has gorgeous faux marble walls in the bathroom. 5--Entertainment. Celebrity wins hands-down, with innovative, sometimes daring shows, with aerialists and acrobats, and Apex adds a second theatre group for a club and the Eden Cafe. 6--Price--Celebrity is fairly outrageous, and the only reason I was able to afford an inside was booking last year, while Covid restrictions were still in place. If you want to spend $5000 to get special access or a special restaurant, that's fine, but the main thing I hated about Apex was most of the front ship closed to those not in a special class, which doesn't happen on their older ships. The only space Princess closes off is the Sanctuary, although that probably will change with Sun and future ships--more people, more of a class system, paying more for exclusive areas. 7--Coffee/cafe--Princess's one is open 24 hours, includes a larger variety of food, and espresso drinks are half the price of Celebrity. The Celebrity cafes don't open until 7 sometimes, which is very annoying for early risers wanting espresso or an early snack. There's no food on Celebrity until the cafe or buffet opens, and they now charge $10 for any type of room service, whereas it's free, delivered anywhere on Princess. 8--Newer ships on both have interesting extra free dining options. Alfredo's is great for pizza, but Apex has an Eden Cafe for breakfast and lunch with various healthy options. 9--Sales pressure is horrible on Celebrity. You get harassed constantly the first few days if you don't have a beverage package, even in the MDR, and they pressure you to upgrade if you only have the basic ones. A minority of beers are covered under the basic package too, and most are deliberately priced too high for the basic package, even more painful if you don't have a package, so you're charged $5 for a latte and over $10 for a basic beer, plus you have to sign slips asking for additional gratuity, which I hate. Princess is pain-free, especially with Medallion technology, and I don't get sales pitches at bars or the MDR. 10--Layout--Apex is amazing, with a long running/walking track that goes up and down over two decks, whereas the ones on Princess are pretty pitiful. Everything on Princess revolves around the piazza, which isn't enjoyable for me on full ships now, and you can still only get front-to-back on one side of the ship. There are only a few aft viewing/sitting areas outside by the water, one side usually for smokers, but Apex has a promenade that goes for most of the side on, and of course its Magic Carpet. 11-Embarkation/debarkation--Celebrity has a really nice terminal in FLL now, and it took me 15 minutes from shore to ship at 12 pm. One of the nicest parts of Apex is a large ship exit area, with spread-out security lines and the Magic Carpet a safe, comfortable, and convenient disembarkation/tendering spot.

The Alaska brunch sounds very nice, especially since adopting a single, disappointing lunch menu for an entire cruise is very low-market and disappointing. I enjoy having naturalist talks on Princess, particularly in fjords and for glacier-viewing, so having the same on HAL ships would be nice. They used to have Mexican Ambassadors on all their Mexican cruises, for language classes, dancing, and singing, so having something similar for Alaskan cruises would be quite nice, even if it's not terribly authentic, like the faux Native Icy Strait Point artificial tourist village. They can't do the 5K walk on Koningsdam, can they, with no actual promenade any longer, just a tiny, dangerous running track on the top deck? I'm really looking forward to a classic promenade on Volendam this week, but moreso, being on a ship with only 1400 pax or so. I got too spoiled by larger ships at 30-40% occupancy during restart year, so full ships last year were a bit too stressful and have made me rethink my commitment to cruising, which is why I'm hoping Volendam will be restorative.