DCThunder

The biggest drawback to the Island is the fitness center is in a windowless area at the stern of the ship on a lower deck. It is kind of depressing if you're used to the upper deck fitness centers with wide windows to look out while on the treadmill or elliptical. It was clearly added to the ship long after she was built and fitness centers became increasingly important to some cruisers.

I did a TA on Island and the 7 sea days were just as nice as the port days. You do feel closer to the ocean on a smaller ship when you're out in the middle of the Atlantic.

I did two 30 day cruises on Island in 2024 and had no issues with the ship. So long as your expectations aren't for glitz and glamour of the newest ships, Island is very nice. She has her quirks that take a bit of getting used to, but the Explorers Lounge is great with a couple of good bartenders, and by and large the ship isn't crowded. Bayou Cafe instead of Crown Grill, but still a good steak, and there's a Sabbatini's. Anyway I liked Island.

Did your wife mind? Or was this the old upside-down pineapple? 🍍

At 14 and 17, the kids might actually like to be away from the parental units. The 17-year-old might be out looking for one of those shipboard romances...😍

I did 28 days on Zaandam going up the Amazon River in February/March. It was an incredible cruise. If Princess or HAL would build some new small (1500 passenger) ships, offer unique itineraries and not charge the moon for the trip. they could lock up a new market.

You just described HAL's Zaandam, and it's 25 years old...

David Mamet is a genius playwright and almost every heavyweight actor of the early 1980s was in the movie. BTW, you should read Mamet's recent Hollywood memoir: "Everywhere an Oink Oink".

Maybe they need a young Alec Baldwin to invigorate them: Bing Videos (Very NSFW)

I was on Island last year doing a TA arriving in FLL on Dec. 21st. The ship had minimal decorations during the lead-up to Christmas (a couple of Christmas trees here and there and some garlands in the Piazza), but we were told that it would be all dolled up for the Christmas cruise departing the day we disembarked.

The gods help those who help themselves...

Good to know that my Princess/HAL luggage tag holders will work for Cunard!

Where on the My Cunard portion of the website is the location of the luggage tags? I was looking for it just now and it is eluding me. Never mind, I found it.

The ocean in the Gulf of Maine never really warms up even in the height of the summer, so warm air off the land going over cold water will rapidly create sea fog. And it will definitely be cooler on the ocean than on the land. As said upthread, you could have days in the 70s (F) and nights down into the mid-upper 40s.

What activities are you looking for? What night various game shows will take place? Or what time the Mah Jong group will meet?

Fly Lufthansa or Air France and hear all airplane announcements in both German and English, or French and English. I haven't flown on Emirates or Etihad so don't know if announcements are in Arabic and English.

Good tip on Refer a Friend. Thanks.

I seem to recall that you get a Captain's Circle Number as soon as you register and create an account at Princess.com. My brother is interested in trying a cruise in the fall of 2025. If I have him create an account and get a CCN, I can buy some FCDs for him when I sail on Princess later this year, right?

The interesting thing is that many of the senior deck officers on Princess are Italian and when they make the noon position reports (on sea days), they speak English with a strong Italian accent.

This times 100000

This one weird trick will...

There are a lot of Hobbitown excursions listed on Viator and/or TripAdvisor. I also found a interesting small group tour of Auckland on ToursByLocals. Get out of the ship tours rut and look around at what else is out there.

Alaska cruises are very port intensive so make sure you book some interesting excursions in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. Does she have any interest in the outdoors or wildlife? There's a whole lot of it to see in Alaska.

I was just looking at the American Advantage website and the change is now effective July 11, 2024, rather than April 30. I also just checked and an international RT business class fare for January 2025, booked directly with AA, is around $100 less on the AA website than on EZAir.

Your granddaughter can take all the selfies she wants to share on whatever social media she patronizes, including the heart hands around the setting sun! Also, don't discount that on an Alaska cruise you can also look at the scenery as the sail up the Inside Passage takes place. Then the whole time in Glacier Bay (assuming it's on the itinerary) will be spectacular.