ggo85

We like the luxury lines. Costs more up front but, when you factor in all that’s included, not that much more. Smaller ships. Older demographic but not ancient. Exceptional service. Silversea and Crystal so far. Perks depend on your cabin and frequent cruise status.

Definitely reserve! We walked into the Porch for lunch. No one was eating. They told us we needed reservations. Checked back an hour later. Maybe 1/3 of tables full. Ditto with Sushi on 5. We asked at 1230 if you needed reservations for lunch and they said yes. Turned us away. There was literally no one in the restaurant. At dinner last night at Sushi (we had reservations), a couple came by and tried to eat. Turned away. Restaurant was 90% empty. Only thing I can think of is that they need a number so they defrost sufficient, but not too much food, especially with Sushi. But they are losing out on a lot of walk-up business. As an aside, Murano was very full on the third night of cruise. We found meal so-so. Ok but not memorable. Lobster was tasty but portion very, very small. Goat cheese tart wasn’t to my liking. I would not book it if it weren’t included for us. YMMV.

We did RCL for years, then moved to X and now mostly sail neither, though on X at the moment. RCL markets to families with kids. That’s their demographic, which has changed since we sailed RCL almost exclusively in the early 2000s. You’ll find fewer kids on the smaller, older ships and fewer on certain itineraries and at certain times of the year. But school break time, especially July and early August, can be overwhelming. While you’ll find kids on X, there is less for them to do and, in the non-school break season, very few. For example, maybe a dozen on current cruise of 3000+ passengers. Both lines nickel and dime you. RCL is slightly worse in that (as of last time we sailed pre-COVID), you had to check out beach towels with fee if you failed to check in and almost all activities on sea days either cost extra or were promos for paid spa stuff. There was CONSTANT harping for art auction, Bingo and the like. We’re finding more free stuff on X. The pay stuff is available but IMO not pushed as heavily. Food on X is better in MDR. We’ve found specialty on X to be somewhat of a disappointment. Ok, but not that much better for the price. RCL MDR food was so inedible and service so bad (waiters assigned too many tables) that we only ate in specialty restaurants. They weren’t terrific. I’ve found the entertainment on X to be quite good. Maybe it’s because the shows are new to me. 😀 The bands are good, playing a large variety of music among them. More geared to 50+ adults, though that might also be due to our cruise demographic. Also, the non-music entertainment on our X ship is more “adult” in a good way. So far, no belly-flopping or “Mr. Sexy” or “Love and Marriage.” Instead, there has been curling and chirping golf ball into pool net, origami, etc. Things for adults that aren’t (IMO) crass. Service is good, but nowhere near luxury level. Sat at pool for 6 hours yesterday (port day) and no drink server ever appeared. There is less “drink until you drop” (aka, maximize value on my drink package) on X as compared to RCL. Again, might be the demographic of an older crowd. If you are D or higher on RCL, your benefits are better than Elite on X. However, depends on what you use in terms of alcohol, specialty coffees, lounges, etc. With an older ship and a port-intensive itinerary in Europe, you should be ok on RCL. Stay away from July and early August — unless you want to be surrounded by kids. And be prepared to pay for specialty restaurants if MDR food isn’t to your liking.

I agree. Not end of the world. But it shouldn’t happen. And when it does, X should take responsibility. It’s not that hard to say, “I’m sorry.”

Yes, one excursion. But this should happen zero times. This excursion wasn’t a deal breaker for me as I’ve been to this island before. But X didn’t know that. What if this had been an excursion that was really important to me? The sad fact is X doesn’t care.

There have been other issues on this cruise that aren’t related to this thread so won’t detail here. I’ll write a review at the end. Generally (with the one exception), crew has been terrific. Issues are with corporate policies, not the ship. We only sailed X recently once since COVID. My sense then was that they were trying to position themselves as upscale of mainstream lines but not at the luxury level. My impression on this cruise is that they are moving downward, not upward. Much more like RCL, sans kids, than near-luxury, even in Retreat. Also that all their effort is with E class. That’s ok, but not our thing.

The change was 5 hours, not 30 minutes or even 90, which are generally manageable. And the morning tour wasn’t moved - it’s still going at the original time. I was just moved to the afternoon departure without my knowledge or consent. X claims to know EXACTLY how many spots are available on each tour - hence the “only 2 spots left!!” in bold, italicized type when you look up a crowded tour. So this shouldn’t happen. If there were a simultaneous booking, X should be able to notify one party promptly so they can select something else. Not apologizing profusely once a passenger calls them out on this is just poor business practice and evidence that X doesn’t care.

I’ve never had this happen on other lines and we’ve probably been on 80 cruises. Tour times have been charged on other lines, but there is always notice. Usually pre-cruise, sometimes prominently with the envelope (as in stapled to the outside). The problem with not notifying you in advance is that, if you don’t want the new time, by the time you find out, you may not be able to book anything else you like. As happened to me. It’s a terrible way to do business - and suggesting it was the customer’s fault and/or saying you (the cruise line) don’t care is reprehensible. I did try to get (back) on the earlier booking. Told it was sold out by the shore excursion manager.

I booked a 10 am excursion pre-cruise. When I arrived on board, the ticket had a 2:45 departure time. First notice I’d been given of the change. When I complained to the shore excursion desk, they first suggested I’d forgotten what I’d booked. I showed them my order receipt with the time clearly stated. They next said, “Well, sometimes the ship’s arrival time changes.” It hadn’t. Finally, they said that sometimes they just switch people without telling them. Blamed shoreside people. Seemed indifferent to my concern. Could not get me on the earlier departure. I didn’t want the later departure as I don’t like to snorkel late in the day when I’m sisters and it would have interfered with dinner plans. That’s why I only book morning excursions. They did refund my money but way too late to book anything else I wanted. Never had this happen before on any cruise line. Even when they do it last minute, they usually put a note of explanation with your ticket. Here, it’s as if they thought I’d forget or think I’d booked the later trip. And totally indifferent to the fact I was disappointed. In any event, don’t count on getting the excursions you booked or being notified of changes. Probably will happen. Might not.

Suggest all cruisers put it on the comment card. Sorry, but I’m not buying an inflatable stool nor hauling one with me. Every other line I’ve cruised on provides them. There are choices out there.

Yet another reason for Retreat guests to move to a luxury line.

I was told footstool was for safety reasons. Huh? If you want to jump overboard, just stand on your chair. There is still a small table about the size of a footstool. I just don’t get it. I just use the second chair as a footstool, using a towel, of course. True luxury. Not.

On Reflection. They were taken away last week. Loungers also gone from larger balconies. It’s a deal breaker for us. Seriously One of our real pleasures is lounging on the balcony with our feet up! We have one more cruise booked on X and then we’re done.

Fort Lauderdale is the port. Departure is early - 3:30.

I know suite and Zenith passengers can board at their leisure once boarding begins. How do you determine when that is? [When I checked in, my only option for boarding time was very late in the process]. We'll be at a hotel O/N and don't want to sit in the terminal when I could be sitting at the hotel. Didn't see the time in any of the pre-cruise documents. BTW, not saying we want to be the very first ones on board -- just want to understand when we could start and work from there.

As the OP, happy to hear it. 👏👏

We're looking to book a cruise for 2025. For the categories we're considering, the only price option is door-to-door. We already know that their limo service doesn't cover our area. We want to book our own air as we have plenty of miles that we want to use rather than pay for airfare. Is port-to-port an option if we ask? If not, we'll probably choose another line.

We were just in 1115 on Muse. We never heard any noise from the laundry or the elevators. None at all. Never saw any traffic in/out of the laundry. But for the fact I saw the sign on the door, I would never have known a laundry was there. Never saw any traffic to the forward lounge / library. Elevators were quick as there aren't as many people using the forward bank. And they are super close! It was nice to be able quickly to look out and see whether the pool or pizza place was crowded (yes, I know you can view the pool deck on your TV). Also, there aren't many cabins on 11, so there aren't many people in the area. You do have a bit more of a walk to get to activities aft on the ship. But it's not a big ship so we're talking an extra 1 minute of walking. I would not hesitate to book this cabin again.

FWIW, at the Q&A with the CEO on Muse recently, she noted that SS has a department/group that constantly monitors the world situation and makes adjustments to itineraries as needed to ensure passenger (and crew) safety. She added that the locations available to cruise are “shrinking” at the moment. This was in response to a question about a return to St. Petersburg but her response obviously incorporated the Middle East.

Note that The Grille requires reservations, so you must plan ahead. And while it has numerous options, the menu doesn’t change and it’s primarily meat. I love meat but don’t want it - or Grille — nightly. And that still means a jacket after dinner, which is the craziest thing . . . Casual options that don’t require reservations and /or an upcharge are limited to pizza or room service. After a long, hot day, my hair is sticky gross and I need a shower, not a sink whatever. Whomever suggested that is almost certainly a man. 😀 I also don’t want to put on my nice clothes over . . . You get the picture. We cruised Crystal for years. They had a casual dress code most nights, which meant collared shirt and long pants. No jeans, no shorts, no T-shirts. One or two nights were formal optional, for which almost all men wore jackets. Some wore tuxes. NEVER heard a complaint or issue with dress code and never saw anyone not complying. [And please don’t start on the whole Crystal bankruptcy thing as it’s irrelevant to dress code. I mention it only to show that a luxury line can do “casual” without controversy and without sacrificing “ambiance.”] Once again, my original post was directed to “informal” dress on port nights. I don’t understand why so many here find it so critical to force everyone to dress up on port nights. If you want to wear a tux after being out all day, do it! Just don’t make me do it. That’s all I’m asking.

As I’ve already said, for me at least there is a difference between getting ready for casual and informal. It means packing a lot of extra clothes and shoes. It’s also an attitude. As many times as I’ve worn informal and formal in my life (and it’s a lot), I rarely feel relaxed in that dress - and I want to RELAX on vacation. Not shorts and a T-shirt, but khakis and a polo / female equivalent. Formal optional is ok 1-2 nights, not most of the cruise. I respect the desire of many SS aficionados to dress up every night. We don’t have that same desire, which is the main reason we have no future cruises booked on SS. We’ve done 3 and generally enjoyed them. But the nonsensical application of the dress code on this recent cruise has driven us away. That may sound crazy to some, but not to us. Dressing up is important to really enjoying SS, and we don’t enjoy doing it 9 days of a 14-day cruise. SS isn’t going to change (for now). So we move on. That’s fine with us - there other luxury lines that are equally good. And one less person that the dress code lovers have to deal with. 😀

^^^^^ Exactly. Makes it so easy and relaxing to eat dinner and enjoy the evening entertainment, especially after getting back to the ship hot and sweaty after 6 pm. 🙄🙄

Depends on the ship. On Muse, LaT was informal on formal night, which meant jackets for men. On Muse, the only casual options on formal night were the Grille and pizza.

Agree with above points. My intent was to be realistic, not discouraging. On one tour, there was a gentleman who could walk but not stand for long periods. For various reasons, we ended up standing for long periods inside one of the tour sites. There was no place to sit inside. So the guide stopped the tour for 15 minutes while he took the man to a seat outside. The man missed the rest of the this site while the other 20 members of the group stood around in the hot building waiting for guide to return. No one was thrilled, though the man seemed more upset at missing out on the tour. Also, on our cruise, the shore excursion folks were no help. The info they provided, such as whether sites had a dress code or were air conditioned was, invariably, incorrect. If you have mobility challenges or don’t do well in high heat and humidity, do your own research in advance so that you CAN participate as fully as possible.

Having just completed a cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore, wanted to share some thoughts for those considering this or a similar cruise in the future. We visited Vietnam and Thailand: Halong Bay (1 day), Da Nang (1 day), Ho Chi Minh City (2.5 days), and Bangkok (2 days). First, the itinerary is absolutely fantastic! Each port was interesting and unique – I would not have wanted to miss any of them. Another good thing was having a sea day between each port, which was really helpful in terms of “recovery” after long days of touring (see below). For tours, I did Hanoi in Halong Bay, Hoi An in Da Nang, War Relics and City Tour in Saigon, Temples and Flower Market in Thailand. All except Saigon were 9-11 hours; Saigon tours were about 5.5 hours. I thought every tour was wonderful and the sites are fascinating. Wish we’d had more time/days! The itinerary / tours are fairly arduous so IMHO you need to be reasonably mobile / agile to enjoy them to their fullest. You don’t have to be a fitness nut, but you do need to be able to stand for long periods, walk, and climb stairs. I don’t recommend this cruise / itinerary for the mobility challenged. Asia has no ADA-like requirements for accessibility at tourist sites. The buses were air conditioned and comfortable; they did have steep steps. Sometimes, we had to get on / off quickly as the bus could only stop briefly. Many tours required extensive walking and / or standing. Many of the sites, including temples, had lots of (steep) steps and most had no railings. Afternoon rain made for slippery footing. Almost none of the places we visited (including museums) had air conditioning. Few had places for visitors to sit and almost none had elevators. The 90+ degree heat and 80% humidity were oppressive, especially if you’re not used to it; there was little relief outside of the bus. The climate literally saps your energy, even when downing copious amounts of water. Bus rides to/from were often long. Trip to Hanoi was 2.5 hours each way; 1-2 hours each way in Ho Chi Minh City and 2.5-3 hours each way in Bangkok. SOME of the above would be ameliorated with a private car/tour, but for many of the sites (e.g., temples in Bangkok), there’s no way to avoid walking and climbing. The above is not to complain – this is the reality of touring in southeast Asia. But if you’re considering this itinerary, you need to consider your state of health and mobility. In almost every location, the ship tied up at an industrial port – there was not much (if anything) in walking distance. I never saw taxis (though there might have been some). SS provided free shuttle service to/from the city at most, if not all, ports. Many tours offered a reasonable amount of free time, as there was rarely any shopping at the pier. Most temples and the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum area have a “dress code” for women, which means shoulders and knees must be covered. The sites can be very strict. You can bring scarves but IMHO it’s easier to wear slacks/long skirt and a short-sleeved shirt. Men can wear shorts; not sure about tank tops but didn’t see any. The above are just some general reflections. Others who took different tours or did things on their own may have differing opinions. Overall, highly recommend this itinerary.