jlawrence01

We have found that booking through flight by Celebrity, we can save as much as 20-20% over booking our own. However, that saving is easily offset by baggage and change fees. So, we are like you and prefer to fly Southwest Airlines. Generally, cruises are the second week of a four week trip so we hit the port 2-3 days early so flight cancellations are not an issue for us.

It takes all of 10 minutes. We proceed straight to the room, watch the ten minute video, head to the muster station, talk to the staff there who will explain and answer any questions, and head to lunch. I was on my first and last Norwegian cruise on the Epic when they were doing the muster drill the old way. The process took 90 minutes and I thought we were going to experience Mutiny on the Epic. Two cruises - Celebrity Millennium and Norwegian Epic - and never a more stark contrast of efficiency and professionalism.

I think that you will meet all officers if you spend the evening in the Lido.

I have been on eight cruises on seven different lines ... And my next five cruises are on four different lines. I have been on HAL twice - Konigsdam and Eurodam. At this point, it is difficult to evaluate which line I prefer as each ship is significantly different. Konigsdam had great entertainment but the service did not match up to Celebrity or Princess. Eurodam had great service but lacked the entertainment options. If I had to listen to the cruise director delivering another canned PowerPoint presentation, I was going to scream Personally, I liked the Regal Princess a lot. I thought that the entertainment was great and all of the lectures given by third parties were excellent. I thought that the food was generally fairly equivalent except for the beef entrees which were not great on Princess. I liked the buffet a lot better on the Regal. For the record, I am booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the Regal Princess on future cruises.

I can't wait to try although honestly, my last two bookings were cheaper to book without stand by.

OAs of June 21, some quotes on the major cruise TAs include fees on their site while others do not. For me, I have a small spreadsheet: +Cruise fare + Taxes and fees + Gratuities - OBC credits I want to know the per day price before booking.

I think that is a mistake. I have created a separate e-mail that I use for ALL promotional materials. Most of it is deleted but some of the stuff is critical. For example, I just received a nearly free deal from Carnival's casino club even though I have not cruised them since 2019. Glad I did not delete that one.

I always wait until I am on the ship and apply it at the customer service desk around 1am on the second or third night. The customer service reps are so bored that they are happy to see me.

We will be on the Celebrity Solstice for 16 days in September. On recent HAL cruises, I have gotten into the habit of rising at 6 am and walking two miles prior to an MDR breakfast. Is there a deck where I can walk around the entire ship, not just a walking trip up top? Thanks for your help.

At least 2-3 a day. Everyday.

The Biblical admonition "Ask and you Shall receive" seems to be the rule on the Celebrity ships I have been on.

I booked an 8 day Southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Magic for two people: Cruise fare: $200 Taxes and fees. $340 Gratuities $256 Less OBC: -$200 Total $596 or $298 per person No internet or drink packages as we need neither. That is a casino rate and was a nice add-on to a cruise from the week before on the Regal Princess.

That looks like a casino offer. The shame is that you could have gotten the same rate on an 8 or 12 day cruise.

We were on the Regal Princess last year and they had a woman who was very informed about each of the destinations in the Western Caribbean. She prepared a 45 minute lecture talking about what there was to see and what excursions to take - both cruise sponsored AND third party. It was a nice change from the massive sales pitches that we have received from other lines. RC was the worst. Their presentations were veiled sales pitches and a great deal of the information was inaccurate even for those vendors they were pitching. We generally prefer to do our own thing in MOST ports. That has occasionally gotten us on public vans where we end up in some remote location. However, we are seeing a lot more than most people. In some ports, we have been able to find local drivers to take us all around town in a private vehicle where we can stop at the things that we are really interested. The discussions alone are very interesting. I agree that you have to do some research. The only time that I would take a cruise ship excursion is if I was in a locale that I did not feel safe like Jamaica and Belize City.

My wife and I are budget travelers. Our goal is to travel away from Arizona 13 weeks a year including trips back to the Midwest to see family. When we cruise, we are looking for good deals on the cruise lines that will provide excellent food and excellent service. That means that we generally cruise on the "shoulder seasons" and those weeks of the cruising calendar that are less popular. For example, Alaska in may or September works for us. Or any cruise that travels in the first two weeks of November, December, and January. We do NOT look more than twelve months in advance. We are more likely to book trips about 6-8 months out for major trips and maybe six weeks out for fill ins. We find that you are not going to get good rates once you go too far out. Since getting to the cruise port is a major expense, we may cruise immediately before or after a trip home to see family. Or we might book two cruises back to back if we see the right bargain available. Or a cruise followed by a week road trip followed by another cruise. We use our travel agent's website and "90 Day Ticker" to identify great deals. When you see those super low fares, those are the ones that we are looking for. in general, we reserve a guaranteed inside cabin and have generally not been disappointed. Noise issues do not bother us as my DW can't hear them and I sleep soundly. We have three cruises booked in September back to back to back out of Vancouver in Alaska and to Hawaii.. (it is cheaper to fly home from Honolulu than Vancouver or Anchorage. We have two cruises booked in March out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

PYA Monarch is a brand of US Foodservice. It is a brand that is often substituted for Heinz when it is not available. I can think of at least two ketchups that I like better than Heinz - Reg Gold and Hunts. The quality of many Heinz products has greatly deteriorated since their acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway.

I purchased a cruise in May 2023 - 7 days Alaska Inside Passage on Celebrity for $587 in September 2024. In the past year, the cruise price has risen until it peaked at $1350 last month. We just passed the 90 day date where the final cruise payments were due. Now, the cruise is back to $595. It would be difficult to not attribute this to cancellations. I think that there will be a number of great deals in the next 12 months to those who are not too choosy as the economy is not getting any better.

At the beginning of each cruise, I stop by guest services late at night when they are bored to death and add a gift card to my account in the amount that I need to pay any gratuities that are in access of the OBC that I have on the cruise. They swipe the gift card and the next day, the amount shows up on my account. At the end of the cruise, any balance left (often $50-75) is refunded to the credit card that I have on file. Any credit that is non-refundable must be used on the cruise. Any amount that you add via gift card is refundable.

We have been doing that quite a bit in recent years. We live in a city far from cruise ports and a significant part of the cost is getting to the cruise port. We book a cruise that really interests us. Once we get that booked, we look for cruises that leave from that port or a close by port that are reasonably priced that interests us. OR we find a land destination that we would like to spend a week or two exploring. For example, last February, we cruised the Eastern Caribbean on Celebrity starting in Fort Lauderdale and ending in San Juan, PR. Puerto Rico has been a dream destination for my wife so we decided to spend a week driving around the island. Then we saw a great deal on an 8 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on NCL. We booked that cruise. After that cruise, we flew to Ohio as we found a good fare and we wanted to see our parents. Then we flew home. The way that I find the cruises is to use the 90 DAY TICKER of my travel agent's website. It brings up the cheapest fares in each class for every cruise available during a selected time and in a selected region. If you are going out of Southern Florida, you will notice that you may have 10-15 cruises leaving in the next 3-4 days out of nearby ports. I have not found this to be that difficult. however, it does really help to make a calendar of where you are going to be each day so that you get your hotel and cruise reservations correct. It does help if you book the two cruises from the same port or if you depart a cruise one day and give yourself a full day to get to the second port (like sailing into Fort Lauderdale and out of Miami the next day,

One more thing. If you want something that you do not see on the menu, ask for it. Celebrity staff has been very willing to give us special requests and dietary requirements when asked. You will find that getting a hamburger in the MDR is not that difficult and is a common request of the few children on board.

If you head over to YouTube, there is a content creator called TravelTouristVideos. When they go on a cruise, they make videos of ALL INCLUDED food options videoing everything available in the MDR, included restaurants, and the buffet. You will see a picture and a title for each menu item They have NOT done one on the Beyond but have done a number of the videos on Celebrity Apex and Millennium. I believe that the offerings on the Apex would be very similar to the Beyond. While I prefer to eat at the MDR, I have a serious case of FOMO - fear of missing out. After dinner, I always walk through the buffet to see all the food. I am an extreme foodie and worked in many commercial kitchens for years . I love to take pictures of the food as it gives me fresh new menu items to duplicate at home and it helps me with my food presentation as I cook for a number of my elderly neighbors.

If you find out something, please post it I would like to go back but not at the price of the tour. It is worth it once BUT you will have more fun if you can speak Spanish and talk directly to the wrestlers.

Walking to the venue is very easy, an easy 15 minute walk. As for the second question, I don't know. I would try to contact the venue directly.

We decided to take the Regal Princess as the timing of the cruise would be better for other legs of the trip that we are planning. In addition, we found a great B@B cruise that leaves Miami the day after the Regal Princess arrives back in Fort Lauderdale.

Life is a series of choices. You can pay the amount quoted for the suite. Or you can take an inside cabin and pay half as much or you can stay home. We have had no problems finding great rates on the five cruises that we have booked for the next 12 months but it has taken the ability to cruise in shoulder season and our willingness to accept an inside guaranteed cabin. That is fine with us as we only sleep and shower in the cabin.