kirtihk

For my agent this ("sitting on hold") is by far the biggest obstacle: he spends 8-10 hours just that every single working day (he works 9 am to around 1-2 am next day). It's really crazy! And it's getting worse and worse by month for most cruise lines calls.

Seriously? 1 bottle is enough for entire cruise for real drinkers? More like 15 bottles for 7-day cruise.

Interesting. Including hard liquor? Unlimited number of bottles? No corkage fees?

Thank you. I just surprised they don't include a "classic" package (their price is high enough to justify it) like all other luxury cruise lines do. Do you know whether you may but it just for 1 person in a cabin if the cabin is booked for 2?

How much is a drink package? I expect it to be not too expensive, because it's like an upgrade from "wines at lunch and dinner". We are planning to book our first Viking cruise; that's why I ask all these detail-oriented questions.

Yes On Celebrity and similar others. However, on Ponant and Paul Gauguin it is actually really fresh and tastes so good! They buy multiple different fish from locals (in the morning right from the ocean in the local market) and prepare different styles each day.

Yes, true. My point is some meats taste at least sort of OK after being frozen, but beef wellington is one of those that are definitely don't.

Previously frozen beef wellington is never good.

I don't think it's a recommendation but rather just a discussion and comparison, and why not? If someone likes something, it doesn't mean that person is related to that something in any way.

No, not all luxury and small ships require full payment a year in advance: for example, Seaborn and Ponant are 3 months, and Regent is 4 months, and I think Windstar is 4 months and Silversea is 5 months. What was strange about beer selection? Also, isn't beer for extra to pay? I read and heard that alcohol is only include during lunch and dinner, and it is only wine (no beer or hard liquor), any other time any alcohol is extra.

And I don’t need anything else…

I remember 1 old cut back in Blu a few years ago: on our first Aqua cruise there was a special breakfast moving muesli station - a waiter was coming with a cart having multiple available ingredients and berries to make your own muesli; it was so delicious! Then a year later we had another Aqua cruise, and that station was gone. When we asked, the answer was "What is a muesli station? I don't understand you."

My cruise agent told me a few days ago that the non-refundable definition was quietly (it's still listed on Celebrity web site the same right now as before my agent talked to me) changed by Celebrity: now if you cancel non-refundable booking, you lose your entire deposit (not just $100 per person) -there is no more FCR for the deposit - ($100 x number of passengers).

I remember people taking multiple full plates of meats and pasta, and more during midnight buffet! It was like elephants eating events. And then next day (and every day) there was no available seats around pool area (instead of everyone running miles just to eliminate previous day's calories). Amazingly increadible!

Let's go fibreless!

Funny, funny!!! - No meals, no drinks, no shows, no entertainment, no pool, no hot tub, no sauna/steam room, no open deck access, no lectures, no daily activities, no dancing, no bands... just a cabin (like in a motel).

Yes, I compared not All included to not All included and also non-refundable to non-refundable. As I wrote, we booked both 10-day April 2024 (Beyond) and 7-day April 2025 (Ascent), so I know details (I did comparison based on price per day).

Actually, I don't know whether anyone noticed: Celebrity recently released spring 2025 Caribbean cruises - balcony is 60% less expensive than for the same time frame in 2024 (so, as I mentioned, we've booked both April 2024 (in March 2022 prior prices went up by 35%) and 2025 cruises).

Forgot to mention: the least expensive Regent price on our double holiday (Christas and New Year) Caribbean cruise (after subtraction included air and shore excursions) that includes all 4 specialty restaurants with unlimited visits in each was 20-25% less the least expensive non-holiday Retreat on Celebrity Edge class, and "entire Regent ship" is yours at a better overall quality than the Retreat area and Luminae (and the SEA Thermal Suite on the Edge class is extra for the least expensive Retreat cabin - about $800 special per couple with tax for a 10-day cruise while on Regent it's included for all). PS. Meats quality on Regent (including specialty Prime 7 restaurant) was just OK.

We will have a 16-night "Norway Intensive Voyage" Azamara cruise in June. We previously sailed on Azamara (our last normal full cruise prior to shmandemic - August 2019 North Pacific crossing on Azamara Quest), and we liked it very much!

Could you please express your experience? We are planning to book our first Viking cruise (for November 2025 when it becomes available) and would like to know an opinion (perhaps, in comparison with Celebrity).

I cannot judge Oceania. We just came back (Jan 5) from a 16-night "Christas on the Canal" Regent Splendor cruise (first time on Regent) - the majority of those on the ship who previously traveled with Regent mentioned that quality on our cruise was also down from 3 years ago. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our cruise to its full extend (we learned from a couple on our Ponant Le Bougainville cruise last June to never complain). The consistent matter on our ship is the best space-to-guest ratio ("the enclosed space (measured in cubic feet) per passenger" - it is over 70. We've booked 2 Celebrity cruises (Beyond and Ascent) for April 2024 (last February) and April 2025 (a few days ago).

It's amazing, how everyone who loves cruising was exclaiming for last 2+ years - "When will we be able to cruise again!"" And now ... Voyage, Voyage...

One who's in a "blame" mood (for last 2 years and 10 months) needs to condemn a proper "company", not a cruise line that just have been trying to survive like any of us ... Voyage, Voyage...

On Jan 9 at 10 pm I saw Aqua prices for March/April 2025 multiple ships/dates; next morning they jumped for 7-day cruise by around 75 % (for example, April 6 Ascent Aqua was around $1,300 before tax, non-refundable, not all inclusive, and $2,311). I couldn't call my agent on Jan 9, because it was late night hours, so I didn't lock a price. We were lucky next day: I called my agent and told him about a huge price difference occurred overnight (just for aqua class) thinking to book a regular balcony; however, my agent told me to be ready to smile (an early gift from him for my Jan 11 birthday) - he gave us his special group discount (by far even bigger than his typical group discount), so we booked an Aqua cabin for a lesser price than the current "Prime Edge Stateroom with Infinite Veranda" balcony we planned to book, and on top of that he gave us additional $350 OBC.