north29

And we are above D+.. I think the last email I received from RC said I had 420 points to go. Never will I make this, since X's points do not count. Also, other cruse lines with different itineraries look appealing.

We never take much with us, no wallet or anything of great black/grey market value but do carry some cash in our sea pass holder, we bought at Hobby Lobby, not much but you never know when you might find something that you cannot live without. We just leave cameras(yes a water proof one) or what ever, slightly concealed on the lounge. I guess you just have to trust that people will be honest. Never had a problem on RC private island venues. However there are reports from time to time of some issues on Labadee (SP).

I got tired of reading so if someone else said this forgive me.

Many Cruisers as I have seen the lounges, will not be happy with just 3 drinks a night. There might be more to this voucher move than we know, maybe too many over drinking and well, causing issues.

 

We too would be unhappy if the lounges go away for another venue.

My wife is an artist, well a very very good wannabe artist. She feels the art actions are very good, if you are into art history, the performance/lecture the auctioneer gives is very good. But, on our last cruise, we saw painting sell for up to $20K the paintings were left for many to see and god forbid touch. In our local art museum any one that looks like they are about to touch a painting is almost thrown out. Why would anyone buy art under the conditions of a art auction?

 

The art auction gives another activity on board, which we feel X truly needs, since all activities are over crowded and well, just not enough of them.

But many RC and X cruises, I can tell you that the food quality will vary greatly from cruise to cruise, ship to ship, area of the world has great influences as well.

On the Eclipse, it is in the front of the ship. When at sea, the wind will not allow you to have much fun

We are world travelers/cruisers, we know that there will be many different issues with travel. Some of our friends take our comments on the negative side, which is not true, they are just comments of our experiences, no trip or cruise cannot be without some strange issues. Many of our friends take our comments as just comments, and understand what we mean, that travel is not rocket science, and issues will happen. Guess which ones we talk to more. LOL
I do believe that many want to hear negative comment so they can say to who ever, see, a bad experience do you REALLY WANT TO GO. These are not true travelers/ cruisers.

Not us, If I have to worry about bed bugs, I would not travel!!!!!!!

Having said that, we do check and spray with special bug killer(designed for bedding) and leave our luggage out in the hot sun for a couple of days before storing away.

Getting bed bugs is like being pick pocketed it is not IF, but WHEN. Just a fact of life in travel.

I also feel the line between quality cruising in the generic brands, not taking in the botique cruise lines, has changed enough to get our attention. I have felt that the crew seems to be over worked, especially the stateroom attendant. I could be wrong, but on my last two cruises on X I found my stateroom had not truly been cleaned, a quick phone call solved the issue. Crew problems might be limited to certain ships, I have also seen MDR service just barely OK on a X cruise and my lasts RC cruise but on the next cruises it was back to normal.

Remember the Captain has mucho control over all venues on the ship, and may experiment with ways to make his ship more profitable

Since we are D+, the Diamond lounge on our last cruise was exciting crowded, and fun. The Concierge lounge was ok but it was quiet, and no one wanted to talk to any one outside their group. So we did the diamond lounge, where everyone was having fun with most anyone.

 

Every ship/cruise is different, so enjoy the perks while they last.

What you need it for. Most modern devices do not need a converter, and I have never seen a hotel room in Europe that had one. PS I was told by my sleep doctor, that many of her clients used a converter for their CPAP machines in Europe and had electrical problems with them later. I you buy on make sure it is a goooooood one.

A British style pub with big sports screens oh no :eek: if I wanted that I would stick to sailing on P and O Azura, I do hope that Celebrity is not downgrading to that level

 

This is not a down grade, it is just keeping up with the times. All of us are not old and slow, and listen to chamber music. X needs some new exciting things to do, I do hope they do it with class.

Seem to vary, day to day and port to port. I passed through Port Everglades last christmas, and declared my extra alcohol, and he just passed me through???????? I even asked about it but he just smiled, and I said thanks.

I do not consider it a big deal, just a minor inconvenience that can happen any where a computer is used, yes even banks.

Always remember travel, even today, is not rocket science, like rocket science it is always an adventure.

The ships safes are fine, never heard of a TRUE problem. What to take off ship, we each have a different CC, copy of passport or/or PP card and yes cash depends on the island.

Some islands I do not worry about, Aruba, Grand Cayman etc. But the poorer islands, and this started after our last cruise. We no longer will wear expensive watches or other jewelry. We call ourselves world travelers, and we generally know who, what, and when to worry and on two islands on our last cruise, we were targeted. I even had a man come up to me and ask about my Rolex, and is just a look alike(very good copy)

Please just know where you are, if on a tour, little/no issues, walking on your own potential victims, know where you are, crime is every where, even your home town.

Qsine IOHO it was the best of all the speciality restaurants. Not that the food was super great, but the service blew both Morano and Tuscan away.

However, we love to try ethnic food from all countries, and it gives you a great choice of ethnic food to try.

My daughter is freaking out since we got noro in Feb while onboard the Disney Dream and we are sailing next week. I've sailed since and the odds are you won't contract noro. BTW, we always wipe down the room also. She got sick very quickly and severe. She was given multiple meds as well as injection. Then quarantined. The next day we were to disembark. Within 9 hours of her getting sick, I got it; its pretty awful. I took some of her meds since it was already nighttime. She was better than me in the morning and drove home (I wasn't in any shape to drive)

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions as we lived it.

 

That is my one big fear of the NORO, having to get off the ship and no or few bathrooms in sight .

With coffee, are ok, but I hate cold food, so no omelets etc.

Like someone said above, have some coffee and carbs, and then go to the MDR for the real breakfast. I'm a breakfast lover my favorite meal of the day.

Offer a formal dress venue every night(not for me). But it might change the dynamics of dress code threads. The new threads might get into those who push the envelope of formal dress in color, design, and personal style(red shoes) etc. It dang sure would be refreshing.

Order the King Crab, and Halibut, much better over all than the Lobster you might find in Alaska. I just made my self hungry.

The kindle Fire hd is just a tablet from another company, while not an iPad, it will do most anything you want. WOW cannot believe what was said to you, maybe out of context, but you have to remember that X is a apple store on water.

over the years, I have heard of toooooo many issues with travel payments, using a debit cards, not only cruise lines, but hotels etc.

I do hope they find out what the problem is then please get a CC to travel with especially a CC with no foreign transaction fees seems best.

 

Please separate ATM transactions from Companies, cruise line, hotels etc.

I have noticed most travel from cruise ships to land tours are up from around $600 to a $1000 dollars over last year.

We do room service for breakfast when we have an early shore excursion. I usually tip $2.

 

Our opinion also

Maybe if you were from above the Arctic circle and wanted grass and sun fine, for us and probably many other cruisers, a waste of space. Maybe all the so called comfort dogs and true working dogs would have a better place to, well enjoy LOL