foodsvcmgr

The last couple years Celebrity and most of their competitors have offered the lowest pricing at the introduction of new itineraries or at least well in advance in an attempt to generate earlier bookings. Look at 8 day ABC itineraries for 2026, $1300 pp for Balcony and $1600 pp for Aqua. Those are not exorbitant prices IMO. And regardless of when you book, it’s the Suite prices that are the most out of hand.

I visited QE as a kid in 1969 during her brief retirement in Port Everglades. Convinced me to begin a lifetime of cruising ever since.

Agree that Cunard ships are somewhat lower capacity than those incurring the most wrath. Fortunately ships are mobile and itineraries can be adjusted. Ports unfortunately may have to be dropped at the last minute for protests much like weather conditions. As one locale wishes to eliminate cruise calls perhaps an opportunity exists for a new and different port to develop and attract tourism, though clearly options are limited.

Without question fly in at least one day prior. Don’t worry about transfers as it is no more than 20 minute taxi airport to downtown or pier. If you aren’t concerned about staying beachfront in South Beach, I suggest Hyatt Centric in Brickell which has views of the ships coming into port and is 10 minutes to the pier. You’ll save hundreds of dollars and be in a very nice neighborhood with easy walking to a variety of excellent restaurants.

Thanks for the update, I’m glad they changed their thinking to approve cruise home porting.

They were there in January however all the balcony furnishings were heavily worn and needed replacing. When that occurs I expect the footstools could be history.

Your friends reference applies to Britannia or in their case P&O main dining room with fixed seating where the entire table typically will be served course by course together having arrived at the same time. In Grills or BC with open arrival time range would be as others have described here.

While nice for those on applicable sailings I’m not sure if effectively having two different products with respect to entertainment, food, lectures, etc. for longer vs shorter sailings is good marketing for brand recognition. Consider the passenger who has just the mediocre standard experience on a 7-10 day cruise now booking their longer cruise elsewhere because they don’t realize that HAL upgrades the special voyages. Conversely a passenger who normally takes the longer sailings but wants a week with the family will be in for a disappointment. If prospective customers don’t really understand your product that can’t be good. Does HAL even understand their product?

I’ve stayed in 4 Star hotels in Athens and Santorini and both requested not to flush paper.

My fare for 2026 has increased by just over $1000 for the cabin, no savings for me in this one.

Very interesting, please provide links when officially released. Thanks.

I find it difficult to believe that middle class and above in Alaska have no interest in warm weather vacations during the winter. And we know Europeans love to holiday during their many weeks of vacation time. Clearly those living at or near poverty level in the Caribbean or Central America do not, but neither are they trying to ban cruise ships. Just seems a bit disingenuous. As I said, I don’t particularly like the summer crowds where I live, but I’m not trying to get them banned either.

I sailed out of Philadelphia back in the 80’s on Britanis and Galileo. Somewhat uniquely my understanding is that Philadelphia has stated that they no longer wish to serve cruise ships, only cargo.

Remember when Silhouette was new she sailed from Cape Liberty to the Caribbean for her first winter? Why are the longer sailings only Royal now?

I’m not a fan of all these bans developing worldwide. Out of curiosity, do the residents of Juneau, Barcelona, et al never cruise or leave town on any sort of vacation? A “good for me but not for thee” attitude? I live across the bridge from the beach where the population swells in summer from 10,000 to 100,000 so I get it, but unfortunately the economy depends on it.

Kay - we had Table #171 in the Provence DR on Coral in February 2020 just prior to the shutdown. I don’t have a photo but this was a freestanding two top all the way at the back wall in a little alcove as you described. The surrounding area was a mix of large and small tables all with good separation, not the endless banquette style that we had on Ruby and Caribbean.

As an American, the variety of British foods is one of the main attractions that keep me returning to Cunard. Quite different from the generic banquet foods served on Celebrity, HAL, and other superior mass market lines marketed in the U.S. Not to say we don’t enjoy the others, but really appreciate the Cunard difference.

And in the U.S. try uniformalwarehouse.com

Napria keep checking, there are many price fluctuations outside of specific sales promotions based on sales algorithms for each voyage.

Stepping away from dress momentarily, are classical concerts truly gone in all ships or just QA? No violins anywhere? No cocktail pianists doing classical? And if so, yes to me a greater concern than the man at the next table not wearing a jacket.

Having travelled HAL, Princess, and Celebrity I can assure you their food is inferior to Cunard, not drastically but certainly in the quality of ingredients. As far as dress, all have Formal nights or the equivalent and none enforce a dress code. Yet on Cunard 90+ percent of men will be formally attired where on the others you will see a handful of tuxes at best.

It will be interesting to see the dress code/formal night situation on QE’s Caribbean series in 2026. For packing purposes reducing formal nights only creates the need for more clothes, when bringing the tux I’d rather use it four times than two let’s say.

I was able to have my fare adjusted for QE Caribbean in February 2026, resulting in a reduction of $380.00 total for the cabin.

Lakesregion please note that Princess three years after eliminating fixed dining has now reversed course and will again offer a traditional early and late seating option. Also on HAL unused tables in the fixed dining level are frequently given to anytime diners if volume requires, so there is no waste of labor or space by continuing to offer traditional. Same on Celebrity.

Thanks for the update Jack. Indeed good news especially if QV does the same. I know I keep harping on the canapés, in the big picture not a huge deal and I certainly don’t need more food, it’s just the perception of “taking away” that concerns me.