sunshine nana

Thank you very much. We are hoping to do this cruise on Emerald in 2018. Did you hear of anyone taking the train from Nuremburg to Prague? DH is a train buff and would like to do this. I seems from you information that we should plan to stay one night in Nuremburg and take the train the next day.

Thanks for the prompt replies. Will look into Scenic and Uniworld

We really want to hear a concert in Vienna and understand we would have to pay extra. Some lines are no longer listing the concert as an option, but when asked by phone, they say it is. Who has done the concert and on which line? Thanks

What is the cost of the optional concert in Vienna? Thanks

Thanks for the review. We are hoping to do a similar cruise on Emerald a year from Aug. One question: why was the sun deck closed on some days? Thanks

We have cruised many times with Celebrity and Princess, but this week we received a mailing from Regent. I hope some of you can answer my question so that I don't have to read many threads from the past. Does Regent offer a MDR lunch? everyday?. We do not like the buffet and like the idea that both Princess and Celebrity and even NCL have a sit-down lunch at least on sea days and with Luminae on Celebrity or a suite on NCL the lunch is possible even on port days. Thanks

We have done 12 cruises and the Baltics was the best for me. If I went again, I'd love to have 3 days in St. P. I have to agree that I would do the Baltics now while you still can. We are so glad we went to Istanbul and the rest of Turkey and the Adriatic a few years ago. Britain will always be available. Also, you could easily do a land trip in Britain. By the way, the UK was my 2nd favorite. We did it two times to go to some different ports.

We have sailed in two S1's and the pole was never a problem. Don't worry.

We have done the UK cruise on Princess from London twice and loved it. We spent extra time in London both times. The Princess mini-suite is just the right size for us. The first Celebrity cruise in an S1 was great with a wonderful butler, but the next two the butlers were almost worthless. We like MDR dining on Princess and eat breakfast and lunch in the MDR when we can as well as dinner every night. We really like eating lunch there on embarkation without having to spend a lot extra for a suite.

Our UK cruise this past summer was on the Royal with the mini-suite having a heavy curtain between the sleeping area and the sofa area. That was great for us as one of us could nap or sleep late. It was more of a "suite" than the S1 or S2. The 2 TV's were good too. We just do not think the extra money for the suites are necessary on such a port-intensive cruise.

Compared to suites on Celebrity, Princess does not add much over what a mini-suite has. Unless the suite has a separate sleeping area, the only added benefit is free laundry and a mini-bar. You can have a nice sit down breakfast in the MDR with a mini and you can also make reservations for dinner. For $1800, you can book a specialty every night and have a lot left over for drinks and excursions.

Our first time in Blu was Equinox and we loved the room and the food. DH liked the hovering service, I could have done without it, but overall it was great. We had prime rib and always had good choices (2012). We were in an S1. The next time, we were in an S1 on Silly (2014) and had traditional MDR at 6:00. Every night, we checked both Blu and MDR menus and choose MDR except for the two nights we ate in specialties. Blu seemed to have lost some of the good choices. The last time we ate in Blu was Constellation in 2015 and the room, food and service were not good. It was overcrowded, noisy and the food was dry. We were in a CS, but Luminae was just being built. All in all, I think Blu needs an update if Celebrity wants to keep charging more for mostly poor location cabins.

Our first Celebrity cruise was an S1 on Equinox on 2012 and it was great. We had a very attentive butler, wonderful meals in Blu and loved Tuscan and Marano.

Next we had an S1 on Silly with a totally worthless butler who was only attentive on the last day to get an extra tip on top of the required butler tip. He didn't get one. We had wonderful meals with traditional dining in the MDR, but Tuscan and Murano were only so so.

Our last cruise was in a Celebrity Suite on Constellation. We only saw the butler once and that was because I called her when the steward did not leave ANY toilet paper after cleaning. The butler told me to look in the cupboard which of course I had already. She did then come up with the tp. We were not escorted to our cabin, or to the theatre on formal night. She never checked up on us. The Michael's Club concierge was so busy with a 50 person wedding (only a few were in a suite) that he could not book us into a specialty the night the wedding reception totally booked Tuscan. Because Luminae was being built, all suite passengers were supposed to eat in specialties. We ended up in Blu which was way overcrowded and not good.

We canceled our March cruise in a Celebrity suite and decided to go back to Princess in a mini which is almost as big as an S1. We don't need a butler. We also appreciate that Princess has the MRD open to all on embarkation day for lunch and any sea day. It seems that even though Celebrity promised to have lunch in Luminae every day, that is not always true.We also like the Princess laundromats on every deck.

We might book a last minute Celebrity cruise, but it will not be in a suite unless the price is much lower than what is showing now.

We ate in Ocean Liners twice on our 5 day last March. The food was great, but the service was very slow. As a result, it took 3 hours to eat and we missed the shows both nights. It was not crowded either night. We did not have to pay as they were building Luminae and all suites had free specialty dining. We ate once at Tuscan Grill and were very disappointed in food and service. It was also very noisy, nothing like Tuscan on Silly and Equinox. We ended up the last two nights in Blu. If you do have to pay for Ocean Liners, wait for some kind of two for one offer.

We took the UK cruise the first time in 2011 that included Kirkwall. It was a very interesting port and so out of the way that you probably would not go there on a land trip to the UK.

The second UK cruise was this past July when we went to Liverpool which we loved for the Beatles tours and concert. We saw all different places in the ports we repeated. The only port we did not find that great was Dublin. We spent a half day there each time and it was fun, but could not compare to Belfast, London, Cobh, Edinburgh, Guernsey, the Normandy Beaches, Glasgow or any other ports.

You are right, no other cruise line does the same itinerary leaving from London. We spent extra days there pre-cruise both times and could have spent a week.

If either of you have different sleep schedules, the heavy curtain separating the bed from the sofa area and balcony is very helpful. With the two TV's, one person can be sleeping while the other is reading or watching tv or on the balcony. That and the extra room and bigger bathroom was a big plus for us. Even in some suites, there is no way to close off the sleeping area.

WE love the mini-suites on Princess, especially on Regal and Royal with the curtain separating the bed from the sofa area. (only prob. was the small balcony) Celebrity balcony rooms (even AQ and Concierge) are a lot smaller than the Princess minis.

Also, no one mentioned the washers and dryers on every floor on Princess. Much cheaper and convenient than paid laundry on Celebrity.

We choose based on itinerary (only Princess has UK from London and r/t Panama Canal) and price.

We found the MDR's very similar.

I just remembered, we were on Equinox, not Silly in 2012 when we went to Istanbul! Sorry

WE were on an NCL cruise one time, and they kept sending out pictures of some woman's suitcase with nothing but her shoes. I don't know if she ever found it. Moral: wear one pair, pack a dressy pair and a walking pair. That's it! No one you see will ever notice what your shoes look like!

We've done this twice! Loved it! Guernsey, if you have any interest in WWII, there is a great private museum that you can get to on the bus. Read the Potato Peel Society before you go!

For Belfast, we took the Princess Beatles tour, loved it! Also, the concert that night in the theatre was great!

Stirling Castle was the BEST Castle and we saw many!

First time, we went to Wales, second time Liverpool. It will rain, but not all day.

Our first Celebrity Cruise. We booked Celebrity because our favorite up until then (2012) was Princess and they dropped Istanbul for no reason after final payment, but several weeks before embarkation the year before, so it was not weather or unrest etc. We loved Silly, we had an S1 with the wrap around aft balcony and a wonderful butler. We were spoiled. Since then, our Celebrity cruises have been nice, but we never had another good butler even in a CS and Blu on the M-class is not nearly as nice. We really like having traditional early seating in the MDR and have decided for a short cruise, we don't need a suite or even AQ. All in all, we like Celebrity a lot and have also gone back to Princess mini-suites if the itinerary is right!

We love the extra room of mini-suites with a full sofa without having to pay a lot extra for a suite (we don't need a useless butler or afternoon snacks). We don't want to pay a lot extra for a Celebrity suite only to find out the promised Luminae breakfast and lunch can be eliminated without notice.

We especially liked the curtain separating the sleeping area from the sitting area on the Royal. As others have said, we like eating lunch in the MDR on embarkation and would like it if they brought back lunch in the MDR on port days too.

We love the International Café and the OBC for stock on every cruise!Also, the partial Panama Canal option for those with limited time who don't want a long plane ride to/from the West Coast. And the UK cruise starting from London.These are the reasons we have chosen Princess 6 times and Celebrity only 3 times and NCL three times.

We have chosen our 6 Princess cruises because of itinerary (Alaska, partial Panama Canal, r/t New England, UK (twice) or price (Baltic). We had great service in MDR except Panama Canal. I wrote about watching large groups allowed to enter ahead of others and not being allowed to make a reservation ourselves. I expressed the feeling the the maître d was making his determination based on prior tips. It was quite a long thread. That being said, we had great service on Royal this past July. We had the same wait staff in Anytime every night that really took care of us. I hope you get better service on the Alaska cruise. We did, but it was 2004. We do think that Princess has a long way to go to catch Celebrity when booking suites. We got a survey from Princess asking us if we would pay more for some extra services in mini-suites such as priority tendering, afternoon snacks, etc. that Celebrity has in the smallest suites (Sky).

We loved eating in Blu on Equinox, but on Constellation, it was way too crowded and there were no windows. Blu on S class has a wall of windows and we were always seated next to it if we got there early enough. On Constellation, the room seemed closed in and was way too crowded. We also enjoy MDR if we book traditional to have the same wait staff whether we are on S class or M class.

After reading this thread, I am glad I switched our booking to an aft Concierge on Constellation from a CS. I did it the FIRST time people reported that Luminae was not always open for breakfast and lunch as promised. For three cruises starting in 2007, we booked a suite on NCL just to get breakfast and lunch in a quiet dining room. We loved those meals, but the MDR went downhill so much, we switched back to Celebrity and Princess. Why can't Luminae serve a light soap, sandwich, salad lunch that would not require a huge staff for those that really want to eat in a real dining room on port days?Until they provide what was promised, we will not pay extra for a suite.

I will check out the Globus Tour. We might end up using them for the land part. As for the previous remark about the WWII vets, we had a whole bus load of family of a man who landed on D-Day. Everyone was in tears when he was given the US flag at Normandy. We are all well aware and grateful for the service of all our vets including my Dad and two uncles in WWII; one uncle was a Marine in many landings in the Pacific who never recovered from malaria. My Dad was 30 and the other uncle 35 when drafted. All served without complaint.Thanks to the helpful posters.