kearney

I think if you get a specialty package ... not the first night deal... that you can't make reservations in advance until you are on the ship. So they may hold some for those who plan on using the multinight package

I thought only Celebrity had IV cabins... surprised Icon of the Seas (RCL ship) would have any

Candidly, I like the fact that there are people who find value and are willing to pay for the suite experience. Those higher fees allow some of us to cruise more often in a cheaper cabin. I don't mind the added benefits you get for that either. The one thing I don't care for..on E class ships... is the lack of forward view.. like the Sky Lounge... Since that space is taken for Retreat but that is it. I am very disappointed in recent changes and really hoped that post major covid..that things were get better...but that doesn't appear to be the case. Out of curiosity I did a mock booking for a cruise... matching (as close as I can) the S class cruise we took last April 25.. Equinox.. similar length cruise..but this year fewer ports. Last year our 1A cabin was $4678 for two with port fees and the AI package. This year the cruise only fare is $4507 and with the AI package the fare is now $6157.. significantly higher (31%) and to hear of small portions, elimination of some favorites and continues short staffed situation. I think we will sit this year out. I can understand short staff when you are running at less than 50% occupancy...but once things opened up.. I hoped that they would have this addressed. I do wonder if all the remote staffing in Govt... might also impact visas or whatever documents crew need. I have hear issues with passports.. I hope Lisa's staff is monitoring CC... cause I have never seen such negative comments....

They have sensors to help prevent accidents. But when in port... if they are planning on washing the windows, the bridge can close and lock the windows. Note that there are no drains on the 'veranda' and imagine being in the cabin with spray like a car wash coming in the open window. During one of the two maiden voyages of Edge, DH was not pleased that they kept the window locked while in port for hours.. because of window cleaning. I hope that they learned to unlock after washing to shorten the time period.

I have not seen that before either...but now that they have done away with the Always Included..for virtually everyone... they may be pushing drinks... targeting the 'cruise only' crowd.

If you really like to enjoy the art on a ship... the E class is the way to go. But we prefer the S class. There seem to be more places to enjoy a drink and different live music. S class has the Martini bar in the atrium and the Passport bar..tucked a bit back on a lower deck in the atrium (louder music and sometimes dancing). Ensemble lounge on 5 is quite with usually a trio.. near the specialty restaurants. The world Class Bar... a bit further away from the atrium and the Sky Lounge in the bow with large windows with a view out front (Edge has no forward view like this)...and the Sunset bar on the top deck aft. Edge main indoor bar is the Martini bar... which is in the atrium. What I don't like on Edge is that the atrium has a mall feel...with the specialty restaurants opening to the atrium and the loud music... not the nice quiet feel of the various specialty restaurants on S class (except Sushi on 5..which is on the atrium). Eden is nice to visit..but seats were so uncomfortable that we spent little time there... and while you have no view out the front of E class.. Eden does have a nice view out back with three story bank of windows. the hallways in the public areas and elevators on E class are better if you have a scooter.. but if your cabin is forward and you want to head to the Martini bar.. you either need to change elevators on 4 or drive down the passenger cabin to get to the aft elevators. I liked the 4 dining room options on Edge, but DH didn't care for it... because we had a different wait staff each time. DH did not like the IV cabin... since he likes to sit outside... I always burn so actually liked the IV. I would sail Edge again...but not at a premium to S class. Another thing about S class... if you want a quiet place to read... someplace outside your cabin..there are lots of places... from the library, card room... to Sky Lounge in the afternoon (except perhaps during trivia). E Class ships are worth trying but if you are just going to do one to try Celebrity.. I would go with S class. One more thing... if you want to purchase a Tiffany or Cartier product... E class is the way to go.. BUT be warned.. prices..at least for Cartier are the same as in the US...and when you arrive back in US port... the crew will likely take you to customs so that you can pay duty on your ship board purchase... so if you think you will save a lot... I think the duty limit is about $800. So keep that in mind.

I like ParknGo as well... my husband has mobility issues... can't walk long distances... so it is nice to just pull in to their lot..go right on a shuttle and head off to port... and at the end of the cruise their vans are there waiting for us... quick and easy. however, you need to leave your keys... which has not been a problem..but it would be nice if we could park it ourselves. However the lot is not that large and it would not be nearly as fast as the system they have. I just leave an AirTag in the car.. 🙂 If you pay in advance it is cheaper... and if you have to cancel. they will return the fee.

What type of cabin and is the pricing PP?

We now have sailed Celebrity for the past 5 years or so..almost exclusively. We never had an issue with children on Royal.. but our Celebrity trips have had very few children...even a 2 week Easter cruise one year had perhaps 100..but like the other sailings all well behaved and hardly noticed. Try going to Sky Lounge as the ship pulls out of various ports.. great views out of the front of the ship... and in the late afternoon a nice quiet place to relax with a drink... Also.. Tuscan grill around sunset is a nice place to go for dinner.

What I meant was..that they don't really care if it upsets anyone... they know that they can get it $.. and if they lose a few tourists..no matter... Back in the day tourism was about 90% of the economy..last I heard it was closer to 10%

Was this in addition to whatever port fees Bermuda charges? I had not heard this..but having traveled to Bermuda a number of times..it does not surprise me. Now that they are a global financial center (after Hong Kong went back to the Chinese)..tourism is not of top priority.

I wondered the same thing. I know recall discussions before Covid about banning cruise ships... now this would seem to have the opposite effect...more passengers getting off the ship...but perhaps impact of Covid closures is resulting in encouraging passengers to get off the ship... will have to look into this more. We have never experienced closed bars there in the past... service is usually reduced during port hours..but always open. Update..my memory may be off..only banning I can find related to Covid..but I thought I had read that there was some frustration with cruise lines... but can not find that...maybe only Key West.

Nice summary. We like booking Tuscan grill the first night... and if timing is right... try booking around sunset.. ideally leaving port. And if that is full... try when leaving another port...again around sunset... Really nice experience. But for the full service experience.. Murano with the lobster served tableside...is wonderful..but no view. Lots of nice quiet specialty restaurant choices on S class ships... Alas I think the experience on E class is a bit more like eating at the mall in the food court.. noisy

We don't sail in suites..so I can't address changes there ... but most of the revolution was a color change and new furniture in the public spaces. Equinox only had a partial update because the dry dock in the Bahamas had a situation where a crane fell onto Oasis of the Seas..and that shut down the area... Equinox had to go to Europe for the update..which took time and I suspect some materials were in the Bahamas. As a result some of the structural changes...like taking some of the Sky Lounge for suites (yeah) did not take place and not all of the cosmetic changes were made. I believe Reflection was supposed to be updated in 2020.. and well we know what happened there. Basically they were moving from the warm color scheme built around earth tones..to the cooler gray and blues of Edge. Now... if I recall ...Silhoutte..which did go through the changes..still had the warmer maroon and cream colors in the bathrooms.. with the cooler gray blue in the cabins... To be honest the walls remained a cream color...which kinda looks dirty next to gray..but that may be just me.

Alas they did not have one available for comparison with a water view for the time period... but it would be a bit cheaper....not a lot based on past experience..

DH has mobility issues...so what I like about cruising..is that they take you from place to place. Our first cruise was of the Hawaiian Islands back in '91. It was great not having to pack and head to the airport to head to see another island. And with DH mobility ..we just get to the ship and from there.. he can relax. I am not surprised at extra charges..but since we don't use room service, and have seldom been to the OV after 5.. the changes may make MDR more crowded..but other than that.. limited impact.

I was curious about land vacation vs a cruise... so I tried cost comparison for a 6 day cruise in June vs a 6 day stay on Hilton Head overlooking Harbortown marina. Selected a mid priced veranda vs a one bedroom condo with a view. The cost of accommodations including various fees and taxes was $1750...vs the cruise of $2860 (including gratuities)... but when I factored in meals... (I used Ihop menu for breakfast..Appleby's sandwich prices for lunch...and a nice local restaurant for dinner... meals per day with 20% tip was about $225 for two.. In total the 6 day HHI trip was a tad more expensive than the cruise and you could always drop a meal or cook in the condo..to reduce costs... but using a sample of one... cruise still better value..with entertainment and change of scenery ..Of course I am looking a prime veranda vs a condo...not sure how a suite would compare to a house on the ocean.. but for my money it is still a value. What I don't like the dramatic switch from Always Included (which was a misnomer to begin with)...to a number of additional charges... when you get used to not having to look at the bill on a daily basis..it is annoying to have to keep checking to make sure no unplanned extras popup. Out of curiosity.. I checked Costco travel for package to Grand Cayman..one of the stops on the June cruise I used for cost purposes... since you have to fly there.. the package they had with air fromATL and transfers ..exceeded $5,000..before considering meals.... So while not a full analysis.. cruising still seems like the better deal

Reflection has an additional deck of cabins...so when closer to capacity.. Reflection is a bit more crowded. The Sky Lounge view is impacted by them taking some of the view to make suites. Some of the interior areas like the apple store is now inside cabins... both are nice ships... I really like the Sky Lounge and prefer the wide open views on Equinox.

I have not done this analysis recently... so things might have changed..but a number of years ago.. I was considering a one week stay on Hilton Head with a water view condo... factoring in meals I realized that cruising was a more cost effective vacation... assuming driving to both destinations. Given the price increases I have seen at my local grocery store and local restaurants... I suspect this still holds true. People can talk about going elsewhere for their vacation dollars... you might try pricing both out... recognizing how many drinks you really have when you have an AI package...vs what you would be paying for at a land resort. Now camping is likely cheaper... assuming you are using a tent. Face it... inflation sucks..and while people talk about it being reduced to say 5%... the base prices generally don't go down.. unless demand hits various industries and then..look for even more cuts.

The cruise lines did not sail for well over a year..but had to keep ships moving incurring costs for limited crew, upkeep, some port charges etc. Then supply chain issues impacted supplies and quality of supplies (eg liquor) .. and higher energy costs (although some long term contracts may have helped)... and add to that recent increases in inflation due, in part, to the war in Ukraine ...make running a business difficult and impacting decisions on pricing and product features. I understand the balance they are trying to keep. Unfortunately these same issues impact my personal economics..but I can't raise revenue so I have to focus on the cost aspect.. and this means fewer cruises... and more likely to go with 'cruise only' fares and off season sailing... eg back to hurricane season... Sept-Oct cruises... which can be exciting...

Welcome to "shinkflation". I have noticed product quantities reduced while prices have increased as well..across a number of categories... And we will likely reduce number of cruises we take each year...given noticeably increased prices.

Sorry, I assumed you talking Celebrity..

You can tell if your room has been updated... the new color scheme is built around a blue gray color...vs older design was a Maroon and cream color scheme. Cabins not updated have new blue gray drapes, bedding and blue decorator pillows.. but carpet is still mainly maroon... the warn color scheme kinda clashes with the cooler blue gray scheme. But unless you really look for it... you might miss it. Also... I wonder if the refurbishment extended to bathrooms... because our Equinox bathroom still had the maroon cream tile scheme... not sure if the plan was to update that area or not. I vaguely remembered Silhouette still having the older scheme in the bathroom..but not sure

Frankly one of my fears in cruising..is being stuck in a cabin on deck 3 for more than a day. We were lucky.. and is some ways Covid improved our trip. How you ask...well...DH needs wheel chair assistance and when getting off the ship..while the crew does a good job of getting you to the terminal... We have had to wait up to an hour for a volunteer to take us down the elevator and through customs. By getting covid... we were taken off via crew elevator..straight off the ship on deck 3 and into a limo..which took us to our parking spot... best departure ever. Ironically..

Last Sep I got covid on the last day of our cruise... My husband tested negative..we were given a choice... I could go to deck 3 to isolate.. or we could stay together in our cabin on deck 6. Since we planned on driving 11 hours home the next day, we decided to stay together in our deck 6 cabin. Policies are fluid as the disease changes.. but that is what we experienced. Earlier comment that cruise lines 'don't want to know", I am not sure this is valid. CDC regulations changed which is one reason we don't see figures. Also, lets face it ..it is everywhere... and if you are concerned... Stay home.