terrydtx

I am surprised that Catalina Island was substituted for Monterrey. I grew up in the LA area in 1960's and spent many weekends in Catalina on a friend's boat. Other than fishing and very limited beaches there is not much to see or do on the island. I did a lot of abalone fishing there as a teen but I think that is now prohibited.

I have the same issue on my Galaxy 7 Tablet, it opens crashes and says there is a bug and to comeback after the bug is fixed. Works fine on my S22 Samsung phone.

Yes this was started last October a little late for us on our August Oosterdam cruise. This now brings HAL more in line with the Celebrity drinks package rules.

We took our 12 year old grandson with us to Alaska in 2019 on the Noordam in a Signature suite. We loved the cabin and extra room. The bathroom also has two sinks, one for him and the other for my wife and I. The Balcony was also much bigger. In 2025 we will be taking our other grandson to Alask and plan on a SS for that cruise as well. We now book either a SS or a Vista suite on our HAL cruises. Just a lot more room which is nice.

How much do you think it costs to be cruising in circles on the missed day in fuel use alone?

Not rubbish, in the US most ports charge docking fees in 24 hour blocks, not by the hour. This is from the website Cruisehabit.com

That new menu looks great and for $29 it is a bargain. Looks like HAL is finally taking the venue to another level. It IMO, puts Canaletto on par with Celebrity's Tuscan grill, which now costs $55 plus 18% gratuity pp.

that is really sad, as this has been one of the things that set HAL apart from the other mainstream cruise lines.

We did a Celebrity Reflection cruise in a Sky Suite from Rome last Year followed by a HAL Oosterdam cruise in a Signature Suite from Venice. You do not mention the ship names for both cruises. If the Celebrity ship is one of the Edge Class ships it does not have traditional open air balconies other than aft facing verandas and Suites. The E Class ships have an Infinite View (IV) sun room with a window that opens and closes, many like them and many like me hate them. IMO last year the Oosterdam MDR food was overall much better than both the Reflection MDR and Suites only Luminae. HAL is going to be a much older demographic than Celebrity with a different kind of shows in the theater, that includes a lot of BBC world documentaries. Both will have anytime dining and dress is smart casual on both with none of the old formal nights where a suite and tie were required. HAL calls them Gala nights and Celebrity Evening Chic. IMO if you are booking just a regular Veranda cabin HAL offers a better value for the money spent. HAL still has room service without any extra charge while Celebrity now charges $9.95 + 20% gratuity for room service. Celebrity charges way more for the specialty restaurants than HAL

We no longer book any cruise ship sponsored excursions, we now book small group private tours often at less cost than the cruise line. Most small group private tours are 12 or less people. We are just tired of being hosed by the cruise lines.

Actually it $89pp per day plus 18% gratuity or $105pp pd. On a 7 day cruise that's $735pp.

At least they didn't give you another sea day as a substitute. I wouldn't mind an overnight in SF, as it would give us time to book a wine tasting tour in Napa. Too often when a port is canceled we end up with another worthless sea day cruising in circles offshore. We book cruises for itineraries that are port intensive, and we view a sea day as a waste of our money.

Viking is currently running a $25 deposit promo and I looked at a cruise, the catch was the final payment was due in less than 45 days for a cruise 12 months from now. Their business model is to pay for future ship builds with full payments for cruises 12 months or more out. Must work because they sell out on a regular basis.

The Celebrity cutbacks in lower classes of cabins are one of the reasons we now only book Sky Suites with them, almost everything including better dinning is included. Why anyone would now book anything less than Aqua class astounds me. Other lines, including HAL, beats their pricing and what is included. We booked the Volendam for our 2024 NE/Canada cruise in a Vista suite. We also got the early booking HIA promo with the premium drinks, Wi-Fi and paid gratuities for 1/2 what Celebrity and Oceania would have cost plus HAL by far had the better itinerary. We can eat in the specialty restaurants every night and still be way ahead of what Oceania and Celebrity would have cost.

I think you should look at all the cutbacks and extra charges, like room service, that Celebrity has instigated this year. Celebrity has dramatically raised prices on future cruises, increased specialty dinning costs, cut back to 3 or 4 entrees in MDR, charges for second extra lobster tail. They raised their drink package by $20-$30pp per day, $89pp pd for standard classic and $109pp pd for premium plus 18% gratuity on both. IMO Celebrity is the leader now in cutbacks and nickel and diming in mainstream cruise lines.

I agree we have done these many times. No problems transferring to TA. In fact last time we did this our TA was notified of the purchase while we were still on the cruise

I was looking at what an Aqua cabin currently costs on our September Apex cruise and today it is $5395pp which is only $600pp less than our Sky Suite when we booked in 2021. When we booked this cruise back in 2021 the Aqua cabins where just a little over $4000pp. That is a huge increase in cost in less than 2 years. Before we booked in Sky Suites, we also booked Aqua Class.

First of all we have not yet been on an Oceania cruise, 2 previously ones canceled in 2020 and 2022, but have one booked for 2025. Second, we do not book for the entertainment on any cruise line, as we rarely go to any shows so that is not one of our criteria for choosing a cruise. As I previously said our first criteria for a cruise is itinerary then we look for the line that offers the most value for dollars spent that meets most of our criteria. Up to now a Sky Suite with Celebrity has been our strong choice but their future pricing for a Sky Suite has been why we are going elsewhere. Our 4 future SS Celebrity bookings are currently 20-30% more in cost than when we booked a year ago. The 2025 14-night South America Equinox cruise sky suite cost is $200pp more than the Oceania Marina 18-night cruise we booked. That was too significant to pass up.

That is correct, we had two cruises canceled in 2020 and 2022 that we previously booked, and I have done extensive research on O vs Celebrity.

We recently booked a Volendam cruise for next year and we got the early booking, Premium drinks, Wi-Fi and tips with the HIA promo for only $55pp per day more than the cruise only price. We added it all up and if bought separately, it would cost us over $120pp per day.

We wanted to try a Viking Ocean cruise, but their policy of final payment due 12 months out was a big no for us. No way I can justify giving any cruise line $15k or more to hold for a year. Maybe if we found a last-minute Viking Ocean cruise, we would try them.

For example our 2025 booked cruise on the Marina of South America for 18 days is $200pp less than the similar 14-day SS on the Equinox. We booked an A3 concierge level cabin and we get 4 more days and 3 more ports than the Equinox for $200 less in cost. This for us was a no brainer. One of the couples we met on our September Apex cruise roll call, after our discussions about O, canceled his Celebrity cruise on the Equinox to join us on the Marina after he did the comparison.

When we are looking at Oceania, we prefer their 3 newer and larger ships, Marina, Riviera and the new Vista all with about a 1200 passenger capacity. We feel the A Concierge level cabins are close to a Sky Suite in size, 291sq ft, and most cases price. The A class cabins have an exclusive lounge with snacks and nonalcoholic drinks. There are not any suites exclusive restaurants but they have 4or 5 specialty restaurants that are included in the cruise pricing. Since O is known for their superior onboard cuisine I see no reason to have an exclusive venue like Luminae. When we booked we chose the wine and beer package with lunch and dinner, which can be upgraded to a unlimited spirits package anytime for $20pp per day. All bottled water and non alcohol drinks are included in the cruise 24/7. There is not a butler until you book the higher Penthouse Suites. For a full list of Concierge class amenities here is a link on O's website; Luxury Cruise Suites & Staterooms Aboard the Marina - Oceania Cruise (oceaniacruises.com) Since we booked our first O cruise, I have been spending time in the O CC forum and it is surprising how many ex-Celebrity people I have found. It appears Oceania is where many dissatisfied Celebrity suites customers are ending up.

Our last few HAL cruises have been on Vista ships in Signature Suites, last year after being gone from home for over 30 days that bathtub in our cabin came in handy. We tried the ship's laundry once and they ruined a couple of our items.

Exactly how I do it and it is even spelled out at the dispensers. How do you feel about washing dirty clothes in the bath tub? LOL.