BrendaJ

Denise, I’d love to see those showers on Oceania. I can’t imagine such a small space being able to have a door. Perhaps when Oceania did the reno, they reconfigured the whole cabin, making it possible to have a larger shower in general.

Oops - the prices in Canadian I saw were per cabin, not per person.

Honestly, the prices are bonkers - many of these itineraries are over $1,000 Canadian per person per night for a standard verandah cabin. At that price point, Silversea and Seabourn are looking pretty good.

I think the cruise lines are in a tough spot. It’s primarily older passengers who value a stricter dress code, and most cruise lines want to attract a clientele who are going to be cruising for the next 20 or 30 years. In my experience, younger people just aren’t interested in dressing up for anything other than their own wedding or prom. We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise with the grandchildren a couple of weeks ago, and I was actually pretty surprised by RCCL’s dress code for formal nights. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/generic-onboard-dress-code The reality on board was something else entirely. I saw exactly one tuxedo and maybe a couple of men in suits at the most. There were men in the dining room wearing t-shorts, shorts and ball caps on the formal nights. I didn’t expect much for RCCL, but this was pretty shocking to me. I miss the old days when even the mainstream lines had a strict dress code and formal nights were a special, elegant evening. I think those evenings are disappearing even on the luxury lines and it’s a shame.

I can’t even imagine what the announcement might be, unless it is to announce a new Azamara Circle level between Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Platinum. That might make a few people happy.

I think that part of the confusion was in the Crown and Anchor Benefits document left in our cabin (the same one posted above). The Diamond Concierge had a different one that did not indicate the 40% off for bottles of wine using a voucher. When she got back to me, she indicated that the benefit was under review, so perhaps that is something that may change in the future.

Oops, I mean, our assistant waiter wasn’t aware the vouchers could be used for 40% off a bottle of wine. All in all, that turned out to be a great use of our vouchers.

I’m glad to report all has been taken care of. I assume the Loyalty Ambassador worked her magic. We ordered another bottle of wine last night and there was no issue, so I suspect our waiter or assistant wasn’t aware the bottles could be used for wine, and then Guest Relations was confused about what I was requesting. All is well. Thanks for your assistance, everyone.

Nope. We had only used two vouchers that day.

We are Diamond status due to reciprocity with Celebrity and are currently on the Harmony. The Crown and Anchor benefits sheet in our cabin stated that we can use a drink voucher for 40% off a bottle of wine in the dining room under $100, and 20% off bottles over $100. Last night in the dining room, I told the sommelier I would like to use one of my vouchers for our bottle of wine and selected the Malbec. He said fine and headed off. Then he came back and said the Malbec was not available until we were 12 miles from Texas, so I selected a Washington cabernet sauvignon. We enjoyed the cab and when our bus boy brought us the bill, we were charged full price for the wine. I told him we were applying one of our vouchers towards the wine and he said the vouchers could only be used for glasses of wine. That is not what it stated on the page in our cabin, but I shrugged and paid and figured I’d deal with it later. Back in our cabin, I called guest relations and explained the situation. She wasn’t really sure what was up, but said she’d take care of it. She called back and said they would deal with it. This morning I checked our account and we were charged for the Malbec we didn’t even get, as well as the cab, with no discount. I spoke to the concierge in the Crown lounge this morning and she pulled out a benefits sheet different than what ours was, and she said she had been off for a while and would check. I went back later and she said she would take care of it, but there was confusion on just what the deal is with the vouchers regarding bottles of wine. One suggestion was that I would have to use all four of my vouchers to get 40% off so it really wouldn’t make much sense to use the vouchers in that way for a wine worth less than $100. I was wondering if anyone had any experience in trying to use the vouchers for bottles of wine. It’s not really a big deal, but my paperwork clearly states that I could use one voucher for a 40% discount, and if that is not the case, they need to update their flyers.

I’m not sure if anyone else’s experience will be different, but we landed on Saturday at Bush, stayed at a hotel on Saturday night, and went to the airport on Sunday morning. We had read that the shuttles start running to Galveston around 10:30, but the first RCCL shuttle did not leave until noon. I think there was some type of weather hold-up with the shuttles coming from the cruise port. It was a very uncomfortable wait. Two hours of standing with what felt like 1,000 people, and about 40 seats in the baggage claim area total, and not even a place to buy a coffee. As our ship was leaving at 4, we didn’t want to arrive back at the airport too late, but in hindsight, I think arriving around noon would have been a bit better. The ship left on time so they somehow managed to get all those people to the port before the gangway was lifted. If you’re landing the day of your cruise, I guess you probably don’t have a lot of choice on when your wait starts.

We are going on a cruise out of Galveston soon and this issue caused me a lot of stress. I just can’t believe that Viator doesn’t have a bus of some sort running back and forth on days there are ships in port. There are quite a few ships that leave from Galveston, but I didn’t find any reasonable options - all of the private van rentals were a fortune. Our travel agent suggested Uber, but as there are 7 of us, and half the group are inexperienced travellers, I didn’t want to risk getting separated. Our other issue is that we were arriving the day before the cruise. We ended up booking a hotel at the airport, and will take an RCCL transfer from the airport the following day (and we’ve booked an excursion to the space center on the return trip). Certainly not the cheapest option but the only one that gave me peace of mind.

I’ve sailed Celebrity for many years, and have only once sailed with Royal, in 2018. I have a booking for March 2024 for my extended family. For some reason, my account has some type of issue that Royal’s IT department seems unable to resolve. Any excursion or dining choice I want to select is greyed out on the website. The result is, I can’t book any dining, I can’t book any excursions, and every time I call Royal, I give them the ticket number, they put me on hold several times, and eventually tell me to call back in 48 hours. I have had issues with Celebrity’s website in that I have to change my password every time I log in, but at least so far, I have no problem booking excursions online with Celebrity. Even the phone staff are unable to book my excursions for me on Royal. Anyone else ever had a similar problem and if so, how long did it take you to get it resolved? I guess I don’t really need to book excursions (I can use Viator), but once on board, I will be disappointed if we can’t book any shows or activities.

Personally, I’d love to visit Sisimiut - not that many mainstream cruise lines go that far north in Greenland and it would probably be icebergs galore. I visited L’Anse aux Meadows on a land vacation this summer, and although the settlement was somewhat interesting and their tour guides give good information, there really isn’t much left to look at. It’s a scenic enough spot, but honestly, I’d rather visit Sisimiut.

My travel agent is very frustrated with Azamara. He has tried to cancel one of our cruises for next year several times, and Azamara is still sending him invoices, etc. for it. A week or two back, our upcoming cruise list and Azamara Circle info was finally correct. I am honestly very reluctant to do anything online with Azamara currently, because it’s obvious there are still issues to be sorted out.

Gee, $8.95 per day seems like a bargain. Is that on top of the regular internet package which you’d also have to buy? Honestly, I can’t imagine that they have upgraded any part of their internet service to the point that many people could be streaming video at the same time. I’d definitely have to see it to believe it.

Wow - I will have to check that. It never occurred to me but I would not be surprised - thanks!

Yes I have. Maybe that’s the problem?

Thanks for all the replies. There are 4 cabins for the six of us and we are going on the Harmony. I figured I should try to book dining so we will all be at the same table. I would be surprised to find out that 6 people is too much for one table. Can you usually book dining before final payment?

My first Royal cruise is four months away. I am trying to make reservations for My Time dining for the 6 of us, both on the app and on the website, and no matter what day or time I select, I get the response “Sorry to interrupt your party but there isn’t enough room for everyone. Try selecting another time or day.” There is also nothing on the app showing any shows. Is it possible that everything is already reserved, or am I just trying too early? Do I have to wait for final payment to make dining and entertainment reservations?

I think the library is not used all that much, at least in my experience. Most times I have gone in there, it is empty. It was nice to have a large selection of books, but these days, I’d much rather read on my e-reader anyways. We really enjoyed the Atlas Bar when we were on the Onward, but if you don’t have the Ultimate beverage package, the featured cocktails are a bit pricey. I did miss the piano though - I get up early in the mornings and play it on the other ships if there’s no one else around.

I think most cruisers who really love Azamara and what they offer would not be thrilled with Celebrity’s largest ships, where the onboard atmosphere is energetic and busy and perhaps a bit glitzy. After sailing Azamara’s quiet, small ships, Celebrity might feel a bit jarring. I personally find Celebrity’s food to be fine, and their service is also fine for my needs. It’s not as personal as Azamara’s, but I don’t need it to be. I really love the newest Celebrity ships - I find them beautiful, comfortable and exciting (other than perhaps a bit of seating that seemed to be design more for form than function). I’ve also had some interest in some of those ships that sail the Great Lakes (it would be wonderful to avoid those long flights) but the prices for those cruises are bonkers.

Thank you for the very comprehensive and fair review. You made me really want to try Viking. However, from Canada, their prices are extremely high. Doing a comparison between Azamara, Seaborne, Silversea and Viking, Viking’s price per night for similar itineraries was higher than the other three in many cases. The only itineraries where Viking was a bit cheaper were transatlantic. From what I can tell, Viking does not include gratuities. If that is true, that must also be added to the Viking price per day, as well as basic cocktails, if that is something you enjoy. For the prices I saw, I’m probably more likely to try Seaborne than Viking. I don’t know all that much about Seaborne other than they are a luxury line, and some of their ships are definitely older than Viking’s. Viking does appear to have some unique itineraries, including some cold weather trips that I would find very interesting. I do like the idea of included excursions, although in many cases, a short bus tour or walking tour would not be what I would select. I’m curious about the technology available on Viking, seeing as they are newer ships. Celebrity’s Edge-class ships have some really fabulous technology. They have a phone app that allows you to do the following: check in, view the daily itineraries and excursions before and during the cruise, attend a virtual safety drill, view deck plans, track your spending, unlock your cabin, control the cabin temperature, television, window coverings and lighting, make restaurant reservations and view menus, and send messages to fellow passengers. For me, it was a game changer. I’m curious if Viking has similar technical treats. In any case, if the price differential stays the same, I’m unlikely to try Viking in the near future, as appealing as it seems.

Apparently, there is alcohol-free gin. I don’t know about anything else but who knows.

I think the bartenders should have a whole raft of non-alcoholic fake beverages ready to switch out on people who are getting a little too inebriated. My cousin used to serve beer at Oktoberfest in Munich (you know, the giant steins of beer?) He said if he or any other server saw anyone getting out of hand, they’d start substituting non-alcoholic beer. Anyone that drunk evidently doesn’t taste the difference. Seems like a really good plan so that everyone is happy and safe.