Vagabond Knight

RCI is always sending me "offers," usually for add-ons/upgrades for the cruises we have booked. When I open the email in Microsoft Outlook, the text says, for example, "Oops! It looks like these Symphony of the Seas offers were too big to dock here. Click here to navigate in browser." When I click the link, I get a blank page, except for this message at the top: "The system is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try again later." This happens every time. The link is going to a royalcaribbeanmarketing.com address. If I go to the royalcaribbean.com site, it's functioning properly (as well as it ever does, at least). Does this happen for anyone else or is it just me? I normally use Chrome, but just in case, I've copied the link and tried it in Firefox and Edge and get the same result.

Our two upcoming transatlantics on the Freedom are listed as "Carnival Journey" cruises. I've looked at the advertising page for the journey cruises (https://www.carnival.com/journeys) and read the information on there, but I'm interested in hearing specifics from those of you who've been on one of these cruises about the extra activities they say we'll be experiencing. They list 1) Destinations, 2) Throwback Sea Day, 3) Academy of Fun, and 4) Crew Connections as the extras. The destinations are obviously specific to the cruise and we are well aware of where we're headed 😉, but please fill us in regarding your experiences with the other three offerings. Thanks in advance!

Thank you, @edinburgher! Sounds like an even better plan. The shore excursion is $109 per person and is only for four hours, so taking a taxi would be quite a bit less expensive and give us as much time as we want in Honfleur. We'll post this in our roll call thread and see if there's another couple who wants to share a taxi in to Honfleur, but sounds like we'll be fine even if we're on our own.

Oooo... I like the way you think! We're booked on the "Colorful Honfleur" excursion on our NCL tour in a few months, which talks about a walking tour and then "some free time at leisure" and I've been thinking that I'd rather have all that time "at leisure." Actually wondering if it would just make more sense to get a taxi or some other transportation to/from Honfleur since the excursion is only four hours and the ship is in Le Havre for 16 hours!

I am a bit surprised at the excitement over these items. Kind of looks like a typical children's menu in a family restaurant. Will sail on Carnival later this year for the first time in years. What were they serving prior to this if this is an upgrade?

My assumption is that it's probably 10% off the package price, but that the gratuities are charged on the full price rather than the discounted price. Would that explain the difference? This would be similar to walking into a restaurant with some kind of coupon... others may do things differently, but my husband and I would tip on the price that our meals would be without the discount.

Some folks sailing with us on a 9-day British Isles cruise this fall were asking if there are any "theme nights" for which they should plan. Since this will be our first cruise on an NCL ship, I have no idea. I understand that there are no formal nights, but are there any "usual" theme nights to be expected?

Thank you, @Norwayfan1.

Thank you for your research and for posting this, @Norwayfan1. Sounds like it's actually "official" and goes beyond NCL, so I am very surprised that there isn't more about it out on the internet since it seems like it would affect other cruise lines and businesses in the port city as well. Perhaps the other lines had already adjusted their schedules accordingly.

I have googled and googled and, except for that one article that talks about the total overhaul of that NCL cruise, I can find no mention anywhere of "new restrictions" about tender ports in Ireland from October through April. So, is there really such a government restriction or is it simply a NCL policy change? I have trouble believing that we wouldn't be able to find ANY other articles talking about the restrictions affecting cruises on other cruise lines and/or how it will affect the tourism in the port cities.

See the article below. Personally, I would be livid if I were booked on this cruise. However, my question is more general as to whether there is actually a new law that prohibits tendering at ports in Ireland from October to April or if this is something that NCL made up? I have googled and googled and can find no mention of any such law or when it would go into effect (2023? 2024?). The only mention I can find is in this NCL-related article, and I would think that there would be much more coverage of such a change if other cruise lines were affected, as well as announcements as to how it would affect the port cities and their tourism. https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-completely-changes-ship-itinerary/105445

Very little demand from me either, ha-ha! I was thinking maybe 7:30 at the earliest. 😄

We're on a NCL Dawn British Isles cruise in October and are trying to plan our onshore adventures for Kirkwall, Orkney Isles (this will not be a tender port). The ship is expected to arrive in port at 6am. I know that things sometimes happen that can delay passengers being able to get off the ship at a port but assuming nothing too unusual happens, when are we likely to be able to step off the ship? Thanks!

We're booked on a 9-day British Isles cruise on the Norwegian Dawn on October 5-14 that leaves out of Southampton and will visit various ports in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Norwegian has a few other cruises available to these locations as well that are a couple days longer. This one just happened to fit our schedule between two other cruises. We know we'll only see a small bit of these countries, but we consider it sort of like a beer flight or wine tasting... you taste a little sample of a number of options, and then you decide which one (or more) you like enough to order a full glass.

Unless the thread is very closely moderated/controlled, similar to the thread on cabins, it will not warrant being a "sticky." There are already too many extraneous posts that are not price drop and deal alerts (yes, including this one). 😉

Tried again and was able get there today. Thanks very much @Malleykatt and @gnome12. Also emailed the distillery and got no response there. We'll see how it goes with the guides... definitely worth a try!

Can you double-check the website? This site won't come up.

Thank you. I have emailed them. I was actually hoping for some "local knowledge" from someone here on cruise critic who is local to Kirkwall (I knew it was a long shot), but your suggestion was excellent. I see you are from Edinburgh. That's another port stop to which we are REALLY looking forward!

We'll be on a NCL British Isles cruise in October and have a very short day in Kirkwall, Orkney Isles, Scotland. The ship will only be there from 6am to 2pm. Our primary interest there is to visit Highland Park Distillery and we want to be there when it opens at 10am. We would like to hire reliable transportation in the form of a taxi or chauffeured car for three hours that will pick us up at the port, take us to the distillery and stay there to take us back to the port afterwards. There's one taxi company that we've tried to contact in Kirkwall, but they never responded and we've since seen a number of reviews that say they're unreliable. Due to the early ship departure, we don't feel comfortable relying on a drop-off and pick-up later scenario. Any suggestions?

Well, some people feel like they have to act all hoity toity, thinking they're impressing friends and others around them, when a bit of kindness and understanding would be much more appropriate. The crew members work their tails off, having to smile through long hours and (fortunately, only occasional) rude passengers. Most fellow passengers I encounter on cruises are wonderful, but there are a few who should probably be made to walk the plank (or be made to serve as an "honorary" crew member for a day!).

With prices! https://profcruise.com/celebrity-bar-menus-2023/#bacio

No prices listed, but bet I can get you salivating... https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/eat-and-drink/bars-and-lounges/al-bacio

Serious question... why is Connie your favorite? We're booked on her for a cruise next spring. We've been on several other Celebrity ships and were surprised to see how few specialty dining options are available... no Murano, no Porch, no Lawn Club. Does it have anything in the way of activities or entertainment that the others don't?

We have sailed both Celebrity and Carnival. There IS Bingo on Celebrity ships. There ARE deck parties with bands and dancing, though perhaps not as often as on Carnival does them? There IS night life... "Silent Disco" is a blast! Yes, some of the older crowd doesn't stay up late for the dance bands, but the younger crowd parties late. Like it or dislike it, there are far fewer kids on Celebrity. There's a kids club and a teen club, but not as many kids/teens in them. The kids we've seen on Celebrity have been surprisingly well behaved. In general, people dress more nicely for dinner and in the evening on Celebrity and honestly, even throughout the day. There are exceptions of course, but I've never seen someone on Celebrity show up to the MDR in sweats on "Chic Night" like I did on Carnival. You will likely feel like the atmosphere is a bit more elegant and the service is better on Celebrity, and the MDR food and buffet are somewhat better. Note that there is a lot of complaining on the Celebrity forum about post-Covid downgrades, but I'm seeing that on just about every cruise line forum these days (we're booked on four different cruise lines over the next year, so I've been looking around). We thought the "Chef's Table" on Carnival was much better, from food, to presentation, to service, than it was on Celebrity. Celebrity has a mix of entertainment that ranges from rock/dance to classical style string trios (and you learn which lounge to visit for which type of music). At least on the smaller Celebrity ships, one thing I find lacking that I enjoyed on Carnival is a piano bar. Also missing from Celebrity are kitschy types of entertainment such as a hairy chest contest and bellyflop contest (not sure if they're still around on Carnival or not). Since Carnival tends to be less expensive, you can get awesome cabins for scenery intensive voyages such as Alaska (Vista aft corner wraparound HUGE balconies) for far less than a tiny regular balcony on Celebrity (we did r/t Seattle to Alaska twice on Carnival). If only Carnival did one-way Alaskan cruisetours... sigh! You'll see a huge difference in the passengers onboard Carnival ships depending upon the itinerary and the length of the cruise. Those 3-day Caribbean jaunts to the Bahamas for example, will attract a lot of people with whom you may not want to be cruising, including rowdy bachelor/bachelorette parties, spring breakers, huge family reunions, and groups of friends who are splurging for a wild long weekend of drinking and partying. It's not that you won't see the occasional passenger on Celebrity who's stayed a bit too long at the martini bar, but I'm not sure I've seen any passengers who've purposely tried to impress the others in their group with how drunk they can get. Go on a longer Carnival cruise (and especially with an itinerary that's NOT Caribbean) and you'll probably enjoy a less annoying crowd.

Wow! You "win." 😲