hubofhockey

Our cruise, Azamara, handled everything for us. This was October of 2019 and maybe things have changed. We had an overnight on our first port of call in Ha Long Bay and we spent the overnight on an Indochinese Junk with Bhaya (amazing experience) and we needed a special visa and Azamara handled it. We told them what we were doing and I believe we needed a special visa (didn't cost much extra) and they did the rest for us. Before anyone goes out and gets their own visa, go out and check with the cruise line.

Thanks on this one. Love the Constellation (for some reason, preferred it to Millennium, not sure why). We did an Adriatic cruise on that ship. We still have the basic wifi for paying for aqua - so if we need to email or send browse on the ship where bad reception, I suppose that could help.

Thanks, we're pretty close to the top of the ship (deck 9 Celebrity Millennium) with a balcony, so we shouldn't be blocked. I would think that would help. I wasn't sure if I would get better reception with the esim or the pocket wifi. Since there are two of us, the pocket wifi probably makes more sense. Originally, I had planned to spend $9 per day to upgrade the include Celeb wifi for the premium for one device. Thinking that makes no sense and only use the ship's basic wifi when in Busan, South Korea. It's possible the ship's wifi, even the premium, might be a struggle with so many people accessing it at one time.

Looking at pocket wifi vs ESIM for Japan. With two of us, I’m thinking the pocket wifi makes more sense, which we will need in any case for the first week of our vacation in Toyko and Kyoto. I know it will work in all of the ports (exception of Busan), but was wondering if it would work on the ship when the ship is in port. On Celebrity, was thinking of upgrading one of the standard WIFI included to premium, but now thinking that’s a big waste of money. Our iPhones are unlocked and still learning so much about this and would appreciate any advice from more tech savvy travelers.

Pretty sure Blu does not require the chic attire. We have 12-night cruise in Japan and will pack one pair of khakis and maybe one button down shirt.

Princess does Glacier Bay. Celebrity does not. That is the one time I would do Princess ahead of Celebrity.

Some of it is personal taste. I took one cruise on the Royal Princess when it was new, and it really ended Princess for me. After that, we started booking Celebrity and then Azamara. On Celebrity, we liked Aqua Class and there really wasn’t anything similar on Princess. Also thought the dining was awful on Princess and they ruined Sabatinis with menu changes. Also liked the “cool” and not overstated colors on Celebrity. It’s personal taste, but just found Celebrity to be equal or better in all areas.

No, it’s not “exactly” like Celebrity. Princess has very small balconies on Royal class, lesser quality food, weak specialty restaurants, similar entertainment, self serve laundry, more gaudy ships. Celebrity does a much better job updating and refreshing its ships, We’ve cruised more on Princess, but are probably done with them. Love Aqua Class on Celebrity and itineraries of M class ships.

We spent a great day at Nikki Beach Club in Ko Samui. I think day passes were around $25 USD for each and covered a drink and possibly (can’t remember) credit to food. The spa was great and massages were reasonable and the beach is fantastic. Took taxis each way from town.

Fun fact for you. Based on geography, Oliver Wendell Holmes deemed Boston the hub of the earth, later known as universe. The Bruins symbol has eight spokes, with the B as the hub, in that regard. After Bobby Orr, #37 was my favorite Bruin. Tough to say which hockey line has the most hockey fans. I would say Leafs fans wear their tshirts more than other fans, but not sure which line. I loved the Alaska cruise out of Vancouver. Great hockey city. I’m near Sunrise, FL now during hockey season and every time I go to games there, I miss TD Garden. I suppose cheap tickets make up for missing the atmosphere. I’m a couple hours south of Tampa, but have a mini-plan for the Panthers (10 tickets in total, 4 games, 2 of them are Bruins and another is Edmonton and the other is Colorado.). Next cruise will be during the Playoffs next year. Ouch.

We started taking more cruises in our 30s and 40s. It's us who have moved on as we got older. We never expected the cruise lines to keep catering to us as we got older. That makes no sense. We took our kids on plenty of Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises because they were good family lines. In our 40s and 50s, started Princess and the Celebrity. Now, would much rather be on Azamara, Oceania, and will try Viking.

Yes, it is a very poor generalization. So many young people, especially those in tech, law, or financial services, have plenty of cash. Make sure your kids know how to code.

I would still use the Welcome card instead of the phone. Just seems easier. We’ll probably use our cards and put enough on to take transportation from Yokohama to Narita. Anything left = snacks or souvenirs.

Agree with this and would add that those newer huge ships are probably more kid magnets than the older smaller ships. My kids were 18 & 20 when we were on the Millennium in Alaska and they agreed that it’s not a great ship for kids. They loved the cruise and the vacation though.

Thanks, Azamara and Oceania probably cost a bit less than Regent. We’re doing Kyoto before the cruise, two nights and two days. Vietnam/Thailand/Hong Kong was easier to plan than Japan. Enjoy Vietnam and Thailand.

Just saw this. There are work arounds. You can still get Welcome Suica cards at the airport or get the smartphone version. The advantages of the smartphone are that you can check your balance. This relates to shortage of chips. This is temporary and it could change and they could go back to physical cards. In any case, the fact that they still have the Welcome Suica card is good enough for many of us.

Nothing is “free”. The math probably works out that you paid them a lot of money up front and then got some benefits. Others can look for itineraries they love on all lines and then find group rates or promos online from internet travel agencies and do as well or better. I saved about $1K on Aqua in Japan and also got $250 OBC (comes with classic drinks, wifi, gratuities and $250 OBC). I also don’t limit myself on any vacation to large ships and would go on lines with smaller ships that can do better itineraries (Azamara, Oceania, Viking). As long as those perks aren’t a trap for you and clipping those coupons does not decide where and how you are going to spend a vacation, they’re a nice bonus. We no longer do the generic Caribbean cruises, so I’m okay getting my “perks” among a few cruise lines.

I love the Patriots and Bruins, but went with the Bruins as CC avatar way back when. We went on Azamara, with a beautiful small ship, which ported right in cities. If it's not too late, you might want to look at that line. Best cruise of my life. We did not go to China though. It was Hong Kong-Ha Long Bay (two days) - Denang (for Hoi An) - Saigon (two days) - Bangkok (two days) - Koh Samui - Singapore We did dock in Klong Toey, which is right in Bangkok, because it was a smaller ship.

Sometimes, it's the emotional trips that are the best. Agree that we were fighting a proxy war against the Soviet Union. The VC were nasty, but they're not around. I do think it's a great trip. I enjoyed Vietnam more than Thailand. We went to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) after the cruise (which ended in Singapore) and that was also a once in a lifetime trip. We did SE Asia on Azamara and ported in cities and had an overnight in Ha Long Bay and we did an overnight cruise in on a indochinese junk with Bhaya Cruises, which was amazing. We also loved Hoi An. Saigon was cool too. No bad spots on the cruise. Just a great itinerary. It drove us to book Japan next. We did quite a few in Europe. The western cultures are somewhat similar. I've enjoyed them, but love the different culture in the East.

It’s not fresh on a cruise ship. The lobster we get in Maine is fresh, reasonably priced, and always better as a lobster roll. There are certain foods that translate well to cruise ships and lobster is not one of those.

Hank seemed to say that customs/immigration was not that bad, since he completed all forms online. I’ve heard similar. Hoping for an hour or less. Worst experience for us anywhere was Heathrow.

You can also find local guides who know every back road and will stop anywhere when you need to go. I highly recommend Water Buffalo Tours if you want to see Mekong Delta (one of my favorite private excursions) and did Saigon is mainly a city tour. Not sure what else is long. Hoi An fro Denang is not that long. The beach island in Thailand is short, so not sure what you mean by longer rides.

To be honest, the Vietnam war spooked me as a kid, but I have nothing against the Vietnamese. You would think they would hate Americans, but that is not the case at all. It was a great experience. Being Jewish, I had a tough time going to Berlin, but loved that too. Right now, I have a tougher time with Hong Kong than I do Vietnam. Been to St Petersburg too, and wouldn’t go back there either.

No, my point was it would only be Aqua class in Blu, but if some wanted to reserve prime time, they could pay a fee. I doubt they would do it, but if people don’t think some would pay $10 a table for a standing 7 pm reservation, I would bet the other way.

People will pay for anything. Sometimes, people believe there is extra value if you pay more. Not me, but they’re out there.