Oakman58

Because Covid is still around my wife and I get a booster shot right before the cruises we take. Along with the two Moderna shots, we've now had 5 booster shots. So far, so good. We just got our 5th booster last week in anticipation of our upcoming June Alaskan cruise. This past January we took a 16-day round trip from San Diego to Hawaii with Princess and a heck of a lot of people caught covid. The ship had a large number of balcony cabins on deck 12 set aside for quarantine. So many people caught Covid that once those cabins were all filled, they just quarantined passengers in their own cabins. The cabin next door to us ended up being quarantined for the last 5 days of the cruise. I made sure I was not on our balcony when our neighbors were on theirs.

In the morning I like one or two Mimosas, my wife likes Peach Bellinis. In the afternoon I like Mudslides while my wife likes Rum and Coke, sometimes we'll throw in a couple of beers. In the evening it's strictly wine. We like to end our evening with some wine while sitting on our balcony enjoying the weather and fresh air. The fresh air on the balcony is the one reason I will never book a cruise on a Celebrity ship has those Infinite Balconies.

I was getting an oil change on my truck and I thought I'd take a couple of pics of this Ford. I believe it's a 1936 coupe with the rumble seat, but don't hold me to that. It had the V8 engine.

Thank you so much for doing this trip report. We will be on the Eurodam for her June 17th cruise.

I booked the Luminosa for Sep 2024 when it goes back to Australia from Seattle because the price was good. I'm still up in the air about whether or not I should do this cruise because it has so many sea days (17).

I agree with taking a 7 day or longer cruise. Consider the Glory which is also a Conquest Class ship out of NO. Also I wouldn't take a cruise out of NO in March or the summer months when kids are out of school.

On a cruise with so many sea days, having a great cruise director that plans many daily activities to engage the passengers is a must. Great cruise directors don't seem to exist anymore.

My favorite piece of artwork was in the brewhouse. Real books were used as the canvas.

I would choose HAL over Princess because the standard balcony cabin on Princess only has one chair in the cabin to sit on, no loveseat. When we ordered room service breakfast I had to drag a chair from the balcony into the room.

I appreciate a report of both negative and positive. I didn't think you were complaining at all.

Late in 2019 I noticed that the registered trademark "Freestyle Cruising" had been painted over to match the color of the Epic and that freestyle was a now a thing of the past. I had to enhance my photo so you can actually see the painted over trademark.

This has all the earmarks for a giant cluster...

I've enjoyed all the cruise lines I've been on with the exception of Princess. On Princess the music was boring, the theater entertainment was just OK, and our standard balcony cabin only had one chair to sit on in the cabin. When we ordered room service breakfast I had to drag a chair in from the balcony. Princess was a one and done for us.

In the buffet yes, but as staceyglow posted, you can order bacon everyday if you have breakfast in the main dining room.

Considering how good the hourly wage the porters make, asking for a tip is pathetic. I had a porter basically tell me to tip him in New Orleans many years ago, part of my response was "don't be a beggar."

Wife and I did a 16 day roundtrip Hawaiian cruise this past January out of San Diego on the Diamond Princess. If you book a standard balcony cabin with Princess be sure to check the room configuration to see if there is seating for two people in the cabin. I was surprised to discover that our cabin did not have a love seat for two people, all it had was a chair at the desk. When we ordered room service breakfast I would drag in a chair from the balcony. That cruise was also the most boring I've ever been on. The majority of the music was ballroom dance or easy listening lounge music. Motown, The Beatles, and Rock and Roll didn't exist on this cruise and that included the music on the Lido deck. Princess is a one and done for us.

Just a guess on my part, since gambling is illegal in Hawaii I would think the craps table will be installed in Seattle. I'm really enjoying all the photos you've been posting.

Since you're 6'7" are there any cruise ship beds you fit in? Actually you fit better than I thought you would on the Epic.

Jeez, all I heard on my 16 day cruise with Princess was ballroom and easy listening dance music. I thought I was going to die.

I knew there were feral chickens on the islands in Hawaii, but I wasn't prepared for how beautifully colored they were.

Thank you for sharing your experience with the medical clinic, and I'm so glad your mom is still around for you to enjoy. We always buy trip insurance and now my wife and I have 3 cruises and 1 land trip in the upcoming year, so we purchased annual travel insurance for the first time. I was surprised how affordable it was considering we are both in our 70's.

A great offer but unfortunately it doesn't apply to 2025 cruises. Oh well.

You can pull the bed out from under the headboard so that you have a few more inches in length. Even so I'm sure your feet will overhang.

Cabin 12238 will have the bed by the balcony according to the deck plans.

I would take the cruise and if you experience less than satisfactory service, never cruise with that line again. When I began cruising with NCL 10 years ago I put them at the top of the list for being a great cruise line. Since Covid, I now put them at the bottom of the list.