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You might want to check into having something done in a port. I did that on a 25 day cruise...the prices onboard were just too expensive, so I found a typical Vietnamese salon and price was comparable to home, plus it was fun getting them done in a port for a change.

Every bar can't make every drink; I know the steakhouse bar is a smaller bar so that limits what they carry. You can always get one and bring it in. :)

The Splendor to Singapore had excellent Diamond events...we had a party on the crew-only bow cruising into Honolulu, and then the Diamond lunch was a fantastic Alice in Wonderland party.

I always pack zip lock baggies. Great for grabbing snacks for later, like cookies, or cold deli sandwiches to store in the frig. Does Luminosa have Cherry on Top? They have a jar of mini chocolate chip cookies which I'll sometimes grab too for a snack in the cabin.

So true. I look at is as I don't have to make it and I don't have to clean up, so its fine with me. And honestly if I'm still hungry, I can always find something else...soft serve and a cocktail always works.😁

Or even a repositioning...did this on Splendor 2014.

One reason could be if you booked a cruise and weren't sure if the other person could come, but you want to be able to save a space for them to join later if they want. If you just booked solo, and then tried to add a person later on, it might not work if the ship is at capacity and they aren't allowing additional passengers.

There is a workaround for set dining vs YTD and still getting to go to ChiBang, etc. I cruised with a group - they had late dining and I had YTD. It worked great, I never really wanted to eat in the MDR, with a large group it took forever. But with my YTD and eating at Cucina or ChiBang, I was able to add whoever I wanted to my reservation at whatever time we wanted to eat, no 7:45 time limit. Our bookings were not linked either. They just got added to my reservation and got notified when the table was ready. Came in really handy when some nights we wanted to go to shows and could switch dinner times. @geckoaz just make friends with @ChinaShrek and go on their reservation. 😁

Loved cruising out of San Juan, since they left at like 10pm...check in and go back out to explore, have dinner - plus it is so pretty cruising away at night.

The jogging track on MG and Celebration is a joke. It’s about 2 people wide and it’s up around the water park (so track gets wet and it’s slippery) and its under Bolt. So unless you get up super early when it’s empty, it’s going to be filled with just people standing around and blocking the track. And I don’t blame them, it’s how the ship was designed. but I get up early and just walk the ship…it’s huge, its empty and you can enjoy the spaces.🛳🙂

For the specialty dinner you need to book in person, so go asap when you board. If you book ahead of time, you’d have to prepay and mess with getting a refund. Ugh. If you cruise Mardi Gras or Celebration, you can use it at Rudi’s or the steakhouse. The upgrade doesn’t seem to expire. I kind of forgot about it, then a few years later I had booked the 30 day Luminosa in a balcony, so called the Diamond desk and they adjusted the fare to an ocean view, but I kept my balcony. And I pay double as a solo so score lol. And unlimited laundry is always greatly appreciated.

would love to collect some sea glass from those bottles, blue is pretty rare.

Just found this - maybe you're just landing at O'Hare - how long is your layover? I live about 30 min SW of the airport; don't know what direction you'll take off in, but I'll go out and wave. 😊

niiiice...looking forward to Brisbane lol, maybe your wife should post more😂 😂

I thought it was a great review, both good and bad points; agreed with a lot of it. Especially access to more food in the late evening. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Like the others said, my experience was also having to go directly to the restaurant (we went to Rudi's) when you board. And don't let them push you to another opening if they say they are 'booked'. I just stood there and said no, we have other plans and said I could have avoided this if you would let us book online prior to cruising and shouldn't have to pay first and waste vacation time standing in line at guest services to try to get it credited...and they worked it out.😂

This. Honestly I was pleasantly surprised when I cancelled three excursions recently - purchased with OBC and credit card. Within 2 days I had received OBC credited back to my cruise manager in the amount of OBC that had been used - the rest of the refund was applied to an ecard received via email.

When I’m on cruises more than 2 weeks, I always try to find a nail salon at one of the ports to get my acrylic fill done because the salon onboard is way too expensive. Yes it’s not my usual guy, but it’s fine for the one time, and it’s fun just for the experience. An upcoming cruise is 30 days so looks like it will be the Philippines; already checked and there are some nail shops near our port.👍🏻💅🏻 So just a suggestion, maybe you could find some waxing services ashore.

When I took Splendor to Singapore, wifi pretty much disappeared for the 7 sea days Hawaii to Guam, and slowly got better. But I survived lol. Yes, classic George Carlin, love it. Looking forward to this review for sure - I'll be on the cruise you were originally doing - Seattle to Brisbane in Sept, so can't wait to hear about the ship. Have fun - what an amazing trip!

argh - hate when that happens! a helpful tip - once you accidentally erase any text, don't touch anything else and hit CTRL Z. It replaces all text that was deleted from the last key strokes. Works across multiple applications, not just Word; like I can do it here on this post.😊

Don't forget the laundry benefits; you can get 3 free bags of laundry done on the 11 day.

I just cancelled some excursions paid for with OBC and a gift card. I received an e-gift card in my email 2 days later, and OBC had been credited back to my booking.

I had booked that excursion for June. I ended up cancelling and found another tour instead. Still a full day Berlin tour, but doesn't include the camp, and its on a bus for $159. I just couldn't justify the $419 cost pp Carnival was charging, specially since I hadn't decided what I was doing yet and in the meantime they raised the price from $359 to $419. I ended up booking all my tours with Sandra's tours. Carnival's prices were just too insane with those huge increases.

It works in the reverse too, I've gotten home and had the Hub app tell me comedy is starting.😂

Glad to see you're up and doing well. That was a gnarly injury! Looking forward to your new review.