avalon1025

We were in port on Crystal Serenity, it was heard thought Santorini and very sad. Many were walking down the donkey path as the line for the cable car was over an hour long. Sadly too many ships and too many passengers to enjoy, and the donkeys were overwhelmed

Rooms look great! Have been on board this year she is in dire need of this update.

and the true luxury lines are .......??

I would say: Seabourn, Crystal, Silversea, Regent, Hapag

I'm about to board Serenity in a few weeks, I think Crystal is a great product, but nothing special in and about the cabins. I can still remember special cabin things on Seabourn (turn down with strawberries and after dinner drinks) or on Silversea (Godiva chocolates on your pillow on special nights), but on Crystal you are lucky to get an extra bottle of shampoo or turn down without running down your stewardess (based on my last three Crystal cruises on Serenity and Symphony)

Which glass elevators? Hopefully not the outside forward ones running from decks 7 to 11.

 

The other glass elevators are the two that run from the grand lobby to Kings Court. It kind of made sense when the glass floor was in place and therefore a visual link. Now it's incongruous to be transported from an elegant lobby to a cafeteria.

The external ones. But again, on board officer talk...

I was curious. I have only sailed the QM2 once and we loved it but I would have thought that the Kings Court was in need to be updated. Were people surprised that it was not listed?

 

Just wondering.

 

Keith

From what we heard on board they are to completely gut Deck 7, new grills, new kings court, and a repurposed winter garden

I'm sure more will come out as the months go by. Also heard the glass elevators were being removed

I was told today a 7 day Fjords cruise RT Southampton

a 7 day western Europe: Lisbon, Vigo, St Petersport

and a 4 night cruise to Zeebruge

Its funny, on the QM2 a few weeks ago many were purchasing the QV TA combined with the 14 night Med cruise then QM2 back. It was one of the few spring combination cruises

Think they will add a duck tail? Does Carnival Corp butcher all of their ships?

She was to take over for QM2 that will be in a long dry dock. So now she is doing two 7 day and one 4 night party cruises....rather than the two TA's

My TA was cancelled, any ideas where QV will now be?

Great that Celeb has it, you should also enjoy Cunard, they have different classes too, Hal doesn't and that's the way we like it...

oh please don't be fooled, HAL certainly does. My last HAL cruise I was i a Neptune suite and ate in the Pinnacle for breakfast and had exclusive access to the Neptune lounge and I choose to pay for the Pinnacle on other nights to avoid the large MDR. Really both are no that different from the dining and one lounge reserve for Grills on Cunard. I would say NCL and Celebrity have created more of a class system than Cunard. And they honestly should, how do they compete and attract those who wanted to pay $500 a week and those paying $500 a day?

I was on the May 27th crossing and the ship was in the roughest condition in all my 14 sailings. Sad to see her just waiting for that 2016 dry dock. The dry dock will be extensive, essentially deck 7 is being ripped out, but currently expect wobbly tables, threadbare carpets and old chairs

Last year I sailed the Westerdam in Alaska and two months earlier the Silhouette in the Caribbean. I love the Solstice Class, my favorite new ship class, but I had a great time on the Westerdam. Loved the Neptune lounge and ate all my meals in the Pinnacle. Both were very enjoyable experiences

All of Princess' flowers and plants are real...

 

Now, NCL...that's a different story.

Interesting, on the Grand the palm trees in the lobby, plants around the sanctuary were all fake. A few real potted houseplants around the ship and that it.

Sadly Princess has not updated their decor since the 80's and well, it looks it. I find Princess ships to be lacking in decor, the pastels, the paint by numbers murals, plastic flowers and plants, all so need to be updated.

My 14th sailing on this grand ship and some noticeable differences:

The ship looked the worst I've ever seen her, broken rails, threadbare and ripped at the seams carpet, chipped cabin furniture. It was sad to see such a grand ship in such condition

Deck 7 seems to be the focus of the May 2016 refit (a year late IMHO), but it seems they have given up until then, old carpets, rickety furniture, very chipped balcony furniture, overall very sad. Even the dry sauna in Canyon Ranch had wood patched with what looked like plywood that was splintering. And the pot holes are there, first one was outside my cabin...

I had a connecting cabin on Deck 8, if you are the least bit sensitive to noise, don't get a connecting cabin. Workers were next door that were fixing plumbing around the ship and all I heard starting at 6AM were walkie talkies going off

Food was fine, service was for the most part very good, loved the lectures, and overall had another great crossing, but QM2 is in need of some TLC fast. Loved our captain, what a character!

I always cant wait to get back on QM2, next time will be after the next refit....She's my favorite ship, please treat her well

I am certainly grateful for my sailings and crossings on QE2, she had quirks and character, but honestly I don't think id choose her over QM2 today. I don't miss hitting my head on the ceiling of the gym on a treadmill, or the strange changes in decor. The service was no different than today. I loved having a big wood paneled cabin with trunk room and portholes, but I'm just as happy in a grill cabin on QM2.

As for celebrities, I've run into just as many on QM2 like Uma Thurman who was my neighbor a few years back and some other hollywood royalty.

He's not for everyone, I've sailed with him several times and except for his fan club that sits upfront, I always stood in the back of the room as after 15 minutes it was enough. For every one of his fans disappointed, there is another passenger that could care less

Having sailed Silhouette and Equinox within the same year as Grand Princess and Crown Princess, there is just no comparison between Celebrity and Princess. For me the interior design of Princess ships (even from photos of the new royal and regal) just feels dated and old. Celebrity and Holland America feel a notch above Princess, in all aspects that are important to me. Princess ships felt much more mass market (ie: Paper cups in the international cafe on the Crown vs ceramic plates and cups in Cafe Baccio), the princess cruises felt very much like they were positioned downmarket from the Holland American product

Ive received AMEX platinum benefits on Cunard, Celebrity and Crystal on over 30 voyages over the past 10 years. I've never booked through AMEX platinum travel, but there is a system that your agent needs to obtain a tracking number through AMEX travel. You agent needs to be set up in this system

My Crystal cruise in October was $250 single occupancy OBC (masked as shorex credit) and on my upcoming QM2 crossing I have $300 OBC single combinable with group OBC and my book on board OBC.

On Celebrity is not fully combinable, but pieces are (ie: bottle of wine, etc), if you are getting OBC from other means

I have a standard personal Platinum Card. If you have a good agent, there is no problem getting your AMEX benefits. If you are on a group fare, as example, it might not be combinable, but should always try

Not true, your agent needs to call AMEX for a tracking number based on your platinum product, then that tracking number is placed on your booking and you get all the benefits assuming they are combinable with your fare. My agent has been doing this for me for years and did the same for my upcoming QM2 sailing

I had a window suite and had asked for them to keep the cabin hallway doors close to the casino closed as smoke could be smelled in my room. After they closed the door, it was fine

Silhouette is also pretty new. I'd go with the Celebrity ship, less passengers, larger cabins, larger balconies. The Silhouette is a beautiful ship

I did this cruise in May, with the new pier in SF, i'd say unless you are up early to sail in doesn't matter. If you are up early for sail in the starboard side so you are on the side of the city sailing in. SD the the port side. Santa Barbara it was a tender port, ship spun around on her anchor, Ensenada, nothing really to see, but lots to smell....

Why is the regal coming into Miami now?