Velvetwater

Thank you for the replies.

We are almost certainly doing NCL out of NY in the summer.

We've done Carnival stateside, Carnival Med and Carnival N. Europe from Dover on the Pride's sister ship the legend.

The latter cruise was our first ever cruise and the reason why we cruise still.

Carnival have the most US centric vibe for a cruise but there is so much more to their line than that.

Hi

After a lot of debating we have decided to cruise from the US this year. Looking likely to be from Miami or NY with either Carnival, NCL or Royal in August.

We've priced up the 5 cruises and flights wed like the only thing is all this covid testing.

Not sure whether to covid test in UK then fly the day before departure so our covid approved test in the UK will be good for both our US entry and cruise boarding. Although a bit worried about current UK flight delays.

Considering doing a UK test to.enter USA then a USA test to board so we can enjoy a few days pre cruise but thinking be more expensive and it's hard to find us test centres in port.

We are just finding it a nightmare at the moment with knowing if test centres in the UK and US are booked up in August and which ones are accepted.

We are both fully vaccinated btw.

Any advice? We didn't book earlier due to dog sitting  needs.

Princess...purely because she's one of the few major lines we haven't tried yet. Then we look at the itineraries and think otherwise.  We also would try Disney or Cunard for their unique take on crusing. 

Not too fussy or loyal to a line as cruisers....our main stipulation is new ports/countries. 

This thread got me wondering about if loyalty differs by generations or just older generations have had more time to build up to a status with cruises/resorts.

I know a lot of people my age (millennial) who do cruise, and apart from our Carnival loving friends from Florida, none of us have a cruise line we are loyal to. We have all sailed about 3-5 different lines each and have been happy with our choices. Some of us are UK and some of us are US. I even sought out a cruise line I couldn't book with in many UK channels (P&O Oz) and booked over the web because the price was so good. Totally worth the cruise hunting!

It begs the question that if lines like X are annoying their status accrued/older cruisers...are they planning to make enough money from the flitting cruisers that go by price and whats on offer that year?

Some industries make a lot of money from one time purchases.

Just a thought.

1 hour ago, Velvetwater said:

The UK has it now too maybe?Or they are changing the site as I type?

 

We are 30 mins away from November the 17th here.

 

When I went to do a price check for a few cruises it gave me the original no perk price but as soon as I clicked book the 'cheapest price' (No Perks) or best value (choose 2) they were the same price. Whichever one I clicked lead me to the same page of choosing 2 of the 3 perks. The only price I could pay was the perks price.

 

Price hasn't changed from the original with 2 perks price from before.

 

Edit: You can now click on add 3 perks on a different part of the form and all are included and the same price as before.

 

So if I booked now I would get a better deal due to the internet being added free

 

No clue whats going on now as the price is the same but all perks have gone and its charging me gratuities.

Eh well, we weren't going to book yet anyway due to the cdc thing.

The UK has it now too maybe?Or they are changing the site as I type?

We are 30 mins away from November the 17th here.

When I went to do a price check for a few cruises it gave me the original no perk price but as soon as I clicked book the 'cheapest price' (No Perks) or best value (choose 2) they were the same price. Whichever one I clicked lead me to the same page of choosing 2 of the 3 perks. The only price I could pay was the perks price.

Price hasn't changed from the original with 2 perks price from before.

Edit: You can now click on add 3 perks on a different part of the form and all are included and the same price as before.

So if I booked now I would get a better deal due to the internet being added free

Seems like RCL do have a big European season planned though as I can book 4+ different ships in Europe next summer.

Maybe they will do some 7 night direct transatlantics from the East Coast? A chunk of their ships are surely more than capable.

I have also been away for a long time (because of the Pandemic and other reasons).

I loved the Equinox in 2015 and may be seeing her again next year.

She looked pretty good back then. I always imagined they would make their furnishings and cabins bluish. 

Looks like I'll be on the Sam Adams Rebel then if I want a 'free' drink. I might have a Newcastle Brown as the thought of drinking that beer on a cruise amuses me. It has various connotations in the UK.

Stella Artois being premium also amuses me somewhat. Won't be touching that. 🙂 

49 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Where have you been.  They were very vocal about targeting you starting 2 or 3 years ago as they were doing Edge.   When that didn't really work out they paid some consulting firm in the UK to tell them that GenX was the answer.   There was an article about this about 6 months ago.  I think it was an interview with LPP.

Cruising with an Australian line around Oz and then Norwegian. As I said....no brand Loyalty. Then illness which was fun...

They'll always switch up their target market to where the money is. I remember the Edge thing well....I also remember it not interesting me at all as a early 30's cruiser. Virgin may find this feeling too amongst some of my cruising amigos.

I had fun on my X cruise in 2015 and I maybe will have fun on the exact same ship next year. 

To me, X's shining points are its food and it's ships are rather good looking too. To be fair, next year could be my favourite cruise of all time but I'll still be looking at 6 other lines as soon as I get home.

In time, they might start targeting us millennials and Gen Xers eliters will be peeved.

And so it goes on and on...

My cruise style is no loyalty whatsoever. I go with locations and price.

Thanks for all the beer help! That photo especially as I can see a few things that are not on other menus.

I am with you both on loving craft and Belgian beer but we have found that when it comes to cruise ship craft beer selections, most of the speciality beers we can get at home really cheap and have drank a lot of already so the package isn't worth it. It is a similar thing with a lot of other European beverages.

For example that Leffe and the English ales are about £2 ($2.60) a bottle in supermarkets and the Delirium/Chimay/Saison Dupoints from Gastrobar are about £3-4 . Rogue and Dogfish a bit rarer over here of course but you can find them sometimes. Not sure if this will be the case in January (sigh) but there you go.

Plus I happily drink everything except gin anyway so as long as I have a non lager/pilsner to drink and other bits I am happy.

With recent I mean very early 2020 menus or from 2019 even...

I can only find 2017ish ones.

Thanks for the info on BM pricing.

We noticed we can get a good deal on having a classic package as one of our perks for beers $6 (or $7) or under.

Is there any up to date beer menus that show prices of all standard beers? I have found the lengthy craft beer menu and the basic beer menu but can't find any price for Blue moon and others. I am a big wheatbeer fan and my standard cheap beer in the US or on cruises is Blue moon.

I have found conflicting information that it is definitely not part of classic and then some cruisers saying they got it on the classic package. I am happy to pay the difference (as you can do with the classic package) but cant find its price anywhere!

So, has anyone got any idea how much Blue Moon costs on board or any photos of menus or experiences with it on the classic package?

Thanks!

5 hours ago, emmas gran said:

We have B2B on Equinox Caribbean next November a 12 night followed by 9 nights, booked direct with X and our UK cruise planner has no advice at the moment 

Liz

But if those cruises are November next year you are fine anyway as the conditions are until November 1st at the moment?

We really like the look of an August 2021 12 night Caribbean on the Equinox which as of 5 minutes ago I can book no problem. Not sure whether to just book it and hope X are good with deposit refunds and take advantage of the industry uncertainty or leave it. Its a £300 deposit and UK deposits cant be refunded if you simply cancel.

If I go on X's UK website (or even the US one as it switches me to UK price bookings anyway) I can book long cruises as early as April.

Are Celebrity cruises over 8 nights being sold on the US website?

The UK one has all long cruises as selling at bookable right now.

We expect certain price hikes as we cruise in the summer holidays (UK)

However, we will not cruise on any line for over £100 per person, per day and only sail in ocean views or above.

This is the price without any perks. We don't consider drinks packages unless part of an offer or less than £20 per person per day. We also take grats into account as part of offers.

We are VERY tempted with the Equinox's 12 day Caribbean in August next year with perks.

As a Brit there are simple reasons why some countries came off worse than others.  Some countries, like mine, have all 3 in the bag hence the rise. 

1) Overcrowded regions and countries 

2) Useless government acting too late/not enough measures

3) Residents of said country ignoring the rules en masse

On the TP issue, I don't see why people went crazy over it. I would pick various food items that help my health over having TP. You can live and be healthy without it...just look at certain areas in Asian nations and others. Their 'method' is fine because that's how they have always done it. Just remember your left and your right.

Because I have always been obsessed with anything ocean and wanted to see different places.

I was denied a honeymoon cruise due to timings so whilst watching UK TV a Carnival advert popped on with amazing prices so I went on the website and found an amazing offer on a Baltic cruise and that was it.

Fell in love the moment I boarded. The romance has been ongoing ever since.

Thanks everyone!

Thanks for the advice everyone.

It's definately Costa.

Part of their Playstation world partnership with Playstation according to what I have read.

This partnership did start a few years back (When PS3 was the thing)  but my 2018 cruise ship guide mentioned this feature.

Ah...good old P&O with their classy adverts!

I'm just going to defend the rep young cruisers get that has been mentioned in this thread. I started cruising aged 27 and I am nothing like the 18-30 crowd. Some of us young cruisers do have class and no kids.

Also...the essex couple have been released.

I dislike the flag waving and ceremony idea too.

P&O Australia certainly don't anything like it on their ships to match the 95% aussies on their cruises.

As a Brit who sails on large American lines mainly I can tell you the stories I have heard from passengers on those ships are no different to this one. I am about to sail Italian style so I will let you know how that goes.

In every nation there are idiots. In every nation a large group of travellers may be rather obvious. We perceive our nation to be bad because we see a lot of it.

'Us lot' are no worse or better than holiday makers from nations around the world....sometimes for varying reasons.