cruiserhal

Thanks. Rather than drive I hired someone to bring us. Don't like to drive very much.

Thank you - that helps.

Sorry but it has been many years since leaving from NY with NCL. Is there a special place for luggage drop off for Haven guests? Thanks for any information you can provide.

Fantastic pictures! Thanks for sharing. You must have gotten up very early to get all the pictures without any people in them. Looking for the next set.

I understand completely. That is why we only book the Haven on NCL and will not consider any other cabin types. Totally different world from the rest of the ship. We are also looking at going back to Holland America depending on the destination.

I agree with you on reconsidering Royal. We have already decided to go back to NCL and booked a trip in the Haven for April 2024. We booked the haven a number of years ago and really enjoyed it. The last 3 trips on the Oasis staying in a suite (2 in a GS and one A3 overlooking the water show) were a disappointment for many reasons including poor cabin maintenance. We have also booked the Odyssey New Year's cruise in 2024 which we won't cancel but that is the only cruise we have booked with Royal going forward. We are waiting to see what additional cuts or extra charges may be coming from the Royal accountants. Good luck with whatever you decide. Hal

With my TA, we don't receive the OBC until the first or second day of the cruise. It is never available before the sailing date. You can check with your TA but that may be their procedure also.

Thank you very much. That helps make my decision. Hal

Sorry, I'm having a mental block and can't find the simple answer. Does the Odyssey main dining room have traditional dining along with MTD or is everything MTD? Thanks, Hal

I can't address those cabins but we were on the Beyond earlier this year (April 27 to May 15 a TA and then Rome to Rome) in cabin 10127. Just one deck down. While we had some rough seas, some bad weather and mostly good sailing I can say we did NOT have any of the reported noises. I hope this helps somewhat. Good luck and enjoy the Beyond. We loved it.

This past Spring we did a 22 night trip on the Beyond. We never encountered any waiting for a table at the 4 main dining rooms for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Each dining room had a lot of tables and plenty of help to wait on people. A little humor trying to understand the dining rules. At least I found it humorous: I will say that before the trip there was plenty of confusion over dining. First our TA was told there was both regular dining and MTD. Wrong. Then she was told we could reserve dining times before the cruise. Wrong. Then we were told to reserve times when we got on the ship. Wrong. No reservations in any of the main 4 restaurants. The only reservations that could be made were in the specialty restaurants. Seems no one knew how dining worked before we got on the ship. It all worked out OK. Enjoy your trip - it is a great ship. Hal

Oldest: Sun Viking 1989 (most fun we had on a cruise - believe it or not) First: Song of America 1988 (total of 5 trips) Newest: Anthem Favorite Overall: Song of America Favorite Currently Sailing with Royal: Anthem Sory for adding more than what was originally asked but I needed to get my plugs in for Song of America. 🙂

I noticed I did not quote my response to your question about Luggage Forward. Please read post #3. cruiserhal

Luggage Forward is one company of many that will ship your suit cases so you don't have to take them with you. Sorry, I have no idea how to ship from Venice since I only used them from the US.

I've used Luggage Forward for many years both to US ports and to European ports. These were to a port and not from a port to home. I found the process to send things home was very confusing so I never tried it. I read another post a few years ago from another CC member who described the process as difficult. Think about how confusing and disorganized the disembarkation process can be then add that you have to find your suitcases and then try to find the LF rep to turnover the cases and needed paperwork. In the US, the paperwork is straight forward and they use either Fed Ex or UPS so I assume that maybe they arrange a rep to be at the proper dock. I don't know. Shipping internationally is more interesting. International shipping to a port. You must have the bags ready to ship about 2 weeks before the cruise (8 to 10 days in for a US port). With the suitcases you must include a customs form for the end country detaining everything in each case (provided by LF). Customs adds shipping time. I never had a problem with this. I have no idea what you need to ship back to the US. Sorry I can't help with the return shipping process other than my comments above. 3 important hints: 1. Take color pictures of the cases you ship and have multiple copies. One for you and one or more for the cabin steward who may have to go find them. One time they were delivered to a ship OK but stored on a different deck luggage area. 2. Have a copy of your paperwork from LF and the Customer Service number in case there is a problem. This is from personal experience this past April. (We were without 2 suitcases for 10 days on a trans-Atlantic cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome.) 3. Be sure to check with your cabin steward if you don't have your cases 3 hours before sailing! If they can't find them call LF CS asap and keep calling if the cases don't show up. I kept calling every 10 to 15 minutes and was told they were delivered over and over. I finally talked to a CS rep who noticed all my calls and said she would contact the delivery service. Finally, I was told the driver did not deliver the cases but was on his way. This was 15 minutes after we left port thus the 10 day delay. Thank goodness for Celebrity Cruises staff who helped me with the process including contacting LF and customs for me since I don't have international calling on my phone. Enough of that. Bottom line is stay on top of the shipment until delivered. Sorry this is so long but I hope it helped a little.