Essiesmom

Ask on the East Coast Departures board here, under North American Homeports. Princess and Cunard also us the Brooklyn terminal. EM

I travel Below the Salt and have done two live threads (October and December 2023). While I think I would like the YC restaurant and pool grill, I am not a pool person. It’s a paradox that I want to be out where there is more activity, but not necessarily participate in it. I have an active mind…the older I get, the more pressure there is to ‘learn’ something. There is so much interesting culture and history I haven’t encountered yet. I have traveled Bella, Fantastica and bid up to Aurea. I cruise again in June in a Bella OV. I wanted an OV and all available was Bella. As far as the plethora of threads about YC, I find the same thing on the other boards I follow here: Celebrity , Carnival, HAL, Cunard… it’s as though they want everyone to know they are in suites. But I think the first posts for most are about drinks packages. EM

What you really mean is that you will keep asking until you get the answer you want. EM

Not. That’s the PVSA fine, which is actually about $940 now. The cruise lines do not like to have people debark downline because it screws up the manifest and makes the entire cruise no longer closed loop…for everyone. Much annoying paperwork for CBP. And can slow things down for the final debark in the home port. EM

Seashore December 10, 2023. Endrigo Seaside August 2023. Bennie Nothing memorable, but I’m of the belief that the less you see and/or hear of the CD the better. EM

And nothing like the piano bars on Carnival.

The rub is that MSC does not give out duplicate/extra key cards so you can switch people around. The workaround on this ship is to get bracelets ($10 each) and the people switching can trade bracelets in order to open the cabin doors. EM

If you are sailing solo, there is nothing wrong with an upper/lower cabin. More space, ask your steward for a chair. I did, and got a blue velvet reject from one of the MDRs. EM

Had two deck 9 forward Aurea cabins on Seaside and the balcony had two loungers and two chairs. E

On Seashore it is the Manhattan Restaurant, which is in the same place as the Skyline. EM

I think you are SOL unless you are sending it to a US port. Shipping would not be very fast. EM

Dollars, pounds, and euros will be fine. EM

Most cruise lines do not offer programs for children under 3, though it’s under 2 on Carnival. They do have times when you can accompany your child and use the kids facilities. Ask on the Royal Caribbean board about the Royal Babies and Tots programs. There is a board here for Family Cruising, under Special Interest Cruising. Folks there might have some advice. EM

Also try cruisetimetables.com. EM

Calling at Colon instead of doing a partial transit is new to Carnival. And on the partial transits they never offered excursions. But all cruise lines offer the same excursion from the same vendors so maybe someone else will be along with some info. EM