Tapi

Instead of matching my Royal Emerald, I matched my Carnival Platinum which gave me Gold tier on MSC. Some of the perks that you get with that are: - Additional 5% discount off the cruise fare (plus another 5% if you book 6 months in advance) - Access to the thermal area at the Aurea Spa - Priority debarkation at tender ports - Free photo - logo gift (like a baseball cap) - discounts at the logo shop, spa, f1 simulator, WiFi, etc. The initial discount off the cruise fare is one of the best perks, and it can be substantial, depending on how much your cruise fare is. We got a $500 fare reduction on our upcoming cruise. If you’re a spa person, having complimentary access to the thermal area at the spa is heaven sent. Not only do you get access to all the different rooms, but you also have access to a private outdoor deck with jacuzzis which is normally quiet and serene. In general, it’s a very nice program. It’s designed to attract cruisers who have been loyal to another cruise line so that they can test MSC. That’s how we decided to give them a try and it worked because we’ve returned several times.

Amen. That's what I've always felt since I discovered MSC. I think that MSC's ships have a similar "wow" factor to Royal's. I prefer Ocean Cay over Coco Cay (Ocean Cay is serene. Coco Cay feels too much like an amusement park). I appreciate MSC's loyalty match program which has allowed me to enjoy a generous list of perks and discounts. MSC's prices can't be beat. They charge a fraction of what Royal charges for what I consider to be a very similar experience.

Holland America has newbuilds that are less than 100,000 tons and hold about 2,600 passengers (small by today's standards). Their pricing is similar to Princess, and although they're considered an "old people" cruise line, we've had an absolutely wonderful time sailing on this cruise line as a family of 4 with two young children. Our last sailing on Holland America was aboard the Nieuw Statendam, and it easily beat any cruise that we've taken on any of the newest and biggest ships. Not too big, not too small, tasteful, and the perfect combination of modern technology and vintage nostalgia. If I could design the perfect cruise ship, it would look something like this class of ship.

Don't know when they'll release their schedules, but Princess and Holland America will be the best for an Alaska cruise, specially when planning on doing a land portion with your cruise. They have the most ships, most itineraries, most permits to visit Glacier Bay (a must), and most extensive land programs and facilities.

The main 3 Caribbean itineraries are Western, Eastern, and Southern. In my humble opinion, the Southern itinerary provides the best, most genuine, and diverse Caribbean experience. The islands in the Lesser Antilles tend to be more authentic and less run over with hordes of cruise passengers. In comparison, some of the ports of call in the Western/Eastern Caribbean (like Cozumel, Nassau, etc) are overdeveloped, receive tens of thousands of cruise passengers daily, and have lost their authenticity. You can fly to San Juan and do a 7 night itinerary from there that will take you deep into the Southern Caribbean. You will sail aboard one of Celebrity's older/smaller ships, but it's a good trade off for the better itinerary. San Juan is worth flying into a few days prior to your cruise. Fantastic destination with a little bit of everything (beaches, nature, history, culture, and wonderful cuisine, shopping and night life). You can also take a 10-11 night cruise from Florida to the Southern Caribbean if you don't mind spending a few extra days at sea getting to/from the islands and would prefer one of Celebrity's larger/newer ships.

I'm with your husband. I prefer to arrive late because it makes embarkation day feel less chaotic. Check in lines have usually died down, with zero to minimal wait time. Once onboard, I can go straight to my stateroom because it will be ready. I can drop my carry ons and head to the closest bar and grab a drink. And if we want to grab a quick bite at the buffet, the mad rush from those arriving early will have died down as well. It just feels much more relaxing. On our last MSC cruise (Seashore in June), we were traveling with family who arrived at the port around 11:30am. They were texting us, telling us how insane the check in line was, and what a cluster parking was, and how the buffet was packed with people and their carry ons, etc, etc. In the meantime, we grabbed a quick bite before heading to the port and arrived at 2:30pm. We walked into a completely deserted terminal. Zero lines. We went from curbside to our stateroom in maybe 10 minutes maximum.

They are real, but, based on posts here, the success rate isn't great. But there are many who have benefited from this offer. We received a Royal Up email for our last cruise aboard Harmony. We put a bid in for a Junior Suite even though I checked online and none of the categories offered showed any availability. Sure enough, we didn't get upgraded. It's not always a fail. We recently sailed on a different cruise line that offers a similar program (MSC). I put a bid in as from oceanview to balcony and it was successful.

We just returned from a 4 night cruise. We booked a standard balcony cabin that has the king size bed and the sofa that converts to bunk beds. We were a family of 4 with 2 teenagers. Even though we've traveled in similar staterooms for most of our family cruises, this time the cramped space really tried everybody's patience and we agreed that from this point forward, we're either getting 2 staterooms or one larger suite. I personally avoided being in the cabin more than necessary. We barely had enough space to accommodate everybody's belongings, and because the sofa remains as a bunk bed the entire time, we didn't have a sitting area per se inside the cabin during the entire cruise. We were thankful to have our balcony since that's the only place we could truly sit and relax. It was also useful on the last day when we started packing. I took my suitcase to the balcony and packed there. With just a window and no balcony, we would've been completely miserable.

If I have to make a choice between forward or aft, I'd pick aft. Forward, you'll get more of the pitching (up/down) motion. Another drawback about forward cabins on a lower deck is that you'll feel and sometimes hear more rumble/shuddering as the ship cuts through the water and waves crash on the hull of the ship. You may also hear some of the ship's machinery as the ship pulls into port and ropes are being deployed.

We did our first Mediterranean cruise on MSC. We chose our embarkation port (Rome/Civitavecchia) simply because it was the easiest to get to from where we live (Atlanta). Flying nonstop made it SO easy to begin and end our trip. We spent 2 nights pre-cruise in Rome. Spending a few days before the cruise at the city of embarkation is a definite must. Not only will it allow you to acclimate a bit better to the time change before getting on the ship, but it will give you needed extra time to explore. One thing that we quickly learned about cruising in Europe vs the Caribbean is how painfully short one day is at most ports. There's simply SO much to see, that it's impossible to see it all. You'll barely scratch the surface. So make a very short list of highlights that you wish to do at each port and stick with that. Don't try to do too much. We decided to travel off season (November) and it was a wonderful decision. Crowds were non-existent at most tourist attractions, temperatures hovered in the 60's which was wonderful for sightseeing and walking around. And best of all, cruise fare and airfare were substantially cheaper than during the summer/high season months. Only drawback was that days were shorter, with sunset before 5pm. But usually we were back on the ship by that time anyway. We visited Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille, and Genoa. Of all the ports visited, Valletta was the absolute highlight of our cruise. Beautiful destination, with dramatic scenery. This is rated as one of the most beautiful ports of call by many travel experts. Enjoy your cruise! The Mediterranean was truly one of our favorite cruises, and now we're booked to do Northern Europe next year!

I don't think that you have much to worry about it. It's been my experience that the families that "adult oriented" cruise lines attract are considerably different than the families that sail on "family friendly" cruise lines. Also, they tend to be a minuscule percentage of passengers onboard. Although there may be exceptions, children of families that sail on upscale cruise lines tend to be much more traveled and aware of proper etiquette and social behavior. If you even notice these children, chances are that they'll be with their parents, behaving, and you wont see hordes of them running around the ship unsupervised and terrorizing other passengers.

What I noticed about sailing on Disney (compared to RCCL) is that their staff is much more willing to enforce the rules, but they still manage to do so with a smile and top notch customer service. That seems to keep their passenger's behavior curved. About Disney passengers being a totally different class of guests, they're definitely different! The main difference that I noticed is that they are insanely, rabidly, loyal to that brand, to the point that they may even get confrontational if you're not as much of a fan as they are. If Disney didn't employ the well-trained staff that they have to keep their passengers under control, I'm sure that it would be a free for all with that many kids onboard.

Glad it worked for you! 😀 Always awesome when all stars align. Earliest flight we’ve ever made was at 8:30am (and it was from FLL). We arrived at the port of Miami at 6:30am, in our Uber by 7:00am, through security at FLL a little after 7:30am, and at our gate 45 minute before departure. Self assist debarkation, we had passports, Uber showed up 2 minutes after requesting it, no checked luggage, and zero lines at FLL security. For the record, this wasn’t our original flight. We listed as standbys on the earlier flight as we were driving to the airport.

The weather in Alaska can vary wildly. When we sailed (early June), temperatures were pretty mild. 50’s-60’s. On Glacer Bay day, we had clear skies and we were on deck wearing jeans and a sweater.

The most dramatic day of the day is when you actually make it to the glacier. My recommendation is to get up early and head out to an open deck. Take in the sights. The ship moves very slowly as it works its way into Glacier Bay so that should give you time to plan your moves. Grab breakfast lunch or dinner somewhere where you can still watch beautiful views while you eat (grab something from the buffet and then sit outside). On our particular sailing, the cruise line offered a salmon bake on the pool deck so that people could eat and not miss out on the views. 7-8 hours may seem long, but believe me, it will go by very fast. It will be over before you know it. 😀