Tapi

There’s no such thing as easy. The Tri Rail and Brightline trains only go as far as West Palm Beach and there’s no other form of public transportation past that. It’s a 3-4 hour drive. Can she rent a car and drop it off at a rental location near the port? Or alternately, fly into MCO or MLB which are much closer and have plenty of shuttle options? That’s what I would do.

Thanks again Vistaman

Thanks for the review! I have a question for you. Did you walk along the promenade on deck 5 (specifically on the port side)? Just curious if there’s anything that would make OC1 staterooms (the ones right above on deck 6, overlooking that promenade) truly undesirable due to their close proximity. I’ve done staterooms on other cruise lines overlooking the promenade one deck below, and that hasn’t hindered my enjoyment. But I don’t know what to expect on Explora (in terms of obstructions, too close proximity, lack of privacy, etc). I’ve looked for videos and photos online, but I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. I read that on this ship, the starboard side of the promenade is a smoking section, so the staterooms on that side are an automatic no-no for me. Thanks for any feedback that you may provide!

They won’t be “alone, alone”. They’ll be staying with family members. Hope they don’t prove me wrong, but so far they’ve behaved somewhat responsibly (at least for that age level!) 😂

We did Harmony last summer and attended all the shows. (Grease, The Fine Line, Columbus and 1887). We thoroughly enjoyed all of them. My teens wanted to sit front row at The Fine Line (got soaking wet, needless to say) and they thought that it was the best show ever. High energy and pulsating music to add. Grease was a well done musical at sea. I had seen this show on land many years back and I thought that this version was better in terms of talent and scenography. 1887 (the ice skating show) had great visual effects and talented artist, but the story line was a bit of a head scratcher. Columbus was the last show we watched (almost an after thought; it was our matinee show for the cruise) and I had low expectations for this one. Sounded stupid from the get go. Turned out to be our favorite show. Great special effects, funny and entertaining story line (although goofy at times), and great music selections. The revolving ship that they use on stage is supposed to be the biggest prop used on any show at sea. Overall, a great entertainment lineup on Harmony.

If everything goes according to plan, we’re going to dip our toes into the luxury market next year. We’re leaving our teenage kids at home for that one. 😀 We’ll see how it goes!

I wouldn’t waste my time. What you may be able to see (if anything) will be no different than seeing any piece of land from far, far away. You’ll see oil rigs in the distance that belong to Venezuela but that’s about as much as you’ll see from this country. There was a time decades ago when cruises would stop in La Guaira, Venezuela and you could tour Caracas. I sailed there several times on cruises from San Juan. It was a wonderful port of call and an exciting city, but unfortunately things have changed drastically in a fairly short amount of time. Maybe some day, things will be the way they used to. But for now, it’s not worth it.

We are late 40’s-early 50’s Gen X’s as well. 15 years ago, we loved Carnival, and while we still hold very fond and fun memories from those cruises, we “outgrew them” and decided to move on and try new lines. Our last Carnival cruise was in 2019 and it was pretty underwhelming, to the point that my wife begged to never sail on them again. Ship in poor condition, stateroom had several maintenance issues, cheapened food selections, crew members spread too thin, and many fellow cruisers that left a lot to be desired. We sailed on Celebrity (Solstice) for the first time last November and I can assure you that, even with whatever cutbacks Celebrity loyalists may have perceived, the product is far superior than what we last experienced on Carnival. We thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s not a luxury line, but a definite step above Carnival in terms of service, cuisine, and overall ambiance. We have also sailed recently on Holland America (Nieuw Statendam) and we absolutely loved it. We considered it a step above Celebrity in pretty much every aspect. It set a new standard for what we’re looking for on a cruise in this stage in our lives. Do keep in mind that if you still love the “fun, unpretentious and jovial atmosphere”, you may find Celebrity or HAL to be on the boring side. But personally, we don’t cruise to attend hairy chest contests, silly pool games, or stay up late drinking and partying anymore. So we don’t miss those elements from our Carnival days.

I would never book a flight that early (way too early for my taste. One small snafu and you’re out of luck). But with that said, the earliest flight I’ve ever made out of FLL was at 8:35am. We had actually booked a later flight, but as soon as I realized that we’d be at the airport by the 7:30am, I placed us on the standby list for the 8:35am flight. We only had carry ons and mobile boarding passes, so we bypassed the check in counter and went straight to security. Everything worked out perfectly that time. But there are times when we’ve been held on the ship for various reasons, even when doing self assist, and haven’t made it to the airport until 10-11am.

MSC has become my “go to” cruise line when looking for a good deal. In addition to great pricing and varied itineraries, their newest ships have nothing to envy Royal’s. They have a similar “wow” factor. We sailed Harmony of the Seas from Port Canaveral last June in a guaranteed standard balcony stateroom . We just booked MSC Virtuosa to Northern Europe for June 2022. For less money than what we paid for Harmony, we booked a one bedroom Aurea Premium suite with a wraparound balcony and whirlpool. While we had an excellent time on Harmony, I had the recurring, nagging thought that it was overpriced. Same feelings as when we sailed on Disney which is why we haven’t sailed again on them.

My definition of "value" changes based on what I'm in the mood for, but I always want to feel like I'm getting my money's worth. I've found great value paying a couple of thousand dollars on a luxury line or a suite, but I've also found great value paying $49 to sail on a 2 night budget cruise.

Exactly! I already applied the unexpected refund towards a deposit for another cruise, and I paid for another cruise in full. 😂

We did the Mexican Riviera on the Solstice last November (over Thanksgiving). We live on the east coast, but it was cheaper for us to fly to California to take this cruise than to sail the Caribbean from anywhere closer to home. Not only that, but it was also cheaper to get two connecting balconies for our family of 4 instead of just one cabin like we normally do. We also had friends who booked last minute and they got a killer deal on a balcony for the price of an inside. It doesn’t seem like it was selling well at all with all of those deals. That aside, the longer flight was worth it. Loved Celebrity and loved the entire itinerary (it was something different for us).

I'm glad that I compulsively check for price drops. Just got a refund of $2,400 for a 2024 that I had already paid in full. 🤑

I've found some great deals over the years. But they required some research and flexibility. Some cruise lines offer better pricing if you go through a TA, and the discount can vary considerably from one to another. Comparison shopping, and doing some old fashioned telephone calling may yield some pricing that you'll never find online. Check for different promotions that may not normally be published. For example, military, interline, residency, first responders, teachers, seniors, kids sail free, etc. Expand your search. You may be set on doing a Caribbean cruise on a specific cruise line, but you may realize that it's considerably cheaper to sail the Mediterranean on a different cruise line during the same time period. Keep checking for price drops after you booked. Prices tend to increase as cabins are sold and inventory goes down, but many times, there are considerable price drops closer to sailing if a particular sailing isn't selling well. Don't assume that the budget, more family friendly cruise lines always offer the best pricing. Sometimes, premium or more luxury cruise lines offer better pricing on similar itineraries. All of these are examples of how I've personally saved money. We've saved A LOT by following these rules, and in the process we've discovered new destinations and new cruise lines.

New. Those new itineraries for Explora 2 have not been finalized though. According to my TA, they should be ready and loaded to the website within the next two weeks.

We did one of those roundtrip itineraries. Personally, I liked it a lot, and preferred it to having just one port of embarkation/disembarkation on these closed loop itineraries. - Having less people embarking and disembarking at each port meant that the chaos (usually associated with the first/last day on mass market mega ships) was greatly diminished. - With less people, check- in lines were super short. - Since most “in transit” passengers were ashore exploring, the ship was deserted when we boarded and there was no mad dash at the buffet for embarkation lunch. - They didn’t shut everything down around the ship during the lifeboat drill for embarking passengers. - Our debarkation on the last day was an absolute breeze, with no lines and only a handful of passengers finishing their trip. I didn’t love everything about it though. Since the itinerary didn’t have an oficial beginning/ending port, it felt a bit weird because every day was “welcome aboard” or “farewell” for somebody, so activities felt a bit disjointed. Walking down the hallways and seeing luggage outside people’s staterooms every single night was a bit off putting, since it was a recurring, daily reminder that the cruise was coming to an end for someone. But the positives outweighed the negatives. I do agree that it’s not for everybody.

According to the email, the new explora 1 itineraries are finalized, and the new explora 2 itineraries will be out in the next 2 weeks, and the website needs to be updated.

Hello: We’re currently booked (and paid in full) on an itinerary from Quebec City in October 2024. I just got an email from my TA, telling me that he received a communication from Explora stating that both Explora 1 and 2 will be redeployed during that time frame and into 2025. No new itineraries posted just yet. Those will become available in the next few weeks. So he told me to expect a cancelation in the coming days, however Explora will be extending a 30% future cruise credit if we choose a different itinerary. Mixed emotions here about these changes. Grateful for the credit and the generous advance notice, but bummed about what seems like frequently changing itineraries, and about starting our plans from scratch. Just wanted to throw this information out there for those of you with plans that far out.

At the end of the day, sail on the cruise line that best suits YOU, even if it's not the one geared to your demographics. We're a family of 4 (with 2 super active teenagers). You'd think that Royal Caribbean or Carnival would be better choices for us, but we've recently enjoyed Holland America and Celebrity more. We just returned from the Harmony of the Seas a few weeks ago, and while we had a great time, we agreed that it's not our cup of tea anymore (even my 13yo son, who lived at the flowrider the entire week), said that he liked our last Celebrity cruise more than this one.

Have you considered “premium” seating, offered by several airlines on international flights? On Delta (my airline of choice) it’s called Premium Select. It’s a hybrid between economy and first class. Only a few rows in a separate cabin, seats are a bit wider, more legroom and footrest, bigger seat back TV’s, and enhanced meal selections. I consider them to be a great bargain, and they are frequently considerably cheaper than a first class seat. I’ve experienced it on 10-14 hour flights and it’s well worth the extra money. Another alternative is to look at airlines like Norse. They are considered a low cost airline, but you can purchase a premium seat for about the same price you’d pay for a regular economy class seat on one of the bigger airlines. Main drawback is that they have a limited schedule and only serve a handful of cities, but you could purchase airfare from where you live to, for example, JFK, and then take Norse across the Atlantic from there.

Don’t have an answer to your question, but I think I’m done cruising during the summer months in ANY warm climate area. We just returned from a cruise and it was brutally hot. We cut our days ashore short because it was too much for some family members to handle. The last time we sailed in the Mediterranean, we did so in November and it was blissful. Temperatures hovered in the 60F’s and the crowds were very thin.

On my most recent MSC cruise (Meraviglia) they only had IPA’s at one bar (Brass Anchor). All the others only had piss water.

One thing to consider when traveling without a passport are the embarkation and debarkation lines. In many places, passengers are split between passport holders and birth certificate holders. Those with passport breeze through US customs upon returning home (specially at ports with new face recognition portals) while those with birth certificates get to stand in line that can sometimes be at a standstill. On my last three cruises, the line for birth certificate holders has been insanely long, while I, traveling with a passport, never stopped moving, cleared customs and exited the terminal in 5 minutes. The one thing that baffles my mind is that some people will balk at getting passports, but will then purchase “VIP” packages to expedite their debarkation . We did a 2 night cruise on Margaritaville at Sea a few months ago and people without passports were paying $400 for this add-on to bypass the long birth certificate line. More than the actual cruise fare. 🤯

Quintonil, Mexico City. Rated as one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. https://quintonil.com/