OfTheSeasCruiser

25 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

These are not the ships I was expecting. They are too small. But since you pointed them out, i'll keep a look out for Jewel and her released itineraries.

 

 

What’s your theory?

5 minutes ago, MillbrookMom said:

Darn,  I was hoping it would show when Transatlantics open for Fall of 2024 😞

There is a chance that they may open along with some of the Winter Caribbean sailings if the ships are coming from Europe, so keep an eye out

11 minutes ago, toad455 said:

So next week we get a confirmation if Odyssey will replace the Anthem in 2024-25.

We might see a test sailing on the website tomorrow which will give us a heads up.

The flyer has been updated

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2024_2025/2024_2025_Deployment_Opening_Schedule.pdf

I’m curious about cruises from San Juan, or if they’ll even be any. I notice Rhapsody is scheduled in St Maarten every Wednesday during winter 2025, which matches Voyager’s calls on the cruises she is currently doing from San Juan

13 minutes ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

Looking further ahead into 2025 port bookings, it looks like Odyssey will homeport in Southampton for Summer 2025, after its winter season in NJ. It definitely looks like there are no plans to bring Anthem back to Southampton in 2025.

I wonder what ship will replace Odyssey in Rome

We were loyal Royal Caribbean cruises up until ~2019 before moving over to Celebrity, so we've visited Labadee several times, with the most recent time being in December 2019 and the first time being in 2003.

If you're looking for a relaxing beach day, it is great. There are several secluded coves to find a lounger, a well as wide open beaches for sunbathing. We loved the zipline. Labadee definitely doesn't feel like an amusement park, like CocoCay. If you have a drink package, your drinks on the island will be included. 

There are some negatives for me... the food is blah and the experience can feel a bit manufactured, rather than authentic. We like eating at local-owned restaurants, for example. You won't get anything like that at Labadee. 

8 minutes ago, Tin can said:

I'm after a bit of advice please from you clued up folks about the itinerary releases. When do you think Alaska 2025 will be released.

 

Alaska isn't really advertised here (UK) in travel agent mail shots and emails etc so  and I want to make sure I'm ready to go as soon as they are released as I understand the itinerary is popular.

 

Thanks

November 2023

We just sailed on our first Celebrity cruise after 13 Royal cruises, and a few on other lines (including Carnival). I can only really provide a comparison between X and RCI, as the one Carnival experience was 10+ years ago. 

We loved our first cruise on Celebrity and have booked our next sailing with them. For us, Royal Caribbean became too family oriented. We are in our 20s, but not interested in waterslides, etc. Celebrity definitely feels like a step up in terms of service, food, and atmosphere, but the one thing I do find lacking is the activities. I did miss Royal's Quest, for example, while on Celebrity. But the positives outweigh the negatives for us and Celebrity is probably our first choice now. We will still consider Royal though. And I've added Virgin to my list as well.

What would the per day price be to upgrade from an included Classic Package to Premium with the Elite discount?

Do your best not to get too siked out about the complaints and cutbacks you read about. After all, you'll be on vacation, sailing the world on a beautiful ship, and like you said, with a good price and itinerary. 

I have a Celebrity Cruise booked for next April after going on my first X cruise this September. Might I notice some cutbacks, maybe... But I'll be enjoying my cruise nonetheless. 

Hi all,

Looking for some help in planning an overnight stop in La Spezia for the first week of May 2024. We want to see Florence and Pisa, and I think Cinque Terre as well. For context, we are also visiting Santa Margherita (will visit Portofino while we are there), Civitavecchia (going to Rome), and Naples (undecided, but probably want to see Capri, Sorrento, or Positano). This is our first time to any of these ports.

But for La Spezia, from my research, I came up with two options. 

Option 1:

Day 1: Early train to Florence, spend as much time as we can, and take a later train back.

Day 2: Excursion to Pisa and Lucca, some seem to include a wine tasting which we would like

Option 2:

Day 1: Florence and Pisa "on your own" excursion, which seems to include about 3.5 hours in Florence and 1-1.5 hours in Pisa

Day 2: Cinque Terre on our own via trains or ferries

So I guess my question is, what would you do? Keeping in mind what we'll be doing in the other ports. I want to see Cinque Terre, but is it worth rushing the day in Florence? Or is Pisa/Lucca worth missing a day in Cinque Terre?

In Pisa, it's more about snapping a photo of the tower for us, so the hour+ there seems a waste, but I think the only way to avoid that is a private tour, right? But that = $. I was thinking of a private transfer to Florence from La Spezia via Pisa for a quick photo in the morning, and then train straight back to La Spezia when we're ready at night, but I'm having a hard time finding a company that offers one way private transportation. Any recommendations?

And as a side note, how does it work if we were to take a later train back from Florence on our first day in port? From what I've read, you can't walk right to the ship, but need to take a bus into the actual port. Do the buses run late into the night? We will be on Celebrity if that makes a difference. 

Thanks in advance!

37 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

It's bad enough this is degenerating into a tipping thread – but we will not have libelous innuendo.  Back it up with facts, or keep quiet.

And all I wanted to know was how Blu compared to Discoveries 🙃

25 minutes ago, Funsince1983 said:

Those were actually ice.. I thought I had a photo somewhere but couldn't find it. Which in retrospect, probably a terrible idea. 

Nope. The ice skating rinks still exist, and  continue to be added to new ships. The Voyager Class had roller skating tracks.   

8 minutes ago, Fogcityca13 said:

Closing the running track for a period of time and turning it into a roller rink would be pretty amazing. 

A few of Royal Caribbean’s Voyager class ships had roller skating tracks when they first debuted, but were since removed. 
 

I think it would work better for Virgin though. 

7 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

It’s the new ad campaign for wave season. I like it. 

Well that's boring. 

4 hours ago, Ulsteinvik said:

It seems that Brilliant Lady will spend her summer season 2024 in Northern Europe. There are a lot of calls in Reykjavik and Zeebrugge for her.

Do the calls suggest a pattern/length of itineraries? I found the Zeebrugge calls which seem infrequent, but I couldn’t find the Reykjavik calls online.

2 hours ago, Ulsteinvik said:

It seems that Brilliant Lady will spend her summer season 2024 in Northern Europe. There are a lot of calls in Reykjavik and Zeebrugge for her.

Hmm. This might be a stretch, but Karma Chameleon was written by Culture Club, which was formed in London. Maybe Brilliant is headed to London. Either way, I hope they reveal itineraries soon because I'm planning to book a summer 2024 Europe sailing soon.

1 minute ago, Lustate said:

 

From a company risk approach, would you want a brand new ship, taking its first paying sailors to board on Christmas Eve and risk any teething issues on Christmas day? I would avoid it as much as possible, keep the Miami Mermaiden, but also add in another few voyages in advance with another route. Thats me with my operations and risk mitigation hat on anyway lol 

I agree, yes. 

But will the ship be ready before then?

32 minutes ago, Lustate said:

Had a look through the ship locations and i think its going to be announcing Brilliant Lady for August to December 2023 will be on the west coast of the USA with extended runs to Hawaii. 🙂 Home port.... Long Beach. 🙂 

All a guess but let’s see hey.

I didn’t realize Brilliant was unaccounted for between Aug-Dec 2023. Is there reason to believe she’s going to debut before her first scheduled sailing in December?

Also, Brilliant is the only ship without summer 2024 itineraries right now. But she has a TA putting her in Lisbon on May 1, 2024, which doesn’t really fit with the ukulele. 
 

Or maybe this has nothing to do with ship deployments at all!

2 hours ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

We sailed with Azamara for the fist time in November and have previously sailed Celebrity  mainly in Aqua Class last time being April 2022 .  In terms of the ambience Discoveries is nothing like Blu. Blu is more comparable to a speciality restaurant in that it’s small and more intimate whereas Discoveries  is more comparable to the main dining room on any cruise ship large and can be noisy. In terms of service in Discoveries   we found this overall pretty good and comparable to Celebrity and as others have said if you find a server you like ask to be placed in their area. We were in a Club Continent suite which meant we could have breakfast in Aqualina,  one of the speciality restaurants , and that gave us the Blu experience. 

Thanks for the feedback. If Discoveries’ food and service are like Blu, I’ll be happy. 
 

Overall, how did you like Azamara compared to Celebrity?

3 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

1.  Yes, I would say the experience in Discoveries would be similar to Blu.  Once you find a waiter you like, you can request that waiter when you dine in Discoveries and they can usually accommodate that.  We also always loved Blu and Aquaclass on X.

2. The Premium package does not include any wines beyond what it is in the complimentary selection.  If you want upgraded wines, you will need to go to the Ultimate Package, bring your own (for $10 corkage fee currently)  or purchase upgraded wines by the bottle from the sommelier.

3.  Yes, it should cost $7 pp extra per day and not everyone In cabin had to upgrade.  You can not upgrade until you are on the ship and that is of benefit to you because you can see exactly what wines on the Ultimate Package they actually have on the ship.  Sometimes, there are substitutions and they may not be what you expect!

Thank you very much for the response. This is helpful. Happy to hear Discoveries is like Blu. It was a highlight of our Millennium cruise.

Hello all!

We are new to Azamara and are considering a Mediterranean sailing on the Pursuit in 2024. I've been perusing the Tips for Newbies thread and have narrowed down to a few questions.

We cruised with Royal Caribbean for many years, but have moved on from them. We tried Celebrity this past year and loved it. We were hoping to sail with them in the Med, but am having a hard time finding an itinerary that fits in our budget and in our timing. Azamara caught our attention because they seem to have great service and we love the port intensive itinerary. A few questions:

1. We were in AquaClass on X and loved the experience in Blu. We had a lovely server and a great bar server/sommelier with great recommendations for wines as well as cocktails. For anyone familiar with X/Blu, can we generally expect a similar experience in the Discoveries Restaurant? I understand no one can predict service levels, but just trying to get an idea of the Azamara experience.

2. The sailing we are looking at includes a Premium Beverage Package as part of the promo. I found the liquors and beers that would be included. Can you confirm what wines are included?

3. If we like to try different wines every night, should we consider upgrading to the Ultimate Beverage Package? Am I correct that it would cost us $7/person/day and that not everyone in the cabin has to upgrade? How/when would we process the upgrade?

Thanks in advance! 

25 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

not sure how much weight to put on either of these, but i've heard two potential things for brilliant. 

 

the first thing i heard a few months ago was potentially nordics.  that'd be pretty neat and a culinarily low-risk way to see the sights without having to eat salted fish for a week (i used to work for a swedish company and all the americans dreaded being called over to HQ due to the food and the fact that it'd always either be the time of year when the sun was up 24 hours/day or it was 24 hours of darkness!)

 

i recently heard that they configured brilliant a teeeeeny bit differently than the first 3 by pulling life boats in slightly.  this makes it small enough to fit thru the old panama canal (cheaper than passing thru the new one), so perhaps a panama crossing and west coast?  i'd guess this one is much less likely than the nordics.

Thanks for your response. The Nordics would line up with the TA to Lisbon, as opposed to the PC/West Coast scenario.