shipshape sam

I used to say I would never sail Carnival again after a lot of drunken groups on a 5 day cruise we were on. Then Carnival went to Havana.... Got to go to Havana just a month or two before it was closed to cruising again.

It is. Maybe there is a class action suit in there somewhere.😜

Good luck. Industry is projecting 10% passenger growth over next few years and with that growth, it will be a challenge to find the least price increase. Demand will be brisk.

LOL I think you nailed it.

Don't believe we will see many more PUP's being earned by quizzes. First off, my guess, is that their return is not worth the points they provide, ie very few people booking a cruise. I think I read more people providing and/or looking for the answers without watching the program. Secondly, I have read that the volume of people booking in 2024 and 2025 is massive industry wide, thus why mess with PUP's. Anyone wanting to move to next level should be looking to book a cruise and go have a great time! Then enjoy the CC points being added to their account and hopefully gaining the next higher CC level. For the mass majority, Elite Plus is the highest level they will achieve, so if there, like I am, looking to earn more PUP's is just for the 'hunt', not to actually reach the next level.

We like trying some food dishes we would not have otherwise. My favorite is Escargot every night.

We were there in 2021. Not much to see or do if you just want to sight see or walk around. At least that was our experience. We had not planned to get off ship, but decided to once we were docked. We took a shuttle that was get on/get off and that worked great. Stopped and looked at a beach and then stopped at another beach then a shopping area then back to ship. Wishing you a great trip and day in Bimini. We are not beach/sun people, but the beaches were busy.

Will check that out as my major problem with IV is the up and down direction of the mechanical blind and the noise it makes, especially if wanting to see outside in middle of night and DW is sleeping.

It did have some beer name plates, but the beer I wanted was out, so not sure if it was working.

I can see the flexibility and choice in the new program. Basically take it or leave it.

I am reading here that people are now NOT just assuming Celebrity is the best value for their $$$/loyality club(or other currency/affinity) and are doing research. I would bet other people loyal to other lines are doing more research too. To me that is a good thing. We also like longer cruises and that too is a criteria on many of our cruises at planning/booking. With family, they have to work and are more limited with school age kids too. For us, we have many land based trips we have taken and want to take. Last year did 2 weeks in Alaska (land based) and it was wonderful. Want to do a similar trip to Alaska again.

Found my first duck earlier this year on Rotterdam. It was in a plant in the aft elevator bank on deck 6 as I recall. We kept it to bring home and show granddaughters. Going of a Royal Caribbean cruise next January and my grandkids want to have fun with some ducks, so will get some. As for jokes, I would love to walk by and get a joke of the day. So would my 7 year old granddaughter. She loves to tell jokes and has even made up a couple of jokes now that she understands the word play. We laugh at all of them too! 😃

Everyone has a story. We are Elite Plus and know we will never sail enough to reach the next Captain's Club tier based on our cabin preferences. Thus, for us, we like Celebrity and will look at them along with other cruise lines when we are making our cruise decisions. Right now, we have chosen/booked HAL Rotterdam 2 times over Celebrity this year. I used to love the M class, but with the addition of so many more cabins at the removal of public space has turned me off. We still like S class and, due to our likes/dislikes do not like E class IV category and thus (as I understand) there are not any standard balconies other than suites. So we, self imposed, are limited in the number of Celebrity sailings we will have to compare with other lines. We also are sailing Royal now as we are enjoying sailing with our grandkids/kids. With a larger group and kids, Royal tips the scale in their favor. We too, will make Crown & Anchor Diamond Plus in early 2025 which gives us a few more items unless they are removed by the time we get Diamond Plus. Actually the loyalty programs have very little sway now on us as for example with HAL, we are 2 stars and have been choosing HAL over Celebrity 2 times this year. We sailed on Beyond in January 2023 and I enjoyed the ship except the IV cabin. We too were on a sailing that only had about 65% of capacity. Finally, we (me more so than DW) love the musical groups/musical location on HAL Rotterdam. I am not a fan of the traditional production shows, so Rotterdam appeals to me as being familiar to more how Celebrity use to be with the added bonus of the live musical groups each night for most of the night, not just a musical set a couple of nights.

Hope you do too! On Beyond this past January, we only ate in the 4 MDR's and had no issues. WE did love the Lamb Shanks in the Greek themed MDR.

Always look at your options. We too are close to Diamond Plus and plan on making it in 2025. Will never get the top tier in Celebrity. We like Celebrity for quiet sailings and also like Royal when with grandkids or a large group.

We have seen wines we are enjoying run out during a cruise. Tried something else and amazingly 2 days later, they found some of the original wine that did last us till debarkation. I need to become friends with a 4 or 5 star 🙂

My wine we enjoy bringing onboard costs less than the corkage fee. Not sure what that says about our taste. 😃

That is a great response from Royal. Sorry for the passing of your mother in-law.

It is starting to happen on HAL too. My guess is cruise ships for the next 8-10 months will not be taking freighter slots in the canal. This too is assuming it starts to rain around lakes in Panama or there will be even more canceled ships.

A nice read though.

We got the crew appreciation (tips) included for our 2025 sailing that was made earlier this year. We were told the tips were included as part of early booking. I think they still could show up in promotions, but as I see it, it won't happen till after I book a cruise without them being included.

LOL

Some where I read that some vessels were waiting up to 21 days or more to get a slot for Panama Canal. In addition to the time issue for going around the horn you have the added fuel and other costs when ship is traveling.

We have had a port of call cancel and did receive a credit for the port fees not paid. I would assume at least that, the fees for going though the canal won't be spent. A bummer to say the least. In 2009 we had 3 ports of call in Mexico cancel due to H1N1. Still had a great full transit cruise but did go through the canal. Then in 2010 missed Antartica on our initial attempt due to rough seas, but Captain looked at weather forcast and made a 2nd attempt 2 or 3 days later - don't remember any we got there. I agree it is a bummer, but do not recall even any discussion of a reduction in our cruise fare. We also missed Falklands on that trip. Lots of people upset at missing pigeons and mines.

Yes for sure! Even if it proves to be false, it is not out of the realm of nickeling and diming of past behavior. I like a post that suggested Celebrity could sell a benefit where you do not have to sail for a year and thus not have to spend money (if I read the comment correctly) That would be a funny thread.