Honolulu Blue

1 hour ago, Guest Gemma said:

Hi all, Im so bamboozled looking for a family cruise for next year. Ive seen a good eastern and western caribbean with stays in miami or Orlando. THEN I read its hurricane season. Am I better staying away from August is the threat likely or do people still happily book rhese itineraries anyway. 

  As you can see im totally clueless so really in need of some guidance from seasoned cruiser pls.

Im coming from UK there will be me hubby and 2 children aged 11&13 xx

Lots of people book cruises in the Caribbean in August.  Most of them turn out fine with minimal effects from the weather.  Some of them are affected to a greater or lesser effect by hurricanes.

Always keep these things in mind when sailing in the region:

1) The cruise ship companies and the ship captains will avoid large tropical disturbances (tropical storms and hurricanes) whenever possible

2) There are many things that can be done if a storm is in the area or planned to be

3) Stay informed about weather forecasts in the area.  This sub-forum is a good resource, but hardly the only one.

Good luck with whatever you decide. 👍

As I plan for my next musical adventure (which I should have a post or two on in a couple of days on my 2024 thread), I got an e-mail just now from the Super Legends Cruise 2.0.  They set a date of June 14 for the pre-sale and they promise to have the lineup for it on that date.  Let's see what they come up with.

I eat at the trough all the time on the Celebrity ships I've been on (only the Summit and the Millie).  I like both the selection and the quality there.  Unfortunately for the OP, I rarely bother with pasta or burgers at the OVC, so I don't know how often they're served there.

13 hours ago, carol louise said:

Here’s what was on the Venezia late April/early May. Includes chess. There may be more games as we saw people using games on nearby tables. This cart is the “library.” It’s not a room, but in a sort of mezzanine area one deck above on one side of the midship pool, with tables and comfortable seating spread around a bit.

Thanks for sharing this.  Two thoughts:

1) This is an impressive collection of games for a cruise ship these days, IMHO

2) OF COURSE they had "Cat in the Hat"! 🙂  I wonder if they had any other of Dr. Seuss' books.  My vision isn't that good. ☹️

On 6/5/2024 at 12:03 PM, Essiesmom said:

Panama’s currency is also pegged to the dollar

Panama's currency IS the U.S. dollar.  They call it a "Balboa".

Another suggestion to the OP is that some vendors in some ports sell blister packs with local coins or currency.  They're very pricey for what you get, but it is an option.  I have bought a few of these over the years from various countries.

11 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

This was many moons ago (2006)….Pride of America voyage around the islands.  

My New England cruise this past summer had a very active group of solos.  But we had a fearless leader!

Thanks for the clarification on NCL.

Your New England cruise story sounds interesting. I have a Princess cruise in that area in a couple of months. By "fearless leader", did you mean one of the passengers or someone on the crew?

2 hours ago, jsn55 said:

Sailing in August to Alaska on Crown Princess.  I'm a new solo cruiser and have been reading about how the various cruiselines offer opportunities for solos to meet others on the ship.  I cruised France with Avalon in April; six  or eight of us became a little posse very quickly, it was great fun.  But its easy to get to know people on a river cruise, I'm wondering if any opportunities are offered for solos on a Princess ocean cruise.  I've read that NCL organizes informal events so people can get to know each other.  Any advice on how I can gather some info about Princess would be greatly appreciated.  

In addition to what @cr8tiv1 said above, you should try to look at the roll call for your cruise here. I've found that it's a good way to get to know your fellow solo cruisers prior to boarding.

Also, I've found there are multiple solo meetings during each Princess cruise. Consult the newsletter for details. Some might be at different times and/or in different locations. YMMV on these. Maybe yours will be the one where you find your new posse! 😁

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

On one NCL cruise, I was THE ONLY ONE that attended the gathering.  Just me and the cruise director assistant.

Which ship was this on and when was it? This doesn't sound like the NCL others tell me about. Their newer ships have dedicated studio cabins and last year they added cabins on all their ships for solo use. 

4 hours ago, memoak said:

I do know that when I wanted to hook up with someone they had to check it out with their roommate so we could have the cabin for a few hours. 

This sounds a lot like my residence hall life from many years ago. 😊 It also sounds like crew life from not so long ago, but I know less about that.

6 hours ago, Scirocco Breeze said:

Whilst on Sky recently we watched the first episode of The Love Boat and 2 single women who were strangers to one another where sharing a cabin. Was that a thing that happened to solo travellers in the past? Or just fiction for the show?

In addition to what my fellow posters have said, I should point out that at least one online agency offers roommate matching for their singles cruises RIGHT NOW. 

First, an apology for not posting my news about the 2025 80s Cruise and ECP's generosity in this thread, where it belonged.  I'll link it here and now.

And now it seems the UDC has made one last addition to their lineup with The O'Jays.  "Back Stabbers" is my favorite song from them, but they had other songs that I like.  I'll definitely have to make room for them.  I should note that like Earth Wind & Fire and Kool and the Gang, disco is a small part of who they are.

Since the lineup feels finished, let me post it here.

9 hours ago, mef_57 said:

Looking at Majestic with Princess Plus...inside cabin. (As a solo, it's what suits the budget).

As it is February, I expect protected comfortable spaces are reduce. YouTube walkthrus and comments mention a loud Piazza area most of the daytime. They included sound from the seafood restaurant 2 decks in, and it was loud. Also the fact they play movies or videos at a high volume through the day on the Lido. Comments here mention chlorine smells in the Hollywood pool club.

Is there anywhere I can hangout and see daylight without a lot of noise or smells.

I'd like to make it work, but maybe it's just not a good fit🤷‍♀️

Any words of encouragement?

I was on the Majestic in April 2022, though it wasn't a transatlantic.  It was about 70% full at the time of its sailing.  I never tried to spend any significant time on the outdoor decks, so I can't help you there.  Here are a couple of the places I hung out when I was onboard.  The common areas can get a little noisy, but as a fellow introvert, I found them quiet enough during the morning hours.

@dides:  Thanks for the press release.  My first thought was that they were going to try a country-themed cruise sometime.  But they didn't mention it here, so never mind.

4 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I wouldn’t want to do a music charter 😁

That's OK.  There's an audience for them that Celebrity and other cruise lines are willing to cater to.  And as @George C said, some of them can sell out quickly.

1 hour ago, George C said:

We book rock and romance music charter every year , live music all day to the wee hours. Have heard great concerts and had some great conversations with Michael McDonald, BJ Thomas , America, Rita Coolidge, Todd Rundgren, Maria Muldar  , Guess who etc etc , last march we heard Don McLean and dozens of others , next March Air Supply (again) Kansas, Mellisa Manchester (again) and many others , we book a royal suite. I do love the retreat on E class but entertainment is my key .

8 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

That sound like a Geritol Tour 🤣

There are other music charters with other, younger performers if you prefer.  Some are on Celebrity, but most are not.  BTW, the older musicians, music, and fans are sometimes the best ones!

Christmas came early this year.  🎅  Here's the story:

I got an e-mail from ECP saying that people that had already booked The 80s Cruise (like me!) would be able to book a cabin on The 90s Cruise at 10% off.  At first, I grumbled about the unfairness of it all (I had booked both a long, long time ago), but then I spotted the fine print - for those in my situation, they seemed to be offering 10% off the booking I made later.  In my case, I booked TEC as soon as it came available in February, which was about 3 months after I booked TNC.

Anyway, I e-mailed ECP to see if my interpretation was correct.  A couple of hours later, they e-mailed a new bill with about $300 lopped off - 10% of the bill for my TEC cabin.  It seems I was correct after all.  😁  This was very nice and very unexpected.  Thanks, ECP!

I also got an e-mail from ECP's High Seas Rally cruise.  That one also had a $250 cabin discount for new bookings.  It had a video by Lou Gramm announcing this and other things.  There's also a 5% cabin discount plus $250 in OBC for active and retired military for new cabin bookings.  Neither offer is combinable with any other.

We had a little thunderstorm roll through, which spoils the Christmas feeling.  But I'm still feeling pretty good. 🙂

1 hour ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

Assuming you won the imaginary "Any sailing, any ship, any time, no cost, all included" Celebrity give-away, what would you choose? Ie - no cost, all flights, packages, logistics, excursions, etc. included - what of all the current 24-26 offerings on the website would be your choice?

 

My choice, and I assume for more than a few, it would be the recent additions of the Galapagos smaller vessels.  So almost any of those three ships would be great options 🙂

 

Also, looking at a longer duration, the Tahitian Treasures looks fun combining our desire for a longer trans-ocean type cruise with some remote places we have never been.  Having loved both Hawaii and New Zealand, those are nice starting and ending points, too.  And at 19 days, that's a rare very long non-B2B cruise for Celebrity.  I had never even seen that one, so now I'm actually putting it on my "watchlist" (although the NZ flights are hellishly long).  

 

How about you?

Cute question.  If I could choose among the charter cruises from Celebrity, I'd pick this one:

I'm sure my buddy @GeorgeC would agree with me.  These guys are The LSB Experience, an era-tribute band that happened to be on this year's edition and next year's also.  It's a full charter, so having someone else pick up the bills would be a huge financial weight off my shoulders.

But enough about that, since I'm sure you didn't mean to include charters.  My second choice would be the one you mentioned - the Tahitian Treasures.  I actually have plans to go on a very similar cruise later this year on Royal.  I'd certainly love to swap out what I have now for Celebrity's version.  It would ideally be this year, because I already have other plans for fall 2025.

My honorable mention would be a really cheap date for Celebrity, or whomever is funding this - a sailing out of sunny San Juan.

25 minutes ago, Cruising89143 said:

They already have a new name.

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/carnivals-duffy-down-under-po-australia-takeover-quite-surprise

 

And they will stay in Australia.

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/carnivals-duffy-down-under-po-australia-takeover-quite-surprise

Thanks for sharing that article.

As for whether they're staying in Australia, I found this quote from the article you quoted above quite telling (emphasis mine):

Duffy said cost was a ‘big headwind’ that helped lead to the decision to absorb the P&O Australia ships, given higher operating and regulatory costs and operating a small brand that can’t move its vessels out of the region.

So, if part of the reason why P&O was gobbled up is that they couldn't move their ships, and Carnival is a brand that operates worldwide and moves their ships around quite often, it seems to me that eventually there's going to be some movement by the Australian ships Carnival controls.  They won't do it before March 2025, and the ex-P&O ships might stick around for a year or two after that.  But I'm convinced there will be some changes there.

7 hours ago, CreamsicleCatMom said:

I heard that many of the ships were removing their board games. I was wondering what board games people had noticed recently on the different ships. My teen loves chess and was hoping there would be a chess set? Can you check out the games to bring back to your room or do you have to play them only in the library? 
 

Thanks!

From the library on the Magic in November 2023:

I didn't actually handle any of the games or try to check them out, so I don't know anything about that.

Your mileage may vary.  I suggest bringing your own chess board - a cheap one, if your son is willing to put up with its limitations.

5 hours ago, tidecat said:

Carnival is getting Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter in 2025

When I saw this, I thought, "what am I missing here?"  I try to keep up with cruise news like this, but I obviously missed this.  Here's an article that covers the news:  Carnival Cruise Line to Absorb P&O Australia in 2025 - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

TL,DR:  P&O Australia to go the way of Fathom (remember them?), Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure will be absorbed by Carnival, Pacific Explorer will "exit the fleet" as @SinbadThePorter noted above.

This has some very interesting ramifications.  I guess Carnival has a good brand reputation in Australia.  That said, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see at least one of the ships currently based in Australia to be pulled out and used elsewhere.  Fearless Leader Josh Weinstein hinted as much in the press release quoted by Cruise Industry News in the article above.

3 hours ago, F355c5 said:

can’t figure out why people like princess?

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your Princess cruise.  I assume you won't stick around to read this.

For me, and the rest of you, here are the reasons why I like Princess and have two cruises booked with them:

• They had 80s themed cruises that were a lot of fun.  There's always a chance they could bring them back. 🙏
• The medallions and the app, when they work, do some neat things
• Three of the best cabin stewards I've had on cruise ships were on Princess
• They have some good itineraries that are worth cruising
• The price is right (sometimes)

A couple of details from the latest Weekender:

• Mr. Lazaroff gave an explanation of why Jazz Cruises uses the Millennium Class Celebrity ships for its cruises - specifically the revolutionized Millennium and Summit.  He also explained this in his Q&A on the McDonald LaBelle Cruise also.  To summarize those briefly, they like being able to convert the MDR to concert/nightclub use, they like the fact that the main theater can hold at least half the guests in one seating, and they like all the music venues onboard.
• Celebrity has removed Labadee from certain sailings that include both Smooth Jazz Cruises for 2025.  They're meeting with Celebrity to decide on a different port and promise to let us know when they make a decision.  

As I half expected, Super Legends Cruise announced a second edition of its 2025 cruise.  Same date, same embarkation port, same itinerary, only this time they'll be using the Carnival Radiance.  I like Carnival and kind of wish I were on the Radiance instead of Royal's Navigator.  They didn't announce a lineup for this edition.  The lineup for the 1.0 edition will be tough to top, IMHO.  What they MIGHT do is switch around the lineup when we're in Ensenada so that every performer plays on both ships.

It'll be very interesting to see how this plays out.  I signed up for the pre-sale just in case.  If there's anything to report, I'll let you guys know.

23 minutes ago, clo said:

So did Cruise Critic ask you to do this? Not sure the purpose.

 

Do you do any traveling that's not cruising? Now that could be a survey?

I assure you the hosts and TPTB at CC did not ask me to do it. Its purpose is merely to satisfy my curiosity.

I do some travel other than cruises. I don't discuss it much because this is a site that's mostly about cruise travel and its issues.

Hi everyone.  Are you all ready for another survey?  Of course you are!

This is a relatively simple one about how many cruises you've completed since the great restart.  Please include the ones you're on RIGHT NOW.  If you can't see them, the survey choices are zero, one, 2-4, 5-9, and 10+.

I guess I'll go first.  I did two in '21, four in '22, four in '23, and four so far in '24.  I didn't ask, but I have two scheduled for the rest of this year and five or six scheduled so far for 2025 (one is a B2B, so however you count that).

Thanks in advance for your replies!

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I had a cruise to pay off a few weeks ago that hit the two week mark.  I got a reminder by e-mail and paid it off soon after that.  I didn't receive a mailed reminder and never have.  

3 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Me either.  Consistency, heh?

Yeah. 😂 It could be very new, or maybe it's a trial that's used for some passengers and not others. Who knows? I do appreciate the OP and others notifying us about this.

5 hours ago, hurricane0226 said:

you would think that they would read, especially when sitting on the throne.

General preference of what I read on the toilet:

• Newspapers
• Junk mail
• Magazines
• Books
• Tablets
• Cell phones