jakeil7

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I thought Quantum Class can do Vancouver 

Yeah. See post #34 in this thread (later corrected to Quantum from Oasis class)

That’s funny. FYI, here in the States there was a general goods stores (clothing, home goods, etc) that would have specials on products that would throw on a cart and push to the front of the store. The cart had a pole with a blue light mounted on top - thus “blue light special”. As I recall (I was very young at its heyday), it was the junk that they could not sell any other way. 

thanks for the trip down memory lane and for serving your community 

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Because I’m one of those excel nuts, I do know what we paid…..$2,400 for the 7 night cruise.

So I translated that to 2023 dollars which is a bit over $4k. I am assuming that was the cabin rate and not the per person rate. That probably could cover as JS on a large ship these days or, if you search hard enough, a full suite (I managed this last year for a suite on NCL’s Getaway).  The full suite level is where you can still get that level of service you are looking for with the hotel in a hotel concept.  Let’s face it - when a normal inside room might be 1/3rd of that cost, you have to give something up. My analysis might be totally messed up as well. 
 

As for the ports - no solution there except cruising with one of the next tier up brands (Celebrity, HAL, Princess, etc). Royal is focused on keeping its passengers under their control for as much time as they can. Not something I have an issue with, but I can see others who do

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

In June of 2002 we cruised for 4th of July on The Pacific Princess aka “The Love Boat” from NY to Bermuda for a 7 day cruise. They had moved the ship to NY from CA for the summer before selling it to another company. If I recall correctly the passenger count for that cruise was about 680

 Can I ask what may be considered a rude question?  What did you pay for that trip?

26 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

I guess i should get cruising then! I disagree but maybe these small ships will be made more expensive. Interested in what princess is building as well.

Just think about when these ships came out, a “small” ship was something like Empress of the Seas which was under 50k GT.  Now we might consider the Voyager and Freedom class “small”. I suppose it is all relative in the end. 

Keep in mind they may move their smaller ship operations to other brands such as Celebrity.  There seems to be a push to get independent older folks onto those kinds of brands so they can focus on family groups and big spenders. While I don’t like this strategy (although i am a big ship guy myself) it makes sense from their point of view. 
 

As for the ports, I think they are at the mercy of the cruise lines, not the other way around. 

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We get 6 bags per cabin for world cruise

I am sitting here with some serious jealousy now 😜

15 minutes ago, molly361 said:

I think you and I have similar cruising styles, only out of PC and don't really care too much where it goes.  The bigger the ship the better.  That said who knows how much walking with your luggage these Brightline trips are going to entail but I imagine it's going to be quite a bit

Out of curiosity @John&LaLa how much do you typically pack for a cruise?  Carry on + 1 checked?  +2 checked?  Whatever you can get into the trunk? 😜

13 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Have you seen airline prices this summer?  🤣

 

For a family of four it's probably more than 500 miles now.

Eh, just fly Allegiant. They’ll let you strap the kids onto the wings for a small fee 😝

@John&LaLa I think 500 miles might be a little wide of a net to draw, but as others have pointed out here it kind of depends how far you are from your airport and if it is decent so it might not be bad. 
 

I also did the same analysis on NYC - 85M but I would not want to drive that far in the NE. Also, love your meme - drove from Miami last year for a PC cruise. It is dead on. 🤣

7 hours ago, alfaeric said:

Farther up the coast does limit how far you can go, but the airport location has no impact on that. 
 

Still, this thread sure makes it seem that some have no choice in departure ports. Nothing stopping you from flying to New York or Galveston.  And Boston is awesome to depart from. 

Because it isn’t a “premium” departure location due to the airport location and nearby population the itineraries are much more typical than they are creative. Miami and FLL provide the biggest variety in FL; the NYC ports also do well because of population - airport location not as great though 

20 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Do they force you to go to specific ports to sail from? 

Because PC is further up the coast and harder to get to from an airport, the iteneries are less varied than those departing from Miami and Port Everglades.  

11 hours ago, coaster said:

Port Canaveral recently surpassed Miami in total number of cruise passengers. Princess and Carnival recently added ships departing from this port. Never had good experiences sailing from Miami in the past 30 years. Congestion getting there just seems to get worse even with the new to tunnel. Port Canaveral seems to have gotten things right over the years. Friendly port workers and not stressed as much when boarding from my personal experience.

While I agree that Miami can get crowded, I’ve never had major issues there and the terminals themselves are quite nice IMHO. But that is minor - where PC loses out is the distance between the airport and the terminal. While the hotels in PC and coca beach are nice, they get to be just as expensive. The one thing about Miami is that I don’t HAVE to stay near the port which gives me more options. 
 

Also - on the subject of airports:  MIA >>> MCO. I hate flying into Orlando. It pushes my buttons and turns me into a boomer 😝

The sale is a lie. 

The would be only Oasis and Icon class ships. So Oasis, Harmony, Symphony, Wonder, Allure, and Icon.  If I missed in, someone will correct me 😛
 

That said, it’s not like you are cantilevered out over the water - usually the promenade is directly below you. Also, the barriers on balconies are VERY high. So there is that to consider. Noise and heat are issues for inside balconies 

9 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

Sort of the same topic (Barefoot Beach Cabanas), what is the general consensus on the Barefoot Beach - hilltop cabana vs the over water cabanas?  We can get the hilltop for $400 cheaper and they don't look to be any further from the water then the over water versions.

 

 

I’ve stayed in those pre pandemic. They are great but unless you get the one on the far end, the water is a little hard to access. There is a path that goes up the hill behind the cabanas.  It starts at the beach and ends in a pool ladder that provides access

1 minute ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Thanks, we’re not Pinnacle but we are in a suite on the next cruise that stops in Labadee.  So how do we get to this beach when we get off the ship?

The concierge will let you know. However, basically there’s is a shuttle to the beach that leaves right from the end of the pier. 
 

Had a cliff side cabana last time. Amazing. 
 

as for coco cay, it is an overpriced amusement park. If that is what you like, you will choose that. I like the more rustic feel of Labadee. Although the staff issues there are problematic 

This is the advantage of cruising.  There are options for everyone. And that is coming from a person who stays away from the buffet these days. 

Yes, it changes. It is generally between MDR and specialty restaurant quality, but as mentioned constantly here food is subjective 

I got mine at the 7 day mark so there is that to consider

I’m just going to point out that the staffing fail may have also been due to the rescheduling of this cruise.  It was supposed to be in the Baltic but, for obvious reasons, was moved to the Caribbean. Difference in the number of expected kids obviously. 
 

To those being difficult, this was the most reasonable post I could imagine from someone stuck in that situation. The clubs are not a babysitting service but a place for kids to get away and socialize with…um, their own kind? 😝🤦‍♂️
 

Let’s give this parent a break for everything but wanting a kids club manager to deal with their fury. They are not equipped to do so. 

To answer the OPs question directly:  you don’t NEED a lanyard. There are a few people that find it convenient though. 

Auditing the machine probably.  May be a common practice to ensure she didn’t somehow cheat and that the machine isn’t broken 

Oof, that is slow for premium. 

40 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

I use to like Labadee, but it really doesn't do much for me anymore. Kinda dumpy little beaches and nothing that appealing.  I'd love to see them juice it up a bit, but only time will tell....

I hope they don’t juice it up and turn it into another Coco Cay. I like the more subtle, integrated with the surroundings feel