micmacmissy

@lovelife You'd be surprised at some of the good deals on the bigger RCCL ships over Christmas!

School principal here - I'm in the same boat!

We’ve sailed on Allure (during spring break, pre-covid) and really enjoyed it. That trip was 100% capacity with 2,500 kids on board - and still it didn’t feel crowded…but that was in 2015 or so. Looking at booking 12/22-12/29 and wondering what Christmas cruises are like. On Christmas Day, in port, are there things to do or is everything closed down? We’ll be in Roatan that day. Anything else we should know about a christmas cruise? Thanks in advance!

What are T’erds?

Taxi was cheap - maybe $20? And no, didn’t charge per person. It was me and my husband in a minivan, and we arranged for him to return for us. He didn’t even want to be paid when he dropped us off - we paid him on the way back

No safety concerns at all. No sketchy wandering people on the beach, either. I’d go as a solo female, no question.

Meh - I don’t think so…a lot of people don’t dig this deep into the shore excursion boards.

I totally got that wrong. I meant to say, served TO YOU, not self serve.

Newsflash: something is going to kill you someday. This is a guarantee. Live your life. Drink from the mystery glass in your cabin. Employ the five-second rule when you drop a cookie on your floor. And for the love of Pete, don’t clean your cabin/hotel room on vacation. Do you really want to improve your odds of good health and wellbeing? Wear your seatbelt, cut back on sugar, and exercise daily. The perseveration on how to keep everything in our lives sanitary is not good for your mental health.

Yes, the cruise is over, but I’m doing the review day by day. I’m on day 6. ;)

20,000 steps a day! Yikes! (Good for you.) Celebrity is definitely more laid back. I would say the high energy vibe you’re looking for might be found on NCL, or even one of the newer Carnival ships in a suite (check out Jim Zim on You Tube). Virgin cruise line also seems to have quite the party vibe!

Ignore. We took my kids on two Royal cruises (as young as ages 9 and 11) and all they wanted to do was read, hang by the pool with their parents, and visit the buffet. They wanted no part of the children’s clubs. People on the Celebrity boards are pretentious but onboard, everyone is super friendly!!!

The Oasis class ships have great entertainment, between the ice rink, aqua theatre, and main theatre shows. However, not much small group/acoustic/live music in the lounges. Celebrity does a great job with the live music, but the stage shows are definitely not as good as Royal. THAT SAID the stage shows on Apex were the best we’ve seen on Celebrity - their new theatre set up is pretty darn amazing.

Stopped when leaving the ship? Goodness we’re on day six…we haven’t left the ship yet…don’t rush the end of my vacation! No worries, husband is a former tax attorney so we are well aware of the laws, and everyone who makes a large purchase onboard will definitely be directed by the sales team on exactly how customs and taxes will play out.

We didn’t play any blackjack, but yes, they definitely have it (and a bunch of table games). In our experience on previous X ships, the dealers are very friendly and will add up your cards for you - very different than Vegas! :)

Cafe al Bacio had no cookies when we were there- though the cakes were phenomenal!

Wow…i’m jealous! We didn’t spend one minute on the pool deck- so loud and crowded!

800 guests? That sounds like a dream. We had about 2200 on our sailing - and it felt pretty darn full to me! We did find chocolate chip cookies in Eden (lunchtime) but that was it! We were also surprised that the indoor Retreat lounge didn’t have food options out all day. (But the one day we caught the food there, they had warm spicy nuts and lawwdddd…they were good!)

This is the best sum-up I’ve seen. You are 100% right.

We cruised recently and I had NO IDEA what to do in St. Kitts. Planned nothing. Finally, the night before we pulled into port at St. Kitts, I hit up trip advisor and found some incredible reviews for Discovery Beach Bar & Grill. None of the cruise ships have their own excursions to Discovery Beach Bar, but it’s located between Carambola and Shipwreck. A 10-15 minute ride from the port. We had no problem grabbing a taxi and heading over…two loungers and a rum punch was $22. We were two of six guests there the ENTIRE time. The bar/grill is nothing to write home about…but the drinks were good and I’m told the owner (Morsi) makes all food from scratch, and supposedly his wings are amazing. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves…

You should be! Especially with this new class of ship. (Edge, Apex, Beyond) I didn’t think our Allure cruise could be beat…or at least, beat by much. But we recently sailed Celebrity Apex and it is truly. Next. Level. Photo review here if you’re interested!

Hi everyone, We are just off Apex, our first cruise since 2017. Previous cruises include Celebrity (Mercury, Millenium, Silhouette) and Royal Caribbean (Independence and Allure). This was the first time cruising as a couple without anyone else…and after a couple of rough years, we felt we were entitled to some pampering so we booked a Sky Suite in the Retreat. We booked pretty last minute (2 months out) and got a great deal by using a website where you can input the cruise you want, and travel agents compete with one another and offer you bids on your cruise. This has worked really well for us in the past and we once again scored a good price and $1,600 OBC. I’ll break down the cruise day by day with as much detail as I can remember. Here we go!

Waiting at the airport with time to kill. Just finished up an incredible week on Apex. Full photo review will follow…but until then, amy questions? Highlights: Luminae Retreat Service Spa Lowlights (i’m being picky here, there really is little to find fault with): Some seriously entitled/rude fellow passengers Weird ship layout Casino didn’t like me Can’t get a dinner reservation at Eden