foodsvcmgr

Has anyone been able to obtain any specifics as to exactly how far into or through the canal the ship will actually go before returning to dock in Colon the next day?

Curious to see the Panama Canal itinerary explained in detail. A full 12 hours cruising suggests a r/t transit, not just the first locks and Gatun Lake like HAL and Princess do on 10 or 11 night sailings. Particularly if the next day is docked in Colon for land excursions. Different and potentially appealing.

Question for abbydancer or itsanita or anyone else who has sailed post-revolution: Do you notice any loss of space or difficulty finding seats either inside Sky Lounge as a result of its shrinkage or deck chairs due to the new Retreat taking away an open deck formerly available to all? We always used the forward Sun Deck when travelling Aqua in the past so have some concern. Currently booked Aqua for Feb. 2021 and hoping the changes are not too "in your face". Thanks for any input or comments.

Well said, couldn’t agree more.

Sailed both Cunard and Princess in 2018. The food on QM2 was a higher standard in most cases in dining room and buffet. Also lots of British influence in selection and preparation which may or may not appeal to everyone, we enjoyed the change from the typical cruise fare. However the enhanced food usually comes at a considerably higher price than normally one would pay for Princess.

I believe what is being asked for are vaccinations required for the particular cruising area, i.e. malaria or yellow fever for certain exotic itineraries, not every or any vaccination over a passenger's lifetime. Same as the visa reference, only certain countries require them.

If they do, I suspect it will only be after they have evaluated the success of the upcoming Princess mega ships which are still several years out. Although there are more similarities than real differences throughout their combined fleets, Carnival Corp. has gone to considerable expense to maintain their various brands, so it is possible that HAL could be the unit that sticks with ships in the sub-3000 pax segment of the superior mass market category.

I buy flowers from HAL each time we sail. The sunflower arrangement is quite nice and will last for an entire 10 day cruise.

I have found that Princess frequently does not raise fares when starting a new promo, making it a true value, not an illusory one. Whereas Holland America always seems to jack up their rates whenever free drinks or similar are offered.

We booked Virgin premium economy Newark - Heathrow last October through Cunard. The Cunard agent was able to reserve seats at the time of original booking, She gave me the Virgin booking code and I was able to look up and verify the booking on the Virgin website as well as check in online in the normal manner. I'm assuming much of this must be dependent on the individual airline, not Cunard policy.

Bermuda with the ability to dock in Hamilton and or St. George's would be an ideal deployment, but the season is wrong.

Thanks for the time and effort posting this fabulous travelogue. We will be sailing 14 days around the Horn next February on Coral Princess and your photos and notes have given us lots of insight and much to look forward to.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea to market a couple ships as adult only, P&O does this successfully. Also I believe the amount and location of kid facilities on ships routinely running longer exotic itineraries and therefore few if any children could be repurposed to better use.

I observed far more open seats on KONINGSDAM in the Lido at normal mealtimes than on most other ships. Also more plentiful and available outdoor seating on both levels overlooking the midship pool which is where we ate most breakfasts and lunches.

To answer the question - the jurisdiction would be the flag state - the Netherlands - hardly a flag of convenience like Liberia or Vanuatu.