Sigyn

Hmmm...to me, every cruise is a combination of the two. I want a lovely ship with appealing amenities and great ports.

If you want to stay farther south, and therefore closer to the port, and that's why Torrance appeals, opt for the South Bay, which includes Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. There's charm to these beach towns, restaurants within walking distance, and cute shops for your wife. But don't stay in Torrance. I used to live in Redondo Beach and also Hermosa Beach, and I never bothered with Torrance. It's very bland and full of chain restaurants and boring suburbia.

Good to know. I was going to morph it into Hodor next.

Any other suggestions on what to avoid?

Not on Celebrity, but on other cruise lines, I've had dinner in the buffet before after a long day of sightseeing/excursions and I'm too tired to deal with a sit-down dinner and waiting to be served off of a menu. It's ideal for that, when you just want to eat and go back to your room and crash.

yes, that is a consideration. I have seen videos of the IVs and don't know if I'd like them. But willing to give them a try. The other ship is the Constellation, not the Infinity. So it's an M-Class. The only ports on either of these itineraries I've been to are Barcelona, Livorno, Civitavecchia and Salerno (for the Amalfi coast). I've also spent three days in Venice before. And several days in Rome. You're right. Kodor is a tender port. I will update that on my notes. Too late for me to edit my original post. While I would like to see Croatia, it's not a must-see this time. I do love Spain and Italy, too. I mean, who doesn't?! Yes, you're right, Kodor is a tender port. My mistake. Did you like Kodor? What did you do in Split and Zadar? Yes, it's Ravenna. I have that in my notes but just did a quick cut and paste here. I had that for flight purposes for my travels. I've been to Venice before, for a land vacation, so I don't feel compelled to go back to it for a quick visit with the ship sailing out of Ravenna, if there's anything worth seeing around Ravenna. Which there probably is. There's always something lovely in any Italian town, from my experience. That's the beauty of Italy. There aren't videos yet on the Ascent because it hasn't been built yet. It launches next year.

I'm looking at Mediterranean cruises for summer 2024. There's a lovely 7-day cruise on the upcoming Ascent, or a beautiful 10-day on the Constellation. I've never done any Celebrity cruise yet, so I know nothing about Celebrity. I'll be on my first Celebrity cruise this summer when I head to Alaska on the Millennium. So that's why I need your help me deciding which ship might be the best option. I have done a Mediterranean cruise before, on the Carnival Vista when it was three months into its inaugural season. So, before you judge me for going on Carnival, know that it was a brand new ship and trust me, the crowd that is on Carnival in the Mediterranean is not the same group that goes on Carnival for a cheap cruise out of Jacksonville. (I know, because friends made me do THAT cruise, too!) We plan our cruises at the same time our teenager is at summer camp, so we're quite limited in the time we can be away. There are a couple of NCL cruises that work as well, one HAL, and a couple from Viking, Seabourn, Oceania and one from Virgin. I'm skipping over MSC because most of those hit ports I've been to with nothing new added, or they're purely Greece and Turkey and I want to visit Croatia as well if I'm on that side of the Med. Here's the Ascent cruise: Embarkation in Barcelona Debarkation in Rome Day 1 Barcelona departs 5 pm Day 2 Ibiza, Spain 11:30 am - 8 pm Day 3 Valencia, Spain 7 am - 7 pm Day 4 Sea Day Day 5 Nice (Villefranche), France 8 am - 8 pm (tender port) Day 6 Santa Margherita, Italy 8 am - 8 pm (tender port) Day 7 Florence/Pisa (Livorno) - 7 am - 7 pm Day 8 Rome (Citavecchia) - 5 am arrival Edge Stateroom is $5,481, all included Here's the Constellation cruise: Embarkation in Venice Debarkation in Rome Day 1 Venice - departs 5 pm Day 2 Trieste, Italy - 8 am - 6 pm Day 3 Sea Day Day 4 Dubrovnik, Croatia - arrives 8 am - overnight Day 5 Dubrovnik, Croatia - departs 4 pm Day 6 Zadar, Croatia - 8 am - 6 pm Day 7 Split, Croatia - 8 am - 6 pm Day 8 Kodor, Montenegro - 8 am - 5 pm Day 9 Sea Day Day 10 Amalfi Coast (Salerno), Italy - 8 am - 5 pm Day 11 Rome (Civitavecchia) - arrive 6 am Veranda stateroom is $6,775, all included

I like the rock slabs that are individual rock slabs - lovely, heated rock slabs. I laze on those for an hour every day when I have a spa pass. But the ones on the Millennium are shared and force you to sit upright. The horror.

Makes perfect sense. We did a holiday cruise on NCL in December and I didn't even buy my son's Wi-Fi until we were on the cruise. Not on purpose, but turned out he didn't have Wi-Fi so had to get it then. That was a story in itself. Imagine being on a cruise where the 50-something parents have Wi-Fi but the 15-year-old boy does not? That was rather funny. He nearly died from Snapchat withdrawal in that 2-hour period.

That's a good point. I haven't bought the Wi-Fi yet. I'll do some research.

I just used some of the savings from the cruise cabin switch to add an extra day in Vancouver at the start of our vacation. Always feel good to see exactly where the money goes. The hotels in Vancouver are NOT CHEAP.

it's nutty how many are open, right?! the partial view verandas on my cruise are starting at $1,048 pp, so not too bad. but yeah, the ocean views are like $600 pp, so much better deal.

it wasn't that much more when I booked it - it was $600 or 700 more and I decided the spa was worth it, plus Blu. Before I realized the thermal loungers are just a shared, curved bench on Millennium. That's not what I like in a thermal lounger. But that's comparing a veranda with All Included to AQ. The $3,000 difference is a Deluxe Veranda Stateroom (#7178) without All Included compared to AQ. So no drink package, tips or Wi-Fi. But that's fine. I will get maybe one drink a day and my husband 2-3, maybe 4 max. Definitely not going to cost us $3,000 to do that. We are going to Alaska so it's port heavy and not much time to get drinks on board. And most lunches are off the ship. Premium Wi-Fi is going to cost us $400 total for 1 device each for the cruise. Oh, and they gave me an extra $150 in OBC when I changed cabins, so that covers part of the cost. Go figure.

Wanted to edit to say: I don't drink MUCH. I do drink. lol

Ah, okay. I took advantage of it and changed my cabin. When I originally booked in October there weren't any good verandas left outside of AQ or concierge. I had been paying $6,000 for an AQ veranda, but I opted for a cabin with a double-sized veranda for just $3,200 instead. No drink or wi-fi package, but I really don't drink and my husband can just buy his drinks as he goes. I'll have to add on wi-fi. But much better price overall. I might miss Blu, but hey, for nearly $3,000, it's well worth it. As that April 8 final payment deadline draws near, the idea of paying the lower balance is much more appealing!!

I'm cruising to Alaska on the Millennium in July. The ship has been booked up for a couple of months with very few veranda cabins open. In the past few weeks, there was one or two obstructed view cabins and then they were booked. This evening, I suddenly saw about 30-40 cabins open up in all veranda categories. What would be the reason for this? The cruise is still 144 days away, so final payment isn't due until 90 days out, on April 8, where people potentially bail. Some of the open cabins are in big blocks so it's not random ones here or there. I'm super curious why these are suddenly available. Do they hold some until close to final payment, then open them up?

I interviewed her for an article once, she's totally fine. I enjoyed watching this one, didn't even silence it for the background, despite the silly questions.

Everyone always says it does not matter. I asked this, too. I do notice that the cabins on the starboard side (right side) sell out before the other side on northbound cruises. So I presume many people don't ask that question and just presume that the land side is better without realizing they won't see much.

ah okay. I misread that. It would be pretty freaky if they taught themselves to unlock doors. Imagine?!

Simple question - can you get a cappuccino in the morning on Celebrity for free if you have the Classic drink package and are traveling in an Aqua cabin? Perhaps in Blu? Or is this something that you only get free if you upgrade to Premium? What about non-Aqua class guests? Thanks in advance.

That's exactly what we ran into on NCL when we sailed in December and had upgraded to their premium drink package. We would go the specialty restaurants and ask for the premium wine list, and it was a pain to get it most of the time, or many of the premium wines were sold out. We we being given lower quality beverages, even at the bars when they knew us, they'd give us cocktails with the well liquor, unless we'd order with brand name liquors, and that was just annoying. I don't like to be that person saying, "A Grey Goose in my cocktail, please." I feel like once they know you have the premium package they should be upgrading your liquors as such. Especially when I would point it out when I would sit down at the bar. And even ask what the premium options were. And then they'd serve me well drinks. I am sticking with the classic package on Celebrity because of things like you said. I don't see it being much different. Yes, you can get upgraded liquors and wines, but it's not seamless on either cruise line.

Oh geez. five hours of pressure washing noise? That's quite a nuisance.

Interesting! I thought people were on it when it moved. I did see some pictures where there were orange boxes on the side of people's balconies in the Magic Balcony suites. Were those a distraction from the view?

That was my fear!!!! Death by Magic Carpet!

I'm looking at summer 2024 cruises and wondering if anyone has experienced the Magic Carpet Sky Suite - it's a bit less expensive than a regular Sky Suite, but you have the Magic Carpet going past on occasion. What is that like? Has anyone here been in one of those suites and lived to tell the tale?