dreams_of_travel

That's a nice change. Glad to know of this. Thanks for sharing this info.

We were in Botticelli. Our table was near the back on the left side of the dining room, directly against a wall with two chairs. It was fairly separate from the other two person tables, no benches. I don't know what other improvements they may have made since I haven't been on this ship before. It seemed like a regular Grand class ship. I was on the Emerald last year. That ship had a horrible aft vibration which led to the Botticelli dining room being closed, and quite a few aft balcony passengers being moved forward a bit.

Sorry to hear you ended up with Covid. I was on this cruise, too. My travel friend and I masked for all crowded situations on the ship even though not many people were doing so, some were masking, and that was appreciated. We didn't go to the shows, or other entertainment. Mostly my friend was super tired from her work schedule so we just watched movies in the cabin after dinner. We were able to get a two person table assigned to us after the first night which we kept for the rest of the cruise. We did not want to share even if it meant getting seated sooner. Of course we picked the super early time of 5pm for seating. We didn't go on any ship excursions either. We did take the port shuttle into Victoria. We scheduled our own reservation for tea at The Empress, and did some shopping on the way back to get the shuttle. As you mentioned Astoria was skipped due to weather. That was a rough day/night on the ship. Not terrible but definitely a lot of rolling with the waves. We booked our own Alcatraz tour in San Francisco, which I was glad I had pre-booked online in advance. For Santa Barbara we just walked along the beach for a bit, then got back on to the ship. We timed it just about right b/c the rain had stopped when we got off the tender, and started back up again just as we got back to the ship. I am glad we didn't get stuck in the tender suspension during the afternoon due to the wind. Overall it was a low key relaxing cruise. We enjoyed the ship, and our balcony cabin even though we didn't use the latter but a couple of times. Due to the weather we didn't use the pool or hot tubs either. Hope you're on the mend now, and recovering well.

It's one shareholder credit per cabin. I cruise with a friend who also has shares, and only one of us can get it.

I'm trying to do the math on the upgrade. Does anyone have pics of the actual bar price lists? Prices for vitamin waters, red bull, bottled ice teas, other sodas not on the classic list, and the premium beers is what I'm looking for, please. (I tried to search for current price list, or pics of bar menus. Nothing rendered. 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Thanks for the links. I'll do some more research. I do have a short tour booked with the cruise line, and they will pick up from the port, but I hope to still make it into Dunedin afterwards.

Question about visiting Dunedin: the ship docks at Port Chalmers, does the ship or city run shuttle buses to Dunedin? Cost? (Unless my info is not correct, and we dock in Dunedin, then nvm 😉 )

That is true, but I don't think you can get your status % discount for the upgrade onboard.

Thanks for the replies. I just checked my booking, and it has already been applied. 🎉 They are really on top of things it would seem. I won't wait so long to send it in in the future, you never know when things will get slow again.

What is the minimum time before sailing? I hope I haven't waited too long to send it. Time seems to have gotten away from me. I sail in just over two weeks.

I had a huge reply for you, but the site ate it. 😳 😞 I did this cruise last year on Emerald. International Cafe - good for snacks, or even lunch/breakfast Explorers Lounge - nice area for daytime reading, trivia at various times, night time live music, or comedy Good Spirits at Sea - nice area for daytime reading, and fun drink making display, as well as cocktails Skywalkers Lounge - nice area to read during the day Outriggers Bar - good drinks, nice view to sit and watch wake views Wheelhouse Bar - Pub lunch if they offer it The Sanctuary for canal transit day. Extra cost but breakfast lunch and tea are served there. You get a reserved seat for the day. The area offers great forward views of the locks, with some shaded areas for relief from the sun. I enjoy reading your travel reviews of your trips. I look forward to this next adventure