FinelyCruising

Cheryl,

Santorini is a "must see"

 

 

 

 

Jane I don't think one cruise will be enough....:D

Next stop fo me has to be Greek Isles. Seriously.

At the Monastery in St Cugat, an artist at work...

Lovely!!!:)

As a result of the cabin crawl that took place on Equinox on the 11/5 TA, my take away is that for some of the cabins that may have had the desgination to accomodate more than two via the sofa conversion, the access to the closets was difficult at best.

 

We had 4 checked bags and about 4 carry ons or 2 each and had enough room for the 14 nights onboard without issue.

 

But note we did not have an access issue to the closet as some others did. We were in a cabin for 2.

 

I agree with others that underbed storage is very important and is to be utilized.

Here are more from Lanzarote....

 

Lanzarote Wine Country

 

 

 

And some of the views otherwise

 

 

On Tenerife, the Canary Island after Lanzarote on the Equinox TA...here is Mt. Teide and we are higher than the clouds....

 

 

 

:)Bon Voyage Donna!!!:)

Donna----Without contributing to clutter(:o) ...Nice Job!!!

Deck - Vista 8

Cabin # - 8252

Class – 1A

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Bed near – Veranda

 

Quiet Cabin – Very quiet residential deck with residential decks above and below.

 

Balcony View - This cabin number is part of the deck 8 mismarked deck plan. It is actually the large angled balcony right after the hump (all cabins shift one place toward the back of the ship). It is a wonderful balcony, no sight line impacts looking outward or behind, up or down. You do need to peek/stretch/reach over the rail to see forward a bit, so make sure you say hello to your neighbor.;)

 

Just around the corner of the elevators. Perfect location to get up and down, don't be put off that the elevators are nearby, there is plenty of corridor and privacy from elevator traffic. This cabin has a deeper set back from the corridor affording addtional privacy as well from corridor traffic.

 

Balcony Size - Very large 'standard' room balcony.

 

Was wind a problem - No headwinds due to angle toward rear of ship offering protection.

Donna - You are amazing!!! Thank you so much!:)

Hi FinelyCruising !

 

I agree with Coco Creek's last post. That I know of, Cruise lines have not canceled sailings due to low demand. A Cruise ship sitting empty, would be a financial disaster. Fortunately, I do not believe that we in that bad of an economy where that will be happening anytime soon. One great thing about Cruise ships, is they are floating hotels. If one region isnt selling, they can move the ship elsewhere.... as in the case of Mercury for Winter 2009. I have a strong feeling that most every Cruise line will be redeploying more ships around, over the next year or two.

 

I feel that it is the Cruise lines goal to fill the ship, as what they may lose on the Cruise Fare, they probably feel they will make it back on additional cost items... such as drinks, spa, casino, excursions etc.

 

Even though the economy is not in great shape, I'd sure rather own a Cruise line over an airline any day of the week !

 

Hi Andy --

 

I understand what you are suggesting, yet there is a base of guests that has just been told no more special discounts for you. It was coming, it's not as though it was not evident.

 

There is another group that are booked and are pretty sure that if the food experience which is being reported on recent cruises is their experience too, then they won't sail with Celebrity anymore, and I don't think that's just talk, and that is a surprise that this is a direction that the cruise line has taken and beyond the introduction of a new menu.

 

When the solid customer base, the ones that can be counted upon are aggravated like this, its natural to give second thoughts about the only intangible that starts to really matter, and that's the overall impression of how well they are valued as a customer.

 

(Airlines only need to get people from point A to point B. The interaction is swift and precise. That industry will always, always be around and will always, always be necessary. A cruise ship is a vacation, Airlines are transportation.)

 

As much as I would like to have a discussion about further impacts of cruising due to the economy, and the impact of cutbacks, I don't want to take this thread off of its purpose of discussing the change to the policy credit. So I am sorry I took it elsewhere.

Andy - Do they cancel sailings like the airlines cancelled flights to keep their heads above water? Sail only partially full at what percentage? You tell me what happens next....a credit give back may be a small price to pay to be able to sail at all on a booked date. Do I like it? No. But I'm not alone.

Worst case is ginger in some sauces. That would be non-intentional though. Otherwise never heard of such a thing.

 

But if they are doing it, let me know where I can find some Vodka Infused Ice Cubes for my lemonade. :D

Keep trying you might get there....;)

I think the fares we have paid out of SJ are a bit less to offset the airefare costs. So I agree with your train of thought that they do discount to begin with to level out the cost of a cruise say from Florida.

 

Being from New Jersey, I find the same melting pot as you do, so we are perfectly accustomed to a multi-cultural environment, so we will still book our cruises on the itinerary and not where a ship sails from as much as where we want to go.

That was clearly not my last post and you intentionaly digress to rather than take accountabilty of the the point. I AM from New Jersey, and frankly have no issue with anyone on any cruise, heck the crew is from all over the world, and we have cruised out of San Juan twice and would do so again without hestitation!

 

And to you, since you are not from Florida, you take the time to post about Floridians who you seem to infer in your post to be a laughable test case which is represenative of some group you choose to reign above, I find your comments to lack of social grace on a board that is international, as I do the others with the same disguised display of intolerance.

 

Good Day goodml. :p ;)

I am guessing some of the commments here have more to do with demographics and possibly religion more than they do with whether people are polite.

 

Your comment along with a few others point to that sterotype since particular locations are cited. Heck we know rude people are everywhere, that's the given. When what is suggested as rudeness is assigned to a particular country or state or location, I'm thinking we have gone way past the point of talking about rudeness and are really talking about something else.:rolleyes:

Now what is that supposed to mean based on where you are from???:cool: We vacation in South Jersey on a regular basis and there are plenty of people who vacation from Canada who could be commented on....

 

See how that works in reverse?:p ;)

This appears to be a practice they use to fill the ships :

 

Ok , Just want to say that not all the Puerto Ricans or Locals onboard paid less for the cruise that what you do , the last minutes come one or two weeks before the cruise and many many puerto Rican clients book their cruises up to one year in advance ,. There are last minutes deals But the ones we have here are the same someone in chicago can have at the same time . an example , not all the cruises have cabins avaible for those last minutes deals . and if there was one its ok you cant have it . but think cant 2 or 5 cabins fill the ship and ruin your vacation ? .Many Puerto Ricans read this Forum and believe they are calling to see whats happening .

 

There are Yes rude people that get onboard but not just locals .

 

Great DAY !"

:cool:

My reponse had less to do with the price anyone paid, although some do take exception to last minute deals for the 'locals', since it may deflate their feeling of economic or social superiority. It had more to do with the comment/accusation of racism by a precceding poster, when relating to the perceived overrun of the the ship by 'locals'.

 

I agree there are rude people everywhere, but do understand that some are sensitive to demographics, and IMHO with good reason, which this is really all about. I personally tend, for comfort reasons, to want to be around people who are more like me than less like me. Just a better fit, just as many prefer to avoid cruises where the ages are either tilted younger or tilted older.

 

Even though the world screams tolerance, in the end it's about personal choice, and last I checked there was no crime in having one.

Here we go again...

 

There is no doubt there are issues with RCI and the sailings out of SJ. This appears to be a practice they use to fill the ships.

 

Simply put, it is well enough known around here on these boards that it should suprise no one, and anyone who thinks they will not have a good time or be comfortable in a particular environment ought to sail out of other ports with a different demographic entirely. ;)