7960Ken

We have used melatonin routine to help.

1. Start taking a dose before bed 1 week before you leave. (hoping your body will get used to a routine)

2. Try to modify your sleep time to reflect the time zone you are going to. 

3. Continue the dosing on the plane if necessary. This might help sleep on the plane if your body has gotten used to the melatonin as a signal to sleep. Never drink alcohol on the plane.

4. Upon landing, eat a big breakfast if arriving in the morning.

5. Stay active and do not nap. Early to bed is okay, but not too early.

6. Continue the melatonin routine for your entire trip and for a week after you get home.

I don't remember where I got this info, but it has worked well for us.

My wife and I did the Romantic Danube cruise with Viking from Budapest in November 2015, so my experience is first hand, though a little dated. We did arrive early and were glad we did. I found a local tour guide that was very helpful. Knowing we would be on the Viking city tour one day, he designed another long day of sights in the city and surrounding area. He even took us to his parent's house in the suburbs for an authentic meal and arranged a special musical performance.

We also experienced low river issues that forced us to change ships. While a little aggravating, we were rewarded with coach drives through some very beautiful countrysides that we would not have seen on the river. We did not miss any port or tour - we just had less time on the ship. Viking was very good at working around the problem. If you are willing to "go with the flow". the low river issues should not hold you back. This is one river cruise I am looking forward to repeating.

We just reserved a room for the British Isles Explorer in 2021 on Viking Venus. It will be our first Viking Ocean cruise. Our TA has put us in a DV6 on deck 3., but I think it is very easy to change at this point.

There is only 1 sea day on our itinerary, so I believe the upgrade cost to a PV (for extra square footage) is not justified. What I am wondering is if the additional cost to move to a DV1,2,3,4,or 5 on deck 4 and 5 might be worth it. Having never sailed on these ships, I am having a hard time imaging what the flow of the ship is and how the view from our balcony is affected by being on this deck.

Any ideas or comments would be appreciated.

We sail on Coral Princess in October.  My cruise personalizer now offers both Medallion Net and Princess CONNECT.

We had sailed Princess many times, but chose Celebrity due to a certain itinerary at the right time. We have also been on Carnival and HAL. We chose the Celerity sky suite as it was similar to the mini suite we usually have on Princess. With the separate suite guest lounge , dining room and concierge desk, I felt we received more perks for our upgrade dollars than we do on Princess. I also thought the average age on Celebrity might have been a little lower, although that is very itinerary dependent. Overall, they are more similar than different. We will sail both in the future.

We are on Equinox in August and signed up for the Inside Access Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour, which includes the galley as well as other places. They may have this on Reflections.:):)

I agree with jelayne - Travel Pro is great. Wife and I bought new bags in 2014 - she bought purple and I bought red. We travel 4 times a year, fly and cruising They still look great and will last for years. International flights are the worst, but a rag with a little cleaner on it will bring them back to new every time. We did not get the black ones as there are so many ones that it can be hard to identify them. Ours stand out and are very easy to spot.

Also, look around the airport and notice most flight crews have Travel Pro. They know what lasts.

Great review and organized very well. We are so excited to be on the Equinox for the first time in August. It can't get here fast enough.

Carnival and RCC have both been great investments. I bought 100 shares of each just 3 years ago and the appreciation and dividends have added up to 17%. The OBC has been the "icing on the cake".

We are new to Celebrity, having cruised with Princess at the Elite level. We have a Sky Suite on deck 12 reserved for August this year. I am curious about the "perks" of a sky suite. Once on the ship, what are the perks that make a real difference and what are the perks that don't add much?

We are booked on Aloha deck on the Royal Princess. The room, A436, shows to be right by the Panoramic Lifts and central stairs (according to the deck shown on the Princess website). We had a similar location on Carnival Breeze this summer and found that the noise from the open atrium was noticeable until the live band quit for the night or the cruise team shut off their microphone. Has anybody had experience with these cabins on Royal or Regal Princess? I like the central location, but am concerned with the possible noise.

I just checked on our September 2018 Southern Caribbean itinerary. At this point, they have made no changes in either the ports or the time in port. Could it be that the problem will be fixed by September of 2018?

We are booked on CB in September 2018 for the Southern route. We picked this itinerary for these ports and if there are changes, we will definitely cancel. We haven't received any notice yet, but I am keeping watch closely.