4774Papa

Coming to America? Also, does Royal offer pre-cruise testing?

We have a Royal transatlantic out of Ft. Lauderdale in April 2023. If testing is required before boarding does Royal offer it?

Already booked, used miles.

We also like transatlantic and transpacific cruises. We have done one eastbound TA and two westbound TA as well as one TP. We had two TA cruises cancelled in the last two years due to COVID19 (both were westbound). The only TA with some stormy waves was one from Copenhagen. The North Sea and English Channel was the fun part.

An obstructed balcony on deck 6 would be fine.

We are looking at going in the other direction in May 2023, from Miami International Airport to Ft. Lauderdale. Will taxis be available at 1am?

Looking for experiences from others that booked guarantee balcony on Odyssey. We are Diamond, not sure that helps us much on what cabin we get? Is a TA cruise likely to be fully sold out, not sure COVID19 will be a huge factor in 2023.

We have a transatlantic cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome in April/May of next year. We return from Italy after two weeks via flight into Miami International Airport. Flight arrives about 12:30am. I haven't found any ground private transport that could take us to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale where our car is parked (we booked a good deal for a one night stay with parking for about a month). I don't like the idea of having to stay at a hotel near the Miami Airport, and resume our travels to Ft. L the next morning. Any tips on how to handle this. I did think of renting a car one way each way and avoiding parking our car for a month. However, I can't find a one way car rental from Brunswick, Georgia and another returning to Brunswick, Georgia. Also, renting would cost more. We could drive to the Jacksonville Airport in north Florida, park at the airport, pick up a one way rental to Ft. L. and then on return pickup a one way rental from Miami to JAX. Still, we don't want to drive after two flights from Rome at 1am in the morning.

We have been on two RCI cruises and on both of them there was an offer of a bag of laundry (for underwear, socks, T-shirts, etc.). Perhaps it was for a small amount, like $20?

So after we both use our free 24 hrs, we can buy a package for 3 or 4 days not the entire cruise. (we are an a transatlantic).

We don't use the internet a lot, usually when we do Celebrity, we get enough free minutes being elite to carry us through a cruise. However, I didn't see that Diamond members get any free minutes. All the options to purchase internet use seems to require payment EVERY day? Is there an option for us that makes sense?

I thought there was a free bag of laundry during a cruise? Or is that something just comes up and is open to all?

Our Celebrity cruise with land tour was well run and the ship, Xpediton was great. I am 74 and we handled all the "long walks" that were offered. Some included walking up hill. One we hiked up to the top of an extinct volcano. Another we hiked up a small mountain. Other hikes were at sea level and did require stepping over volcanic rock. We were offered options, usually two or three options. One was more strenuous that others (long walk). Snorkeling was offered. I snorkeled twice and enjoyed it, but after doing a long walk, snorkel and another long walk, I was tired. I could have snorkeled more. A couple of times there were options where you stayed on the Zodiac (inflatable boat) and viewed the wildlife and seal life from there. Take note that half of the landing on the beaches involve wet landings where you have to carry your walking shoes and socks in a bag and put them on after get off the zodiac. About half of the landings are dry landings where you land at a rock formation or small dock instead of a beach.

I loved the old Century, but now would say any S class.

I have been looking at some transatlantic cruises from Celebrity and Royal for Spring 2023 and found decent pricing for both. With Celebrity we would not to the AI since we are light drinkers and Elite. Still, the Royal cruise was 25% cheaper and Diamond benefits are even better than Elite.

By the way, we had about seven opportunities to snorkel on our cruise. I am 74 and fit for my age, but the first day we did the long walks (both of them) in addition to my doing the snorkeling. I was tired after all that activity. I did snorkel once more and enjoyed it.

Lynn, We did the Northern Loop on Xpediton. I picked that ship for two reasons: It was cheaper than Flora and I thought Exploration (16 passengers) was too small. As far as which loop is best, I can't say, but I believe we saw what there is to see in the Galapagos. We saw giant tortoises twice and bird island was amazing (you see thousands of birds of all the species that are advertised). I highly recommend doing the Quito land portion. The city is interesting and Celebrity handles all the arrangements for COVID19 testing on arrival, prior to flying to the islands and prior to departing for home. I don't recommend doing Quito on your own. Our tour group that took us around the city had a watcher that kept us together, but was there largely to protect us from pickpockets. We were warned a lot about not going into some areas of the city and even in the touristy areas watching for pickpockets. The JR Marriott hotel in Quito where we stayed was great.

We liked Celebrity's pricing PRIOR to when is made AI mandatory. Even though X now offers the no perks rates, the prices are artificially high. Therefore, we are leaning toward Royal in the future.

After being booster in March, I contracted COVID19 in May. Had a mild case. I want to travel and not so worried about catching COVID19. I suspect that a guided tour would be better than on a cruise, not that it matters so much to me.

Another reason to take guided tours instead of cruising.

We have had fantastic shows on Royal's smaller to mid-sized ships as well as ice-shows. We avoid the mega ships.

Celebrity has a lot of plusses, but its entertainment doesn't compare to Royal's. We have cruised both lines and find Royal's to be exceptional while Celebrity's is very good. Also, we think NCL has better entertainment than X, but not as good as Royal's. Celebrity excels in dining, service and ship design.

Of course, we have never booked a cruise that included the expensive perks (except the Galapagos cruise when that was the only option). Celebrity for a while didn't give you the option to book without perks, now they do, however, the pricing is still too high. So much for loyalty benefits.

If you don't drink much alcohol and don't use wifi much on a cruise, why pay so much more. Elite used to get free happy hour and a small amount of wifi time. X has largely wiped out the loyalty benefits for higher profits.

Yes, you nailed it and that is why we are looking more at Royal in the future rather than X.