Oakman58

Go for an ADA room because, depending on the width of the scooter, it may not fit through the door of a regular cabin.

49 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

Kids are supposed to have water slides?  Damn!  I made my kids go to the lectures and museums and write a five-page essay on the changing scale of economics in the Alaska gold rushes. 

Yes, kids should have water slides and video arcades.  I would never curse my kid to a cruise with mostly old people which is pretty much what Holland and Princess cruises are.  

On my last cruise there were so many old people that instead of a doctor in the medical center they had an archeologist.  😂

Just my opinion, best for kids would be the NCL Encore.  It does Glacier Bay, has plenty of things for kids (go carts, laser tag, VR center) along with the clubs.  The ship itself was designed for Alaskan cruising with a great observation lounge.  The only drawback is the size of the ship, 4000 passengers.  IMO, Glacier Bay is a must see for first time cruisers to Alaska.  In Glacier Bay you will cruise passed 6 or 7 glaciers.

Holland and Princess ships are great for adults in Alaska but for kids, not so much.  Those ships don't even have water slides.

For the most part smoke doesn't bother me.  As a kid I used to love the smell of pipe smoke.  Cigar smoke is the only smoke I could do without, but I have a live and let live attitude about smokers.

I'm so glad everyone seems to have positive things to say about the Eurodam.  We will be cruising on her mid-June.

@TriumphGuy we will never cruise with Princess again either because of the lack of seating in a standard balcony cabin.  A Princess balcony cabin sleeps two but seats one. 😄  And there is no way I would book one of those infinite balcony cabins they have on the newer ships.

Make your own travel plans, fly in a day early and purchase trip insurance.  Don't screw yourself out of a having a great bucket list trip by trying to save money.  If you're flying to Seward from Kentucky, there is no way I would book a flight that arrives the same day as the cruse.  Also, there have been threads about NCL not really helping when passengers miss the ship due to their air not getting them to the cruise.

Personally I would do that trip in the opposite direction.  

Wow, lucky in the casino and lucky at the airport.

9 hours ago, irie0518 said:

No I'm not on facebook so that wasn't me.  When we got back on in Moorea I had a sore throat so I took a test and it came up positive right away.  I felt pretty crappy for 2 days and then turned the corner to feeling better.  The last 3 days in quarantine were the worst.  I was in an inside room and was going stir crazy.  I watched Food network until it started repeating every day and then would just put the Forward camera on and just watch the outside that way. Luckily if it had to happen it did at the best possible time.  I got released from quarantine on the morning of Honolulu(the day we were supposed to be there).  And I didn't have to do the customs thing.  Guest services just came and got my passport and did it for me.  They also gave me free wifi for the rest of the cruise so that kept me occupied a bit.  I guess you didn't watch too many of the live acts but we really enjoyed the rock band that played in the ocean plaza most nights.  And the two solo acoustic guys were pretty good too.  The girl at the piano bar was entertaining, her voice sounded overworked a few of the times we watched her.  There was also a more extensive room service menu.  There was a QR code on the wall by the phone.  Some of the things I got from there were acutally pretty good.

Because Covid is still around my wife and I get a booster shot right before the cruises we take.  Along with the two Moderna shots, we've now had 5 booster shots. So far, so good.  We just got our 5th booster last week in anticipation of our upcoming June Alaskan cruise.

This past January we took a 16-day round trip from San Diego to Hawaii with Princess and a heck of a lot of people caught covid.  The ship had a large number of balcony cabins on deck 12 set aside for quarantine.  So many people caught Covid that once those cabins were all filled, they just quarantined passengers in their own cabins.  The cabin next door to us ended up being quarantined for the last 5 days of the cruise.  I made sure I was not on our balcony when our neighbors were on theirs.

In the morning I like one or two Mimosas, my wife likes Peach Bellinis.  In the afternoon I like Mudslides while my wife likes Rum and Coke, sometimes we'll throw in a couple of beers.  In the evening it's strictly wine.  We like to end our evening with some wine while sitting on our balcony enjoying the weather and fresh air.  The fresh air on the balcony is the one reason I will never book a cruise on a Celebrity ship has those Infinite Balconies.

I was getting an oil change on my truck and I thought I'd take a couple of pics of this Ford.  I believe it's a 1936 coupe with the rumble seat, but don't hold me to that.  It had the V8 engine.

Thank you so much for doing this trip report.  We will be on the Eurodam for her June 17th cruise.

I booked the Luminosa for Sep 2024 when it goes back to Australia from Seattle because the price was good.  I'm still up in the air about whether or not I should do this cruise because it has so many sea days (17).

I agree with taking a 7 day or longer cruise.  Consider the Glory which is also a Conquest Class ship out of NO.  Also I wouldn't take a cruise out of NO in March or the summer months when kids are out of school.

9 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

Getting close to the end and I think I can pretty much give what I call a fair assessment of the cruise itself and the Carnival Luminosa.

 

As for the cruise, this is the longest one for us. Our longest in the past has been 10 days. Biggest issue in the cruise length is the number of days between stops. It feels like it's been 4-5 days between each stop. Just a LOT of days at sea back to back. The ports of call were all beautiful and our tours were awesome. Wish we'd planned something for Moorea in hindsight, but lesson learned. 

I honestly do not think we will do such a cruise again. 14 days maybe, depending on itinerary. 

 

As for the ship. Let's be honest, it's small and sure there are minor issues here and there, but none are the end of the world. The food is "ok," its not great, but it's fine. Breakfast menu has gotten monotonous. It has literally been the same thing almost every day. Still no bananas. If you're not into pool/sunning, trivia or hanging out in a bar, there's not much to do. This ship is a "chill" ship, not an "activities" ship. You just chill, nap, eat, sun, drink, gamble, nap and chill some more. Nothing wrong with it. I think anyone complaining would be people who expected more, such as a mega ship more, with multi choice of everything. That's not what Luminosa is. This is pretty much "old school" cruising from not too long ago. There's no show in the sky. No one flying or diving of high platforms. Shows are straight stage shows. Singers are standard lounge acts. Casino is small, and is busy. There is no non-smoking area in the casino, but smells never bothered me unless sitting next to me. No craps, supposed to be installed soon. 

 

I'd look at the ship like this...it's really just 4 decks, everything else is cabins.

Deck 2 is theatre at front, then an open dance area used for trivia and has TV's for VERY limited sports, then casino, CS and atrium bar at center and MDR aft.

Deck 3 is theatre at front, a small comedy lounge, then the Java Cafe and candy shop, then shopping to midship and Pixels pictures takes up both sides. Alchemy is tucked in on one side.

Deck 9 is Lido, pool and spa

Deck 10 is rest of spa and mostly open decks

 

Thats it!

 

It's an older ship in the way older ships were before the mega monster ships. It's not dirty and doesn't look unkept. I see people cleaning and painting constantly. Sure, it has occasional mechanical issues like toilets being messed up, but from what I have seen, everything gets resolved quickly and with a smile. 

 

If you must be entertained every minute of the day, you probably won't like the Carnival Luminosa.

If you like to just relax, hang out in a bar, get a tan and maybe swim, you'll love it. Of the ships I have been on, it's the most "adult" feeling because it lacks waterslides, roller coasters and such.

 

Luminosa is the relaxer's cruise ship.

On a cruise with so many sea days, having a great cruise director that plans many daily activities to engage the passengers is a must.  Great cruise directors don't seem to exist anymore.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I love ship artwork.  I don't think it gets enough pub.

 

 

My favorite piece of artwork was in the brewhouse.  Real books were used as the canvas.

I would choose HAL over Princess because the standard balcony cabin on Princess only has one chair in the cabin to sit on, no loveseat.  When we ordered room service breakfast I had to drag a chair from the balcony into the room.

I appreciate a report of both negative and positive.  I didn't think you were complaining at all.

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

As usual, there's a line outside the Manhattan MDR tonight around 7:45 pm, prime dinner time and they were out of pagers for the expected 45 minutes wait, unless one has a confirmed reservation - so much for the spirit of Freestyle Dining, which we know is gone with the wind upon the arrival of mega ships sailing near, at and above double occupancy. 

 

Late in 2019 I noticed that the registered trademark "Freestyle Cruising" had been painted over to match the color of the Epic and that freestyle was a now a thing of the past.  I had to enhance my photo so you can actually see the painted over trademark.

12 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

 

"Many passengers screaming 'BUT WE'RE DIAMOND!!"

 

 

This has all the earmarks for a giant cluster...

I've enjoyed all the cruise lines I've been on with the exception of Princess.  On Princess the music was boring, the theater entertainment was just OK, and our standard balcony cabin only had one chair to sit on in the cabin.  When we ordered room service breakfast I had to drag a chair in from the balcony.  Princess was a one and done for us.

In the buffet yes, but as staceyglow posted, you can order bacon everyday if you have breakfast in the main dining room.

On 4/23/2023 at 4:12 PM, smillerholmes said:

 

As we approached there were 5 ships readily visible, there could have been more.  Because I had been waiting to hear about my upgrade (that did not happen!) I didn't print my luggage tags, so when we got off the bus I had to wait for a porter to make a manual tag.  He was quick and efficient, but a couple of people left their bags near his work station that already had tags on them - as they were walking away he flat out asked them for a tip to handle their bags.  Interesting.  Even more interesting the passenger that left his bag turned around and said "that's what you get paid to do".  Oh my!

 

Considering how good the hourly wage the porters make, asking for a tip is pathetic.  I had a porter basically tell me to tip him in New Orleans many years ago, part of my response was "don't be a beggar."

Wife and I did a 16 day roundtrip Hawaiian cruise this past January out of San Diego on the Diamond Princess.  If you book a standard balcony cabin with Princess be sure to check the room configuration to see if there is seating for two people in the cabin.  I was surprised to discover that our cabin did not have a love seat for two people, all it had was a chair at the desk.  When we ordered room service breakfast I would drag in a chair from the balcony.

That cruise was also the most boring I've ever been on.  The majority of the music was ballroom dance or easy listening lounge music.  Motown, The Beatles, and Rock and Roll didn't exist on this cruise and that included the music on the Lido deck.  Princess is a one and done for us.

Just a guess on my part, since gambling is illegal in Hawaii I would think the craps table will be installed in Seattle.  I'm really enjoying all the photos you've been posting.

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Green for earth day?

and yes these are extra short beds

 

Since you're 6'7" are there any cruise ship beds you fit in?  Actually you fit better than I thought you would on the Epic.