L454S

Price and Itinerary are our deciding factors. We did the point chasing for a while, but what we have found by trying other lines combined with the know how learned, favors the "price & itinerary" outlook for us. Just last month we tried a T/A one of the HAL Pinnacle Class ships and were very pleased with just about everything, including price.

Had cabin 7555 on Navigator OTS a couple years ago. It worked well for us without too much noise. Easy to watch all the activity and people watch if so inclined.

Early / Dislike

Agree with barjpoe, weather was great this past year in late June. We had aft bcy 9660 and loved it. Bring some binder clips to seal up your balcony curtains for that late sun. You can see the date at the bottom of the TV screen. All we did was to layer up 2 shirts, or a sweater/light jacket.

We booked this sailing several weeks ago with a bunch of other C&A's we keep in touch with. The ship docks in Lisbon on Nov. 7. Some of us are making their way to Barcelona to board the Voyager on Nov. 10 for the return sailing. We found a good deal on the Caribbean Princess on Nov. 10 out of Rome(Civitavecchia). Might spend 1 night in Lisbon, then in Rome for a couple and head to port. That out of sync eastbound T/A does open up some possibilities. That and it was very inexpensive. The prices have gone up since we booked, but it's still reasonable.

On the Odyssey we were told that due to "supply shortages" they would mail us our block in about a year, but to check on our subsequent sailings for info from the LA. That was in October,2022. In January 2023, we asked the LA on the Radiance to check for us on the status. He told us we should take one of his Radiance blocks because there were no time slots known for out of stock blocks. We took his advice.

Lots of people book their own private excursions with a few others from their roll call on Cruise Critic. Been doing this for years and it saves a lot of money. But you generally pay in cash at the end of the tour. Are you doing excursions through the ship? Any extra tips like at the bar onboard are done with dollar bills. The currency onboard the ship is dollars, on shore around the Greek Isles is Euros. We generally bring enough Euros to cover excursions and food/drink/souvenirs while on shore. At least a couple hundred Euros if no excursions are to be paid for. A lot of vendors in the Greek Isles take credit cards, some don't.

Isn't smoking still smoking? What about a pipe or a cigar? What about vaping? Some people just seem to be happy to excuse weed.................... By the way.....weed stinks too!

Agree completely........perfectly put.

People on this thread are barely breaking the surface.......Evidently you haven't been around here and other forums long enough to remember and have suffered through the never ending threads about those TERRIBLE/HORRIBLE/UNCARING/SELFISH....................................you get the point. All the way to "They ruined my cruise", "I will never sail again around such people", I will never go into a casino again"

Whatever happened to all the anti smoking campaigns that have been going on for years???????? It's OK though if it's weed? People cried and moaned about the guy in the next balcony smoking that FILTHY/STINKY/FIRE HAZZARD cigarette, and calling security. Funny how it's just part of cruising without the histeria now. Double standard anyone ???????? No, I am not a cigarette smoker.

Same here, 2 different airports with the carry on bag being flagged. Learned to just have it on top so you can just pull it out and show them.

Then there would also be the extra $48 per day for additional gratuities..........................and on and on, nothing is free.

I was on this sailing also. Some bits of his tirade have SOME truth to them IMHO. Dining was "OK" in the MDR, some good, some not so good, nothing special. Chops was a bit disappointing and carried a price tag of $76 per person with tip. Even with a BOGO, I wouldn't do it again. Giovanni's has a frozen prebreaded chicken patty for their chicken parm. Sent it back and got the fillet. Staff was very friendly, but few could help with you. Seemed most were just sent out there without experience or much training. We got off with self disembark early and zipped right through for a 9:10AM flight from FLL with an hour to spare. Did hear about long waits and problems after we got off.

On our sailing, we did not overnight in any port. I would love to do the trip again, there are several excursions we would like to go on. In almost every port, the bus rides are time consuming because there are no interstate type highways. Having said that, there were several stops on every excursion to fill the day.

The Arctic Circle would be a good sailing for any type of cabin. It is port intense enough not to miss a balcony terribly. The 12 day Itinerary was Amsterdam, Molde, Tromso, Honningsvag, Alesund, Flaam, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Amsterdam. Had a great time at every stop and can't recommend it enough, it was a bucket list for us. Especially the top of the world, Nord Kapp (North Cape) at the Honningsvag stop.

What sailing are you interested in? Some of the more port intensive sailings are almost as enjoyable with an inside or ocean view cabin. We do like the balcony cabins on the transatlantic crossings(several sea days). Wife Cathy generally gets together with others on the ships roll call from Cruise Critic and books excursions, saves money compared to ships tours. Picture is aft balcony 9260 a few weeks ago on Jewel OTS at the dock in Amsterdam.

Just did 24 days(2 x 12 day B2B) Norway Arctic Circle and Iceland/Ireland June/July. Ship is showing some age here and there, but overall is still a nice place to spend time. It is NOT a floating amusement park, but that's why we like Radiance/Vision class ships. Even Voyager class to an extent. Dining room was a bit cramped as they were trying to eliminate using the upper dining deck. Both fixed and "My Time" were on deck 4. Was not a fan. WiFi was slow a lot of the time even with surf/stream pkg. Did both Giovanni's and Chop's. Both were very good as usual. Good service throughout, but language barriers popped up time to time as new staff were trying their best. This was our first cruises since the start of covid, was good to be back after 2 years Any specific questions? Would be glad to answer...................

$15 at Wally World, leave it with the cabin attendant at the end.....repeat. Done for about the last 20 sailings RCI, Princess, MSC. Pack it in one of our carry on bags.

Someone above mentioned that Royal has it's ships catered more towards "family" sailing. I agree that the kids being vaccinated has everything to do with protocols. We have found a way with T/A's and some other sailings to have a more adult experience. We just cancelled two more sailings for January now that Royal extended their mandates through March, have only a few more booked through 2022. Will wait and see, haven't had a mask on in over 6 months, still won't pay to wear one.

I am German......but I don't see how that matters one way or the other. Twangster, I don't expect the cruise line to "accommodate" me if I arrive early because of a flight schedule, but to be looked at in the light you project is overbearing.

Wow, you sound like the Gestapo..............We might do like most are doing now, AVOID SAILING! Too much BS from start to finish for a lot of money. If you like all this as it is right now though, good for you....enjoy. If somebody has to wait, so what? You might need to try something else to do yourself for a while, way too uptight.

Have to agree with you here. We fly to all sorts of different ports for boarding cruises and arrive at as many different times. I try sometimes to book flights that arrive sometime around noon, but it usually does not work out that way. Problem is, if you book a flight for noon to one pm or so, and there is any kind of delay, you risk not making it in time. Ideally I would normally like to arrive at the dock about 2 pm and avoid the rush. That's cutting it close to boarding time if your flight is delayed for any reason. Sometimes that certain flight that gets you there at that special time is a pile of money MORE. Sorry twangster, I will be that guy. I can't see the added chores and expense of finding bag storage for a couple hours in Orlando, FLL, Newark, Tampa, Galveston, etc., etc. I will try though ! Could fly in a day early, lets add another couple hundred for room and meals. Flight could be more or less?

No, the real disappointment is the whole mask thing after that much money. I don't think they can survive long on these passenger numbers with what it costs to sail the ship. Bookings, bookings, bookings........................

Will NOT try for a last minute out of Galveston like I had hoped. Have 2 booked for January out of Galveston, will cancel those if this silliness is still going on. Good luck RCI, but I hear the road calling................