Hi everyone! Just wanted to let yall know that three of four of us tested positive for Covid. We were on the Brilliant Lady 10/17 - 10/24. You all may want to get tested if you’re feeling like poo.

If you’ve ever gotten a bunch of help from a TA to figure out the best cruise and cruise line for you, then you’ve turned around and booked the cruise directly with the cruise line, here’s a PSA: Please don’t do that. You do yourself no favors, and you’ve just made the TA do a load of work for absolutely nothing. The only party that benefits here is the major corporation behind the cruise line that simply keeps the commission they would’ve given the TA had you booked through them.

Why ghost a TA? Why book directly? You wouldn’t have had to paid the TA anyway! And now you’re on your own to deal with a cruise line that cares way more about their bottom line and their shareholders than the customers.

You don’t get the perks, discounts or OBC you would’ve gotten with the TA (thus you end up paying more!) You don’t get to benefit from their expertise in the cruise line or destination. Cruise lines already charge you for their commission whether you use one or not.

You still have more control over the booking than you think. Even if you booked direct and wanted to make changes, you’d still have to go through a cruise line rep (a middle man), but you’d have to do it over the phone and on their office hours. If you use a TA, you just text them whenever you want and let them do it, and you don’t have to wait on hold.

Just book with the TA! It’s the kind and right thing to do. It’s a free way to thank them for their help. TAs are real people with families, feelings, and limits on their time. They don’t like working for free.

If you’ve ghosted one in the past, or basically took their commission out from under them and gave it right back to the cruise line by booking direct, write them a message. I probably speak for all TAs when I say that we’d welcome you back with open arms. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Collision seems to be meager, lifeboats damaged. Extent unknown.

Why the hell is it called symphony if 99% of the musicians there are wood winds?

Update - spoke with another CS rep. Basically you have to use the Trip Interruption option, kinda fill in whatever data you can, then you can submit supporting info that it was an Inconvenience. The claims people should be able to figure things out. :P
Going to give it a try and see what happens.

Has anyone tried to file a claim for missed ports (weather related) with SevenCorners before? The policy has a fixed payout of $250/port with a max of $500.
Their site doesn't really have this as an option, just Trip Interruption which assumes the whole trip is interrupted and requires information that doesn't apply. I spoke with an agent, who also wasn't sure how to best submit a claim online so she sent me a paper form. The paper form has the same problem. (Posting the reasons/explanations below that both the web and paper form have.)

Has anyone successfully done this? Should I play agent roulette and try again?

If I didn't know better, it feels like they don't want to pay out. /s

I sailed both ships in the last 2 months and want to give my thoughts.

Getting on and off the ship no issues with either.

Food - no question celebrity reflection better. I did find the coffee at Café al Bacio under whelming. Preferred Starbucks coffee.

Staff - reflection staff much more friendly but slower. It was quicker on the breakaway to get a drink, just no smile. lol. Also twice while dining at Opus and once at the buffet no one ever took our drink order on the reflection. The Sommelier came but we aren’t wine drinkers.

Buffet - as I said above reflection wins for the food but the buffet itself was just as busy on both ships but more disorganized on the reflection. I found people on the reflection zig zagging between stations. The breakaway is just long straight line which in my experience made it less chaotic. Had trouble finding a seat on both during peak times.

Entertainment. - NCL wins. I was disappointed in the celebrity production shows and over all entertainment. They were a few notches below NCL. The dancers on the reflection were comically bad or just bad choreo. Singers, comedians, musicians all more talented on the breakaway imo.

Cabins - both equally as clean however, breakaways cabin much smaller.

Pool - reflection much better. Breakaway is way too small and compartmentalized.

I also found the celebrity tried too hard to make themselves risqué for the older crowd, the 65 plus crowd. (I’m 50). At the adults only stand up show the comedian said he couldn’t do his act on any other ship which was laughable. He wasn’t pushing boundaries/being offensive at all. There were a few swear words. The cruise director said celebrity was the only ship that didn’t tone down the entertainment on the final night. On my cruises it was the exact opposite. NCL kept their regular entertainment schedule while celebrity had fewer things going on.

Solarium on the reflection huge plus and better than spice h20. Great place to escape the heat.

Overall I’d probably select NCL over celebrity if I had to choose but thinking of HAL or VV for next cruise. Haven’t been on either.

Happy to answer any questions.

Edit - this was my first celebrity cruise and 2nd NCL. Haven’t been on any others.

Tl;dr: Smoker-friendly cruises/cruise lines?

Checked the wiki but couldn’t find anything.

My family is looking to book a cruise for 2028. One of the issues we run into, when doing anything, is that my in-laws are heavy smokers. The rest of us are nonsmokers or former smokers.

I can find threads of which cruises one may avoid smoking- but any recommendations for the most smoker-friendly cruises or cruise lines?

We’ll be based in Europe if that helps.

We are looking at going on a British Isles cruise next year, most likely on HAL but we are open to any of the lines that are not super luxury($$$). We have been comparing the two itineraries HAL offers. They share most the same stops with these differences.

One goes to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, Glasgow, and Liverpool.

The other skips those and goes to Stornoway, Killybegs, and Galway.

Does anyone have any opinions between these two? My wife and I love historical sites if that is any help. The viking ruins at Kirkwall sound really cool but that is the only thing I really saw on the first itinerary that drew me.

I like that the second option starts/ends in Amsterdam making it easy to stay there for a few days before the cruise.

Also it seems the second option can start at Dover or the Next day in Amsterdam. I have never heard of such a thing, so does the cruise do embarkation/debarkation at both ports one day removed? Seems really odd to me.

Thanks for any advice,

EDIT: I had to delete the original post because it would not let me fix the duplicate image problem. Thanks to those that responded already.

Hopping on the Encore in two weeks- yay for our third cruise! We had a friend just get back from a Virgin cruise that was completely rerouted up the California coast, for the fourth week in a row! Any other cruise lines doing this due to weather?

Thanks!

Which lines/ships that are kid free offer the most fun vibe, energy and entertainment? Would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks!

To sum it up, my parents booked my brothers and me a cruise. So all of my brothers and I added our GFs, who are all roomed together. I'm in a room with Brother 1. My Gf is in a room with Brother 1's GF. My Gf and I want the alcoholic package, but my Brother and his GF do not. But if you get 1 package, the whole room has to get the same package. We are all 21, so there's no workaround. Yes, I've tried calling, but they are charging me over $ 300 just to switch people. Insane to me.

Does anyone have experience swapping people in their cruise group when on the ship? Did it cost money, and was it easy?

Sorry if this was a difficult read.

We’re traveling with us and our 5 kids. Four of us live in California in 2 different households, 3 in Nebraska. On the ship we’ll be split across 3 cabins.

I’m trying to figure out what insurance will cover the cost of the trip for all of us if,

1. the Nebraska crew has flight issues and miss the ship (they’re booked to fly Friday, sail Sunday, the rest of us are driving)

2. the active duty military member has his leave canceled

3. all the usual stuff like hurricanes, major illness

   I’m mostly worried about it all being covered with us split across 2 states and 3 cabins, like if the Nebraska kids miss the sailing can we get a refund for the a California group too?

   Thank you!

Line: RCL
Port: Nassau

My wife would like to snorkel and we previously went with Stuart’s Cove; however, the disembark time now seems like 15 min before the shuttle leaves which is not enough time (the afternoon dive won’t work as it ends close to the ship leaving).

1. Is there a recommended transportation besides the shuttle that can be used reliably? She can likely take the return shuttle back.

2. Is there another company others can recommend besides Stuart’s Cove?

Appreciate any recommendations!

We are currently looking at hotels for our cruise out of Miami on February 28th. There are 7 ships scheduled in port that day with Royal’s Allure, Carnival’s Magic and Celebration, Virgin’s Resilient Lady, Norwegian’s Aqua, Celebrity’s Xcel, and MSC’s Explora 3.

Would it make a huge difference to have a hotel near the port or is the traffic going to be the same if I stay near the airport? Does the traffic typically start the closer to the Port you get or is it terrible from the airport all the way to the cruise port?

We typically like to board around 1:30 and carry our bags on.

We are looking at booking a cruise on the Horizon ship with 2 young children (under 1 and 3). The family harbour room is an extra $200. Can anyone tell me if this is worth it? Thanks!!

Hello

You probably heard already about this collision here is a video from someone on bord filming it from his balcony.

https://youtu.be/DqZL74uDS50?is=lksttqHr2Sl4qBSd

My wife and I are planning on surprising our parents with an Alaskan Cruise to Glacier Bay for Christmas. We plan on doing mid-June as this is likely one of the best times. We haven't decided between Princess or Holland America yet but regardless of the cruise line, I'd like to know if it is worth waiting for potential Black Friday deals? There is also a part of me that wants to just pay the deposit for the three staterooms so that it is done.

This is our first cruise, can anyone help me with understanding the best time to book? Am I too late?

Edit: I should probably book early it seems. Anyone help me choose between Princess and Holland?

I wanted to post an update with better photos, confirming no injuries, and the best update I had found on the situation:

“No passengers or crew were reported injured and the vessel returned safely to Columbuskaje under tugboat assistance. Following an inspection, TUI Cruises cancelled the scheduled three-week Canary Islands cruise for urgent repair work.

TUI Cruises said: ‘We can confirm that, as the Mein Schiff 3 was leaving Bremerhaven in the late afternoon of October 25, a collision occurred with two container ships.’ The company added: ‘The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority.’

North Germany has been experiencing bad weather with gale-force winds and heavy rain since Friday.

There was…no water ingress on any of the vessels involved, and Mein Schiff 3 retained power and manoeuvrability, allowing it to dock safely after the incident.

Passengers remained onboard overnight, with restaurants and other venues operating as normal. TUI Cruises said: ‘We know how much our guests were looking forward to this cruise and deeply regret the inconvenience this causes.’ The company added that its focus is now on informing and supporting passengers, and said: ‘We will proactively provide further information as soon as reliable findings are available.’”

Article: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/mein-schiff-3-damaged-in-collision-with-two-container-ships

Photo sources:

https://www.bremerhavennews24.de/%f0%9f%9a%a8-kollision-vor-bremerhavens-containerterminal-mein-schiff-3-kracht-gegen-frachter-kanarenreise-steht-auf-der-kippe/

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DiN2NMRXM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I just got off a 7 day cruise on NCL aqua. This was my 5th cruise and 4th cruise line so I thought it would be helpful for others to share how my experience compared between my different cruises. This is of course super subjective, YMMV etc.

For context, I always cruise with my two kids. We always book standard oceanview room and never do specialty dining.

We have cruised twice on carnival (magic and horizon), 1x on Royal Caribbean freedom OTS and 1 time on MSC seascape. This was our first cruise on NCL and consensus is that NCL is our new favorite. Staff was amazing and my fellow cruisers were a mix of fun but not too rowdy (and they did not leave their messes everywhere on the ship - unlike on carnival)

Here are some areas of comparison:

Cabin:
best: NCL. The cabin on NCL aqua felt huge in comparison to the others. There was lots of storage, the bathroom was big (in comparison) and aesthetically pleasing. We were impressed.

Worst: Freedom OTS. It was the smallest and it looked very outdated.

Buffet
Best: MSC : the buffet was huge and there was so much selection. The food was mostly excellent.

Worst: NCL the buffet was tiny. It was very crowded. Selection was very limited. Very limited vegetarian offerings, good luck/bring snacks if you’re vegan. It’s a good thing there were many other places to eat on the Aqua.

MDR
Best: NCL aqua the food was consistently good or better, the venue is beautiful, service was very good. The staff were also very knowledgeable and attentive with food allergies. Dining times are flexible and we never had to wait for a table.

Worst: MSC the food was bad and often was not hot by the time we were served, they are very strict with the assigned dining times, the MDR is very cramped. The people working there did not seem happy at all.

Kids Club
Best: carnival: it’s got the longest opening hours, very organized activities that you can see in the app. They take your kids for dinner if you have other plans. (My child once ditched me to have dinner with his kids club friends- it was not my idea!) My kids loved it.

Worst: NCL but only because the hours were very limited in comparison to the other cruise lines. My kids loved it anyway.

Embarkation and disembarkation
Best: NCL the port arrival was so easy. There were no lines and we breezed right into the ship. Disembarkation was equally fast and smooth.

Worst: MSC even though we arrived at our assigned time, we had to wait in a waiting area for more than 30 minutes. No one told us why or how long the wait was. Then another snafu with disembarkation where we waited in line without moving for 45 minutes without being provided any updates or information.

Daytime organized activities

Best: carnival. No surprise there. It is definitely the most fun cruise line, always something interesting going on. Honourable mention to Royal, it is also a fun cruise line

Worst: MSC: entertainment was very limited and a couple of times events were cancelled without notice. It was frustrating.

Sports
Best: NCL the aqua has a glow court that you can reserve for your family to play various games including soccer and basketball. On carnival my kids can never play because the courts are always taken over by older kids or adults. Also NCL has some ping pong tables, a small pickleball court, shuffle board, table soccer and fuss ball. There is mini golf, which costs extra but is actually very well done so I didn’t really mind paying the $5 per person. We spent a lot of time in this area.

Worst: MSC the facilities were very limited, there was no mini golf at all

Pools and Hot tubs
Best MSC the pools were big and there is a covered pool for when there is inclement weather. Lots of hot tubs. Honourable mention to NCL for the number of pools.

Worst carnival magic the pools were comically small and crowded.

App
Best Carnival. For real, there is so much information and functionality compared to other cruise lines. You can make dinner reservations for the MDR, see what your kid is up to in kids club, see what’s on at any given time.

Worst NCL the app has next to no functionality. It holds a copy of the daily planner and a generic listing of places to eat, along with general information about the cruise. So much wasted potential here.

Overall, while NCL really stands out for us, our next cruise is on carnival (which we also love) and we will definitely explore more NCL and Royal cruises in the future.

Every cruise line has pros and cons but MSC is the only line that we are not too keen to go back on (even though it was the cheapest of all our cruises).

Ask away if you have any questions!