Cruises - Classier or Trashier?

I remember when they were classier, but they get trashier every day.

As per the previous thread, I’ve decided to take my mother on the Oceania Regatta from Tahiti to Hawaii via Bora Bora. The ship and the itinerary tick all the boxes. There’s no club but the two of us can sing showtunes at the piano until the place shuts down.

And the food looks great. Though cruising etiquette of ordering everything off the damn menu because you technically already paid for it is weird to me. Look at this old broad. She’s very brusque with the wait staff when she doesn’t like her choices, too.

I've only used Holland America, about 10 years ago, and I thought they were lovely.

I don't even know if it's high brow, midrange, or trashy.

VOTN who is your favorite YouTube cruise vlogger?

After a certain fashion, I dislike all of them.

All of them start out one way, and then eventually their moderate internet fame goes to their heads. Gary Bembridge and Ben & David often have good information, but they're getting increasingly out of touch with how the average person vacations. Gary has his YouTube channel, plus a Patreon, plus merchandise, plus he sells himself on Cameo. Ben & David are currently showing off their experiences in a $10K suite on Icon of the Seas, which...it's especially rich when they were complaining on a different video about $20 milkshakes in the ship's soda shop.

I try to limit myself to the ones that are purely informational. Harr Travel's dad jokes are a bit much, but the guy doesn't editorialize much, and to his credit goes out of his way to avoid filming other people's children, which a lot of others don't.

I also started following this guy, who's a Royal Caribbean crewmember at the very beginning of COVID, because he was documenting a period for about a month where they were just cruising around on empty ships before realizing that it wasn't going to end anytime soon and sent everyone home. He's had a few contracts since then, and is currently on Icon. Last summer, he was on Odyssey of the Seas when it was chartered by Atlantis, although I never heard any reports of the Atlantis boys hitting on him. He's straight, but I would...

I like J from the Shiplife. But now that he’s signed up with a travel agency I think his content will change. He’s already upselling and telling people to book cruises with him. But he’s adorable and I like his French Canadian girlfriend.

I used to like Ben and Dave, but not as much now. They are UK versions of the YAZZZZZ QUEENS. Their food reviews are honest.

Cruise Monkeys are my guilty pleasure. They are a male couple and the ginger one does most of the talking. And they LOVE their cocktails…they’re usually soused by the end of the video 😂. But in between the drinks they have great info about the ships and ports.

Yes to La Lido Loca, Midships. Meh to JJ Cruises. Travel Blog Jamie is a bit much. Silly and opinionated.

I love cruise ships so much I watch most of them. If they are boring I tune out. Like Emma Cruises. She drones on about the ships and why she always books the inside cabins.

Cunard is simply elegant.

I used to like Emma, but she's apparently a huge bitch in real life. She's also not consistent about disclosing when either a cruise line or travel agency gifts her a cruise, which is scummy.

I find Tony from La Lido Loca annoying, and he clickbaits constantly.

I don't mind JJ Cruise. I can't say I'd want to spend time around them, but I wouldn't run screaming in the other direction if I saw them either.

I kind of like Trek Trendy, although it's more that he seems cuddly.

Trek Trendy makes no bones about traveling high on the hog. He is cute in a dorky way. But if I hear him say, “boot off the Tim’s” one more time I will open my veins.

J from Shiplife is cute but smarmy.

Thanks to this and the previous thread I am now inundated with cruise-related posts on my YT feed! I like Ben & David, they did some content on strictly UK-Euro lines (P&O) that I'd never heard of or wouldn't have checked on. Their content is brisk and chipper. JJ Cruise is ok. The Royal Caribbean Blog guy is ok and seems to have the info on their huge new ships (Icon, etc). Does he work for RC or get a kickback though, I wonder.

[quote] “boot off the Tim’s”

What does that mean?

R12 taking off his boots. He does it whether he’s on a plane, train or ship.

Thank you, R13.

Carnival Cruises has stated their boundaries.

[quote] Trek Trendy makes no bones about traveling high on the hog. He is cute in a dorky way.

I'm watching him in one of the loft suites on Icon of the Seas. Now, I know what rooms were going for on Icon. I know what my friends paid for a loft suite on Atlantis last month.

I mean, good for him, I guess.

R16 he seems to know where to get the good deals from. Even his ultra-luxury trips are discounted. What's his secret?

What did your friends pay? I'm guessing that a full gay charter upped the price considerably.

I've found Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travelers to be pretty reliable. He's also great about sending prompt email replies to questions. Ben and David can be counted on to give honest reviews, which is the most important thing. I don't find I get much information from JJ Cruise. Zach the Traveling Man is pretty good. Waiting for him to come out... La Lido Loco gives you a lot of news updates, but I have to shut the video off before he starts singing "cruises news" or I start retching. Realistically, you have to watch several episodes on a channel to get a sense of the reviewer's likes/dislikes and biases. It really helps if they review a ship you've been on before, so you can compare your experience to theirs.

A bit of advice: if you have a cruise booked it's fine to watch a video or two of people on that ship, but take what they say with a grain of salt. Unless they were just on last week, their experience is already dated. For my upcoming Panama Canal cruise I've seen five reviewers all tell me different things about the ship, food, and service. In true Datalounge fashion, I will choose to believe what I want to believe.

[quote]What did your friends pay? I'm guessing that a full gay charter upped the price considerably.

In the ballpark of $12K. And despite being cool, those are actually the lower-level suites. I shudder to think how some of the truly massive ones, that overlook the Aquatheater in the aft cost.

Besides my friends, I hooked up with a couple who had one of the loft suites, although they were sharing with two other guys. It's definitely spacious enough for that, which would make the price a lot more reasonable.

They put out a small tour of Sun Princess. I like it more than I thought I would, although I want to know what they were smoking when they designed those cabana suites. There is no privacy at all in them.

So they shrunk down the Mall of America and set it afloat? Yikes. And is that the Cruise Director before or after she’s had a line of blow?

Is anyone else old enough to remember those anti-littering TV ads with the Native American man looking out on all the pollution and shedding a tear? (Turns out the actor was Italian, not NA. Kinda figures, huh?) That's the way I feel about modern cruising. Back in the day cruises offered a certain glamour and luxuries that rivaled the best hotels. In the dining room you never saw the bottom of a glass. People dressed up for dinner, and wouldn't dream of showing up to lunch in a bathing suit. You didn't need water slides, ice rinks, climbing walls, etc. because you socialized with your fellow passengers, played cards, chatted, met for drinks after dinner, sang along in the piano lounge, etc. Even Carnival (back then) was like that!

Today, you're on a mega/maga-ship surrounded by thousands of narcissists who are living their first-class-on-the-Titanic fantasies and the entire crew is there solely for THEM. They feel entitled to be loud and obnoxious, and expect people to give up seats in the theatre for them ("because we're in a suite") or let them go in front of you in line... Wait. It just occurred to me. That's how they are on shore, in the local malls, and around town too. I'm with Quentin Crisp: Other People are a Mistake.

VOTN, I like most of the Sun Princess updates, however Alfredo's (my favorite) now costs $14.95 instead of being included. Bastards.

[quote]VOTN, I like most of the Sun Princess updates, however Alfredo's (my favorite) now costs $14.95 instead of being included. Bastards.

That's still got nothing on Icon. I was watching Trek Trendy's Icon video, and he was showing Basecamp, which is up by the waterpark, which has an $11 burger or $7 chicken nuggets. Fucking chicken nuggets.

[quote]Fucking chicken nuggets

Pics please.

Dan and Jay - another male couple who review cruise ships. This is the ship I’m sailing on in June and they were not kind:

R8, bitchy how? I hate her droning voice and her boring presentation.

[quote] Back in the day cruises offered a certain glamour and luxuries that rivaled the best hotels. In the dining room you never saw the bottom of a glass. People dressed up for dinner, and wouldn't dream of showing up to lunch in a bathing suit. You didn't need water slides, ice rinks, climbing walls, etc. because you socialized with your fellow passengers, played cards, chatted, met for drinks after dinner, sang along in the piano lounge, etc.

I’m fine with people who want that dressed-up experience and I’m sure there will always be a market for it. However, it’s not what I want. What’s described above is what I would do at a business conference, or perhaps a special occasion like a funeral. When I’m on vacation, suits and buttoned-up behavior must be left at home. I want a let-your-hair-down fun experience.

[quote] A bit of advice: if you have a cruise booked it's fine to watch a video or two of people on that ship, but take what they say with a grain of salt. Unless they were just on last week, their experience is already dated.

It’s very frustrating to me when I see vloggers try to avoid becoming outdated by not providing important details. What I want them to do is state, “When I was on the ship …” and then specify the details in effect at that time. They can then say it’s subject to change and viewers should check to see if it’s still valid for their voyage. It would at least give me a starting point and an idea of what is possible.

I also hate on cruise forums when people ask a question like, what are the show times usually, and someone replies, “it varies,” with no attempt to give a time. Just tell me what you experienced. “When I was on the ship, the shows started at 8pm and 10pm.”

Dan and Jay at r25 were new reviewers to me, but I liked their content. When they criticized a component of the cruise, they gave specific reasons as to why, with details. Other vloggers tend to skip these finer points. They also don't shy away from comparing elements to other cruise lines, naming them and detailing their opinions.

Yes r29, and they revisit ships to compare with their previous cruises. They are also not on the Cunard ra-ra team as so many UK reviewers are. They were brutally honest about the QM2.

Agreed r30. I just watched their Queen Victoria cruise vlog from last year, and they were as you say, brutally honest if not complimentary where applicable. They gave high marks to the food and service, but thumbs down to the onboard WiFi and overpriced drinks packages. Their videos give plenty of detail, but are mercifully short - half as long as Ben and David's or other vloggers, without the cutesy business.

I wonder if Cunard is given a pass because of its reputation as a transatlantic mainstay during the golden age of ocean travel.

The Dan and Jay review of the Enchanted Princess brings up another reason to consider smaller ships - they're much easier to fully staff. As the lines have moved to these massive ships, they need correspondingly large crew complements, and they're all competing with each other in recruiting. Anecdotal: my South American cruise last year on the older, smaller Sapphire Princess had a clearly happy crew, and service was as good as I've had in my 30+ years of cruising. The food was also better than I've had on the larger ships.

Would DL fave Nicolas Fairford make a good cruise reviewer?

r32 Cunard apparently still has a good reputation for great service, stand-out food, classy decor and a quiet, peaceful cruise experience that caters to an older or more mature clientele. You don't see multi-color water slides, astroturf, fake plastic palm trees or multiple hot tubs on every level on a Cunard cruise liner.

"Anecdotal: my South American cruise last year on the older, smaller Sapphire Princess had a clearly happy crew, and service was as good as I've had in my 30+ years of cruising. The food was also better than I've had on the larger ships."

That has been my experience as well. Almost from the minute you board a ship you can feel its vibe. When you're on a happy ship you can feel it, and it shows up in everything: the crew's attitudes and smiles, the service, the food, the pride in keeping the ship up, etc. I sail a lot from LA, and cruise lines traditionally put their oldest ships there to do the Mexico run until it's time to retire them. With some ships, you can tell right away that the ship is on its last legs and the crew doesn't give a fuck. But on others you feel like you've entered a secret world where people are happy and actually like what they're doing. I'd much rather be on an older, happy ship that doesn't have plugs in the staterooms or rollercoasters and go-carts on deck than any of the giant floating amusement parks where everyone (including a lot of passengers) is miserable.

[quote] But on others you feel like you've entered a secret world where people are happy and actually like what they're doing.

Seems like Datalounge.

I had similar experiences on the CARIBBEAN PRINCESS. The crew was so upbeat and friendly.

[quote]I sail a lot from LA, and cruise lines traditionally put their oldest ships there to do the Mexico run until it's time to retire them

Well, you're getting both Carnival Firenze and Quantum of the Seas. The latter is good news for Atlantis, I'm sure.

A lot of Royal Caribbean's 2025-26 deployment is...well, bizarre. They're taking the Wonder and the Utopia, two of their biggest and newest ships, and using them for weekend cruises. I just think they'd use the Oasis or Allure for that kind of a thing.

They also pushed back Star of the Seas for two weeks, until the very end of August 2025.

A cruise today would be like being at wal mart on their busiest day of the year.

R40 = Gloria Upson

[quote]Zach the Traveling Man is pretty good. Waiting for him to come out

Wait, he's not out?

Could have fooled me.

Stupid move on RCL's part to have their biggest ships doing their shortest turn-arounds. They are seriously overworking their on-board and shore staff -racing to get all those people on and off the ship in time -and more times per week. They are also going to trash the ship that much faster...

Well, VOTN, I can't find anything one way or the other. I just assumed he was gay. He's so careful to avoid mentioning any personal life or pronouns... He's kinda cute in a gingery way. And every Zach I've ever met turned out to be gay...

[quote]Stupid move on RCL's part to have their biggest ships doing their shortest turn-arounds. They are seriously overworking their on-board and shore staff -racing to get all those people on and off the ship in time -and more times per week. They are also going to trash the ship that much faster...

Something clicked for me when I was watching Trek Trendy's Icon video. I think it's because they're not trying to compete against the other cruise lines. They're positioning themselves to compete against Disney World and Vegas. Looking at the pricing on Icon and comparing it against a week at Disney World, it started making a lot more sense.

Especially since they don't really have ships on order that would be suited for cooler weather cruising.

[quote]Well, VOTN, I can't find anything one way or the other. I just assumed he was gay.

I mean, I assumed he is too. I just don't know why he'd keep it under his hat in the year 2024.

One of the cruise vloggers did a vlog on this move by Royal Caribbean. I’m too lazy to search but they said that Royal knows that their price gouging can cut into their profits, so they are doing a bunch of short cruises to earn revenue.

They should be more worried about their declining standards of food and service. That will eat up profits too!

I mean, if people are willing to pay $6 for cheese curds that probably cost them $0.50 to make....

Not into people having fistfights and throwing chairs over crab legs.

Do they catch the crabs from the decks?

The Loyal to Royal crowd is sorta like the Swifties.

[quote]The Loyal to Royal crowd is sorta like the Swifties.

I think the people who stan for any cruise line are worse than Switfies.

I mean, at least there's emotional connections with music.

No, R50. All the crabs are caught in the cabins, or occasionally in the steam room.

R52 VOTN, does Cunard have stans like that?

They don't have a cute moniker like "Loyal to Royal," but they do love telling you that you're actually wearing a dinner suit, not a tuxedo.

All the lines have them to some extent.

Although if someone is Pinnacle on RC, they will be sure to tell you they are Pinnacle at every opportunity.

Pinnacles are obnoxious like that!

[quote]Have I told you I’m Diamond Plus?

HA!

But you only get five free drinks a day.

“Pinnacle” and “pinnacle”! What is “pinnacle”?

Pinnacle is a class of ships for Holland America as well as a class of suites for the line.

Thank you, R60.

I know no one else is as big of a ship geek as I am, but I was delighted to find this on YouTube. it's from a five-part documentary series Discovery Networks (before they became everything wrong with the current media landscape) did in the early-/mid-00s about a massive refurbishment Sovereign of the Seas got. It's really fascinating from both a design and technical standpoint.

If you make it to the final part, you also get to see the super gay chorus boys in the ship's production show reacting to the improvements.

Sovereign had such an ignominious end. From the world's biggest cruise ship at launch to beached in Turkey in 2020 because of COVID-related budget issues. Her sister Monarch had the same fate. The final one, Majesty, is still around, but has been laid up since Royal Caribbean sold her to keep the lights on during the pandemic. I'm sure she'll be scrapped sooner or later.

Have any of you watched Mighty Cruise Ships?

I have. Not every season or episode, but I do have some that I purchased, and at least some seasons are on Paramount+.

There's also a Prime original series about Scarlet Lady called The Cruise.

I love MIGHTY SHIPS. Fascinating.

VOTN, I probably asked you this question before but what do you think of ships like THE WORLD, the floating condominium where you live onboard while the ship traverses the world. Apparently another one is coming out in a year or so…what happens when the ship gets too old?

There’s nothing wrong with a floating concentration of billionaires that a well-aimed torpedo couldn’t fix.

On the serious, I don’t know how you’d use it as a primary residence, but apparently some of the tenants do.

Of the other residence-y ships, I don’t think any are scheduled for this year. There have been a number announced, but I think only one or two actually have steel cut. There was a company that planning to launch a multi-year cruise a few weeks ago, but they never even owned a ship.

There’s one called Storylines r66. Either next year or the year after is when it’s gonna be built.

Any day now. Any day now.

For some reason I think that every cruise line owner is a billionaire swimming in dough. Like Micky Arison and Sir Richard Branson. But the bulk of them run smaller second hand ships and hustle around to generate revenue.

I saw a documentary about a cruise ship and one episode had the head chef buying turbot in, I think, a Swedish port. He also had to invent a recipe for the executive chef’s approval. Very stressful stuff but I was thrilled for him when his dish was OK’ed. The hard work that goes in to running the place is fascinating.

[quote] For some reason I think that every cruise line owner is a billionaire swimming in dough. Like Micky Arison and Sir Richard Branson. But the bulk of them run smaller second hand ships and hustle around to generate revenue.

Branson doesn’t even own VV. I think the majority stakeholder is Bain Capital, so it’s actually Mitt Romney whose pockets I’ll be lining in a few days.

Even the smaller lines are usually a part of a bigger conglomerate. A few, like VV and Azamara’s current owners, are private equity firms. Some are part of other travel conglomerates. TUI AG, a German company, co-owns TUI Cruises with Royal Caribbean, and also has Hapag-Lloyd and Marella.

What about Celestyal? Fred. Olsen? Saga?

Celestyal is owned by a British equity firm. Fred Olsen is owned by a holding company that was historically a shipping company, but they also own a few weird things like offshore oil drilling and Timex watches. Saga's owner are basically the British version of the AARP. They have a bunch of things that are focused on seniors.

I’m watching Ben and David given a go at MSC World Europa, after they had a meltdown when they tried it in Florida right after cruising restarted in 2021.

Mostly, I’m wondering what animal died on Ben’s head.

Can non-Americans book with American travel agencies? Because the Vacations To Go prices are excellent.

I don't see why not.

I had a few clients in Europe when I was an agent.

R74 he always has the worst hairdo. He had a really good haircut for a while but he changed it. His teeth are so crooked and uneven that it affects his speech. He can be funny at times though.

He was also really hot when they were younger and he was thinner.

Ben and David make me laugh sometimes.

Well dip me in cheese and call me a breadstick! This is bloomin’ delicious!

I did notice David was pudgy and not as talkative in their earlier vidjos.

David gave up red meat and lost a ton of weight. Ben loves his red meat and pastries.

The more I watch Travel Blog Jamie, the less I like him. You don’t really get a review of the ships he sails on so much as you get a sense of his own personal likes and dislikes and how fabulous he thinks he is. I’ll take Ben and Dave over him. Or the two drunken queens The Cruise Monkeys. They crack me up. They start drinking right after breakfast it seems.

Thanks VOTN.

Just rewatched a video of “pier runners” trying to make it back to the ship before departure. So funny.

The Coral Princess and Island Princess, which are hosting World travellers, are skipping the Middle East (unfortunate but understandable) but also Asia. Why Asia?

Time and fuel, I would assume. Resilient Lady had to bypass Asia to make it into the Mediterranean. for the start of its season, and they bypassed Asia as well. Serenade of the Seas and the changes to the itinerary messed up some of the people who were doing segments in the Eastern Med well after when it was scheduled to arrive there.

I know little about this topic but it's nice to see VOTN back among the posters.

The Virgin ships have some of the ugliest staterooms on the water. So IKEA-esque. The hammocks seem like a nice idea though. And the food is supposed to be outstanding.

The revised itineraries for Resilient Lady (out of San Juan) look interesting. Much better than Scarlet Lady's out of Miami.

The one called "Sunsets in the Lesser Antilles" is the same itinerary Atlantis is doing. I'm really excited for it. I've been to Aruba and Curacao before, but Martinique and St Kitts are new.

[quote]The Virgin ships have some of the ugliest staterooms on the water. So IKEA-esque.

The only thing I don't like is the lack of seating and storage. There's no couch, they just convert half of the bed into one during the day if you request it. And there's not a lot of drawer space,

I do like that the XL Sea Terraces (their biggest balconies that aren't suites) have their bathrooms separated, so one can use the toilet while the other uses the shower.

I think MSC has them all beat from an interior design perspective.

Cunard’s ships are really pretty inside. I love all things Art Deco, so there’s that. I am biased.

The guy I'm going with for this one is an architect, and he's only done one cruise before, one of Celebrity's Galapagos expedition ships, so he doesn't have a lot of frame of reference for the megaships. I've gotten him into watching ship tour videos, and from his eye, his favorites are Cunard (for the reasons you state) and also Norwegian Prima and Viva, because he feels like the design of them is a lot more purposeful and contemporary than even other new ships. I sent him the tour of the Sun Princess, and he said while it was nice, whoever NCL hired was better.

This is such an insane thing to be looking forward do, but Virgin has a group fitness class called "V/H/S" (for "Videotape/Headband/Simmons") which is basically just a Jane Fonda workout or Sweatin' to the Oldies with 80s music (and a Shake Weight). I am not only making sure I attend, I have a specific outfit for it. I have plenty of party outfits, but for a workout class is an entirely other thing.

Celebrity is wonderful. I was on the Queen Mary two months ago and it was awful.

Ooh, what was the problem r90?

What wouldn’t I have done to get that free Virgin Cruise from Sir Branson himself? Lucky people.

r92, you can join me in the Mile High Club.

Call me weird, but I do like Holland America Line. My first cruise was with RSVP on a HAL ship and had the very best time. My husband & I pretty much stick with HAL. We have tried one Celebrity cruise and it was ok. We tried Silver Seas once when I came into a small inheritance and loved it, but can't afford the line in general. We have done a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest on Gate 1 which was nice. But for the money, we pick HAL. We will be 4 star mariners after our cruise in November from Hong Kong to Singapore. You will also catch us on HAL next month from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona- our first repositioning cruise.

Anybody ever go on a Viking River Cruise? I don't know how I got on their mailing list, but I get their catalogues often.

Why is that weird? HAL has beautiful ships, and if you don't like the ginormous size of the biggest megaships, given that their largest ships are about the same size as Princess and Celebrity's smallest, they're much more manageable.

Ok, not weird. I really like that there aren't a lot of kids on HAL. There are lots and lots of blue hair- which I like because then I am the youngest. Ship size doesn't matter too much to me, but I have never been on a megaship for comparison.

Escargot at R94, what are 4 star mariners and repositioning cruises?

The Mariner Society is HAL's loyalty program. 4-star level requires at least 200 nights cruising (or fewer, if you book suites).

Repositioning cruises happen when the ship moves from one area to the other. Either Transatlantic moving from Europe to the Caribbean/South America or Transpacific from Australia/Asia to Alaska. Some Panama Canal cruises are also repositioning, because they're moving from the Caribbean to Alaska or vice versa.

Thank you, VotN.

I'm reading reports of the Sun Princess inaugural.

Jesus Christ, they should have canceled the damned thing. Half of the performance spaces aren't finished. And that's before we get to the nickel and diming, which may be as bad or worse than what Royal Caribbean is doing.

Quite a few of the long-time Princess cruisers aren't happy with the new direction Princess has been taking with the new ships: the lack of gizmos and geegaws was a large part of the appeal of the line.

Too bad because it's a good looking cruise ship inside and out. I wonder what made them fall behind schedule like that?

I mean, a bunch of the dining venues aren’t open, the theater isn’t open. The eye catching dome on the top of the ship isn’t fully open. The new family area that’s trying to ape RC isn’t open. And they’re charging out the wazoo. Pizza, which is included on every other line (for now) is an upcharge. Fucking “premium” soft serve is an upcharge.

The line’s president is a former Disney parks exec, which explains a lot of it. He’s the person who got Disney to adopt the Magic Band, which is why Princess is so all-in on their NFC-enabled Medallion that’s used for everything including Big Brother knowing exactly where you are on the ship at all times.

I like the medallion, but the app is tetchy. When it works, it's pretty slick, but you sometimes have to kill it and reload.

What’s “soft serve”? I hope it’s what I’m thinking.

The medallion worked great opening my cabin, but that's all I've got.

But this year I have to get to the steakhouse on ENCHANTED PRINCESS to see if it measures up to MSC SEASIDE'S Butcher's Cut.

There are rumors that Royal Caribbean is giving Atlantis a hard time nailing down charters for next year, so I've been looking around at different ships to try and see if anything on other lines would be suitable for the big circuit party cruise. I had actually thought Sun Princess would have been a good option, because they've got good-sized performance spaces, and the dome at least looks big enough for dancing. But after reading all the issues as well as the surcharges for every little thing, I'm not so sure.

I know Atlantis loves its annual "big" party cruise, but I wish they'd do some smaller-ship, higher-end lines. NCL was shitty to us on one cruise, and Royal Caribbean's food has been just terrible. I think my favorite Atlantis cruises have been on Holland America and Celebrity. I know the Mexico cruise in October is on the Konigsdam, but I'm already booked on the Queen Mary 2 that week. (I know, first-world problems. Poor, poor me...)

For those that are interested, NCL is offering an AMAZING deal for single travelers this November/December: a land-cruise package with four days in London and then an Atlantic crossing on the Norwegian Encore, with ports in Spain and the Azores. It priced out at $535 for the whole thing, including airfare to London and home from Miami. That is using a $750 discount for cashing in some points from an online game, but $1285 for a 15-day trip is pretty unbelievable!

At the end of the day, people (myself included) go on the Big One because of the circuit party aspect of it. That needs a critical mass of people to work, and that requires a megaship. The Oasis-class ships are uniquely suited for it, just because of how their public areas are. I think they could probably pull it off on the Carnival Excel-class, MSC Meraviglia-Plus or World-class, NCL’s Breakaway-Plus, or even the Quantum-class, but they wouldn’t be able to replicate that on a ship that only has 1500 passengers.

As everyone on my Atlantis group chats who’s not going on Valiant Lady twiddles their thumbs about when they’ll get around to announcing for next winter, people are comparing to Vacaya. One guy was going on about how he was probably booking Vacaya for the Caribbean next winter, because he feels like it’s a better value for the money…even though Vacaya’s Caribbean cruise for 2025 is on Brilliance of the Seas, so you’ll not only have all the same issues with food and service as Atlantis, it’s also not even half the size, so you won’t have the party vibe.

When we got our post cruise survey after Oasis in January, they had a few questions asking if we’d like more frequent, but smaller cruises. If they do get feedback to that effect, I’m sure they’ll shift their offerings. But I’m going on Valiant Lady because I want to relax in a gay environment and maybe party a little. I went on Oasis because I wanted to party.

I get myself spammed for a lot of different charter cruises. Amongst others, I get for EDSea (EDM-cruise, so perhaps the most comparable to Atlantis), Star Trek: The Cruise, and the Rock Boat (because I like a few of the bands who will be playing). All of them are more expensive than Atlantis, are shorter, and with the exception of EDSea which is on Norwegian Joy, are on older, smaller ships. So I don’t think Atlantis is as a bad of a deal as some people say.

The premium for an all-gay charter like Atlantis is lower than it used to be. Obviously, the more cruises a company offers, the less they depend upon a single cruise to keep the company in the black. These days Atlantis is not much more than the traditional brochure price for a cruise. Smaller companies like Vacaya do tend to have higher prices. Whether or not they are worth it depends on what you want out of the cruise. As VOTN says above, sometimes guys want the giant party atmosphere - and Atlantis can deliver on that. I like smaller ships and less of a party vibe, so I look for cruises that fit me and Atlantis fits a couple of times a year. I've done Alaska with them a couple of times, and the Baltic, but I usually do the Mexico sailing as it was very convenient and fit my work schedule. Now that I'm retired (as of January) my schedule has more freedom, so it comes down to whether I like the ship/cruise line more than anything else.

I’d like to try Pied Piper. I could do that with a small gay crowd. Definitely not Atlantis or RSVP. There’s supposed to be another gay travel company that does groups instead of full ship charters isn’t there?

That’s Vacaya. They have a few big ship charters, but focus on smaller luxury ships (they work with Ponant a lot) and river cruises.

is RSVP even still around?

Will be on the Atlantis cruise from San Juan next week.

Hope to see some DL-ers there!

[quote]is RSVP even still around?

Nominally. They were saying they were going to come back post-COVID, but haven't. They still have an active site that is updated, kinda.

[quote]Will be on the Atlantis cruise from San Juan next week.

Me!

[quote] Me

Yay! Hope to see you there, VOTN!

Bald, goatee, medical symbol tattoos on both forearms with a Star Trek delta shield as part of the design on the Right one. If you catch me by the pool or at one of the parties, I have three more tattoos on my back, one on either shoulder blade and one in the middle. From the front, I have the scar from my colectomy running from under my rib cage down to about my waistband.

I'll likely be accompanied by a nervous-looking Asian man.

[quote[ Yay!

I'm so happy.

[quote] Yay!

I'm so happy.

[quote] medical symbol tattoos on both forearms with a Star Trek delta shield as part of the design on the Right one

What gives you the authority to wear those?

[R119] Sitting at home watching “Price is Right” reruns on Pluto TV.

[quote]I'll likely be accompanied by a nervous-looking Asian man.

Sum Ting Wong.

If there is anything that does NOT need to be said at this point, gentle r123, it is that.

[quote]What gives you the authority to wear those?

THIS gives me the authority.

Or my "Drink Your Juice, Shelby" tank top that I will also be bringing.

Now I just get impatient waiting for Atlantis to send us the cruise guide.

Experience should have taught you that it will arrive -late. :)

Oh, I'm prepared to see it in my email at 7:55PM on the 16th as we're getting ready to pull out of San Juan.

I'm just wanting to know how many Todrick Hall performances I need to skip this time.

^^^ I sense a kindred spirit in you, VOTN.

And just like that, the cruise guide is out, and with no Todrick Hall.

No Toad?? You lucky bastard. Who is on?

We have a TBA (while I'm not expecting this, previous TBA's have been Olivia Newton John and Audra McDonald), Cacophony Daniels and Courtney Act as the headlining drag queens, and a West End-based actor named Rob Houchen that I'm not familiar with.

He's hot though.

Classier.

Queen Mary 2 departs Sydney Harbour on the 27th of February 2024.

I like the Weekend Cruiser in YouTube. Nice combination of prematurely grey hair and a spray tan.

[quote] I like the Weekend Cruiser in YouTube. Nice combination of prematurely grey hair and a spray tan.

Who’s his bf?

Not sure. He travelled with a friend on a Hong Kong cruise - separate beds and all that. Travels solo a lot.

I follow TWC on Instagram. He’s got a good sense of humor. And rather attractive.

Oh, I’d totally do him.

That makes him kind of a minority amongst the cruise vloggers.

I think Brandon the Weekend Cruiser would look really hot with a shaved head. I think he could pull that off.

Brandon loves his inside cabins. I have to have a balcony or nothing. And he seems to favor ships from the RCI group. But he’s very knowledgeable about the ships he reviews.

Interesting -Ben and David were censored on their MSC cruise. They were told they not only couldn't film any video, but were also banned from taking a photograph with their iPhones. They chose to disembark the ship early in Rome four days into the cruise -and got hassled for that as well. Given the number of other YouTubers filming aboard, the line's statement that B&D were in violation of their published filming policy is disingenuous at best. It looks more like retribution for their previous bad review of the line.

I don't always agree with these guys, but I will say their reviews have always been honest, and they are up front about whether they were invited aboard or received any other consideration. Seems like a stupid move on MSC's part, as word will definitely get out...

Ben and Dave cut their cruise short on the MSC WORLD EUROPA. The Yacht Club folks didn't appreciate them filming and were very rude about it. They found out that they were cruise vloggers and had said some negative things about MSC in the past. Speed up to 34:33.

Needless to say, they will no longer cruise/review MSC but said to not let their experiences affect your choices.

Stinky link, sorry.

JJ Cruise also announced that they're moving onto a residential ship for six months starting in June. The company is called Villa Vie, and they actually do own a ship, which began life as the Cunard Crown Dynasty before passing to one of NCL's predecessors, Majesty Cruise Line (NCL was formed when it merged with Norwegian Caribbean Line), and then eventually to Fred. Olsen, where she sailed as Braemar until the COVID shutdown. She's been rechristened Odyssey, and will be on a three-and-a-half year itinerary, although there are individual segments which are bookable.

I don't know if I'm quite willing to call it a residential ship. Most of the units on The World have at least kitchenettes (and the two- and three-bedroom units have full kitchens), and there's even a grocery store onboard. Odyssey is just a cruise ship, with three years in a 130 square foot interior cabin starts at $120K. She's definitely a nice looking ship; Fred. Olsen had her stretched in 2008 and put her through an extensive refurbishment just before the pandemic, But I'd lose my mind in an inside cabin for three years.

Not to be outdone, if you don't want to commit to that, Virgin is offering a "Season Pass" where you get 4 back to back 7-day cruises in one of four windows between June and September. They're pitching it towards remote workers, because they have included WiFi. Starts at around $10K.

That I'd consider.

At least Virgin's idea is innovative.

Agreed, and if my employer would go for it (and I could deal with the time difference, which would be a big stumbling block seeing patients), I'd give it a whirl.

Weirdly, Atlantis was supposed to have chartered Scarlet Lady for a week in July, but they're no longer doing it. I wonder what the sequence of events was, or if Virgin broke the contract. Their two Resilient Lady cruises are still a go, as is the one on Oceania that had been sold out but had a bunch of people cancel because of the planned stop in Tel Aviv.

R144 - They use the word 'residential' to try to make it sound more exclusive.

Actually, the Virgin thing seems like a good deal. It starts at $10K per cabin, and includes a balcony (or Sea Terrace, in Virgin parlance), their fastest wifi (base wifi is free for everyone, with a surcharge for streaming speeds), laundry service, $10 a day in credit for their onboard coffee shop, and access to the suite areas.

VOTN what do you think Ben and Dave should do regarding their negative MSC experience? Can they take action?

Action about what? MSC was within its rights to tell them to stop filming. They chose to leave because they couldn't.

About all they can do is Karen out about it. I'm sure it'll put some people off cruising MSC, which is about all they could do.

Seems dumb to just leave their cruise. They couldn’t just finish it out and film some commentary in their room or the ports?

Their argument was that other people were allowed to film and no one did anything about it. If they squawk about it enough, they could cause trouble for MSC. I loved my cruise on the SEASIDE, but MSC gets more bad reviews than good, so I think it would be in their best interests to talk to them.

Somehow I don't think it will ever rank up there with Peter Deilmann kicking that old drunk Douglas Ward off of his ships.

The DEUTSCHLAND is a beautifully decorated ship. But I think that Ward was justified because for a premium luxury ship, the cabins are quite small. Just looking at the dimensions tells me that much. And only two balconies? Deilmann's daughters had French balconies installed on some of the upper grade staterooms, but that doesn't help much. And his daughters went to jail for mismanagement of the line after he died. Can't speak on the food. The late Mark Goldberg from Travelpage.com loved the DEUTSCHLAND. I used to speak to him on Facebook. Very knowledgeable, as he worked in the cruise industry for several decades. But he was a bit of a curmudgeon. He had a partner who died from complications from dementia and he eventually passed from CHF.

R154 - I was very good friends with Mark G. and Xtopher for decades. I managed to get over to their place for a couple of days (when they were actually home and not somewhere on the other side of the planet) and see his maritime collection, wow.

Most senior cruise executives privately don't exactly have a high opinion of Ward.

The upper echelon cruise passenger doesn't particularly care if their cabin has a balcony or not.

Re: Ben and David: They said they left the ship because they were only there to do a review, not a vacation. They had a bad experience the last time they sailed MSC, and avoided the line for years. A few weeks ago they received an invitation to go on this cruise (for free) which they declined in favor of booking it themselves. One of the reasons was that MSC made it a condition that their pre-approved headline had to be used (along with other limitations in the body of the review). Ironically, they were having a great time, and their reviews were extremely positive -up until they were shut down by the ship's management. Ben wrote to the exec who had initially invited them, saying WTF, and got a swift reply doubling down on the whole, "you violated our terms" thing. That is beyond ridiculous, given how many others were filming aboard at the same time, and how many video reviews of MSC are posted all over.

Thanks R156. I don't always see eye to eye with them, but I think that they were wronged by MSC.

And several other vloggers have given MSC low scores and nothing has happened to them. They're singling them out for some strange reason.

It would be easy to say it's because they're gay -but so many other cruise vloggers are....

I was going to post that r158. I cannot think of any other reasons other than they didn't like their past reviews of MSC ships. Ben did say that the looked at some of their older vids when they told the crew who they were and where their YouTube channel was. But once again, others have negatively reviewed MSC ships and continue to do so.

It's exactly the kind of boneheaded public relations and customer service debacles MSC is famous for. The leopard is having a hell of a time changing its spots, no matter how much money they pour into the ships.

[quote] Ironically, they were having a great time, and their reviews were extremely positive -up until they were shut down by the ship's management. Ben wrote to the exec who had initially invited them, saying WTF, and got a swift reply doubling down on the whole, "you violated our terms" thing.

If that’s the case, it would have been doubly interesting if they continued on the cruise and reported from their room rather than flouncing off.

I won’t defend MSC here, but there is a severe disconnect between their statements about how much they love to cruise and then their immediate flouncing when they’re unable to monetize their trip. I don’t think either party looks good.

And because it’s a day that ends in -y, the Sun Princess is currently having to skip Santorini on its second cruise because they don’t have their tendering system set up yet. They’re going to Crete instead. Itinerary changes happen and that’s just the nature of being on open seas, but this happened because Princess wasn’t ready for its closeup. I’d be fucking pissed.

[quote]... because they don’t have their tendering system set up yet.

!!!! How the hell does that happen? I'd be concerned they don't know how to launch the lifeboats. No Santorini? Inexcusable.

I disagree, R162. Ben and David were being watched and followed around by multiple crew members -just waiting for them to mess up. That wouldn't be my idea of a relaxing situation. I think they were right to leave the ship since the crew made it clear they weren't welcome. I just watched this morning's La Lido Loca, where Tony pointed out that B&D are one of the biggest channels in the biz with tens of millions of views. He seemed to think it was either the beginning of a major crackdown on MSC against filming, or a personal thing against Ben and David for their previous negative review of the line.

[quote] Like Emma Cruises. She drones on about the ships and why she always books the inside cabins.

She drones full stop. She reminds me of the guests Basil mocks in Fawlty Towers but the audience doesn’t care because she’s passive aggressive and awful.

Her last name is Cruises? How apt. I wonder whether that led her to her line of work.

She has a French sounding surname….De Treace or Le Treace…

What are the advantages of booking inside cabin, other than lower price?

Some people do just use their cabins for sleeping, bathing and changing clothes. I love that feeling of being alone on the balcony, listening to music and eating a snack while the ocean goes by. But I know a few people who insist that inside cabins are the best.

While I'm still unsure if I'm going to be going, I have an inside cabin on Resilient Lady in August. I've always had at least an oceanview, but I figured if I was going to be solo and I plan to spend my days seeing the Greek Isles, why spend all the money.

OTOH, there was a night where I was on Oasis (non-Atlantis, with my soon-to-be-ex-husband) and my friend was having a really hard time and I sat on the balcony at night watching the full moon reflected on the water while we talked on VOIP and I calmed him down. It was a nice night.

[quote]She drones full stop

About Pepsi Max....cookies...her cat...

[quote]He seemed to think it was either the beginning of a major crackdown on MSC against filming

I object to MSC singling out Ben & David (if indeed that's what happened), but I'm not sure I have a problem with them cracking down on vloggers. I appreciate ship tours, but the ones that film without disturbing people (Harr Travel usually only films on port days when the ship is empty, and JJ Cruise had a decent Sun Princess tour that wasn't bothering anybody while the ship was docked in Palma) are the minority, and it's more people being obnoxious. Even Gary is everywhere with that fucking selfie stick of his.

[quote]!!!! How the hell does that happen? I'd be concerned they don't know how to launch the lifeboats. No Santorini? Inexcusable.

I can't figure out what the problem is. They said in their statement that they hadn't been able to fully set up shoreside services, but I'm assuming Princess has tendered into Santorini on other ships. They don't presumably need a special operation just for Sun Princess.

I have a friend who always books an inside cabin because she can't sleep unless she is in absolute darkness. To me they just feel claustrophobic. I can live without a balcony, but I have to have at least a window.

I tendered into Santorini from the Regal Princess several years ago with no issue; the lines all have the procedure down.

And how hard can it be? Set up a screening line and refreshment table, and staff it. Get permission from the harbormaster to dock tenders. Steer the boats.

I’ve been watching a lot of cruise videos the last couple of months, but I had not seen any yet from Ben and David. I saw a clip just now of them on TikTok. They are unattractive and I don’t like the voices. That’s a double whammy. I will not be watching their videos.

The gay cruises are the trashiest of trashy.

Maybe so, but I'm looking forward to being trashy come Saturday.

I don’t think that I could tolerate all of the attitude on a gay cruise.

There ISN'T much attitude. That's the point. Everyone is there to have a good time.

I've never been to a friendlier, least-attitudinal place than an all-gay cruise.

I'm going on a cruise in a couple months. I'm working on being underweight at the start of the cruise so that I can try the various foods on board the ship and the ports of call. I'm normally around 143#. but want to be 138# at the start, so that I won't have many pounds to take back off when I return home. I'm hoping all the walking at the ports will help.

Kilos or stone?

The Points Guy has a review of Sun Princess. They overall liked the ship, but didn't care for the actual cabins.

I am more convinced it would work for Atlantis, if needed, though.

The guy from JJ Cruise gave a recap of a call travel agents (himself included) had with the head of Celebrity Cruise. He kept referring to some issue with canapes as "kon op eez". I'm having a hard time taking him seriously now.

Norovirus outbreaks are happening on cruise ships too often now.

And then there's this to consider.

Am losing interest in going on a cruise.

[quote]Norovirus outbreaks are happening on cruise ships too often now.

“Norovirus is a human virus that is typically transmitted by the fecal-oral route,” Dr. Chatman said.

I think given the circumstances, it's prudent for people to reduce the frequency of rimming while on a cruise. For me, I'm just going to do without it on my voyage.

R179 there is a simple system for not gaining weight on a cruise: always use the stairs -never the elevator. Take a walk around the deck after every meal. Eat what you want WHEN you are hungry. Have dessert! But only if something sounds really good. Don't just have it for the sake of having it. Trust me -this works. I have actually lost weight on cruises -especially ones where I went swimming or snorkeling four or more times during the week.

As a veteran of 40 cruises I've found the best way to enjoy your vacation is to go to bed when you're tired, sleep until you wake up, and eat only when you're hungry. There is virtually nothing on a cruise ship worth violating that axiom. There is always food when you're hungry. There is no activity that won't be repeated (or nothing so unique that it's a big deal).

The violence in Haiti is starting to impact Royal Caribbean's stops at Labadee. They haven't fully canceled the stops there, but they have stopped selling any excursions that leave the compound.

When the former president was deposed in a coup in 2004, they canceled a bunch of scheduled stops, and even when they started selling that again, didn't list the destination as Haiti, but instead as Hispaniola, I guess in an attempt to fool people.

Are cruisers that stupid? I guess they are—^

I think a better way of framing it is that Americans are that stupid.

I’d like the idea of cruising Cunard for the history and heritage but I increasingly get the impression that unless you are at least Princess Grill level it’s not worth the money.

[quote]Princess Grill

GREAT drag name.

[quote]I’d like the idea of cruising Cunard for the history and heritage but I increasingly get the impression that unless you are at least Princess Grill level it’s not worth the money.

I think it depends on what you value about it. If you're into the history/heritage, Britannia and Britannia Club will, depending on sailing, set you back about what an equivalent non-suite room on Celebrity or HAL would, and that's roughly the same level of service/food you're getting. The mistake is thinking of Cunard as a luxury line, which outside the Grills, it really isn't.

They’re going to run out of queen names if they build more new ships. Maybe they will resurrect their classic ship names that were named after Roman provinces. The only other queen names left are Alexandra. And she was a consort.

Yeah, they're sticking with the Queens Regnant. I doubt they'll build anything else unless it's the QM3.

I think there would be a lot of interest in having a Queen Charlotte ship, for wife of George III. Americans would like it because of the city.

Oh don't worry. I'm working on it.

I looked at NCL's deals, and they seems to be great. Alas, due to pandemic and the writer/actors strikes, my savings are gone, but it's good to know that there are deals like that to be found. So I will live vicariously through all of you.

Would be nice if they went pre-Norman for Queen Æthelflæd.

[quote] Yeah, they're sticking with the Queens Regnant.

How about disputed queens regnant? They could have the Empress Maude or Empress Matilda and the Queen Jane.

How about Mary, Cunt of Scots?

[quote]They could have the Empress Maude

Sadly, Bea Arthur isn't around to christen her.

"How about Mary, Cunt of Scots?"

Sadly, Bea Arthur isn't around to christen her.

[quote] think there would be a lot of interest in having a Queen Charlotte ship, for wife of George III.

They could eventually have a Queen George VII.

Cunard should go back to their old naming convention of names ending in -ia.

Verificatia, anyone? At least for a very large ship...

Is there anything bad luck about naming ships for men? There should be ships named for kings.

There were many ocean liners named for men at the beginning of the 20th century, R205. What is usually considered unlucky is changing a ship's name after its launch. The very unlucky SS Poseidon was formerly the RMS Atlantis, according to the original novel, and both passengers and crew remarked that it was unlucky...

Name changes happen frequently when ships are sold these days. Even sometimes if they aren't. Carnival Sunshine, Sunrise, and Radiance began their lives as Destiny, Triumph, and Victory.

Off the top of my head, aside from HAL's Koningsdam, the one ships that are named for men are the Paul Gaugin and a few of Ponant's expedition ships, which are named after French explorers.

One of Silversea’s former expedition ships was named after Prince Albert of Monaco…

I loved how the now defunct Orient Line named all of their vessels with names starting with the letter ‘O’.

I mean, Orient had the Marco Polo, which began life as a Soviet cruise ship named MS Aleksandr Pushkin. I actually loved the design. It was built in East Germany in the 60s, and was so Soviet Constructivist in its look.

The trademark is still around, but the current owners aren't doing anything with it.

There was another Soviet ship, an icebreaker named Kaptain Khlebnikov that Celebrity chartered for a few years in the mid-00s and which then belonged to Quark Expeditions. It's currently back in the hands of the Russian government. As butt ugly as the ship was, an Antarctic cruise on her was a bucket list item for me.

For the two people trapped in caves who might have missed it, the Ben-and-David-MSC-saga appears to have ended. The line has apologized "profusely" and refused their full fares -and asked them to collaborate on creating formal guidelines for filming and photographing aboard their ships. B&D have accepted the apology, and praised MSC for moving forward on guidelines.

However you feel about Ben and David and their cruise channel, I think it's wonderful that a gay couple have proven so influential in the industry.

Yeah, a lot of cruise vloggers have been reporting the Ben and David incident as a major story, so awareness of it, along with the negative press for MSC, has spread far beyond just the Ben and David viewers.

VOTN - I kind of love the look of the Khleb! It’s charmingly functional compared to the white RC behemoths.

[quote] refused their full fares

They didn’t accept their payment?

Gleb.

R213 I think they were reFUNDED.

I am lurking, but had to look up the Ben & David/MSC, and it happened in 2021? 4 years later, MSC apologizes?

Damned f-ing autocorrect/autofill... Of course I was typing refunded.

No, R216 -This is a new issue with MSC and B&D. They decided to give the line another chance, were having a great time, and then had a blow-up.

They can just blur the faces of the people in the background, can’t they? I’ve seen this before in other YouTube videos.

[quote] They can just blur the faces of the people in the background, can’t they?

It’s very easy to do so these days. People who don’t do it are suspect IMO.

Is Zach The Travelling Man - ginger, charming Southern twang - gay?

Gay r220

Greetings from DL1877 JFK->SJU, gays.

We pushed back on time. It’s a god-ordained miracle.

In other news, RC is canceling Labadee stops. I need more coffee.

Have fun and hydrate, VOTN.

Give us a full report, VOTN!

R221, I've been looking for proof of that -something more substantial than my gaydar. He pings like sonar chasing after a Russian submarine.

Zzzz

Way too much from a single poster. Less is more.

Well, I’m hoping I’ll be having too much fun to say much.

My hotel, which is within walking distance of the port, is like half Atlantis gays, half normies going on Royal Caribbean.

Ignore buzzkill r225.

Where does the Atlantis cruise go this time?

Aruba, Curacao, Martinique and St Kitts.

Two of those are repeats for me, two are new.

The water must be cold (relatively speaking) in March. I love snorkeling and diving.

I love Aruba and St. Kitts. I’d totally go to the former for a couple of weeks…

I just saw a commercial on Tennis Channel for Seabourn that briefly featured a gay couple. Cruise gays (including Voice of the Night) please tell us your impression of Seabourn. Thank you.

Seabourn and other higher-end cruise lines offer a great product. The only downside is that sometimes your fellow passengers are boorish snobs.

[quote] Aruba, Curacao, Martinique and St Kitts.

Sounds fun VOTN. Let’s hope Virgin cleaned those hammocks prior to the sailing as I wager they’ll be put to good use.

Taking my first cruise ever in less than a month. Expensive because it's Disney and I'm rooming by myself, but only 4 days out of San Diego. The Disney queen in me is excited and I got my ears ready, but also in sore need of some R&R. I can at least count on their customer service being top notch.

[quote]Sounds fun VOTN. Let’s hope Virgin cleaned those hammocks prior to the sailing as I wager they’ll be put to good use.

I suspect they’re going to need to burn them by the end of the week.

I was impressed by how smoothly embarkation was. They wouldn’t let anyone onboard before 1:45 (unless you were in a suite), but we were allowed to drop our bags at the pier starting at 9, so we did, wandered around San Juan, and they let us queue up around a half hour before our check-in time. It was through in like fifteen minutes once they did. Bags got delivered very quickly as well.

We had dinner in Test Kitchen, the molecular gastronomy place. Our waitress, Nelly, was amazing, and despite being a slight Nigerian woman had intense dom energy. I loved her, and took a picture with her for Instagram that said “Total Top, Except for Nelly.” The Welcome Party took a while to get going, and as soon as it started to pick up, it started pouring rain. There’s no big indoor party space, so I ended up calling it a night. I learned that Rich Campbell was one of the people that Virgin consulted when they were designing the ships, and the battle he lost was for an indoor or covered space for big events.

I mostly like the ship, although the layout definitely takes some getting used to. The only real issue I have with the cabin is that the bathroom, while decently sized and with the toilet and shower in separate compartments, has no door, so if you need to use either, the light spills into the room.

[quote]I mostly like the ship, although the layout definitely takes some getting used to. The only real issue I have with the cabin is that the bathroom, while decently sized and with the toilet and shower in separate compartments, has no door, so if you need to use either, the light spills into the room.

Zach’s video shows that the Virgin couch/beds are low. Does that mean there is less space for storage?

[quote]Taking my first cruise ever in less than a month. Expensive because it's Disney and I'm rooming by myself, but only 4 days out of San Diego. The Disney queen in me is excited and I got my ears ready, but also in sore need of some R&R. I can at least count on their customer service being top notch.

Apparently Disney ships have more child-free areas than the average cruise line so you should be able to both indulge and ignore the Disney stuff to your heart’s context. Have fun and tell us everything!

[quote]Zach’s video shows that the Virgin couch/beds are low. Does that mean there is less space for storage?

For the most part, I’m finding the storage okay. The bigger of my suitcases fits under the bed. There aren’t a lot drawers in the closet, but there is a pretty sizable drawer that’s under wear they would have the second bed configured if they were separated and/or you wanted it made up into a couch for the day. I feel like they should put a cushion down on it if they leave the beds together, because otherwise it’s just an extremely low shelf.

R233 R235 - I remember taking to the sales guy who sold to Carnival their mattresses and he was glad he had them as a client because the lifecycle was so short.

I don’t know if they still use the same supplier, but Carnival’s beds used to be awesome. They had it set up so you could buy them.

Princess has that deal.

Yes -Carnival had extremely comfortable beds. So does Celebrity. Royal Caribbean, not so much...

When I did Disney I had a great time. They really know how to deal with the kiddies so it's easy to go to an adults-only area and never see them at all.

VOTN - Even if they had an indoor party space, Rich doesn't have too good a track record of moving a party indoors successfully. Remember the fiasco last Halloween?

[quote]When I did Disney

Pics please.

I never kiss and tell, R243!

Besides, I was never into necrophilia.

Hell, the wind gave us the same issue on Oasis in January.

However, unlike Oasis, which at least has alternate venues, Valiant Lady doesn’t really have one. If the weather had been really bad, the only place that would be even close to big enough indoors is the Red Room, the multipurpose performance space. As it stands, they had to drain the bigger of the pools and put a cover over the deep part for dancing, and then went I was up this morning to grab some coffee before brunch (as an aside, Razzle Dazzle, the vegan restaurant—with a few carnivore items—is terrific), they were having to refill it and put the sun beds that are around it back out. And they’ll have to it all over again at least for tonight’s party. I don’t know if they’re doing it again for the first t dance, which I’m about to head to.

And the VHS workout class, which I thought would just be goofing around was not only a hell of a lot of fun, it also spiked my heart rate enough to actually burn calories. I was sweaty by the end.

While I didn’t drink one, we were all given a Ketel One Vodka Spritz at the end. I can’t help but think a Seagram’s Wine Cooler would have been more thematically appropriate.

R246 do you like Korean food? Tell us what the tableside BBQ restaurant is like on the ship.

r247 Do they keep a kennel onboard so the dog is fresh?

[quote]The only real issue I have with the cabin is that the bathroom, while decently sized and with the toilet and shower in separate compartments, has no door, so if you need to use either, the light spills into the room.

Wait, there are no doors on the bathrooms on Virgin cruise ships? Is that true of most cruises?

Thanks for the deets VOTN. You've got me interested in a potential cruise vacation.

[quote][R246] do you like Korean food? Tell us what the tableside BBQ restaurant is like on the ship.

We haven’t done that one yet. I think it’s tomorrow. Tonight we did the Mexican place, Pink Agave. It’s not bad. Not great (and a fair sight better than anything we had on RC in January), but about what you’d get at a decent local place.

[quote]Wait, there are no doors on the bathrooms on Virgin cruise ships? Is that true of most cruises?

It’s the category we’re in. For most ships, and indeed most of the balcony rooms on the ship, the toilet and shower are in their own little compartment off the entrance way. We’re in what they call an XL Sea Terrace, so it’s a bit longer. As part of that, at least as our room is laid out, when you come in the door, on the left side before you get into the main bedroom, there’s an alcove. On one side of the alcove, there’s the sink (which has a huge counter, which is nice, and two separate compartments, one for the shower and one for the toilet, so one person can use one while the other uses the other. It’s a nice set up, but there’s no door separating the alcove from the rest of the room, so if it’s 2AM and you need the light on in there, it will light up the rest of the cabin.

Thanks VOTN. Are their doors on the toilet and shower compartments at least? That would be strange if not.

See for yourself

Thanks r252. Weird - they couldn't build in a sliding or folding door for the bathrooms? The light would be very bright at night from there, never mind the lack of privacy. The shower steam might also get into the main room.

That's the issue I'd have - the humidity from the shower would heat up the whole room. Cabins usually aren't cool enough as it is.

And the smell of poop.

Given the dirt and filth that collects in the cushions on public seating, I feel that not having additional non-sofabed seating on Virgin is a mistake.

Not that they seem to be returning to Australia in any real way. I think the brand arrived too soon after lockdown and after the Ruby Princess debacle, adult travellers were more likely to spend the money holidaying in Bali, Thailand or NZ.

Is Malcolm still the Atlantis cruise director?

R252 that’s like a bad knock-of the Standard Hotels’ basic room. Blah.

Knock-off

[quote]Is Malcolm still the Atlantis cruise director?

Malcom retired after the big Harmony cruise in 2023. The new CD is Ben Cameron. He’s great. He did a few shows on Broadway and has a Broadway podcast when he’s not doing this.

Malcom was really good at his job, but the new guy (Ben) seems to be following well in his footsteps. :)

Cruisin’ for a bruising’

She got it!

Virgin staterooms are so IKEA like. Not a compliment.

Inside One Of The BIGGEST Cruise Ships In The World:

r264 - That's a very funny Photoshop job. I always called it "Syphilis of the Seas".

I'm hoping that the cruise lines overbuild and interest wanes a little so that the prices will come back down.

Shoutout to whichever Datalpunger went to the Into the Deep aquatic themed party dressed as Lynda Carter in Wonder Woman’s scuba outfit.

Which celebrity guests are performing VOTN?

The headliner is Loren Allred. I’m not familiar with her, but she’s primarily known for having Marni Nixon’d Rebecca Ferguson in Greatest Showman and has done a few reality singing shows (and not lasted long).

I didn’t interact with her, but she both came to VV’s production show (a Cirqus-style Romeo and Juliet) and at least briefly at the party last night.

Well that’s no Alan Cumming but at least she can sing well, I guess.

I hope so. I have reservations for the guy from the West End tonight. He’s at least hot.

Also, I’m not going to try and convince anyone that they would automatically like this or that it’s the only way to vacation or even cruise, but I wanted to share a story from last night:

So, Virgin does quite a few of their restaurants communally or family style. We had dinner last night in the Italian place, which was excellent, and were seated with two other couples. One set were two really nice guys from Michigan, probably mid-50s. The other set were two old, old guys from Canada who were basically holding court to the delight of the rest of us. They were celebrating 65 years together.

I know Atlantis is drugs and parties and sex. But it’s also Hubert and Colin. And I’m really grateful for it.

Sink a cold one (water, beer, whatever) for Hubert and Colin on behalf of DL.

VOTN, I've had similar experiences on every Atlantis/RSVP cruise. You can't always hit it off with everyone, but more often than not you'll meet some great people who are entertaining and/or inspiring. The guy celebrating his 95th birthday. The couple that's been together for 70 years. The cute young guy who does wigs for Broadway who has so many backstage stories and so much tea to spill... The super-hot cover-model who chats you up in the pool, that you would never get within ten feet up on shore.

I just watched today's episode of La Lido Loca, which was all about how rude and selfish people can ruin a cruise. Sure, they are everywhere -But all-gay cruises are friendlier and show more courtesy than any straight cruise I've ever been on. Oh, we play at being Evil Queens and Nasty Bitches here on Datalounge, but when we're out in public we are much more considerate and have better manners than most of the crowd. Put us all together on a ship and it really shows.

Keep enjoying your cruise, VOTN! Tell Hubert and Colin that we all wish them many, many more years together. And enjoy the parties and the sex!

I started to feel really off, and I was worried I was going to get sick again like I did on the Oasis cruise, only this would have been worse because I’d have missed the Classics party, which is my favorite. So I decided to be bougie and try the ship’s medi-spa, and got an infusion of B12 and Vitamin C, and I feel almost 100% better a few hours later. I had a really nice time talking to the doctor (who is an actual MD), who told me that unlike some other lines, Virgin forbade the crew from going to our parties in their off-hours, which is really a shame. It’s clear a lot of the crew are somewhere on the LGBT spectrum, and even the ones who aren’t seem like the kind of people who would enjoy them. She did confirm that the crew really does look forward to these charters because while there are still a few Karens here and there, by average, we’re a much nicer, happier bunch than even the regular Virgin clientele.

My partner had a similar encounter when he did a pedicure in the spa. The woman doing that was on her first Virgin contract, and among other things, even with the lack of tipping, Virgin is an enviable employer for those in the industry (surprisingly, so is Disney). Among other perks, Virgin gives their crew free WiFi so they can call home, which other lines (the woman had previously worked for NCL) have to pay for.

We got some reveals about future Atlantis plans. Not sure how much I’m supposed to mention, but for anyone looking to try out either Atlantis or Virgin without committing to a full week…watch this space.

Every time this thread pops up, I think it’s about Tammy.

Okay, I was not expecting much from Loren Allred, but she killed it. She said she’d never done a cruise before, let alone a gay cruise, but she completely understood the assignment. I was thinking she had a nice enough voice, but then she confessed that she dreams of doing a theme for a Bond film and busted out a version of “Diamonds Are Forever” that I think Shirley Bassey would have approved of. She followed that with a beautiful version of “Moon River,” a few original songs, and the closed with “This Is Me.” And look, I know I need to turn in my DL card, but I honestly love that song without irony and she had everybody singing along. After everyone hollered for an encore, she did “Over the Rainbow.”

She was great. In what she said was a total coincidence, unbeknownst to her, one of her cousins was on the cruise. He’s getting laid tonight.

Never apologize for liking something, VOTN. It sounds like you're having a wonderful time on your cruise -I'm sorry I won't be on the October Mexico cruise as usual -but the QM2 TA beckons.

How's the food this trip??

Basically outstanding. I’ll be done with the final of the restaurants tomorrow so I’ll have a full opinion later.

I think you’ll be pleased with what Atlantis will be announcing for next year. Biggest news is that they’re going back with Celebrity, which excites me.

Diamonds Are Forever ✅

Moon River ✅

A few [note, a mere FEW] original songs ✅

This Is Me ✅

Over the Rainbow ✅

Talk about knowing your audience. Sounded like a fun show, VOTN.

[quote]Talk about knowing your audience. Sounded like a fun show, VOTN.

Absolutely.

I’m sure she wants to aim a little higher, but she’ll have steady gigs on the gay cabaret circuit for the rest of her life if she choses. I know we criticize audiences for giving standing ovations at the drop of a hat, but she earned hers.

I have nothing really gay to say about this, except that Martinique is astonishingly beautiful.

Great news about Celebrity, VOTN! (and the food) Thanks for sharing!

I’ve wrapped up a pre White Party disco nap, and we wrapped up dinner at Gunbae, the Korean barbecue, so I’ve now hit all of the restaurants. I’ve missed a few of the smaller places, like the Social Club which has like pub food (I attempted to order something, but he never gave it to me) and the Dock House (Mediterranean small plates). I didn’t try for each of the stations in the Food Hall (I don’t like ramen and don’t eat sushi because I avoid any raw protein since my colectomy), but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on things.

Food overall has been excellent. There have been some mixed opinions on the various restaurants (some people loved certain ones I was blah on and I liked ones that others didn’t), and there are at least two mincing prisspots who wouldn’t feed it to their dogs, but it’s a world better than RC was. For my money, the best three were Test Kitchen (might be colored by how much I loved the waitress, but we’re eating there for the last time tomorrow because they change the and menu are requesting her station), Extra Virgin (Italian, and I’m not a huge fan of Italian food) and the Wake (hard to mess up steak, but the preparation and presentation were outstanding). Razzle Dazzle (vegan/vegetarian, but I went for their few meat dishes) was better at brunch than dinner, and its brunch was better than the Wake’s brunch, IMO, and Gunbae was an above average experience (although there’s a forced drinking game, which doesn’t have to involve alcohol, that I didn’t like). Pink Agave was the only disappointment, and even that wasn’t bad, just average. Although one of the guys we were seated at Gunbae with said that they thought Pink Agave was amazing because you can’t get Mexican food like that at home. I am perhaps spoiled by having a Michelin-star Mexican restaurant in walking distance of my apartment.

The Galley (food hall) is a great concept, and more fun than a buffet, but I wish they had a bit more variety. Each of the stations only has one or two items that change daily. I do love that the diner station is 24 hours. I was a little disappointed in the pizza. It’s made to order and they have multiple choices,, but taste-wise I’d give it to RC’s Sorrento’s, even if they only have cheese, pepperoni, and a rotating third option.

Just to let you know what kind of good hands Malcolm left us in with Ben, this morning after the White Party, Ben is wearing a disheveled wedding dress, has a face full of runny mascara, and is staggering around the ship with one shoe on wailing about how much fun he’s having.

When he commits to a bit, he *commits*.

I love to see you happy, VotN! one of our few precious valiant named posters!

Hahaha. And even though I was dancing until about 5AM, for once I’m feeling spry enough to make it to the disco tea dance.

And I shall be wearing my status as. DLer loud and proud as my outfit for it includes….a sequined caftan.

R286 how was the Korean food?

[quote] I do love that the diner station is 24 hours

The idea of midnight bacon and eggs after all that partying sound fun TBH.

And it’s cooked to order to boot.

The highest compliment I can give Virgin is that I would sail them even without Atlantis.

Are there “quiet” areas on Virgin ships, or are they go-go-go?

Was surprised to learn here that VOTN had a colectomy. Don't recall reading about that. Was it Crohn's/IBD, cancer, or diverticulosis? Hope all is well now. And no bag. Enjoy the cruise!

Perforated toxic megacolon in the late spring of 2022. I had a Hartmanns reversal to reconnect the two ends in November of that year, about two and a half months before my first Atlantis cruise.

Ouch. Congrats on the reversal! I had what was referred to as a "take down" -- after two resections and "the year of the bag". All OK now.

Off the subject of that, I’ve been talking up our terrific Test Kitchen waitress all week. We had our last dinner with her tonight, partly because they have a different menu for the second part of the week, and partly because we just loved her so much. As we were saying goodbye, she told me that Ben, who she’d never met or served, came up to her tonight to thank her and get her information so he could relay Atlantis’ compliments to her personally. She was so happy, she teared up. Which made me tear up.

She’d never worked a gay charter before. She told us she thinks that as they should always get to do one as part of every contract, because it’s the most fun she’s had.

I've been saying for years that all-gay cruises are more than a bathhouse at sea -but no one believes me!

[quote] If cruise ship commercials were honest

One of my posts in the cruise Telegram group chat made Brad Loekle’s Last Laugh. I feel oddly accomplished.

There's a woman on TikTok who talks about cruises. Someone sent her a picture of a person who had dragged their cabin's mattress outside on to the balcony so they can lay out there. She commented, correctly, that it was bad behavior to do that with the ship's property because it can be damp outside. A lot of viewers of her video commented that they thought it was okay and that no one should criticize it.

It shows how awful people are that they think taking the mattress outside is okay.

How does someone fall overboard on one of these trips? A Scottish passenger is the lastest case, on an MSC cruise from Southampton to Germany. Aren't the railings fairly high? He may have been drunk, but still. The article says there is remote camera footage of him going overboard.

Article link in next post.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Well, I’m in the underwhelming SJU Priority Pass lounge waiting to go home. AMA. I can also give spoilers about Atlantis in 2025.

I’m not sure about the Euribia, but basically every ship I’ve ever been on has had railings that go up about chest high. I’m about 5’9, so not tall but not quite a pocket gay either.. As a guess, he probably got drunk and climbed up.

[quote] How does someone fall overboard on one of these trips? A Scottish passenger is the lastest case, on an MSC cruise from Southampton to Germany.

That’s my biggest fear of being on a cruise, falling overboard or being pushed overboard. I’m not sure I could go out on deck. Maybe just stay inside the whole time.

[quote]Ms Mcphee said her husband's sister informed her of the tragedy. She said she had seen CCTV which showed Mr Smith going overboard into the ocean. Ms Mcphee continued: 'I've not had any contact from anyone since.'

It’s strange how the sister he was traveling with has seen the video of him going overboard, but neither her nor the cruise line has provided information about it to the wife. I hope wasn’t pushed.

[quote]I can also give spoilers about Atlantis in 2025.

Do it!

The Scottish couple looks like they are Travellers.

Okay, so for the rest of the year, in addition to what’s already announced, they’re adding a five-night Virgin cruise from Miami over Thanksgiving, so 11/25-30. I think that’ll be on Valiant Lady, and if I end up doing EDC Las Vegas instead of my Med cruise, I will likely do that one as well.

The Big One for next year is one of Allure of the Seas’ final cruises before she finally gets her upgrade that was delayed because of COVID. Because she is doing 3- and 4-night cruises now, the dates are odd, 2/3-10, which is a Monday to a Monday.

Two weeks after that, another seven night Virgin cruise from San Juan, this one on Resilient Lady, although he didn’t indicate if it would be the itinerary we did, or their alternate one, which is primarily the British Leeward Islands plus Sint Maarten. Then in March, a second Virgin Caribbean cruise from Miami, probably Eastern Caribbean on Scarlet Lady.

No firm announcement for the Mediterranean or Halloween, but he did indicate that they won’t be doing anything else with Royal Caribbean in 2025, so if there is a Halloween cruise, it’ll be on either Nieuw Statendam or Norwegian Bliss, based on current deployments. The 2023 Mexico cruise ended up being heavily discounted, but this year’s on Koningsdam is already sold out,

Asia cruise in November 2025 on Celebrity. He didn’t specify the ship, but I think it’ll be the Solstice. And I will probably book that one.

The luxury cruise will be French Polynesia on Oceania. No official date, but likely late August or early September.

Not thrilled about the Big One, but I’ll take it.

Not surprised at the move to HAL for the Mexican cruise. The food on Royal last October was pretty bad...

Yeah, it was awful on Oasis as well. Shifting towards Virgin and Celebrity suits me just fine.

I mean, I’m doing the Allure, but it’s sure as shit not for the food and services.

In more sobering news, two crew members will killed on the Nieuw Statendam today when they were anchored in Half Moon Cay. No info on what happened.

iz der goy: "The goy goes to the tavern/ he drinks a glass of wine/ oy, th e goy is drunk, drunk is he/ drink he must, because a goy is he," the first verse proclaims.

I haven't had too many bad meals on cruises. When the CARNIVAL RADIANCE was the VICTORY, they had a godawful embarkation day buffet, supermarket grade cold cuts and limited cheeses. In 2022 I had a Cornish Hen that was like a football on the CARIBBEAN PRINCESS. They apologized profusely and gave me a great piece of broiled salmon. I recall mediocre desserts on the CARNIVAL VENEZIA last year. But for the most part, no. The food I had on the MSC SEASIDE last year was the best.

There was a steam line that broke aboard the Nieuw Statendam, which killed those two crew members. It hasn't been explained exactly how, but burning/scalding seems most (horribly) likely. :( Many passengers thought there had been an explosion and fire aboard the ship.

Back in the day, Carnival used to have very good food (especially their Indian dishes). But my last Carnival cruise became my LAST Carnival cruise because the food in the main dining room was comparable to a Home Town Buffet, while the actual buffet was literally serving slop (nothing but stews). No fresh fruit all week. The salad bar had iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges, and one or two other items. At breakfast the potatoes were both raw and burnt (no idea how they managed that) and the they were the best thing there... It was a clear attempt to push everyone to book the a la carte restaurants or to eat the fast food out on deck. People were raving about how good that fast food was, but as a vegetarian they didn't have anything for me. I stood in very long lines all week for slices of cheese pizza... Truly the worst food I have ever encountered in 40 cruises!

Watching Carnival Freedom on fire again.

Okay, something is going on with Carnival.

It may have been a lightning strike.

Because God hates Carnival.

God must've eaten on a Carnival ship recently!

They announced that the third Wish-class ship will be called Disney Destiny, and will have a hero versus villains theme. That's....definitely an improvement. They seem to have addressed some of the shortcomings on the Wish with the Treasure, so perhaps they'll have nailed it down this time.

[quote] a hero versus villains theme

Dear Lord, they’re keeping the Marvel restaurant, aren’t they. I heroes and villains indicates the ship is aimed at Disney Boys seeing as the Wish is Disney Princess oriented.

They could make the stupid Star Wars bar work if the waitstaff were costumed as Wookies and C-3PO mixed the drinks.

I am curious about Disney’s purchase of the Global Dream. Will it be aimed at Disney Asians?

They’re called Global Dream Disney Adventure. They’re reducing the planned passenger capacity, which is good. I think she’ll homeport in Singapore, but I might be remembering wrong.

As for the Destiny, the lobby is themed around Mulan, so it’s not entirely boy-themed.

The Panama Canal is drying up, making it impossible for some cruise ships to transit, the Suez Canal has virtually shut down because of violence and war in the region…River cruises in Europe are also being disrupted by drought…wtf?

R319 cruise lines are great at adapting to world events. Climate change, OTOH, I’m not sure about.

One off-brand adventure cruise ship has cancelled its Panama Canal trip. They said low water levels were to blame, but it seems the cruise simply wasn't selling well enough to turn a profit. The Panama Canal Authority has actually increased the number of slots available for cruise ships. Yes, the water levels in Gatun Lake are low (that's the source of fresh water used to raise and lower ships), but it has been worse.

Fingers crossed that no one's cruises get cancelled (including mine)!

Does the Panama Canal have 2 lanes, so to speak? So ships can travel in both directions?

R322, the older locks are two-way. The new wide locks are one way (they alternate directions).

They need to make the locks double decker, like highways.

I mean, it took almost ten years to build the wider locks that can admit the bigger ships. And that's just the actual construction, they'd been talking about building them for decades before they actually started.

Morbidly, I'm wondering what Carnival and RC are going to do about the Key Bridge collapse. Both have a ship homeported in Baltimore, and I'm wondering if the harbor is going to be navigable. It's pretty shallow water.

Looks like Carnival Legend (which is to be replaced by Carnival Pride in a few weeks) will be homeporting in my native Norfolk while they sort getting the shipping channel open. That should be interesting; Nauticus, which is a combo of a cruise terminal and a maritime museum is being renovated and expanded, so they weren't supported to have any cruise traffic for a year.

No announcement about what Royal is doing with Vision of the Seas, but they'll probably slot her in with their other ships in Bayonne, especially since she was supposed to go into dry dock at the end of April. I was thinking they might try Philadelphia, but she's apparently too tall to fit safely under the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

Tragic news from Baltimore today. The most recent word is that Carnival will move its Baltimore-based cruises to Norfolk for the time being. It's going to take quite some time to clear the waterway. The Coast Guard has finally announced the move from search and rescue to recovery. The death toll make go up a bit once things settle. :(

The Cruise Critic forum seems to be a good place for both information and speculation on the impact to cruising. They talk about the Carnival move to Norfolk and the speculation of RC using Bayonne versus other alternatives and why it can’t use Philly.

Looks like Vision of the Seas will be using Norfolk as well.

I am...surprised.

Is there a naval base in Norfolk? I’m going by a Hallmark movie with Barbara Niven.

You can NEVER go wrong going by a Hallmark movie with Barbara Niven.

Words to live by, r331.

The married couple that I go cruising with are currently on Holland-America's NIEUW STATENDAM. They are loving it - and very impressed with the food, especially the buffet. I did FB Messenger with them last night and they gave me a bit of a tour of the ship. They ended up at the BB King Blues Club. We'll be reconnecting in June on the ENCHANTED PRINCESS. I put in a bid for a stateroom upgrade too.

[quote]We'll be reconnecting in June on the ENCHANTED PRINCESS. I put in a bid for a stateroom upgrade too.

Enchanted Princess was with us in Martinique. I can only say she looks lovely from the outside.

I'd almost post some of my cruise photos, but I'm in a lot of them and unsure if I want to dox myself. Haha.

Can you post some that you’re not in, VOTN?

News today: 8 passengers stranded on an African island from Norwegian for being tardy to boarding.

[quote]News today: 8 passengers stranded on an African island from Norwegian for being tardy to boarding.

They weren't "stranded."

They were an over an hour late getting back from a private tour.

But it gets more clicks if they're made to look completely innocent.

There’s a paraplegic passenger on their private tour. Seems unwise, yet additionally the paraplegic party did not take an accepted credit card onshore. Neither did anyone else except for a couple from South Carolina who paying for everyone until they rejoin the ship.

For once, DL is rather late to the table. Those passengers traveled across six countries to rejoin the ship at her next port -only to have the ship unable to dock due to tidal conditions. So they moved on to the next port (Senegal) and got there ahead of the ship. Now one couple is saying they won't re-board, because they feel the ship should have originally waited for them. They were on the Today show talking about it. Their argument (what a shocker) is that they knew the rules, but NCL shouldn't have been so quick to enforce them because "they are part of the hospitality industry." I think it's more a case of them (hopefully) being too embarrassed.

Yeah, I don't have a lot of sympathy here.

Sao Tome is a tiny country without a lot of cruise ship traffic. It's a tender stop.

They know the all-aboard times. They were late enough that the ship had confirmed that they weren't aboard, delivered the missing passengers' passports to the NCL agent at the pier (which would have also been via tender) , had that tender return, stowed the lifeboats and the tendering platform and were preparing to sail.

[quote]Those passengers traveled across six countries to rejoin the ship at her next port -only to have the ship unable to dock due to tidal conditions. So they moved on to the next port (Senegal) and got there ahead of the ship. Now one couple is saying they won't re-board, because they feel the ship should have originally waited for them.

They were on Good Morning America as well. Per reports, everyone got back aboard in Dakar. NCL is apparently paying for their travel from Gambia to Senegal, which is fair, because it's not their fault that they couldn't make port there.

They were also trying to say that NCL had "dumped" an 80-year-old woman in Sao Tome to make them look worse, but as it happens, the woman had a stroke, they had no ability to care for her on the ship, so she was admitted to a Tomean hospital and is in the process of being repatriated back to the US.

Thanks for the latest update, VOTN. Isn't it amazing how different the story is depending on who is telling it? I've been on so many cruises, often to the same ports, so I seldom do shore excursions of any kind. I do have a private one coming up in Costa Rica -but I made sure to book an early departure (8 AM), with the ship in port until 6 PM. Not much risk there. Even so, if I were farther away from home, in a country where I didn't speak the language, I'd probably stick with ship-sponsored trips.

Someone please shoot me if I ever become so entitled that I think the a ship should have to wait a few hours for me after I did something they expressly warned me not to do.

[quote]I think it's more a case of them (hopefully) being too embarrassed.

I think it's more a case of them planning a lawsuit.

Hell, I canceled a ship-sponsored excursion in St Kitts because Virgin had changed the departure time from 6PM to 4:30, and the tour operate had also delayed the excursion to where it was scheduled to return 15 minutes prior to the all aboard. That was cutting it too close for me.

I have some level of sympathy for pier runners in Cozumel or Nassau, because a lot of those people are first timers and maybe don't know the rules. I mean, they make it very clear, but I've learned to never overestimate the obliviousness of American tourists. But if you're taking a repositioning cruise that's going around Africa, you have to be pretty experienced.

[quote]I think it's more a case of them planning a lawsuit.

I'm sure they'll probably try and file, but there's no case there. The ticket contract is extremely clear about this.

Yeah -good luck with a lawsuit. The rules, contracts, and facts are all on the side of the cruise line. Will that stop them from suing? Of course not.

I’ve been on two cruises where I did private tours. But they always got back an hour or two before the ship’s departure. It is risky though.

I've done private tours in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Alaska before without any issue, but I'd weigh saving a few bucks against the possibility of something going wrong because the tour either A) goes a distance from the ship, B) is more than a few hours, or C) is in a country that doesn't handle cruise traffic as much and/or I don't speak the language.

Like, for the Koningsdam cruise, we're in PV from 11AM until 2AM. That's enough time, and I speak enough Spanish that I'm perfectly comfortable getting a cab to the beach in the Zona Romantica, but there's also an excursion that goes up into the Sierra Madres, and there's no way I'd try and do that independently, even with more than 12 hours in port.

I've done dozens of private tours, but I try to stick with operators like Viator or other cruise-savvy companies. We've booked local taxi drivers off the dock in various locations where it's reasonable and they handle a lot of cruises.

[quote]I'm sure they'll probably try and file, but there's no case there. The ticket contract is extremely clear about this.

[quote]Yeah -good luck with a lawsuit. The rules, contracts, and facts are all on the side of the cruise line. Will that stop them from suing? Of course not.

Of course they could not win a lawsuit. It's all about the settlement.

I’d say the case is all about public opinion and public relations, regardless of the rules. Leaving behind grandma and grandpa in poor health to try to survive after being stranded by the cruise line on an island off the coast of Africa is not the same thing as leaving behind pier runners in tourist destinations like the Bahamas or Cozumel. The cruise line can be 100% in the right and still come out the loser.

Where do you draw the line? If the group had decided to say fuck and and go out clubbing until 3AM, should the ship have waited until then?

What if it was a single person? Same deal?

Sorry, I feel icky agreeing with the mega corporation, but the passengers fucked around and found out.

I tend to agree, however, it's not like they were late to the pier in Cozumel or Nassau where you can easily make other travel arrangements to catch your ship (or head back to the US). They're in a remote African island port with people with health challenges and lack of payment options. It's also questionable that they turned them away when the Coast Guard brought them to the ship. I think the Captain was being hardnosed at that point.

LOL, I just read R349 more closely and found he used the same examples as I.

[quote]It's also questionable that they turned them away when the Coast Guard brought them to the ship.

Howso? The tendering platform was stowed. The only way onto or off of the ship would have been the hatch that the harbor pilots enter and exit through--which involves jumping, a ladder and is dangerous enough that pilots are killed doing so with shocking regularity. Or the alternative, getting set up again to tender, which would have been even more of a delay.

What's been lost in all of this is that the Gulf of Guinea, while not as dangerous as the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden, does have pirate activity as well. Even before you get to the logistics of getting the supposed infirm people getting on the ship via a route that can kill healthy harbor pilots, a strange boat with armaments approaching the ship is probably not something the captain wanted to roll out the red carpet for.

The airport in Sao Tome has flights to several African countries and two airlines that fly to Portugal. It's isolated, but not as isolated as you'd think.

Also, it's definitely not NCL's fault that they didn't have a working credit card. I won't even go ashore in the Caribbean without at least two different ones, because not a lot of places in the Caribbean take American Express.

It's standard practice to bring at least a photo ID and a credit card ashore in foreign ports. Also smart to bring some cash -for food/drinks/guide tips/etc. I have a magnetic clip that attaches to my iPhone that holds all of these quite easily -and I pop my phone in a waterproof bag if I'm likely to get wet or very sweaty. This isn't rocket science...

The Post discovers theme cruises.

The whole Ultimate World Cruise tabloid disaster was weird because apart from that one guy who got drunk and went full racist during a livestream and the rerouting around Africa, it has seemed all systems go. Most if not all of the cruisers seem unobjectionable people who make an effort to get along with each other.

Even hot bitchy Marc Sebastian and hyperactive fragile Christian Hull didn’t cause chaos for content as they wanted. They both seemed overwhelmed.

It was probably circulated around that the first (and every subsequent) shitbag to cause trouble would be ejected -along with their baggage- at the first sign of trouble.

Viking has filed for an IPO. I don't think they have a date for it yet, but it will trade under VIK.

I have a few shares in RC and Carnival Corp. I might buy some just for fun.

Has anyone done the New England and Quebec cruises during Autumn? It would be a fun alternative to a road trip. Depending on the ships of course.

There's some stuff in flux because Bar Harbor is trying to limit the number of passengers that can come ashore in a single day, which would severely limit cruise traffic. They have court approval to put the cap in place, but there are groups appealing that. As I understand it, for cruises that were scheduled prior to the ordinance originally being enacted (so going back to 2022) are still cleared to tender in, but beyond that no one knows what will happen.

Yes r360, both times it was with Carnival. Did a black Canadian tour in 2001 and a fall foliage cruise last September on the VENEZIA. Good times.

[quote] Did a black Canadian tour in 2001

I assume it didn’t take long to visit all the black Canadians.

R363 I suppose I should have elaborated. It was an Afro-Canadian tour of Halifax and its surrounding suburbs. Similarities but noticeable differences between black Canadians and their American counterparts.

That sounds kind of interesting, r364. I hated Toronto, the only place in that frozen wasteland tundra I have visited. So anything to give the place a bit more colour, literal or otherwise.

R365 oh no 😬. What didn’t you like about Toronto? I’ve always wanted to visit there. Some of the smaller, pricier cruise ships go there.

R361 - I was told by someone who would know 😁 that if it lands in Federal Court, they won't be allowed to limit, as that cuts into Interstate Commerce Commission turf.

I wish Tips For Travellers would get a basic cabin on a Cunard ship for once. Of course dining in the Princess Grill will be divine, but that doesn’t help most of his viewers.

Friends who have sailed Cunard in a standard cabin said the food int eh MDR was good, comparable to Holland America or Celebrity. I'm sailing QM2 in October, so I can speak from experience after that.

In addition to the Prima-class ships that are in the pipeline (the Norwegian Aqua and three additional sisters), the NCL holding company has announced a total of eight additional new builds, four for NCL and two each for Oceania and Regent. The ones for NCL will be in the size range of the Excel-class from Carnival, and fractionally smaller than the Oasis-class. But still their biggest by far.

Considering how much debt they took on to survive the pandemic, I guess they’ll be continuing to make cuts to services if they’re going to afford all of that.

R369 are you going on the fall foliage cruise?

No, I'm doing a transatlantic cruise westbound. I'm really looking forward to it.

VOTN, I appreciate the news you shared, but gotta say I hate it. The lines are all doubling-down on the mega ships, which I truly loathe. I think they're going to kill the industry with the poor food and service and terrible crowds. And making people pay more for less is never a good business model in the long term.

[quote]And making people pay more for less is never a good business model in the long term.

All Wall Street cares about is that we’re either at or above pre-pandemic numbers.

^^^ My complaint is that they are trying to recapture pre-pandemic numbers on a single sailing...

Oh, I’m not defending it. But apparently there’s still enough pent up demand that people will gleefully let Royal Caribbean nickel and dime them for $7 chicken nuggets.

On my last Royal Caribbean cruise they were charging 12 bucks for an order of onion rings!

And the one ride on Royal Caribbean that costs $90USD per person! Unbelievable! I saw it on Ben and Dave today.

Not that it's going to make a difference, but this is all pushing me toward the smaller ships on luxury lines. If it's going to cost a ridiculous amount of money being scrooged by the lower and mid-tier companies, might as well pay for some value.

Some people want to cruise so bad that they’re willing to leave their children behind - alone!

I hope you're not leaving your small children behind, alone, VotN!

Unless I end up adopting a new cat/s before October, I don't think you've got anything to worry about.

And even that's contingent on getting my boyfriend to move in with me.

Working with children is what drives me to cruising!

JJ Cruise interviewed a totally adorable cruise director from Celebrity Cruises. Hetero of course, 😒

R368 I just booked one on QM2 for the 4th of July. $599 plus tax for a week to Halifax for Canada Day and Boston for the Fourth of July. We’ve been in Queen’s Grill three times on QE2 and twice on QM2 but never eaten in the Britannia restaurant. I’ll let you know.

Please do r384. And give us a full trip report!

Has anyone cruised Japan?

Ginger bear Zach the Traveling Man has a recent Japan cruise series.

Wheee! Atlantis FINALLY got around to announcing the Big One for 2025.

Boy, did they jack up the prices. But they're also including 20 drink tickets and a specialty dining in the base fare, so that's nice.

Oh come on OP now what is classier than people stuffing themselves at buffets, Norovirus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, tiny state rooms, people jumping over board, people getting pushed overboard, where else can you find that sort of entertainment.

R389, yawn. Get a new shtick.

I've not been on a cruise and I hope to live out my days without having to go on one.

[quote]I've not been on a cruise and I hope to live out my days without having to go on one.

It's the only way to bring the risk of falling overboard to zero.

VOTN is Atlantis going to French Polynesia in 2025?

That was the announcement. I'm not expecting much else to be opened until after the Cancun resort trip this week. I was a little surprised that they randomly announced for Allure, but I'm glad they did.

I want deets on the Asia cruise. Considering how expensive the Big One is, I'm nervous about pricing there. But I'd like to do at least one more trip with them next year.

VOTN, what company do you use for trip insurance.

Combo of Allianz and the protections I get through American Express.

Thank you

If you're in the US, R395.Check out travelinsurance.com. Good comparison/quote site (no nags).

I’m using GeoBlue for travel medical insurance. It’s a licensee of Blue Cross Blue Shield, so it seemed reputable to me. Also, it covers pre-existing conditions even if you get the insurance after the period that other travel insurance won’t include it.

Thirty days until my ENCHANTED PRINCESS cruise to Mexico, Belize and Honduras.

The new Cunarder QUEEN ANNE has been delivered and will commence on her maiden voyage. Some of the comments from this article are a bit harsh.

I’m very intrigued by the Queen Anne. They gave her a most ungainly exterior, but the interior decor really pops.

I don’t like the Queen Anne foyer.

Just home today from a two-week Panama Canal cruise on the Celebrity Summit. The ship was full, but no lines or waiting. I always managed to get a table with an ocean view. There were ten kids aboard, and I only saw two -and that on the last sea day. Really great port talks on this one, including a former editor from Sky & Telescope who lectured on the solar system, celestial phenomena, and the controversy surrounding the status of Pluto. He led stargazing sessions, and even had a telescope out by the pool after lunch on sea days so we could look at and track sunspots.

No overboards. No norovirus. And, as Viv would say, my stateroom was sufficient. Verdict? Classier!

Sounds like a great trip, R404.

A family's cruise was ruined as a result of ID theft....and Carnival takes NO responsibility so they are out of $10K.

^^^ Did you catch the detail that they shared all the details of their trip -including their booking confirmation number - online? Idiots. That was just inviting trouble. FYI, if they had booked through a travel agent, even the publication of their confirmation number wouldn't have been sufficient for the theft to work.

I saw that too r407. I’ve been using a travel agent for my last three cruises. He’s been great and gets me great solo travel deals. And he keeps me up to date with everything, every change. I’ll be traveling with him and his family on the ENCHANTED PRINCESS on 31 May.

When I booked my own cruises I thought I was getting the best price possible. But my agent has been getting me cheaper deals than Vacations To Go or Cruises.com. And I never book directly with the line.

^ thanks for the insight!

I want to take my mother to a Hawaii and French Polynesia cruise in 2025 so I’m thinking about whether to book now or closer to time.

Onboard the ENCHANTED PRINCESS. My cruise buddies have brought their entire brood there’s nine of them right now at dinner. My introverted self is not enjoying this too much because I don’t know anyone other than my friends. They know the executive chef so we’re getting VIP treatment. I got my cabin upgraded too - deluxe balcony.

Enjoy the VIP treatment - you'll get extra attention from the Maitre'd on down and your food will be excellent. Congrats on the cabin upgrade as well. Sounds like fun.

R395 R396 - There are Lloyd's of London brokers in the US, that can cover 'acts of war' and evacuation if you are going to sketchy places. I have used them for work travel. Riots and a whole list of craziness generally aren't covered either by the plain vanilla companies. I realize most people here aren't going anywhere where their clothes might get dirty.

The entertainment on the ENCHANTED PRINCESS has been hit or miss so far. Last night was a great show full of great singing and dancing with a wide range of American music genres…loved it. But Saturday night was a bust - a juggling act that attempted to be a comedian as well. The juggling was amazing, but the jokes were rubbish. The male cast members in last night’s show were quite fetching too.

Since 2009 I have been on 11 cruises 🚢.

I’ve never 👎 gotten laid on ANY of them.

Since 1959 I’ve been on more than 35 cruises and gotten laid on every one of ‘em except the first one as I was 9 years old then and sharing the cabin with my grandmother.

She wasn't up for it, r415?

R415- I don't use apps ever- maybe that's the problem. I do not have an issue finding sex at home.

[quote]I do not have an issue finding sex at home.

I find sex at home too, on my PC monitor.

Tonight’s Movies Under The Stars?

THIS IS ME…NOW

FUCK PRINCESS 😈😡 guess I’ll be going to the comedy show!

R410 - how is the food?

R416 you tried. You failed. Really? At the age of 9?

R417 never used an app.

R420, decent so far. Even the dinner rolls were warm and not like rocks as on previous cruises.

We’re entering the port of Belize. We had to set our clocks back another hour, hence me being up right now. The dining room manager said that Belize is a very dull place…I’m debating whether or not I should go ashore.

DCL's new private port on Eleuthera opens this week. I'm curious that between this and Carnival's new Celebration Key on Grand Bahama Island who's going to outcompete CocoCay.

When I was in high school, our family spent a week in a cottage on the beach on Eluethera. It was lovely and unspoiled, and you could have large stretches of beach on both the Atlantic and gulf sides to yourself. Vendors would come by every morning with fresh coconut, pineapple and bananas - heaven. Now, it's all developed and soon to be overrun with cruisers. It makes me sad.

I mean, from what I've been reading, it's more like Labadee than it is like an actual port. They seem to be keeping them contained to the Disney-controlled areas. And they have a pretty big buffer between their port and the rest of the island because a lot of land was set aside for conservation.

Well, this is disappointing. In a huge break with tradition, Cunard declared the entire city of Liverpool to be the godmother of Queen Anne, and instead of a working royal, had the ship christened by five famous Liverpudlian women, most notably Mel C.

Bit of a downgrade even from Camilla.

Has anyone been on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 lately? We haven't been on her in 10 years, the ship is 20 years old, and wondered how she's holding up.

Ben and Dave have just finished their transatlantic trip onboard r427

QM2 had a pretty extensive drydock two or three years ago. Also, caution with Ben & David's video, they complained about everything.

Well just got back from my cruise on the NCL Encore to Alaska.

2nd cruise. First cruise was also to Alaska on the Encore in 2022. I would have like to try a different ship, but the times around Memorial Day just worked out to be the Encore again.

What a difference two years makes.

I enjoy NCL. I know some think they are low class, but I prefer the relaxed approach to dining, etc.

I had a good time again, but last time, my ship was only 50% booked. The ship was 100% booked this time so it was quite a difference.

I booked a single suite this time, which was actually quite nice. The singles lounge was nice.

It was nice that all the excursions were open this time.

I really noticed this time, how NCL has "bad" parking spots compared to other cruise lines. Like in Janeau, Princess parked RIGHT downtown. NCL has to provide a bus.

Juneau is also going through the same thing as New York, Bar Harbor, Venice, and Key West, and starting to cap cruise traffic. Not for this season or next, but they will starting in 2026. Just in time for Virgin to enter the Alaska market.

I saw that VOTN

[quote]The agreement, finalized late last week, seeks a daily limit of 16,000 cruise passengers Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 on Saturdays

Still 3-4 ships a day during the week, and 3 on Saturdays. Seems fairly toothless.

I can see it both ways if I was a resident. Having 12,000 people descend on your town, DAILY, it just nuts. Especially in such a concentrated area.

On the other hand, all of downtown was just tourist crap, plus all the people the excursion industry employs. If they severely limit cruise traffic, it will kill a lot of jobs.

[quote] Having 12,000 people descend on your town, DAILY, it just nuts.

Imagine small college towns with a university that has a student body over 30,000. That’s nuts.

R424 - An a very low crime rate, which is (amongst other things) probably what attracted the cruise line.

I did the first gay cruise to Alaska eons ago. 750 gay men descending on towns with a population of 250. That was nuts, too!

I'm looking at the videos from the first cruise to the unwieldily-named Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Boy, was that not ever ready for primetime. The ship actually docks, but the pier is something like half a mile of sun-baked concrete. I hope they're planning on putting up some awnings, otherwise people are going to keel over.

Apparently they had wanted to buy another island, but the Bahamian government refused, hence this compromise.

The ENCHANTED PRINCESS was great. I only got off the ship in Cozumel and Roatan. My friends and the restaurant manager said that Belize was overrated and not worth the 90 minute round trip tender ride. I was hoping that I could get a glimpse of the US ambassador Michelle Kwan though 😔. And I stayed onboard at Costa Maya as well. The ship was my destination and I loved it. Next year I plan on going to Alaska on the DISCOVERY PRINCESS. Can’t wait.

Glad to hear it, R437. Princess does it well.

[quote] I was hoping that I could get a glimpse of the US ambassador Michelle Kwan though

Gayest sentenced ever typed on DL.

I love you.

If you want a satellite view of just how damn long Disney’s pier in Eleuthera is.

Looks like they need the depth of water to moor the ship, hence the extreme length. Not sure about Disney, but some current cruise ships require 30-plus feet of water in order to avoid grounding.

I mean, it was clearly done with the environmental concerns with the reefs that around around Eleuthera, which is fine. Princess Cays is also on Eleuthera, and Princess has to tender in. So I understand wanting to be able to dock to not have issues with weather, but why not make it wider so they can run trams down the thing.

I hope that Disney has shuttles or minicarts or something for older passengers and those with young kids - that looks like quite the hike.

Of course they will provide tram shuttles!

$10 per person, $15 for a roundtrip if you buy in advance.

That pier doesn't look like it'll survive the next hurricane either. Don't like what they're doing to my beautiful Eleuthera.

I mean, for what it is, I think it's well done. Castaway Cay is imagineered to be a story that you're stranded on a deserted island. This is about the architecture and culture of the Bahamas. I think they did a fairly good job of it, although I'm curious if their supposed local artisans are selling their own wares or Made in China crap like in Nassau.

The deal for the pier is interesting. The resort area is owned by Disney, but the pier is leased. They have the seabed around it for 50 years and can extend it another 50. So only Disney or a third party they designate can use it. And Disney is wise enough to only allow one ship at a time, which is a problem CocoCay has.

Apparently NCL is building a pier at Great Stirrup Cay, so once it opens, that leaves only HAL and Princess tendering to their private islands. Princess won't be able to, because Princess Cays is also part of Eleuthera.

I can’t believe this. In story made it to CNN. I guess potential cruise disasters must be clickbait.

This ship is extremely newsworthy R447, of course a fire onboard is going to make the news.

My friends texted me from the CROWN PRINCESS. They said that they had to interrupt their Alaska cruise for a serious medical emergency. Originally the Coast Guard was supposed to send a helicopter out to evacuate the patient, forcing several dozen cabins to be evacuated. The help blades are powerful enough to blow the balcony furniture off the ship, hence the need to empty the cabins. But the fog quashed those plans, so now they are sending a cutter to pick up the wounded passenger.

[quote] The help blades are powerful enough to blow the balcony furniture off the ship, hence the need to empty the cabins. But the fog quashed those plans, so now they are sending a cutter to pick up the wounded passenger

Well shit. At least it’s Alaska and not the middle of the Pacific so the patient isn’t too isolated.

Yes R450, there were off the coast of Washington State when it happened.

Trashy.

Appalling behavior.

I wonder if that was a 2/3 night cruise?

I imagine those would be the craziest because folks would want to get in as much drinking as humanly possible.

Carnival is running some of their ships into the ground…many of them are in desperate need of refurbishing. These booze cruises are a way to get even more revenue. But they attract the most rachet people. The cruises out of NYC seem to attract the worst people, regardless of race and ethnicity.

[quote]Carnival is running some of their ships into the ground…many of them are in desperate need of refurbishing.

You can say that about a lot of cruise lines. They are so busy with newbuilds they should not neglect their older ships. Either refurbish them or sell/scrap them.

Speaking of new builds, Royal Caribbean is having Meghan Trainor christen Utopia of the Seas.

That’s a choice.

My hubby is a broadway queen. His bff’s are , too. They’ve gone on two Broadway Star cruises. (Bernedette was on the 2nd one - ya’ll can imagine the queening out over that) The third is next spring. They love it - & wanted me to go along. (Hard pass) Anyway- we now get endless cruise related spam - and i kinda want to go on a new wave /80’s pop star cruise. Not enough to do it …

“What if we could design a cruise ship like a superyacht? This is the story of Virgin Voyages”

[quote] Speaking of new builds, Royal Caribbean is having Meghan Trainor christen Utopia of the Seas.

She is America’s preeminent Soca artist.

I’ve often considered taking a 3 night cruise from my local port but it would be an alcoholic disaster because I am Australian.

Just back this morning from a week on the Queen Mary 2 on our first cruise in ten years. The food was great, the seas were calm, the entertainers and lecturers were good as was the weather in the ports (Halifax for Canada Day and Boston for the Fourth), the passengers weren't trashy, the bar bill cost more than the fare and even Amtrak's NE Corridor meltdown today didn't take the bloom off the rose. Wonderful time.

Thanks for that report, R462. I'm sailing her in October. :)

[quote] The food was great, the seas were calm, the entertainers and lecturers were good

Did you stay in a regular cabin or a Queens Grill cabin?

Who were the lecturers, anyone famous?

For the first time, the cheapest inside Britannia cabin. All but one of our seven previous Cunard cruises were in Queen’s Grill. The one exception was a suite on the Caronia which didn’t have class or dining differences. For this cruise, our fare was $599 per person in the Britannia restaurant and a bit more than $6000 pp for the QG suites available when we booked. It’s nicer, but not nearly worth the difference, full stop. Unless we hit the lottery, I’ll never spend the money on Grill class cabins again.

We took a young female friend with us in a single cabin for her and a double for us for $2800 total fare. Just the two of us in QG would have cost four times as much and her company, if only for watching and listening to her stories of dodging some of the elderly lechers onboard, was priceless. In this milieu, apparently octogenarian geezers think they’re the perfect man for a cute 28 year old. We also met a great couple at karaoke the second night out and bonded right away. We went to the LGB-alphabet soup gathering once but there were too many bitchy mean girls and cruising scene queens to enjoy it: YMMV.

Entertainment: Jim Brochu who tried to tell us Joan Crawford was a wonderful mother but it was more about him than anyone he discussed. Richard Friedman was at least entertaining about the history of B-way musicals in the 40’s to 60’s, Richard Thrisk, an astronaut; a woman lecturing about ancient/traditional medicine who has a thing for phrenology (she was kind of woo-woo), a classical pianist, a very talented Romanian violinist, a so-so “Jersey Boys” doo-wop to rock singing group, and an odd singing and dancing show (good dancing, no-effort singing), a good harpist and folk duo, and best of all a female ventriloquist of whom I expected the least and with whom I laughed the most.

David, the hotel manager, and Barry McCabe, the ship’s doctor, were great company at the Cunard World Club party where we were very generously over served. The $30 per day per device Wi-Fi was intermittent at best and requires users to re-login every two hours which was annoying. Drink pours are not generous and start around $15, less for low-end wines. We only went to tea twice and the selections were neither as upscale or generous as in the past. The ship was spotless. The customs and immigration inspection prior to arrival in Boston was protracted but that’s at least as much on the inspectors as it was on Cunard.

There was no hair-pulling or fighting, nobody put a diapered baby in the hot tubs that we saw or heard about, the shore excursions and activities (in Halifax the Royal Tattoo and the Titanic museum and graveyard tour with a really knowledgeable guide, in Boston the Pops dress rehearsal and Fourth of July fireworks) were great so all-in a great way to celebrate two national days and our 43rd anniversary.

Sounds like a great cruise, all things considered r465! Thanks for your very interesting feedback about Cunard. I think I’d be scared of the ventriloquist though.

[quote] It’s nicer, but not nearly worth the difference, full stop. Unless we hit the lottery, I’ll never spend the money on Grill class cabins again

Wow. It’s kind of what I expected. The Tips For Travellers YouTube guy is a big Cunard person, but he stays in the Grill suites exclusively these days so he’s not much use for gleaning information about it.

R466: Dinner in the Britannia the last night out is detailed in the "What's for dinner?" thread elsewhere here. The differences are two-fold: in the Queens' Grill, they'll make whatever you want whether it's on the menu or not assuming they have the ingredients. If they don't have the ingredients, they'll get them at the next port if they can. And everything on the menu is fabulous and is served [italic]a la minute[/italic], aka "cooked to order." Plus more high-end foods: more caviar (you can have it on your eggs in the morning) and fresh squeezed rather than bottled orange juice. The dishes in Britannia, by contrast, are pre-plated like very high-end catering.

We met some fascinating people in the Queen's Grill (a millionaire Cockney plumber whose wife looked like Diana Dors - her tits did, anyway - who'd made his fortune with "luxury ensuites" for big-bucks London house renos, an Australian admiral and his trophy wife who invited us to Oz and entertained us for six weeks touring from Adelaide to Brisbane down there, Tony Warren, the guy who created Coronation Street; Esther Rantzen before she went loony and Bill Cosby before he was exposed and Alice Faye who borrowed my binoculars one day whale-watching off Maui) because the toffs tend to stay together with their private deck and lounges and dining rooms. My husband met a lovely older British lady by the pool one afternoon on the old QE2's world cruise and they yacked for two hours w/o once referring to herself. She was interested in his "Hong Kong 1973" tattoo from his Navy days and then showed him her scars from the Blitz and who asked, as they do, where he was dining. She said she and her husband would love to meet us that night in the Grill and came by to introduce themselves. Turns out Ted was a Duke and a hero of the RAF from WW2, and she, in tiara and decorations, had been a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth. Chances are you won't see the likes of them in Britannia.

But other than the meals, the company, and a much bigger cabin, everything else is the same. And for us, not worth the extreme price difference.

You’ve got me ponding a Norwegian fjords cruise on QM2 for my birthday next year.

Although maybe I should save that one for my 50th. I was just looking Griils pricing. If I’m doing it, I’m doing the full Bembridge.

The Britannia - wasn't that the Queen's personal yacht until a certain point?

Mariner of the Seas forced to wander in the Gulf. Passengers on the next sailing lose a day.

After about fifteen years, Philadelphia will have a (working, SS United States doesn't count) cruise ship when NCL moves Norwegian Jewel there in the summer of 2026. I'm a bit surprised, since they couldn't move Vision of the Seas or Carnival Legend there after Baltimore was closed this spring as both were too tall to fit under the Delaware Memorial Bridge,

Did the bridge collapse in Baltimore have anything to do with NCL choosing Philadelphia as a home port or was it planned before then?

Is an Alaskan cruise acceptable? I might take one in 20 years.

R472, it probably figured into their calculations, but the fact is there are too many cruise ships now and ports are getting congested.

Does this mean that Philadelphia will be Norwegian Jewel’s “home base”?

Ben and David took 130 people on a cruise.

R469. Our very own Rose of Lake Superior…

Yes, they waived a magic wand and the old yacht changed into a dining room.

I need to thank the OP of the thread, I knew nothing about cruises before putting this one on my watch list. I actually looked down my nose a bit at cruises and cruise fanatics - and now I'm thinking of taking a Euro Viking river trip next year.

I also follow Ben & David on YouTube and check out their new content when it's out. They're some of the better travel vloggers out there imo. Not surprised Virgin set them up on a group trip.

…”and now I'm thinking of taking a Euro Viking river trip next year.”

That’s what you got from this thread?! Run away, fast…NOW.

Give it up, R479. If you don't like cruising, don't go. But leave the rest of us the fuck alone. I've done dozens of cruises and continue to do them because I relax and have a great time. Why does that threaten you so?

What an odd reply. You sound the very opposite of relaxed and not quite capable of a good time.

I’m actually giving a good hint: river cruises are oversold & overrated. More bus trip than water cruise—I’ve seen it up close and personal…most recently three weeks ago on the Rhône. Not good.

Well ok r481, your opinion is welcome and I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the trip. I'd appreciate if you post some details so I might make a more informed choice. That's what the thread is for.

Climate change—low water flow. Less cruising. More busses. Overpriced. Low-level excursions. Don’t do it.

I’m inclined to go with r479. Doing a find on “river” on this thread, I see someone mentioned they had been on a river cruise, someone asked about Viking, and others discussed the song Moon River. The focus has been on ocean cruises.

Go for it, if you dare.

[quote]It is far more costly than ocean cruising, if you are used to those prices. For example, a 7-night Rhine cruise in July next year in the lowest grade cabin, those partly below the waterline, and cruise only (so no airfares) will set you back from $4,000 for a couple on a value line like CroisiEurope to $7,900 per couple on an ultra-luxury line like Uniworld. That’s between $580 and $1,100 per couple per day in the cheapest cabin.

That's the number one thing that keeps me away from river cruises.

I think my main objection to the river cruising is going to be the clientele. I just have this impression of the worst combo of both snobby and uncouth Americans.

I eschew river cruises because I love sea days.

River cruises don't have any of the amenities that make ocean cruising so enjoyable. The river boats are basically floating motels with a restaurant.

Ben and Dave just took their two wheelchair bound nephews on a Celebrity cruise. It was the sweetest thing ever. The boys absolutely loved it.

I saw that clip. I didn't realize the Celebrity had such great food reviews. Their ships seem to be a bit smaller and cozier than RC's huge floating theme parks.

I'm taking my first Celebrity cruise next week. I'll let y'all know if the reviews are right.

Celebrity’s food is great. They’re my favorite line by far, although Virgin made a strong play this year.

Not so, R487. I've met interesting people on river cruises (Danube had more varied ports than Rhine).

Celebrity is also my favorite line. I much prefer their smaller ships and quieter clientele. I watched that Ben and David episode last Sunday and we pleased to see the ship and line did so well catering to passengers with mobility issues. Another point in their favor.

I'm curious if anyone has information about how passengers with mobility problems have fared on other ships/lines?

On Crystal they get priority everywhere.

Princess was very gracious and helpful with my father last year (walker and wheelchair). He was able to get around well enough he didn't need an accessible cabin, but did need assistance with ramps and tenders.

How is the food on Oceania?

Atlantis Cruises - Opinions?

Do any lines have cabins with twin beds?

Most beds in cabins can be made into twin beds, R500.

[quote] Do any lines have cabins with twin beds?

Why don’t you just divorce her and be done with it?

A wet dream For r493

[quote]Atlantis Cruises - Opinions?

What about them?

Villa Vie Odyssey, which was supposed to be sailing five months ago, is still tied up in Belfast.

It was supposed to sail in May...and the end of June...and then the beginning of July....and then the end of July...and then the end of August, and then it was going to undergo sea trials starting yesterday, except they'll actually start tomorrow and it's going to sail for sure next week we swear.

At some point, they have to admit this was a scam.

That was confirmed many months ago..it being a scam

Well, they actually own a ship.

It doesn't appear to be seaworthy, but they have a ship. That puts them ahead of the last scam.

Of course, JJ Cruise was still talking them up as recently as a few months ago.

My Alaska cruise is quashed. My travel agent friends/traveling buddies don’t want to go now because of the landslides that keep happening. I don’t wanna go by myself. We’re most likely gonna do the Caribbean again or maybe the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

Boring

Do Norway instead. Assuming you can get a cheap flight, it's better than Alaska.

Trashier.

Another revolt at sea! This Carnival Situation Is A Disaster.

Cruises are both classy and trashy, I love them for being able to offer both. And honestly, I don't give a damn about needing a classy cruise. It's not my private yacht. And a lot of the classy ones are small with mummified clientele. That isn't what I want in a cruise right now. I want a drink. I want to do the electric slide or twerk my ass during the departure celebration. I want to be three margaritas into a 70s-90s music trivia, then wander over to dinner for a feast. I want to lay on the beach of the day, don't care to explore the towns much, and soak in some R&R. When it's late, I want to go to the club and dance a bit before grabbing a late night pizza to wander the deck, taking the breeze, and appreciate life for a minute before turning in. Another day, I want to get up early, to do a two mile jog around the deck then find a chair to watch the sunrise over the ocean.

I already do grand trips to Europe once a year, staying at four and five star hotels. Many times with white glove service. Hushed tones at breakfast and dinner, a jacket or button up shirt required, sometimes a car service for sight seeing, curated wardrobe for photos. It's wonderful to have a classy vacation.

All of it. When it's time for a cruise, I want to be relaxed and make everything easy. Nothing pretentious, few rules, beyond have fun. The very best part is wandering the deck at night, with my Airpods on, maybe see another ship pass, inspecting our ship's architecture, and just thinking.

Just home this morning from my first Virgin Voyages cruise. I've sailed all the major lines, and have 40+ cruises under my belt. Virgin is, right now, pretty much top of the food game. Really outstanding eats all over the ship, with a heavy emphasis on vegetarian foods. The onboard vibe was super-friendly, and reminded me of the best aspects of an all-gay cruise: camaraderie, open and accepting crew and passengers -everyone is encouraged to just be yourself (crew included). More out-and-about gay cruisers than I've ever seen on one ship outside of Atlantis. On my sailing Richard Branson was aboard (I got to have breakfast with him one day -nice man, does a great PR job for the line) along with Boy George as DJ on the Scarlet Night party.

Tips and soft drinks are included in the fare, and the ports in the Dominican Republic and Bahamas had included beach resorts that surpassed the private-island experience on most other lines.

BTW, I'm 61, and generally hate dance music and modern music. Not the least bit cool, hip, or trendy. I still felt both welcome and that I fit in aboard the ship. Had a perfectly marvelous time and can highly recommend the product. For those that care, large numbers of hot guys among passengers and crew, and crew mingle a bit with their guests and can even be seen shirtless on deck.

R513, were you solo, or with someone?

Both. Solo in my own cabin, but had straight friends aboard that I hung out with.

r513 I've looked at Virgin but my god their prices are outrageous. Happy to hear the experience was top notch. Does the focus on vegetarian food some new age thing? Can you expand on that because does that mean no steak night in the private dinning room?

So you didn’t do the solo meet-ups?

[quote]I've looked at Virgin but my god their prices are outrageous.

Bare in mind, that's inclusive of all food (except for some premium stuff), tips, basic internet, and essentially all drinks but specialty coffee and alcohol.

Which ship were you on, R513? Valiant Lady?

R516, two of their restaurants, Razzle Dazzle and Gunbae, are half and half for vegetarian and meat entrees. The restaurants The Wake (a steakhouse), Pink Agave, and Extra Virgin, have a majority of their entrees with meat in them. Test Kitchen includes meat in both their A and B menu, but there is an optional vegetarian menu. Given all this, I don’t think it would be correct to say that there is a “heavy emphasis on vegetarian foods”.

The food is not even close to Crystal or Regent. 🙄

r518, that sounds like every other cruise where all food is included, plus very sugary fruit juice. Drinks and wifi is nice, but I'm just not sure if that's worth the price gaps. Does Virgin make all their specialty restaurants "free"? Not trying to bash them, just very confused about their price.

Thank you r519. God knows my fat ass would not want to waddle all the way onto a cruise ship, just to be fed rabbit food for a premium price. Bring me my steak!

[quote] Does Virgin make all their specialty restaurants "free"? Not trying to bash them, just very confused about their price.

There are no specialty restaurants. It's all included. When I was on Valiant Lady with Atlantis, I think the only food I paid for was having caviar in the champagne bar, and I think there are some premium cuts of meat in the steakhouse.

Thanks for clatifying. Maybe if they have another deal I'll consider it but I know post-COVID prices are gone.

Apparently there's a decent chance that the big Atlantis circuit party cruise in 2026 will be on MSC World America.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.

I’d quit while you are behind…

I was on the Valiant Lady. VV doesn't have specialty restaurants in the usual sense. While there are a few food items you can pay extra for, pretty much everything, including the steakhouse (The Wake) is included with your fare. The menus are not exclusively vegetarian, but they offer more vegetarian choices than any other cruise line I've seen. It's part of the line's ethical stance on sustainability. They don't throw it in your face, and nobody is going to say "Where's the beef?" Meat-and-potatoes types will be completely happy. But if you are a vegetarian or vegan you're going to be pleasantly surprised at all the food choices you have., including Impossible burgers and sausages at breakfast, and food servers pointing out things you might not notice, like gelatin or broths.

Yes, Virgin's prices are higher (and their cruises shorter). So what do you get for it? All tips are included in your fare -including spa treatments, bar tabs, etc. Soft drinks and sodas are included. All food venues are included, which means you don't pay for steaks or ice cream. On shore in Bimini lunch and drinks were included. Decent wi-fi is included. You are also paying for an adults-only atmosphere. You don't have to go to the late shows to hear the comedian's "good stuff" or deal with screaming kids running around or crying. For me, that alone is worth the buy-up.

No, I didn't go to the solo meetups, but I did see them happening, with around 15-20 people attending. There was a letter in my cabin when I boarded saying that they noticed I was traveling solo, and explaining that I would be welcome at all the solo events during the cruise. But meeting people during the voyage was really easy. Everyone was pretty outgoing and friendly. One day at the pool (the smaller one, aft of the main pool) there were a dozen or so of us hanging out and chatting, and one gentleman kept buying rounds for everyone. People struck up conversations in the lounges and at the Galley (the sort-of-buffet eating area). The ethos was very much "be yourself, however you are or however you want to be." Lots of men wearing eye makeup (crew included), several people wearing drag (along with people I identified as trans), and more than a little "letting it all hang out." Passengers and crew were very racially diverse, and there was a lot more interaction among different people than you usually see. No one raised an eyebrow at anything.

Atlantis has released the rest of their 2025 cruises, although none are bookable yet. In addition to the Big One and then the Exotic Southern Caribbean (mostly the Leeward Islands) on Resilient Lady at the end of February, they’re also doing an Iberian Peninsula sailing on Scarlet Lady in July which overnights in Ibiza and has a stop in Casablanca. There’s the standard Greek Isles cruise on Resilient Lady (again) in August. No Halloween cruise announced, but there will be a Hong Kong to Singapore cruise which overnights in Bangkok over Thanksgiving. And the luxury cruise is a a New Years sailing on Oceania Riviera that’s in Tahiti. I was planning on doing the Asia one, but my friend who went with me in March actually seemed interested in the Tahiti one, depending on pricing.

[quote] Passengers and crew were very racially diverse, and there was a lot more interaction among different people than you usually see. No one raised an eyebrow at anything.

I’m hoping they relaxed this for the Med cruises, but for the one in March, they wouldn’t let the Virgin crew come to the parties, which is a shame, because I think I thought of them would have liked it. There was also an extremely cute twink who disappeared partway through the week, I assume because he hooked up with a passenger.

Is the Tahiti sailing NY 24/25 or 25/26?