Survival and Emergency Preparedness

I go on NCl and have reached Sapphire level.... great cause you get extras. Don't mind the islands even if been there, sometimes just stay on boat.
We only cruise in NCL Haven now, the bride got spoiled and said not going back to regular cruise level.

As to booze, the package allows "free" booze but you paid a 20% tip on the value of same... allows any drinks up to $15 free( no limit).
Bringing wine. champagne isn't an issue and there is NO corkage fee any longer if you have a drink package. But they don't allow any hard liq brought onboard. Instead, I just upgrade the drink pack to Plus ( allows any drink no cost limit , even the really good stuff I wouldn't normally drink ) Downside is you need to drink $30 a day over the $15 drink limits to break even. Not really hard as champagne can be $25 glass , so 3 drinks and its paid up.

Got 2 cruises for next year, hoping to get a flight to Aruba this year for diving. time will tell.

I have tried to talk to the wife about taking a cruise, but she hates the water. She would much rather go to the mountains.

Bmyers wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 6:30 am I have tried to talk to the wife about taking a cruise, but she hates the water. She would much rather go to the mountains.

Mountains in VA is for the summer... Love it.
Cruises are for cooler weather. BUT if one place I'd go without cruise is Aruba.... great place.

tom mac wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 8:18 am I go on NCl and have reached Sapphire level.... great cause you get extras. Don't mind the islands even if been there, sometimes just stay on boat.
We only cruise in NCL Haven now, the bride got spoiled and said not going back to regular cruise level.

As to booze, the package allows "free" booze but you paid a 20% tip on the value of same... allows any drinks up to $15 free( no limit).
Bringing wine. champagne isn't an issue and there is NO corkage fee any longer if you have a drink package. But they don't allow any hard liq brought onboard. Instead, I just upgrade the drink pack to Plus ( allows any drink no cost limit , even the really good stuff I wouldn't normally drink ) Downside is you need to drink $30 a day over the $15 drink limits to break even. Not really hard as champagne can be $25 glass , so 3 drinks and its paid up.

Got 2 cruises for next year, hoping to get a flight to Aruba this year for diving. time will tell.

We're diamond level on Royal which is elite on Celebrity it's sister line. We do get some perks at that level. 4 free drinks a day per person on Royal, discounts on bottles of wine, free pic, etc, etc. And you can bring 2 bottles of wine on board. We also usually bring our own booze (scotch). On Celebrity they have an Elite cocktail hour from 5-7pm with free drinks if we don't get the drink package as part of our cruise fare. You are also allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine. If we don't get the drink package we will bring wine and our own booze.

Celebrity used to include Wi-Fi, drink package and pre paid gratuity in their packages but now only Wi-Fi and drinks. We booked this cruise last summer during a sale from our travel agent. Not only did we get balcony for the price of an inside plus the WiFi and drink package and $400 on board credit but our TA threw in the prepaid gratuities and another $450 in OBC.

The TAs OBC is refundable, celebrity's is not. Except you can cash out non refundable OBC through a slot machine in the casino. Getting back both OBCs knocked another $850 off the cost. By the time the cruise came around it cost $2850 more than what we paid.

We're now looking for Royal cruise out of Tampa or Canaveral for next January/February. Those ports are only 1.5 hours from our place in central Florida as opposed to 5 hours to ft.Lauderdale/Miami which celebrity sails out of.

Royal cruise out of Tampa or Canaveral for next January/February. Those ports are only 1.5 hours from our place in central Florida

Yes... that's why I go out of NYC. It's 45 min ride by car service. Easy and no luggage weight. ( wife takes a suitcase just for shoes )

tom mac wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 8:59 am

Royal cruise out of Tampa or Canaveral for next January/February. Those ports are only 1.5 hours from our place in central Florida

Yes... that's why I go out of NYC. It's 45 min ride by car service. Easy and no luggage weight. ( wife takes a suitcase just for shoes )

Do they sail out of NY in the winter?

Mac66 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 3:54 pm Do they sail out of NY in the winter?

Yes they do..... at least NCL does.
The main reason we have been with NCL now for many years is that Carnival use to go out in winter but change their last trip to the end of oct-nov.

Since we have open time in winter we switch and found it to be a better cruise line.

tom mac wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 8:21 am

Mac66 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 3:54 pm Do they sail out of NY in the winter?

Yes they do..... at least NCL does.
The main reason we have been with NCL now for many years is that Carnival use to go out in winter but change their last trip to the end of oct-nov.

Since we have open time in winter we switch and found it to be a better cruise line.

Our first 2 cruises were on NCL. The first in 1979 then in '85. We switched to Royal in the '90s. Of course getting to Florida from Michigan complicates things a bit.

We did a couple Carnival cruises in the early 2000s. Both were high school senior class trips.

We also did NCL in Hawaii a couple times. In '08 then again with friends in '18. NCL is the only cruise line with a ship in Hawaii. You can fly to Hawaii, do a week then fly home. Every other line you have to sail to Hawaii.

First tried celebrity in 2013. We now have 7 cruises on celebrity and 12 on Royal. Royal and celebrity share status so we switch back and forth depending on itinerary and what deals they offer at the time.

Since we are in Florida more often in the winters now we find Royal to be more convenient out of Tampa or port Canaveral.

And frankly since I started diving a few years ago, we often book the cheapest inside cabin we can get as a means to go to places where I can dive.

We've looked at NCL again off and on over the years but never found the deals we get on Royal and it's hard to give up the perks on one line to start on another.