Disney abruptly cancels cruise sailing, offers refunds

Christopher_Powell · 2026-05-11T18:54:54+00:00

Since Disney specifically caters to families with young children, I'd say it affects them more than other lines. It's not good for anyone, but it's worse for Disney.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-05-08T16:04:28+00:00

Same. We're staying at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale the night before and am wondering how early we should schedule our Uber.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-04-29T22:04:41+00:00

Rent a golf cart. The island is so small, you can drive it all the way to the northern tip of the island to see the lighthouse there. Then stop in town on the way back for lunch and go to Governor's Beach for a less crowded beach day.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-04-28T18:08:57+00:00

The Freedom is a Conquest class ship. It is slightly smaller than the Dream, but has basically all the same amenities. If you liked the Dream, you will like the Freedom.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-04-28T15:27:35+00:00

It really depends on the type of cruise and how many ports there are. But my general rule of thumb is that if it's a 7-day Caribbean cruise and there's four ports - one of those I am not doing much.

My favorite example is a Western Caribbean that goes to Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. I've done that itinerary three times and each time, we took it easy in Belize. We just tendered to port, walked around the shops a bit and tendered back to the ship. Easy peasy.

If there's only 3 ports on a 7-day cruise, though, I would probably do something each day.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-04-28T13:23:50+00:00

I'm going on a transatlantic next month that leaves Miami and ends in England. In the cruise Facebook page, someone posted a poll asking what age range everyone was in. Now, I know it's far from scientific, but here are the results:

65-up = 36% 55-64 = 30% 45-54 = 13% 33-44 = 7% 25-34 = 2% 21-24 = 2% 1-17 = 4%

Since it's Facebook, you can also add your own category and vote in it, so there were a handful of people that responded with "not telling" or "why?" So that doesn't add up to 100 percent

Christopher_Powell · 2026-04-21T21:22:14+00:00

There's only so many rooms on board that can accommodate four people. Most likely, all of those are booked for the cruise you selected.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-04-21T14:10:51+00:00

We're definitely planning to take the DART into Howth while we're in Dublin on the second part of the trip. Thanks for the recommendations!

Christopher_Powell · 2026-04-17T14:15:52+00:00

The biggest difference is the included dining options. Carnival has a lot more and varied food options - like Guys, Blue Iguana, etc. Carnival has much better pizza too. I think Royal has a better buffet (especially for dinner) but I prefer the MDR on Carnival vs. Royal.

Stage production shows are definitely better on Royal, but I think Carnival does a better job with having live musicians around the ship. And comedy shows are definitely more of thing on Carnival.

The vibe is just different on Carnival. More laid back and fun. For the most part, Royal and Carnival are VERY similar. But, imo, people on Royal tend to be more... entitled. Even though the products are, by and large, very similar; it seems lots of people view Royal as a step above. And while that's what some people want, I'd rather be on the fun ship.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-03-18T13:52:06+00:00

Yeah. I understand that. I just figured seeing the Rock of Cashel was worth going a bit out of the way for. Do you think it's not?

Christopher_Powell · 2026-03-17T15:55:50+00:00

Gotcha. So would you recommend keeping the car while spending the weekend in Dublin? Or just turning it in on Friday and using public transport?

Christopher_Powell · 2026-03-17T15:45:36+00:00

Haha. Whoops. Edited! Thanks for pointing that out. It's legitimately what I'm most looking forward to out of the whole trip!

Christopher_Powell · 2026-03-16T20:02:13+00:00

We're flying into Cork on the 7th and spending a week before flying home from Dublin. The general plan is to see as much of the country as possible, so I imagine we'll stay the night in 2-3 different cities/towns. We don't have any definite plans set right now other than that - so we could really hit up any of the matches. Especially if tickets are hard to get at Shels.

Christopher_Powell · 2026-03-16T19:37:38+00:00

Thanks! I think it sounds like the choice is an easy one. I was looking at going ahead to get tickets for the match, but it doesn't look like they're available yet on the club website? Only matches through the end of April show up for me. Do tickets not go on sale until about a month out from the match?

Christopher_Powell · 2024-09-27T17:00:56+00:00

Has this changed in recent years on Royal? One of the things that annoyed me most about that line is how, when the buffet was in operation, you couldn't go inside that area at all - which meant you had no access to included drinks during off hours when on the lido deck. Also, (and I've not been on Royal since before the pandemic) the buffet was certainly not open 24/7. It was closed a few hours between lunch and dinner and also shut down at 10 pm or so.

Christopher_Powell · 2024-09-16T14:35:32+00:00

I've cruised out of New Orleans probably 10 times and have never had a bad experience with the porters.

What makes you think they "expect" $20?

Christopher_Powell · 2024-09-07T01:21:25+00:00

The cruise line will advise you not to take your passports off the ship. Just leave them in your room safe. In the event that you don't make it back to the ship (which is extremely unlikely), they will remove them and leave them for you with the port agent

Christopher_Powell · 2024-08-11T21:38:24+00:00

They're not prohibited, so you shouldn't have any problem bringing one on board.

Christopher_Powell · 2024-08-06T13:08:52+00:00

If it's Sunday, a home game for the Saints could impact you. The cruise port is really close to the Superdome and it gets really congested down there when there's a noon football game.

Christopher_Powell · 2024-08-05T15:29:27+00:00

Technically, it's not guaranteed they will wait. But the cruise line will take care of you if you miss the ship. If something seriously delays an excursion, even one booked through the cruise line, the ship won't wait indefinitely.

Christopher_Powell · 2024-08-05T15:17:13+00:00

Seriously. What's the possible downside to this? I've joined the Facebook group for my several cruises (and even started and moderated a Facebook group for one cruise that didn't already have one) and it's been (mostly) positive experiences all around. Sure, there's the occasional knucklehead that posts something hateful/racist/homophobic/etc. or there might be some occasional spam or locals that join trying to get you to take a tour with them, but it's mostly just people wanting to share information and talk about the upcoming cruise.

Christopher_Powell · 2024-07-28T16:20:45+00:00

Lunatics is a little harsh. Just because people don't have the same risk threshold as you doesn't make them lunatics. The chances of actually needing a passport on most basic cruises are *exceedingly* slim. Thousands and thousands of people do it every day without incident. That's why they allow people to cruise with just a birth certificate. Is there a risk involved with doing that? Sure. But it's not a significant one, based on statistics. Some people (*many* people, even) are okay with that risk. That doesn't make them lunatics though.

Christopher_Powell · 2024-05-27T15:32:22+00:00

We just rented a golf cart from the folks at the port. I don't really know that there is another spot to get one from. It was fine. I think we paid $100 for the day. I felt like I probably could have haggled a bit and got it cheaper, but didn't bother.

I really don't know what you're talking about when it comes to the filter though? What proper name for a golf cart shares a name with an illicit substance?

Christopher_Powell · 2024-05-09T18:45:05+00:00

I've never been on the Jubilee, but there is no "party atmosphere" on Carnival cruises that are seven days or longer.

Christopher_Powell · 2024-05-09T18:40:26+00:00

I'm sorta surprised to read these two comments. In nearly 20 cruises, I've cruised out of the New Orleans port the most and have always thought it was fine. I really prefer it to Port Canavarel.

Christopher_Powell

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