JLMoran

If it's just my wife and me going, then my starting point is where we want to go; if it's the whole family, then I'm like @karl_nj and limited to times when the kids are out of college and high school, so when we can go becomes the bigger priority, with the choice of where we'll go driven by that. But the ports / itinerary are always the priority for me, at least for now. I'm not a Millennial (turned 50 last month), but I still fall into that group of people who want experiences and memories first and foremost. Once that's worked out, I find whatever ship will get me there in the cruise lines I prefer to travel with; if none of them have something that works, that's when it's time to look at other lines and see what fits in the rough budget I figure it'll cost.

My wife was asking me today if Celebrity recycles used cans and bottles consumed on board, and I honestly didn't know the answer. Our past experience on Royal Caribbean has been that there are no marked recycling containers on board, and as a result we ended up saving all of our empty water bottles, soda cans, etc. and putting them in plastic bags we had with us; then recycling them we got home from port or at the hotel we were staying at post-cruise. We're not really going to have that option for our upcoming Celebrity sailing in August, as it's two weeks long and we're staying in Dublin for a few days post-cruise. Please tell me that even if there aren't separate containers marked for recycling, that some kind of action happens on board or after the trash is removed post-cruise to separate out recyclable items from the general landfill!

Wanted to post an FYI to anyone sailing to Greenland. At least for the time being, it is such a new destination port that it seems the cruise lines still do not have excursions available for booking directly through them. You will need to do a good bit of research and find some options that work for you. Here are some things to keep in mind about Greenland in general, based on what I've learned so far: It seems there are only a couple of port stops used at present, and they are almost always tenders The most popular port appears to be Qaqortoq, but I've seen excursions departing from other southern Greenland locations like Ilulissat and Narsarsuaq, which might indicate other towns are being used as ports of call and not just for land vacations Your actual excursions options are going to be somewhat limited The most popular excursions in southern Greenland are a helicopter flight to the central glacier, and a boat ride up to a twin glacier where you can actually get off the boat and walk right up to the glacier's face (as it has receded so much over the years that it's now a short walk on land to get to it) There are also options for things like "kaffemik" (coffee and light snacks), or a meal featuring traditional home-prepared food like reindeer, seal, etc with a local family, or other such direct interactions with the locals; these often carry disclaimers that not everyone speaks English or other European languages, so communication could be tricky if you're hoping to have a dialog and learn directly about Greenlandic traditions and customs All such outings are expensive, costing around $35-50 USD per person for the kaffemik experience and other "time with a local" experiences, to $200+ per person for the helicopter rides; consider it to be like Alaska in that regard The other big thing I've learned about Greenland is that there are literally no roads or other infrastructure between towns; everyone gets from one town to another by boat or helicopter. So whatever town you dock at, that is where you will be if you don't pay for one of these excursions to the more remote parts of the island. If you don't have the budget to pay for one of the remote access excursions, consider just wandering around the town and checking out what there is to see there. Oh, and the final part that you will want to be aware of -- from June through early August is fly and mosquito season. I've seen YouTube videos where a couple visiting Qaqortoq in early July were being swarmed by flies and the guy who was being recorded had a full face covering in place to keep them out of his mouth and nose. If your trip will be visiting at this time, plan to dress accordingly and to bring bug repellent! Here are some links to sites I found that offer excursions in Greenland: https://arctic-adventure.dk/destination/greenland/ http://www.sagalands.com/our-destinations/ https://www.sermeqhelicopters.gl/

@Johnbob7, given the ship build is not changing in any meaningful way, you can bet that the passengers who did nothing but kvetch about the Infinite Verandah rooms and how inferior they are to "proper" verandahs will continue to stay off the lawn ship. ? I've read their complaints and seen the pictures of the room, and I honestly don't get where they're coming from. When the outside window panel is lowered to make it a balcony space, how is it really any different from a "regular" verandah apart from the fact it has French doors to separate main room and balcony? You still have dividers on each side that block your view unless you lean out, you still have a separate space for the loungers / chairs... Honestly, I think those cabins would be great in a colder-weather cruise where you want to use the balcony space but don't want to deal with cold air and/or rain.

Hi Billy. Just got word about the new forums and signed up. Like @KathyC and @Jedi Jason, will be looking forward to discussion of Celebrity here. Oh, and I suppose other cruise lines as well. ?