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Great question. Every sea day in the morning--check the Currents for times--one of the crew (sometimes its the asst. cruise director or one of the production cast members) will host needlepointing. Usually there are at least 20ish guests there. The ship will provide needlepoint kits that you can choose from. The only caveat is that you have to complete one project before they will allow you to select a new kit. It's held in the Horizons Lounge which is a wonderful venue and is a great way to meet other guests.

Wow. If we would have know that from the beginning we would have never mispronounced it. We no wonder how we should be pronouncing The Local 😎. While we didn’t like the forward suite, we did love the aft suite. Have a great trip. Thanks for watching and great information.

We haven't sailed on Azamara (yet), but friends of ours have and loved their cruises on the line. However, we were under the impression (perhaps erroneously) that the fares on Azamara and Oceania were rather comparable. We were very close--reservations were even held--to doing a series of B2Bs on Azamara that went from Miami-Miami circumnavigating the whole of the South American continent. But backed out when we learned that unlike most other lines there was no discount on doing B2Bs and that specialty dining was an additional fee. We've done one Viking ocean cruise (so far), and with the exception of that one cruise's food, thought it actually had a great deal of value--especially when you figure in the included thermal spa--which we thought was the best at sea--and included excursions. Where we do agree with you is Explora and Atlas. Our Antarctica trip on the Atlas World Navigator was amazing. We are still putting together our review on that trip and are having difficulty beyond the Wifi package on coming up with our 3 downs. We will be on the World Navigator again in October going around the southern portion of South America. Atlas might be our favorite cruise line. We also enjoyed the Explora 1--review on that is also in the works--and thought that it has the potential of being a real contender in the luxury segment of cruising. We do worry that when the ship begins to sail at full capacity whether some of the venues are big enough to handle additional guests. We are booked on the Explora 2 this upcoming January. Anyway, thank you so much for not only watching, but being passionate enough to provide your thoughts. We'll have to give another look at Azamara.

We loved Sydney! Although not on this cruise because we had to fly out that morning. But we spent 2 days there during our world cruise!

Thanks so very much. We are glad it is helpful.

We had 5 Regent cruises before COVID (Regent/Raddison was actually our first ever cruise) and we’re blown away with them. We do want to go on Seaborne and Silverseas, though. Thanks for watching!

When we were on the Viking Sky, we talked about how perfect their ships would be for a WC. Sorry yours got cut short. Glad to hear about the food.

@@janandtraceytravels Viking was excellent. The sea days with the spa and enrichment lectures were great. The many spots on the ship to sit and relax were wonderful. My wife did art classes, I joined the choir and played baggo and we made many new friends. I highly recommend Viking for a world cruise if you can do it. Because everything is included, when the wine steward recommends a particular wine to go with your entree, it is because it is the right wine, not because he/she is trying to sell you a high priced bottle. We had cruised with Crystal before they had issues. We found Viking to be a modern version of the Crystal we enjoyed previously. We have a 28 day Baltic cruise planned in 2025 and a 14 day Asia cruise with Viking in 2026. We are considering an Oceania transatlantic repositioning cruise in the fall of 2026.

Like we said, we would love to do a WC on Viking. We did the 2023 WC on MSC as it was achievable on our current budget. However, in a few years we will be old enough to begin taking fund from our IRAs and the math changes a great deal. Thanks again for the comments and safe traveling! Sounds fun.

We enjoyed our Viking Sky cruise and look forward to sailing with them again. We did like the small size of this ship however. Thanks for watching!

We loved sailing through Asia. Enjoy and thanks for watching. A review of our Oceania Regatta from Singapore to Sydney comes out tomorrow!

@@janandtraceytravels wonderful I can't wait to see it!!!

We didn't have these issues on our recent Oceania Vista cruise, either. I believe that Oceania upgraded the Marina with Starlink after we sailed on her which might be the difference in experiences. Thanks for watching.

Glad you had a great cruise! Thanks for watching

We appreciate you watching and the thoughtful comment. Good news, though. This was simply a first impression of our first day in the ship. Our review should be coming out in 2 weeks. Also, while we were disappointed with the atrium and the main dining room, we liked the food court and love the Ocean Boulevard. In the review, you’ll hear our impressions on the specialty restaurants which-save for one of exception we really enjoyed. Stay tuned.

We have been blessed to have been on 10 cruise lines--we have 3 more booked in the next 18 months that will be new to us. We think that cruises are like clothes. What you wear may not fit us and what we wear may not be your style. When we were younger and had kids in the house, we loved NCL. In fact, it is the cruise line that we have sailed on most (and have 2 more cruises booked, sans-kids ). Carnival and MSC receive lots of angst from cruisers. But for families or those on a budget, they are lines that are good fits. Although we love the Yacht Club and think it's probably the best value at sea (spoiler, we just got back from the MSC Seascape in the YC and will be bringing those videos soon). We've sailed once on Royal Caribbean in an Owners 1-bedroom suite and thought it was a fantastic deal. However, as we are now in our 50s, we are gravitating towards smaller ships. Our one cruise on Viking Ocean was fantastic (less the food) and look forward to finding an itinerary where we can sail on them again. They have perhaps the nicest (free) thermal spas and the ships are gorgeous. That they include excursions in every port is definitely a plus. We sailed Explora Journey's Explora 1 and have the Explora 2 booked and were blown away. Our only concern is that when this new line begins to fill up to 100% capacity, we worry that some of the venues might become too crowded. Regent was the first cruise we ever did on our honeymoon years ago have taken a total of 5 cruises with them. They are probably the best cruise line, but have pretty much priced us out of the market. So, to (finally) answer your question. It probably comes down to Oceania and Atlas. We've done three cruises on Oceania and 2 of the 3 have been amazing. Our Oceania Regatta cruise had plenty of ups, but something just wasn't quite right on that cruise. That cruise review comes out next week (fingers crossed). We did Atlas twice including our Antarctica cruise which was the best trip of any type we've ever taken. It's a small expeditionary ship with only 150-190 passengers. We just loved the vibe of cruising with a small intimate group of active, well-traveled passengers. Sorry to wear you down with a long answer. But it's a question that we find to be very involved. Thanks for watching!

Thanks!

Well, from two retired Army Soldiers, let us first thank you for the kind words and also wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Wow! Are your B2B's on the Sky or what other ship is it? In September 2026 we are nearly doing 5 S2Ss. We'll have a night between the 3rd and 4th cruise and 4 days between the 4th and the 5th. Cruises 1-3 will literally be getting off at one terminal and having Uber pick us up and taking us to another terminal. 77 days sounds fun. We assume you've done something like this before? If not, we'll tell you from our experience of being on the same ship for 118 days straight--it truly is the first 30 days that are the hardest. Enjoy and thanks for watching!

@@janandtraceytravels same ship. I have done b2b before on same ship and on different ships. When it was different ships I got off in Barcelona HAL and got onto Costa, Costa was right behind us so I was able to walk in about 5 mins and that was easy. I don't book far out, I'm solo and watch for the $0 or low single supplements. Plus I don't want to book that far out too many opportunities or appts could come up.

@@kirareed1865 Well, have fun! We suffer--should we even be allowed to use that word?--from filling up our calendar. We made a mistake though, our 5 cruises are in September-October 2025, not 2026. However, we have 1/2 of 2026 already scheduled.

You'll love Reykjavik. Iceland is wonderful! There are things that are to like about the ship. Make sure you go to the Palomar restaurant on-board!

True. However, unless I'm (Jan) mistaken, the Sky has always operated under NCL and had previously been refurbished at least once. Additionally, as we noted, we've sailed on MSC which, like Costa, is an European cruise line largely focused until recently on the European market and our European cruises on the line had more 110 outlets. It's not a deal breaker or even a hard negative--just an observation. Thanks for watching!

@@janandtraceytravels so what did you think of MSC beyond the yacht club is it too crowded and pushy on the nickel & dimei

We actually just got home from a cruise on the MSC Seashore which was at 118% capacity. Still putting together our thoughts for our review, but our initial thoughts were that while parts of the ship can get very crowded at certain times, overall we found it no worse than the other mass market cruises we’ve been on and more tame than a few

@@janandtraceytravels GREAT i will wait for that then ;) keep up the good work !

Have a great cruise. We’re interested in hearing how it goes. We have generally noticed that in 2024 that things tend to be gradually returning to how we remember cruising. Take care and thanks for watching.

We really need enjoyed the room. Thanks for watching!

Nope. We state that we were looking at the cruiser rating average from Cruise Critic. At the time we filmed this, the NCL Prima had an average of 2.8-the lowest of any NCL ship. The Spirit btw has an average rating of 3.8.

Thanks. We were there for a day last year on our world cruise. The MRT is just like any other metro. Pretty easy to navigate. We paid with our iPhones. You just have to use a different card for each of you (if we remember right).

We did! Thank you.

What a wonderful comment! 😎. Seriously, thanks.

We know we said renovating. It could also be a routine schedule of cleaning.

The port is about 7km from the area where both the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque is-but it is in the other side of the strait. So, I think your bet is to either take a taxi or even the metro. There is a metro station about 300 meters (ish) from the port Tracey took the metro in to the spice market and said it was easy. The security when we were there wasn’t any more severe than most any ports. Have your ship card (don’t remember if we needed our passport also-take it along in case. ) Once you get to the Haggai Sophia and Blue Mosque lines can be long. However there are always your guides in the area drumming up business and the can get you in (including the Cisterns which are also nearby) without much wait. Be aware of the times of prayer as you will not be allowed into either mosque while they are going on. You can stay inside-as we did-if you are already inside, just cannot enter. Have a great time and thanks for watching.

@@janandtraceytravels Thank you very much for your information.

Ha! But the wanton soup was SO good!!! (We actually did, but didn’t show it). Thanks for watching.

We’ve been to Thailand twice and last year visited Vietnam and Malaysia. As part of the trip of this video, we next went to Indonesia. We haven’t been to Laos and Cambodia-yet. We are planning on going to those two countries in 2026. Thanks for watching!

Yours are very kind words. Thank you.

So cool! We were amazed at his work. We will be back.

We’re glad you enjoyed it. Almost as glad as having the experience to make it.

Thanks for watching. We debated quite a bit on what we thought about the concierge cabin and while there are some perks, they just didn't seem important enough to us. We do have friends, however, who always book a concierge cabin every time they sail Oceania. It all comes down to what you want in your cruise experience. Thanks again.

Great question. At of today, we have sailed Regent, Oceania, Viking Ocean, Viking River, Atlas, Explora Journeys, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and MSC. In the near future, we will be adding Virgin, Celebrity, and Princess to the list.

We were on the Vista recently and it nearly single-handedly redeemed O's reputation with us as the worst internet at sea. Progress is a wonderful thing! Thanks for watching.

Enjoy. We obviously do not sail solo, but from what I've seen, NCL offers among the best approaches to solo cruising. We hope you have a great cruise!

Yikes! I know we said we'd leave a link below in the video but just now realized we never did so. We have a message out to get his current information. Stay tuned.

You should! We were on the World Navigator to Antarctica and it was AMAZING. We're working hard to get through the huge backlog of content we have (too much travel and not enough time to edit what we've shot), but keep an eye out for our Antarctica videos. Thanks for watching!

Thanks so much for not only watching our video but taking time to provide such meaningful comments. We would encourage you not to write off Europe. We now try to take a couple days for a pre-cruise before we board a European cruise specifically to help assuage the effects of jet lag--which can be a bummer. Of course, taking a transatlantic cruise to Europe also helps gradually adjusting to the time difference ;-) Europe is so rich in culture and so many wonderful experiences, its one of our favorite travel destinations. Once again, thanks for watching and for your considerate observations!

Thanks for the kind words. We loved the Marina and the Vista which we just sailed on. Between these two we also sailed in the Regatta which we had a different experience, but we believe it was as a one-off. Those reviews are coming up. We just haven’t figured out a way yet to keep our editing up with all of our travels.

@@janandtraceytravels I understand how hard it is to keep up....I'm so far behind! I'll look for those reviews too!

Thanks for watching and the honest feedback. How to use music is always an evolving learning process. Without music, the space seems too empty. One of the hardest tasks is to find music which fits the mood. Maybe we missed the mark here a bit. Thanks though for the really helpful feedback!

What we thought we knew about cruising and food has been challenged greatly by the post-pandemic cruise experience. In our experience, there was a period through late 2022 through 2023 in which we felt food across the industry was sub-standard. We had sailed on the Oceania Marina and thought the food was exceptional. We have an upcoming review of the Oceania Regatta in which we were disappointed with the food. Yet, we've seen food in 2024 begin to pick back up. Our NCL Prima had some flashes of the cuisine we used to enjoy. Our Atlas Navigator trip to Antarctica had exceptional food as did our Explora Journeys. We just completed a transatlantic on the Oceania Vista and the food was also back on top. (Yes, we have a backlog of lots of content to get out). So we like to think that the industry is finally correcting the food and we do look forward to another cruise on Viking. Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment.