sharod

I think that Quantum's itineraries are about the only thing that make Oasis and Allure's itineraries look great. Port Canaveral as a port of call.... yeah, ok.

You took the words right out of my mouth ;)

I have been very pleased with my Tamron SP AF70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC.

It can be purchased right now for $349 after mail-in rebate.

EXIF info intact

Gettysburg 2013 048 by sharod1031, on Flickr

cardinal-1 by sharod1031, on Flickr

IMG_3107 by sharod1031, on Flickr

Uninteresting pic, I know. But this shows how well the VC works. Taken riding through Gettysburg Battlefield on the back of a Harley :D

Gettysburg 2013 025 by sharod1031, on Flickr

On March 28th we sailed from Baltimore for the first time ever. We found this port to be VERY efficient!

As you drive in with everyone else, you come to the porters. You stop your vehicle, get out, and all checked bags are loaded into the luggage carts that are directly beside your vehicle. There are NUMEROUS porters and carts, no long wait.

Next, you pull ahead, pay for your parking at the booth, and park!!! Easy peasy!! Seriously!

When you return, there are porters that can assist you. We didn't use them, as our truck was maybe 75 feet from the terminal.

It really couldn't have been any easier. It was the quickest boarding and debarkation I have ever experienced :)

We were at Coco Cay last week on the Grandeur. Had another ship there with us. Sorry, don't remember which one :o

Plenty of loungers to go around. They only time that it felt busy was at lunch, the line was long.

I do recommend getting off the ship sooner rather than later. Better choice of loungers. The hammocks in the trees looked wonderful! But we were there for the sun, so we had lots of choices of loungers, numerous with umbrellas! We were at Barefoot Beach, you have to walk a little further for that one, but so worth it!

I thought that Coco Cay was a slice of paradise!

We renewed end of last year. Took about 1 month.

$22.99 last week on the Grandeur. Sitting here with my receipt in front of me :D

Hubby saw them in one of the shops on the Grandeur last week.

Aww, no probably not. :( Sorry this happened to you.

That's okay :), but thank you. Two years later, I am done crying over it :D (the missing bag, not the luggage that was actually recovered)

Third party insurance.

 

All clothing is covered as far as I know. I had a few undergarments that I stashed in the outside pockets at the last minute. All covered.

Adding to my own post, to late to edit.

ETA: I believe the insurance was through Travel Guard, but I may be wrong. But it is one that you see people on here recommend, that is why I went with them. If you having clothing receipts, they reimburse you 100%, if not, 75% of what you say it cost you. They did also cover the value of the luggage. BUT, they did deduct the $150 from what Royal gave us due to the loss. Royal put it on our account as an resolution credit.

Please don't let this overtake you. This happens very rarely. The porters put your luggage on carts; you are welcome to stand there and watch them if you want, but people don't just go and help themselves to your bags. Obviously post #3 suggests otherwise, but it hasn't happened to us in many cruises and it is not regularly discussed here on the boards, leading me to believe it doesn't happen often.

 

If you are desperately worried about this, you can carry on your luggage but it has to be small enough to fit through the scanner, and you will need to keep it with you until the cabins become available, usually by 1 or 1:30 pm.

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Ha ha, my post. The Allure was our 3rd cruise. On our first, the Disney Wonder, another party took our daughter's one suitcase from the terminal before we disembarked. Between my family and Disney, we figured out who had our bag from the very few bags remaining in our area. Disney met us at check-in at MCO with our bag. They tracked it down as it was being transferred from Port Canaveral to the airport.

So while agree that it is very uncommon to have your bag go missing, by my Allure trip, 2 out of 3 cruises had luggage issues :cool: So I am probably not the best person to try to calm someone's fears about luggage transfers :eek:;)

Question #1: Cruise line or third party insurance?

 

Question #2: "Necessary items" Would that be all the clothes in the bag or just a few of them. For instance, you had two pairs of slacks but would only one pair be covered since that is all that you need? Bathing suit. That's not "necessary" but still something important on a cruise.

 

Tucker in Texas

Third party insurance.

All clothing is covered as far as I know. I had a few undergarments that I stashed in the outside pockets at the last minute. All covered.

Got off the Grandeur this past Saturday.

We did MTD and had the same waitstaff the entire cruise. They were outstanding.

I do recommend making reservations instead of showing up, and they highly recommended calling ahead. Less chance of having to wait for a table. We made reservations earlier in the day for that same evening, never had a wait!!

Me me me!!!! On my Allure cruise. I am convinced, but obviously can't prove, that someone walked off with my bag before the porter took the cart into the terminal. I believe someone had sticky fingers.

Arrived at the terminal and gave the porter our luggage. We had 2 large suitcases, 1 garment bag, and a medium sized cosmetic bag.

That day everything made it to our room except the cosmetic bag. RCL said not to worry, just give it time. Well, after 2 days, several trips to a room behind customer service where they hold untagged luggage, and the "naughty naughty" room just to check, it was MIA. Filled out a missing luggage report. Had to go into Nassau to pick up a few things that were missing that I couldn't do without. EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!

RCL did give us a credit to our onboard account. Very nice of them but it didn't even come close to covering the missing items. BUT, we had cruise insurance!!!!!!

Filed an insurance claim once we got home. Said we needed a copy of the missing luggage report. I didn't even think of getting one. Big mistake!!!! Called RCL's missing luggage dept and asked if I could get one. They said they would e-mail the ship to get it. Well, bad news, can't find any report that we filled out. After a frustrating conversation with this dept, I realized that I was getting nowhere. So now I e-mailed Adam Goldstein.

Mr. Goldstein forwarded this e-mail to a nice lady in the executive office to handle. In the end, they could see that we had lost luggage, they gave us compensation, but couldn't locate the written report. She had a letter typed up for me to use in place of the report. I faxed all my info to the trip insurance company. It took several weeks but they did reimburse me.

Oh, and most of my items were not covered. Apparently, in really fine print somewhere on the contract, it says that if the lost items are not neccessary items, they are not covered. So things like perfume, cologne, hairdryer, electric shaver, shampoo/conditioner, deodorant, etc., are not covered. Had a few clothing items that were covered.

Sitting in our cabin on the Grandeur now, waiting to debark. There have been some gastrointestinal illnesses going around. We haven't been able to serve ourselves since Key West. Everything got handed to us. Hubby was sick yesterday, but is fine today. He just slept the day away in our cabin.

Hope everyone boarding has a fun and issue-free cruise,!!

I am on the phone with them now. Actually, on hold while they are checking on something for me. It took 58 minutes to get a specialist.

Selling or offering? Where they really charging for hotdogs?:confused:

You beat me to it!!!

Have a great cruise! We were on Explorer together last year. We are going on Grandeur too but in September. We fell in love with Bermuda and wanted to go back to explore some more.

I absolutely remember you!!! We were sitting back to back in Portofino with you celebrating a birthday!!! We were so close, but never got to meet :)

Have a wonderful time in Bermuda. It is probably my favorite island. So beautiful, and the people so friendly!!!

The picture I saw of the track split looked to be starboard side where the track narrows. The rubber surface was broken and curled up some. There was a visible seam between two deck plates that was not even, one side was raised up an inch or so making for a great tripping hazard.

 

The picture was focused in on the damage and didn't show much background so can't really say it is that upper area in the photo with the hot tub but it could be. If you can check it out, that would be great. The surface might be replaced but not as sun faded as the surrounding areas.

Thanks for the info :)

Is the pic from the port or starboard side?

I will be boarding her in 2 days and I will check it out. I am guessing it should be repaired by then.

ETA: I'm guessing starboard.

Another vote for St Martin!!!!!

Enjoying your review!!!

We will be boarding the Grandeur this coming Friday :)

itching2cruiseagain

Thank you so much for this info. I will have to check it out!!

Fast forward a number of years to a few months ago, my husband got a vape for himself and one for me. Best move ever, we quit without even trying.

May I ask what e-cig you are using?? Where do you buy it from?

The Unexpected Boys are fabulous. They did a Four Seasons tribute show on Enchantment of the Seas a few years ago, and I see they have some upcoming shows on RCI sailings.

We saw them on the Allure. They were outstanding!!!

If there is any inside smoking ( casino) allowed, I wish RCCL would consider some sort of smoking lounge. That way, all public areas ( casino) can be smoke free and smokers will have a dedicated indoor space.

 

 

m

I agree. A nice lounge, out of the way, well ventilated. Between that and the area out on deck, I would be very satisfied!!!