DalTXColtsFan

On Royal Caribbean they put a little leaflet called the Cruise Compass in your room every day to let you know the schedule of all activities throughout the day. Does Princess have something similar? If so, what do they call it?

For whatever value it provides to this thread, I just got off a 1-week cruise on Liberty and had problems with the internet for a grand total of about 5 minutes. I only bought the surf package (wasn't interested in watching Netflix on the ship). I was able to browse the internet just fine, not blazing fast but certainly fine, I was able to upload photos and videos to Facebook, and I was even able to DOWNLOAD videos from YouTube (using those freeware online downloaders).

I did have several people in my group complain that the internet was a joke. Last year, *I* was one of those complaining it was a joke while others told me they had no issues, so perhaps there is an element of luck.

Hope this helps

DTXCF

Anyone sailed on Liberty or any other RC ship and used the internet recently? Any other testimonials or updates?

Anyone used this recently? I normally never pay a penny for food once I'm on the ship because I'm so happy with the bountiful options that are included in the cruise fare, but my roommate peer-pressured me into doing the FNDR special on an upcoming cruise on Liberty of the Seas.

If the restaurant they pick for you isn't the one you want how hard is it to change it? I would really really like to try the Chops steakhouse.

All I can say is that your special needs children sure have special parents.

I should have said this sooner, but thank you - speaking for all of us special needs parents we need to hear that every now and then!

I am about to take my 2 special needs children on the Harmony of the Seas on November 26, 2016 with a group called Autism on the Seas, I'd highly recommend checking them out, they seem to sail out of most ports a few times per year. They bring specially trained staff on the cruise to assist you and those with special needs.

https://autismontheseas.com/

I probably could have asked this a long time ago, but how did it go?

If anyone else who posted has taken their special needs kids cruising with or without Autism on the Seas I'd love to hear more testimonials. Thanks!

For whatever it's worth to this thread, my roommate on my last cruise showed me how easy it is to use the safe in the room. In short, it's so easy I don't know why I never even considered it sooner.

I did not notice before that if you search reviews, the individual reviews have a section where you can discuss the excursion you took in each port whether it was RC-booked or not.

I ended up doing RC-booked excursions in Roatan and Belize. The one in Roatan was overpriced (it was a eco forest hike followed by a 2-hour beach break), but the one in Belize (a boat cruise up a river where we could see howler monkeys followed by a bus ride to the Altun Ha Mayan ruins) was excellent and worth every penny. I did a private excursion in Cozumel to a beach club called Nachi Cocum that was quite relaxing and pleasant.

Many of my cruisemates book excursions from people in the ports and enjoy it. I may try that someday, who knows.

So here was my experience with Voom on Liberty of the Seas:

The card with my access code was waiting for me in the room in the same envelope as my excursion tickets. The first day the surf and stream worked well - I was watching Netflix. From that day on, surfing *never* worked again, and there were 3 days where I couldn't connect to the internet from my laptop at all. The times I COULD connect I was not able to upload photos to Facebook or Messenger. My only "tip" would be that the RC Online room on deck 8 never seemed to be busy, and if you buy the package you have bought unlimited access to that room (same access code gets you on those computers). During the week they took 2 or 3 tries to connect and were painfully slow, but they worked.

I was told by a friend who cruised Harmony of the Seas that the internet was much better on that ship - just passing along unverified 3rd-party information.

Hope this is helpful,

DTXCF

You won't get many repliss to to this.

Grunch - 4 pages later I guess you were wrong :).

Resurrecting a 10-year-old thread LOL!

I love poker and I love cruising, so a poker cruise is like the dream vacation for me. I've only been on one poker cruise - that was back in 2014 (wow, I cannot BELIEVE that was 3 years ago!!!) through Card Player Cruises on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. All a poker cruise really is is just a regular cruise with added access to the exclusive poker room, a reserved seating area in the main dining room, a welcome party, a goodbye party and lectures from poker hall of famer Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher. The poker room is phenomenal - there were dealers in there who had dealt at the world series of poker. The atmosphere is jovial and friendly.

The ONLY "criticism" I have of it, if I can even call it that, is that I felt like a lot of the other players were good players. I prefer to play at tables where 5 to 7 people will call a preflop raise with anything and call 3/4-pot bets on the flop and turn to chase a gutshot (you know, so there's actually a chance to make money :) ). But I felt like most of the people there at least knew basic strategy which reduced the profitability of the games. I'm going on another poker cruise at the end of this month (Card Player Cruises again this time on Liberty of the Seas) and I'm a much better player myself now than I was 3 years ago, so we'll see what I say about the competition then :).

For comparison, one time when I was on Liberty of the Seas I went down to the casino and they actually had one table for poker - it was only $2/$5 no-limit. It was 15% rake, but it was the softest poker game I've ever played.

Feel free to ask and I'll happily share my opinions!

You will get an access code when you check-in.

I know I said thanks in advance, but... thanks :). So I'll get it at the same time they give me my SeaPass card?

Related question to avoid creating a new thread: I purchased the week-long package ahead of time. When I get to the ship and connect to the wifi, what information will I need to be able to log into it my pre-paid package?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. 22 days until my next cruise - aaaauuuuugggghhhhh they're going be 22 ridiculously long days!!!!!!

Hello forumites,

I've seen this discussed here and there in other threads, but would like to see more opinions/experiences if possible.

I, personally, have been a business traveler for 20 years and have never used a hotel room safe. Only one time in 20 years have I had something go missing from my room (a credit card - and whoever took it made no attempt to actually USE it which is strange!). I've travelled internationally many times and have never let my passport out of my sight (I keep it in my laptop bag).

I've seen varied opinions on what to do with your passport on a cruise. Some say keep it with you at all times in a waterproof pouch, others say leave it in the safe.

I would lean toward the former but I'm open to advice if there are compelling reasons for the latter.

Thoughts?

Thanks

DTXCF

Signs everywhere, accosted as you enter the windjammer, and interrupting dinner to sell specialty dining. NOT OK, Royal.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

*thunderous applause*

This is more for conversation than anything else. I can pick a specific ship and find 10 or 20 or even more reviews for it almost instantaneously, but when I look for a review of an individual excursion (in my case, particularly those on the Royal Caribbean website), I rarely find ANY and when I do find some there are 2 reviews at the most spanning the last 5 years! That's true both here and on their website!

Anyone have any theories as to why that is???

I too am considering the Altun Ha Mayan Site and River Wallace excursion on Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas in early May. I really really want to climb the pyramids!!!! And the river itself sounds wonderful and scenic - bonus.

Anyone know, how are the views from the tops of the pyramids? The only thing that even has me CONSIDERING Xunantunich is that supposedly the view from the top of El Castillo is breathtaking, but is it so breathtaking it's worth the 2 and a half hour bus ride each way?

Thanks in advance.

Hope it's okay to bump old threads. I'll be in Roatan on Liberty of the Seas in May and am strongly considering the Eco Forest Walk/Pirates Bay Beach excursion. Anyone been there recently? Thanks!

I'd also suggest finding out what time your rooms will be available. Your mileage may vary. On my first cruise we were aboard the ship at 1pm but our room wasn't ready until 2pm so we had to lug all of our stuff everywhere. That was on RC Serenade of the Seas.

My second cruise I took with my parents - they were on the ship and in their room by 11:30 - I thought that was miraculous. Though truth be told my dad is handicapped so that might have helped.

FWIW I think you're asking a good question. Getting on the ship earlier is just more vacation time, it's as simple as that.

P.S. My third cruise my flight to Fort Lauderdale was delayed. I landed about 40 minutes before departure, was in a taxi about 25 minutes before departure, in line 10 minutes before departure and on the ship 1 minute before departure. The LAST thing you need on a vacation is STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So get there early and relax :).

Thank you for posting all of those pictures - they brought back memories even though I took plenty of my own!

My wife and I did a second honeymoon on Majesty of the Seas (last December). Miami, Nassau, Coco Cay. It was her first cruise, my third. When she got on board and I told her it was the SMALLEST ship in the Royal Caribbean armada she couldn't believe it.

At the end we really had nothing but positive things to say - being the smallest ship in the RC armada is like being the least attractive Victoria's Secret model! We certainly weren't bored, we were certainly never hungry, Atlantis was unbelievable, Coco Cay South Beach was beautiful, the entertainment was fun, the clubs. I could go on and on but really, nothing but positives.

Truth be told, there's not going to be anything useful in this post - I just learned how to add the cruise countdown to my sig and want to see it :).

Just reiterating a few points I believe in 100%:

1. First and foremost, above everything else, the very DEFINITION of vacation is the temporary absolution of responsibility. There is no better place to do it than a cruise. Leave all of your stress, worry, work etc. at home. Once you're on the ship you're in a new world where your every whim is catered to. Relax and enjoy it.

2. Second and fivemost (one of my favorite bad jokes), I agree 100% with the many posters who have said not to try to do EVERYTHING, even saying you don't have to disembark at every port. Think of the ship as an activity buffet - when you go to the Windjammer you don't even TRY to eat everything on the buffet, do you? Same with things to do. Do what you want, relax when you want, don't do what you don't want. You're on vacation.

3. Third and (joke has run its course), strong magnets will improve your cabin life. I put two in the bathroom, string a Target or Walmart bag between them and use that for my toiletries.

4. Here's a silly yet serious one: I only pack colored underwear so that if I want to do a load of laundry I don't have to separate whites from colors.

Enjoy!

How do excursions from the departure port work? Are they typically on embarkation day or disembarkation day or both?

My main curiosity about those is with regard to luggage, whether or not the luggage was checked - if someone takes an excursion from, say, 8am to 12pm or even 2pm on disembarkation day where does all of their luggage get stored while the vacationer is on the excursion?

I'd love to hear experiences from people who have taken an excursion on the last day.

I was going to start a new thread for this question, but it kind of makes sense to just leave it here because it has to with disembarkation day:

How do excursions from the port of call work? Are they typically on embarkation day or disembarkation day or both?

My main curiosity about those is with regard to luggage, whether or not the luggage was checked - if someone takes an excursion from, say, 8am to 12pm or even 2pm on disembarkation day where does all of that luggage get stored while the vacationer is on the excursion?

I'd love to hear experiences from people who have taken an excursion on the last day.

Just throwing my two cents into the hat in the ring - I sailed on Liberty in January 2015 and thought the MDR and Windjammer food was awesome. Our waiter was from India and he hooked us up with fresh-cooked Indian food which was magnificent. I think I had about half of what was on the menu by the end of the week and don't remember disliking anything. It is true that in Windjammer you sometimes have to be patient and stand in line, but I don't remember any pushing, shoving, line-jumping, dirty looks or anything like that - everybody seemed to understand that when 6000 people are confined into one space you have to share.

I had the manhattan strip steak twice that week and I thought it tasted like steak.

There are also quick alternatives elsewhere in the ship - if you just want a sandwich, pastry or a couple slices of pizza you can go to sorento's. There are also a couple smaller buffet-like places around the ship if you look for them.

So, either you had a stastically improbably BAD week, or I had a statistically improbably GOOD week :).

P.S. I should probably put a disclaimer that I usually don't eat breakfast at all. The couple times I did visit the windjammer and/or MDR for breakfast I thought the breakfast food was terrible. But that's not a problem for me as long as the coffee is good, and it is.

P.P.S. I kind of agree that the windjammer is repetitive for lunch. At supper, they do food from many nations. For example one night they did English food and had roast beef and yorkshire pudding. It was delicious. I've seen them do special Thai exhibits and I'm sure they've done other countries that I just don't remember. I wish they'd do that at lunch because for dinner I really prefer to eat in the MDR.