Roseflyer

I think a taxi is the best option. It should be about $40 and 20 minutes depending on traffic. The good news is that everything is within New Jersey so it is a simple metered fare and is about 10 miles. If you try to take a taxi to/from New York you have to pay a lot more, but fortunately you don't have to worry about the expensive tolls.

The view of the Statue of Liberty is not very good from Bayonne. Battery Park in Manhattan has about the same view. You will be sailing in the opposite direction. The only cruise ships that go past the Statue of Liberty are the ones at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal which is used by Norwegian.

Bayonne NJ is not in a particularly touristy area and is inconvenient for those who are coming from Manhattan since taxi fares are high and the bridge/tunnel tolls are high. The Brooklyn terminal that Carnival & Cunard uses is a little easier for tourists, but the Manhattan pier that Norwegian uses is easiest. The convenience of Bayonne is that it is very close to Newark Airport.

If you don't want to sit in traffic, you can stay in Newport NJ and take PATH trains into Manhattan. I've heard of people doing that to save money on hotels, but again in February you can find a 4 star hotel near Times Square for under $100 per night.

I highly advise NOT staying in Times Square and then leaving for the port in NJ on a Tuesday. Traffic will be horrific and all it takes is one accident on a main road (Turnpike) to shut it down and you missing your cruise.

I think that is a bit extreme. The Holland tunnel backs up in the afternoons and evenings, but it isn't going to be terrible leaving Manhattan on a Tuesday morning in February. I would suggest budgeting plenty of time, but a Tuesday morning in the middle of winter is not bad as long as it is not snowing hard. Trying to get there on a Friday afternoon in the summer when it is raining would be a mess. Normally that drive is about 45 minutes and doesn't involve the NJ turnpike.

The good news is that when flying Los Angeles to Seattle, I don't see a need to fly in the night before. If you catch the first flight out of LAX, you will be in Seattle by 10am and have no problem making the cruise. The first flight of the day usually is reliably on time and even if late, there are plenty of alternatives. Both SEA and LAX are good airports with few delays. 12:45 is cutting it too close. I would suggest trying to get to SEA by 11am. Tickets between SEA and LAX are very very cheap. You probably can buy a new ticket for less than the $200 change fee.

Royal Caribbean just switches from one sale to another so that there is virtually no sale at any point. Royal will occasionally have a real sale where a type of cabin on a specific cruise is discounted heavily for a period of time. Back in February, I noticed a Freedom of the Seas balcony cabin sale for the November 20 sailing based on someone's post here. The regular price was $902, but it dropped to $702 for about a week. I jumped on the deal. These are the types of deals to look out for. If you do a generic Royal Caribbean search sometimes specific cruises and cabins are offered for a low price outside the normal slow price increases that are typically seen up until final payment is due. The actual sales that Royal offers are almost never advertised because they don't want people repricing their existing bookings.

Everyone seems focused on what is worse, so I'll make some comments on what is better. I think cruising is better because there are many more things to do on the ship. My first cruise on RCCL was Vision of the Seas back when it was brand new to Alaska in 1999. To a degree, the ship was a bit boring back then.

Nowadays there are many more activities. Cruise ships 20 years ago had bars, theaters, lounges, libraries, casinos, and the pool/spa area and that was about it. There weren't activities other than kids things for those who want to be physically active. Now we have skydiving, rock climbing, surfing, mini golf, etc. There also weren't aerial acrobat shows, ice skating shows, etc. The ships were lower key with things like shuffle board and chess. Cruises are much more interesting now due to all the ship upgrades and overall the experience is more interesting for those in the 10-50 year old bracket.

Some are nostalgic for years of better food and service. That now comes with a price, but some appreciate the food choice options with optional dining venues. Personally I think cruising is much more exciting now and more interesting for the whole family. My biggest complaint is that Royal tends to have fewer and fewer itineraries with more than three stops on a week long cruise. The emphasis on ports has been reduced and the advertising is now focused on the ship. This is more of an emphasis on Royal since they focus on big ships with innovation. Competitors like Holland America have most of their cruises still having four on Caribbean cruises where a cruise going to the same place has three on Royal.

The good news is that Chicago OHare actually is a rather on time reliable airport in the morning. The airport in the afternoon and evening gets very backed up with delays, but a 7am departure to Orlando should have a high probability of getting out of Chicago on time.

A couple of suggestions would be first of all install the American Airlines app on your phone. Airline apps are great about keeping you updated if there are any problems. It can also notify you of delays and even give rebooking options that you can do without having to worry about stopping by customer service if your flight is late. It is also worth noting that if your flight is delayed, go see customer service, but if there is a line also call up reservations on the phone while standing in line. They can rebook and reroute you over the phone just as easily. If you have the app, you can load your boarding pass right away. If you check luggage, you are limited in your options so carry on only is a great suggestion.

If anything gets delayed with your flight, ask for other options even if you have to pay a change fee. You may want to get to the airport extra early in case your flight is delayed. You can still make it to Orlando by connecting through Dallas, Charlotte etc if your flight is cancelled. United, Frontier and Spirit also fly to Orlando from Ohare so you can also buy a ticket and beg American to give you a refund.

It looks like your cruise is basically sold out. If they do fix whatever issue that is not allowing anyone to use that room, they probably will immediately give it to someone currently holding a guarantee. You can try to get it, but in Royal's mind they upgraded you for the inconvenience.

I would only do the New Jersey to Port Canaveral/Coco Cay/Nassau itinerary if living within driving distance of New Jersey. 3-4 sea days off the Atlantic coast of the United States is not going to be as pleasant as down in the Caribbean. You could have temperatures anywhere from 30 to 75 that time of the year around New Jersey. Also the water can be a bit rough as we all know.

The itinerary stops also aren't the most interesting. Coco Cay is always a bit of a risk as a tender port. Nassau is a common stop, but not necessarily the best place in the Caribbean. Port Canaveral has some options, but if you want to see Disney, it is much better to do it as a land based vacation so that you have enough time to enjoy the parks. It should be warm enough in the Bahamas and Florida, but again I don't think I would want to fly to New Jersey and sail that far south when it is just as easy to fly to Texas or Florida and enjoy warm weather your entire vacation.

If you are going to fly, I would think that there are better options out of Galveston, Port Canaveral, Tampa or South Florida. The one benefit of going out of New Jersey is if you get to add some time in to visit New York if you and your family haven't been there much.

To be honest, I think the teenagers are old enough to decide. If you tell them that they can share the $250 per room or $500 total extra that the cruise would cost (don't mention OBC) and get some type of gifts from you or have a fancier ship, I think they'll tell you what they want. They probably would take the money that you offer and be happy with Majesty. The 6 year old will be happy either way. Most 6 year olds that I have met are equally happy with a row boat as they are with a cruise ship.

I'd talk with the kids and ask them to decide. If they help make the decision, they learn a little about financial responsibility and won't get spoiled expecting a luxury suite every time they travel. A hundred dollars that they can spend towards a phone or whatever else and a cruise would be an awesome combo.

Personally, I'd stick with Majesty. You'd have a great time on either ship, and saving $900 is significant. It's an old ship, but you are going on a short cruise with family. Cruise lines are notorious for convincing you that if you spend a little extra, you are going to have a better trip. They convince you that the balcony or suite is worth it or the specialty restaurant is worth it, etc. When you are a teenager, you are going to have a great time (or miserable time depending on the kid) regardless of what options and add ons that you make.

With Oasis moving to Port Canaveral and Freedom to Ft Lauderdale to do 6 and 8 day cruises, does this mean that all week long cruises (7 day cruises) on Royal Caribbean in Florida have 3 sea days? Other than from Tampa, which only gets the smaller Vision class ships, it appears that all the week long cruises have 3 sea days and 3 shore days. Personally I think that is a shame. I don't want 3 sea days, especially when every other cruise line going from Jamaica to Cozumel stops in Grand Cayman. A sea day moving at 8 knots is not particularly desirable to me. The rest of the cruise lines have 4 ports and two sea days on their western Caribbean itineraries.

I have a question about the decks. Can you get above deck 12 at the front of the ship? The deck plans don't show anything above the deck 12 cabins and fitness center, yet from the pictures it shows that there might be stairs above that area. Is there anywhere from the top of the ship where you can see forward other than the treadmill area in the gym on deck 11?

I wonder how long it will take to get the ship fully repaired. From deck chairs to galley equipment there are many things that need to be replaced. Most of that equipment is not going to be in New Jersey so I wonder how fast they can repair the ship. They have a couple days to stage equipment and likely can fly some maintenance people to the dock. Decorative things like potted plants don't need to be fixed before the next sailing, but the interior passenger spaces and galleys will need to be mostly functional.

The chance that this would require dry dock is low. I think they might put he crew in hotels for a few days to make it easier to work on this ship.

Why would someone choose Royal Caribbean? THe World would be far more interesting and a better life style.

First off try to take a later departure from the United States to Europe. If you can get a departure after 8pm, your body clock will allow you to sleep on the plane. Try to get a longer transatlantic flight. It is more pleasant to arrive around 10am or noon since you more likely can check in fo your hotel and have an easy afternoon.

The departures between 4 and 7pm are too early. After they do the meal service you will struggle to sleep for a few hours before the lights are back on for breakfast. You then arrive at 7am or earlier and have to force yourself to stay up all day after barely sleeping.

Some other tips are melatonin or Ambien. Even though your body is tired it may be hard to fall asleep at 8 or 9pm since it is he middle of the afternoon back home. Melatonin helps you fall asleep but wears off fast. Ambien is prescription and can keep you asleep longer. It is a strong drug for some so make sure you try it out at home before you go to make sure you don't have side effects.

My last tip is fly business class. If you combine a nice flat business class seat and a sleeping pill you will arrive feeling great. I understand that probably is not in the budget but if you can afford it the eastbound business class and westbound economy can help with jet lag.

I just booked this cruise. I have not seen a balcony cabin available on Royal Caribbeam for under $700 per person of a 6 night or longer cruise. I was able to get two hump cabins on deck 6 for that price. The balcony is cheaper than an ocean view room. $200 in onboard credit per cabin is included. That is a steal. It is about what carnival charges for a similar itinerary. I wonder how long the sale will last.

Thanks for sharing. You two certainly danced and drank your way across Europe. Your liver probably needs a rest after that adventure.

I was a bit disappointed that a cruise I booked on Queen Victoria in two weeks doesn't stop at Santorini since it is so beautiful. However, after hearing the story of the walk down the steps, I am glad that none of the ports we are visiting have tenders and challenges getting ashore.

I have a cruise on Queen Victoria in 3 weeks and still no cabin. I was originally guessing that assignments would be made around 5 weeks before, but I guess not. I guess Cunard is overbooking quite a bit because they don't seem to be offering many last minute options. Most cruises for the month of September on Queen Elizabeth or Queen Victoria are not available at all.

How do I know if I booked a saver fare or Cunard fare? Five months ago I booked a 7 night queen Victoria cruise for the end of September. I thought $1199 per person for a balcony guarantee is a good price. There are four of us in two cabins so I requested a four person table but don't really know what we will get. I understand cabins being far apart since they are guarantees. Does that mean I booked a saver fare. The travel agent confirmation just says promotional fare.