aururab

We have some other things on the itinerary and can only fit in 7 days! 😞

We are trying to decide on which cruise line to do a spring 2024 Douro River sailing and feel completely lost with all the options! Other than Tauck (which is out of our budget) all the major lines are close enough on price that it wouldn’t be the deciding factor. Any suggestions for which would be the best cruise line to select? Oh! And we are 2 retired adults, who enjoying walking but not really hiking.

Booked in June 2022 for our Feb 2023 cruise. Started at $4,679 for the cruise and the outgoing flights. For our return flight they were booked separately, departing the day after the cruise, but the routing was cancelled and we were able to rebook for free to the Sunday flight which would have been $500-$900 more per person so that was a huge bonus. Our outgoing flights went from $324 one way to $178 saving so savings of $546 total for our family of 4. Moving from a balcony cabin for 4, to an interior cabin connecting to balcony, which one a random sale when my original category was sold out was less than the original cabin. We started at $4,679 with $150 in OBC, and ended at $4,252 with $300 in onboard credit between two cabins. My parents are on the same cruise, started at $4,418 - with $100 in OBC and ended up at $3,419.20 with $337 on OBC - due to decreases in both airfare and the cruise portion. Now if I were to look at them both today, t would be much much more. It is all about waiting and watching for the sales, or having a good TA who will do it for you!

Thanks for clarifying that! I am checking in everyone for our group. What info do I need?

I have a question regarding what information is needed to check in 45 days in advance for the cruise. It says we have to take photos, but my kids will likely be in school while I do it. Can I just upload pictures of them and my husband, or do they need to be with me to take an actual photo?

Well, the groups department is now telling me they can't make reservations for groups in advance...

The group department is trying to tell me that they have more availability on the ship than they have on their end. Any idea if that is true?

I am sailing on the Feb 19 2023 sailing of Voyager of the Seas out of San Juan - over president's week with a group of 6 adults, 4 kids. Debating between making individual reservations for specialty dining, or the 3 night dining package. With the 3 night dining package I expect we would eat at chops twice, so it does save enough... But, how hard will it be to make dinner reservations onboard for a group on a relatively full ship? Should I just make all advance reservations?

Thanks everyone! When it was all said and done, moving from our quad mid ship Balcony to the aft balcony + interior cabin only cost $150 more! I kept thinking there must be something wrong with it for that price! ha

Our kids are only 10 and 6 - they are not quite comfortable enough to be in their own cabin without an interior door.

I was looking at the adjoining aft Balcony and Interior cabins shown below, but I'm worried about whether there is more vibrations/noise from the engine than the mid ship deck 9 cabins I currently have reserved.

Sorry! Should have added it is 9681/9676 or 9376/9381

I just noticed the Voyager of the Seas has a connecting 4B balcony to a 4V interior at the rear of the ship. Considering booking this instead of one cabin for 4, but have only cruised a handful times, and we are worried about the motion and possible noise at the back of the ship. Can anyone give us any advice on this? Thanks so much!

Oh no... I'm all in on points. To the point that if I have cash for some reason I will deposit and put the purchase on my credit card! Whole other topic, but while the points are not for cruises per se, I use them for hotels! 🙂 Hyatt points are often worth 3 cents or more a point! 😉

I had entirely missed The Boat Yard in Barbados until this thread! And Float n Splash in St Maarten!

Love this! My own version - I avoid using cash at all costs and put everything on a points credit that I use for travel! 🙂

That is the one island we had been to before! 🙂 We were planning on renting a private boat & Captain for the day, same as we did last time. Thanks! Love that description! We are traveling with our own snorkel gear, and the kids are all ridiculously strong swimmers and can handle anything an average adult could deal with. I was just questioning whether St. Maarten was the best island to not have an excursion planned when there are 4 ships in port!

So about the best it is going to get I guess? I wasn't keeping a list of the excursions, but without a stop of cococay, I don't think the rest will go down in price much will they? One other question - what are the lines like for dinner with a reservation? Rhapsody of the seas, should be pretty full as it is Feb Ski week of a lot of schools and universities.

This thread was definitely the most helpful! The roll call both here and on the site not to be named hasn't been much help! ha That said, I'm still at a loss of what island would be best to just wander around and window shop, go to a local beach etc! I can't afford excursions every day! ha

I was just wondering about this myself, and come on here to see everyone's opinions, and low and behold, a current thread on it! My Feb 19 Voyager of the Seas sailing just dropped the prices for the first time since dining came available. I'm currently debating between the 3 night package and just booking individually.... Cost before gratuity. My other challenge is, I'm not sure I will bring the kids all 3 times.... Maybe just get them something fast earlier and send them off to the kids club and enjoy some adult dinners... 🙂

Thanks for that! I'm a bit confused by the requirements for Barbados and St. Lucia. Royal still says that the tours have to be booked through them on those two islands, but lots of reports on here of people booking direct...

oh odd, that is one less ship than I saw on another page! How many can St Maarten comfortably handle? 🙂

I was just coming here to ask this very question as there seems to be very conflicting information out there!

We had a private boat for the day the last time we were in St. Thomas, and it was EPIC. Honestly, a day on a boat on any of these islands is a day to remember! 🙂 ha I guess, what I meant was, what islands were people MOST impressed with regarding shopping/public beaches such that they didn't need to schedule an excursion. Given the number of ships in port the day we are in St. Maarten, I think we really should schedule something that gets us out of the main tourist area.

We also don’t have any sea days! Which islands would you skip excursions to shop and go to a local beach?