goncruzn

On my last trip to Europe I used a PacSafe crossbody bag. I never saw any evidence of pickpockets or bag snatchers but I wanted to be on the safe side anyway. I will be using that bag again on my next trip. I felt better having it as the zipper can be locked and the straps as well as the body of the bag are slashproof. The key is to be as vigilant as possible and no matter what you do, don't put your money or cc in your pockets.

I would definitely get on the waitlist. Because of it being so far in advance, you might have a good chance of actually getting it.

I try to arrive between 10:45 - 11:00. Not only do you avoid some of the crowds at the port but also it can get hectic trying to leave your hotel with many cruise passengers waiting on shuttle buses so I try to get out of there early also.

St. Thomas and St. Maarten are big shopping ports, so if you like to shop, those two ports would appeal to you. If you like lounging on the beach all day then the itinerary that takes you to Labadee should be of interest. As the other posters have mentioned, the ships are pretty much identical so it will be the ports that make all the difference. I've never sailed out of Port Canaveral, so I will be doing that itinerary next May on the Oasis going to St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Nassau. I'll probably stay on the ship in Nassau as it doesn't really appeal to me.

You will enjoy it whichever you decide to choose.

We usually take one medium to large suitcase each and then at least one small carryon. The small carryon usually contains shoes and small accessories that I can easily get to.

Once I print my luggage tag, I usually put heavy duty packing tape on it to make it more sturdy and then cut them out to size, fold in half and staple the ends together. I started doing this because once when I traveled with my mother, her suitcase didn't get to the room until very late in the evening and that was because the tag had ripped off the suitcase after we had left it with the porter.

Happy cruising!

I try my best to get back to the ship with a 2 hour buffer, but that is always not possible if you are on a tour. I was a little nervous at first the last time I was in Europe as we did private tours with other CC members. It all worked out perfectly though as the companies we did business with are reputable companies that are used to working with cruise ship passengers and know exactly when you need to be back on the ship and will tailor your tour to make sure you have plenty of time. Kusadasi was the only city that we cut it close because we wanted to do a little shopping after the tour and didn't have a lot of time to do so. The shopping area was pretty much right at the port so we knew it wouldn't take long to get to the ship.

When I do get back on the ship one of my favorite things to do is watch the runners. I just hope one day I'm not the runner that everyone else on the ship is watching and cheering!

Yes, you can buy euros on the ship, but I wouldn't. The exchange rates are horrible and you'd be much better off using an ATM once you're over there. I did that and it was so very easy and the exchange rates weren't terrible. They were much better even than going to one of those "currency converter"" places. Or better yet, buy more before you leave and then just use ATM's as a backup if necessary.

Over the years I have traveled with dh, mom, sister, mom and sister, cousins & aunt and friends. I have enjoyed every single cruise. Anyone I've cruised with is a "go with the flow" kind of person and I have never had any type of issue with anyone. In fact, one of the cruises I took was with three other women to the Med. Only one was a friend of mine...the other two were her friends. We all met once for lunch almost a year prior to the cruise and once on the cruise we all enjoyed every minute. Never had an issue. Lucky I guess!

Welcome to cruise critic!

Follow the suggestions noted here by the other posters and you'll gain a wealth of information on ports of call and what to do in each port. As for the cruise itself, go with an open mind prepared to do as much or as little as you like. You will find so much good information here from experienced cruisers that by the time you set sail, you will feel like an experienced cruiser yourself. Do a search on the boards for your particular ship (Oasis or Allure maybe?) and you'll find many posts/reviews that will give you some good information on the ship itself. Don't stress, have fun!

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

 

The only "perq" that I would utilize is the price drop up to 72 hours before cruise but it's definitely worth noting the other two.

 

When it comes time for me to book, would I do better to book through the Crown & Anchor office if that is possible or to simply book through one of the cruise representatives at the 1-800 number. <--- might be a dumb question but I honestly cannot remember if the C & A office actually will take a cruise booking.

I just booked a cruise last week using a NC certificate that was purchased on my Oasis cruise in December of 2009. Because so much has changed, the rep on the 1-800# could not help me--he couldn't find the booking in the system. He transferred me out to ??? (can't remember) but basically they had to create a new booking number and transferred all credits to the new booking. It took a while but they got it taken care of. There will be four of us cruising and they charged us an additional $300 as a downpayment.

I would start with the 1-800# and if for some reason they cannot help you, they will transfer you to a dept that can.

This was such a great review. Thank you so much for writing it and including those great pictures. I was on the second sailing for Oasis when it first debuted and reading your review has helped me with finding out what changes have been made over the past 7+ years.

I'm even more excited now to sail on her . . . I just wish I didn't have to wait so long!

I booked GS 10660 for May 2017 and I'm super excited. Good info here and I'm especially excited about happy hour in the lounge!

If you truly aren't going to use the phone much, I would just get the international plan from AT&T. I have Verizon and got their international plan a couple of years ago and it worked perfectly!

I've cruised on RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, Carnival and a few other that are no longer around, and out of all, RCCL and Celebrity are by far my favorite, then Princess and Carnival. It's not that I don't like Carnival, it just doesn't rank at the top for me.

I would say try Royal. You'll never know how you feel about it if you don't try it. At least then you'll know for the future what you like and don't like. I love the layout and décor of RCCL a lot more than I do Carnival.

Whatever you do decide, have a great time!

What date? We are booked on the Oct 7 date. Our friends just booked the same one today.

That's the same date I'm looking at. I think it's a great time of the year to go. I'm also trying to convince my cousins and their mom (my mother's sister) to go. We did something like that almost two years ago to Alaska and we all had a blast. We had 3 generations of mothers and daughters.

Hope to be on the sailing with you!

Alaska and Europe are already out. We have Jewel booked for Italy and Greek Islands in October, 2017.

I'm looking to book that same cruise for myself and my mother. She's wanted to go to Europe/Med for a while now and I thought a mother/daughter trip would be perfect. I did a similar itinerary October 2013 and loved it. I'm now excited to be able to share this experience with my mother. I'm hoping we will book no later than this weekend, once we have a chance to sit down and decide on a stateroom location. Getting excited!

The bank without a doubt!

The best place to stay would be downtown Seattle regardless of the pier, although it will/should be sailing from pier 91. Staying downtown puts you within walking distance of restaurants, Pike Place Market, shopping and even the Space Needle. You will definitely enjoy being there. I've stayed at the Seattle Downtown Marriott and the Warwick Hotel. Both were nice, standard hotel rooms, but the bathrooms at the Warwick were smaller and dated but basically the room was your standard hotel room. The rooms at the Warwick also have small balconies (standing room only). The Marriott was a bit nicer overall and just minutes from Pike Place.

Wherever you choose to stay I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I absolutely love the beauty of Alaska.

Regarding the fruit basket, apparently it's on request.

You ask your stateroom for a card that you fill out like a room service breakfast card.

There's a choice of: bananas, apples, pears, kiwi fruit oranges & you write down how many you want.

You can ask for a week's worth or order nightly.

I never asked for one, but received a fruit basket every day, with maybe one skipped day because we hadn't finished what was in the basket from the day before. Interesting....

I was also on this cruise and agree with everything the OP said. I was, though, surprised at how small the buffet area was considering the size of the ship. Even though there were two separate sides to it, along with the Café Caribe, I found it very "tight" compared to the buffet areas on other ships/cruiselines.

The naturalist, Michael Modzelewski was excellent. I cruised on the Celebrity Solstice to Alaska last year, and while I loved the cruise and ship, the naturalist on board was good, but not as good as Mr. Modzelewski. He was on the bridge between 6-8am the morning prior to arrival in Juneau pointing out whales, did a wonderful narrative through Tracy Arm Fjord where we were actually able to get up close and personal to the glacier and even later after we left the Fjord, continued to point out wildlife and marine life. His talks in the theater were entertaining and informative.

Something else the Solstice did better was to provide hot chocolate (for free) every time you got back on board the ship after being in port. I was a little disappointed that you had to pay for it on the Crown (except in dining room at dinner). I also like drinking lemonade and on other ships, I've been able to get it myself from dispensers, but the only way to get it here was to ask a waiter. I also asked for it in the dining room at dinner and the waiter told me I had to go upstairs to the buffet to get it. I've always had lemonade at dinner on other ships. A little disappointed, but oh well, was not a deal breaker in the least.

We had a "king" bed, one side was comfortable, but the other side had a dip in the middle that made it uncomfortable to sleep on, even with the pillowtop pad. Our room steward was Romulo (Romy) and he was good. Didn't talk to him often, but he always kept the room tidy. We had fruit delivered to our room everyday, while the other couple traveling with us in the next room never received any. I didn't know if that was because I was a Captain's Circle member and they were not.

All in all, I enjoyed the cruise very much. There will always be some "good" and maybe "not so good" with every cruise, but I have yet to have had a "bad" cruise. Would I cruise on this ship again...definitely!

I visited the Sanctuary on embarkation day on Sept 12th. They were offering a special deal of (I can't remember whether it was $40 or $60) for use of the Sanctuary on the day we were to cruise through Tracy Arm Fjord. I just couldn't see the value in it, so I didn't book it. Everyone has reasons for booking it, I just knew for me it would be a waste of time and money. If you are going to pay to use it though, Alaska would probably be a good place to do so.

Which cabin?

 

 

I still cruise for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (with 2 sugar free ice creams)

I was in cabin C305. And, by the way, it had a pillow top mattress pad that doesn't work if the mattress itself sinks in the middle.

Just got off the Crown this morning and I have to say the mattress was very uncomfortable on one side and the opposite was fine. Hubby would get up during the middle of the night and sleep on the floor because his lower back hurt so much. My side was fine so I tried to switch but then I would also wind up having the same issue, though not as bad.

Marriott Waterfront hotel

I agree, the Seattle Marriott Waterfront hotel is a nice hotel in a great location. At the waterfront and minutes from Pike Place Market. I stayed there in June 2014 pre-cruise and had no complaints. This year I'm staying at the Warwick Seattle Hotel only because I got a good rate. I've heard it's also a decent hotel in a good location. I guess I'll find out for myself in a few days as I'll be there this Friday for my cruise on Saturday!

I'm sailing on the Crown on the 12th and I don't think I would be too disappointed if we had to go to Endicott Arm instead of Tracy Arm. Would be a nice change.