pmck

4 minutes ago, blackshirt said:

It does take time to notify everyone.

by email? Her parents got off of this ship earlier and there was no big deal (like the one they are portraying on the news)! I'm sure if there was an issue, the CDC would have not let people off.

4 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

 

......."I have a friend that is sailing on this ship today and she got no such notification.  Her parents were on the ship that just got into Bayonne and they are safely on their ride back to NJ.  She did get notified that they should show up later because they are doing extra sanitizing of the ship"

 

 

Things changing here very quickly. Really is an unfolding situation. What happens to people on their way to the port. Are they on their own to find accommodation for the night?

She still got nothing from RC today, other than to show up later due to extra sanitizing.. Everyone needs to relax!

8 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

Feb 7 departure delayed for one day. 

 

 

I have a friend that is sailing on this ship today and she got no such notification.  Her parents were on the ship that just got into Bayonne and they are safely on their ride back to NJ.  She did get notified that they should show up later because they are doing extra sanitizing of the ship.

3 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I believe that out of an abundance of caution, they will do a full ship sanitization. 

I have a friend that is sailing on this ship today and she got no such notification.  Her parents were on the ship that just got into Bayonne and they are safely on their ride back to NJ.  She did get notified that they should show up later because they are doing extra sanitizing of the ship.

18 hours ago, pezgirlroy said:

Our Harmony in August is going between $65 and 61. 

Wow, I saw ours just went back to $51.  I'm trying to remember last years May cruise on the Allure. I think we may have payed 48 p/p but not sure.  Are the prices always higher in the summer?

Morning,

We are sailing in 99 days and I have been watching the prices for the Deluxe Drink package.  It was 51 p/p, but see that it has gone up to 55 p/p. In your experience, do you think it will go down again?  Much further?  How long should we wait before I buy it?  I can't remember what we paid last year, but I think it did go lower than this.  I know that you can buy it, then cancel and re-buy if it goes lower. I hope that I didn't miss the boat...

Patti

Hello,

My family and I are cruising on the Freedom of the Seas o 5/10/20, Southern Caribbean. We have done this cruise once before in 2009, on Princess. We went on a great excursion then and I'm trying to find the same or similar one. We were in an open air vehicle of some kind and the tour guide was great.  We went all over the island and stopped at a few places and we had rum punches from the back of the car at a few stops. I remember it being only a few hours, but we had the best time and for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the excursion. Has anyone had a similar one in Barbados? 

I appreciate any and all of your help or suggestions.

Patti

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 3:14 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

What ship.  Lots of ships do not have any obstructed view balconies. 

We booked a spacious ocean view balcony on Freedom of the Seas, Southern Caribbean itinerary. So we're all set.Thanks anyway!!

16 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

If you have specific preferences like that, DON’T do a guarantee. 

Yes, that much I know.. haha.. I think we're all set now. I just can't believe that balconies were available at night and by the time we looked at it again the next day, only guarantee rooms were..

18 hours ago, pokerguy90 said:

We did a balc Guarantee last year.  We were assigned a balc all the way forward.  On deck 12 on Allure.  Very little ship movement, quiet, and restful.  Best part wash the water smashing Against the bow was much louder because we were forward. Loved it. Slept like a baby.

thanks, but we were in a suite once (got upgraded on Princess) and it was in the very front of the ship and we didn't like the constant banging against the waves..my daughter was sea sick the whole time..   That's what I'm afraid of with a guarantee!

Hello,

What  has been your experience with "guaranteed balconies'?  I finally found a cruise that we like and now it doesn't show any oceanview balconies available,

only guaranteed.  I'm afraid to get an obstructed view or be stuck somewhere. I guess there's always the possibility of getting an upgrade.  Your thoughts???

Patti

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2020 at 1:47 PM, Heatherco said:

What I usually do is research the ships and itinerary we would like and go from there.  I then price out cabin categories for each ship etc...

 

Royal Caribbean’s cruise prices are the same no matter who you book with.  What is different is that many agencies will give you extras like prepaid gratuities, shipboard credit, etc..

 

I pretty much decide on ship, sailing and cabin category.  Then I go to a site where agencies “compete” for your business.  You plug in all the info and get emails back from agencies offering their best deals.  Not sure if I’m allowed to post the site, but you can google something like..cruise compete agencies.  Whoever offers us the most extras is who we book with.

 

Hope this helps!

thanks I will do this.. I appreciate your help

On ‎1‎/‎9‎/‎2020 at 9:30 AM, lisa6191 said:

Bayonne is perfectly warm in May...certainly warm enough to justify saving airfare! I can see not wanting to sail from Bayonne in the winter but in May it will be fine. That being said, the Oasis cruises out of Bayonne in May are well over $1000/person for a balcony cabin.

I'm with you, but sadly can't get my husband "on board" with that  That being said.. have any of you sailed on Norwegian?  We are looking at that too, but haven't sailed with them at all and wonder what the comparisons are between the two lines??

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.. We don't want to sail from Bayonne in May.  We like to start in Florida (or we have sailed from Galveston and Puerto Rico), liking warm weather from the get go!  I know that it's late to plan for a May cruise and am always in awe of people that can book a  year out, but we don't have that situation.   I do like booking it, and only having to wait for a few months to go, but I realize that the best prices aren't always available then.  We do have a travel agent that we work with sometimes.  We are interested in the May 16th, Symphony sailing out of Miami, oceanfront balcony, room for 3, so I will ask her what kind of rates she can get for us and perks. I do appreciate all of your comments and welcome them.  Although this will be my 7th cruise, I feel like a newbie compared to some of you!

Have a great day!!

Patti

Hi Everyone,

My family (my husband, daughter and I) are in the market for a cruise this May and we are shopping them. Can anyone give me your best advice for finding the best prices?

I remember last year (we sailed on the Allure in May), after we booked it, I read a bunch of posts from people talking about how they saved so much money and got great deals from cruise lines. Sadly, now that I want to remember all of that, I can't...haha!!  We loved the Allure and would like to sail on the Oasis class, and are looking for a balcony. Are the prices all going to be over $1K per person for that? When we multiply that X3, then add all the other stuff, plus airfare and hotel on the front end, it adds up pretty quickly.

I appreciate any and all of your tips and hints.

Have a great day everyone.

Patti

My family and I cruised on the Allure last May and we want to cruise again this May. Sadly the Allure doesn't sail this May out of Florida

and we are struggling trying to find a comparable ship.  We loved the Central Park and the amenities.  Any suggestions on other ships that

compare.  We've only sailed on Princess (5X) and now twice on Royal. We love the big ship.

Thanks in advance,

Patti

We sailed on the Allure 5/26/19-5/2/19 and found there to be no issues getting off of the ship at any port. It was far faster than our previous experiences on Princess. We were on the 6th deck though, so we just had to go down a deck or 2 to get off.  The elevators could consume a lot of time, if you're dependent on them to go down. We were able to take the stairs. Basically we just walked off in PR and St. Maarten, with no lines at all.

Although, like some other posters, we never rushed to be the first ones off. Why wait in any line, when if you just stay on ship and enjoy breakfast, you can walk off a little later.

On ‎7‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 12:11 AM, LeDemonBlond said:

363 Allure of the Seas

just got off of the Allure a month ago and I want to go back!! It was the BEST!!!  So jealous!

20 hours ago, TheGreatfulBread said:

All I can say is that we have a cruise coming up on Allure and we are on Deck 7 (no balcony) and just above us is Park Cafe and I'm worried that between Boardwalk and what may be going on above us in prepping for the day (even with a white noise machine) that we are going to be in for a terrible sleep.  We will have a 5 year old with us, but my parents booked this cruise as a huge family trip and I guess these were the best prices.  Should I be worried?

what's the saying... a bad day on vacation is still better than a good day at work?  Enjoy yourselves and be optimistic that you'll have a wonderful time, and you will!!

19 hours ago, mom2six said:

We (me, DH and our six kids ages 15 to 26) are boarding the Allure of the Seas on July 7th and have an excursion booked with Bernard Tours that includes Orient and Maho beaches.   If you did it again would you skip the tour and just take a taxi to the beach?  This is the kids first cruise and our second on RCI for us. Last year we went to Cuba on the Empress of the Seas and had an amazing trip.  So first time to the Carribean for all of us! 

 

Also,  did you check out towels?  I was wondering if it would be better to have one or two of us check out multiple towels or have each person check out their own towel. 

Yes, we all said that if we had to do it again, we wouldn't do it because of the traffic. Taxi's won't help there. They are sitting in the same traffic. The experience at Maho Beach (seeing the giant jets go right over the beach to land) is definitely worth seeing though. Now that we have, we will just go to the beach that is near the port where we docked the next time.

The Caribbean is just amazing.  We did check out towels.  I would always check out 3 and then return them.  It doesn't matter how you do that.  It's easier having one person do it in my opinion. They have "towel stations" near the pools and when you're in port, there will be a station set after you get off of the ship.   Have the best time!!

22 minutes ago, TheGreatfulBread said:

We are cruising in July 7th as well.  

 

1. Did you have to request the egg crates for the beds ahead of time?

2. Did you use a flashlight or some other means of moving about in the dark?

3. What did they seemingly replace the Dreamworks items with?

4.  We are on Deck 7 (promenade) just below park cafe and concerned about the noise.   What does anyone know about this?

I don't recall asking for egg crates on the beds.  No, if you shut off all of the lights, the "nightlight" in the bathroom stays on and there was plenty of light.  I don't know what "dreamworks" is. This was our first time on an "oasis" class ship with RC. We had a very quiet cabin on Deck 6 (ocean view balcony), so I can't comment on your location.  All I know is I am so jealous and want to go back!!  We will!!

46 minutes ago, Floridastorm said:

Before I actually brought up photos and a couple of videos of the Promenade Deck on the Allure I thought that it was a standard Promenade Deck like Holland America or Celebrity has which surrounds the ship, faces the ocean, and is used for strolling and possibly fast walking or jogging. That apparently is not the case and is not the type of situation I am looking for. So, will have to pay a little bit more to get an Ocean View cabin. Thanks for the info.

FYI, we had an ocean view balcony (and wouldn't do anything else) on the 6th deck and it was an awesome location.  We were close to the Boardwalk (same floor) promenade (one deck down) and the restaurants. We were more AFT that foreward, a little more that 1/2 way back on the ship.   We loved the location of our room and would do it again in a heartbeat.  I personally wouldn't want any of those inside balconies. I'd rather "ocean watch" than "people watch" from my balcony. (IMHO) I believe on that same deck (Promenade) there is a jogging/walking track that goes around the outside. My husband ran on it a few times. But the "inside" Promenade is a busy place.

20 hours ago, Floridastorm said:

We're considering Allure of the Seas for a Transatlantic Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona. Looking at a Promenade Interior View Cabin. Deck 7 either Cabin 7319 or 7325. Will there be any disturbance from Deck 8 Dazzles Lounge or in the case of 7325 Deck 7 the Rock Climbing Wall? Primarily interested in relative quiet from 11 PM until 8 AM. Is the Promenade Deck itself relatively quiet?

 

Thanks folks

as far as we could tell on our cruise 05/26/19-06/02-19, the Promenade Deck was where the action was. That was where all of the dance parties were (atleast 2 or 3 that we went to). But, the parties were over by 10 pm, and after that, I'm sure all went back to normal.

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 7:05 PM, DJLDRUMS said:

What was your impression of what you saw of Orient Beach itself? Some cruisers say not enough has been done to bring the beach back to how it was pre-hurricane with the many different areas to rent umbrellas and lounges. After the hurricane it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the pristine sand was shifted exposing rocks and seaweed where people would normally want to walk in the water. Any others care to comment on your first hand observations, please do. We'll be there in October on the Adventure. Thanks in advance to all who reply.

We thought it was very nice.. We rented some chairs and an umbrella and enjoyed about 2 hours there. We didn't notice that the beach had been negatively effected, or not restored after the hurricanes. We did notice that as we were riding on the bus getting to the beaches that the island overall took a huge hit.

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 6:52 PM, megnut78 said:

Were there only two different comedians shows?  When I pre-book everything, it only gives me two options and I wasn't sure if there were more.  Thank you!

There was actually only 1 comdedian show. (we saw it on 2 nights in 2 diff venues). I mistakenly booked the "headliner" show ahead of time, thinking it was comedians, but when we got there it was an a singing group called ReVoiced. They were fabulous and we were so glad we saw them.