dorito6778

We always rent a kayak from Nellie's beach without doing a tour. The last time we were there in July, it was $15 for a half hour. They open up the kayaks for individual rentals between tours. We're back there in two weeks, and plan on doing this again.

thats perfect. exactly what i'm hoping for!!! my daughter and i love to kayak and SUP, but we like to go at it on our own and not have to stay with a group.

if so, do you have to follow a guide, or can you go out on your own?

The priority seating is if you are on a wait list for early seating, late seating or my time dining. If you were on a wait list for any of those, you would be given some priority others on the wait list.

 

If you have my time dining, that is a choice and showing up with or without reservations, you will still follow those in the appropriate line to be seated.

ok this makes more sense. thank you!

This is our first cruise doing MTD. All our previous cruises we did the "early seating."

I have not made any reservations for the dining room or speciality restaurants yet. I honestly don't want to because I just cant stand to think I have to plan so far ahead about what and when i'll eat dinner in 4 months!

Will we be at a disadvantage if we just walk up to the maitre'd every night? Maybe we'll try a speciality here and there but we arent foodies and dont really care unless its amazing italian food. thats the only thing we usually spend extra $ on.

And am I correct in understanding that as Diamond members, we get some sort of priority seating on the wait list?

havent been there in 6 years and i know they've done a lot since then (built up other areas, etc.)

i posted earlier about cabanas and i'm trying to figure out if its something we should seriously consider.

Its been 6 years since we cruised on RCCL so bear with me! We like to secure a guaranteed spot with shade and clean towels, and just a little peace and quiet from the crazy that can happen on the beach. Six years ago, we were always able to get a cabana at Barefoot Beach or Nellie's Beach for $250 for the day as Diamond members, which included the suite-level buffet lunch.

From what I'm seeing now, it looks like Labadee has a changed a ton. It looks like there are 2 kinds of cabanas now, available to all: Nellies Beach for $395 and Columbus Cove for $249 (pre-cruise price). Neither include the upgraded lunch.

There are also Beach Beds for $175 and 2 person loungers for $45 but I cant figure out where those are. Can someone tell me?

Also on a Labadee map that i googled, it shows cabanas on Adrenaline Beach...which ones are those?

Thanks for any cabana feedback you can provide! :)

Again, NOT mistaken. Though the southern I was on was an 11 night out of Bayonne. It stopped at labadee, st Thomas, st Martin, at kitts, San juan and Antigua.

The eastern was at Thomas, st Martin, labadee

The western was Cozumel, costa maya, labadee.

Despite what the OP entitled this thread, it appears that he is seriously mistaken and there has been no dramatic change in the number of visits to Labadee scheduled for RCI ships. No need to panic folks, just a bit of misinformation.

i have not been mistaken. i have sailed RCCL several times and regardless of the itinerary (Eastern, Western, Southern) it has ALWAYS stopped at Labadee. Now i'm looking to book a 7 night out of FLL in Jan or Feb 2016 on either Quantum, Oasis or Freedom class. Out of 7 possible cruises, TWO are stopping at Labadee. That to me a severe DROP in Labadee stops.

We really enjoy Labadee and like other posters, would happy to have more than one day there!

browsing the Jan and Feb 2016 carribean itineraries and labadee is hardly being stopped at! is there a reason?

Ken was okay as far as CDs go. I think he just came back on the Summit so if you are sailing in the next 6 months or so you will have him. I thought he was a good sport getting into the pool in his suit for the crew vs. guest water volleyball game.

 

I agree with other comments about Captain Leo. Thought he was awesome. Saw him everywhere. Even in the Oceanview eating. Had a nice talk with him one night walking to the show. He's 37 and been a captain for the last 3 years. I think it's smart on Celebrity's part getting in some younger blood on their ships. He was great!

agree on both counts. captain leo is def everywhere, mingling with the guests. saw him eating at the buffet, in the pool for staff v guests volleyball, at the shows, etc. he's a nice fresh change from the older captains who often seem a bit stuffy. we actually saw so much around the ship we joked "so who's sailing this darn thing?"

tried searching the forum and that was useless.

tried googling and i just get a lot of links to old menus.

just trying to gather my thoughts so i can write a proper review.

FYI: summit also went north on the 6/28 sailing as well.cant say if its part of the new "course" but it was a great sight to see!

we were on this sailing as well and i'm in the process of writing my review.

to address a few ?s:

-they will take bermudian and american $s in bermuda. sometimes you'll pay with bermudian $s and get american $s back as change. lol

-we found the temperature to be on the warmer side that most cruises we've been on BUT i appreciated not having to shlep a sweater around with me to every meal and show. so i was happy with the temp. i was never HOT, just perfectly comfortable.

we're on the summit and in port the same time as breakaway. do you think Wednesday is the day (first port day) people are running for the beach? if so, should we do the zoo/aquarium on Wed (which would require ferrying back and forth twice that day since we intend to hit up Harbor Nights), and beach on Thurs? or beach on Wed, come back, nap, then harbor nights…and zoo/aquarium on Thurs?

or doesn't matter? lol. i'm just thinking whats best for crowds at the beach

i like your writing style! looking forward to the rest of the review. we're leaving on sunday so i hope you finish up before we go!!!! ;)

is there a charge for Bistro 5?

these pics are def helpful! i HOPE DD is brave enough to try the upper berth. i'm not sure the three of us will survive a week in the room if we have zero floor space when the bed is open. lol

we have room 8010 on the summit and i'm trying to gauge on the kind of storage and we'll have.. does anyone have ANY pics of a verandah room in real life? bonus points if there are pics with the upper berth open or the sofa bed open since DD will sleep in one of those (preferably the berth to take up less floor space)

yes, she is def mostly a "kid food" kid with her surprising moments (she won't eat berries, but spicy naan? yes please….go figure). i suppose i can also always grab her something from the buffet for an early dinner before we head out for the Harbor Nights, and then she can have a treat on the street while MH and I partake in the heartier offerings.

best bet: restaurant reservation or just walking and sampling things from booths and trucks? we have a picky 6 year old with us, so keep that in mind!

Thank you for the quick answers.

We're looking to get away on a last minute, very relaxing cruise. We've had a very stressful 6 months at home. If anyone wants to argue that wearing a suit is "important," let them. We're not looking to be shleppy but we just want to relax and a tux is not relaxing to MH.

Thank you for the quick answers.

We're looking to get away on a last minute, very relaxing cruise. We've had a very stressful 6 months at home. If anyone wants to argue that wearing a suit is "important," let them. We're not looking to be shleppy but we just want to relax and a tux is not relaxing to MH.

1. Which nights are they?

2. What are our dining options if we choose not to go formal on one night?

3. How formal does MH need to be? He refuses to bring his tux or full suit. Will a sport jacket suffice? Does he need a tie?

1. Which nights are they?

2. What are our dining options if we choose not to go formal on one night?

3. How formal does MH need to be? He refuses to bring his tux or full suit. Will a sport jacket suffice? Does he need a tie?

so if both MH and I are elite, we'll get 1 free bag each? is it all-you-can-fit or a set # of pieces?

we are dockside on the breakaway last year and that gets you the sunsets! also, we got to see 2 people miss the boat and running for it. that was AWESOME when they got left behind and had to shuttled over on a tugboat.