cruisinqt

I’m allergic to shellfish and the MDR staff tend to go a bit overboard in watching out for me. But I tell them anyways because I have to be careful and honestly, they need to know. The problem is I love fish and fish doesn’t bother me at all, just lobster and anything in a shell. But they never want to serve me fish. So my husband and I have worked out a system. He orders it for himself then gives it to me once they walk away. I always go to the hub app and figure out ahead of time what I want that my husband needs to order for me. Thank goodness they allow you to order more than one entree. I’ve gotten lots of laughs and knowing smiles from the tables around us when we swap dishes though.

It depends on which ship you’re looking at but yes there are quite a few. The Dream class ships offer deluxe ocean view cabins that sleeps five. Deluxe family harbor oceanview cabins on Vista and Excel class ships sleeps five and gives access to the family harbor lounge with snacks, board games, and video games. Or you can do like I’ve done numerous times in the past and get a balcony cabin for us and an interior cabin across the hallway for the kids.

I completely agree with your assessment. Guys Burgers is so good that my picky daughter that dislikes just about all food (even burgers) likes to eat there and insists on eating there several times per cruise.

I guess I should have explained this a bit better, I was referring to the amount of elevator banks PER DECK of which Royal has two. Quantam of the Seas has only two sets of elevators per deck, one forward and one aft. This is standard with Royal. Carnival has 3 sets of elevators on each deck, one forward, one midship, and one aft. Having 3 sets of elevators to choose from per deck (instead of 2) makes a HUGE difference in a ship that hold 5,000+ people.

We just got back from an Alaskan cruise on Royal Caribbeans Quantam Of The Seas. It’s not our first time on Royal but it feels like it because it’s been 10 years since we’ve cruised with them. Right off the bat the biggest disappointment for us was the food. Cafe Two 70 had great breakfasts, Izumi had very good food, the MDR was decent and pretty comparable to Carnival, but overall we were underwhelmed food wise. And we tried all of the food places on Royal too. I’m just used to so much variety and choices with Carnival with everything tasting pretty good. And ALL of the Carnival specialty restaurants are really good whereas out of 3 specialty restaurants on Royal we were only impressed with Izumi. Nothing at the Windjammer was very good either. And they made every person wash their hands before entering which created a backup that seemed to go on forever, like literally hundreds of people. A squirt of hand sanitizer would be quicker and just as effective like Carnival does. We liked Royals cabin layout and storage space better. The showers were great. I thought their shows were better than Carnivals. We loved every show we watched. As far as activities go Royal has lots of activities you don’t normally see on Carnival. Like bumper cars, laser tag, escape rooms, rock climbing walls, and even skydiving simulators. But we found most of these activities to be more geared towards the younger crowd. Being in our fifties we like Carnivals adult comedy club, Deal Or No Deal, Family Feud, bingo, etc. But that’s a personal preference. As far as the spa goes Carnival wins hands down. We went to Royals spa and were shocked to see everything $250 and up. I’m looking right now at booking either an Elemis Biotec facial for $159 or a 50 minute Swedish massage for $119, or a 75 minute bamboo massage for $167 on our upcoming Carnival cruise. You can’t beat those prices and the massages and service are top notch. And they send out coupons a lot. I’ve got a $50 coupon I’m using that Carnival just sent me for this cruise. We were disappointed with Royals app, it was very hard to navigate and didn’t have all of the cool features the hub app had. We were also shocked there were only 2 elevators on a ship with 5,000+ people on board. The elevator situation was the worst I’ve ever seen. I’ll never complain about Carnival’s elevators again, at least they have 3 of them. And the casino was quite small, poorly laid out and had very old machines with the emblems all faded on them. But the adults only solarium with its two massive hot tubs and a multi level pool made up for all of that. It was absolute heaven. The bar made strong drinks and even brought them to us at the hot tubs. And the bistro was so convenient with fresh fruit that hit the spot. I’d go back on Royal just to hang out there all day. Overall we enjoyed our cruise and found some things we liked better on Royal and other things we liked better on Carnival. But the things we liked better on Carnival were the things that matter most to us while cruising. Like the food (we’re foodies), the spa, the activities and the casino. We missed Carnival and definitely prefer it over Royal. That doesn’t mean we wont cruise Royal, we love them, but Carnival just checks all of the boxes for us.

I knew about the museums and the palace but I had no idea about the Roman ruins or Egyptian Temple. That’s sounds so cool! I hope I can fit all of that into 2 days.

That’s a great idea. Maybe one of the taxi drivers could arrange something for you.

I was on the Celebration in February and was offered the choice of an elite excursion or a spa credit.

I was on the Celebration in February and was given the choice of an excursion or spa credit.

We are on this cruise too and we’ve never been to Barcelona. I’ve been so busy handling our summer 12 day London cruise that I’m just now getting around to booking hotels and tours for our Barcelona cruise in October. We will look into the hotel you suggested in Barcelona, but what about Madrid? We are flying in 4 days early and staying 2 days in Madrid then taking a train to Barcelona and staying there a couple more days before going on the cruise. Flying into Madrid was much cheaper for us and we’ve never been there either.

In the email it gives you the choices of liquor and a mixer for both you and your companion so you’ll get a lot of stuff in your cabin when you arrive. It also gives you an elite shore excursion to go on or if you’d rather choose your own excursion or spend the money in the spa, they will give you $150 credit for each of you. Our elite shore excursion choice for the Horizon (we just received it as our cruise is 3 weeks away) was an all inclusive at Senator Resort in Amber Cove. We chose that since it wasn’t on the list of shore excursions for the cruise so we’re hoping it’s not as crowded. I looked it up online and it looks really upscale. The email will also ask how you are arriving and if you’ll need driver services. If you answer yes you’ll receive a text on your phone with a link to book your ride. It can be used to book a ride from the airport to the hotel or cruise ship, from the cruise ship to the hotel or airport, etc. It’s basically two personal car services to be used however you want. You also get free room service which doesn’t seem like much but we love it. We love ordering pizza and dessert to our cabins after a long day in port. And ordering a couple of 12 packs of soda through room service to stock our fridge is pretty nice. You’ll get an elite gift like a sun-care set, a shower speaker, or a small travel bag. They’ll send you cookies and a fruit basket too. There will be a meeting of elite cruisers, don’t miss it! There’s lots of big money giveaways and free drinks and appetizers. Have fun!

I’m glad it worked out for you. Let me know how you like him. I won’t be using him till August

I was talking to a guy on our whale watching tour that visits Europe regularly. And he said he goes to TripAdvisor to find all of his transportation. In the search box he said he puts “transportation to Vok baths” or “transportation from Heathrow to London” and all of the ride services in the area pops up. They’re rated and have reviews you can read. He said it’s the most reliable way to find transportation in Europe. So if Asi can’t take a smaller group then you might try the TripAdvisor thing.

Well I’m on my Royal Caribbean Alaskan cruise on Quantum of the Seas and I thought I’d update you. Despite being told that “in Alaska, regardless of cruise line, there is less late night entertainment” this cruise has had quite a bit of late night entertainment. As is usual with cruise lines with a younger demographic (like Royal, Carnival, NCL) there has been lots of late night activities. Last night the Love & Marriage show didn’t even start till 11:00 pm. The piano bar and karaoke bar have been going strong well past 1:00 am. There’s a live band called Rhythmocracy that puts on a show every night starting at 11 pm. And the night club doesn’t open till 12:15 am every night but it’s still packed. And the comment that “Overall, Alaska seems to attract an older group across all lines” was way off. This ship has the normal younger age group that Royal Caribbean always has. And the bumper cars, laser tag, skydiving simulator and rock climbing wall were always busy with lots of young ones (and those young of heart.) As I said, the biggest difference between the cruise lines you mentioned is the age demographics. A cruise line that caters to older passengers is very different from a cruise line that caters to younger people. Both are great so it’s up to your personal preferences and what you’re looking for in a cruise. I hope this helps.

This is the guy I booked. He was recommended to me by Vok baths when I asked who they could recommend that would give me a ride there. He responded quickly to all of my emails. He quoted me $150 euros round trip for my family of four. His name is Asi and this is his email: asgrimstaxi@gmail.com

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I’m on an Alaskan cruise right now and I haven’t been able to check my notifications lately. Fortunately I had some down time with a late port arrival tomorrow. I’ll be in Sedisfjordur the week after you so maybe the guy I’m using will available for you. His name is Asi and he’s a local that does this for a living. He was recommended by Vok baths when I asked who could give me a ride there. Here’s his email: asgrimstaxi@gmail.com

My pvp told me when we book a cruise under one persons name we should do a mock booking under the other persons name showing what benefits they are offered on that same cruise. Once we are on the cruise go to the casino and ask them to honor the offer. Nine times out of ten they’ll honor the offer. So I get OBC, casino free play credits, free drinks anywhere on the ship and other cool stuff even when I didn’t book under my name.

Something doesn’t sound right to me. If it’s a 2 person cabin and you paid fees for 2 people you should be able to add another guest in the cabin. I’ve done it before myself and yes it was a casino deal. Unless maybe you got a solo cabin and the extra fees were just the solo fees. You definitely need the help of a good pvp because this doesn’t make sense.

At the Shake Spot the spiked milkshakes are amazing. The Black Raspberry Truffle and the Kicked Up Island Delight are my go to drinks on any Carnival cruise.

Filet mignon, French onion soup, & grand marnier soufflé.

The walls are metal so the magnetic hooks are a great way to get organized. We hang belts, purses, jewelry, hats, lanyards, etc on them. I also recommend a pop up hamper for dirty clothes and a shower organizer for shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, razor, shaving cream, etc

Oops my bad! 🤭

Me too. I’ve gotten used to the cruise snobs that like to think that the more reasonably priced cruise lines are party cruises full of drunks while the luxury cruise lines have a higher class of people. That’s just not true. I could easily go on numerous cruises with luxury lines every year. I choose not to not because of money but because I like the lively atmosphere on Carnival, Royal, and Norwegian better. To each his own. One is not better than the other, they all have pros and cons. You just have to find which one fits you best. I hope the OP figures out what’s the best option for them and has a great cruise. Thanks for your input.

I’ve been on the Mardi Gras and Celebration twice. It all depends where you’re at and what time it is. Early mornings and late evenings after 9 or 10 pm it’s not crowded at all and you can easily stroll wherever you want to. From 10 am till 8 pm the popular places like food areas (MDR, specialty restaurants, lido), pools, shops, and entertainment lounges were often crowded during peak times. But I found certain areas like the lounge area between the Alchemy bar and the steak house to always be empty. And those sofas are super comfy. The Summers Landing area with the soft serve ice cream, soda fountains, games, and sofas was usually not very crowded and lots of fun. I just visit the popular areas at non peak times and hang out in the quiet little areas during busy times.

That’s exactly what has been my experience with Royal, no matter where the ship is cruising to there’s lots going on well into the night. And it’s not the “hard drinking party crowd” either. Not everyone that likes to stay up late is doing it to get drunk. There’s lots of fun stuff to do like sing alongs in the piano bar, late night karaoke, munching on pizza while chatting with friends on the lido or just relaxing in the hot tub. With some cruise lines everything just shuts down around 10 pm but with others there’s lots going on well past midnight. One is not better than the other it’s just that they cater to different clientele. Personally, I expect lots of night time fun on my Quantum cruise in 2 weeks.