sparky-elpaso

Hi,

 

My husband, 16 year old (at time of cruise) son and 14 year old daughter and I are planning on taking our first cruise in July. We're planning on going out of Port Canaveral and go to the Caribbean on Freedom of the Seas/Royal Caribbean.

 

What's better, the Eastern or Western Caribbean? There are 2 Western Caribbean cruises one leaves Port canaveral, day 2 is cruising, day 3 is Labadee, Haiti, Day 4 is Falmouth, Jamaica, 5th is George Town, Grand Cayman and Day 6 is Cozumel, Mexico then back to Canaveral. The other Western Caribbean is day 1 port Canaveral, 2 cruising, 3 George Town Grand Cayman (for 7 1/2 hours), 4 Roatan Honduras (for 5 1/2 hours), 5 Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico, 6 Cozumel, Mexico, 7 cruising and 8 back in Port Canaveral. The Eastern Cruise leaves Port Canaveral, day 2 Coco Cay, Bahamas, 3 cruising, 4 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, 5 Philipsburg, St Maarten, day 6 and 7 cruising and arrive back at Canaveral day 8. The last one would be my choice. Check out the ports on-line and Google Earth. Also see what types of excursions the cruise line offers to see what's available.

 

I've no idea how to judge. It seems that 2 straight days of cruising wouldn't be the best. We love sea days. Relaxing and usually lots of activities planned on board.

 

How do you pick a room? I think I'm pretty set on having a balcony. I think we'd be much more comfortable with 2 rooms, but not sure. Is it better to be on a higher deck? Toward the front, middle or back of the ship? 2 cabins would be better, I think. Most cruise lines will let you book a cabin for the kids as long as it's next to or across the hall from the adults. Check the RCL website for their rules.

 

We are going through a travel agent my husband had been referred to, but I don't know what to say I want.

 

What do I need to make sure I do? Make sure they know something about cruising. If they try to steer you towards a particular cruise line I would choose someone else. It's your cruise.

 

Do they have French Vanilla Coffee creamer? Probably not. :( I take a small jar and put some in little Ziploc bags (available in the pharmacy section for pills) to carry with me.

 

How much is a soda? Usually around $2.25 / $2.50 with the tip (which is automatically added to all drinks)

 

How much is wi-fi? We've got Verizon phones, it may be nice to have one phone accessible to family somehow, either through text or email in case something happens, death or major family illness (or if something happens, can they contact Royal Caribbean who would then contact us). Wi-Fi is expensive and sloooooow. Texting is cheaper - make sure you have your phone set up for use outside the U.S. And turn off data roaming or you may get back to a huge bill. We turn our phone off and leave it in the safe. In case of an emergency someone can contact the ship - RCL can give you the phone number.

 

What's the best way of keeping track of or in touch with teenagers if we're doing separate things on the ship? Sticky notes on the cabin door or just make plans to meet up in a public space at certain times. Be sure to set rules for the kids - just common sense stuff like not going to other peoples cabins, etc. You know your kids and how responsible they are.

 

Do you book the excursions through Royal Caribbean or outside places? As a newbie I would go through RCL. One thing I do is check out the port on Google Earth to see where the ship might dock and if I even need an excursion.

 

Oh, and what's the deal with tipping? Each passenger is charged around $12 / $13 a day for tips - usually added to your account each day. Cash isn't necessary unless you decide to tip someone extra. This is for your cabin steward, wait staff (both in the main dining room and buffet, etc.) and other folks behind the scenes that you might never see. Drinks you have to pay for (sodas, specialty coffees, anything alcoholic) will usually have an 18% or so tip added to the price)

 

Thanks for the help. I'm clueless.

 

Janelle:confused::confused:

Welcome to the great world of cruising. You might want to do some reading on the Royal Caribbean website - there's probably a frequently asked questions area. And the RCL area here is great for specific questions.

The price for our Oct. 15 Med cruise on Equinox dropped $60 pp - yaay. Called and had no problem getting the new price. Free grats and $150 pp OBC stayed the same.

I meant to add, what is puzzling to me is that, except in Las Vegas, almost all American hotels have at least a coffee maker in the room. (which can, of course, also make tea.) So I'm not sure why this is not a feature in every cabin on every ship sailing from the US.

I think it has something to do with the electrical system on the ship. A hotel is using the power grid of a city so they have all they need. A ship has to make its own so it's a limited amount. Hopefully one of the guys who works on ships will come along and explain it better than I can. :)

Thanks for the explanation of nautical miles, etc. No Navy guys in my family - just Army and Air Force.

Now if we could just figure out who decided the difference between statute miles and nautical miles. Especially since they're both such odd numbers.

Welcome aboard.

Just an FYI - it's against board rules to mention TA's by name.

But to answer your question I think most cruise lines don't allow TA's to discount prices - although there may be some exceptions. I always do our bookings myself so not sure on that. Some TA's do add their own perks to attract business - I think that usually comes out of their commission.

Have a great time and prepare to be hooked.

A day long trip to the WW II beaches in Normandy. Incredible trip. I think almost all of the guys on the bus were veterans so lots of stories swapped at lunch.

Glad you had a good time. And Alaska is a great choice - amazing scenery and history. And lots of stuff for the kids if they like wildlife and things like that.

Great review and photos. We're doing that TA (and the Med one before) next year so it's great to see recent photos of the ship, etc. I'm taking notes and looking things up on Google Earth for Barcelona - although we'll only be there for 2 days.

My father had a saying. He told me that since I wasn't made out of sugar or salt I wouldn't melt if I got wet. :)

BTW, although we live in the desert now, I grew up in Michigan where it does rain a bit.

While I would rather it didn't rain, especially on an excursion where I'm taking lots of photos, it doesn't ruin the experience. On our tour of London before our Great Britain cruise it rained on and off all day. But everyone on the tour took it in stride and I think we all enjoyed ourselves in spite of the weather. At one point we were waiting to meet our guide outside St. Paul's Cathedral and I realized we were standing by a sporting goods store. So we went in and I asked the clerk if they had umbrellas. His response: This is London. So we bought a nice little compact umbrella and got some use out of it a couple of times during the rest of the day.

CC rules prohibit recommendations for travel agents. I assume someone who works for a cruise line would maybe come under that category.

So this post may possibly disappear.

Welcome aboard. I'm betting this first cruise won't be your last. So don't feel you have to do EVERYTHING - find time to relax. :D

If you haven't already done so check out the Royal Caribbean area here on CC and also the Caribbean ports area for more specific info on your ship and ports.

Have a great time.

The entire dress code thing is much ado about nothing. My DW and I dress nicely each evening - she in a dressy top and black skirt and I in a shirt, slacks, sport coat and usually a tie. Our moose continues to wear medium brown fur, a blue sweater (or jumper for those from the UK and Australia) and light brown antlers. He has always been provided a booster chair and refused service for a glass of wine as he is still underage. See avatar picture.

DH and I would love to cruise with you and moose. I take it he enjoys having his photo taken partaking in various activities. :)

Glad to hear most folks have had positive experiences.

Great stories everyone.

We saw a group on one of our trips - don't know if it was a family or just a group getting together for dinner. One of the men looked around and said, "We all look good enough to go somewhere."

OP, I meant to also say that I was surprised you received a possibly negative comment about the same color shirts. I do, however, think that in many cases, negative stuff is just a coverup for insecurity. Probably the two of you looked a lot better than she did. Or maybe she just wanted to make conversation but it didn't come out as intended.

True. One of those "open mouth, insert foot" kind of moments.

Yaay. Nice to hear that most have gotten positive comments.

With all the hoopla about dress codes I was wondering if anyone had ever had another passenger(s) make a comment about what you chose to wear - and how you handled it. Let's include both good and bad comments.

Our story:

DH and I happened to be wearing similar colors one evening - I think he had on a red shirt and I was wearing a red blouse. Another passenger made a comment about us "matching" - I don't remember the exact words but it just stopped short of a "Bobbsey Twins" sort of thing. It was definitely not a compliment.

I was so surprised that anyone would make such a comment to a stranger I couldn't think of a comeback. We just walked away.

Now I have a comeback - one that we would use at work when a couple of us would show up dressed in a similar fashion. We would just tell everyone else that we were sorry that they hadn't "gotten the memo" about what we were supposed to wear that day. Of course, at work it was all in fun with folks you know. :)

At 70, may I say that it's not about age? It's about mind set.

 

We're happy with the new options and are more than willing to admire others finery while in the comfort of our dinner chic attire.

Exactly. We're in your age range and I can't say I spend a lot of time deciding what others should wear. DH doesn't own a suit but does have a couple of nice sweaters that look good with a dress shirt or turtleneck.

Aft facing for me! :) If that's not possible, it depends on the itinerary. For example, westbound transatlantic port side, eastbound starboard side - as I want sun on my balcony.

Yaay - I made an educated guess and made the right decision for our TA next fall.

Turncoat here.

 

Yorkshire through and through.

 

I just love the crispy Canadian bacon but how are you supposed to eat it? Stick your fork in and shards of bacon explode in the dining room. I use my fingers. Sorry! Sorry also if it is American.

 

On Connie earlier this year they ran out of bananas apparently. There were no oat and raisin cookies either! I was gutted. It is my treat if I do an hours walk every morning. Had a prosecco instead:D

The crispy kind is American. And it's perfectly acceptable to use your fingers. :) I do like the British type too though.

Serenade is a Radiance class ship. We spent 34 days on Radiance of the Seas in an inside cabin in Australia. While the cabins aren't huge they're extremely well designed. Lots of storage space. The bathroom is small but again not an inch of wasted space. Take some kind of small night light for the bathroom - I'm going to get some of the little battery tea lights for our next cruise.

What I like about the Radiance is the wonderful public spaces - lots of places to chill and watch the scenery go by.

Isn't there a "resident's rate" ( a type of discount) available only to those that live in a state (such as Florida) where cruise ships port? Or is that the same as the "Pack & Go" rate?

Things like residents, senior, military, etc. show up periodically. It's the luck of the draw. We got a really good senior rate on our Australia b2b a few years ago. You just have to check the cruise line web site to find out - I usually check every couple of days. And most cruise lines will give you the better rate even if you've already booked - depends on the line and the type of deal you got in the first place.

Another in the "pay as you go" camp. We're not big drinkers so don't want to pay a higher basic price for that. We do a combination of ship's tours and stuff on our own so would just as soon pay for those on an individual basis too.

I do like the idea of individual packages for drinks, specialty restaurants, etc. - the decision of what you want is up to you. Although I would like to see more combinations for the drink packages with different price ranges. One of the things we liked about Princess is their coffee card which saves you about 20% on specialty coffees - our vice.

Yes, you can just summarize it. Clothes x dollars, Jewelry y dollars, etc.

 

Keith

That's what we do. And I have all our receipts in an envelope so if anyone needs to see them they're all in one place. We bring back inexpensive things so we've never even come close to the limit.

This once happened to us and we were on the receiving end of the 'surprise'. We kept the 'surprise' to ourselves and it was fun that way. We decided to keep it to ourselves as we knew it was a mix up. We did not want to ruin it for the generous people giving us so nice a gift. Actually, it gave us more time to prepare and do little things to show our appreciation!

 

Actually, it gave me time to get my Passport in order.

You've got the right attitude. I wouldn't mind being surprised but I would want the giver to let me know far enough in advance so I could do some planning. Clothes, excursions, info on the itinerary, etc. But then, I'm a planner by nature and look at the planning stage as part of the whole travel experience.