dmlm1995

No, this info is not emailed. You have to check this link weekly, usually Thursday afternoon:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

Thanks for the link and clarity!

First, thanks for sharing this information. I love these boards as they are very helpful.

Now, I'm a bit confused. Does everyone receive this information in their email? I know I have selected to receive promotional emails from RCCL and currently receive many other emails, but I never see these types of emails. I'm currently Diamond about to hit Diamond plus. Is the distribution limited to Diamond plus or travel agents or something else?

We have used Dial 7 over a dozen times within the NYC area and have been extremely satisfied with our experience.

 

The drivers are experts and know how to handle the roads. Our last several drivers have made excellent decisions to avoid traffic that would have held us up in traffic.

 

They do have a app but best to call them. They usually ask for the number of passengers, number baggage, additional stops and extra needs to select the right style of vehicle to use.

 

Bon Voyage......

Thanks for the information!

Get quotes from Black Executive cars, Dial7, and Carmellimo.

 

My main question is whether you can manage 6 bags, carryons, and 2 kids to troll your luggage at the airport to use the accessible Airtrain to go to the free hotel shuttle pickup area at the P4 Airtrain Station. If not, you're going to need to book a car service to take you from the airport to Embassy Suites. You can possibly get a minivan taxi from the taxi dispatcher.

 

My guess is that the $80 charged by Embassy Suites to take the 4 of you to the port is going to be very price competitive. Coming back you should be able to get a shared shuttle to the airport from the taxi dispatcher at Cape Liberty for $20/pp. Just be sure they will drop you at the terminal and not the P4 Airtrain Station.

 

Uber is also an option, but you have to be sure to get a large enough vehicle for 4 people and a ton of luggage.

Thanks for the info Carol. My kids are teens so that is helpful to lug all of the stuff (and partially the reason we have so much). At least I do not need to be the pack mule I once was :-)

Thank you. Unfortunately it looks like it is still an open question. Happy Sailing!

I believe I have read that Marc Walker is the current CD and his contract will end around Thanksgiving. Does anyone know who will be the CD on Thanksgiving?

CuriousCruiser101,

Your welcome. I hope you enjoy as much as we did. BTW, the ship was good but and in pretty good shape for the overall age. Smaller and more intimate compared to the larger ships but in return the offering for my teens was less. That was OK because we were there for the itinerary. The other thing I would add about the ship was the utilization of the centrum. They did a better job using that space than any other that I have sailed. Plenty of energy there.

Enjoy your trip!

OK, I have seen many helpful posts about this type of activity but want to make sure I make the most sense out of it all. Our trip is in July on the Anthem and I plan to fly in the night before to Newark and stay at the Embassy Suites in Elizabeth (per other posts). We are a family of 4 that will likely travel with 6 bags and several carry on bags (My family loves to pack:o. I still fit in one case). We will need transportation from the airport to the hotel, the hotel to the ship, the ship to the hotel (or airport) upon return.

The message board has been very helpful in suggesting the hotel, thoughts on UBER (which I have used elsewhere and have been pleased), and recommendations on Dial 7 or Carmel Limo for NYC components. For my family as a whole, I believe having pre arranged reliable car service is the way to go. We had some issues with transportation on another cruise and we would love to avoid that.

So, it appears Dial 7 or Carmel are reliable but mainly focus on NYC? Is there another service like those in NJ I should look at or are they still best suited for the type of service I described?

Appreciate the guidance.

We were on that ship and that itinerary just a couple of weeks ago. Let me say that the trip was fantastic. The weather was great (just hot) and the seas very calm. Staff were all nice to us so overall an outstanding cruise.

Now, to answer your question. We toured Barcelona, Valletta, Rhodes, Cannes, and Athens on our own. Here is how we did it:

Barcelona: Plenty of things to see if you like to walk. There are also plenty of taxi stations or metro locations. We mainly did it on foot.

Valetta: We walked off the ship, down the street about a quarter of a mile, and into the main town area up a steep incline. There is also an elevator for ~1-2 Euro if needed down a little further. You will see plenty of horse & carriage opportunities and the hop on and off along the walk to the elevator. There was sights and shopping at the top of the city.

Rhodes: We walked down the street about a quarter of a mile and then entered the town. We visited the museums (Grand Palace and also an archeological museum) for a discounted price we paid at the grand palace. Visiting the archaeological museum was great. Everything can be walked.

Athens: We arranged for a taxi to the Acropolis and a pick up at the end in advance. There are taxis outside the gates of the port if needed. We visited the acropolis, the archaeological museum across from the Acropolis, and walked Plaka behind it. We ate at a great place in the back of Plaka called Talixos (sp?) but it was a walk to get there. Very inexpensive and great food. We definitely walked a lot that day but it was great and plenty of shopping/food in Plaka.

Cannes: We walked about a half of a mile to a mile down the street and saw a beach and the red carpet for the film festival. We also looked at the handprints across the street. We then walked back toward the ship and there is a museum/castle on the hill on top. It is a walk up a steep incline ( I believe there are little trollies that look like a train but we walked it). It was worth it to see the views from the top. If you go into the museum (we recommend it) make sure you go into the courtyard and visit the tower with the flag. You can go inside and up to the top for breathtaking pictures. That was a great surprise as the sign was slightly hidden behind a plant. At the bottom of the hill on the return we would recommend the pastry shop for macaroons and pastries. Very yummy :-)

Florence/Rome/Santorini we took excursions from the ship. Florence and Rome are far from Port.

Florence we had time to ourselves as part of the tour so we elected to skip waiting in line for the Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore that had a line for an hour and went to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence (one in the square). It was worth the extra Euros to get in the air conditioning and see the tombs of Michaelangelo, Galileo Galilee, Machiavelli and others. It was a pretty Basilica and the line was short. We also ate at a café next to this Basilica and the food was very tasty.

Rome: We visited the Trivi fountain, the coliseum, and the forum. We also had lunch that was arranged and the food was excellent. The day was great, glad we took a tour, but it was a long day. Tour made it back just before sailing so glad we had a Royal Excursion on that one.

Santorini is a tender location and depending on the amount of ships could be a challenge. There is a cable car to the top at the tender location but we saw the entire island by booking the Akrotiri ruins. We saw the entire island and took the cable car down at the end. We recommend this as well.

Good luck and enjoy!

I also agree that most of the Captains are great and we are always very happy when they keep us all safe. That being said, we just sailed on the LOS and found Captain James MacDonald to be great!

Back when LB first came to Galveston, there were so many negative comments about Carlos. Once we all got to know him and he, us, all the comments turned to positive. He is a fine concierge and the SL on LB is outstanding.

39august-I can see how people might have given Carlos some poor reviews as he is not as "bubbly" as others might be. However, I found that he always knew who we were, tried to provide helpful hints, always listened to our questions, and was available. I think you are right about getting to know him and agree the lounge is nice.

We had the same experience aboard the Rhapsody when it was cruising Alaska several years ago.... We had always loved RCI but that crew was the best we had ever experienced. We are looking forward to sailing Liberty in October [emoji4]

 

 

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MsLMG-I hope your trip in October is as good as ours was. I'm jealous as I have to wait until next year!

Thanks so much for posting this. My DW and I are going to be on Liberty in October for our first cruise and seeing reviews about the crew like this makes the decision to cruise this year easier. We are looking forward to a week of frou-frou drinks, exotic locales, and just some good old-fashioned fun! It sounds like that the crew of Liberty will be on point for that! :)

iconions-I hope you enjoy your first cruise. I also believe a lot of the experience has to do with the right mindset. I can tell you that the parking and the port experience was not the greatest in Galveston. I knew going into the cruise that I should expect that so I let the inconvenience roll off my back which enabled the right mindset for that first drink (A Texas Tea)! Enjoy!

We experienced it last year on Splendour and also a few years ago on Navigator when it was sailing out of Rome.

 

We mentioned the great feeling to several staff members and the general opinion seemed to be that it came from the top down. The crew felt well treated by the Captain and Hotel director and were happy in their jobs and the feeling came through to the passengers.

 

It certainly makes for a cruise to remember,

 

Julie

I agree with that statement. We saw the Captain walking about the ship and interacting on several occasions. It seemed that while he ran a very tight ship, it appeared the feeling between him and the crew was one of respect and very much relaxed. I did not see the crew run away or become nervous when he was around.

We just returned from our trip on the Liberty of the Seas and have to say that the cruise was fantastic. This was not our first trip on Royal Caribbean but we have to say that the experience was different than some of the recent vacations. It was different in a very good way.

We wanted to challenge ourselves as to why we felt this way. Was it the ship? Was it the itinerary? Was it the weather?

What we found was the staff was spot on. The Captain (James), Cruise Director (Jeff), the activity staff (too many to name), Waiter (Hitesh), Asst. Waiter (Soccoro), Cabin Steward (Edna), Concierge (Carlos), and the Teen Activity Staff were all very good. They genuinely wanted everyone to have a great experience and had a wonderful attitude. Usually we find that there are a few that are good, some that try as they were instructed, but we hit the jackpot as it seemed sincere. In fact, my kids (early teens) indicated this was among the best times they have had and it was significantly better than the experience on Oasis just last year.

Have you ever had everyone just be exceptional?

Pipo-We understand your feelings. We sailed on a New Years Eve cruise a few years back and that was the only cruise that did not have Lobster. We were told it was due to the budget the Captain had and they chose to provide Champagne to everyone at midnight and remove the lobster. I would have preferred to pay an extra $20 for the champagne (DW & I) and have the lobster for both of us.

Great review and great pictures. It is nice to see that you had a great cruise with a mix of family and friends coming together. Too bad there was some extra help from Paula :-) and that the crew was not to typical RCI standards. It is good to hear that those issues did not get in the way of a good time.

Monarch of the Seas was my first cruise and she will always have a special place in my heart. It is sad to see her move out of the RCI rotation. It was nice to experience the trip through your eyes. You have a great ability and I look forward to future reviews.