breeze123

We needed the unlimited wifi on our last cruise due to my husband being self employed as well. It was slow, but not as painfully slow as some have mentioned. It's not like being on land, but it will work for your business needs and get you through the cruise.

We've always used Happy Limo for our transfers. While not cheap, it's always been excellent service with clean cars, reliable and safe drivers.

I know on DCL you have to fill out a form saying who can take the children off. Does Royal not have such a form that gives permission for that?

I have never had to fill out a form like this.

Dolphins (they never get old)

Volcano

I've flown business through CDG and AMS on both AF and KLM. I think that AMS is much more efficient and easier to transit through than CDG. Yes, you'll walk a distance in either airport, but I do think AMS is better.

I do feel like service on both is fairly equal. The Delta service has always been better in my experience.

We just did the Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim at Dolphin Discovery in March. Absolutely no cameras allowed. Anyone in your party that is not participating can take photos from a walkway at the opposite side of the encounter. You would need a really good zoom lens to capture things and most of the activity is facing the other way (towards their photographer).

That being said, we felt like it was a great experience and while the photos were pricey, we knew this in advance and were prepared to pay. There were over 80 photos of my daughter and I so it was about $1.75 per photo.

While my daughter wasn't that young when she first cruised, she's always had a blast on all the ships. There is plenty to do to keep them busy and entertained. On our last cruise they did cupcake decorating where the kids competed against one another and then everyone got to eat the final products. We loved the Disney trivia and bingo. Lots of families did the scavenger hunts (and I'm sad we missed them). Ping pong, mini golf, shuffle board, arcade, the pool, AND the kids club. You will have a blast!

Olive oil soaps from Greece have been my favorite. Although my mom has been traveling that region recently and that's the one item I ask for from almost all the countries she goes to. :) Makes your skin feel amazing!

I've also purchased a Murano glass ornament for our Christmas tree. Much easier to bring home.

First time in Florence I got a silver baby rattle for my daughter as I was pregnant with her at the time.

Wine. :)

I think getting drink service is difficult nowadays regardless of whether or not you have a package. That's been proven by many posts on these boards. I, too, can attest to this as I cruised in March, did not purchase a drink package, and still had trouble getting drinks. This did not adversely affect my cruise, but it is something that seems to be happening more frequently.

I know the prices have increased, but to me, you would still have to drink quite a few drinks a day to make the PDP worth it. Even if my DH and I shared the package, it would still be not worth it for us.

How do you know people paid that for their air. They could all be flying on points just like you were. My guess is very few people would be paying $7500, if any.

Point seats are very limited on all flights so yes, lots of people ARE paying that price. Just like people are paying $4000 to sail.

What's interesting is every post in this thread, you can replace HAL with every other cruise line, and it still would be accurate.

 

Every line has slipped. Every hotel, too, save for a few extremely high end chains (way above Four Seasons level). Every airline (except Ethiad I guess) too.

Agree! Except I've flown on Ethiad and it isn't that great either! But maybe because I wasn't in the new private cabins. ;)

There was one on embarkation day revolving around crew members and the other was on a sea day.

They said they would share your concerns with the Food and Beverage Manager. Isn't that what you wanted? To make them aware?

I do think that voicing your concerns directly to RCCL is the best way to try to initiate change. Also, if only a handful of people on a ship of thousands complain about the service, they are going to take that with a grain of salt. Just like everything else, it's subjective. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some sort of threshold on complaints that needed to be reached before they really did anything about it.

I agree that the shops area feels more crowded, but the rest of the ship does not.

There is plenty to do on the Radiance class ships. We've really enjoyed them. Sitting in the Centrum with a drink and watching the people, and live music is a favorite thing for us to do.

There are still plenty of families and kids on these ships as well. We've never felt over run by them, but they are still there.

My husband has a hip issue and was allowed to sit in a deck chair next to the muster station. If you just ask, they are typically very accommodating.

We were on Brilliance in March and they mostly just hung out in the teen club talking and playing on their phones. I walked by there quite a bit to pick up my 11 year old at AO and that's all they seemed to be doing. I saw a few playing shuffle board and mini golf but mostly just hanging around like teens do.

Things do happen, but things run smoothly most of the time. While there is a chance for disaster in any situation, you just have to weigh the options and go with what works best for you.

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I've done most of the ports on the Vision itinerary, but without kids. I did really enjoy them all. Is there something particular your kids are interested in? Do they really enjoy history and such or would they prefer just to hit the beach?

This is hard to answer because you will have people that went once during Spring Break and had a terrible time, and others who have gone and had a great time. Yes, there will most likely be more kids and families. We never had a problem with this ourselves during our spring break cruise. You can always find a quieter, less crowded location if you want to get away from it all.

The arcade is not that extensive and $20 usually does the trick for us. Just enough to entertain them before they are bored and want to move on.

Hello,

 

 

2. We are going to Labadee, Falmouth, and Cozumel. Does anyone have recommendations on good excursions?

What types of things do you enjoy? Would you be more interested in water activities or land activities? Active excursions or more easy going ones?

There were self server water machines outside WJ on Brilliance in March.

Yes, a couple of the comments were daft, like the numbers on board and the time in ports. But the food, unfinished bits and crap entertainment seem consistent, even from some reviewers who have clearly sailed a few times before.

 

Keep in mind that food and entertainment are subjective. One reviewer could think they were great, and a cruiser on the same ship could think both are terrible.

My interpretation of those reviews is that these cruisers did no research then expected the cruise line to hold their hand & guide them every step of the way.

Agree!

We booked this cruise over 6 months ago for Nov 2015, and we were not given a choice and told we had to book MTD.

We booked in October 2014 for a March 2015 cruise and were told we had to do MTD as well. No other option.