SplashOfWater

I bring this up in every after-cruise survey. I mention that the newer NCL ships have the main casino as non-smoking and have a separate smaller glassed-in casino as the smoking casino. On every cruise we see people sitting at machines, smoking and not playing. Sometimes there will be announcements that you need to be actively playing to smoke. Even when the casino is closed, there are always a few people using it as an indoor smoking area. On our last cruise, there were a few people vaping on the non-smoking side of the main casino.

Ship - Allure of the Seas Deck - 11 Stateroom # - 11253 Stateroom Category – Central Park Balcony (2J) Starboard or Port Side - Port Quiet Stateroom? - Yes (at night). During the day there is noise from the pool deck. Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No Balcony View - Balcony overlooks Central Park. It is also across from other Central Park balconies, so be sure to close your curtains for privacy. Was wind a problem? - No If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A Any specific problems with this cabin? - None Any other comments? - This cabin was convenient to the Crown Lounge, which is located on Deck 11. This cabin had the bed near the balcony.

We were in the Haven on the Escape last week. The photos of the restaurant and poolside menus were the same for our sailing. The photos of the breakfast cold buffet reflected the same items we had (maybe a few differences but very close). The Escape does not have a forward Horizon Lounge, so the buffet items and specialty coffee machine available on the Encore are not on the Escape. The Haven staff puts some snacks out in the Haven Courtyard in the morning (pastries, orange juice, regular coffee) and afternoon (pound cake, banana bread, peanut M&Ms, gummy bears, infused water). They will also place the poolside menus near the snacks around lunchtime. Just stop one of the waiters if you want to order something. We found the Haven staff on the Escape to be top-notch! Enjoy your cruise!

Ship - Escape Deck - 17 Stateroom # - 17124 Stateroom Category – Haven Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony (HF) Starboard or Port Side - Port Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Very quiet. Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No. Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Great views, no obstructions. Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal for this cabin category. Was wind a problem? - No. If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A Any specific problems with this cabin? - None. Any other comments? - Close proximity to the Haven concierge desk, bar/lounge and courtyard.

We've brought a mobility scooter on a few Royal Caribbean cruises recently. We'll be bringing it on the Escape next week. The one my husband uses is a Pride Go-Go Sport, 3-wheel. It's 21-22 inches wide and fits through the regular cabin doors. We select a balcony cabin that has the sofa near the bathroom and bed near the balcony. This cabin configuration has the extra room to park the scooter next to the sofa during the night. It still leaves just enough room to get by the scooter to the bathroom and cabin door. If the bed is near the bathroom, there's not enough room to get the scooter into the cabin without blocking the entry way. The space between the bed and the wall is too narrow for the scooter to fit through. I guess you could disassemble the scooter every night, but that would be a pain. On one ship, the hallways were pretty narrow and it took two or three tries to angle the scooter into the cabin. The newer ships have wider hallways which make it easier to maneuver the scooter into the cabin.

Definitely keep track of cabin prices. Last year we were on the Dawn for a 14-day cruise. We had booked an Oceanview cabin and noticed about a month before sailing that the Family Suite (no balcony) cabins were about $1,000 more than what we had paid for an Oceanview. No brainer...we jumped on it and enjoyed all the suite beneifts: butler, concierge, escort on/off ship, breakfast/lunch in Moderno.

Thank you @notamermaid My sister said there was no notification ahead of their travel to Zurich. I agree that Viking should have been aware of the river levels and communicated that to the passengers that were scheduled to travel to this cruise. My sister, brother-in-law and other passengers have arrived in Strasbourg where they are scheduled to board the Viking Idi. Once all the passengers arrive, the Viking rep will meet with them to go over what's going on.

My sister flew into Zurich a couple days ago for a Viking river cruise. They were supposed to be bussed to Basel to pick up their ship but were told that the river was too high and were being bussed to Strasbourg instead. This morning she texted me and stated that the Viking rep was going to tell them that they probably wouldn't do any cruising this week. They'd bus everywhere and spend the night on a different ship (as a hotel?). She also told me that they were informed the Cochem Christmas market stop was cancelled because it was closed on Dec 20 (their stop date). Looking at the calendar for the market, it only runs this year until Dec 17. You can't tell me that Viking didn't know this in advance. There was no communication about any of this prior to their flights to Zurich. They are currently waiting for the Viking rep to meet with all the passengers and explain what's going on. My sister is beyond disappointed.

Have a great cruise! I'm looking forward to your review. We'll be on the Escape next month. We saw Choir of Man on the Encore a couple of years ago and loved it. It's one of the few shows my husband really liked and we're both looking forward to seeing it on the Escape.

Thanks! It's good to know what points level you need to be at to receive the better offers. We were always Jade and never got very good offers from CAS. We've been sailing mostly with Royal the past couple of years and have learned that more points equals better offers. We're looking forward to our NCL cruise next month to see if we can get back on the CAS radar.

If you don't mind my asking, what casino tier level are you?

No time exclusions for our cruise.

Not sure about email, maybe someone else can verify.

We sailed on Allure last week. The Crown Lounge concierge was Chantelle Wright.

We were in 12512 last year (Family Suite w/o Balcony), with a separate tub and shower.

If I reserve the Izumi sushi lunch will I be restricted to the prix-fixe menu or can I order a la carte? I'd rather have two 8-piece rolls than an appetizer, two half rolls and dessert.

The bartender will swipe your SeaPass card and print out a slip with the total price of $0.00. At the bottom of the slip it will show how many of your voucher drinks have been used: 1 of 4, 2 of 4, etc.

Lunch prices were too good to pass up. Allure - Giovanni's $14.99 pp Wonder - Hooked $14.99 pp, Chops $17.99 pp, Izumi Hibachi $31.99 pp Adventure - Giovanni's $12.99 pp, Chops $15.99 pp

There will be a list of restrictions provided (usually new ships and cruises over Christmas & New Years). For Prime it is a free interior for up to 7 nights. As mentioned previously, the offer appears in your Club Royale account around mid-April and you can pay to upgrade above an interior cabin.

We received the Port/Air Tax Credit (about $12 each) on our Mariner cruise last month. We didn't miss any ports.

We just sailed on Mariner of the Seas on Oct 21 out of Terminal 5. They had staff standing at the bottom of the ramp with handheld devices taking payment as you entered the garage.

The phone number in @Cloverpk Jackpot! screenshot is for Casino reservations. Your offer doesn't look like a casino offer. Sorry, I don't have an explanation.

When you see the search results, do you see anything when you click on My Offers? We saw the notice because we had a casino offer that we applied.

It's a casino offer. Some offers can be used directly on the Royal Caribbean site. It's just telling you that if you want to upgrade you can call and they'll quote you the casino upgrade price.

We are Diamond and only use the lounge in the morning for coffee & pastries (our second breakfast, lol). We like to sit and read in the morning, but don't mind doing that elsewhere if it's too crowded. We don't use the lounge in the evenings since we go to the early dinner. If morning access is taken away, I hope that Royal will provide daily specialty coffee vouchers on our SeaPass cards as an alternative. Not a big deal though if they don't.