laura85

1 hour ago, JCMass. said:

 

We never do self-disembarkation.  There is always long lines, and people lugging heavy suitcases.  We have a relaxing breakfast, and then plan to get off around 9:30am and as long as you are in public areas, (some wait by the pool or in a lounge) you can sit and wait.  By 9:30am the lines are moving right along.  They want everyone off the ship by 10am, so we stay away from the crowds till we join in the moving line. 

For most of our cruises we’ve done self-disembarkation. But for our next cruise our flight home is very late that day, so we won’t be in a rush. Can you remind me how it works if we put out luggage night before? How/when do we get our luggage the next day? 
 

We’ll be with two children and my mom in a wheelchair, so the less we have to drag around luggage, the better. 

How old is your daughter?  Several years ago we did the helicopter to a glacier where there is a dog camp. We got to be pulled on the sled and even spend time interacting and petting the dogs and puppies! My son was only 5 at the time but it’s still one of his best memories. All the grown ups enjoyed it immensely as well. Definitely a bucket list type of excursion. 
 

We are going back to Alaska next month, but this time we’ll be doing one of the dog “summer camps” where we are just driven to a dog camp that pulls you in a sled through a forested area. I don’t expect it to be as spectacular as the glacier camp, but I think it will still be fun for my now 5yo daughter and now 12yo son. Plus it’s much less expensive. 

Thank you for the great review! Your embarkation story made me so nervous!!! We’ll be on this cruise next month (first ever NCL) and I think attitude is important. I’m like you, don’t let others upset me or ruin a trip. I’m just in a mindset to be prepared for crowds and flexible 👍 I’ve read a ton of horrible reviews of this cruise, but I think we’ll enjoy it. 

Did you go to the Beatles band at all? 

3 minutes ago, basser said:

Me either. The off ships zip line excursions seem to have a 65 year old maximum. I’m well past that.

This is really disappointing! I will be traveling with my in-laws who are in their 60s/70s and are in EXCELLENT health and really active! We’ve seen a couple excursions they are “too old” for. Is it an insurance thing? 

Good question! I hope to try it this December. Here is what I found posted on cruise critic: 

I couldn’t find anything age specific! 

I’m not super chatty with room attendants, and honestly rarely even run in to them after the first day. Our next cruise will have my husband and I plus 5 year old daughter in one balcony room. My main concern is just that the sofa will be stuck as a bed all week? 

Ok that’s a good idea! The lunches are a good value! I don’t think I’ll do chops without UDP (been there many times) but we really want to try Wonderland and Central Park, never been to those! 

I can book both the special (crazy expensive) holiday meals, and regular specialty dining on non-holiday days. But no UDP listed. We have a family of 5 sailing and I DO NOT want to pay $500 for chops or 150 Central Park on a holiday. They even seem to be charging the full $100pp for kids on the holidays, ouch!!! I think I’ll stick with the MDR those days. 

We are sailing on Harmony for Christmas this year! On the cruise planner there is NO ultimate dining package listed. Do I need to wait until it’s closer to the cruise? Is it not offered because this is a holiday sailing? 

Does it cover the Starbucks coffee served in restaurants? I’ve seen menus that list Starbucks coffee and espresso at the bottom. Or does it only cover drinks at the Starbucks locations? 

I can’t find MDR menus on the app either. When you click on a speciality restaurant it has a sample menu available. But there is none listed on the MDR that I can find. 

Wow! I’m new to NCL and had no idea for decorations are prohibited. Granted, I’ve seen people go way overboard with junk spilling over on to walls/hallway, taped stuff. I can see how that could damage surfaces. Be a hassle, etc. I typically do small, custom magnets in the theme of our cruise ports. It’s always a fun craft to work on as I countdown to a cruise! Fun for the kids and of course helps identify the cabin easily. I suppose I’ll just pick up a few small magnets, and will take them down if asked. 

19 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

I was on the CVS site yesterday and there are appointments available in Escondido.  We are in temecula and we're looking for a backup reservation for Sunday.  If you are in our area the Temecula 24 hour urgent care is doing testing 24 hours a day with a 30 minute wait for results for $140 per person. They will not bill insurance but you should be able to. We are on Navigator Jan 10th. 

Thank you so much for the reply! We ended up going to our local urgent care yesterday morning. We were able to get a rapid test (after standing in line for 3 hours - ouch!). 

It’s funny, when I searched cvs, none came up within California. Perhaps my time frame was too short.

34 minutes ago, imola said:

Walgreens told us that they did not contract to do the Rapid test in CA next that no one would be able to get them through them in this state. We live in Northern CA and neither Walgreens nor CVS are doing the Rapid test around here. 

We are doing the home test for our January 17th cruise. I have heard that testing is available at pier with appointment but cost is $100.00.  

Thanks for the info! I didn’t realize there was such a testing shortage out here- including Northern California. Unfortunately when I tried to get an at home kit- they were sold out. 
 

Royal’s website does have a link for the $100 pier testing - but when I just clicked it, there were only appointments available in Baltimore. Yikes! 
 

Very glad to hear you have a home test. If I need a covid test for my cruise over the summer I’m definitely getting a home one early. 

I’m nearby in the Inland Empire and can’t find any rapid tests at cvs, Walgreens, Walmart or even through my health insurance, Kaiser. 
 

We are going to a local urgent care tomorrow morning, but they charge $100. Today on the phone this location told me they can’t guarantee I get a test tomorrow due to low supplies and being short staffed. 
 

At this rate, we may not get a test before our Friday cruise out of Los Angeles. 
 

So, no I don’t know any places for a free test… or even a guaranteed paid test! There seems to be a real shortage in SoCal. 
 I’m definitely interested in any suggestions!!!! 

6 hours ago, Ashland said:

Navigator has been amped and we're very much looking forward to sailing on her in January.

Of course it doesn't hurt that it will be our first post covid cruise and she's sailing from our home port.

I'm sure you'll enjoy RCI OP.

Same! We are so excited to finally have Royal back in So Cal! 
 

We’ve only sailed Royal and Princess. I’ve been happy with both overall. Like others have said, Royal typically has more activities going on. And certainly more physical activities- rock walk, water slides, ice skating and more. Even with a more festive atmosphere, I’ve never found it to be too much of a “party” cruise. 
 

However, this will be my first time doing a 3 night cruise. I’ve always heard them referred to as “booze cruises”. Since we are leaving the kids at home - that nickname may prove to be (somewhat) accurate for us! 
 

One thing I really love about Royal vs Princess is the Royal Promenade. To me, this always feels like the heart of the ship, and it is something I do miss on Princess. 

We were booked for a Crown Loft Suite in June of 2022. Like so many others, we have been moved to a Junior Suite on Wonder. 
 

We will definitely be canceling. There is just no comparison. The CLS is huge and has a second bathroom, these were huge factors since were traveling with 2 kids. Also the proximity to the Coastal Kitchen and Suite Lounge were a large consideration for booking the CLS. We had a decent price when we originally booked. However that same price just cannot justify a Junior Suite for us. 
 

It’s unfortunate since this would have been our first post-covid trip with several other family members on this sailing. In hindsight, we would have just been better off booking a balcony room. The balcony rooms are now going for almost double of what we would’ve originally paid! 
 

I understand things from Royal’s perspective, and knew booking a cruise was a gamble due to Covid. So while we are disappointed, we are glad we can get a full refund. 

Are you booked with a travel agent

 

Sent from my SM-T377P using Forums mobile app

No we each made our own booking straight through the royal caribbean website.

Thank you cb at sea. At this point I am just worried that if we wait until we get on the ship, everything will be full and we won't be able to switch anything so we can dine together? That would really be a damper on our trip.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes At this point they are telling us to switch to my time and all that is left is 5:30.

And with my time dining they have said they will not take the kids to adventure ocean.

Thank you for your input. I will try that email. Every time we cal we get conflicting info.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We are sailing on the Harmony in just over a week.

We are a family of 3, traveling with another family of 4 (we have our reservations linked online).

We both originally had My Time Dining, and we were both on the Tradition dining wait-list.

Now, my family has been moved to Traditional Dining, while our friends are still on My Time. We have called several times to have our friends also moved to traditional dining, and the phone reps told us no. (This is frustrating because our reservations are linked. Why would they split up our dining?)

Does anyone have any idea if we can have them changed to traditional dining with us once on board? Our entire group is 4 adults and 3 kids. We wanted the early traditional dining so we can take advantage of the "My family Time dining" (they get the kids food out quickly, then take the kids to Adventure Ocean so the parents can finish dinner at a more leisurely pace without boring the youngsters).

We really don't want to be split up from our group every night. Thanks in advance for any info/advice.

This sounds amazing! Does anyone know a website for this zoo?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

This practice sounds in incredibly wrong to me. Hypothetically, what if a customer books one of these low glitch rates and then goes ahead and gets airline tickets, requests work off, maybe buys some new clothes etc for the cruise. Then royal calls them with this scam. Pay more, or your stuck with all the airlines tickets and other purchases you made. I sure would be angry if this happened to me. Luckily, we are paying an arm and a leg for our upcoming Harmony cruise so they haven't tried this on us.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I worried so much about DS falling out on our last cruise (he was almost 5.5 at the time). At home, he has been known to fall off the bed occasionally. I would put a pillow longways towards the outside edge, and that coupled with the rail kept him on just fine! He never fell out and loved sleeping up on the Pullman! Such a fun memory :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I don't know about splash park on the ship, but I do know DS always hated splash pads when he was that little.

There will definitely be lots of stuff for your baby to look at all over the ship!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums