tinkertoy9000

We always bought our insurance through TravelEx and we never bought it until just before  final payment because up until then we could cancel and get all of our money back anyway.  Also, we mostly drove to the departure ports but if we had to fly we bought the insurance when we purchased air fare.

Has Royal Caribbean, or any other cruise line, issued revised up to date information about what to expect on cruises from now on?    How will boarding, dining, attendance at shows, and access to the pool and sun decks be handled?   What should we expect to be different?  Will there still be Diamond and Concierge lounges available?

"Dress hats"? Please no.

Our last cruise on Navigator there were several men who came in the MDR every night with hats and caps on. Head waiters said nothing.

Yes, I agree that ship's casino slots are very tight. When you win a "jackpot" it's not really that much money. I used to go to Vegas quite often and the slots there are now as tight as ever, even at off the strip hotels and locations like the Station casinos.

But I do budget for playing the slots for a while each night as a part of my on-ship entertainment. And believe it or not I had my biggest slot jackpot win ever on a cruise ship, a $5K win on a penny slot on Oasis. I was surprised and I think the casino staff was also because they did not know how to pay the jackpot. LOL ... Then the next day that slot machine disappeared from where it was and was replaced by a different one. LOL

I think each casino on ships have a few slots that pay enough to keep you playing for a while and the others are extra tight. You will see certain people on certain slots most of the evening while other slots are always vacant.

I feel the same way. IMO, MDR food, service and attitude of the crew on RCI is much better than on NCL.

I have cruised both NCL and Royal, began my cruising career with NCL. BUT, I will never go on NCL again, food and service went down from when I first cruised with them . And I did not like being forced into the "Freestyle" cruising with no other options for dinner. At least on Royal you can choose traditional first or second seating (except on Quantum Class), or do My Time which lets you set your own dinner schedule.

I agree with the other who say Harmony of the Seas; we are already booked on it for next year. Have already cruised twice each on Oasis and Allure. You will NOT find a better cruise ship and the Harmony will be even better with the new features being added to that Oasis class ship.

PS: if they offer it do sign up for the Prohibition Party on Harmony; it's about $35 per person and a lot of fun. and consider also getting a Crown Loft cabin (a two story cabin) , only available on Oasis Class Royal ships .

We cruise mostly on Royal but we have also been on Celebrity a number of times and on both the Millennium and Solstice Class ships. If you like the Royal Radiance Class ship the you will like Celebrity ships.

In our opinion, based on about 7 cruises with Celebrity, we feel that the food and service is better on Celebrity. One thing is for sure, things are quieter on Celebrity. They do not have the bells and whistles on board activities like Royal. No rock wall, no ice skating, no zip line, no FloRiders. They do have more lectures on certain cruises. And I disagree with the person who said Celebrity itineraries are limited. We cruised the Baltic, Australia, and the Panama Canal on Celebrity, as well as Southern Caribbean. I think Celebrity has more 12 to 14 day cruises to offer. They leave from some of the same ports that Royal leaves from like Miami, Ft Lauderdale and Cape Liberty.

If you are Diamond on Royal your Celebrity cruise will not count toward your Royal C&A status. However, you can register for the Celebrity Captain's Club and get comparable on board benefits to the C&A benefits. You would be Elite status in the Captain's club and, among other thing, get free internet minutes, free laundry, and enjoy the evening free happy hour drinks.

So you will get benefits going on Celebrity.

I took bottled water and soft drinks onto Quantum this past April, no questions asked. In my backpack and went right through the scanner

The rule is no shorts during dinners in the main dining room and most ships now have a sign posted showing the rules. I have seen people turned away from the MDR who were not properly dressed. I think some who do slip by do so when there is a mass of people entering the MDR when it first opens. You don't need to dress up for dinner any evening, just a pair of slacks or even some well appointed jeans or dockers will suffice.

We are booked on our first Royal Caribbean cruise next May. We are on deck 7, inside stateroom near the library. I just noticed that the staterooms either side of us are family rooms. We are not young ! and I wondered if anyone had any observations ! I also wondered if there is any problem getting a table for 2. I have requested it, we are one 1st sitting. (We really aren't unsociable ! We just aren't comfortable eating with strangers)

The only issue you may have with the cabins is if there are teens who come in and sit around talking or horsing around before the go to bed. We were in a balcony cabin next to a suite once and had that issue a couple night; the kids sitting around talking loud about the fun they had that day.

As far as a table for two, just be sure to go to the main dining room as soon as you board the ship, or at least by 1:00 PM, and check to see if they did give you a table for two. If you are not satisfied with your table THAT is the best time to request a change. The MatrD or head waiters will be there to assist passengers and there may be a line.

I cruised NCL 13 times, loved the Norway in the 1980's sailed her 7 times, but they went downhill after they did away with standard dinning, food and service was just bad. It is the only line I have cruised with that I would never cruise again.

I agree with what you have said. I began cruising with NCL and did about 6 with them before trying another line. I had bad experiences in NCL Gem and after that never went back.

This is likely a very rare question but I hope somebody will have an idea. I'm B2B on the Allure 3-day Rome to Barcelona and on the TA. On the first leg I have a Central Park Balcony near the forward stairs. On the Transatlantic I have a Boardwalk Balcony almost at the aft of the ship.

 

Allure uses 2 terminals in Barcelona, one for the front of the ship and the other for the back. First, do you think it will be necessary to leave the ship at all or can I just stay onboard. If I do exit, will I be required to leave from one terminal and return to the other?

 

Roy

If you are doing a B2B the ship's staff will have a meeting with you and all of the other B2B guests the day before the last day and explain exactly what the process will be. On the end day you will all meet in a location the ship designates and they will walk you through customs and Immigration and then back on the ship, issuing you new cruise cards then. If you want to get off and go tour Barcelona for the day you can do that too.

This may be a dumb question but........ We are booked on Brilliance of the Seas re-positioning cruise Boston to Tampa. I was wondering if there are any sights to see as we sail out of Boston? Can you see anything of New York?

This is what we saw from the Explorer when we cruised through Boston on a NE & Canada cruise. You may get a glimpse of the Boston Harbor skyline if your ship does not depart after it's dark.

No Park Cafe on any Freedom or Voyager class ship.

Thanks, I was just hoping for a roast beef sandwich ......LOL;)

We have been on the Freedom of the Seas 3 times but am wondering whether after the recent revitalization they added a Park Cafe to the Freedom of the Seas. Any one know if Freedom has a Park Cafe.?:confused:

We always just use the public buses to get to the Bermuda beaches. And yes, for use walk way past the crowds at the beginning of the beach and you will find secluded small beach areas like this one. We don't rent chairs or umbrellas. Only drawback for going down the beach is it's along way to the bathrooms.:D

had a central park balcony once but that was enough . Its like staying at a land based hotel same view all the time & there are not that many places to see the ocean on this ship so I like ocean view balconies. Just my opinion but good thing we don't all like same things

I agree. If I am on the ocean I want to be able to see it all of the time from my balcony. And also be able to see as we arrive and depart from ports.

:cool:

Hi All,

 

I have a few questions. We are looking at booking a C&A member cruise for next year and the cabins are going quickly. Is there any advantage to booking these cruises? Are there perks that come with the cruise? Just wondering if we should pay for that particular cruise or go on a "normal" one. We are looking at doing Canada/New England.

 

Also, I am from Canada and when I go online on RCL's site it shows my price in Cdn. funds. Do they put it through my card as the price I see in Cdn funds or put it through in US funds that would be close to the Cdn amount? I know this sounds terribly confusing lol but hopefully someone out there understands what I am meaning.

 

Thanks for the help. Trish

Others may disagree but I would never go on a C&A member's cruise. Al of those that I have seen were no bargain price and were more often higher priced. But the big turnoff for me would be the number of C&A members on board at the top levels. We cruised once out of Florida on a bargain priced date and the ship was full of folks from Florida and about 2500 of the people on the ship were D and D+ C&A members. consequently the daily happy hours were a zoo. IJS

Why can't RCL dock in tortola as some people have said?

Actually Tortola has or is working on an agreement with NCL and Disney for their exclusive use of the Tortola docks. So Royal and Celebrity and lines other than these two will not be going there any more. And in my opinion, you will not be missing anything. Been there twice and have no yen to go again.

we have a magnetic door sign that we used on Oasis, Allure and other ships.

If this were to become a popular practice, I can just see the signs popping up at the beaches: "Guests are not permitted to bring food, beverages, or beach umbrellas onto this property". :D

I think that you should for sure look at Royal's list of prohibited items. If a surf board is prohibited I bet a beach umbrella would be also. A regular umbrella yes, but not a regular beach umbrella.

Hi there!

Reaching out to those who have sailed Oasis and/or Allure. My husband and I are cruise fanatics, but hubby won't have any vacation time for another 9 months. We have never sailed on either Oasis or Allure and this two nighter would give us a chance to experience some of the ship without needing vacation time. Even though it's a little pricey, compared to my usual Florida resident bargain hunting, I am very intrigued by this trip.

Is the on board experience worth it? Hubby loves the promenade on the Freedom class ships and I am seriously considering booking this as a treat to hold us over until we sail the Pacific Coast on Explorer next fall. An added bonus is that this two night trip would make us Emerald. Not a big deal, but a bonus none the less. Thoughts??

Thanks all!:D

I have cruised on both Oasis and Allure twice and the prices you quoted are way out of line for a 2 day cruise. For those prices you could go for a week, or at least 5 days for the cabin types you quoted. I loved the ships but you cannot really get the full flavor in 2 days; you miss all of the shows for one. My vote is pass it up.

We are thinking about doing a B2B on the Indy. On our original cruise we have a JS booked. We are thinking about adding a week prior to this one in a different room type, possibly a promenade view or inside cabin. What takes place on change over day if you are changing rooms? Do we stay on the ship? Will we have the same dinner table (waitstaff) throughout both cruises?

One thing that the previous poster did not mention is that the cruise director's staff will have a meeting the last day of the cruise with all of the B2B passengers. At that meeting they will explain exactly what the process will be. And the process does vary some by ship and itinerary. But what others have described is correct. Also, if you want to get off the ship and go sightsee or something you can do that also, just be back 90 minutes before departure. We did that when we cruised out of New Orleans.

Hey!! LOL!! That's the beauty of being retired......we don't have anything booked right now' date=' but keeping our eyes open for any and all cruises in April and May. I'll let you know![/size']

Hello Max'sMom, we live in Raleigh, NC also. Great review you have posted. We are D+ on Royal also but going to the Southern Caribbean on Celebrity in a few weeks and I was looking to find a good beach on Curacao. Thus far it seems the Seaquarium beach is it.:)