Davebhoy

June - but it was grey the whole way there and back (barring one afternoon) and in fact the ship was delayed due to stormy weather in Russia.

You might be pleasantly surprised with the weather in October.

There's a good chunk of the solarium in navigator that's sheltered - the centre is open but all sides are covered enough to lie out on. That's where we based ourselves on our baltic cruise, and the weather wasn't great.

You can just order drinks from the bars as you go. Think you only need to have the cups for the Self Service machines

Acting as autocorrect for CB at sea :)

Eighteen year olds CAN buy alcohol on European sailings

The package has saved me a considerable amount of cash...

Yup - me too. We more than broke even on our two Premium packages and the Replenish package (if that's the non-alcohol cocktails and premium coffee one)...

I would say don't buy the drink pacakage unless you plan on partying hard every day of the cruise.

We must have quite the different definitions of 'partying hard' - you'd almost certainly get your money's worth out a drinks package on 1 beer by the pool in the afternoon, a glass of wine with dinner and 2 cocktails with the evening entertainment. Add in the cost of bottled water and any soft drinks poolside to get a better picture of when you might break even.

I took my phone on our recent Baltic cruise and used it in all the ports.

Stick a VPN client on for WiFi access and you'll be fine.

Don't connect to random Bluetooth pairings, etc.

Four drinks a day between the two of you - so two each over maybe 16 hours ? If that's right then no drink package would be worth it, but unless you're drinking tap water too, would you not dehydrate ?? Bottles of water are included in the soft drink package too - and while the ships tap water may be safe, it's not particularly appealing...

The issue worth flying might be luggage restrictions - a lot of the budget prices don't include any hold luggage and the price mounts quickly if you add it. Also, one of the benefits of cruising is being able to take whatever weight/number of cases you can manage - that goes away if you fly.

This year, we got the train to London from Glasgow, stayed over in London, then the Eavesway transfer to the ship. The transfer was free this year, but not next, so we are looking at options too.

Currently thinking of a split drive down/back but not sure I'm up for the 7hrs+ when heading back to work...

Just back from the Navigator, where we did My Time dining.

We booked the first couple of days dining at 1815 online, then a couple more days on board at the same time, before finally just block booking the rest of the evenings at the same time/table. Worked really well for us, and if we were ready at 1800, or held up till 1830, we still got our table with no issues or waiting.

Thank you! Could you tell me if there was a shuttle laid on into town in Helsinki ?

Hey - that could be a plan. If I've got a dodgy card I'll just need to stay on the ship instead of going back to work...

Not sure it's a scam - not like they made any money off you.

Seems to me like you got two hours Internet free for no effort at all.

Suspect they didn't really think anyone would care if they won as they'd all be happy with the freebie

To be fair, you can start planning as soon as you book, you just can't make reservations -- doesn't actually stop the planning...

Just a quick question - does RCI organise any special events for 4th July on board?

Not being from the US, we've enjoyed the local celebrations when we've been in the States on the 4th, so wondered if there was likely to be anything this year on the Navigator ?

It's on the drinks menu - not sure if covered by the beer package though

Thanks, Lerin - like a few others, from the heading I thought it was going to be a pointless rant, but it was definitely a fair and balanced review.

I can see how all the hassle you had must be off-putting when the level of service doesn't match whats expected.

Ports of call first, then ship.

We don't feel the need to be loyal to a particular cruise line any more than we would with a single hotel chain, so will look at the ports we fancy and see which cruise line and ship gives us the most time in them.

We booked this years on the itinerary alone - hadn't really looked at the spec of the ship.

The big plus on the drinks package for us is that we know exactly how much we need to cover the bar bills, and its paid up front before we leave - I really hate having to try and keep track of how much I've spent each day over the cruise, or pennypinching to keep that last night bill down.

I think it's pretty easy to break even anyway - a few soft drinks by the pool, beer with lunch, maybe another 1 or 2 over the afternoon, then a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and a few beers/cocktails during the evening entertainment seems easy enough on sea days.

So yeah, we've bought the drinks package for 3 of us, paid it in advance so any time we fancy a drink, its free !

Haven't been on Royal Caribbean out of Barcelona, but on two other cruises, the onboard language is predominately English - doubt there would be any problem for your 3 year old.

We disembark the easy way, whether it's with our luggage or not, by avoiding the herd mentality. We eat a leisurely but early breakfast. Then we return to our cabin, retrieve our bags, and find a comfortable spot to wait. Sometimes it's the concierge lounge, sometimes it's the pool deck, sometimes it's been the library. We keep an eye or ear out for the disembarkation announcements and when they are near the end or the last call, THEN we make our way to the gangway. There's nothing wrong with being the last ones off the ship.

 

The elevators are not crowded. The gangway is not crowded. The customs and immigration line is not crowded.

 

Let the unwashed masses, the groundlings, the herd, push and shove and fight to be the first ones off.

 

Slow down, relax, live longer.

Couldn't agree with this more ! On our last cruise, we sat at poolside with our hand luggage until we absolutely had to get off - no issues with queuing, lifts, etc and a far more pleasant end to a holiday. Can't think of anything worse than bursting a gut to push my way off in the initial wave - whole point of the holiday was to relax and enjoy it; why waste it all on the last day..

I can appreciate that some folk may need to get away and back to work, but I've always just included that extra day in the holidays I need to book.

Most likely you can carry the 4, but be prepared to have two taken from you. The rule is intended for adults and 18 year olds can't drink. It has been know to happen.

18 year olds can drink on European cruises, so would depend on where you're sailing from.

From one who has had to wait for other diners on the first night, I will only say that you should celebrate as you choose, but please have the courtesy to inform your waiters, or the maître d', so they don't hold up the meal. Your tablemates will appreciate the effort. :)

In my opinion, it should be up to the ship's crew to manage records for who will/won't be in the MDR if they've booked a table in another restaurant. Different, obviously, if you're just going to turn up in the Windjammer (then it'd be nice to let the maitre d' know), but in this day and age, they should really be able to co-ordinate reservations between the different restaurants.

We've done a few of these - some of them more than once.

Barcelona is the first port you should be doing on your own. Very accessible, a great metro system if you want to see sites across the city (and you should - Neu Camp, Gaudi Park, Barcelonetta and Las Ramblas). Plenty of places to eat/drink in the city at reasonable rates.

We went from Naples to Pompeii, and that's a ship (or independent) tour I'd definitely recommend. Naples town centre isn't the greatest to wander on your own.

Marseilles is fine to do on your own with a shuttle into the city - a nice seafront and plenty of shopping.

Palma is another one that's doable on your own, if not particularly exciting.

I'd recommend an organised trip to Rome from Civitavecchia - it's a long way from Rome and traffic can be a killer, so very stressful if racing back for the boat about to sail.

It wasn't that long ago that T-shirts were considered 'underwear'.

Really ? I'm in my mid-40s and have never considered T-shirts to be underwear. I wouldn't wear one to the MDR on a cruise, as I prefer to pull on a proper shirt and trousers to get into "evening mode", but its certainly not underwear...