montekat

So you have Android operating system with over 84% market share and you can't use it typical IT department at Royal.

The android system is supposed to be up and working in 2 weeks, hopefully.

We got these a few years ago when they were delivered to our house. They are heavy terrycloth with the RCCL logo. The one problem I can see with getting them onboard is packing them to take home. They are quite bulky. Hmmmm, maybe you could wear them on the airplane home! Everyone would be so jealous, LOL!

The new terminal is very nice, but quite large. It is a long walk from one end to the other. We were held up for a long time when we dropped our luggage off. The workers had to put on the RFID luggage tags so my poor husband had to wait at the curb for about 10 min. just to leave the bags. Meanwhile, I was sitting in the car holding up others from getting in a slot to drop off their luggage. And, because I have an Android phone, the new tags were of no use to me at all.

No shuttle bus as we knew it before and the parking area is still in the same location, so until the new parking garage is built it is another loooooong walk to get back to your car. They were running a small shuttle bus from the handicapped parking area to the terminal, but even it had to wait in line to drop off passengers and were not able to get up to the curb. They had to park in the next row over from the curb.

We were also on the "Inaugural" sailing and were hoping for more of a WOW experience. The ship was hyped so much that maybe our expectations were too high. I agree with Wolfcathorse.

There were some things that were good. I liked that at night the light in the bathroom would remain on at a very minimal level. No needed to be blinded in the middle of the night by a bright light. When entering the cabin, you had to put a card in the slot to turn on the lights. Once removed, the lights would automatically go off in about 2 min. I soon figured out that any card could be used, not just the Seapass card.

The toilets in the bathroom would sometimes only flush when the bathroom door was closed and sometimes when open. Go figure!

Elevators were a challenge! I think people would hit the button to call the elevator to the floor, then give up and take the stairs. Usually you can't punch a button in the elevator to go in the opposite direction until it has finished completing going to the floors already called. A lot of times, people just gave up waiting for an elevator going down if they wanted to go up and just got on and rode it. However, if you got on on deck 7 and it was on the way to deck 14 and you wanted to get off on a lower floor, you could go ahead and punch deck 5, making it seem as if the elevator was screwed up. Make sense?

We waited in line for an hour and 15 min. for Northstar. We were lucky that we were able to get right on, but it was cold and windy in that line! We got there at 8:15 in the morning and my husband wanted to give up. There were a lot of people wanting multiple tickets. The lady in front of us wanted 10 tickets. I really felt sorry for the staff handing out the tickets. They took a lot of abuse for something they had no control over. I felt they deserved combat pay! How can you give out a definite time when there are multiple factors affecting time, i.e. weather, if the computers are working properly controlling Northstar, etc.

We liked using the WOW bands (when they worked) as it was easier to get back in the cabin without having to carry the Seapass card in your hand, especially if you were carrying a plate of the cookies and a drink. The coconut cookies were great!!

The food was better than we have experienced recently on Royal, but we would have liked the dynamic dining better if the menus changed occasionally, but I understand why. Just don't schedule the same dining venue several days in a row.

That pink bear was definitely, how should I say it, "unique".

I have been on 3 CTN's and there has always been a cruise elegant night on the second day, along with plenty of formal portraits. I have always gotten $50 shareholder's credit on these cruises, so apply for it. Even if they say no, you got a wonderful deal. Wish they would offer that price around here!

Depending on your age, Carnival's insurance is actually fairly reasonably priced. The problem is that the coverage for medical is too low, only $10,000. My SIL fell on a cruise 2 years ago and broke her hip. This was at lunchtime on the last sea day. She spent the night in the infirmary, then was taken off by ambulance in Bayonne.

Unfortunately the Dr. gave her a large dose of blood thinner to prevent clots which was good, but since the surgeon wanted to operate right away, he couldn't due to risk of bleeding. In all, she was at the hospital 2 weeks and had a hip replacement. She had travel insurance but it only covered $15,000 in medical expenses. The bill for everything came close to $300,000. That is a staggering amt. and could easily bankrupt someone. It was good that she was returned to the States, but bad that they sent her to Bayonne Medical Ctr. I couldn't believe the charges, so I checked it out. A semi-pvt. room was $18,000/day, $800 for an EKG, etc. etc. This particular hospital is private, not a non-profit, and is the single most expensive hospital in the entire country!

She had medical insurance through her work, so it picked up most of the charges. All in all, I doubt most people could have borne such an expense without taking out a loan. From now on, I buy travel ins. that covers at least $100,00 in medical and $500,00 in repatriation. It is worth a few extra dollars for the peace of mind.

More important than the cost of the cruise is the medical coverage and evacuation if needed. What would it take to get you home? What else would be involved? What is your risk? You're young and healthy? Great. I started buying cruise insurance for myself several years ago when I read (I think it was on Cruise Critic) about a 16 year old who got appendicitis and had to be med evac'd. Since I often cruise with my Mom who is now 80, it's a major consideration when she's going. Frankly, getting back the cost of the cruise is very minor considering other things.

Yes, repatriation and medical expenses are quite high. That is why I shop the all inclusives and not just the med and evac policies.

I always buy insurance within the 2 week time period so that any pre-existing conditions will be covered. As noted, the best rates are from a third party insurer; I use http://www.insuremytrip.com all the time. There are others, but I find this the easiest to navigate. Also, only insure for the price of the cruise and not for the reimbursable things, such as taxes and port fees. It took me years to learn that I was overinsuring.

Make it two. Lots of things I care about. This ain't one of them.

Ditto!!

Wouldn't that mean she's coming in at 10:30 tonight???

 

And a Great Big Thank You to everyone that contributed to this thread! We Thoroughly Enjoyed It And Look Forward to the Post Cruise Pictures and Reviews!

You are apparently looking at the ETA on the page. Remember, it is posted as UTC which when changed into Eastern time zone actually says it will get in at 10:30 AM.

That is probably a time based on current sailing speed and they will sail faster as they get closer so that the ship arrives on time, which I think I remember is 6:00 AM

Great reveiw and pics! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more. Hope the rest of your cruise is smooth sailing.

No I wouldn't lie, this is one reason why I buy cruise insurance. In fact I wouldn't even drive to the port if I think I was getting sick.

Yes, I absolutely agree with you! If I am sick, why would I want to be out at sea feeling miserable? That is why we get the insurance also.

Great idea! Looking forward to your pics and insights. Thanks!!

My head waiter told me last week that Ken would be on The Carnival Pride through 2015. I hope so.

I hope so! We have been on cruises with him before and very much enjoyed listening to him.

I only see Pride cruises sailing from January 11 to March 8, 2015.

If you do an advanced search, you will see that after the March 8th cruise, the Pride will be sent back to Baltimore to continue sailing.

We will be on the Pride in April of 2015. Should be interesting to have him as a CD as we have heard so much about him and it would be good to have first hand knowledge.

Thanks for posting!

I sure do miss my Keurig when I go on a cruise! Sometimes I take the small Hazelnut creamers, but it's just not the same.

When we were on the Explorer a month ago, they used the Maharaja lounge for the Diamonds and up from 4:30 until 8:30 nightly. One night they had the Diamond event there so it was a lot more crowded.

Yes, they do have paper cups in the Cafe Promenade. Just be sure to get one of the paper sleeves to go with it as the coffee and water is quite hot!

So glad they had insurance! Hope everything goes well for them.

Great upgrade! I would have taken it in a second. It will be a nice surprise for your DW's birthday.

I tag everything! I print out the luggage tags and address labels, then reduce them to 50% size and print smaller ones for the camera, tote bag, purse, carryon, etc. I have a laminator so it all looks professional and holds up very well. You could also do the clear 2" packing tape to "laminate".

We've used Winner Airport Parking on Essington Ave. and were quite happy with them. Reasonable rates and valet parking. It was so nice to have them drop us off to the airport and then bring our car to us when we arrived back. They also offer coupons and discounts.

Lido cabins are a great location! Very convenient to the action but very quiet. I would not hesitate to book one of these cabins again.

I would pass, you are already in a nice cabin. Too much!