4774Papa

I have been trying to convince my son and his family (2 adults and 2 kids) to vacation with us on a cruise, likely in the Caribbean. He wants to rent a house near the beach on the NC Outer Banks. Last time we did that a few years ago, the rent for the house for a week was $4500. I told him that we could all do a cruise for about the same money. My wife and I have cruised once with our adult daughter with NCL in an aft balcony. We managed OK with three in the cabin, but I can't imagine doing a cabin with four persons. If my Son has to get two cabins, then the cost would go up significantly. We could split the kids and have one in our cabin. Are there any larger cabins on RCL ships that could easily handle four persons? Would a suite be the only viable option? Suites would up the price as well.

I stopped drinking soda of any kind 20 years ago. I have read that soda is not good at all for your health.

I finally was able to check my current prices against the new prices and I am better off with the old prices.

I know that Royal and Celebrity once had a policy that before final payment if the fares dropped that they would give you the new lower rate. Is that still the case?

We usually use flyer miles to fly back to the USA. Also, once we bought air travel through Celebrity (cruise was on Celebrity).

Last Royal cruise was in 2019, pre COVID.

I suppose some people would prefer that, but not me. For and evening meal, even to restaurants in my local area, I always wear a shirt with a collar and trousers, not shorts and t-shirt. We only dine out a couple of times a month and want to make it special. It is nice to see other diners with the same. I remember when I was a kid in the 50s, even when we went to the Dairy Queen, my dad would wear his coat and tie and mom dressed nice. Clearly that is not the culture today.

Royal excels in entertainment. We thought that NCL's entertainment was awesome, but Royal was even better. As for dining, Royal is consistently better for MDR dining than NCL. Celebrity is the best compared to NCL and Royal, but Royal is not far behind.

If you were diamond, you would get four free drinks a day, which is plenty for us.

While, I understand the idea that people should be able to dress down, I personally prefer that the evening meal should be without the shorts and t-shirts. We live in South Georgia and find that in most restaurants you can dress that way, even the top ones, but they usually keep the AC so cold, that we would be freezing wearing shorts and t-shirts.

Anna Karenina is my favorite by Tolstoy.

I have frequently used my DeltaSkymiles for the one way flight when doing a TransAtlantic or TransPacific cruise.

Drink Packages = TOOO DA-N MUCH $$$$

On our first cruise we booked an oveanview cabin. It worked out OK for us, but on our next cruise the cost of a balcony was not much more, so we went with a balcony. Now, my wife won't go back to an ocean view. One thing, we used to pick our balcony room and pay a little extra for location, but now we are good with whatever balcony we come up with. We did a suite once, paid a bit for the upgrade just before the cruise, but we found that paying full price for a suite just was a waste.

We are diamond and have never paid for alcohol on a Royal C. cruise. We became diamond via Celebrity elite. We find the drink packages to be way too much, but we are moderate drinkers and four drinks a day is plenty for us. We drink the ship's tap water, don't drink coffee after breakfast or sodas.

Our cruise is a transatlantic of 14 days and we are spending another two weeks in Italy before returning. We used the Courtyard by Marriott 10 years ago and they didn't charge extra for parking, of course, now they do. Our flight back to the USA arrives in Miami a bit after midnight, so we will likely find a hotel at the Miami Airport and pickup our car the later in the morning, or catch a taxi immediately to the Marriott and stay there before we drive back to Georgia.

No one mentioned what these parking places charge per day. We always drive down from Georgia and stay in a hotel that provides inexpensive parking for our cruise.

We drink the ship's tap water and never have any problems.

Apparently, the track of Ian, based on models, has moved west and it is likely to hit south of Tallahassee. If that is the case, you should go ahead with your cruise. Still, it can change.

Apparently, the track of Ian, based on models, has moved west and it is likely to hit south of Tallahassee. If that is the case, you should go ahead with your cruise. Still, it can change.

We are booked on Odyssey of the Seas transatlantic cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome 22 April 2023. Not sure if it is sold out.

Please explain C&A Coupons>

We started cruising with NCL (7) and Celebrity (11) and moved to Royal Caribbean because we could transfer our elite status to diamond and we found two Royal C. cruises that beat the heck out of anyone else. Both cruises were on medium sized ships (not mega ships). We prefer smaller to medium sized ships. Our worst cruise was on the NCL Epic, a poorly designed Mega ship.

We have done 12 cruises on Celebrity, 7 on NCL and 2 on Royal. We are Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal (due to transfer from X). Celebrity's elite happy hour is now of marginal value, since X changed it pricing regarding the drink package. For a couple of years, you were forced into the drink package (we never want that since we are moderate drinkers). Celebrity now offers basic pricing for a lower amount, but the difference is not huge. On the other hand, Royal's Diamond four free drinks anywhere allows us to order wine with dinner, so we never pay for alcohol on a cruise. Also, Royal's prices are better than Celebrity's. Celebrity's ship design is great, but Royal's are not so bad. I do miss on some Royal ships they don't have the aft bar just outside the buffet. Celebrity's main dining room dining is better than Royal's, but not by much. Both are better than NCL's. Royal's buffet is not as good as Celebrity, especially the salad bar, but you can dine in the MDR for lunch and there is a great salad bar. Entertainment is better on Royal and NCL as well. It is not bad on Celebrity, just nothing like what Royal has. Loved the ice shows on Royal.

Our TA from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome in April/May has not excursions available.