debshomespun

They leave with much difficulty. 🤢🤮

I checked several bookings, and the price for the NRD with 3 perks is more than what I am paying and the value of the added perks.  Plus, if I want to change sailings, I would loose $100. pp.  It pays to book early, and get the lower pricing.

8 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DIAMOND PLUS LOUNGE.  🤬

Excuse me, I meant Diamond lounge. 

They offer the same perks, but while on Anthem (8/23/18), we went to the Diamond + lounge the first few nights, then we switched, and went to the Concierge lounge the next few nights.   The snacks were better in the Concierge lounge.  We went to Diamond + lounge a couple nights first, then went up to the Concierge lounge, and the snacks were different.  Not sure if this would be of any significance to you.

The drink menu is the same in both lounges, as Bob mentioned above.

3 hours ago, Angelsea57 said:

Thank you for your reviews,

I'm really enjoying the reviews you are posting and the beautiful photos.

Question for you, 

We will be on Anthem in 3 weeks.  Since this is a last minute booking we missed out

on booking  a reservations for the Northstar and the Ifly.    Did you book in advance for 

both of these?    Hoping we can get a spot once we are onboard, but not sure of it.

Thanks in advance.

When we were on Anthem 8/23/18 sailing, there were many times while at sea, and while in port, the North Star was available.  After the first couple days, there is plenty of openings to go.   Not sure on the Ifly.  We had reservations for both, and went on the North Star an extra time.  Our first time was while at sea, and the 2nd time was while at port in Portland.  Was a better view while in port. 

Definitely worth the trip, IMO. We spent 6 weeks last year in Asia. We flew to Singapore, and were fortunate to stay with friends. We did a land trip to Phuket for 4 nights. Then a 4 night cruise on RC to Malaysia, with stops in Penang and Langkawi. Next was a 14 night cruise on Millennium with 2 stops in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Manila, Boracay, and Kota Kinabalu. We then did a land trip to Bangkok for 3 nights. We were supposed to go to Bali for a long weekend, but the Volcano was not co operating, so we could not go. We spent this time in Singapore. We ended up with 13 nights total in Singapore, and had a wonderful time. We enjoyed the whole experience. Combining both land and cruise will give you a great way to see many places at one time.

Lots of information here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2267888

Hope this helps you out. We are also on the Explorer February 15 sailing. Have you joined the roll call here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2509405

We will be in Tauranga in February/2019, from Celebrity Solstice and would like to tour the Kiwifruit Country in Paengaroa. They have a kiwi shaped cart to show people around. Does anyone know if there is a tour that goes there, or can we hire someone at the port to take us there? This will be our second time to NZ on the North Island, and we have already done most of the other tours (Hobbiton, Rotorua tours-we spent 6 days post cruise in this area).

Would there be a better option for a visit to a kiwi fruit farm close to Tauranga?

We are currently on Anthem. The elevators are very busy. The casino is not smoke free, so depending on what fellow guests are there smoking if the smell is bad or not.

 

The Esplanade through the middle of the ship is fairly crowded most of the time.

 

If you have My Time Dining, try to go eat before 6:30. After that time, there are longer times to wait.

 

There are 3 main shows you should make a reservation for. They would be available in your cruise planner about 3 months before your sailing.

 

 

 

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We are currently on Anthem. The elevators are very busy. The casino is not smoke free, so depending on what fellow guests are there smoking if the smell bad or not.

The Esplanade through the middle of the ship is fairly crowded most if the time.

If you have My Time Dining, try to go eat before 6:30. After that time, there are longer times to wait.

There are 3 main shows you should make a reservation for. They would be available in your cruise planner about 3 months before your sailing.

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You can not use travel funds to pay for early bird check in. I wish we could, along with many others!

What about Wonderland? Can we use the D+ bogo free on either night 1 or 2? Thanks

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We went to the Blue Mountains 3 years ago on our own taking the train. It was very easy to do, follow the instructions from the above poster. Once we got off the train we boarded the bus to take us around.

We hiked down almost to the bottom and we brought the train back up. It was well worth the day and we had a wonderful time.

I would suggest to definitely spend a day in the Blue Mountains. Beautiful scenery.

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On Anthem, Does RC allow you to use the Diamond Plus coupon for one get one free dining at Wonderland? TIA

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Attached are 11 youtubes from our cruises in the South Pacific that I hope will help you in your planning.

South Pacific playlist ...

Great Videos.

Question: While in Lifou, New Caledonia, you did the Melanesian experience tour, was that through the ship, or on your own? We will be visiting here from RC Explorer in Feb/2019, and I've been searching for a tour, not through the cruise line.

Thank you again!

Only way I can see it’s the couples fault is if she lied about her minimum weight. You have to weigh enough to get down the zip line...

We have zip lined 4 times, once in US, 1 X Puerto Vallarta, 1X Jamaica, & 1 X Dominica. Each time, only 1 person hooked ATA time on zip. After person #1 would leave, next 1 would get hooked, but operator would stand and hold you until they got tbe, "OK" all was clear. My estimation is it was the Operators fault. Especially after reading (as long as this is true), the operators were not using 2 way radios to communicate. So how were they communicating? Obviously not too well.

RIP to the husband and a speedy recovery to the wife. How sad and tragic.

Hopefully RC will discontinue using this zip line tour operator.

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I would stay with the angled larger balcony on the hump. We love them. But, only you can decide which would be best for YOU. Best of luck and enjoy your cruise.

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Everyone is saying 'fire' the TA. At this point, that's really not an option. But 2 things I would suggest. 1- Don't do a future booking on the ship as the booking will automatically 'go' to the TA that booked this sailing. You can say don't give it to them, but I found out you have to fill out paperwork, the booking does go to them, then RCI 'asks' the TA IF they will relinquish the new booking. Even if they say no, RCI will take it back, but then the TA KNOWS you didn't want them. And as you stated this is your friend. The other thing I would suggest is if you decide you do want to cruise again, find a better agent or control the booking yourself. CC doesn't allow TA names/agencies to be mentioned here so you will have to do that research elsewhere.

 

Ultimately, I agree with everyone else, tell your TA what you want and that RCI doesn't charge if only switching cabins. IF it is your TA charging that AND she's your friend, tell her that's to high. She should waive it, or reduce it unless it's her agencies' 'rules'. IF she's not a cruise specialist, then she probably doesn't understand all the cruise line rules.

 

Good luck. And do let us know how things work out.

Erika

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Is it possible to walk to the Reversing Falls from the cruise port? We are walkers, and typically walk 4 miles a day. We would be up for the challenge. When I checked on the map for the distance, it showed it was about 3 miles away.

Unfortunately, my 2 daughters sailed for the first time 5 years ago (1 was 16, other was 23), and as far as I know, they do not have C&A accounts. We sail with them for the 2nd time next month, & I would like to get them enrolled. I suppose I could call C&A, or possibly try on the cruise itself. Thoughts?

If you call Crown & Anchor and they don't have any information on the girls sailings, if you kept their seapass cards, that would prove they were on the ship. If you cannot find the cards, do you have any pictures showing them on the ship, such as one of the pictures of them when you got off the ship at the port, or any of the pictures from the ship photographers. Those should help C&A,

I've searched the new website for RC, and cannot find the preferences for C&A. I want to be sure of what my upgrade preferences are so I don't get my nice corner aft taken away with an upgrade. I did a search here on CC and couldn't find it. I've searched their new website after I log in, and cannot find it. Can anyone help me out please?

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I've searched the new website for RC, and cannot find the preferences for C&A. I want to be sure of what my upgrade preferences are so I don't get my nice corner aft taken away with an upgrade. I did a search here on CC and couldn't find it. I've searched their new website after I log in, and cannot find it. Can anyone help me out please?

Just a question for those of you that have done the tour with Xian. I have been in touch with him for our upcoming Asia cruise and the tour sounds great. I’m just a bit worried about it not being a ship tour and making sure we make it back to the ship on time. We dock at Phu My which is a fair distance from Ho Chi Minh City. Should I be worried or has your experience been that he is very reliable? Thanks

 

 

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I read on tripadvisor through the reviews the only way tickets are sold for the Big Pink HOHO Bus is through the cruise line. I don't have personal experience with it though. One of the questions on Tripadvisor was about purchasing a ticket independently, and a representative from the HOHO Bus stated they do not sell tickets. They must be purchased through the cruise ship.

There is nothing sacred about the exact route of the Freedom Trail. It's just an organized route for folks to follow through old Boston and not miss any of the historical sights that are nestled between the more modern buildings.

 

What I recommend is to take an Uber to Charlestown and walk the trail backwards. The Constitution opens at 10 am and the Museum at 9 am. You can get through there before any crowds build up. Then take the MBTA ferry from the Constitution to Long Wharf for $3.50/pp. for a short cruise in the upper harbor. Walk along the waterfront (Christopher Columbus Park) into the North End to pick up the Freedom Trail again. Walk back to Faneuil Hall and on through the streets back to the Boston Common. The Red Line Park St Station is on the edge of the Common at Tremont & Winter. For $2.75/pp. you can take the Red Line direction Braintree/Ashmont any train to South Station where you transfer to the Silver Line SL 2 bus to go back to Black Falcon Terminal.

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