iamsunnysarah

We are just off the 5/16 sailing. I wore knee length cocktail dresses for both formal nights, and DH wore gray slacks with a blazer. I should add this is what we would wear for a "5 o'clock" non-black tie wedding as well.. so we felt appropriately dressed for our standards. But as others said, you will see all kinds of things! We saw someone with a baseball hat on formal night, and many long, black tie dresses as well. To each their own! :D

Thank you so much for posting!!! We are exactly 90 days out, this will hold me til then!

We started out with our best friends of 34 years, Tim & Debbie, wanting to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in 2013 by going to Europe. Initial planning for the trip began in early 2012. Shortly thereafter both of our friend's daughters set their wedding dates within 6 months of each other for 2013 so we pushed the trip back a year to 2014.

 

We booked the trip as soon as itineraries were released in early April 2012 for October 2014... yes! a year and a half in advance. Originally booked as a 10 night Venice (overnight) to Barcelona itinerary, in early June 2012 it disappeared from the RCI website.

 

After some undercover detective work we learned the cruise had been redeployed. Soon we contacted the resolutions department and we rebooked for the new 8 night itinerary sailing out of Rome on October 29, 2014. For the initial booking we had used a "next cruise certificate" which at the time gave us $150 OBC for a 10 night cruise. After much discussion with resolutions, we were allowed to keep our $150 OBC in addition to an additional $100pp (for a balcony & below) and $200pp (for a Junior Suite & above). Our friends ended up with $350 OBC and we now had $550 OBC - not a bad way to start out a cruise.

 

Before we knew it other friends & family wanted to join us in Europe for the cruise. Our group ended up including a total of 14 family & friends. Eight of us were from Texas, four were from Indiana and two were from Alabama. Everyone made their own travel plans and arrived in Rome anywhere from 4 days before the cruise until the day of the cruise.

 

By booking early everyone got balcony cabins for 8 nights in the Med for $1079pp - prices only went up, up, up until final payment date, so we were very glad that we all chose to book early, get the cabins that we wanted (5 aft balcony cabins, including 1100 & 9256, a balcony behind the hump and one inside cabin).

 

Our group in included the following players:

 

Cindy & Charlie

Tim & Debbie - our best friends of 30+ years

Taryn & Paul - our middle child & son in law

Kerry & Sue - our oldest daughter's in laws

Karl & Debbie - Kerry's brother & sister in law

Donna & Mike - Kerry & Sue's best friends of 30+ years

Debbie - my husband's friend since high school

Darlene - my 2nd cousin (who shared a cabin with Debbie)

 

This picture is from one of our tours and everyone is pictured here plus another couple from our Roll Call who joined us for the private tour. I'm the last female on the right side with the short grey hair and hubby is right behind me in the white ball cap... nothing says tourists in Europe like baseball caps on the guys!

 

 

14 people... 3 Debbies! I had to figure out a way to keep things straight! Our friend, we all referred to as "Debbie", then there was "Aunt Debbie" which was my older daughter's aunt by marriage and finally my husband's friend was "Deb" which is what she answers to most of the time. She was originally bringing a friend named... you guessed it, another Debbie, but it didn't work out. My 2nd cousin had asked me about our next trip and then asked if anyone was looking for a cabin mate so I gave them each the other's info and they made plans to share a cabin.

 

Since were were spread over 3 states and everyone had met before at weddings (plus we've done a couple of other cruises with the in-laws & their friends) I set up a FB page for our European Cruise and we all posted questions, ideas, suggestions, etc. for the past 1 1/2 years while waiting for the cruise to get here!

 

Like I said before, I am a planner, an OCD planner. I love to read about where I'm going, what there is to see, how to see it best and how to save money doing it ourselves if possible. I'm not a risk taker, but I'm also not afraid to venture out on our own and do DIY tours by renting cars, taking trains, ferries, etc.

 

I planned what my hubby & I wanted to do then put it out there to the group. If someone wanted to join us, they were more than welcome. If they didn't, I didn't take it personally. This was everyone's vacation and the first trip to Europe for all but 4 of us. I wanted everyone to have a great time but not be joined at the hip.

 

We asked for adjoining tables in the main dining room ahead of time so that we could meet up at dinner and exchange stories of what each of us did during the day... more about that later on.

 

I did lots of research on Cruise Critic, Trip Advisor and read lots of reviews over the last 2 years to get ready for our trip. One of our private tours was booked a year in advance, our apartments in Rome & Barcelona as well as the Tuscan Villa we stayed in were all booked a year or more in advance.

 

Our flights were booked early thru Delta airlines, who also decided to change my well laid plans 5 months after booking. We initially were on a one stop on the way home with a 4 hour layover at JFK - they decided to add a stop in Amsterdam, re-route thru Atlanta, changed to a KLM flight in Europe, cancelled our pre-paid Economy Comfort Seats in aisle 11 and put us in standard seats at the back of the plane... all for the same price we paid to begin with. This all happened in late July. We tried to find better flights but this was the best they could do. At least we did get the side seats with only 2 together instead of being stuck in the middle of the middle 5 seats. We initially paid $49 for the upgraded seats for the return trip and when they changed to KLM flights they wanted 129Euro per person which would have been an additional $325 ... and you couldn't prebook them you had to wait until 24 hours before at which time they would have all been taken... but I would not have paid 3 times the price we originally booked for any ways.

 

Sometimes things don't go according to plan... if the plan doesn't work, change the plan but never the goal! We rolled with the flow and in the end everything worked out and we have a fabulous vacation with lots of memories to share with our family & friends...

 

In fact 5 couples and one of the singles all booked B2B cruises out of San Juan in 2016 while onboard this cruise. One of the couples had never sailed before and now I think that they are hooked as well!

I can't wait to follow along! Four of us are starting to plan our first European adventure, and I can see it growing along the way- thanks in advance for your review!

We are taking my mom with us on this cruise, the last cruise she was on was like 20 years ago... it was a family vacation when I was little on carnival ecstasy. She said she did get seasick on the last night b/c it was really choppy, even the waiters were sick in their rooms. So, she's kinda nervous about getting sick this time... but we're going on Liberty which (I know since I've been on it) is huge and you don't really feel any rocking. Should she take something before just in case (if so, what?) or see how she does and have something with us to take if need be? It's only a 4-night cruise. WDYT?

We like the ear patches. You can get a prescription from Minute Clinic at CVS, if you have that in your area, if you can't get into your primary doctor in time. We put them on about 12 hours prior to boarding, didn't notice them the whole trip. All meds affect people differently, but we had no issues with being drowsy or having alcohol affect us differently.

Better safe than sorry!!!

We noticed on port days, spa attendants would stand near the area where you get on/off the ship, with the spa specials! I am sure it was posted at the spa too. Enjoy your honeymoon!!! We cruised for ours and it was a blast!!

Awesome, bookmarking these to read- thank you!

Hi there- we are starting to look at cruising in Europe. My question is- how do you choose an itinerary?

1. We can go any time of year (very lucky, I know).

2. We are most interested in Italy/Greece/general Mediterranean.

3. It doesn't matter where we fly into or out of, or even if it is the same airport. We live between Charlotte and Atlanta, so departure airports not an issue either.

4. We don't need to visit the major tourist sites, and would rather take in the beauty of the coast and eat/drink where the locals do.

Any advice?? Any "must visit" ports that could help us narrow down?

I am sure it will be asked- no, we have never been to Europe- we plan to take our kids back one day to see it in more detail and breadth, for now, these are the areas and the type of trip we are looking to take :p

Thanks!

We saw the projected path and I hadn't checked back in since- glad to hear minimal damage..

A second vote for the ear patch. I am not prone to sea sickness at all, but DH and I both went to Dr. and got them before our honeymoon cruise- and wore them, just in case. You can't see them and they worked like a charm. Neither of us were affected by *potential* side effects of feeling drowsy or feeling more affected by alcohol.

I have not been on Explorer, but what ports are you going to? Maybe I can offer some ideas or "must sees". We did S. Caribbean for our honeymoon too :D Your itinerary is on my bucket list, we only did the 7 night!

Europe- specifically a Med itinerary

South Pacific- just because!!

We have never done a ton of travel so would be great to leave the US for the first time..

Looking forward to reading your review!

Nope, different Mike and Cheryl! Ah well, we have discovered CC and the cruise world to be smaller than one would think! Thanks for posting that :p

I am enjoying your review! We are also from SC, taking a SJ route in May.

Question for you, and totally random.. are Mike and Cheryl from Seattle on CC??? We met a Mike and Cheryl from Seattle on our 2011 Serenade cruise- not our table mates, but we sat with them at the pool on our first day and ended up on 2 additional excursions together. Would be such a small world if they were the same!!!:eek:

Maybe April, usually May, up until Memorial Day- kids are still in school and Caribbean (where we usually cruise) is lovely that time of year. Generally good weather.

Looking to switch to October though! Better rates and since we usually ski Colorado or Utah in February, will be a better spacer between our trips.

We flew in to SJ day of in 2011, landed about 1pm with no issues. Day of was our only choice, as we were busy getting married the night before :D Sunday departure for that cruise. We're booked on the same flight next year.. it is direct and there's a second US Airways direct flight after ours.. my game plan is to cry my way onto that second flight if needed!!!

But in all seriousness, to answer your original question.. if you land at 1pm, you will have plenty of time to make it to the ship. Enjoy!!

I second trying to learn a little something before you go! For example, I know that I like unoaked whites and full bodied reds. That's usually enough for a sommelier (or RCCL equivalent..) to go on to be able to recommend a bottle that I will like. See if you can find a wine tasting at a local wine shop or bar in your town- they are a great setting for asking questions and figuring out what you like. Enjoy!!

Rum Baba for dessert!!

Just remember to stop by USDA scanners before you check in at the airline counters.

don't forget!! we didn't know the first time. you'll be fine on a noon-ish flight. we did it 3 years ago and are doing it again next year. we were at airport far ahead of time- but I am not sure I'd be comfortable with the 9:30am.

Re: #2, yes, you should be able to use those towards final payment. IIRC you can make smaller payments along the way towards your final payment, I have done something similar with another cruise line.

Perfect! That might be easier for us.. much appreciated~!

So I am not sure why I didn't book my upcoming cruise through AMEX travel, but I didn't. 2 questions..

1. Am I am able to somehow transfer my RCI booking to AMEX travel, so I can pay with points I accrue between now and final payment next year?

2. If not- am I able to put AMEX gift cards towards final payment? Am thinking that would be a work around to use our points towards cruise.

Thanks!

Can you say which charter you used in St. Thomas? We are on the same itinerary next year, and plan to charter so we can snorkel. Also excited to see ATV option for Curacao. We did ATVs on St. Croix in 2011 and love it!

Thanks for the review! You guys seem like a fun couple with a great attitude! We are booked on this itinerary next May, was not planning an excursion for St. Kitts but I am going to look yours up because it sounds right up our alley!

I can only help on #3- we are flying for the second time in May on a 12:45 flight out of SJU. We had plenty of time to spare the first time. If you've never flown out of SJU- make sure you go thru the agricultural line before checking bags or going to security! I have heard they have made this a bit more clear, but in 2011- we had to back track.

I can't comment on specific hotel, but I use review sites a lot for research, and look at the "why" behind a low review. DH and I are pretty laid back people, so a lot of the reasons people give a bad review, are not things that would necessarily bother us. Keep this in mind. Good luck!

We're flying in day of departure for the second time in May. We had no problems in 2011. I would have preferred to fly in day before this time, but we did snag a morning, direct flight, and there is a second direct departure that day that would get us to the pier in time as well. Fingers crossed! Direct + fall back option = I was ok with day of departure. It's all about what you're comfortable with! :D