kjenaz

Does anyone have pictures of the heated lounge chairs on Radiance?  I have heard that they are different, but would love to see a pix.

In 35 cruises over the last 20 some years I have never had a problem, UNTIL now with anything RCCL IT or reservation related.  They have messed up my cruise that leaves on the 26th big time.  They have been working on it for 1 week, and I doubt it will get fixed before we leave next Friday.  I am told that the resolution specialists can only email the IT department.  What a joke.

If you walk to the GIANT flag pole and turn towards town, after going over the main hwy on the right side of the street is a great Shrimp Taco and cheap Beer place.  After lunch go upstairs for a great tour that teaches you how Hacienda Dona grow and create Tequila.  With the tour you get 4 shots of great tequila.  Educational and entertaining.  We had a really good time.

We went back last month for the first time in over 10 years.  We were very pleasantly surprised how much cleaner it was and we were impressed with the port area.  We walked around, went to the catholic church just to look and then went to the tequila testing place on main street.  The tour there was much nicer than we expected.  Highly recommend!

On 2/9/2022 at 12:23 PM, JuliaMS said:

Thanks, we will stop at the tequila tasting! Are the shops on the dock open again yet?

Most are, and we believe they are a lot less aggressive!

Didn't intend to start a big discussion, or to get lectured.  OP Please feel comfortable to take your time.  We were a very late departure and there were still 50 pieces of luggage waiting and the line at Immigration was still about 15 minutes.  I understand the concern for the crew, but we left about 9:30 and we were far from the last off.  As someone else noted - Someone has to be last.

Yes - As they wind down disembark you will be asked (encouraged) to leave the Windjammer or your room, but we just lazy around and have not caused any problems.

We are with kruzerci  ,   we leave this weekend on number 5 since cruise ships started up again.  This is a great time to cruise. and in our experience it has been just as safe as our friends who stayed home.  As long as the prices and the occupancy stay low, we will get in as many as we can.

On 1/19/2022 at 1:37 PM, shelpt said:

I hope to be on there Feb 6th. My Jan 9th Jewel trip was cancelled by RCI less than 48 hours from departure. I found out first from a passenger that was on Jewel at the time.  It was super stressful and time consuming to book this Odyssey trip.  I appreciate any reports you make! Thank you

Husband and I are also on the Feb. 6th.  Very much looking forward to seeing the new ship.

Prior to our cruise I looked for ideas of things to do in Ensenada.  We had not been there in over 10 years and our experiences back then were not positive.

I could not find anything on the boards or facebook so we decided to just walk around.  I wanted to report back that the day was so much better than we had anticipated.  We got off the ship and decided not to take the shuttle to the shopping area, but instead walk so we could go back if we felt it was unsafe or not worth the time.  There were 2 ships in port on Sunday and found the walking path to be very nice with nice plants.  It had obviously been recently updated and cleaned.  We went to the walking bridge along the water front and headed to the HUGE Flag pole and Flag.  They have a water show in the plaza under the flag and it was pleasant to stand and watch the show.  We then turned and headed into town.  There were horse drawn rides offered from the locals and several in our party had never done that so we decided on the short tour and then the drop off at the shopping area.  The tour was along the busy highway and was not what we had hoped for, but still fun.  We quickly walked thru the "Shopping Area" as that is not the type of shopping we like to do.  We set our walking goal to go to the Catholic Church and our timing was very good because we arrived as services were ending.  The Church is BEAUTIFUL and very much worth the walk.  They did not charge for us to go in and look around.  We then headed to the Museum which is also free and has very pretty garden grounds.  Our last stop was very surprising we went to the Don Engracia Tequilera which is just up from the giant flag.  The tour was $10 for those that wanted to taste the various tequila's and free for those that didn't want to drink.  We all loved the 30 minute tour and now know much more about how Tequila is made.  Those that did the tasting loved it.  We Highly recommend even if you are not a drinker it gives you a bit more knowledge of Mexico.  We were back on the ship well before our sail away, but all agreed it was a very good day.

On 1/14/2022 at 8:36 AM, SRF said:

And here I thought that prime rib, and cheeseburgers, were included in the cruise fare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😄 😄 😄 😄 😄

 

They were on our last cruise.

We went on this tour last month.  While we enjoyed it, we agree it was WAY OVER CROWDED.  I was surprised we were able to walk down to the Discovery Beach Bar and order very affordable drinks there.  Prior to Covid we would take a cab to Carambola and walk down to Discover Bar (Rough, but we like it).  The the excursion thru RCCL was 5 times more expensive and I agree that the chair situation was much less than optimal.  We did see great things snorkeling, but you must go out to the very narrow reef.  (We were constantly stopping people from WALKIN ON IT - Clueless).  We did find out AFTER THE FACT that we could have gotten off the ship and done  cab "Tour" arranged at the tour booth, on our own to Carmabola, but the cruise line did not share that prior to our day.  Note we were all vaccinated.

We were in St. Kitts last week, and the Cab Drivers are correct in being upset.  You can get off the ship and go to the travel booth and book a ride or tour with a local cab driver if you are vaccinated.  Same was true in Antiqua, and Barbados.  I did considerable research and if you look back thru the posts, I was very strong in communicating the latest information that RCCL.  Now after my experience I want to share that we would have done it different.

All,

We had booked thru the ship. There were many many people that were herded into lines that wrapped back and forth thru the building below.  From that line we were taken to a gate on the right side of this picture and sent in groups to cabs.  When we reached the resort each cab driver gave his group a time to be back at the resort entrance for the return trip.  We were able to walk the entire length of the beach and even went down to one of the other bars who we had visited before covid.  At the end of our time the cab driver took us back to the far end of the fenced off shopping area.  

Based on what I watched while waiting for our cab driver, when we returned I stopped at the Booth on the right side of this picture.  An employee told me that as of that day and for future trips we can just get off and arrange a tour with a cab driver thru her.  

Note that based on what RCCL had posted, we booked thru the ship, but for future trips I will not go with the herds of people, but instead will book privately.  I will note that we did book a private tour for our group in Antiqua, and found out that we could have done the same in Barbados.

This was our experience, but everyone needs to contact RCCL or make an interpretation for themselves.  Also note that our entire group were vaccinated.  The rules are VERY different if you have children who have not been vaccinated.

All,

We had booked thru the ship. There were many many people that were herded into lines that wrapped back and forth thru the building below.  From that line we were taken to a gate on the right side of this picture and sent in groups to cabs.  When we reached the resort each cab driver gave his group a time to be back at the resort entrance for the return trip.  We were able to walk the entire length of the beach and even went down to one of the other bars who we had visited before covid.  At the end of our time the cab driver took us back to the far end of the fenced off shopping area.  

Based on what I watched while waiting for our cab driver, when we returned I stopped at the Booth on the right side of this picture.  An employee told me that as of that day and for future trips we can just get off and arrange a tour with a cab driver thru her.  

Note that based on what RCCL had posted, we booked thru the ship, but for future trips I will not go with the herds of people, but instead will book privately.  I will note that we did book a private tour for our group in Antiqua, and found out that we could have done the same in Barbados.

This was our experience, but everyone needs to contact RCCL or make an interpretation for themselves.  Also note that our entire group were vaccinated.  The rules are VERY different if you have children who have not been vaccinated.

Aloha - We returned last week and in Antigua we used Glenmon for a tour, but he also provides very reasonable taxi service.  All around GREAT guy!

His website is:

 http://antiguaglenmontaxiandtours.com/

We were in St. Kitts last week off the Explorer of the Seas.  Based on Royal website and info they shared we booked the Carambola Beach Break.  We were with a MOB of others on the tour and the resort was VERY Busy.  We were only allowed to stay at the beach for 3 hours, which isn't enough for me.  I did see Taxi Tour drivers offering tours so when we returned to the port I asked at the St. Kitts tour desk at the port if we would have been ok to book with them and they said yes as long as we agreed to go where the drivers were allowed to take us we could have taken our own tour.  When I do it next I will save alot of $ and book with a private driver to be able to stay on the beach much longer.

We were there last week and it appeared that if you booked with a driver in the port area it was approved.

On 11/14/2021 at 2:47 PM, RentSunnyFlorida.com said:

Thank you for sharing. All RCL excursions are sold out so now I have to find a private tour.  Know of any good ones?

Wow do I ever.  I hope you get this in time.  We used Glenmon Taxi and Tours.  His email is glenmon8@hotmail.com. His cell is: 12687289088.   If you have WhatsApp it is the cell number.  We got a FANTASTIC Tour including learning about the island,  many photo stops and then 3 hours at an amazing quiet beach.  We felt like the only ones there, but they did have bar service.   Glenmon stayed while we were at the beach.  (We felt safer)  Then back to the ship.  For the day for our group only it was $30 per person.  Much better than ship excursions.  Please reply and let me know if you do it and enjoy it.

Thanks - I will try the fax number.

Several videos on You Tube, she did NTO get the refurb, but still looks very nice.

I sure wouldn't give any other company my $$ when it clearly states that you must book a "Ship tour is required to go ashore"   This has been posted so many times, warning folks to book now before the good or affordable ship excursions are gone.  

What Fax number did you use?

Anyone have recent experience with applying and getting the Stockholder Credit?   Submitted about a week ago, but nothing yet.  Where will we see it?

Not sure when you are cruising, but confirm that your ship will allow you off if you do not have a Ship Shore Excursion.  As of today, Celebrity and Royal are restricted to Bubble Excursions for the Month of November.  Can change at any time, but I would have a back up of a Ship Excursion planned.