ajtaylor29

Our first few cruises were on Carnival, and i remember they used to give a free beer to the first people to get to the pub once boarding started. One cruise with my BF we were in the first groups of passengers to board, and we literally RAN to the pub but were just beaten by another couple!!! Bummer, missed that free beer!!! I don't know if Carnival still does that....but i've long since gotten over the urge to be the first!! (Our first couple of cruises, i also insisted on carrying on water, and diet coke -what a hassle and never again on that one!!! Then we were stuck sitting somewhere with our carry-ons forever because they were too heavy to move around!) Our last cruise we arrived to port about 12:30, literally walked on, had lunch then our cabin was ready. I agree it's much less stressful than dragging around the carry-ons for an hour or two. And we didn't miss anything! On debarkation day, tho, no matter how hard i try, i can't sleep once the ship slows down and we start entering the port. So, we always self assist off and are usually in the first group. It would be more relaxing to wait....but i haven't been able to do that yet!

We've done 3 European cruises and did not use ta's for any of them. I feel like most passengers are American. We've never had trouble anywhere with the language barrier, not everybody but certainly a lot of Europeans speak English and for the most part they try very hard to communicate with us as tourism is their livlihood! imo, the cruise aspect helps so much in establishing your itinerary and floating hotel for the week, so all that's left is for you to decide what to do each day and settle all the little details! I rely on the boards here for so much information, i take advise from other travelers to decide on hotels, excursions transportation, etc. I would plan to stay a couple of days in Barcelona before the cruise, it's a great city with so much to see! We also stayed 1 night after our cruise there, but we were pretty tired at that point so we didn't explore as much as we did before the cruise! European cruises are definitely port intensive, so plan for long days and probably very little down time on the ship (compared to Caribbean cruises). Our European cruises have all been on smaller ships, going on an Oasis class ship would be different since you won't really have as much time to enjoy all the stuff on Oasis. Have fun! I'm already looking forward to planning another one for us!

Inside aft balcony on deck 12...if it faces the boardwalk then if you're far enough to the back you should be able to see the Aqua Theater from your balcony? If so, that might be fun to watch the aqua show from there. Although i've never done it so not sure if you'll have an unobstructed view or not...

It sounds like things have calmed down and hope the rest of the cruise is uneventful!! I got PTSD reading the issues with DD's passport, since i had my own scary experience last year boarding Symphony! Link below if you want to read my story!

I'm sure they will be showing them somewhere for sure! Just on Harmony last month, we watched one NFL game on the big screens in Aqua Theater area. Right next to that is Sabers, which had multiple tv's showing football games (although their bar area is small, so if you watch here you'll be in the dining area and probably need to order some food!) Beyond that, i'm sure there will be bars around the ship with tv's showing sports....

We've been to Cozumel numerous times and done lots of different excursions and beach days (always have had good experiences, btw!) We've gone to Mr. Sanchos and Paradise Beach and liked them both, but last month we were looking for something new (less crowded, quieter, etc.) so we decided to try Cabana Beach and we really enjoyed our day there! The price is very reasonable (you rent the cabana and pay ala carte for food and drinks, i know our cabana rental was less than $200) With that came the use of snorkling gear for no charge. There is no sandy beach here, but there are steps going in to the water which worked fine for us! If you wanted to you could walk down to the beach area but we didn't (other than to go see it). The food and drinks were good and not expensive. there are only 10 cabanas i think so the whole area is very quiet. We are going to be there again this Saturday and will be at Cabana Beach again! Travel tip: they did not have any floats available so this time we're taking some with us (small easy to inflate noodles), it wasn't really necessary here since we used snorkle gear/fins whenever we were in the water. But on that same cruise, we had a cabana in Roatan without floats, and our day at Krazy Lobster in Costa Maya had limited floats available, so now i think taking our own will be our new policy!

We saw it last year on Odyssey, just hubby and me. We liked it, i thought it was very entertaining. I can't imagine what would be offensive to kids....?!? People are a little too sensitive these days, maybe?? Anyway, like others have said, they might be bored but i don't think there's anything that will scar them for life! 🙂

i agree that e-mail is sort of a boiler-plate explanation to all....i would definitely write back and ask them to book CK for you and i'm sure they will! We're leaving Thursday on a short Voyager cruise. Since there's no CK on Voyager we bought the Unlimited Dining Package, which doesn't allow you to make reservations until you're onboard (except for night 1 which they did book us at Chops). I got the same e-mail over the weekend, so i've written back and asked that they make reservations for us, giving them our preferences for lunches and dinners. This also falls under "if you need assistance"!! Once we're onboard, we'll tweak it if we need to.

You will be contacted by the suite concierge about a week before the cruise and you can request reservations for CK at that time. We were on harmony last month and that was the first time we needed reservations, i'm sure because the ship was full. Our previous cruises on partially full ships we never worried about reservations we just showed up when we were hungry!! But on Harmony (because we didn't do anything until the 2nd or 3rd day when we realized how busy they were) we ended up with 8 pm dinner the rest of the cruise. It worked for us but most people prefer to eat earlier than that!

I never thought about this until our cruise 3 weeks ago on Harmony! We were on deck 7 portside, very conveniently close to the aft elevators. A couple of times (early in the cruise) we came up (or down) using the starboard side elevators and realized we couldn't get across to our cabin because of the Boardwalk! We figured it out after that and it really wasn't a problem, i loved the location. We just had to think about which elevator bank to use!

We were on Harmony 3 weeks ago, and tried to eat dinner (2nd night i think?) in Solarium Bistro. They said we needed a reservation as they were fully booked that night.(the restaurant was empty, but they said they had a party of 40 coming in....??) I was surprised, as i thought in the past we were always able to walk in. We didn't try again so i don't know if it was easier to walk in later in the cruise or not...

That looks like an awesome space to have a watching party!!!

I think you're absolutely right, although i didn't realize which ship Dcell was asking about (i see Explorer now in the signature). We were just on Explorer and they did not do breakfast....

I'm pretty sure just breakfast. The rest of the day there is a charge but it's pretty reasonable.

This doesn't really answer your question, but last year on Odyssey we were lucky enough to sail in a Star class suite....and my beloved Cowboys were playing (side note: don't get me started?!? 🙂). Our genie reserved one of those special tables for us, it was a great place to watch the game! I would suggest as soon as you board head to playmakers or one of the specialty restaurants) to see if you can reserve one....Good luck!

I'm pretty sure the escape room on Harmony has been out of service since the pandemic....i was on there 2 weeks ago and it was not open.

We went to Krazy Lobster and had a great day! We were the only big ship in port that day so it wasn't crowded at all, I might have felt different if it had been... No charge to get in. Our bill for food and drink was about $70, very reasonable imo so we tipped well! No sargassum at all! Beach was clean and water was clear. I also liked that it was about a 5 minute cab ride, $4 per person. We'll definitely go back!

Yes they did. It's not their fault, it's mine. I saw the pictures but since we'd never been there I thought "oh surely this is a small area of their beach and there'll be a spot where we can walk in to get to some clean water "....but there wasn't at all! Their beachfront is pretty small and it was covered.

We love the crown loft suites! Have stayed in them twice on Symphony. They are on the 17th deck, right around the corner from Coastal Kitchen and the Suite Lounge, this is a great perk! You have a coffee maker in the suite, i personally don't like the coffee, so it's great to be able to walk over and get coffee in the lounge in the morning! We really enjoy dining in Coastal Kitchen, so when we have a suite and have access to it we eat most of our meals there and maybe one or two meals in specialty restaurants. We seldom go in the main dining room or Windjammer (buffet). The suite concierge will contact you about a week before your cruise to ask about making reservations for you. We always give him/her our preferences for specialty restaurants and shows, they will make reservations for you. Then, once you board you can tweak those reservations if you want to (just go talk to the concierge and they can move things around).

We were also on this cruise and had a great time! Did self-assist on Sunday, walked our bags out and were in the car headed home at about 7:30! The port at Galveston is really great! We were in a grand suite, loved the cabin and loved access to Coastal Kitchen. We ate most breakfast and dinner meals there, thought the food was really good as usual. We ate once in MDR for lunch (it was ok) and once in Windjammer (not really good but i didn't expect it would be! I found the salad bar and a few other items that were ok). Does anybody else agree that the "famous" Kummelwick sandwich on RC ships is usually pretty bad?!? We always try them hoping they'll be great (and i think at least one time it was!) but not this time on Harmony!! We got them in Park Cafe one afternoon after a port day and honestly they were not edible. The beef was so under cooked that i couldn't chew them at all. Seems like RC should/could have a tried and true method for cooking that roast beef so it's consistent.... One other food comment - i think Saber needs to have a totally revamped menu or removed from ships all together. We sat down to eat and watch football on boarding day, but after looking over the menu and not seeing anything that sounded good we got up and left. I remember having the same reaction to it on another ship (was that Allure?), it just seems like such a miss to have a mexican restaurant on the boardwalk that doesn't serve nachos or queso?!? Oh well, that's my opinion anyway.... We also ate once at Jaimes and once at Izumi - had really good meals both times! Staff were great. Ships in great shape. We'll definitely sail on Harmony again!

I'll be boarding this Sunday, can't wait! A new ship for us!!

So glad to hear this! It's never made sense to make us wait....

I may not be the best opinion here, since we try to avoid WJ the whole cruise if we can?!? But, i would vote for lunch anywhere other than WJ on embarkation day. It is usually crazy busy, with people dragging around their carry-ons and sitting until the rooms are ready (so few tables available). We will opt for either a specialty restaurant or any other venue that's open, like hamburger or pizza or sandwich options? You don't mention which ship you're on, but there are often other choices (like Park Cafe or Solarium (i think??) Once the rooms are open and people start spreading out, you'll have plenty of food opportunities! No one has ever gone hungry on a cruise.... 🙂

I remember a couple of times getting a whiff of something....but definitely not enough to disturb my cruise! Honestly, we recently stayed in a penthouse suite (at an unnamed Caesars property) and had way more "whiffs" of a sewer smell there than we did on Explorer so there's that?!? I think occasionally on all ships - but especially the older ones - there will be a whiff here and there.....but i also get that walking down the street! Don't let it deter you! 🙂

The quality of the food is almost secondary to me after the quality of the service. By that i mean: We cruise for so many other pleasures, and eating is sort of important but necessary. I have come to expect mediocre food in the MDR and the buffet - it's food mass produced for thousands of people, how can we expect it to be super-high quality??? - but i can always find something to eat and get full. What i CAN'T accept is bad service, slow service, waiting in line forever for "my time dining". To me, that is wasting my valuable cruise time when i could be doing other things!! When i don't get that service, that's when i get frustrated. I agree with another poster above who observed that Carnival has their MTD figured out MUCH better than RC.... Last few cruises, my DH and I average 1 meal in the MDR and 1 meal in the buffet all cruise long. The rest of our meals are either specialty restaurants, Coastal Kitchen (if we're lucky enough to cruise in a suite!), even sandwiches or pizza for a meal or two. ALso, fyi - most people want to eat at 7 pm, or close to it. So, if you can be flexible, eat early or late....and avoid the long lines at MDR and always get a table at the specialty restaurants.