krev

Wear your pins and imagine that you have military rank. Like below for US Navy and Army/Air Force/Marine Corps officer rank equivalents:

 

 

 

Gold (1st Cruise) = Ensign / Second Lieutenant

 

Gold = Lieutenant Junior Grade / First Lieutenant

 

Platinum = Lieutenant / Captain

 

Emerald = Lt. Commander / Major

 

Diamond = Commander / Lt. Colonel

 

Diamond Plus = Captain / Colonel

 

Pinnacle = Rear Admiral (Lower Half) / Brigadier General

 

 

 

Of course, non-C&A members are merely enlisted and non-coms. ;-)

Really? Uh, no

We were asked by the Concierge in 2012 on the Radiance to please wear our D+ pins all the time. It helps crew recognize repeat cruisers we were told. I did break one of the two D+ luggage tags we received and called and got a replacement in the mail. Our luggage tags are on the backpack & carryon bag as they are plastic and won't last on a checked bag.

I'm not trying to get into an argument but one could argue that the crew should really be treating everyone as though they are D+, we all had to start some place and my lowly Platinum status still cost plenty of $$ to get there. Just sayin!

Honestly, the distance involved are so short (except Spinnakers) that you're much better just walking. If you want to get a bus back from the final pub, check Google Maps for the appropriate routes (they have full data of the local transit system, and a less annoying interface). A cab back won't run over $15 unless you go far, faaaaaar away from the main downtown area.

I completely agree with this, our downtown is fairly small therefore walking even back to ship is not a long walk. Although, that could depend on your pub crawl lol

There are many very good restaurants and pubs down town. Another good place is the Steamship Bar and Grille, across from the Parliament buildings, it's the former wax museum. B&B is great as is its sister pub the Irish Times, all on Government Street only about a block apart. Yates Street tap house is very nice, beautiful huge wooden bar and great Appys. As others have suggested, Swans and Spinnakers. Spinnakers is a bit of a hike though.

I have to agree with the other posters. With only one day in Victoria I'd give this a pass. I live 5 minutes from Butchart Gardens and my office is on Beacon Ave, where the market is located. I maybe go once every other year, downtown Victoria is so beautiful I personally would just go wander around or take the excursion to Butcharts. If you really have your heart set on the market I'd take the $40 excursion, you won't get a taxi for less.

It's actually the first 2 nights. But it hardly is an incentive. The wine expires at midnight.

Now that I think about it, we did go the second night on our recent cruise. We were offered the free wine or 50% off which I jumped at because as you put it, "the free wine expires at midnight!" The 50 off brought it to Canadian liquor store prices which is still too much!

there is a danger to eating in the steakhouse on your first night; nothing will measure up after that!

That's why on our two Carnival cruises we have eaten at the steak house 4/7 nights both cruises, it is very good. We went to the cooking demo, unfortunately we saw the same one last summer, however they served a great mushroom soup. We asked if there was any chance of getting it as a starter and they had it for us at our next visit. Very nice indeed, they rate right up there with the RCI specialty restaurants.

Three weeks ago on the miracle it was a complimentary bottle the first night, not sure if they had the 50%. The second night we got the 50%. Last July on our Alaska cruise we got the complimentary bottle on both the first and second night, we were never offered the 50% on that cruise. I must say the complimentary is not very good, I drank it though!

I had to phone C&A and request our Platinum pins. I was expecting them on our cruise but they never showed up. They are a nice pin but I won't wear it, they're pinned to our cruise folder.

Our itinerary states that we will be leaving San Juan at 8:30pm. How early can we board? Aldo, we are in the late dinner seating (8:30). No sail away party for us.

We've done this cruise twice, the last time we were at the ship about 1130 and was on board by 12:15.

As far as the Promenade room I think you'll be fine. It never been in one but reading people's posts the only noise from the Promenade is really just the parade and 70's night! They never go really late and don't last long.

We are on deck 7 we have a Promenade Room. I thought that would be different but hope it's not to noisy in the cabin.

 

Ship Questions:

1. Does Giovanni's need reservations?

2. Is there a "Chef's Table"? If so where do you go to make reservations and what is the cost?

3. The tour of the ship? Is it worth it? I've done this on Carnival a few times but quickly realized the ships are about all the same so once you've done it once your good. Also was a lot cheaper on Carnival.

 

Port Excursion Recommendations:

Day 2 - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas: Skyride To Paradise Point

Day 3 - Basseterre, St. Kitts: Would like the Senic Rail but they can't seem to tell me what's up with it. Any recommendations?

Day 5 - Oranjestad, Aruba: Atlantis Submarine Expedition

Day 6 - Willemstad, Curacao: Fascinating Curacao

Day 8 - San Juan, Puerto Rico: Old And New San Juan City Tour With Airport Drop-Off

 

This is kind of what I'm thinking right now but am open to recommendations.

I'm not sure what you mean by "chefs table?" I've heard of it but am not sure what it is. Although the ships tour would be really interesting we didn't due to the price. When we cruised the Caribbean on Serenade they had a kitchen tour then lunch in Chops Grille, it was absolutely amazing and I think it was only about $20pp. unfortunately this ship doesn't have it. We always made reservations but I'm sure you can just do this when you get on the ship, there are a lot of people that refuse to pay extra for the specialty restaurants, we are not one of them! On both our Carnival cruises we ate at the steakhouse 4 of the 7 nights! It was amazing! Your planned itinerary sounds like fun, I sure hope you get the rail tour, friends did it and said it was great.

If they still offer the "murder mystery" dinner we can highly recommend it. It was a hokey story and terrible acting but hilarious, we had such a fun night. You have dinner in Giovanni's (set menu with a few choices) and all the wine you can drink. The singer/dancers do the murder/mystery, I think it was about $60 each but such a fun evening.

They did tell me they only put 2/3 of the excursions on the website and save a 1/3 for booking on the boat.

 

 

 

Is there a "Chef's Table" type of deal on Royal Caribbean like on Carnival. That's something I really enjoy.

 

 

 

I really no nothing about the boat itself been researching that would of thought the CS agent's I've spoken too would try to sell me on stuff but they don't guess that's a double edge sword good to not be pressured into something but bad that they don't tell you about anything.

We've been on Adventure twice, two weeks in the Caribbean in 2013 and 16 nights in the Med this past Sept. I can probably tell you almost anything you need to know about this ship, including how to get to the heli pad! Since the refit they have Giovanni's, it's next to the Windjammer which is the buffet, deck 11 if I remember correctly. One of the things I really like about this ship is the Royal Promenade, it's so easy to find your way. The public spaces are beautiful but to be honest our cabin needed the carpet, drapes and couch replaced. We've had the same cabin both times, deck 8 around the corner from "RCI online" basically that's where the computers are, they now have pervasive wifi which worked very well for us. Any other questions please ask away!

Usually if the excursion is not listed then it's full. We've had very good luck both on RCI and Carnival with just booking the excursions when we board the ship. I certainly understand your frustration, really it's not giving you a good first impression. I had sort of the same experience with the cruise we took three weeks ago, I just needed to know which pier we sailed from in order to book a shuttle on our return. The customer service had no idea! Oh, that was Carnival!

So I've been on about 10 cruises mostly on Carnival never had a bad one.

 

 

 

Everyone tells me oh you really need to go on RCL it's so much better.

 

 

 

So I'm booked on AOS for May 16th out of San Juan. I've done a similar one on Carnival.

 

 

 

So far the whole RCL experience has been pretty disappointing. After a week of fighting the website and several phone calls to them for help I finally just booked over the phone where I felt like I was doing the booking and they were just typing. I had to remind them of things or question them on information they had not asked instead of them asking for it themself.

 

 

 

We have not booked excursions yet mostly because of the website. Between it's lack of information and lack or reviews it's impossible to pick. The ones we did try to pick the website just fails to work.

 

 

 

Excursions I know exist don't appear in the search. Calling them gets me no where they don't give any more information then what's on the website which is nothing or I simply get the I don't know and then silence.

 

 

 

I'm really starting to regret trying RCL. We will make the most of it but if it's anything like the reviews I've been reading we will be sure never to book again.

Please try and go in with a positive attitude. We've done 7 RCI and two Carnival cruises, while the Carnival were OK I did prefer RCI. I can nit pick at either cruise line, just try and give them a fare shake. Not all cruise lines are for all folks and yes RCI's website can be a pain at times.

Enjoy your cruise.

Probably not is not an answer.. How are you helping by giving her advice you would do is not answering the question.

Children please! As the wife of an airline pilot (and knowing the ins and outs of the industry) the answer is yes, in a perfect world. The Flt would need to leave on time, no guarantees there, you'd need to get your luggage in a timely fashion, get through customs and scoot to the ship. In a perfect world you will make your cruise b

As a Canadian interested in your problem. Would something like KLM get you to Amsterdam earlier in the day and an earlier co0nnector on another airline? Would a Nexus card speed up customs on arrival? If so might be worth buying one.

Nexus is only between USA and Canada

There's a direct Rouge Flt from YUL-BCN, I certainly wouldn't fly in the day of, unless choice air, you're asking for trouble.

I respectfully don't agree with your comments re medical. Firstly, If you need to see the doctor on board they will not be in network with insurance. DD has seen doctor onboard. With medication I think bill was around $150 and that was a few years ago. We got the money back through the Travel insurance easy enough, but had to file through our insurance company (major US health insurance provider) first and get a letter to state they would not cover as not in network.

 

 

Secondly, if you need to be airlifted off for medical reason US medical insurance bill would be extortionate. There is the possibility that if you are evacuated, you may even end up in Canada depending on where the ship is when you are evacuated.

 

Thirdly, all Alaskan cruises dock somewhere in Canada, which again won't be covered if you are disembarked by the ship in port to recieve medical treatment.

 

We were in Alaska when a young boy was taken ill. There were no ports easily accessible and they sent a medical helicopter that hovered over the ship to airlift him off, as we were in a passage at the time. It was a medical emergency. Anything can happen, even to fit and healthy people at any moment with little to no warning. It is not like being on land and being able to call an ambulance , that your medical insurance will probably still only partially cover. The costs involved are hugely different. I would never recommend taking the risk. Better to be safe than sorry.

I guess every country and coverage is different. We are Canadian and our coverage (medical) is world wide, not much point in having it if it's just for your own country, that's already covered.

What kind of insurance are you referring to? We always have extra medical coverage and if we're paying full fare air (we usually use my husbands airline employee passes) then we get the travel coverage. We booked a last minute Alaska and didn't bother with the travel/canc ins. Don't ever leave home without medical coverage though.

Ya thanks lol, I just figured that out, feeling pretty stupid right about now [emoji15][emoji15]

Well at least the UK get something normally the U.S. Get all the best perks like refundable deposits we can't even transfer sailings without penalty xx

In listening to our UK friends it seems like you get better perks than us. Mind you I don't book through RCI, we get %10 off cruises through the company my husband works for. I think some folks get the benefits from their TA for loyalty.

But the HOTS prices for cabins below JS are much LOWER than usual for a new ship:confused:

Forgive my ignorance but what is "HOTS?" I'm happy with our price, converted from CDN to £, £1458 for the both of us in a D6 balcony deck 11. No other bonuses though. Just mad I didn't book the three day pre TA at the same time, it's crazy expensive for three days. Would rather spend that money and stay in Rome!

I am sorry if this has been asked/answered before but I just couldn't seem to find answer searching on my phone...

 

Does Adventure of the Seas still have Jesters night club or was it replaced with more staterooms to overcrowd the ship like its sister ships?

 

If it still has Jesters does anyone know when Dry Dock is scheduled for?

 

Thanks in advance.

It had Jesters in Sept, we had our "meet & mingle" in there. It had its short dry dock this time last year, I think maybe next year for the other but that's a guess, I've herd when but can't remember.

After reading through almost 100 of these pages, I noticed there were only a couple mentions regarding tour groups of 15 people. As we are booked with this size group for Florence/Pisa and Rome this May, I have a few questions:

 

1. Will there be 2 vans to transport the group or some type of minibus for all 15?

 

2. Is everyone able to sit by a window?

 

3. On full day tours, is it recommended to be prepared with an umbrella and water bottles?

 

Don't like carrying extra stuff, but don't want to get soaked by a spring rain either.

 

4. If we don't climb the Tower of Pisa, what are the suggestions for passing the time there?

 

How long does it take for the climb?

 

Thanks in advance for any information!

Pack a small pocket style umbrella, you'll want water. There are lots of information boards next to the tower that gives you history, there's is also the large cathedral. Unfortunately we were too early and didn't get to see inside the cathedral. You have to pay for the bathrooms at the tower and if you do climb it they don't allow packs or even my small about 12" cross body bag, they do have lockers.

The Sprinter vans are very comfortable and we had good views but only had 8 people in ours. This is a fantastic tour company, you can't go wrong.