LisaLisa87

Let’s get this party started! Looking forward to following along.

Congratulations on the upgrade! We had this exact same suite on the Allure a few years ago, and we loved it. As others have said, both the room and balcony are bigger on deck 11 vs. decks 12 and 14. Some people don't like the distance from the elevators, but we didn't mind at all. On the plus side, it's very quiet and private back there! I've attempted to embed the video I took below. The password is allure. Allure of the Seas 1BR ATS

We had one on deck 11 on Allure and loved it. Both the room and balcony were bigger than those on 12 and 14. I’d book one on deck 12 if neither of the ones on deck 11 were available, but I would not book one on deck 14. Just my opinion, but the walk to the elevators is no big deal and well worth it for the quiet and privacy — not to mention the fantastic balcony.

I’m sorry your cruise was canceled! We actually considered that sailing but ended up booking the Greece & Croatia itinerary on Explorer departing from Ravenna on August 27. It’s two days shorter, but we’ve never been to Venice and figure we’ll spend some extra time there. Is that sailing an option for you?

We're in our early 50s and mostly cruise with our daughter who is currently 20, so we're not part of the "young families" demographic. That said, all three of us are very active and enjoy activities on the ship on sea days, so we're excited about Icon. We look for different things in a ship depending on the itinerary. We're planning on a Med cruise next year, and for that one we're happy to sail on one of the older ships. For a Caribbean sailing, though, we want a ship with more bells and whistles. Since times in port tend to be shorter and there are typically several sea days, we want to have plenty to do. Icon will definitely fit the bill for us.

Well, I did it! Checked pricing again today, and with the new "flash sale," the price was back to what it was during the Cyber Monday promo. We went with 1854 (port side) since it looks like we'll be cruising south down the coast for a good chunk of the sailing. Thanks to all for your input. Only 268 days to go! 😁

Thank you for the additional replies! I called RCI today to ask about the suite perks, and I was told that these rooms get the same perks as the Grand and Owner's suites -- just as many here have reported. It's odd, then, that the descriptions on the website indicate otherwise... and maybe that's why both are available for our sailing! I asked the rep for a quote and she asked whether I was interested in the refundable or non-refundable fare. Interesting since the refundable option is not offered on the website. I asked for both, and the refundable rate was $3,300 higher. No thanks! I wish I had called yesterday to make the switch. The price today is $350 higher, and I can't bring myself to pull the trigger. I'll keep watching and hopefully it'll dip again.

Thank you for your responses! I'm confused regarding the suite perks. Here's the list of perks for the panoramic suites from RCI's website: Suite Amenities Dedicated check-in lines Reserved VIP seating Priority Departure Dedicated Suite Attendant Luxury spa bathrobes to use onboard vs. the list for Grand Suites and Owner's Suites: Exclusive For Suites Priority check-in and departure lounge Concierge Club service on select ships VIP seating at the pool deck and theater Priority tender tickets Complimentary luggage valet service Luxury spa bathrobes Complimentary pressing service on formal night I will say that I did a mock booking and there's no option for a refundable deposit, so these are like full suites in that respect.

Hello! I booked a Junior Suite for our Med sailing on Explorer next August, but I'm toying with the idea of switching to one of the Ocean View Panoramic Suites on deck 12. DH and I will be traveling with our daughter, and I like the idea of the extra square footage, separation of sleeping areas, and extra half-bath. I'm hoping someone who has sailed in one of these suites, either on Explorer or another ship, can share their experience. I would imagine we might feel more movement, including some vibrations when docking bow first. Any other pros or cons I should consider? It looks like these rooms do not get full suite perks, which I'm fine with (although priority tendering would be great since there are two tender ports on our itinerary). The price is just under $300 more than the JS. Thanks in advance for any insight!

Thank you for the additional replies! @mapleleaves, that link is very helpful. I recognized it from when we considered a cruise from Venice 5 years ago, but I had forgotten about it and would never have found it again! I think I have my hotel options narrowed down to 3 now, none of which are in P. Roma. I can see why that location is popular, but I'd rather be closer to the action and in a more picturesque area.🙂 ETA: We decided against the Celebrity cruise and have booked a 7-night on RCI's Explorer of the Seas that departs from Ravenna. This will allow us to stay in Venice for 3 full days before the cruise.

Thank you, @cruisemom42! I'll look into hotels near Alilaguna stops as well. Regarding the quote above, would you lean toward not staying in P. Roma for two nights for people visiting Venice for the first time, or would that not factor in?

Thank you all for your responses! @mapleleaves, that link is very helpful! We have full mobility, but I still don't think we'd be up for dragging our luggage over multiple bridges at the end of our journey. I did look at Piazzale Roma on Google Maps, but it's hard to get a sense of scale/distance since we're not familiar with Venice at all. I'll check out some of the other hotels in that area. I've been checking out some other areas as well. If we get a decent rate on the hotel, I may be able to talk myself into justifying taking a private water taxi from the airport.

DH and I just booked a Celebrity Eastern Med cruise that departs from Ravenna in September 2023. We're planning to fly to Venice a couple of days early as we've never been there. I don't think we can swing more than two days there. I'm a planner, but I must admit that I'm a little overwhelmed when thinking about travel to Venice (from Florida), getting around Venice, and then getting from Venice to Ravenna. While I like the idea of staying on a canal close to St. Mark's Square, I worry that getting there will be exhausting after a long day and night of travel. I've seen recommendations for a couple of hotels that are near Piazzale Roma (i.e., Hotel Olimpia and Hotel Arlecchino), and I like that getting there from the airport would be relatively easy (no water taxi or Vaporetto needed). The downside of that plan is that we're not in the middle of the action and would need to "commute" to see the sites. I'd love any input on the pros/cons of staying in the Piazzale Roma area vs. somewhere more centrally located, from which we could easily walk to several major tourist attractions. I don't want to stay on the outskirts of Venice and regret it, but I don't want the travel at the front end to be awful either. Thanks for any insight. Specific hotel recommendations welcome!

Thanks for your input @cruisemom42! We've decided to go ahead with this itinerary because it checks a lot of boxes for us. We'll plan to spend a couple of days in Venice before heading to Ravenna since we've never been there.

DH and I are considering this same itinerary, and I have a couple of questions. I figured I’d tag on to this thread rather than starting a new one. I guess I don’t understand the point of the overnight when we would be 2-3 hours from Venice. We would probably fly into Venice 1-2 days early (I don’t think we could swing more than that). Embarkation day would be pretty much like any other embarkation day, but what would we do the next day (the ship leaves port at 5pm on day 2). Do people go back to Venice, or are there interesting things to do in Ravenna? It seems slightly disingenuous that X bills this as an overnight in Venice. Do some people stay in Venice and board on day 2? Even if that’s an option, it’s not ideal since we’d be paying for both a night onboard and an additional night in Venice. Thank you in advance for any insight!

I loved the "Compound Salad" station, which had a different made-and-mixed to order salad each day (e.g., steak and blue cheese, Greek, Cobb, etc.). The salads were so fresh and tasty!

Do you plan to get off the ship at both stops? If so, is there a 5-day (or 6-day) that goes somewhere other than Nassau in your timeframe?

I booked an OV balcony on the 2/17 sailing at around 10am. At that time, there were options on 4 or 5 different decks, although a few of the decks showed only 1 or 2 cabins available. There are 3 people in our party, so that may have made a difference. Luckily we like the aft third of the ship, because midship balcony cabins were considerably more expensive.

Congrats! I booked too. I wasn't sure I would, but I guess I got caught up in the new ship excitement! I booked the 2/17/24 sailing and paid an extra $394 for a refundable deposit for our party of 3. I priced the current maiden voyage first and then the 2/17 sailing and the latter was almost $1k cheaper for the same category (ocean view balcony). The price was actually lower than I expected, which is why I went ahead and booked... although the refundable deposit will be handy in case I come to my senses later. 😂

I’d choose Honeymoon on St. John. It’s stunning and generally not as crowded as the other North Shore beaches (like Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay) because it’s a little harder to access.

Our first RCCL cruise was in 2002 on Radiance. She was pretty new at the time and we loved everything about her!

We sailed on Breakaway in late May and made our show reservations shortly after boarding. There are several ways to do it, but I found the touchscreens just outside of the elevator lobbies to be the quickest and most convenient. Take care of this early if you have reservations in any of the specialty restaurants and want to make sure the times don’t conflict.

The Dream is actually 11 years old. The Wish is the new ship. We went on 5 Disney cruises when DD was younger and thought we were done with them. We decided to book a 4-night on the Wish out of a sense of nostalgia and because it has some really cool innovations. We’ve really enjoyed our RCCL cruises and will definitely sail with them again, but there is something special about a Disney Cruise. Yes, it’s more expensive, but it is really a unique product. If you have some flexibility, sailing with them in the off season is much less expensive.

We sailed from Port of Miami a few weeks ago. I’m glad I had determined which terminal beforehand, because there was no signage whatsoever. You can see the names of the cruise lines on the buildings, but it isn’t easy to tell which terminal they’re using until you’re right on top of them… Or have just passed by.

We sailed on Breakaway from Miami a few weeks ago. In the past we have always tried to arrive at the terminal as early as possible, regardless of cruise line or departure port. This time we drove, so I chose a port arrival time of 12:00-12:30pm. We got to the parking garage at about 12:10pm, and the lines to show documents and check in were relatively short. After we checked in, we were able to walk right onto the ship with no wait. We went straight to Garden Cafe to have lunch, and while we were eating we heard the announcement that rooms were ready. It was one of our most efficient boarding experiences to date. Of course YMMV, but things went so smoothly that we may continue to choose a similar arrival time in the future. For us, the lack of waiting offset any extra time we might have had on the ship had we chosen an earlier arrival time.