Sun and Fun

We booked an 8-hour UTV for our day in Aruba. What are some key stops we should plan out?

And…on Friday, 10/1 they moved January sailings to 30 days for final payment.

17 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I wouldn't bother.

 

Biker, who is puzzled by anyone booking star class being worried about a final payment date.

Not worried…$$ is happily in hand and I would like to keep it in MY hands and not RCCL’s for as long as I can. Snark not necessary but also not surprising.

Using your crystal balls, do you think RCCL will extend the 30 day final payment date past December? We sail 1/8/22 and so our final payment is due at the end of this month. My TA is on vacation until 9/27 and we have to get final payment to him by 9/30 (I think RCCL expects it the first week of October).

Should I attempt to call RCCL and ask myself? I do not want to cancel, but since our sailing is Star Class and a hefty amount, I really don't want RCCL sitting on our money any longer than they need to.

TIA!

Thank you everyone!!!! 

We are looking at a Greece/Mediterranean cruise in a few years. We have never been to Europe, so we would love to hear about which itineraries you like and which ports were your favorites and why 😊.

We typically cruise in a suite, but have never felt the need to pay extra for a dining package. We will be in Star Class on our next cruise and the Unlimited Dining Package and the deluxe beverage package are included, so we may change our tune after trying the specialty dining.

We are not big alcohol drinkers so we do buy the Refreshment beverage package typically for the pop and the freshly squeezed juices.

The shows are all included as are MANY dining options.

I would expect that on all other lines, the shore excursions are an added cost.

Specialty coffees (like Starbucks) are extra, but there are many included coffees as well.

RCL has some entertainment options that are an additional cost - like the laser tag or escape rooms.

Overall, I think you can have a very enjoyable time without paying extra. It all depends on your personal preferences.

5 hours ago, sandebeach said:

I loved the Lobster roll at Hooked, along with the Boston Cream pie. 

I cannot wait to try the lobster roll!

We will be sailing on the Symphony of the Seas and mostly eating in the specialty restaurants. I am wondering which are your top three items you have eaten - Included and Specialty both! Be sure to include if it is a breakfast, lunch or dinner and which restaurant (or buffet!) 🙂

We did a shuttle from PC to Orlando. It was easy and not too expensive if I remember correctly. We flew into MCO and took a shuttle both ways.

We only cruise in January because I am a university professor and from WI. January is between my fall and spring semesters and in WI, we want to escape the snow and cold for a bit. We do not see the point in cruising to a warm destination when we have warm weather in WI. We have other places we travel in the summer.

1 minute ago, Canadianmama3 said:

Thanks! I just didn’t know if this would be frowned upon if my husband got the unlimited drink package.  

Honestly, the servers would have no idea or be concerned I am sure :). We usually do the refreshment package as well.

2 hours ago, skrufy said:

The other consideration is dragging your luggage around with you. First you have to haul it to the MIA Metro station. Then transfer to the people mover. When you get to the Bayside station you have to transport your luggage down to ground level. Then you need a cab/ Uber to the port even though you are less than a mile away. Do not recommend trying to walk to the port, it will be hot and could be dangerous with all the commercial traffic going over the bride. And don’t use the rail system late at night.

We sail out on a Saturday and are flying in Thursday evening. We won’t be hauling luggage, so we will be ok that way. Our hotel has a shuttle from the airport and we will just be using local transportation on Friday to explore during the day. We will take an Uber to the port on Saturday morning.

Hi All,

We are cruising out of Miami in January 2022 and decided to stay at a hotel by the airport since we fly in late two nights before our cruise. We got a good rate on a highly rated hotel so we plan to take the local transportation. We see they have metro rail and other ways to get to the Bayside Marketplace area. Is it easy? Safe? We have used the rail system in other large cities and are comfortable as long as we feel safe. If all else fails we are perfectly fine to Uber/Lyft.

Tell me about your experiences! Thank you~

They will still have the ability to use a Keys to the Kingdom “ticket” card, the old Magic Bands still work so you can reuse them, and in the grand scheme of a Disney vacation the extra 5.00 for a generic colored Magic Band is not going to matter much. 
 

Many carry their phones all the time anyway or want to purchase the fancy Magic Bands as a trip souvenir/fashion statement.

We will be sailing Star Class (with the Royal Genie) on Symphony next January. Star class includes the deluxe beverage package and the Unlimited Dining package for all the specialty restaurants.

We are especially excited for:

Izumi - Japanese with Hibachi style cooking

Hooked - Seafood

Jamie's Italian

Chops Steakhouse

Wonderland - just to try it

Some say that Johnny Rocket's has good breakfast. We will probably eat in the Suite Lounge - Coastal Kitchen once or twice. We will probably have our Genie deliver breakfast from Coastal Kitchen every morning to eat on our deck. There is also a Starbucks on board that my daughter is excited for.

Search on You Tube for ship tour videos - there is an excellent one on the Symphony of the Seas that walks you through the entire ship.

11 minutes ago, George C said:

Ok depending on ship you will have a max value for drinks if it’s 13 anything up to 13 is totally included if you order a drink that is 16 then you pay the extra 3 dollars and tip on 3 dollars so approx 3. 60. We do over a lot on wine .

13 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It's both depending on ship class.

 

Quantum and Oasis class ships its $13, the rest are $12.  Asia sailings for Q class may be different

Got it - we are on Symphony. Good to know the 13.00 drinks are included. 😊 Thank you!

I have seen drinks up to $12.00 in value and $13.00 in value included. Which is it now? Also does the “up to” mean $13.00 ARE included or not?

Thanks!

5 hours ago, Karma5 said:

My 15 year old granddaughter will be coming with my daughter and I next summer on Oasis. I was wondering if she will be able to go into the suite lounge with us.

 

..............Thank you for your reply

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funny story - my daughter (age 15 at the time) would get such a kick out of some of the looks she/we got when she was with us in the suite lounge. We still giggle about it.

I know there are many, many wonderful and friendly Pinnacle members but this one woman, who proudly wore her Pinnacle pin for everyone to see, looked at her/us like she just ate a sour lemon. We would see her everywhere -  each time we got priority debarkation at ports (we were in an OS) we ended up sitting by her in the tender boats. Her sour look got more and more pronounced as the week went on.

My daughter would go out of her way to say good morning/good afternoon to her each time she saw her in the suite lounge. 😜

We will be arriving for two nights before leaving out of Port of Miami. We are overwhelmed with options! 
 

we are considering South Beach - thoughts?

Thanks!!

Diamond lounge and suite lounge are different - my daughter would come into the suite lounge (age 15) and spread out her homework in the middle of the day for a quiet space to do some work outside the cabin. No issues!

We started out in a GS, then OS a few couple times...and now in January 2022 we are in a Star Loft/Star Class on Symphony. It is a slippery slope for the checkbook!! 🤣

I think the only other thing not mentioned is the concierge will also escort you off the ship in the ports of call. Really upsets other passengers as they change the elevator to VIP status and bypass everyone waiting in line to get off the ship (we usually look down and keep whispering to each other...”no eye contact, no eye contact”).

34 minutes ago, Ashland said:

I had no idea Radiance & Jewel were different so thanks for pointing that out.

So no confusion in that I have #1052 GS on Serenade and #1058 OS on Jewel.. right ?

I was and usually refer to my hard copy 2018-2019 catalog book (miss those ).

Here is the Jewel deck plan - #1058 is an OS

33 minutes ago, Ashland said:

I had no idea Radiance & Jewel were different so thanks for pointing that out.

So no confusion in that I have #1052 GS on Serenade and #1058 OS on Jewel.. right ?

I was and usually refer to my hard copy 2018-2019 catalog book (miss those ).

That looks to be correct - here is Serenade's deck plan and #1052 is a GS.

10 hours ago, Ashland said:

Interesting...Because I'm booked next door in #1058 (July 2022) but on Jewel and it's an OS...So you're saying Radiance is different? I've been in #1050 on Radiance GS and booked on Serenade #1052 GS. I'm also looking at deck plans and am definitely confused by your post.

Look at the Deck Plans on the RCCL site - you can see the color codes for the different levels. The cabin I was referring to was #1060.