NickAndysMom

Thanks, RSF! I took a look at some of the YouTube videos. Some of the boats have ladders, which I'm sure my parents would be fine with. Since that's an option, I think we will be fine. Really looks very beautiful there!

Does anyone have updated/recent information about getting to Lover's Beach? We've been to Cabo several times via cruise ship, but have never gone to Lover's Beach. (Lack of facilities has always deterred me, but I'd really like to give it a try this time.)

Here's the specific info I'm looking for:

1) We are only in Cabo until 2:00 p.m. Our ship arrives at 7 a.m. , but if we do not take a ship's tour, it will take us awhile to get a tender. Will we have enough time to get to Lover's Beach, spend an hour or 2 there, & make it back to our ship before it leaves?

2) What's it like getting on/off the panga at Lover's Beach? I'm assuming it's similar to getting on & off at Medano, where you have to jump, and that getting back on can be challenging. My 76-year-old parents will be with us. They are relatively mobile, but they are 76, so not as mobile as they were 20 years ago!

3) Anything else I need to know about Lover's Beach? Anything else I should consider when deciding whether or not to go?

Thanks so much for any information or suggestions!

Beverly

I just talked to the folks at the "Contact Us" number. They say that they are currently experiencing website issues, and to try again in 2 hours. Not sure why only some people are having this issue!

Guess I'll find something else to do for a couple of hours. Too bad - - - I had some free time & wanted to look at pricing, etc. for the specialty dining options for my upcoming cruise. I know I can probably find all that info here on Cruise Critic too!

Not having the problem. Have you cleared cookies and cache?

Yes, I did that, but it didn't help. Hmmm. . .

This morning when I try to login to access my booking, I get the message: "OOPS... LOOKS LIKE ROYALCARIBBEAN.COM IS ON VACATION". Maybe the website is Canadian, and is taking a holiday to celebrate Canada Day?

I tried a couple of different browers. Doesn't seem to matter which one I use; I get the same message.

Is it just me, or is this a universal problem today?

Bev

Many thanks for the wine list! There are several at or under our $12 Premium Package limit that look like they will be fine to drink with dinner. The package will work well for us.

Thank you so much for your posts. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the detail you are providing! We will be on a similar 7-night cruise on Serenade in July, but ours is round-trip Stockholm. You've really given us a great preview of what to expect. Now I'm even more excited for our cruise! (And I didn't think that was possible.)

If you have time, would you be able to post a photograph of the MDR Wine list? I'm particularly interested in the wines by the glass, as we will have the Premium beverage package, and I'm curious to see which ones might be available to us with dinner.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise, and thanks again!

Beverly

Thanks so much for posting about your Serenade of the Seas cruise. We will be on Serenade in July for a Baltic cruise, round trip Stockholm. I will definitely follow your blog, along with anything else you happen to be able to post to Cruise Critic.

I'm so sorry to hear that the internet continues to be a big disappointment on Serenade. I've heard terrible things about it, but I was hoping they might get it working properly before our cruise. I'm not going to hold my breath!

These prices really are all over the place! Fortunately, I think I just got lucky.

Up until yesterday, the price of the Premium package on our 7-night Serenade of the Seas Baltic cruise in mid-July was $57/day, gratuities included. (I confirmed on more than one occasion that the gratuities were included by adding the package to my cart & looking at the total.)

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Premium package for our cruise is now $39, PLUS gratuity, for a total of $46.02 per day. This is in fact ALMOST a 20% savings (19.26%, to be exact). My husband & I decided to book it for both of us.

Happy Mother's Day to me from Royal Caribbean!

Now we'll just have to find another way to use up our OBC. . .

When we are in Riga this summer, we plan to walk from Central Market to Freedom Monument. Google Maps plots our course northeast along Satekles iela, then along the north east side of the park on Raina bluvaris, past the university.

I'm wondering, are these good walking streets? It looks like they might be rather busy. Would it make more sense for us to go back through Old Town, by instead leaving the Market heading southwest toward the river?

I know this is a pretty technical question! Hoping someone who lives or has spent a lot of time in Riga might be able to point me in the right direction.

NVYN, thank you so much for posting! This is exactly the info I was hoping to find. Great to know the exact drop-off/pick-up location. Will certainly make it easier to plan our day in Riga.

Hope you have a nice trip.

Great! We will definitely visit the Central Market.

The art nouveau district is already at the top of our list, but thank for the great video!

Thanks for your response, RealNorwegianCruiser!

When we booked our cruise, our plan was just to walk to town from the cruiseport, which looked to be just a short walk from town. However, I recently found out that we will be at the more distant dock. :-(

Hopefully I will be able to find out more information about transportation cost & location of drop-off before we get to Riga!

I do have another question for you, since you've lived in Riga. Would you recommend we visit the Central Market? I've heard both that it's a "must-do" and that it's not worth the trip. What do you think? It looks like it's not right in the central core of the town, but a bit south. Would walking be our only option, or is there a bus/tram that goes there? We are fit 50-somethings, but Riga is our last port, and we will have done extensive walking in the other ports. Nice to know if there is an alternative!

I received a prompt reply from the Shorex Desk regarding my inquiry about Riga shuttle price & drop-off/pick-up location. Unfortunately, their response was not at all helpful:

"Thank you for contacting our Shore Excursion Team,

Unfortunately, as these shuttle services are outside of our program, we would advise that you speak to our onboard team so that they may provide you with the most accurate information regarding this service. Please be advised that shuttle services may not be offered in all ports of call and that cost may vary depending on the port. Shuttle rates can not be advised prior to sailing. However, we are confident our onboard team will assist in ensuring that you acquire the proper transportation so that you may visit Riga.

Should you have any other inquiries regarding our tours, please let us know, we would be happy to assist."

Based on cruise reviews from last summer, I understand that last year's cost for the RCCL Riga shuttle was $14, though I'm not clear whether this was each way or round-trip.

If you've taken the RCCL Riga shuttle and can answer my questions about cost & location, I would greatly appreciate it!

Many thanks.

Riga will be a port of call on our Serenade of the Seas cruise this summer. I understand that our ship will be docking outside of town, near a lumber yard some 30 minutes drive away.

I've asked RCCL's Shore Excursion desk (via email) if they can provide me with information about the cost of the shuttle to town, as well as the drop-off & pick-up location. They said that it was run by a local operation, and they had no information about cost or location. (Kind of hard to believe that SOMEONE at RCCL wouldn't be able to provide this sort of info!)

From what prior cruisers have posted about Riga stops in 2015, the cost was $14, though I'm not clear about whether this is each way or round trip.

If you've been to Riga with RCCL, can you please let me know whether the $14 was each way or round trip, and also where you were dropped off & picked up in old town Riga?

Many thanks!

This is great information to have! I had no idea until I ran across this post today. Thank you very much for the info.

Does anyone know where in Old Town Riga the ship's shuttle drops you? Sounds like we will have no choice but to take it (as we want to walk around town on our own, not as part of a tour group). It would be very helpful to know where we will begin & end our time in Old Town.

I have sent an email inquiry to the RCCL Shore Excursion folks regarding shuttle cost/location, etc. I will post their response if/when I receive one.

Thanks to those who weighed in regarding Maker's Mark Manhattans!

In deciding whether or not to purchase the Premium package, it would be helpful to know the purchase price of a Maker's Mark Manhattan. Anybody happen to know?

I'm thinking probably at least $12 + 18% gratuity = about $14 each. So, I think we would have to drink 4 per day to break even. I don't think I'd drink more than 3, but I would probably want at least a couple bottles of water each day, and maybe a glass of wine with dinner. That might just about make it worth it to buy the drink package, especially if I can get a 20% discount.

I will keep checking online for the discount!

My husband & I like a Manhattan or 2 before dinner, preferably made with Maker's Mark. Anyone know the price of this drink? Would it be included in the Premium Package? I know that Maker's Mark is on the list, but I'm wondering if the price of the drink might somehow exclude it from the package. (We ran into this issue on another cruise line; we could get a shot of Maker's Mark, but adding sweet vermouth, bitters & a cherry to the drink put it over their price limit.)

In any case, unless we are able to get the 20% discount on the package (which has not yet been available for our July cruise on Serenade of the Seas), I'm not sure it would make financial sense for us to get the package. Guess it will depend on the price of the Maker's Mark Manhattan & whether or not it would be covered by the Premium Package.

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

I wonder how they decide which cruises to include in the discount. We are on a Baltic cruise on the Serenade this summer. Very port intensive, with only 1 sea day, so a full-price drink package just doesn't make sense for us. If it were discounted, it's something we (& probably many others) might consider!

Regarding double cruise credit for an up-sell to suite, I would suggest you contact Captain's Circle via email. It worked well for us - - -

My husband & I took a 3 night coastal cruise last March. We booked a guarantee mini-suite, and accepted an up-sell to a penthouse suite. It was fun to have the suite & all the goodies that come along with it, even for just 3 nights.

From what I'd read on this board, I had understood that we would NOT be given 2 cruise credits, as we had accepted an up-sell to the suite, and also given the short length of our cruise. When I checked our Captain's Circle account after our return from the cruise, I saw that we had been given only one credit each. Nevertheless, I decided to contact Captain's Circle by email to inquire whether we should have been awarded 2 cruise credits, as we had sailed in a suite. I received a prompt response, thanking me for my inquiry & letting me know that my account & my husband's account had both been updated with an extra cruise credit.

The kicker is that this got both of us to the Platinum level! We did NOT book this cruise, nor upgrade to the suite, with this in mind. We booked it because it was a nice, short getaway at a very good price. The rest just ended up being an unexpected bonus.

We will be doing another Princess coastal cruise next month, our first cruise as Platinum. We booked a confirmed mid-ship Caribe deck balcony cabin at an absolutely amazing rate, with no plans to accept an up-sell this time. (But you never know!)

Happy Sailing!

Beverly

Thanks, rdsqrl. Smoked Salmon/Chairman of the Board night is my favorite. Can't wait!

I wasn't aware that Platinum Captain's Circle members were able to go to the evening lounge. I thought it was just for suite & elite passengers. We finally sailed in a suite on our last Princess cruise, and we enjoyed the lounge each evening. We were still Ruby at that point, but we will be taking our first cruise at the Platinum level next month (not in a suite), so I'd love confirmation that the lounge is also open to Platinum members.

Beverly

Thanks, Steelers36. Now I understand.

They were indeed very lucky! We were going to hold off booking for another week, but decided that the fares for our cruise probably weren't going to decrease at all, so we went ahead with the booking. None of us were even aware of the whole Canadian $ conversion issue. We had all thought they would book in US $ & the conversion would be made by their credit card company.

I will definitely recommend to them that they pre-pay their gratuities.

Beverly

Just this past weekend I booked a cruise directly through Princess for my husband & myself (US residents) and our relatives (Canada residents). We are on 2 separate reservations.

The Princess agent asked if the Canadians would prefer to book in Canadian dollars. The fare in Canadian dollars was at 1.2 times the rate in US dollars. This definitely seemed favorable to the prevailing bank rate, so I booked their reservation in Canadian dollars. (Wish I could have booked our cruise in Canadian $s as well - - - my VISA card does not charge to do the currency conversion, so we would have been ahead of the game, I think!)

I'm wondering if the 1.2 rate might have been because our cruise is fairly soon, so we had to pay in full at the time of reservation.

Thanks for the reply, ar1950. Very good to know. As long as the activities & music aren't really late at night or early in the morning, I think we could deal with that.