tjstaar7888

I was thinking that too.  Thanks!

Hi,

I'm looking at the excursions through NCL for Halifax, and I see two different excursions for Peggy's Cove and Titanic Cemetery.  They are roughly the same length, but one is called exclusive.  But one is $69 pp and the other is $125 pp.  Does anyone know the difference and why the prices are so different?  The descriptions listed look pretty similar.

Thanks.

****Explorer OTS – WHO IS ONBOARD NOW? Speculation is that Amy Tripp may havereturned to EX, but unsure. She could beup for vacation after her time onAllure. Joe Chambers from Canada has beenonboard since 3/30/17. Likely a 4 monthcontract that will take him to the end of July – therefore he may NOW be onvacation…..LOOKING to hear from a cruiser onboard.

I just got off the Explorer last Friday, and I can confirm that Amy Tripp is the AD. The CD is Dan Whitney. They were great! Loved the morning show each day.

Hi,

I booked a cruise last weekend and put down $500 deposit. Then a couple of days ago I remembered that I purchased a next cruise on the last ship I was on in 2014. I found the paperwork, but before I call them I wanted to see if anyone else has been able to change an open reservation to the next cruise reservation. Can I do that or do I have to either cancel/rebook or save it for next time?

Thanks.

Todd

Thank you!

Hi,

I'm booked on the same cruise as the OP, and I paid $743 booking on the RCCL website. If you go on and do the mock booking and find a lower price, how do you get the new price? Do you have to call RCCL since there is no TA involved?

I wouldn't want to cancel and re-book because I chose my cabin, and there weren't many others I wanted.

Thanks.

Hi,

The Park Cafe is located on the starboard side of the Solarium and has selected hours. I know they were open for lunch, and it was free.

Sadly, you will not see the Mississippi in January, it will be dark coming and going. We got lucky this past January as our ship was late arriving and we got to see the river as we returned. You can see some factories lit up in the evening as you depart which was interesting, but the sun set shortly after sailaway.

Serenade also had a special for the first three days. The digital package was normally $299, but for the first three days it was $199. Sadly, we didn't know if we would have enough pix that we liked by day 3 to make it worthwhile and ended up paying full price on day 7.

We were given the WOW cards when we checked in on the Serenade on 1/25. We gave one to our assistant waiter and the other to the room steward that worked the section next to ours. We saw her more than our own Steward! She was constantly working and always smiled and said hi to us when we walked by. When we gave her the card she was visably moved. We were kind of shocked! They must be good for them. It was a good feeling.

D'Version was on the 1/25 sailing and played a lot. They were up and down, but the Creedence set was great. We had a duo called Island something (can't remember) that wasn't that good. They had 50's rock and 70's disco dances in the centrum. They were both packed, looked like fun. Only saw D'Version by the pool deck once. Then again, our weather wasn't always great (cold in NO, rain on one sea day). There was a Zydeco band (didn't catch the name) that played only on Saturday during embarkation. They were really good, and I wish they had been on the entire cruise.

Ship - serenade of the seas

Deck - 9

Stateroom # - 9214

Stateroom Category – Balcony

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) –

Very Quiet

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? -

no

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Straight down was view of canopy over promenade deck, but still no trouble looking down to the sea

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - None

Any other comments? - Port side is away from smokers, view out to sea when docked. Far enough down the hall to not be affected by atrium noise, but not too far from elevators. Awesome stateroom.

I would vote Southern as well. We really liked St. Lucia and Barbados. We went to Aruba on a land vacation and liked it too, would definitely go back on a cruise.

Usually nights 2 & either 5 or 6 are formal, but I'm not sure which one is semi-formal.

Welcome Back! Although you're probably sad to be back, we're looking forward to your report and the Compasses.

Have a wonderful cruise! We too are sailing on the 25th. 12 days to go!

Thanks for the info. We like fireworks, are those in NYC or in Bermuda? So, there is no way to know which way they will dock in Bermuda? We usually have to book whichever side is non-smoking, but I know that isn't applicable on NCL (unless the policy changes by 2015 ;)), but when possible we like to sit on our balcony and watch people returning to the ship.

Hi,

I didn't see this anywhere, forgive me if I missed it. Looking to take Breakaway from NYC to Bermuda. Which side is best for seeing the city and the Statue of Liberty? Which side is facing land when docked in Bermuda? Any other pros/cons to each side?

Thanks,

Todd

Hi Stef,

I have been thoroughly enjoying your review. We are sailing the Serenade out of New Orleans in January, and it was nice to see pictures of her again. We sailed her once before in 2006 and it will be interesting to see what the improvements are. We hope to be able to visit Europe someday, but through your review, I kind of feel like a have a little bit.

Thanks for all your efforts!

Todd

For us, it would be Antigua. We didn't like being accosted by the locals at the dock area. I was surprised to see Barbados and St. Lucia listed as those were two of our favorites, but things may have changed in the last several years. I'm not fond of any Mexican ports and will probably stay on board at Cozumel. DW does not like Key West, says it gives her a bad vibe, so we probably will stay on board there also. It will be our first time in Nassau, and we want to see Atlantis. After that, we are sailing to see the big, new ships, where before we went for the ports, so will probably stay onboard in ports we have been to before. We'll check out the gated area at Falmouth, otherwise won't go off ship in Jamaica, although we did enjoy the falls when we were there before. Great thread!

Gambee,

And you on your Disney cruise!

Gambee,

I've been reading these boards off and on for years, but never posted. We are re-dedicating ourselves to cruising now after a couple years away. I was thrilled to see that you had posted reviews for the exact three ships that we want to experience first after our initial cruise, and was even more thrilled after going through the Allure review, it was fantastic!

We are doing a Bahamas trip out of New Orleans first, and then plan to sail every 6 months for the next few years. I have already booked Allure for August 2014, and plan to do Silhouette in March 2015 and Breakaway in August 2015. I'm sure to be pouring over your reviews again as we get closer to the sailing dates. Thanks so much for that precious resource.

We're hoping to do Royal or Regal Princess in early 2016 and Anthem of the Seas in Summer 2016. Having reviews of those ships would be a real treasure also ;)

Todd