Cruising from Dubai - Mariner of the Seas

[Seacruise]

Just called to book the 41 day Singapore to Miami cruise, was told I can only book the first two legs to Barcelona, the third leg to Miami is unworkable at this point because of the dry dock scheduled. Was told the drydock would be in Miami, but no one can book the Barcelona to Miami cruise. Aren't there people already booked on the 5/7 to 5/20 cruise? Has anyone else heard anything? A few minutes ago the website was still showing prices starting at $717 for said cruise

When RCI sent the ships to China there was a uproar over work being done while the ship was underway. Casino was changed etc. along with other venues.

This could be another case of that and cabins being blocked for workers.

[mugtech]

When RCI sent the ships to China there was a uproar over work being done while the ship was underway. Casino was changed etc. along with other venues.

This could be another case of that and cabins being blocked for workers.

Then why would the website still show cabins available?

I can see why cruisers would be upset with work being done while on the cruise, it was very unsettling for us on NCL Sun when carpets were being replaced by workers for 3 days. The workers had protection, we had a bad cough.

[AWOL]

Totally incorrect I'm afraid. My friend does this trip regularly and we always see daylight photos going north through the canal.

You're correct. I forgot about the new section of the canal. I use to go though it a bunch of times but has been couple of years since i retired

[Seacruise]

Then why would the website still show cabins available?

I can see why cruisers would be upset with work being done while on the cruise, it was very unsettling for us on NCL Sun when carpets were being replaced by workers for 3 days. The workers had protection, we had a bad cough.

Note the post on RCI - IT department.

They had our cruise ending 3 days before we arrived in our final port. Never did get fixed.

I could go on but RCI - IT Department is in need of a make over that they say is coming next year, they just didn't say what year...

[Biker19]

Was told the drydock would be in Miami, but no one can book the Barcelona to Miami cruise. Aren't there people already booked on the 5/7 to 5/20 cruise? Has anyone else heard anything?

It could be nothing and a temporary issue or you just opened a huge can of worms. John is on this cruise so.......

[ccotting]

We just did this cruise in April with Vision. I very much enjoyed it. The Canal is open with 2 lanes and so there is traffic both ways. We went through in the day. It is not a canal with locks so what you see is largely desert and a lot of military establishments but I found it all very interesting. We did have a lot of dust in the air from dust storms so the views were not very very clear but everything could be seen. The canal is at both ends and in between are the 'bitter lakes' which is what a previous poster referred to.

 

We enjoyed Jordan very much taking the trip to Petra which was very much worth the effort although you must be prepared for a lot of walking. Wear good shoes and take lots of water and a sun hat. One of the highlights of the trip.

 

Dubai is a large city and the sites are city oriented, views and shopping. Because we had the dust issues we didn't bother with the skyscraper views. Hotels, cabs and service were all excellent.

 

I really liked that we had port, a few sea days and port again, etc. Last year we were on a cruise that was a port every day. Quite worn out by the end. Needed another vacation.

 

There is lots to see in Israel and we stopped in 2 ports there. You need to think about whether you want the biblical view or a more modern one. Israeli tours tend to focus on Biblical times and, given we had 2 ports, one visit was more biblical one more modern.

 

I think you will enjoy the trip. We also enjoyed that the passengers were not all from one country. There were many Europeans (especially Spain and Portugal) and a lot of Australians.