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What time did you get there and what time did you leave?

Apologies for asking this in the Casino section, but just wanted to check, you could smoke in the Casino on a cruise out of Italy? My parents are sailing out of Ravenna on Explorer in September and my Mum has a health issue that means she can’t be in an enclosed smokey space, would just be good to forewarn them as she enjoys a flutter so would rather prepare her for the disappointment if she won’t be able to go in!

Yes, I will take it. One or two drops were so small I honestly couldn't even tell. I was like I thought that was the price before this drop. But I'm down about 400 in total since we booked which is something I never expected.

Hey, those little drops add up. Some of mine were for <$25 but the total savings has been > $1000 between the two cabins I've been checking. Definitely a nice feature to have. That's one thing mine doesn't do but since we've been booking almost nothing but group rates close to release, I normally don't even check. I don't mind doing it myself and I'm just happy to have saved my in laws some money since they're treating us to some nice add-ons for this family cruise.

Also keep in mind you will get comped cruise offers for random free cruises throughout the casino year. I get emails every month for free cruises.

Too kind @WAAAYTOOO

Just so ya know...you were scammed ! Chickens do NOT have fingers...nor do fish... SO many people fall for this scam ! Thank you sooo much for your incredible reviews(s). I truly enjoy reading your missives....and I have a very soft spot in my heart for Scots, in general.

Overall thoughts about our cruise, and apologies for the lateness of this post compared to the end of the trip! Ports- We loved nearly all of them. As previously stated, the Spanish are all normal cruise ports, however, off the beaten path for flying to for us. Cadiz and A Coruña were our highlights! I would be interested in spending more time in both places. I’m glad we seen Lisbon, but honestly, it was dirty and smelly in a lot of places, which was so disappointing. I’m also glad we did invest in the Tuk Tuk tour! It’s way more than we spent in all our ports last year, but it really has made me feel I can call Lisbon one and done. The… crowd- May I state now clearly for the record. I am a snob. My heart genuinely sank with the amount of Scottish voices I heard around me on the pool deck on boarding day (we were the only people thinking it was warm enough to be out there ) and I am not a fan of the “package holiday” crowd, which I feared greatly we had stumbled into. It was quite close to Scottish school holidays, so that explained our great numbers, but also the crowd that were on board differed greatly from the Norway sailing. There was very much a feeling of sun, sea and sangria. I didn’t personally witness any poor behaviour, but the Facebook group Big D joined reported a lot of anti social behaviour in corridors etc, and also a bigger incident that involved ship security and someone being confined to their stateroom for the remainder of the sailing. We did see police boarding as we disembarked, could be completely unlinked however. I’m sure there are plenty of reasons police may need to board in port. I don’t think I have articulated this point particular well. Can you just trust that there was a very different feeling on the ship? And we preferred the atmosphere on Anthem despite nothing ill happening near us or to us. We thinking the chance that there should have been quite sunny weather is what attracted that all inclusive holiday crowd who perhaps wouldn’t be attracted to the unreliable weather in Norway. All this being said, we would be hesitant to sail out of Southampton with Royal again for a warm weather cruise! Just our personal preference. Packages- I again, did not get full use of my DBP. We have had discussions that perhaps in the future, we could try the UDP instead, because we really enjoyed Chops and we really enjoyed the lack of people!! That being said, making a la carte selections during cruise planner sales might work even better for us. I had to change my Chop reservation and the staff couldn’t be more helpful, so I wouldn’t worry too much about being stuck with times. Obviously if one person can flex the DBP it can help make up the shortfall for the other person. But I think we should genuinely do the sums and figure out if it is truly worth it for us. We got it for an absolute steal there we felt, but I think you feel you need to order more drinks to get your monies worth when I probably would be fine with 2 drinks total. I do like that the DBP means you are covered, no dreading the final bill! The ship- I liked Independence overall, in particular the Royal Promenade worked well for us. I think, though, sailing out of the states, you would get so much bleed of smoke from the casino which would bother me massively. You’ve not been able to smoke indoors here for more than 20 years, I don’t want it near me. Playmakers and the Schooner Bar are either side and Vintages and The Pub. I glad we didn’t need to deal with it! The Viking Crown lounge, we went once, it lacked completely in atmosphere, no music being played and felt cold. The Star Lounge we used a few times and done the job fine! Food- A run down by venue Sorrentos- exactly what it needed to be, perfection every time Cafe Promenade- excellent staff at the coffee half, I gave them high praise in the post cruise survey, so many rude and overly demanding people and they dealt with them with such grace and politeness. Every beverage they made me was exactly what I asked for. The cookies and fruit was always plentiful and stocked well. We went through copious amounts of watermelon for 3. It was great to know it was so easy to grab and they would always have it. WJ- Totes fine. Layout was convoluted, but we always found a seat even at busy times. GET BETTER CHICKEN FINGERS!! MDR- Food was fine again, 3 stop us from going there more with their fussiness on overdrive. Our waiter and assistant waiter were wonderful and went above and beyond. Drinks- I drank a lot of ginger ale (can’t get it in cans here and bottle are quite spenny!) I love how available it is added benefit of keeping me settled. The piña coladas were so dependable. We generally had one each day! The wine was exactly what I needed every time and the standard is good. The IPA selection was just ideal again and Big D was contented with what was available. It’s so strange they don’t advertise the IPA’s really pre cruise! I’m sure that’s to do with their Diagio deal GOAL POST MARGS RULE (made with Patron, of course!)

Mine dropped a days ago, Maybe Thursday by 11 bucks. I haven't checked though because the TA does it and applies automatically.

Fast forward to today and suddenly the prices that have repeatedly gone down for these cabins I've mentioned are suddenly WAY higher than I've ever seen. In the past week or so they went from the lowest I had seen to higher than the original booking prices from April. Just like cruise planner sales, it really pays to check everyday if you're keeping an eye on cruise fare price drops.

There are a few advantages to Celebrity, but the Elite+ perk advantage has some shortcomings: 1). Inflexible Drink perk: 5 free drinks anytime of day is the best drink perk out there. Very restricted drink selection 5PM to 7PM) on X. This ends up being a big one for us. 2). No dedicated lounge … although RCL is slowly (& successfully) taking that away. 3). BOGO Speciality Dining: 2 nights is enough for us on most cruises. Celebrity has nothing to match this. Celebrity Advantages: A). Free specialty coffee at Café Baccio is off the charts better than RCL. One of the best places on the ship B). We find 240 minutes better (more flexible) than the two days on RCL. C). Breakfast in the Tuscan Grill is very nice (calm and relaxing). D). Double laundry should be much better (we are just not organized enough to take advantage … long story) I might be missing something, but those are my quick thoughts Curt from Canada

I mean that would make sense with them pouring money into Nassau.

I assume that you are referring to your annual casino tier comp ? Yes. Just 1 per year per qualified player….IOW, one each if a couple are both Prime or above. If you are Signature or Masters you will also be invited to one or more “tier-level” cruises. We were invited to a Signature cruise on Oasis. I think there were 3 or so different sailings to choose from…we chose Nov 1 2025.

This would be me or Big D, we rarely need much encouragement Althought, if it’s my usual Sav Bla, not a chance, chugging wine seems grim. I’m not sure why that’s my line, but here we are!

I think that project got nixed…

No particular reason aside from just not really caring for the musical, itself. The ship version wasn’t the issue…just the show. BTW, I have the same loathing for Hairspray…just sayin’…

I know this is an old thread, but some of this info is not correct. Yes, you can use a debit card (which would be incredibly short sided in a foreign country) or a credit card, but you will get screwed as far as the exchange rate and the bank fee. And if you are in a place like Costa Maya and venture out of the silly, plastic, made for suckers port area, you WILL need pesos. Many cab drivers and other restaurants and businesses there don't take dollars. Many don't speak English. Outside of the tourist trap port area, the Costa Maya area is still rustic (which is the main reason you should visit it). And no matter where you go, even the made for tourists areas, they will still take pesos. So your fears of taking a bunch home will be unfounded. I've never come home with a bunch of pesos. The best way to get them before you go is your bank. Mine charges a flat $3.50 no matter how much you get and their exchange rate is competitive. They'll even have it delivered to my house! If your cruise hits a bigger port before you hit a smaller place like Costa Maya, you can get pesos from a bank atm. Just hit decline when it asks if you want them to do the exchange rate conversion Just make sure its an an actual bank and not some standalone atm kiosk out on the street or in some random business. Go into the bank. If need be, even tellers can do it for you. I've never had to, I just use the atm inside the bank. And be sure to let your bank/credit cards know you're going to be going to mexico. Otherwise they may lock you down. And lastly, if you're going to be taking an excursion, going to some beach club, or just hanging around in the touristy port area, you won't need pesos. They've got you covered. The need for pesos is really only for the intrepid.

Thanks, you're too kind. It was great meeting you and Dan and we felt the same way. I'm sure we'll cross paths again but glad that it happened to work out last month since our cruise windows are so limited. Maybe you need to work on those casino offers... I see a lot of people mention that they wind up on Utopia with them.

Exactly, the catch is that Royal has been screwing with the schedule lately so keep checking for a new flyer. For several years, a new flyer would come out on the same day every week and the sale would only last for 2 days. This week long "Last Minute" flyer just started recently. That could be the new routine... or they could change it again, who knows?

Yeah, I've told you we're not big into sitting there listening to anything for very long; that's why I enjoyed the adult comedy from the other guy. He was unique and amusing. Every time the Rising Tide Bar stopped on deck 6 across from Schooner he would stop singing and yell/chant at the people on it "WE NEED A HERO, SOMEONE STAND UP AND CHUG THEIR DRINK, WE NEED A HERO!" Naturally someone did every time and got a huge round of applause, lol. Just going by straight music, I'd sooner listen to guitar too. I'm not a big music guy in general but listening to the Elton John, Billy Joel, etc. songs that piano bar singers always do really isn't my thing.

That's kind of you to say. We've randomly brought chocolate before and my wife brought some Easter candy when we sailed on Easter but this is the first time she thought to ask specific crew members if they missed anything in particular. It's mostly her if you couldn't tell, not that I don't think it's a nice gesture or mind. It's not like these are huge lavish gifts but I think the gesture will be appreciated. On the plus side, you don't have hurricanes to worry about. Plenty rainy here and too hot... we go to the Bahamas to cool of a bit, lol. I don't want it to rain, of course, but I have no problem with a cloudy day since I need shade anyway.

Well that’s a bummer that there is a new guy. Might check him out, but I’m more of a guitar over piano guy. I can’t wait to get on the ship!!!

Excellent choices; both would be on my list as well. Maybe something like Sister Act or Dreamgirls might make good cruise ship adaptations, or maybe Little Shop of Horrors Any particular reason you didn't like the Oasis version of Chicago? Or you just don't care for any version of Chicago? And I think you're right about NCL having Jersey Boys. I haven't looked it up in a while but I believe they also have Beetlejuice, Million Dollar Quartet, and maybe Rock of Ages -- all of which would be on my list to put on an RC ship but that won't likely happen while they're on NCL

Isn't Royal building a beach club at Freeport Bahamas as well? Are some ship gonna stop there and some in Nassau? I wonder how that is gonna work? Freeport is kinda boring I thought?

Yes, that's an awesome cruising song for sure!