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Traveler

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Posts posted by Traveler

  1. On 6/3/2018 at 8:14 AM, twangster said:

    I usually give it 24 hours.  Sometimes I can add them right away but many times I just do it the day after.

    So here is interesting alarming story .

    After almost 48 pass and I still could not retrieve the new reservation and when I went directly to the cruise planner I got a message that I could not order anything as payment is missing I called RC. First the CSR tried to convince me that I need to wait 15 minutes until I will see the reservation I explained here that I already done it for a day or two , she asked me to try IE instead Chrome , I tried just to get the same results (bit surprise).Next she asked me for my user name and password , wow , that was the first time ever that any CSR asked me such information. I gave her the password (and that is exactly why my password is different for each site , and yes I changed the password later).She tried and admit its not working . I guide her to try the cruise planner to see the error message I am getting , she got the same.At this point she told me she will talk to her supervisor so he can open and IT ticket for this issue , I told her that I will wait but I do not think it is IT issue, more like reservation that stuck on something. After around 10 minutes she came back to tell me she still waiting for the supervisor , 5 minutes after she asked me to check it again and what do you know it was working perfectly, apparently for some reason the reservation was still stuck on "offer" status so it never fully processed , once she change it all issues were fix.

    Still alarmed from the fact they wanted my password but I am happy the issue revolved just sorry my password was not something like "RCSiteisBS"

  2. Opps , 

    Just saw I reacted on another thread , anyway , after all the wonderful advises here we decided to go with the Greek Islands option. We already booked the cruise and tickets.   we will fly two days before the cruise so we will have at least a full day to tour Venice.

    Panning to book hotel in the mainland outside of Venice 15 minutes from the airport (we will land quite late)15-20 minutes by train from the city  and 30 minutes from the cruise terminal , some of the hotels are offering shuttle to the cruise port , still need to check that.  Hotels inside the city are very expensive and more important its not that easy to travel inside the city with luggage.

    Trying to add the new cruise to my account seem to be the most problematic part now , amazing (or maybe the fact I am still amazed that something is not working with RC site is the amazing part) 

  3. 56 minutes ago, twangster said:

    Is the ship the destination or are the ports the destination?  Which is more important?

    I get the feeling the ship is holding you back from choosing the Greek cruise.  As you have noted the smaller ship is required to get into some of those ports. 

    Last year I sailed on Allure in May then my next ship was Grandeur.  Mega to small.  I loved Grandeur.  It's a wonderful ship.  It's only considered a small ship by Royal Caribbean standards.  By the measure used by all other cruises lines, having ~2,000 guests is not a small ship. 

    The Greek Islands are on my bucket list and I'd have no hesitation sailing Vision class ships so I know what I'd do, but this is your vacation.  Follow your gut. 

     

    Well the ship and the weather , 

    Its hard to know if we will like the smaller ship or not , but it is 7 nights cruise , maybe its better to try in a shorter cruise , on the other hand the fact we are doing the Symphony few weeks after can compensate if we will have issue with the ship (which I do no think we will have).

    There is one think about big ships we both like and its about ability to walk allot and have enough places  to walk to.  The Greek Islands should be nice ports to visit  I agree although we can visit it quite easily.

    Currently I am tending to the Greek option , we will need to choose soon as flights becoming more expensive every day (or its only because I forgot to clean the cookies) 

  4. 9 minutes ago, Ray said:

    for me i would do the med trip, simply down to the fact its somewhere i havent been and its hotter.  

    Thanks for the info , 

    Regarding the weather , well its hot and humid in the summer (Although today we are enjoying 25C) so sometime we are looking for colder weather during August. Well I must be frank here if it was Navigator or Indi  doing the Med cruise we would not hesitate   

  5. Hi all , need some help to decide what will be our next cruise and thought why not to use the  wisdom of this wonderful forum:

    So here is the story , my spouse and I should take a vacation at the last week of August, we cannot avoid as it is some kind of company policy. Usually, the last week of August travels are very expensive but this year it seems flights  became very cheap so we have some options.

    Now we are really trying to figure out what will be the best for us , there were some option for land vacation (Amsterdam and Paris , London or Even Romania) but we found that we can take also another cruise.We have three options:

    1.       Indi for 3 days from Southampton

    2.       Navigator 7 days to northern Europe from Southampton.

    3.       Rhapsody 7 days to Greek islands from Venice

     

    All the cruises cost more and less the same (the 3 days on Indi cost just jumped) , all the flights also cost more and less the same so we heaving a very hard time to decide which one to take.Until now we only been on Oasis class (all of them), Freedom (Indi and Library) and Voyager , never something smaller (if you do not count the tendering boats).

    Oh , one more small information , 3 weeks from this cruise we already have the Symphony booked ?.

    Here are the pros/cons   (I took out Indi from the list as it does not make sense from financial perspective) :

    Navigator Pros  :

    Bigger ship

    has Sabor on it

    My Spouse never been to London before and we will have 3 days to explore it prior to the cruise.

    Should be better weather on the North Sea. (but you never know)

    It will be our first time in Oslo and Hamburg.

    Direct flight.

    Navigator Cons:

    Long transfer from London to Southampton and even longer when we will need to go from the ship to the airport (Luton). (and not sure if I want to rent a car as they are driving on wrong  side ? )

    Flight time longer.

    Flight is with low cost airline which mean we can travel with small suitcase or to pay extra.

    Hotels in London are expensive.

    We will need to take one extra vacation day.

    Rhapsody Pros :

    More cruise ports (6) none of them we visit before (and only Vision class can visit).

    More special restaurants comparing to Navigator.

    Flight time shorter (the main flight)

    Flight is with regular airline which includes two free suitcases.

    My spouse never been to Venice.

    Shorter transfer to the airport and port.

    Mainland hotels near Venice are cheap (and some are very near by the train station).

     

    Rhapsody Cons:

    Small ship, does not have many attraction (not even promenade) – not sure if we will like it or not.

    No direct flight (well the cheap flight we found anyway).

    Weather can be very hot at ports.

    What do you think?

     

     

     

     

  6. Make sure you attend the SPA tour on embarkation day .

    During the tour they will let you enter to the SPA raffle which will take place later at early evening (you need to participate the  raffle meeting to win) even if you will not win the first price (500$ for the SPA) many time all the participates will get some kind of a discount letter.

    Enjoy your cruise 

  7. 4 hours ago, pinchme said:

    We leave this Sunday on Oasis.  I feel like I am forgetting a million things! Is there a blog post or two that has "what to do before you leave" or "last minute tips"? I've almost finished online check-in and I still need to print luggage tags and SetSailPasses.

    Any suggestions or helpful tips appreciated.

    Here is a check list I used for one of my cruise , its not a full one , but it can give you some idea :

     

    Passport with at least 6 month left until expiration that has at least empty pages +Visas if needed
    Credit cards + Notify them that they might see transactions from foreign  countries 
    Medicines  and first aid kits 
    Prescriptions for medicines
    Sunglasses 
    A4 copy of each passport photo page
    Passport size photos *2
    Printouts of the hotel bookings + the address
    Printed  ship luggage   tags 
    Clear tape to attached the tags 
    Small bag for the first night.
    Small backpacks for the shore excursions
    Copy of the sail passes after you complete the online checking 
    Charges for the cellphone/camera/tablets better one that has many USB exists as the power outlets in the state rooms are limited
    Copy of the flights tickets including prints of the flights back.
    Camera
    Extra battery for the camera and extra memory cards.
    Battery bank for long shore excursions for emergency recharge.
    Sandwich nylon bags for small items
    Electric universal power plug for the hotels and the ship (in the ship you will find Europe and US power outlet)
    Magnets to hang things in the staterooms 
    Eyeglasses prescriptions 
    Two bottle of wines 
    Printout of any planned activities including private shore excursions 
    List of emergency phone calls including Royal Caribbean phones at each country/port.
    Port address both in English and the local language 
    Books/cards/crosswords books/small games for the flights and ship
    Driving license 
    Empty plastic or metal bootless to feel water
    Thermos to keep some hot water in the room (you don’t have Kettle in the stateroom nor you allow to bring one)
    Shampoo/Conditioner - in most of the stateroom there is  one liquid which suppose to serve as soap/Shampoo/Conditioner so its better to bring some with you.
    Folded dress shirts for official nights - usually I give some shirts to the nearest laundry and ask them to iron it and pack them folded - in the state room there isn't  Iron to use
    Sunscreen 
    upload songs and movies to your cellphone/tablet.
    Install the airline application over the cellphone
    Install offline dictionary on the cellphone
    Update the roaming plans for the cellphone
    Cancel newspaper subscriptions 

     

     
    Money for tips 
    Transfer arrangements 
    Willkie talkies- a good cheap way to communicate on the ship with family and friends 
     
    swimming suite 
  8. 2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

    This. I've never seen such tight slots as the ones I played on Freedom last April. I might as well have thrown the money overboard while a casino watched and counted the bills.

    I would have set it on fire and tossed it in the rubbish bin, but they have rules about that on board. ?

    Actually , the interesting question is who supervise the RC casino (or actually any cruise company casino). In mainland US its quite clear and each casino is committed to certain percentage of payouts. I can not complain on my last slots machines experience on Symphony Of the Seas , maybe it was just pure luck or maybe the machines were tuned to be more generous for the new ship.  

  9. Regarding the certificates , 

    The highest certification you can get is Balcony cabin for two were you can use for certain cruises, if you want to use it for other cruise you are getting a 1000 $ off any cruise.

    As other said here , its easy to accumulate points in slots machines , there are two reason for that : 

    1. Its easy to track the slots machines , once you put your card in (or wave it in the new ships) the computer track your exact play and can calculate how much money you used while in table  games its harder . For example if you are playing 50 $ per  hand  at a  BJ table which has 10 $  minimum and its not being notice by the host/Pit boss the system will calculate as you played only 10 $ per hand.

    2. The certificates value and other perks  are calculate from the theoretic money you loose in the casino , since slot machines has much worse chances than table game you are getting more points playing them.Theoretic money lost is calculate by the money you play , the casino edge and the time you are playing 

  10. Wow , for one second I thought I am reading a thread in CC?

    As part of my work I am traveling all around the world (most of the US, Canada , South America, Asia , Europe) and I like to watch and learn about the differences and similarity in culture, food , sports , way of doing business , many time I find much more similarity than differences  (well maybe not in food). I will be very bored if everyone act the same. 

    I cruised from the FLL, Barcelona , Honk Kong  and all was very nice, I guess I will not cruise from Baltimore in the near future just because currently we prefer big ships and from Baltimore I can see only small ships cruising, also much easier to fly to NYC.

    Planning to cruise next year from Southampton has I found some nice itinerary with Indi , I am sure we are gong to enjoy it as we enjoy all our cruises until now. 

     

  11. 5 hours ago, boymom said:

    Headed out with our boys for our first cruise, I have a couple of questions that I have tried to answer reading through other posts, but was unable to. 

    #1 - Beach safe? We have 2 stops, Nassau and Cococay. Have been looking at investing in some sort of a beach safe, likely the bag style that locks to a chair. Is this necessary? Am I wasting my money? What do experienced travelers carry? And when on board, is it necessary to keep our stuff locked up if we all plan to get in the pool together?

    #2 - Does EVERY cruise have a formal night? We are only doing a 4 night, is this something they will tell us in advance about, or is it just understood? I haven't seen any information about it! 

    #3 - Realistically on the day we leave, how many hours should I plan to entertain my kids while waiting to board the ship. We depart at 4pm, do we need to be there waiting at noon? Earlier?

    I know there are more questions, not sure what at this moment! 

    I will try to answer some of the questions :

     

    1. Beach safe , in CocCay , I do not think you need it as it is a private Island of RC and very safe , you also do not need to take too much money with you, Nassau is different story, but I will invested in such Beach Safe only if all of you  planning going on the same time to swim.

    2. Usually , you should have 1 Official night (most of the times on the second day)  , but the best will be to go on this site to the cruise compass archive and find similar cruise  which can give you allot of information what to expect.

    https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass    

    Some example for a four day cruise : 

    https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/majesty-of-the-seas/mon-2018-03-05-0000

    3. The best will be to come around 10:30-11 AM , most of the chances that by 12 (and many time earlier) you will be able to board. most of the big lines start to form around  1 - 2PM when people start to come from the airport. mind that rooms are available only from 1 PM. if anything goes without issues (ship are not late, custom is not doing special checks or ship need extra cleaning) you should expect between 10 - 20 minutes (tops) lines in the check in and between 10 to 40 minutes wait to be boarded (many time not even that , our of my 6 cruise until now I had to wait only on two , all the rest was just check in and directly tot he ship). to minimize the check in time  it is highly recommended to complete the online check in at RC site. 

  12. 5 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

    Okay, every RC cruise we've been on we have gotten the primo drink package.  I plan to get it again when I cruise with my Mom in September.  Also, every time we cruise I order a 12 pack of the Evian water for my room.  

    I've been reading different places that my drink package INCLUDES bottled water!?!?!?  What kind?  What size?  So, I can just walk up to any bar and say bottled water please?  Also, I've been paying for specialty coffee drinks on all my cruises.  My package includes that too? 

    Royal doesn't get real specific on their "details" for the package so please enlighten me.  If I've been wasting money all these years I want to know so I don't repeat the same mistakes on future cruises!  

    Thank you so much in advance for the comments.  ?

     

     

    Bottle of water and special coffee includes in the package.

    The only thing which is not included is Starbucks coffee in ships which includes it , but even on thous ship you can can get special coffee (espresso base) in several locations.    

    And yes , you just go to any bar and ask for bottle of water, many times they will also have a stand of bottle water near the gangway before you go out of the ship.

    Regarding the type of water , I am not that sure , but if you ask I think you can get also Evian.

    So if you got the drinking package do not bother to get the 12 bottles.

    Even if you do not have the package you can being several bottles of water on embarkation day without any issues (beside carry them with you as they can not be with the checked items )

  13. 1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    If you can use Uber or Lyft, I would suggest that.  I have not had good experiences with cabs at FLL airport.  Most of them don't seem to want to take you such a short distance.  When we travel with our kids and used Lyft, we just got a Lyft Plus and there was plenty of space for us and luggage.  But yes, there are lots of cabs out there if you choose to do that.

    On Dec I took a cab from FLL airport to the cruise terminal , it was just me and the backpack (I drop my spouse before with the suitcases) somehow he charged me 20 $ , so yes , its better to take Uber which they can not play with the price. 

  14. On 5/10/2018 at 11:52 PM, Stephanie said:

    We are sailing on Symphony in September out of Barcelona.  (Sorry - if you see any of my replies, I think I say that in every one of them.  I'm only a teensy bit excited. :22_stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:)  I booked our flights today.  We get into Barcelona around 9 a.m. the day before the ship sails, so we will need a hotel.  Anyone have any recommendations?

    Most of the hotels in Barcelona are at most 20 Minutes from the port , most of them which are the city will be around 10 to 15 minutes, 

    Last time we stayed at 4 points Diagonal (which is on the 22 neighborhood) which was very well and 10 minutes from the port , after the cruise we too the Crown plaza which was also quite close to the port.

    If you are planning on last minute purchase (like wine) just have a look on google map near your hotel if there is a supermarket around.

    One important thing , on some of the hotels site they will show you hotels which are in Barcelona area but are actually are in near by towns , just check the distance from the city center. 

    also , usually rooms are smaller than the average room size in the US.

     

  15. I have done the BOGO on Symphony , 

    Although they ask you to choose the first night dining time they never really secure it (and not for the first time).

    Once we board the ship we went to the central park to find one of the special restaurants which were open so we can book the required restaurants.

    We went to Choop grill and it was quite easy to book the two restaurants we wanted   (Wonderland and Hooked) so it seems no restrictions.

    On day 1 we went to Wonderland and on day two to Hooked.

     

  16. 16 hours ago, twangster said:

    Not trying to pick a fight, I was hoping to learn something.  Maritime law is fascinating to me. 

    I was thinking about future cruises in 2019 and beyond and Asia came to mind.  This thread has been enlightening.  I was hoping to use the ship as a means to experience the culture by day (in port) but have a comfortable place to return to when I needed to escape it.  In this case a little too much local culture seems to be on the ship. 

    The best in that case will be to take a cruise from HKG or From Singapore , there are nice routes that goes to Vietnam on the Voyager and on the Ovation.

    On our cruise from HKG to Singapore (Taiwan and Vietnam) i never encounter any of such issues.  

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