LetsTryThisPlace

For the 2 cruises I have done (that I paid for at least) were purchased around the 90-day mark. It can be cheaper but is risky in the fact that not much is left and could just as easily get higher. For my MSC cruise, there was a sale that was way too good to pass up so I booked it over a year in advance. I also don't book directly and use another site. I actually combine 2 sites (travelocity and ebates) who sometimes have sales to give you 14% back in a rebate (this comes 6 weeks after your trip.) When I get everything from my last cruise I'm putting it towards our next cruise deposit. It all depends how risky you want to play it though. If you have a certain ship and time I would book in advance. If you are like me and don't know your schedule until 2-3 months before try the 90 day mark.

1 minute ago, RBRSKI said:

I am trying to think of companies that truly have sales that people respect!  Ok, here goes RBRSKI again with Southwest.  I really have no connection or stock with this company but they have sales that really reflect in the pricing.  Believe it or not, we are taking a non cruise vacation in June to bring our son up to the Navel Academy for a Summer Seminar program.  Four of us one way from FLL to BWI 73 per person INCLUDING TWO PIECES OF LUGGAGE

Southwest's low prices are not so much sale prices as they are just good low prices. Coming from the Cayman Islands we have to fly to FLL with Southwest as that is the only hub they go to. Sale or not the price is always the same (cheaper than anyone else that comes here.) Not saying the prices aren't good by any means. Just in my experience, they have the same sale tactics as everyone. 

6 minutes ago, twangster said:

I had to unsubscribe from NCL for this reason

Wait why was @twangster subscribed to NCL? I thought you were all over RCL now, should have done that a long time ago lol.

I saw this yesterday and it really intrigued me and I was thinking if they do this I may actually get off the ship for it lol.

14 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

When a Royal cruise stops at San Juan for the day they use the docks nearer to Old San Juan.  It's the cruises that start/end in San Juan that use the Panamerican Pier across the harbor.

I'm guessing the other pier is cheaper for them. They would be holding a prime spot for an entire day.

I would say yes, if a better deal comes you can always cancel and re-order it at the lower price. That's not a bad price.

I never knew there were multiple piers. When we were there on Freedom we docked right near Old San Juan with many other ships. 

2 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

God, I just wished they would stop with all the "New" sales they offer!  The only thing changing is the wording which equates to NOTHING.  And then I love when they say "only four hours left"  or "Sales has been Extended"   

Please Please Please Marketing and Sales for RCCL, lets start having some real sales!!!!  I would say one every quarter, hell, I would be happy with once a month!

Anyway, Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!  We leave on the Allure Sunday!!!!!  Sorry about the rant!!!

Thing is it's not just Royal, they all try to trick new cruisers with this sale or this thing is included or some other bonus but when you calculate it, it's still the same price.

I agree with @tiny260 that sounds like a good price. I think the cheapest I saw on Freedom was around $120 and never saw any on board discounts.

I must agree with the Lava Flow, both my wife and I really enjoyed it.

Also, the Royal Castle was a nice strong drink with lots of citruses. I think even your husband may enjoy that one (minus the cup it comes in, although I thought it was fun but with alcohol package it would be extra anyways so just skip the cup ;) )

6 minutes ago, TNphilp said:

I will look for your blog regarding your trip.  I'm a flight attendant, off to Tampa this evening for a quick trip.  Then off to San Francisco on Saturday.

I was close lol.

Great blog, I always wanted to work on a cruise but my wife says no, happy wife happy life ;)

On 3/13/2018 at 9:20 PM, Floski said:

@JLMoran - I just went and double-checked and the Blue Mountain was $45.  I never, ever would spend that at home, but that's what vacations are about, right?  

 

$45 actually sounds like it must have gone up in price. I thought it was less than that here (will need to check when I'm at the store again).

5 hours ago, CHRIS WONG said:

@Floski Is liquor cheaper on the ships compared to the airports?

It depends, I kicked myself once as I saw a great deal with Johnny Walker Blue and the Reserve for $225 and I oued and awwed and at the airport, the same combo was about $300. There has been other times that the cruise is tricky like 3 for ... but if its only 2 of us we really can only bring back 2 (at least to cayman).

On 3/9/2018 at 12:37 PM, Floski said:

Hey Chris - has anyone ever bought one of these (or similar)?

Do you guys make any kind of commission or incentive if you were to sell one?

If I won the lottery this would be the first thing I bought and a really nice box of cigars. 

On 3/9/2018 at 7:03 PM, Renee Siao said:

Please take a photo of the Schooner Bar and say hello to Jayne (entertainer)from Renee in Toronto 

Almost forgot to share this with you, however, didn't see anyone named Jayne when we went by and I checked later too, may have just happened to miss them though. 

I just got off Freedom and I must say it is a great ship. You can get an idea on my live blog that I did. We did its current position out of Ft. Lauderdale and are planning to do the San Juan side in 2020 (almost booked on the cruise but will talk about that elsewhere). The ship is great for all ages, even walking the ship I noticed a great mix of ages. When I was in San Juan for the day we didn't see much in the main area of the city but did see some once we left towards the mountains for our excursion (Totally recommend it if you have time after your cruise.) If you have any questions of the ship its self ask away. 

37 minutes ago, TNphilp said:

I have only flown into and out of Aruba and Curacao on day trips, the passengers always speak highly of both islands.

It sounds like you're a pilot?

Note: Not cruise related directly but may still be useful when cruising from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.

I also just wanted to mention 2 hotels that we stayed at after the cruise and also I rental car warning lol and (why are we always the last ones to get our luggage, wait where is everyone, Oh No! lol). The first hotel was the Nuvo hotel in Miami, very nice and updated property with a full little kitchen and breakfast included. Was a very nice little hotel for those needing somewhere to stay in Miami for a few days.

The other was the Best Western in Ft. Lauderdale, not as nice as the Nuvo but close to the airport and close to the port. It was one of the better of the cheaper options when I was booking so might be something to look into. It also had free breakfast. 

The rental car.....one of my favourite looking cars the Camero SS. Beautiful, powerful, great car. Being so powerful it was a great car to drive. However, if you are ever offered one as a rental I would decline for 2 reasons. 1st reason, no room, if you have luggage you will have a hard time fitting it. We had stuff in the trunk and the backseats and it's only the 2 of us. 2nd boy does it drink gas 3/4 of a tank in 2 days with medium driving   which came to $30 to fill.

So finally our flight home. It was sad to say goodbye but we did and we had a great trip and had so much fun. So we got to the airport a touch late and got to the counter with about 1:30 till our flight, not a bad thing as there was virtually no line at the Southwest counter. Got through in about 10 minutes, security was empty but was still going slow but still pretty quick maybe 15 minutes. Everything went smoother (maybe too smooth). Then we got home did the usual custom line and all and found out our luggage didn't make it. Thankfully Southwest's service is great and they took great care of us and it arrived the next day. I will be taking them again for sure (even though they lost our stuff lol.) 

Until next time, Josh out... (unless you have more questions lol)

On 3/12/2018 at 12:31 PM, twangster said:

@LetsTryThisTech - curious how much GigSky you consumed for the cruise?  Does it provide a usage report? 

Would you use it again for another cruise?

It was great. So giving an idea of what I used. I turned off most things on my phone to give data to the primary things, (work phone app, whatsapp, emails, and periscope.) I could still use the other apps they just wouldnt use background data. I periscoped multiple times from St. Kitts, St. Maarten, and Labadee (Caribbean plan) I some how only used 112MB out of my 500MB plan which was only $20 US. For the North American plan that covers Puerto Rico and my Florida trip including maps usage and lots of other stuff trying to kill my data I only used 420MB. I purchased a 1GB plan and it got bumped to 1.5GB (I'm guessing as a first time bonus type thing) which was $20 US. If you are from the US you will only need the Caribbean plan but I needed both. Luckily for me, I can still use the rest of my data here (well once they figure out why it doesn't work in Cayman). Oh, yes lastly, so I got home and decided to try it here and I have tried many different things but nothing seems to get it to work here. Support is looking into it as all things considering it should, I mean I had no issues anywhere but here. It doesn't provide a usage report per-say but it tells you the remaining usage. My phone also records how much I use so I can check that too. I would definitely use it again. Now that I have learnt how much I use I might go with the 500MB North American plan for $15 (although for $5 it is a good deal just in case). I'm not sure what the costs are for plans like AT&T for roaming but for our pricing it is worth it and will be sharing the sim with my family since all they will have to do is top it up and go. They did have a deal (not sure if they still do) where they were giving the sim for free, I bought mine on Amazon for $10 as I wanted to make sure it made it to me on time. 

Sorry for my delay on the last sea days post. It was very busy and then just never stopped lol. Finally home and slowly getting back to things (not that I want to lol) So we started the day with ice skating. After many years I started to get back into it like riding a bike. We then headed to chops for our lunch reservations (not that they were needed). Lunch was pretty good but to be honest I am not sure it was worth the extra fee compared to Giovanni's or even the MDR. As someone with allergies I did everything I thought I was supposed to, I called before the cruise and they put a note on my file. On the first sea day I went to Chops and confirmed they had the note of my allergies and asked if they needed anything else which they said no. I then went to Chops and was told I should have placed my order before so I ended up with a limited menu. We never touched the bread as it had nuts in it (to anyone who can eat nuts, does that even taste that good?) I started with the Beef Carpaccio which was alright. Sandra tried the wedge which she liked too. I then had the Roasted Half Chicken which was the best part of the meal. Sandra then had the Filet Mignon and loved it. For desert Sandra had the Red Velvet Cake, which I was told before was nut free then Chops informed me it wasn't, so I couldn't have it.  Sandra did enjoy it. They then got me Pavlova with strawberry coulis and kiwi for desert because of my allergies (it was not the greatest) and Lemon panna cotta with strawberry sauce from Giovanni's. Both of these had a strawberry sauce that tasted more of a jam then a sauce. It was very disappointing that some how my allergy warnings got missed and I was not informed to preorder my Chops order (I don't understand the need for this as even at other fancy restaurants normally have better solutions for these). I also never had any deserts from the buffee as I was told they were not safe for me and my question is, with so many kids on board, who don't always think, why wouldn't they be a little more allergy friendly? (end of slight rant lol)

I then decided to try climbing. The line was long but found out that was because some kids where holding up the line so they could go on certain walls, so once the line realized that it started to move a little better and I got on pretty quickly. The first wall was pretty easy, then.....the next wall was where I met my match lol. I got up about 80% of the way and just couldn't get myself the rest. This was one of the curved walls and was so fun and challenging but it got me on the first run and I was out lol. I'm not used to the way they harness you in and the delay in the line catching you is a little scary. I am used to someone holding you as you repel down and having your weight caught right away. There is a slight delay in their lines and it tricks your mind into thinking your falling. If I did it more I would get used to it but freaked me out at first. 

We then went and played a game of mini golf. It was interesting but we both agreed they could have had some more decorations with only one bird and many rocks. Could be a little more lively and fun if they put some interactive things in but I guess is just some bonus stuff for everyone to try. It was fun all the same. 

We lost track of time and realized it was almost time for the parade so we went looking for seats but there weren't any left so we headed up to the room to watch from there. We had a pretty good sight but wasn't great for pictures or the periscope I tried to do lol.

After that it was dinner time. It was back to the MDR for us and we scheduled our Anniversary dinner to be on the last sea day as a nice way to round off the trip. So we had the caesar again to start. I had the braised lamb shank which was the best lamb I have ever had. It tasted like a braised short rib we have at a restaurant here mixed with lamb which was a killer combo I must admit. Sandra got the battered cod which she thought was alright. For desert they brought us strawberry cheesecake with a happy anniversary song (replace birthday with anniversary) which was a nice touch. For those wondering, they never gave us anything extra. We did get some coupons and similar items but the amount you have to spend to use them is well outside our budget lol. We brought a Chandon (same as the $65 bottle on Royal's site but $15 at Walmart) which surprisingly lasted us most of the cruise. I did have a few other mixed drinks and Sandra got hooked on the virgin Lava flow and I enjoyed the alcohol version better (yes you do taste a difference in it). I also really enjoyed the royal castle. There were 2 shows to end the cruise. Both had been missed because someone broke the theater (their words not mine) but was able to go on before we ended. The First one was Once Upon a Time which is based on the common fairy tales and was in a modern way with modern music and another scene where red riding hood was driving a car and it had road signs about her getting lost. It was a great performance. There was one scene that we had troubles with the lights shining in everyone's eyes on the 2nd floor (try to get the 1st floor if you can.) It was a great way to end the cruise and then we had one of the funniest comedians I have heard live, Michele. She had the entire room laughing and it just added to the great ending of the cruise. We still repeat some of her jokes to each other and break out laughing lol.

Final verdict, Sandra has approved more cruises. Although I may be restricted to 1 cruise a year unless I can get a great deal and it needs to be Royal (well after our MSC cruise next year.) We are planning another trip on Freedom in 2020 once she moves to San Juan and will do the Southern Caribbean since we have done most of the rest. I have to say it was a great ship and I loved it. Not sure I'll get the drink package next time but it was great. Also one last point, I couldn't find the smoothie place so I asked one of the bar staff and they told me Freedom doesn't have it, so no fresh smoothies for me but had many other options. (I may have slightly cheated and bought the virgins while Sandra got the mixed and would switch but hey they got my money still so I don't feel bad.)

7 hours ago, RestingBirds said:

After having it fresh in the restaurant, then a little while later in my room, I'd be hesitant to try the already packaged sushi from the express.

Ya, you really don't know when they were made. I would prefer to get them out as soon as they get made. 

5 hours ago, Renee Siao said:

Please take a photo of the Schooner Bar and say hello to Jayne (entertainer)from Renee in Toronto 

I will try to remember to take one tomorrow for you.

57 minutes ago, mom2mybugs said:

What is your scope name?  Jane

My Periscope name is @LetsTryThisPlace 

So today was Laberdee. I have to say coming from Cayman it really isn't much for us. My original plan for today was to go to the floating bar and have a Laberdoozy. We got off the ship a little before 2, I then went to look for the floating bar. I must admit I really thought it would have been more towards the cove side as it was much calmer there. We found it we went to go into the water and realized it was too cold for us. Not extremely Cole but for us, it was too cold lol. So no floating bar for us. We also found they were also all out of Laberdoozies everywhere. After 0/2 we walked around and took some photos for you guys with some hints. 

If you would like to avoid the market there is a walkway just after the gold card area on the right side. We found this on the way back so we didn't have to be asked to look at every stall (I swear just looking over at them that they all have the exact same stuff???). If you are interested in some stuff but don't want to be pushed as much, then I would recommend the first shop that looks kind of like a barn.

When we got back on the boat I discovered the Royal Castle and although a little strong is so good. Very flavorful and a lot of citrus, its really good)

For dinner we both had the caesar salad to start again. Sandra also got the tomato seafood risotto.

Sandra had the chicken coq au vin which she liked. I got the Royal Strip Loin first and didn't like the olive taste it had, the table next to us also found it to be a little tough. I then got the baked perch instead and that was really good (no photo of the perch)

For desert, I had the cheesecake and apple pie again. I'm not sure if they read my post because now it went from 3 raisins to a whole box lol. Not sure why they are there still. Sandra got the cheese plate.

We then came home to find this little guy.

This is proof that Royal's IT doesn't follow proper release protocols. You never should do your changes on your live system until there is a tested version. They weren't even ready in the first place never mind trying to do testing on it. This is why version releases are important.

So its food post time :). Today was actually kind of fun because they brought out the kitchen staff to parade around and introduce themselves. It was also lobster night. Sandra and I ended up splitting 3 between us and a prime rib (soooo worth it) we did start with the caesar salad but didn't take a photo because it was the same as my previous post, we'll just say I've had it 3 nights in a row.

For desert we both had the chocolate molten cake and was so good. My only complaint was the crust could have been a touch more crispy but still had great flavor.

The kitchen staff

The shows got canceled for "technical difficulties" and the comedy show got adjusted in time and moved to Studio B. When we got back to the room we found this guy waiting for us.

So it was a great day at the window caves. Our guide, Ernesto, was very detailed and very helpful. Here are some photos from the window cave's property.

Sadly because Royal said they need to rush so we reach Laberdee on time (which I am not looking forward to) we missed most of San Juan itself and had to be all aboard by 1:30. This was very disappointing as I wanted to spend a few hours and not feel rushed. For us we can get the Laberdee experience without all the extra fees Royal tries to up charge you with. We had around 30-45 minutes to explore Old San Juan to look for a shot class and a local beer. Here is what we saw.

2 hours ago, twangster said:

How is the Gigasky SIM working out?

So far its worked out great would highly recommend it. I've been able to scope at every stop with barely any issues. The issues I have had was just network coverage which isn't the sims fault. One thing to note for those from outside the US is that it needs multiple packages if using it on a cruise and in the US. I must admit being my first time I have A LOT of data left lol. 

1 hour ago, RamblingRandie said:

Excellent review so far. I have the 4x4 Jeep tour with beach planned when I am there next month. I would imagine it will be similar. Have a great rest of your trip and thanks for sharing.

Did you book it with the cruise or independently? I ask because they do both together, we had a larger family in a jeep while the others were on the ATVs and the had a couple other jeeps parked near by.

12 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Im hoping not!  I will be there march 27 and hoping to meet the sting rays!  Jane

I'm sure it will be fine for you :) we have a backup port so its rare we get missed but does happen. I think of all last month they missed once.

We are on the bus now heading back to San Juan from the Window caves which was amazing and I'll post some pictures once we are back on the ships WiFi. I would say that the locals are happy that people are visiting again and I noticed something that I never thought of. While we were waiting for the bus I noticed a generator near the main area. This would explain how they can keep going even when somewhere else is having issues. Also never thought of just how big Puerto Rico really is. When they say 40% is without power I would expect most of those to be outside the main cities. We were talking on the way and I think we might have to start planning a trip on freedom again after she moves to San Juan for the south.