loki007

picked up coco beach club for $125 on our december odyessey cruise. We love coco beach club but I wasn't going to spend $250 pp

Ships are not registered in the USA our laws don’t apply. They get minimal if anything per hour and rely heavily on not just mandatory gratuity but any extra tips left by guests. We started cruising on Disney when our kids were young (15 years ago) and at that time the stateroom attendant was only earning their portion of the gratuity. They also have to pay for their internet if wanted while on board. I am fine with the increased cost, these people work their tails off so I can have a great vacation. (It may affect how much extra I leave at the end of the cruise (but so does my luck in the casino )

I booked a driver on daytrip.com It was a little pricey ($100 each way) but very convenient. Pick you up right at the port.

In europe we purchased an extend your stay on celebrity which allowed us to stay on the ship until 3 PM on the final day. We had to surrender our passports to guest services in the morning and pick them up on the way off the ship. I assume that how they no you actually got off.

we were just on celebrity out of Barcelona in the Retreat and the food was awesome as expected on Celebrity. I'll say my cruises with Royal since the restart have been a disappointment on the food side. Mariner had the worst food I've ever experienced on a cruise. Hopefully they will get better. We are on Odyssey in December.

Here is the US the email referred to already comes about a week before embarkation and tells you you can arrive at 1030 or 11am, generally right after suite guests.

we were just in Italy on Celebrity and all our excursions were great except one....Castlemola and Taste of Sicily. It was a total disappointment. The tour guide was terrible. We spoke with some of the other guests after and everyone couldn't wait to be done. If ever in Messina, Sicily I highly recommend something else. We did get some pretty good tiramisu though.

if you want a perfectly relaxing day in a serene environment with great food and service I would highly recommend the beach club. Hideaway beach looks nice and is much less expensive but until it opens we won't know if its as good as it looks. I find the rest of the island too crowded if there are 2 ships there, which there normally is.

not sure there is much difference between 6 and 15 on those massive ships. Hardly feel anything.

we just got back from a 10 day european cruise. Visa is accepted literally everywhere. The only need for euros was tipping as they aren't always allowed to add it to a credit transaction. I think I spent $300 euros in cash in 10 days that I got out of an ATM in the madrid airport.

we always go to little bay in St Maarten. Super quiet, water is crystal clear, the Divi property there rents chairs and has a nice restaurant/bar.

id make 2 reservations for 4 in advance and then go there on boarding day to make sure they know you're a single party.

no need for reservation on liberty, just go a few minutes early. Make sure you go see Saturday Night Fever...its great.

I agree, Labadee is our favorite of the two unless we are buying the coco beach club...cant beat that!

Curious if I'm better off buying the Voom surf and stream during a sale on the cruise planner or waiting until on board and getting the Prime discount?

wow I thought it was just me! I completely agree. I will avoid Liberty in the future. The layout is terrible. I expect to lose a little $$ but also expect a slot bonus every now and then. These machines were the worst I have played in my life.

nothing better than some real Mexican food in Cozumel or some jerk chicken in Jamaica.

since the restart the food seems to differ significantly between ships. i like the new menu. Caribbean night was really great on my cruise last month. one of the best things with the new themed menus is the windjammer serves the same food so if you don't feel like the MDR just head to the buffet.

I have noticed the food quality varies vastly from ship to ship since the restart, not sure why? The food on Mariner was absolutley terrible (both the Windjammer and MDR) but last month on Liberty the food was great, I think my favorite meal was in the Windjammer one night.

Gold chain by the inch is my favorite...it will turn green before the cruise ends

after 10:30 the nightclub with the DJ (location varies by ship) becomes 18+ and that is enforced. There are absolutely no locations on board that are 21+, casino is also 18+, solarium as mentioned is only 16+. Maybe try a cruise line with less families...Celebrity is great.

february is hit or miss. If you can move to April I would definitely do that

I have to agree my experience on Mariner last summer was very similar. MDR food was bad and specialty was ok. Service was pretty bad. Switch to Celebrity, still a Royal company but much better food and service. We were on Apex in December and Silhouette in February and both were awesome. We do royal for 3 night weekend getaways now but never for a week.

How many in your party? We rented a private boat for 2 families (8 people) to go to St Johns and some great snorkeling spots and it was cheaper than 8 people purchasing Royal excursions. If I recall it was $800 total and remains one of our best memories. I found them on tripadvisor

you should be able to get off the ship by 8:00 am if doing self assist. Possibly earlier but never a guarantee. Probably an 1:15 to volcano bay. I bet you're there by 10:00 am