PatsFanBrian

I just found this place a couple of weeks ago as well and I've been cruising since '06. Can't believe I never bothered to look around. I've learned a few things already. I look forward to sharing experiences and continuing to learn (there's always something new to learn).

My wife accompanied her mother on a cruise 14 years ago and enjoyed enough to book a cruise for us the following year. We haven't lost our love for it.

Hijacks are the life blood of a good message board (I've been an admin of a Patriots message board for 17 years).

Everyone has their own style of vacation that they enjoy and that's usually where I steer the conversation. An analogy, I love attending NFL games, full day, tailgating, etc. I had a friend who loved concerts, Grateful Dead style. I would take him to a game and he would take me to a concert. We were both respectively bored. We finally agreed to do our own thing, remained great friends.

Holy Hijack, Batman

It's not just corporate RC you'd be hitting, but the servers and bartenders. They earn a small wage and depend on the gratuities . Double dipping on the drink package takes money from their pockets as well.

Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion were on back to back every afternoon in my part of the world.

Sailing out of Boston 9/22/19, Serenade to Bermuda.

You can reserve times for MTD from your Calendar in the Planner. MTD is classified as an activity. Click on My Calendar, the click "Add Activity", select Dining, select your day. When the dining activities pop up, find My Time Dining then add it to your cart. At that point, you can select the passengers and you'll be presented with a list of possible times. You'll eventually check out and you're all set.

I had the same question a couple of months ago. I called RC to understand. I was told that the discount is based on the on-board price of the package. According to the person I spoke with, the non-sale price you see on the planner is already discounted and the further discount is reflected in the sale price. and spread across two packages. I'm not really believing that's the case, but until I get on board and see the "day of" price, I have no way to verify it. Currently, I can get $51/day/person. Prior to the current offer, it was $55 in the planner. The current sale is 50% off the 2nd package. So that would mean that the on-board price of the package would have to be around $65/person to make that logic work. There's a lot of corporate language that goes into how they market these sales. The bottom line is to assess your expectations for all beverages (alcoholic and otherwise) and estimate how much you may end up spending. Add in how much you value the convenience of having your cost fixed as opposed to keeping track of what you're spending as the cruise goes along. For me, $50/day is right at the breaking point.

Make sure you have all the necessary documents ready when you arrive. Double and triple check. Nothing will get you off to a bad start than having to go through an extra long check in because you forgot something. Do as much online check in as possible. Research your ports as much as possible. The folks at the excursion desk are very helpful, but the lines to speak with them will get long as the port arrival time gets closer. If you or your kids have any special requirements, call RC ahead of time and ask. They are very good at having what you need ready to go when you arrive. Be aware that you may not get your luggage until later in the day on embarkation day, so make sure you have what you need for the afternoon in a carry-on. Not sure of the actual ages of your kids, but RC us very good at organized activities for kids of all ages. Look into what they offer and make sure you don't have to sign up ahead of time to take advantage of them.

No, Serenade out of Boston on 9/22

I understand. We all have our passions. Why do people spend time in the casino or sitting at a bar or in the theater playing Bingo or trivia? I think of it as another form of on board entertainment and a chance to meet total strangers with the same interest as me. There's something for everyone.

Interesting. As I said, never used it and I always wondered how it could work with the quick stops. That makes sense.

From what I understand, you need to inquire if the two end points provide checked baggage. I think it's available mostly at the major stations. The amtrak website says to check prior to the trip to ensure it's available.

The NE Corridor does have checked luggage, but I'm not sure it's available at all stations. I travel from Providence to Penn Station. Both stations have a desk to check luggage and I've seen people use them. I've never used it, so I can't say how efficient or reliable it is.

If I could avoid driving and parking, I would. But limos or ride shares will cost as much as the 7 days to park (140-160) at the terminal and the rates at hotels are double. Fortunately, we'll be driving on on Sunday morning and traffic will be light. At least we'll have the convenience of going directly to our car and being home by 10-11 AM at the end of it.

I really like the Playmakers bar, I hope that becomes a standard on all ships. One thing I always felt was lacking on my cruises was a good setting for watching games. We usually cruise during the NFL season, but the accommodations haven't always been the best for watching. There's nothing like a great sports venue with fans from many teams watching with each other.

Sorry for any misinformation, I checked with my wife and she recalls that there was a charge for the shuttle that was added to the overall package. It's been nearly five years and my recall wasn't very good. I was mixing it up with another cruise when we flew from Newark to PR and the hotel provided a free airport shuttle. We stayed in Elizabeth, I believe it was a Country Inn near a large mall. We were on a 10 day cruise and parking was included in the package. Even with the shuttle charge, it was still a good deal. By getting there a day early, we were able to watch a Pats game at the nearby restaurant, the next morning get some Christmas shopping done at the local mall and still have plenty of time to get to the ship (about a 20 minute ride). Our cruise next month will be the first that we don't stay in a hotel the night before (out of Boston, a 1 hr ride for us). We're just the types who prefer to get where we need to be a day early and leave less to chance, especially when flying.

We specifically picked a cruise out of Boston so we wouldn't have to fly or spend a night in a hotel (we live 30 miles from the port). All combined, we're probably paying at least $1,000 less than if we had to get to NJ or FL. This is the 1st cruise where we didn't have to factor the travel cost into the budget. I wish RC had more sailings out of Boston. Now if we can just find a friend to drive us there and back, we can save $140 for parking.

When we cruised out of Port Liberty a few years ago, we stayed in a hotel near Newark airport the night before. Most of the hotels in that area have packages that include one night, parking for the duration of the cruise and free shuttles to and from the port. It certainly is less hassle than getting up early and dealing with several hours of traffic along with the boarding process.

32 days until we sail to Bermuda after a 2 year vacation break (including a forced cancellation of a Mediterranean cruise in-between) and first time back to Bermuda since our honeymoon 37 years ago. We began booking our reservations this past weekend and that just amped up the anticipation.

For years, I was always one cruise behind my wife (7 pts). She was up to Emerald and I was still at Platinum. We mentioned it to our travel agent and she told us to go to C&A desk on-board and it would be taken care of. Sure enough, it took just a few minutes and I was bumped up to Emerald and our memberships are now linked. We were told that we will always be at the higher of the 2 levels.

Hi Folks, first time poster but veteran cruiser. It was asked earlier if the increase in the package prices means an increase in the per drink prices on-board. I didn't see an answer and I'd still be curious to know. My wife and I purchased the deluxe package for the 1st time on our last cruise (2 years ago). We ended up liking it for the convenience, and when we included the deluxe coffee, OJ and bottled waters, we ended up on the plus side (kept track because we were curious). We hemmed and hawed for our upcoming cruise in September and then decided that we'd purchase it when the next sale popped up, which it did today. Of course, I see the same increase that everyone else is seeing. In total, it's not huge (47 vs 51), but it does add up. We don't mind trading convenience for a little bit of cash, but we don't want to get hosed. So all that stated, I'm still wondering if this package increase also reflects an increase of the on-board per drink prices. The only price chart I've seen was for Oasis and from what I've read, prices are more expensive on the big ships compared to others (we'll be on Serenade).