Quilter620

I am looking ahead to my 2022 cruise that stops at Nassau and St. Martin. I would like to do a beach excursion, but I am very sensitive to the sun. Do you know if any of the Royal Caribbean excursions include umbrellas?

The nightly salmon offering in the MDR. I have never seen such a sad little dried out piece of fish.

On 7/30/2020 at 6:11 PM, JLMoran said:

Escargots!!!! MY GOD, DO NOT THINK ABOUT TOUCHING THE ESCARGOTS!!!!!

 

EDIT: Unless there's actually a way to make them better. I mean, this is the head chef who actually made Sorrento's pizza fairly decent. Imagine what he can do with something that's already at the level of "OMG!"

I enjoy Royal Caribbean's escargot, but it would be so much better if they added more fresh parsley.

@kittysoul I don't remember the exact time, but it was around 2-3 hours including lunch. Hopefully someone who has done the tour more recently can give you more correct times.

We did this excursion years ago and loved it. The beach "resort" (it was a glorified tiki hut with a bar) was quite the bus ride away. Everyone had to leave the ruins and go to the beach together. There were several small shops and restaurants at the entrance to the ruins if you didn't want to take the walking tour. The ruins and tour were fantastic. I would have happily skipped the beach break for more time there, but that wasn't an option.

@Matt thank you for the informainformation, I was afraid that might be the case. I will cross my fingers and pray the cruise sails.

Does anyone have experience canceling airfare on Priceline. Are tickets refundable? We bought airfare for our chartered RC cruise in March 2021, but it looks as though the charter company will cancel. I'm just trying to be prepared for the worst. 

I am wondering if they will begin limiting guests to 2 per stateroom except for 2 bedroom suites. Families of 4 would then have to get 2 connecting rooms or a suite.

It was still shut down in March 2020 when we tried to go this year.

We got the digital photo package on our last cruise when it was on sale in the CP for $149, and were very pleased. The two of us had approximately 70 pictures taken over the week. Photos during embarkation, when entering a port, and in the dining room were all included. They also had several photo stations set up each evening. We loved the green screen photos. It was always exciting to see the surprise backgrounds. 

Is it possible to make reservations for embarkation day at Chops if you don't have the Key or are in a suite?

I just switched to hard sided luggage and will never go back to soft side. I bought the Samantha brown 30" and 26" suitcases. They are extremely lightweight, expandable, and protect everything very, very well. I only have two complaints,  the silver color shows black marks from the conveyer belts very clearly,  and it is the claim shell design which makes balancing the 30" suitcase on a luggage rack challenging to unpack. I switched to hard sided luggage after a trip to Baltimore when my luggage sat on the tarmac for over an hour in a thunderstorm. All of my conference clothes were soaked through. I spent the evening trying to dry them with the hotel's blow dryer. Luckily my room, had an iron. 

We just booked yesterday for March 2021. We got non-stop round trip ticks from Indianapolis to Miami for $400 with trip protection. Last year we waited until 6 months out and ended up paying even more. 

@Robert in SF the Star Trek cruise was amazing.  It was a nonstop convention at sea. People who had never been to a convention were upset by the lines for autographs and pictures, but I thought the lines moved very fast and were well organized. We booked again for next year and can't wait. I highly suggest that you join the Facebook group for cruise V. If you have any specific questions I will be glad to answer them if I can.

@tonyfsu21 thank you for the tip. I will be sure to book on a larger ship next time.

Do all Royal Caribbean ships allow smoking in the casino? I was on the Explorer of the Seas last month and the smoke was so bad the it billowed up into the promenade and all through deck 4. I am very sensitive to smoke and it ruined what should have been a dream vacation. Do other classes of ships have an enclosed casino?

@TonyCornwall. I appoligize, my information may have been out of date with as quickly as things are changing. Someone from the STTC IV page posted that they received information from Royal Caribbean that the refit was still happening, but things may have changed. I'm waiting to hear an official response.

52 minutes ago, Mljstr said:

I would get a coronavirus test.

@Mljstr I went to the doctor as soon as I got home. What I have is bacterial, not viral. I'm on antibiotics, and it's slowly clearing up.

5 minutes ago, YOLO said:

Gee I am sorry to hear that!  I am a believer in zink so I take ZiCam when on cruises.  

My cabin mate took the ZiCam gummies and she stayed healthy. I may switch to those for my cruise next year. 

I was on the Explorer last week and walked past numerous crew while they were cleaning. We didn't notice any chemical scent. I think Royal Caribbean is being very careful to use non-scented cleaners for those of us who are sensitive to that kind of thing. My cabin mate has severe reactions to cleaners and she was fine all week.

I just received notification from my chartered cruise group that the Explorer's amplification is going to continue as planned.

I will be sure to take airborne twice a day. This has been my normal routine when traveling for years. I just got off a 7 day cruise on the Explorer last week. They were doing such a great job sanitizing the ship I got lax in taking my airborne (I still practiced religious hand washing). I now have bronchitis and an ear infection. 

Thank you very much to whomever posted that veggie burgers are available on request at the windjammer. They were a major staple for me last week.

Does anyone know if they are vegan?  I'm currently a vegetarian so it wasn't a problem this cruise, but my husband and I plan to transition to a vegan diet by our next cruise.

@twangster thank you so much for the clarification. I'm glad to know I can get still get pizza somewhere on the ship after the buffet closes.

Can anyone tell me if there is a Sorrento's on the Explorer of the Seas? I thought it was on every ship like the Cafe Promenade. Thanks.