whitsmom

Just now, HeWhoWaits said:

You've got some great grandkids!

Absolutely! On our Oasis cruise in 2017, our 2 youngest Grands made our first ever door sign out of construction paper and I loved how it made finding our door so much easier.  We are cruising out of New Orleans in November with the Grands and can't wait to start using it.

I would rather have 2 bathrooms than the extra points. 

We like Go Shuttle and have used them many times in varies airports to get to our hotel.  They have an app that is easy to use.

Look what my Grands gave us for Christmas.  We can't wait to use it!!

10 hours ago, bhageerah said:

ABSOLUTELY!!  Alaska was the most expensive cruise EVER, but I will say that it was worth every cent.  Wait until you have booked your cruise and are able to access the cruise compass and are able to see the prices for shore excursions...... just make sure that you are sitting down!!!  That being said, I knew that I was going to enjoy it but did not realize that I would enjoy it as much as I did and look forward to my next Alaskan cruise.  

We were on the Radiance in July this year for the Northbound (Vancouver to Seward) and a three day inland cruise tour with RCI.  It was by far our most expensive trip but it was by far our favorite trip EVER!  It was worth every penny and we are already saying we need to go back as there was still so much we want to see and do.  It was a bucket list for us and we were not disappointed.

2 hours ago, mworkman said:

Were you in a Suite?

No, we had ocean view balcony

We did a 7-day Alaska cruise and a 3 day land tour (July 2018) and received 10 points.

They cannot be opened up on the Radiance class.  We tried this past summer on our Alaska cruise.

I think it is spring water; however, I am not 100% now that I am thinking about it.  We drank lots of bottle water but for the life of me I guess I didn't look too close.

We keep the last empty Rx bottle and use that bottle when traveling.  I usually put what we need and a few extra just in case.  This was a suggestion from a pharmacist years ago.  We have never had issue with them being checked; however, we're covered just in case.  

We were on the Radiance this summer and saw many smaller kids on all of our excursions.  I would bring a umbrella stroller enjoy Alaska!  We did whale watching, boat ride to see eagles, Mendenhall glacier (easy walkable with a stroller) and many other things.  Just maybe pack some prepackaged snacks and water for the little one.

14 hours ago, RatedPG said:

A couple I met while playing a game last night said it got better after the third drink... ha ha

We found it to be a little to "CHEESY" for our tastes but the food was good. 

1.  Scheduling ahead and paying for our cruise and extras a little at a time.

2.  Seeing difference parts of the world that otherwise would be left in our bucket list.

3.  I love sitting on my balcony with the vastness of nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see and then the wonder of seeing a new port over the horizon.

4.  We love having all the difference food choices and options.

We stayed at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel.  Very nice hotel and no too far from the port.  One of us was using a knee scooter and needed a van-type taxi.  The hotel said that would not be a guarantee so we paid the hotel driver $25 cash to drop us off at the port.

1 minute ago, KWofPerth said:

We just bought the photo package for $225 and got 147 photos (digital, not prints). All very high quality, so we're happy.

As well as onboard, every time we stepped onto one of the islands the photographers were there ready to take our photos so we took every opportunity to have our snaps taken.

We did this on the Oasis with the family.  We took every opportunity to get our pictures made and we were very happy with them all.

Yes on both!

We did the Northbound this summer and LOVED every second of it!

22 hours ago, whitsmom said:

They did; however, you still have to pay 20% service fee.  We opted for 3 person free (3 cabins with 3rd person free) and specialty dinners.  As we are taking our daughter, son-n-law and all 5 grands just made better sense.  The bottled water and specialty coffees are where I would spend the most anyway and they aren't even included.  I think we can take two bottles of wine with us per cabin but I will have to check to be sure.  As my oldest Grandson is 22, we will be able to carry on 6 bottles of wine.

Well, I just looked and the Drink Package is now $99/day

50 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

@whitsmom, I'm surprised they didn't have the Free at Sea offer going when you booked, where you could have gotten the drink package included in your booking fare. Seems like that promo is always going; it's worse than the perpetual BOGO50 on Royal's site!

They did; however, you still have to pay 20% service fee.  We opted for 3 person free (3 cabins with 3rd person free) and specialty dinners.  As we are taking our daughter, son-n-law and all 5 grands just made better sense.  The bottled water and specialty coffees are where I would spend the most anyway and they aren't even included.  I think we can take two bottles of wine with us per cabin but I will have to check to be sure.  As my oldest Grandson is 22, we will be able to carry on 6 bottles of wine.

On our Norwegian cruise next November their drink package is $89/day and that does NOT include bottle water or specialty coffees.  They don't even have a non-alcohol version.... AND to make matters even worse...they have Pepsi products!

That would be $1,246 for hubby and me for drinking and there is NO way I'm doing that.  Needless to say, this will probably be our first and last Norwegian cruise.  

28 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

There sure is. Have a TA do it for you! 

Oh I will; however, I want to look at them first before I narrow it down.  It's hard to obsess over it all if I can't find them

Is there an easier way to search for cruises on RCI website?  I'm interested in Europe (British Isles area) and it only gives me like one week.  I am sure that I am doing something wrong.  I want to see what dates are available to see if that will work for us.  Maybe 2019 or possible 2020. 

We have three vacations already scheduled for 2019 (Punta Cana in February (work trip), Gulf Shores (my brother in law owns a condo there) in July, and a Norwegian cruise out of New Orleans in November.  But still might squeeze in one more if the timing is right.

They used to have a spread sheet type of page with each ship and their destinations and when.  However, I cannot find anything like that now.

I've sent then a check (via online banking) and got a confirmation email from RCI when they received on check.

3 hours ago, Matt said:

Here's the 2020-2021 deployment schedule: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/10/09/royal-caribbean-announces-2020-2021-deployment-opening-schedule-dates

Awesome this was what I was looking for!

We are looking into cruising 2020 that will include Norway. When will those itineraries roll out?  Also, is it even possible to see the Aurora from there (if possible, when would be the most optimum time frame)?  

We may have to do a land vacation to achieve the Aurora due to the cruise ships not going "prime viewing" time.  Doing a land vacation so far away scares me a bit as that is out of my comfort level (unless we can get into a tour of some sort).

We would love to go in 2019; however, we are already doing Punta Cana in Feb (work trip), Orange Beach in July, and a Norwegian cruise out of New Orleans in November and we haven't retired yet (5 more years)!