monorailmedic

Interesting. Probably appreciated by some of the local restaurants too. Oh, I love overnight stops - no question there. In the Med for example it can be great. I was just surprised to see Nassau in particular.

I was just browsing some options for a quick getaway between now and the September group cruise and saw the Empress sailing on June 30th. I noticed it overnights in Nassau, but honestly can't think of why they might be doing this instead of a sea day. Sure they don't have fuel costs that way, but they're paying more to the port, and can't open the casinos or shops, so it seems like a real revenue ding without the incentive other ports might have for overnight stays. Thoughts? BH

The World has full kitchens in the units. You basically purchase a condo on board, and the extreme condo fees go towards fuel, maintenance, and such. The condo association votes on where to sail. It's just a bit out of my price range. http://aboardtheworld.com/

There is only one way to find out. Research.

Glad to be of assistance. I haven't been to Zadar, but on that same trip we did go to Dubrovnik and I think we just walked the city (though I also thought we did a tour in every port, so I'll check) - it was lovely. Many (certainly not all) of the smaller Med ports are very walk-able in that way. Not sure if anyone else on the boards might be able to chime in on Zadar. You could try opening a thread about the destination and see what comes of it.

This is our plan, though I wouldn't live on an RCCL ship. Nothing against Royal at all, but I'd want to be on a ship doing constantly changing itineraries to a wider variety of places. This becomes somewhat limiting to smaller luxury lines (Crystal, Silversea, Regent, Oceania, etc) but it's hard for me to imagine the constant turnaround days, deck parties, etc, while spending time running the same handful of itineraries.

Hi cruise-y, First off welcome to the site. I've cruised Oceania a few times and in fact visited Montenegro while sailing on the Marina a couple years ago. Kotor was actually one of our favorite ports, perhaps in part because it was so unexpectedly pleasant. We did a walking tour (through Oceania). I don't recall the name of the tour, but I can see if I happen to have it at home. It *may* have been "Town Of Kotor & Bay Of Kotor Heritage (KOY-004)" on https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Mediterranean-cruises/port-kotor-KOY/excursions/#all. One highlight was a short (~3 min) boat ride to Our Lady of The Rocks, which is a tiny island/church/museum. I'd try and make sure any excursion you take visits this island. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Rocks https://goo.gl/kgoqyK Oceania's excursions have, in our experience, been top notch. The groups are usually very reasonable in size, and the guides fantastic. Our guide on this excursion was incredibly knowledgeable and pleasant, and being obsessed with polyglots, I was amazed that she was fluent in English, Spanish, Montenegrin (actually called something more complicated, and the same as Serbian), German, French, Dutch, and she spoke conversational Portuguese. https://goo.gl/17NGGr -- Now, as far as Cruise Critic, I've been on that site for a long while, and for many reasons, it isn't quite the community that some other sites (including this one) are. That in mind, it does have the largest body of cruising experience you'll find, so if mining for very specific information, it can be a great resource, just watch your step/mind the drama that sometimes comes up. For Oceania information specifically, you'll find many cruisers on Cruise Critic, but Matt's right in that because their target audience is smaller, it's a bit different than the mass market lines. No lack of information though. Checkout the Oceania Excursions Facebook page too, they post frequently with neat information and amazing pictures. Let me know if there are any specifics you're looking for on Kotor (or anything else for that matter) and I'll dust of my brain...then ultimately ask a family member when I can't remember. Either way, I'm confident you'll find Kotor to be lovely, and Oceania to be an incredible experience every time. BH

Is this your video? I just saw it on Reddit 10 mins ago. Clearly it is, same username. Good video. I'm trying to decide on what to do before out next scheduled sailing (the next group cruise in Sept) and the Majesty is one of the options. I generally prefer smaller ships, but still weighing some options. Welcome to the site. Be sure to follow Matt for his daily Periscopes (@RCLBlog). I also show sail-aways from Ft Lauderdale every weekend (though today was kind of a failure), feel free to follow me as well (@monorailmedic).

You are correct. As such, no level of discussion here will change that. Probably not a bad thing to point out to RCCL via email. I'll be completing my on-board experience survey today, will mention it in the comments section.

Triple confirmed. Together we had a bottle of wine each night in at least 2 different restaurants. Never an issue, the stuff on the website about corkage fees is just old information, plain and simple.

I think Matt was in the 300 range. I was in 12655 and it definitely taught me to consider a few things about a CP verandah. -There are bowed vertical beams that run between some of the verandahs, and because they bow our from the staterooms, they can, on deck 12 (and probably others to varying extents) block part of your view looking down the side of Central Park. I loved our location for being next to the aft elevators, very convenient. As such however, we only had one direction to look (right/forward), which was a bit blocked by the beam. The stateroom next to us didn't seem to have this issue. -The bridge that runs across the pool deck half way down Central Park plays host to pool music sometimes. This could potentially be a bit loud if you are near that bridge and want to take a mid-day nap. -The view is unique and peaceful. We enjoyed it a lot, but not being able to see the water is a bit of a downside IMO. BH

Gotcha. Yeah, thats from my twitter bio (Periscope is owned by Twitter so it just pulls from there). I'll update that to make it less confusing as that show has been long gone. Thanks.

I scope from @monorailmedic - where are you seeing reference to MouseAndManPod (aside from my Twitter summary/narrative)?

Hindsight, I should have booked a suite so we could have then been confused why they were so mad about us making gin in the bathtub. Theming, it's all or nothing.

Just a reminder in this thread that the RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com group cruise is coming up in just a few days! I'm sure several of us will be Periscoping throughout the week (from Saturday's group meet on through the 7 night sailing leaving this Sunday). Be sure to follow my account (@monorailmedic) and if you aren't already, Matt's/RCLBlog's account (@theRCLBlog) on both Twitter and Periscope. I'll be sure to share any others sharing our trip live.

The other fun factor here is how Google and other APIs determine location via WiFi. Google Street View cars drive around, they see where various networks are as they drive by. Where is a Google vehicle likely to 'see' a ship's network? In port. Now, Google thinks that any devices on that ships network are in the port. There are multiple network appliances you may connect to on a ship, so in theory, when you're forward on a high deck you might appear to be in Port Everglades, but when you're midship by the lobby, you appear to be in NJ (for example).

Full disclosure, I haven't yet sailed RCCL (9 more days!), but I've sailed many other lines. I find Cruise Critic's reviews to be notable, worth reviewing, but like anything else, based on the opinions of many people with many opinions. Marina got best mid-size for dining. Do I agree? Actually, I agree wholeheartedly. To see how varied things can be though, her sister ship, with the same dining options, placed 3rd. How? In large ships, for dining, the Disney Fantasy placed first, finishing over all the Celebrity ships - which seems surprising to me (though I still argue the Palo and Remy are fantastic experiences). In conclusion, it's worth reading these type of things, but remember they're based on opinions, shaped by many variables.

While I can't speak for every cruise line or travel agency, I was forwarded by my agent, information the CDC provided on the Zika virus. Many cruise lines and other operators have also been allowing affected persons to re-book trips for future dates without penalty. Eighty percent of persons infected have no symptoms. Those who do find that the symptoms of the virus and similar to a common cold and aren't severe. The risk is due to the possible link between pregnant women infected with the virus and microcephaly, where no significant risk is known to exist for healthy persons who are not pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Symptoms: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/symptoms/index.html Good article on the matter: http://vitals.lifehacker.com/your-non-alarmist-guide-to-the-zika-virus-1756627224 As always, I don't provide medical advice and you should talk to your doctor about personal risks, avoidance, and mitigation.

Here is another great article I just happened upon: http://vitals.lifehacker.com/your-non-alarmist-guide-to-the-zika-virus-1756627224

Symptoms of the virus and similar to a common cold and aren't severe. The risk is due to the possible link between pregnant women infected with the virus and microcephaly, where no significant risk is known to exist for healthy persons who are not pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Symptoms: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/symptoms/index.html As always, I don't provide medical advice and you should talk to your doctor about personal risks, avoidance, and mitigation.

One option is the ShipMate app, which ties in with the price alert function on cruiseline.com. It isn't perfect, but it's one way. I'd love to take the time to find an API for prices one day and build my own mechanism, but the day I do that is a day I have free time that should be spent on cleaning behind the stove or something. A good agent will alert you of drops much of the time, and that requires zero technology :-)

Those of us without kids really like the lower pricing and quiet of non-school break sailings ;-) I often wonder how greater adoption of year-round school schedules would affect the travel industry. Plenty of data already suggests it'd do incredible things for education, and retention of curriculum.

That's not too bad, thanks. Will think about it. We'd use them again on RCCL I suppose, just a matter of how much I want them taking up space in the closet.

Surprised they make you rent the buoyancy jacket. You'd think that being something they require, that is unreasonable to assume someone will furnish themselves, all while reducing risk to pax and RCI, they'd just hand them out. I've seen DCL do this, I don't recall if NCL does the same. Wondering if the cost is high enough to justify buying on before the trip... http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=buoyancy+vest&sprefix=buoyancy+vest%2Caps%2C155&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abuoyancy+vest&tag=billyandlaris-20

Thanks. As a radio nerd (ham), this should have been obvious to me.