DunkelBierJay

I'm amazed the Armonia didn't have more extensive keel damage after that with those rocks being so close to where she ran aground...

If you are following the Celebrity Instagram account, she has took over the IG stories this week.

38 minutes ago, jurrjurr said:

When we sailed on Oasis in 2017, I was quite shocked to see law enforcement officers armed with assault rifles at MCO.  Totally understood why but just did not expect to see it right out of the gates. 

Probably because the Pulse Nightclub shooting was a few months prior and security has been stepped up. I'm glad to see it wherever I travel.

14 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

We are on Allure an en route to Roatan for arrival tomorrow am. Lots of rain this week!

Have you run into the person doing the Royal Snapchat takeover on Allure this week.  Very entertaining in an odd way. 

I have no idea about "conservative and all-American demographic " especially since Baltimore is not a conservative city in the slightest. Besides, who cares about the politics of an area? Insulting people on a post may not be received well.

In term of ports on cruise ships and large ferries:

Port Canaveral --> favorite

Tampa --> second favorite

Miami --> did not care for it, although I like the spectacular views

Tallin, Estonia --> one of the coolest places I have been

Helsinki, Finland --> very cool city

Holyhead, Wales --> small and full of character

Dublin, Ireland --> very cool

Portsmouth, UK --> love this city

Le Havre --> very nice

Southampton -- I've been there, but haven't sailed from there -- nothing special to me

13 hours ago, boymom said:

Headed out with our boys for our first cruise, I have a couple of questions that I have tried to answer reading through other posts, but was unable to. 

#1 - Beach safe? We have 2 stops, Nassau and Cococay. Have been looking at investing in some sort of a beach safe, likely the bag style that locks to a chair. Is this necessary? Am I wasting my money? What do experienced travelers carry? And when on board, is it necessary to keep our stuff locked up if we all plan to get in the pool together?

#2 - Does EVERY cruise have a formal night? We are only doing a 4 night, is this something they will tell us in advance about, or is it just understood? I haven't seen any information about it! 

#3 - Realistically on the day we leave, how many hours should I plan to entertain my kids while waiting to board the ship. We depart at 4pm, do we need to be there waiting at noon? Earlier?

I know there are more questions, not sure what at this moment! 

Another $0.02...

#1 -- at Coco Cay, all you need is your SeaPass card unless you want to go to buy souvenirs at the little Straw Market they set up...it's all the same cheap stuff that you can find in the big Straw Market in Nassau, so I wouldn't bother with cash there. If you go to Junkanoo Beach, make sure someone is always with your stuff or go all out with one of these...https://www.amazon.com/Hrome-Wireless-Bluetooth-Waterproof-Shoulder/dp/B0749JHM68/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1527001481&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=beach+safe&psc=1 (I think it's overkill)

As long as you stay between Junkanoo and the port and the port to Fort Fincastle, it's perfectly fine safety wise. You may be hounded to spend money in some of the shops you pass.

If you go to the British Colonial Hilton, Baha Mar or Atlantis, you should be ok...I still wouldn't leave stuff unattended at the beach or pool. I am pretty sure Atlantis has lockers...someone could probably confirm.

#2 -- Empress has not had a formal night recently, so if you are sailing on her, I wouldn't worry about it. Business casual passes fine for formal night on other ships. I always like to treat dinner in the Main Dining Room as an occasion anyway, because it is such a nice experience regardless of what ship you are sailing on. Check out a cruise compass for your ship --> mentioned in a previous reply.

#3 -- You will have access to your room around 1 pm. If you get to the port between 10:30 and 11, you should be able to access the Windjammer buffet...it usually opens at 11 on most ships. I recommend having your boys go to the port in their swim gear on or under their clothes and let them swim in the pool if you have some idle time. You could also bring them a change of clothes in a backpack or tote. There are restrooms just off the pool on every ship where they can change. You can also check out Adventure Ocean to sign them up for activities. There will probably be a table set up in the centrum of the ship you are sailing where you can sign up and be directed to it for a brief tour.

There will be lots of activity when you board...the best thing to do is head up to the pool deck to get some space if the WJ isn't open yet. The wait for the elevator may take a little longer than you are used to especially with all of the distraction going on around you the first few minutes you are on board. If you have lots of energy, you can walk up the six or so decks to wear out your boys slightly.

I'm excited for you for your first cruise. You will love it!

I'm not bothering with a wait for our hotel's free airport shuttle. They told me all you have to do is call them when you get luggage, and it's 10 minutes. I think that's over promising to under delivery.

I have used Uber/Lyft at that airport once, and the driver didn't know where the pick up location was -- it took a couple times to figure out he was at the upper level instead of at the baggage claim level . It's not to say you will have the same experience.

Next month, I am renting a car and going to the hotel from there. This will make it easier to watch the Harmony sailaway that afternoon and drive to a cool spot for dinner that evening. The next morning, I will take everyone to the port, drop them off, return the car and Uber/Lyft back to the port. I am using an off site rental agency and hope it's a good experience.

52 minutes ago, twangster said:

Ah yes, the port now lines the pier with colorful dances moving about as ships approach to ensure all captains can see the pier. 

that, and they're glad for a pay day

The Royal App will show what restaurants are open on embarkation day. You can also check out a cruise compass here, https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

First thoughts are Jamie's Italian and Park Cafe.

I checked out the location and think it's a great spot close but not too close to the forward elevators and a deck up from Central Park...I think the location is great for interior rooms...the question is whether or not you want to be close to each other, so it's a matter of preference. I wouldn't sweat it too much myself.

The bottom line on booking a cruise is to use a travel agent as mentioned in the previous replies. They could get the answer and results the call center may not be able to.

Here's a thought...if you booked less than 60 days ago (your other thread was on May 5, so you may be in luck), you should be able to transfer your sailing to a travel agent. The one that sponsors this blog is fantastic and may be able to help you. You may need to pay a higher deposit, but in your case, it may be worth it if sailing on Allure is what you definitely want to do. I would also seriously consider changing to the refundable fare if it is still available (you may have to to get back on Allure). I have worked with Brock at MEI for almost two years, and he has pulled a couple miracles for me.

If you are past the 60 day window, you will have to keep your booking the way it is. In that case, I would ask for the situation to be escalated to a supervisor or manager and see what happens.

40 minutes ago, tineey said:

Good morning all... I just have a hopefully an easy question for some one....

So I am getting ready to do the online check in.  My sister and I are taking my mom on this cruise as a surprise.  I have al of her information, but will it screw anything up if I use my address instead of hers when I enter her information?  I don't want to put her address in if there is ANY chance at all that the cruise line would send something to her address.  But if its going to screw something up when we get to the port day of, I don't want that to be an issue either.  Figured someone here might know the answer to that.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Speaking from my experience which may differ from others (I have to put in that disclaimer)...when I have booked my adult daughter on a cruise into a separate room, I don't recall any mailers at all, actually. There are places to specify how you get communication throughout the process, and I remember email and text as options. I don't remember the mail. As far as myself, I don't get any marketing or informational materials from Royal in the mail myself. It has all been on the website, email and I remember one text update when there was a terminal change. While I think you're ok to enter her address...to be safe and to preserve any surprises you may want to spring on her, I would simply give your address as hers and make sure you enter her name as it appears on her passport...that may be the most difficult part.

I stayed in one on Navigator about a year ago, and it was fine. The only note about it was that it was above Cafe Promenade, and you could hear the door to the back of the house below us opening and closing a lot. If you are on Deck 7 or above, it won't be an issue regardless of where you are along the Royal Promenade.

On a ship with outdoor aft seating with a beverage watching the wake. 

So, I am treating it like a game now. I go back in everyday to find that the waivers I signed the day before have been invalidated. I wonder how many times I have to do it before it takes. O, maybe I just leave it alone.

Hoy — Muy excelenté!

Allure was scheduled to dock at Roatan for the first time this season today. It appears that it was successful according to SeaScanner...yay

My default on past cruises has been to go to the Windjammer and find honey stung chicken. Now that I finally have that off my bucket list, I am hitting Giovanni's on Allure to use my CP Balcony lunch perk away from the throng of people in the Windjammer and Park Cafe (Kummelwicks will be there later when I want them -- hopefully for an early evening snack to hold me over till my 9 PM Izumi Hibachi reservation on embarkation day!)

On previous cruises, pre-signing waivers has never worked for me. Inevitably, I get to the rock wall or whatever I want to do, and I have to go through it again on board. For my upcoming sailing, I have found that the two previous times I signed for myself and my son, they showed as "invalidated." So, I did it....again...I have no expectation that this will transfer to my account while on board, and won't be surprised if I have to do it again. The only slightly annoying thing (and this may show up in my final survey after the cruise if my waivers are invalidated again) is that I will have to show up with my son to sign waivers for him on board, meaning he will have to find me and interrupt me from my slumber on a lounge in the Solarium so that he can do the Flow Rider...

Poll Question: Has anyone ever had success pre-signing waivers online?

PS: This is not to mention the issues with logging into the On-Line check-in feature at the website the last 24 hours. The workaround is to click on "Already Booked" at the home page and enter cruise details and reservation ID. If I wasn't obsessive/compulsive, I wouldn't have that info at my disposal.

16 hours ago, gibben said:

Thanks for the replies, now if only I could log in to their site ..... wow that is one buggy website.

It was buggy all day yesgterday. I got around it by clicking "Already Booked" at the home page. The drawback is having to enter cruise details.

I love seeing Royal Caribbean ships doing things like this...sorry for the image quality...basically, Navigator provided diesel to this sail boat in the open ocean when their rudder broke and weren't able to navigate by sail, but could using their motor. The problem was they were over 1000 nautical miles from shore.

If you take your deck and cabin number and look at a deck plan, you can see exactly where you are...

Here is a link to Harmony's deck plans... https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/harmony-of-the-seas/deck-plans/1819/03

That being said, Harmony is monstrous, and while you might feel motion, you will feel less than any other ship at sea except a Swath hull design ship.

If you are nervous...you can do a sea band, bonine, or get a patch prescription from your doctor. Other measures are...stay hydrated, eat a green apple and suck on a ginger candy. You will be fine on board Harmony. Compared to the Carnival ship you sailed on before, your jaw will drop when you see her.

1 hour ago, tiny260 said:

If I remember correctly, when I first started cursing Royal (2000), I switched over so that I could cruise on "The biggest cruise ship in the world""Voyager", I had previously been on the NCL Seaward, so they may be Mid sized now but they were not always...

I started cursing long before 2000....

On 4/29/2018 at 12:35 PM, hayley_bopp said:

On our upcoming IoS cruise, we'd like to try Izumi Hibachi and Giovanni's Table. 

We'd like to try Izumi Hibachi one evening for dinner. Should I pre-book on the cruise planner?

I would say that as soon as you see Izumi Hibachi in the CP, book it. I saw it in the CP about four months ago for a June sailing on Allure, and waited. The only remaining time was 9pm on embarkation day when I went to book it a month later. I will try to get it moved to a different time while on board, but I was surprised by that. You really have to be on your toes.

I lean toward the medium to smaller ships myself, but understand the economics don't work out for new builds when retrofitting an existing ship seems so much more economical when almost every sailing is virtually sold out, and when the huge ships are selling out as well. I think the market has to change pretty substantially for us to see mid-size ships being built for RC any time soon. They are squeezing their ROI out of Majesty and Empress,, so I think the same will hold true for Vision, Radiance and Voyager Class ships when they get to the same age.