DunkelBierJay
-
Posts
959 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Posts posted by DunkelBierJay
-
-
On 4/28/2018 at 7:31 AM, Fuelman said:
Thanks Rjac Will do.
Flying in from Scotland to Orlando on the 1st Nov so to catch the ship at Port Canaveral the next day. So at least I got that right not sure if it’s best to get Hotel at airport or at the port. Our flight doesn’t arrive until 9pm so we thought staying near the airport might be best
Its only a 3 night cruise as that way we will see if it’s right for us when I say us I mean just myself and my lovely wife.
We stop off at Nassau and CocoCay, so any tips on these places would be appreciated. Also, should we book a drink package now or wait to see if a deal comes up.
If we like cruising after this we will look at booking a longer one.
Have we made the right choice going with Royal Caribbean, there are so many cruise companies to choose from.
There is a nice hotel contained within the airport at Orlando...it is a Hyatt Regency, so if you want to check in a few minutes after getting your bags, you can't beat that. If you don't mind driving 45 minutes east from Orlando, I have stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott which is close enough to see the ships docked, and it was fine. There are lots of hotels there to choose from and there are two car rental companies within a couple miles of the port that can shuttle you to the cruise terminal. If it were me...after a long flight from the UK arriving in a new country at 9 pm when your body clock is at 2 or 3 am, I wouldn't do it unless I was familiar with driving in the US. There's no way I would do it going into the UK that way. I would do it with some rest in the daylight though since it is almost all motorway.
Nassau is a mixed bag...if you want a cheap beach experience, there is Junkanoo Beach which is very close to the port...a 10 minute walk. If you want something a little nicer, there is the British Colonial Hilton, also a 10 minute walk from the ship with food credit, and bookable on resortforaday.com. You can go to Atlantis which is expensive, or take a taxi or bus to Baha Mar Resort which I have heard is good. You could also walk to the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle to see some sights, or book a tour (I booked a tour and would not do it again). Walking around Nassau is an ok experience.
Coco Cay is great...just look through shore excursions on the cruise planner to see what might appeal to you. You could also lounge around on the beach and go to the floating bar. The food is included.
I would definitely do the drink package on a three nighter, btw...just check the cruise planner for a sale.
Enchantment was our first ship with Royal, and it was great! This ship has the best pool deck on the fleet as well as the best bar by a pool in the fleet. It's actually the biggest pool deck of any Royal ship because of the stretching they did to her a few years ago. You wouldn't go wrong in Nassau getting off to walk around a bit and then go back to the ship to be at the pool deck all day.
-
1 hour ago, melski94 said:
I always reserve a dining time on the cruise planner. I reserved our Nov cruise in March..so that was about 8 months in advance. I normally check around the 6 month point but was checking it for something else and saw it was available.
Thanks...it was one of those if it was a snake it would have bit me things...as many times as I looked at the Dining link in the CP, I didn't see My Time Dining in the CP...my bad...
i went ahead and booked times when we are not doing specialty dining...there was a huge gap between 5:30 and 8:15 seating times...I guess those times were taken...and the comments about having to book each night one at a time are still true. I wish there was an option to book them all at once with a view of My Calendar.
-
On 11/10/2017 at 9:53 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:
You are very welcome. Enjoy MTD. We love it.
Have you ever Pre-reserved your MTD in advance on the CP? Also, how far in advance is the CP open for this. We’ve only used Traditional in the past.
-
I found value with this card on Empress. I did not find value with it on Brilliance. Those are the two ships I used it on.
Empress -- has an AMAZING coffee bar -- just awesome -- features all the regular drinks plus a great set of Cuban selections
Brilliance -- Cafe Latitudes was just ok, and they really enforced the one punch per shot rule. Not the best value in my view.
Upcoming sailing on Allure -- I am not going to bother...Royal's complimentary regular drip coffee is really good, and if you mix in the free soft serve ice cream from the Windjammer or the pool deck, you have a better drink in my opinion at no charge (I have done that on other ships)
-
1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:
I didn't even know they had Sixt in the US. I have seen it in Europe a lot but never here.
Yes, they’re expanding in the US quite rapidly. They are in a lot of major locations and in several across Florida. I enjoyed using their app so far. Apparently, all you need for check-in is your phone, and it unlocks your car, and you’re good to go. I have a Mercedes CLA reserved for about $78/day. If I live blog, I’m sure I’ll write about the experience with this company.
-
Just now, jurrjurr said:
Where are you renting the car from? Most rental car companies have complimentary shuttles to the port. I usually rent from FLL and drop off at their closest location to the port. I would recommend calling to see if they provide a shuttle or if you can change drop-off location.
I am testing out Sixt which is off sight at FLL -- I have seen mixed reviews about them, but I want to decide for myself -- they don't have a shuttle to the port from the info I gathered so far, so the Lyft pickup would be easier than FLL (in my experience, it has been a pain). Otherwise, I usually use Hertz.
-
Adding to this thread...
We are sailing out of Port Everglades on Allure, and here is my plan...I am looking for critiques or better options:
1. Arriving in FLL day before and renting a car
2. Staying at a Spring Hill Suites in Dania Beach about ten minutes from the port -- will be at Dr Von D Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park on the day before to watch Harmony sail away and to verify that it is really Billy or a hologram every week
3. Embarkation Day -- 9:30 am I make an advance trip in the rental to the port to drop off all luggage. Return to FLL to drop off rental.
Option 1 -- Lyft to hotel to get fam. Approx 10:30 am use hotel shuttle or Lyft if shuttle not available to arrive at port by 11 ish.
Option 2 -- Lyft back to port to meet fam and check-in
Thoughts, critiques?
-
-
30 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:
So which ships are using this Royal App? I know Symphony is, and Allure? Any others?
Here you go...
-
So, this showed up on my Royal app for my Allure sailing after checking in...
must be “frictionless”
-
20 hours ago, Pooch said:
I don’t know which “middle aged entitled people” you know but this middle aged entitled person and her husband worked for 40 years, raised & educated 2 millenials and aid in the care of 4 grandchildren. I assure you no one waits hand and foot on me! So yes, I deserve a little entitlement. Maybe when you are my age, you’ll understand how “entitled” your comments sound.
Well written. I very much appreciate this response. I bit my lip hard on it and chose not to express what I was thinking which was best left unshared.
-
3 hours ago, Matt said:
Cruise Critic reports no stops cancelled (yet) https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8564
The tone of that article is hopeful...however with Allure being 37 meters longer than Getaway, I'm sure Royal is keeping it's options open and that we won't know for sure until May 10 if/when they try to dock.
-
3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:
I'm guessing Costa Maya but have no basis for this other than the proximity of this port to the others on this itin.
Costa Maya is already on the itinerary...we are headed to Maya Chan, btw. The itinerary already had four ports, so I wouldn't be surprised if it ends with two sea days.
3 hours ago, monctonguy said:If this has been announced, surprising that Royal hasn't contacted those that have cruises with that port, or would they wait till they are onboard to tell them about the itinerary change I wonder. As really the customer has no say or input into this anyways.
I saw on C.C. that the itinerary two weeks before mine was altered, but I only saw that they cancelled Roatan. I didn't see any alternative ports.
-
41 minutes ago, twangster said:
That's the $100k question.
Another cruise line wrecks the pier and now RC has a potentially upset customer base they have to deal with and scramble to find another port in an era where there are so many ships from so many cruise lines all competing for dock space.
And it's not even hurricane season, yet...
I’m completely gutted over this because Roatan was a big factor in picking this itinerary. A decent consolation would be San Juan if that left turn after Nassau doesn’t mess up the timeline too much in the beginning of the itinerary. Maybe it would work at the end where Roatan was placed. I wouldn’t mind Labadee, because I’ve only scratched the surface there. Other than that, I don’t think there are any ports that can accommodate Allure unless Coco Cay’s pier is complete and unoccupied. There’s got to be a lot of dominoes that are affected by this. At any rate, the liklihood of ever booking MSC is pretty much nil now.
-
25 minutes ago, Lindsay said:
How do you know what other ships will be in port when you are there?? I'd like to know for my cruise in September. Thanks!
I usually go to Crew Center:
http://crew-center.com/cozumel-mexico-cruise-schedule-january-june-2018
If this doesn't get you what you are looking for, you may be able to get some other links by googling "cruise port schedule" and the port(s) you're visiting
-
1 minute ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:
That is exactly the reason....according to the thread.
I think I found the same article you cited. It was easy on google. Not looking good — $10 million in damage. Btw, the captain of the Armonia is Ciro Pinto. I had to trash him and MSC on Twitter. Just think of preventing the tourism dollars a ship as big as Allure brings every other week the merchants on Roatan just be seething.
A lot of people have seen the video...if not here’s the link:
-
29 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:
I saw a thread over on the other boards about this too. It said, the Roatan Tourism Bureau reported yesterday morning that "Allure of the Seas has cancelled the rest of the season there". They said some smaller ships can still dock but Allure cannot. A lot of discussion around what exactly and how long "the rest of the season" is. That's all I have.
I wonder if it has anything to do with the MSC Armonia damaging the dock the other day.
-
I saw on a post on Ship Mate that Allure is ceasing stops at Roatan effective in May. I have a June sailing booked and would be cruahed if this is true. Has anyone heard anything?
-
I have used Allianz, Travel Guard and Roam right. They are all similarly priced for comparable coverage and the process is easy for each. I have never had to use it.
-
55 minutes ago, tiny260 said:
I made a mock payment yesterday, did everything except the final button push and it seemed OK, I agree with @DunkelBierJay, either call or you might try a different browser.
Also...Alvaro, if you haven't cleared cookies in a while, that may have an impact.
-
21 minutes ago, Alvaro said:
I have been unable to make payments for my cruise which is in september, I never had this problems with the old website, just the new one. I keep getting a connection error message or a There Was An Error Processing Your Payment, Please Try Again Later message.
Sounds like it's time to give their customer service a call and make it over the phone
-
I understand that Central Park Balcony bookings on Allure get you a Giovanni's or other specialty restaurant lunch perk for 2 per stateroom. Does anyone know if this is available on embarkation day with the SeaPass card? Are SeaPass cards issued at check-in, or are they placed in staterooms?
-
I’ve been on Freedom and LOVED it! I am booked on Allure in June (made final payment yesterday) on a port intensive itinerary and am choosing to stay on the ship in Cozumel because I have been there a couple times...after my trip to the famous blue food truck (for tortas and tacos) and some cheap beer, I will return to the ship for the day. I recognize that the two ships offer two different experiences, and it will end up being a matter of preference.
-
I haven't cruised in 10+ years... HELP!
in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Posted
I have been on her sister ship, Navigator, and will say that for me, this class of ship is the sweet spot. The refurb will take her to the next level. You can't go wrong on Mariner. RCCL is a great mass market cruise line, and I have no desire right now to try any other company.