DunkelBierJay

So....when do you get your pin?

1 hour ago, #cruiselife said:

 I am also pretty sensitive to motion sickness and want to make sure I am prepared for anything we may experience. I would also love some advice on motion sickness remedies that work the best.

 

I can be sensitive to it too, especially if I am dehydrated and it's been a while since I have eaten, like the early morning. My favorite strategy is sucking on a hard ginger candy (I order them from Amazon) and a glass of water followed by a meal including a green apple. Every ship has piles of them in the Windjammer. To me, it gets me back to feeling great the quickest. I have used dramamine and bonine, and I don't like how they make me feel. I have not tried the patch, because I have only been queezy a couple of times.

Here is the video for the final sea day. Thanks so much for watching!

I'm convinced that the same percentage of people sick on ships is the same as the percentage of people sick on land. I haven't seen studies, but I have seen a sensationalist press.

5 hours ago, marymcpherson said:

When do you usually book your transatlantic flights for Europe cruises? Are there any advantages to waiting a bit? (obviously theres risk). What's the average price from the East Coast that people have paid?

I am very intrigued by the budget airlines such as Norwgian, WOW, etc...the no frills economy fares are ridiculously low...some in the $179 one way to Gatwick...about $250 one way to Barcelona. I signed up for regular flight updates from Norwegian, for example and signed up for their loyalty program, and I get daily emails that make me want to book some thing now. You have to travel on days they offer like Sundays or Thursdays for the low fares, but I don't see that as too big of a deal. They fly out of Boston, JFK, Orlando, Ft Lauderdale among others. Before I started seeing these fares, I would have put a $900 RT fare under the bargain category. No more these days.

There are lockers at Labadee and Coco Cay. I believe they are $8 to use.

32 minutes ago, Matt said:

 

ahhh....cofferdams again!

I gave my waiter Joseph/Jose $20. We have had him both times we have been and he took great care of us.

Since both ships are in dry dock near each other, has anyone seen any pics? I have been searching and haven't found anything yet. The webcam in Freeport is offline.

If Ryde is a spin class, and it's $20 and it's eleigible, then that's a 20% savings. Still steep, but better.

Brilliance of the Seas 5 Night cruise...Day 4 in Cozumel at Nachi Cocom and a little wandering across the street from the International Pier. I hope you enjoy!

27 minutes ago, mom2mybugs said:

Can't wait to see it too!  We are booked at nachi in March on a day with tons of ships.   Looking forward to  the limited crowds and warm weather!   Jane

Yes! There were seven ships and about 20,000 people on Cozumel the day we were there. It took a little while to get past the traffic at the International Pier, and when we arrived at Nachi, it was full and didn't feel crowded at all. My next post will have the Nachi video....

4 minutes ago, rjac said:

Definitely interested in that one, will be there this March and need to "convince she-who-must-be-obeyed" that Nachi is a great place. Please let us all know where we can find it on youtube, when you have the time that is. Thanks!

Sure thing. There will be a link in this thread either this evening or tomorrow. 

3 hours ago, mpoole3 said:

I'm loving these youtube videos!  It's getting me excited, 6 weeks from today!

Thanks! I really like doing them and hope they aren’t too too amateurish! I am working on editing audio for the Cozumel video today. Lots of Nachi in it!

6 hours ago, jennybean said:

Thank you @DunkelBierJay good to know! I have gone scuba diving before and quite enjoy it. Have you done any in St. Maarten? It looks like there's some shark diving that you can do there that sounds really cool! 

No, we haven’t been diving in a few years because of kids. We did it a lot before we started cruising, but never made it to Sint Maarten. I’d LOVE to do a shark dive though!

Video #2 Grand Cayman

18 hours ago, Joeyaziz said:

I checked the entertainment on the cruise planner and the only thing they had available was a cruise explore behind the scene type of thing. Can I safely assume that they will be adding more entertainment or is that all that will be offered?

They only provide pre-booking for entertainment on Oasis and Quantum class ships. I have seen Mystery Dinner Theater available on Enchantment's Cruise Planner in the past, and it may show up closer to sailing if they run it. All ships run behind the scenes tours which you can pre-book.

As far as other entertainment, you won't have any problem at all just showing up to what is on board whether it is in the Orpheus Theater, the Centrum or any of the bars like Schooner, Boleros, etc.

The main thing is when you arrive at the terminal, there will be a pre-boarding cruise compass that will tell you everything that is open on embarkation day (Windjammer for sure, some of the bars too). When you board, if it is before your room is ready around 1:00 pm, the Day 1 Cruise Compass will be available at Guest Services in the Centrum on Deck 5. That will have the most current information. You board on Deck 5, and enter near the Centrum, so you can't miss it. If they are running MDT on your sailing, and it wasn't in your Cruise Planner, they can clarify for you. You could also check in the Main Dining Room on Deck 4 to see if they know if it is being run. You can also check out your table while you are there. I am pretty sure they have run MDT in the back of Chops on Enchantment, but I could be wrong. They could also answer your question.

11 minutes ago, rjac said:

Any recent news/updates of the Allure dry docking to fix the propulsion system on the 21st? Hopefully the new propeller is waiting for the Allure at the dry dock!

I'd love to know too...I know that Allure had bearings issues in one of it's azipods...I'd love to know if this is a revisit of that. I know that propellors take quite a while to be manufactured...not sure if a few months is enough time.

http://www.rclcorporate.com/getting-our-bearings-straight/

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Wow, sorry you had such a bad experience this time around. Talk about a perfect storm of bad luck!

Why was the whole city of Charleston, SC closed, and the captain giving warnings about people who left the ship risking injury? I hadn't heard anything about that on the nightly news, you'd think a city closing would have made headlines.

Cities in South Carolina and Georgia closed down since they aren't equipped for this kind of cold weather. The northern press would either make fun of them and ignore them. As a southerner, we like being ignored by the northern press!

As far as Norovirus, it only takes one person who is sick and didn't sanitize or wash hands touching the serving ware at the Windjammer.

I am creating videos of this cruise and I will post them in this thread. Here is the first of three or four short videos. I hope you enjoy them!

9 hours ago, jennybean said:

There's a couple excursions that really interest me in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten but they are both only offered in the morning when we are there (which is unfortunate for RCCL cause I'd give them my money for both if I could do one in the afternoon). 

One is the historical Phillipsburg by bicycle and the other is the Sea Trek St. Maarten. Has anyone done either of these? I love history and cycling so I think the bike ride would be so cool and fun. But I've also always wanted to try Sea Trek and don't know where else I'd get a chance to try it. 

After being there once and hiring a taxi driver to take us around the island, and being a scuba diver, I would opt for the bicycle tour after looking at YouTube videos of the Sea Trek excursion. It appears to be a little walking tour under water of a set up course with a helmet that you breathe through. You pull yourself along using pvc pipes. If I am going underwater, I want a full scuba rig so I can go where I want to. If you have never done any snorkeling or scuba, you might like it. Here's an amateur video:

• when you log into cruise planner at the airport immediately after getting off your last cruise
• you carry moisturizing lotion because you wash your hands 50 times a day
• when you gauge your winter heating bill against the cost of a drink package

19 hours ago, Joeyaziz said:

On the Enchantment of the Seas, it showed Ben and Jerry. I’m assuming we are paying for each ice cream?

Ben & Jerries should be available at Cafe Latitudes. This ice cream is priced a la carte and all you need is your Sea Pass card. The pastries at this location are compliemtary. The coffe is a la carte unless you get a Cafe Select card or it is a feature of the drink package.

19 hours ago, Joeyaziz said:

Besides the drink package, I’m trying to cruise as cheaply as possible. I saw that some of the cafes are open 24/7 and can deliver to the room for a charge. Am I paying for each item I want or is that free and I’m just paying the service charge? Do I have the option of going to that café directly?

Park Cafe is located in the back port side part of the Solarium and has hours to cover the munchies when the Main Dining Room and the Windjammer may not be open. It has a nice menu, and all of the offerings are complimentary. It is the easiest place on board to get a glass of water, juice or iced tea most times of the day.

Room Service is $7.95 per order for anything but continental breakfast. There is no limit to how much you can order. You can always go to any of the restaurants on board, order what you want and take it to your room, so yes, you can go directly.

19 hours ago, Joeyaziz said:

How does payment work on a cruise? I assume I’m carrying my debit card everywhere I go.

I saw that some ships had a murder mystery dinner. I love those things. How can I find out what my ship’s events are? Do I need to wait until it gets closer? I tried searching the cruise planner but no luck.

You will need your SeaPass card wherever you go. It is your room key and form of payment on board. When you check-in at the cruise terminal, you can leave a credit or debit card number on account for on board charges. You can also leave cash at Guest Services in the Centrum.

Mystery Dinner theater has been available on board Enchantment. If it is available on your sailing, you should be able to find it in the Cruise Planner under Entertainment and Activities. You could also check when you get on board if you can't find it. Here is a link to the most recent Enchantment Cruise Compass that is posted elsewhere on this site:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/enchantment-of-the-seas/fri-2017-11-03-0000

Regarding the HARD SELL part, they must have issues with saying no to people and then passively aggressively trash them afterwords...and I wonder if they ever walked through a Caribbean port and what do they do in some of those locations.

On 1/9/2018 at 10:11 PM, twangster said:

Any time anyone starts a review with their status, whether it's an airline forum, cruise line forum or hotel forum or whatever forum you know it can be ignored.

Not only are they Crown and Anchors members, but they are also Platinum members on Royal!  I'm impressed.  

I completely agree. If they were Platinum Crown & Anchor Members, they would have written it that way.

This is a really entertaining thread, btw...thanks to @tallpaul86