DunkelBierJay

I go by Jay, and my name is James...I just shrug it off...the servers in the Dining room who remember get bigger tips from me.

I love that idea...I also imagine building on what Carnival did on Vista and adding a roller coaster that is not necessarily self powered like that bike/rail thing is...I know it's kind of out there

Curious...there has been talk on Periscope and Facebook that a number of folks in the RC Blog community are booked on the Empress October 7 sailing to Key West and Havana...

So, I guess this thread could serve as a roll call of sorts...I'd love to know who is on this sailing.

One idea is to use an app called Marine Traffic...you can track ships by name and position...there may be a delay in what you see, but it may help you estimate when to wake up and watch the ship arrive. I have used it successfully in my geekdom.

On 6/30/2017 at 4:41 PM, Seattleite said:

This is our second cruise and our first on Royal Caribbean (Liberty of the Seas to West Caribbean in August).  I was wondering how much cocktails typically cost to decide if an alcohol package is worth it to us.  I like Baileys, Kailua, and Frangelico over ice however, I read about the Bailey's banana colada that sounds tasty.  My husband always orders Negroni's (Sapphire gin, campari, and vermouth) and I love Mojito's.  Would all these come under $12 such that they would be free with a package?  We both like micro brews which aren't sold on the cruise ship.

Also, are the non-alcoholic drinks free with meals.  Is there an open cafeteria that you can always enter to get a free coke or juice or coffee?  I am trying to see if I should get my teens the mocktail package or just the coke package.

Can I bring a six pack of water bottle on board?  

Is the policy 2 bottles per stateroom or one per over 21 drinker assuming two per room?  They split my husband and I up with our two teens (their policy) so technically there is an over 21 adult in each of our rooms so could we bring a total of 4 bottles of wine/champagne?  I assume hard alcohol is not allowed as a bottle? Our last cruise we bought hard alcohol from the ship that was in our room on Day 1.  Does RC do this too?  Thanks all!

Question 1 : Mostly, yes, they would be included on the package if the menu price is $12 or under. Otherwise, they add the difference. I haven't seen that happen aside from some specialty drinks like something served in a pineapple, etc.

Question 2 : Re open cafeteria -- On Royal, the lido buffet is called the Windjammer Buffet...it is fantastic and offers a wide variety...you can get coffee, juice, lemonade, fruit punches, etc. Anything carbonated is extra or part of the drink package. My teens don't drink carbonated, so I splurge for mocktails for them occasionally...1-2 per day per kid. They never seemed to want more than that...they do like Starbucks style coffee beverages, so I like to get the $31 Cafe Select coffee punch card (you can see it at the bottom of the beverage packages in the cruise planner)...you get 15 drinks, and when charged separately at $4-$5, it pays off quickly.

Question 3 : Officially, no. Some people can get water through security in their carry on bag on embarkation day...they tend to look the other way at the ports I have used...I can't say for Galveston, but I suspect it's the same.

Question 4: Yes, two bottles per stateroom...here's the policy http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=260&faqSubjectId=336

The way I read it, you can get two bottles per stateroom for a total of four. Note that there is a $15 corkage fee per bottle if you take it to dinner for example. If it's in your room, I understand there is no charge even if your stateroom attendant opens it for you. My $0.02 is that if you buy the drink package, why go to the trouble and expense of carrying wine on board? I have gone a couple of cruises when I bought the drink package without drinking all of the wine I brought. Hard alcohol is not allowed. It will be confiscated, and you can get it back at the end of your cruise. Also, if you buy duty free alcohol at a port or on board, they hold it for you until the last night of the cruise when they deliver it to your room.

Question 5 : hard alcohol in your room...yes. Royal offers several options. They are available on the Royal Gifts section on the Royal site...I haven't seen it link in the cruise planner for some reason, but you can key your reservation ID and room # to make sure you get it delivered (it may not be available on Liberty -- you'll have to investigate that)...they are Absolut and Sprite, Bacardi and Coke, Sapphire and Tonic, Johnny Walker Red and Coke...these will be in your room on embarkation day...it's another instance where if you get the liquor package, it may not be worth it...it may be if you want to make cocktails in your room...your stateroom attendant can keep you stocked with ice.

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/royalgifts/onboard-delivery/wine-cellar/alcohol/

10 hours ago, DAVE(Darkcabbie) said:

Thanks Spiegeje, much appreciated. A hot tub inside the main part of the gym is a first for me cant wait to try it out and the cool down spot as if the Navigator is anything like the Indy there was no air con working in the gym on all our cruises on her 

My pleasure. I am excited for you going on Navigator for the first time. It has many similarities to Freedom class, but is more intimate, and the crew is fantastic. The AC in the gym worked well, and I hope it does for you too. Don't forget to check out the peekaboo bridge just in front of the fitness center. You can access it from the forward side doors in the Solarium. This feature is lacking on Freedom class. Out of the four classes I have sailed, Voyager class is my favorite followed closely by Empress.

If you haven't seen Matt's post about Navigator hidden secrets, here you go:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/05/19/top-10-royal-caribbean-navigator-of-the-seas-hidden-secrets

I would switch to Mariner

The gym on Navigator is every bit as good as the gym on Freedom which I assume is the same as on Indy. It is almost imperceptibly smaller.

My favorite cool down spot was one of the stationary bikes on the starboard side...incredible views every time.

Yes, I recall a hot tub in the middle of the gym between the aerobics room and the locker rooms.

While the ceiling effects on the Meraviglia's promenade look cool, the only advantage I saw that this ship had over Harmony was the tap with Murphys Stout on it. Despite this huge (to me) feature, I would book Harmony first.

If you were on Bus 3, you are one of the cool kids

Shuttles can be a good option. Here's one to consider...https://www.goportcanaveral.com/services/fly-snooze-cruise.php

You can also consider a one-way car rental...both Hertz and Budget are very close to the port. There are also several hotels close to it.

Last time, we stayed at the Residence Inn and used the Hertz one-way rental option as it is in the hotel parking lot. We used the Hertz shuttle from the hotel and were on board about twenty minutes later.

This may be an ignorant question...if the US site is showing pricing in US $s at half AUS $s, is this due to the difference in currency values, or are you making the conversion?

I find towel clips for deck loungers to be worth their weight in gold...

On 6/9/2017 at 11:29 AM, MoBrien said:

Flights out of Miami airport are also late evening. I'm looking at flights now out of FLL with a short layover - do you think if we took our own luggage off the ship that we could make a 10:40am flight with Southwest Airline or should we go with a later flight at either 11:25am (Southwest Airlines) or 12:00 with United

My $.02 is the 11:25 am on Southwest is your sweet spot. This airline does not assign seats, so you will need to check in online 24 hours in advance to get a good boarding position. In this case, you will either need VOOM or purchase internet for your last day...maybe Guest Services on board can offer other options. Southwest is a great airline, but I don't know if there's a European equivalent in procedure. Maybe EasyJet, but I'm not sure. 

On 6/9/2017 at 10:04 PM, RestingBirds said:

Heading to Cozumel in March of '18, and was planning on staying on the ship...now you have me second guessing.  Is Nachi Cocom baby friendly?  I love the pics, might have to check it out.

It's like any other beach for baby friendliness...the bathrooms don't have changing tables...there is an absence of US construction codes, but I don't think that's a huge issue. You can pretty much wheel a stroller around the restaurant and pool area, but I don't recall any ramps. Bring lots of sunscreen. The palapas are large and offer lots of shade coverage. 

We recently visited Nachi Cocom during a Empress stop in Cozumel. We disembarked and walked through the cruise port to the taxi stand and immediately took the 15-20 minute $17 US drive south to the day resort. The cost was $55 per person with an $11 per person deposit. We received a confirmation upon booking which we printed out and took to the resort.

Our driver dropped us off at the entrance and we were warmly greeted by the staff member who took our picture and briefed us on the process. We were then directed to the reception area in the restaurant where we paid the remaining balance and were introduced to our waiter for the day and taken to our palapa not far from the pool. We had two beach chairs, and the option to buy some extras. We chose the floating beach mat for $7 for the day. Later I purchased a massage in the nearby massage tent for a much more reasonable cost than on the ship we were sailing.

The complimentary drinks were cold, delicious and plentiful. Our waiter, visited us often and took great care of us. Our ship was set to sail at 6:30, so we left a little before 4 in order to do some souvenir shopping in the port. To get a cab, all we needed to do was let our waiter know what time we wanted to leave, and he handled all the details. I left him a generous tip, told him we would be back and thanked him for the great service.

I am certain there are other spots on Cozumel where once can have a great experience. We chose Nacho Cocom because of it's reputation as a quieter and more low key destination.

13 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

I do like what I've heard here on the forum in the past that sometimes RC will sell drink cards for either specialty coffee drinks or alcoholic drinks onboard that give you a set number of drinks per card (say 10) to use until the end of the cruise. That I would be very interested in! 

On a recent 4 night cruise I bought the Cafe Select card for 15 coffee drinks. My daughter and I used 14 of them...still a bargain off of the a la carte prices.

I did not buy the drink package, and did not miss it since I only bought four girly drinks and a couple beers while on board. I liked not having the feeling of needing to drink to get my money's worth.

I hope more people buy VOOM so that they can compare to land prices while on board, and show it to the staff. Eventually, that may drive prices down in cases where they are too high. On the other hand, there is a nice convenience factor as well as sentimental reasons for buying something on board.

37 minutes ago, MoBrien said:

1) Embarkation Day - How early should we arrive at Port Everglades Port. I have read that there can be long queues. I have also read on this forum if i download the passport    app that this could speed things up for us. We are thinking of arriving around 10am - is this too early? Also once we board the ship are we allowed access to our cabin or will this     happen later during the day?

 

Arriving at 10 is a good time to arrive. You may have a short wait if there are no issues with the ship or terminal logistics. You will receive an email from Royal with a recommended boarding time. It is safe to ignore it. Usually, cabins are available at 1:00 pm. I like to go a few minutes after if I didn't hear an announcement. If it's not available, the main doors to the corridors will be closed. If so, that's a good time to check out another bar on board.

37 minutes ago, MoBrien said:

2) Dining Packages - We are thinking of adding a 3 night dining package to our cruise - the fee we pay for this, is this a cover charge for the restaurants or will this cover our       meals. Our travel agent added prepaid gratuities to our cruise when she booked it for us so we are wondering, if we book this package is the gratuity still included or do we just       tip our waiter 20% at the end of our meal.

 

The dining package and pre-paid gratutites are separate. 

37 minutes ago, MoBrien said:

3) Disembarking Day - our cruise docks at 6:15am at Fort Lauderdale. Since researching this forum i see you cant just get off the ship, that you are given an allocated time but i have also seen that if you carry your own luggage off and don't leave it out the night before you can disembark first. The thing is that we have already booked an 08:35am flight from Fort Lauderdale airport to New Orleans for the second part of our holiday(vacation) before researching this forum. We thought we would just be able to get off the ship once it docked at 6:15am.

Wow...that is cutting it close despite how near FLL is to Port Everglades. If you self carry, get to the designated disembarkation location as early as possible...I would say a few minutes before the time on your disembarkation sheet. I would not use Royal's luggage service. That will pin you into designated disembarkation time that could easily be well after your flight. So, self-carry is your only option as I see it. I have not used the passport app, but I hear that it speeds things up in customs -- I think it is only available for US citizens, so if you are Irish, you may have to do it the traditional way -- someone correct me if I am wrong. You may also be able to get a porter to get you to the front of the line after you get off the ship. They work on tips. If there are no weather issues, no issues with customs clearing the ship for disembarkation, and you're at the front of the line, you should be able to make your flight. At any rate, if it were me, I would investigate whether or not I could change to a later flight. You will be with 6,000 other passengers, many of whom have may similar situations.

37 minutes ago, MoBrien said:

Is it possible to still make our 08:35am flight if we carry our own luggage off the ship. I have checked with our airline Jet Blue and we need to be checked in no later than 40 minutes before our flight so that would be 07:55am. We were just going to get an Uber to the airport once we got off the ship.

The most fortunate thing is the proximity of the airport to the port. You are cutting it very close...way too close in my estimation, because there are so many things that could affect the ship's arrival as well as the bottle neck possibilities at customs even with self-carry off the ship. Like I wrote above, I would see if there is a way to get a later flight without a penalty. You could always call the airline and plead a little...

Can anyone say where sports events are broadcast on Empress? I am particularly interested in the NHL finals on June 3 and 5. I at least want to have it on in the background.

I don't go to Sabor expecting authentic Mexican...the Freedom and Voyager class ships label it as New Mexican, so I see it as more of a Mexican fusion cuisine. I really like it, but understand when others don't.

On 5/24/2017 at 4:30 PM, Alan Ramos said:

Thanks guys, I will ask to remove, gonna take a lot of dollars bills, I think it's more fair. I tip who I want sorry. 

Not gonna be force to a head.

You benefit from the service of many who would receive a portion of the daily gratuity, and you may not realize it. Doing it with whom you like to tip rips off some of the crew. If you receive substandard service, guest services should be alerted.

My favorite part of Sint Maartin was the time spent in Marigot for breakfast and a little trinket shopping...and if you like wine, a visit to Le Gout du Vin, a French wine store is not to be missed. There's a great selection of French wines at fantastic prices, and everyone is very friendly. Sadly, we drank all the wine we bought within a few weeks. Therefore, it is necessary to return.

I enjoyed a water taxi ride there one year...

Did I hear on the FB Live yesterday while I was cutting the grass that a Cruise Planner sale is a few days away?