Jump to content

SLM

Members
  • Posts

    37
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by SLM

  1. Hi all, I just wanted to report back that I just got cancellations of all the My Time dining reservations I had made, and when I went in to the app, I saw I now had Early Seating dining. We actually hadn't even been able to get on to the Early Seating waitlist when we booked, and it was only a week ago that our TA said she had been able to add us to the waitlist. Super thankful this piece of things worked out as I had hoped!
  2. @Geoff P I'm no expert, but Celebrity ships were not designed with kids in mind, whereas Royal Caribbean ships were. I don't know that either ship has much for the under 5 crowd, but everything I've read indicates that while you can take kids on Celebrity, Royal is far better for kids. If we were taking kids, I would definitely stick with Royal. I'm only looking at Celebrity because this will be our first cruise without kids.
  3. Hi all, We really enjoyed our cruise last summer to Bermuda on Liberty of the Seas, and would like to do the trip again. I was looking at the sailings for June 2025 that were just released, and website prices for two people in a choose-your-room standard balcony in the forward section on the five-night roundtrip to Bermuda from Cape Liberty on June 12 is $2784; our travel agent can get us a slightly better rate which includes refundable deposit. I happened to look at Celebrity, and the Silhouette will be doing a series of SEVEN night roundtrip to Bermuda from Cape Liberty in June 2025; on the website, the base price (no drinks/wifi) for a non-obstructed standard balcony on the June 15 sailing is $2896. I think I did an apples-to-apples comparison, and I am really surprised that I can get a two-night-longer cruise on Celebrity for about the same price I would pay for the shorter cruise on Liberty, especially considering that I thought Celebrity was the higher-end cousin of Royal. Can anyone offer some thoughts on this? Like why the pricing is that way, and things we should consider when making the choice? No kids in tow and just going for some unwind time in a beautiful context. 7 days to relax sounds nicer than 5 for the same price. Thanks.
  4. Boston and Cape Liberty departures through Feb 26 went up last night (Feb 13).
  5. Hi, We just booked a cruise for Sept, and had to go on the waitlist for Early Seating dining. In the meantime, we are booked with My Time dining, and I was able to go in and make reservations for all the nights of our cruise. Will the computer pass us over when it would be our turn to get off the Early Seating waitlist because we have the My Time reservations? Thanks.
  6. Hi, Is there a way to figure out the cost to purchase the Royal Caribbean Travel Protection plan for a particular cruise without actually going through the booking process? Also, the word "may" in "In addition, should you need to cancel for "any other reason" you MAY be eligible for credit toward a future cruise " is a little bit concerning. Are there some hidden caveats that would make you ineligible for the FCC if you had to cancel? Thanks.
  7. Hi, In a standard non-suite room, it seems there is a $7.95 charge for ordering room service, and that "An 18% gratuity is additional and will automatically be added to your check." It is just 18% on the $7.95, or is it 18% on the value of the food you ordered (even though the cost of the food to you is zero)? Thanks.
  8. @Pattycruise Thanks so much for the info. Super helpful to know that it is a possibility on that cruise. If you don't mind some more questions, from what you said it sounds like they might have been visible multiple nights on your cruise (or maybe multiple times on the same cruise); is that correct and, if yes, can you please give some more specifics? Also, was it possible to look for (and see them) from the observation lounge or some other indoor areas, or did you have to sit outside on the deck to watch for them? Thanks so much!
  9. Hello, I'm considering the Greenland cruise from Boston in September, thinking that there might be a decent chance of seeing the Northern Lights since it is 15 nights and I'm guessing that 7 of those nights will be in the aurora oval. Would appreciate any thoughts on how overly optimistic this might be, but also, if the Northern Lights are out, will the captain announce that? Or do you just have to sit in the observation lounge and watch? Thanks.
  10. Hi all, Looking at excursions for a trip to Bermuda on Liberty of the Seas in summer 2024. Can anyone tell me who the actual provider is for the "Devil's Isle Cruise Beach Snorkel"? I really like to be able to read reviews on TripAdvisor before booking anything, and I can't do that without knowing the company that actually runs the excursions. Thanks in advance!
  11. Hi all yet again, You all are fantastically helpful. Getting ready to book on the Liberty of the Seas, and #8638 seems to be still open. This is the center hump balcony, and I am planning on spending a lot of time on the balcony, so the idea of being out as far as possible with the best possible view seems lovely. I've been reading up on noise, and it seems that while Centrum and foot traffic noise is an issue for hump balconies on Radiance class ships, for some reason, it is not an issue on Freedom class ships. Can you all share your experiences regarding whether or not someone in this room (or similar) can hear a lot of noise drifting up from the Centrum through the elevator corridor, and also if you can hear a lot of noise from people going to and from the elevator? Also, on the balcony, do you hear a lot of the churn/engine noise from the aft of the ship? Thanks so much.
  12. Hi, Our travel agent has offered us what seems to be an incredibly good deal on a 5-day Bermuda cruise on Liberty of the Seas, if we are willing to do an Ocean View Balcony Guarantee booking. I don't think there are any obstructed balconies on Liberty, although the aft-facing rooms seem to be quite different than all the rest; however, I started a mock booking and it seems that all the aft-section balconies (and forward as well) are sold-out on this sailing. The mock booking also revealed that there are tons of connecting balcony rooms left, and I have heard that noise travels more through the connecting door than a wall; plus I think you lose seating to allow for the door. My main thing in getting a balcony is the opportunity to sit on the balcony and listen to the waves, and this cruise will have a lot of ocean transit time (one reason I picked it). I'm just wondering what people might think are some worst case scenarios for a guaranteed balcony room on Liberty, especially in light of my personal preference of hearing the waves? Thanks in advance.
  13. My bad - I was using the ship name, not the ship code. It worked as advertised when I used the ship code. Thanks!!!!
  14. @Xaa, I tried doing what you suggested, but what opened up eventually was the login screen, and when I logged in, it said I had no upcoming cruises. Any suggestions? Thanks.
  15. Hi, Is there a way to see excursion options for a cruise *before* booking? Thanks.
  16. Hi all, I love forums like this, and I like to pay it back when I can. These are the top ten things I learned from cruising on Liberty of the Seas to Bermuda that I think others might benefit from. These are all based on my specific experience, so I want to be careful to say your mileage may vary. 1. Spacious Balcony rooms are a total ripoff. We had five rooms with two people each; the Spacious Ocean View Balcony room was $1786, and the four Ocean View Balcony rooms were $1160 each. We could not discern ANY difference between the two types of rooms (or the balconies), even looking closely at the storage options and the walking room around the bed. 2. They will fill your water bottle with ice and top it off with water at the drink stations in Windjammer. The first day, I was just planning to fill my water bottle by dumping glasses of ice water straight off the trays at the drink station; however, when I got started with the first glass, the person behind the counter offered to fill my bottle for me from the dispenser. Over the next few days, I asked for bottle filling at all four Windjammer drink stations and never got anything other than “Of course,” even though there are signs on the ice/water dispenser that say “Do not refill water bottles”. Also, I had empty water bottles with me on disembarkation day eating breakfast in the main dining room, and the waiter offered (without me asking) to fill them from his pitcher of ice water. 3. You can get espresso-based drinks at the Plaza Bar just inside the entrance to the Windjammer. In my experience, they would make espresso drinks any time the Windjammer was open, including on disembarkation morning. I think they only have one size (instead of the three sizes available at Cafe Promenade), but I think the cost for that size was the same as at the Cafe Promenade. 4. The line for espresso drinks at Cafe Promenade moves VERY quickly. The first day (before I discovered the Plaza Bar), there were about 10 people in line and I got my drink in about 5 minutes. These guys seem like they are racing against something, and they are actually quite fascinating to just watch. The Plaza Bar guys are not nearly as quick. 5. There are sandwich fixings in the Windjammer at breakfast, but NOT at lunch. You can get a croissant or a roll at the pastry/bread station, and there is an area on each side of the Windjammer with two choices of meat, two choices of cheese, salmon, lettuce, tomato, and onions. Ketchup, mustard, and mayo are available all the time at pump dispensers at the extreme back end (nearest back windows) of the serving area. It was very frustrating that sandwich fixings were not an option for lunch. You can also get small (dinner-roll sized) pre-made sandwiches and wraps at Cafe Promenade; there seemed to be six or so options, and they seemed to change each day. 6. You can easily take ship food off the ship into Dockyard (and Cape Liberty). Despite ALL the notices everywhere saying you can’t take food or liquids off the ship in Bermuda or in Bayonne, there was NO ONE doing any kind of checking. In fact, upon our return to Bayonne, the only official things that happened were our sea pass card was scanned as we got off the ship and our faces were scanned at the border/customs area after picking up our luggage. No x-rays, no questions, nothing. Other people in our group made big bags of sandwiches and sliced fruit at the Windjammer during breakfast and carried it all off the ship both days in Bermuda with zero questions. 7. Shorts are totally fine in the main dining room for dinner, and not just on the first and last night. 8. Picture packages purchased pre-cruise are defaulted to digital, meaning you do NOT leave the ship with prints. You have to request to switch it to prints. We learned a lot of things dealing with the photo people, most of which ended with the discovery that no matter how much the guy in front of you tells you something can’t be done, if you get the guy above him (who is sitting in the office behind the retail counter), he can make anything happen. We also learned that even if you give your room number when pictures are taken, not all the pictures that are taken are loaded in for your viewing. We knew that embarkation pictures had been taken in which we didn’t wave or have thumbs up, yet none of those showed up when we initially looked at our photos, even though other photos taken at the same time did. We had to ask them to go and find them, and we had to come back an hour later; they did find the missing pictures, and then we had to add them to each room’s account. 9. The main theater entertainment was incredibly disappointing, and “Saturday Night Fever” is incredibly offensive and totally inappropriate for families with kids. We were on a five-night cruise. The first night was a single late offering of a comedian doing a welcome aboard show. Second night was a singing concert with singers and musicians, but no dancing. The third night was a repeat of the first night comedian and the fourth night was a different comedian doing an adults only show. The last night was the only actual show, and it was the Broadway-style offering (“Saturday Night Fever”). We had very high hopes, and we all left feeling worse off than when we started. Not only had we wasted 90 minutes of our last night, but the whole thing was disgustingly offensive from start to finish. If they had only done the songs, it would have been mostly okay, but the vast majority of the dialogue was either between guys talking about having sex with the women, or guys talking to women with the expressed intention of having sex with them. A lot of it would have probably gone over kids heads, but at points the words and the physical actions of the performers were disgusting in their explicitness and vulgarity. On top of that, the non-singing/dancing segments included 1.) a guy asking various characters for advice on what to do since he had gotten a girl (not necessarily a girlfriend) pregnant, 2.) said guy getting drunk and being clearly shown as falling to his death from a bridge (“there are ways to kill yourself without killing yourself”), 3.) a group of guys walking coming on stage with a female friend of the group who had gotten herself really drunk and telling some other guys that all of them were going to have sex with her and inviting them to join in the fun, and 4.) an attempted rape involving the two main characters, shortly after singing a song in which they seemed to profess deep love for each other, even though they had just met, and he was only interacting with her to have sex with her. The singing and dancing were great, and the sets were extremely well done, and it could have been a totally wonderful show. It is such a shame, because the whole thing could have easily been done leaving out 95% (or 100%) of the objectification of women and completely removing the character who committed suicide. We really wanted to really enjoy the show on our last night, and instead the two moms in the group of 8 left infuriated, and we all felt like we had been robbed of 90 minutes. 10. RC doesn’t do a good job dealing with dietary limitations. On our two previous RC cruises (2013 and 2015), our head waiter had met us immediately when we were seated for the first dinner, and it was like the waters continually parted for my son to get the food he needed. This time around, our head waiter didn’t show up until the end of the first dinner, and my son had been left to try to work with the table waiter – through a significant language barrier – to guess what he might be able to eat. It was very troubling, and if my son’s issues were life-threatening, he would have not eaten in the main dining room that night. Things got only marginally better after that, even though we had emailed the right person at the right time to let them know about his limitations. We had much more success working directly with the head chef in the Windjammer. They seemed to have some labeled GF options and vegan options, but I would say if someone in your group has dietary limitations, they will probably fare better on a different cruise line.
  17. Hi, Last minute panic. Can someone tell me whether or not we need to do the Bermuda Arrival Card to go to Bermuda as part of our cruise? We're not going to have internet on the ship, and we really need to be running for a booking as soon as we can get off the ship. Should we do this today before we leave home? Thanks.
  18. Hi, We are cruising on Liberty of the Seas to Bermuda. Formal night is the first day at sea. We want to get pictures of our nuclear family, as well as pictures with the larger group we are traveling with. We have 5:30p dining. Can anyone tell me what time the photographers set up in the atrium on formal night? And are there other lesser know spots where photographers set up on formal night? Thanks!
  19. @Geezer Of The Seas This issue has been reported recently on another thread and apparently only affects Android phones. The hack is to hit "Decline" instead of "Accept," and it lets you right in. It happened to me, and I was glad I had noticed the thread.
  20. Has anyone booked on onboard activity (like the Flowrider lesson) and then tried to transfer the activity to a different person in a linked group? Can you do that? Someone in our group of 10 seems to be assuming that if he decides not to do the Flowrider lesson at the last minute, someone else in the group can just go in his place, and I'm wondering if he is going to be surprised that that isn't an option. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
  21. Just wanted to add that I just went in to the app on my Google Pixel this morning and got the same issue - "accepting" the new terms just puts me back to needing to accept the new terms. So they clearly have not fixed the bug. But because I had seen this thread, after three tries I did "Decline" instead and it went right on to the biometric login. So thankful for forums like these and the people who contribute.
  22. Liberty of the Seas. I was just hoping to get familiar with how to navigate the app since I'm a slow starter when it comes to phone-based technology.
  23. Hi, I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if I will only be able to access all the "Cruise Compass" type info inside the app once we are onboard. We are less than two weeks out from sailing, and I was hoping to be able to figuring out how to access all that, but I seem to be unable to get any info. Thanks.
  24. Hello, I am hoping that someone who has travelled recently to Bermuda on the Liberty of the Seas can share some thoughts on arriving into Royal Navy Dockyard and getting a taxi from there. The schedule shows the ship arriving at 9 am, and CruiseMapper shows Carnival Venezia also arriving at 9 am. We need to get to Somerset by 11 am for a reservation, and I am starting to get nervous about our ability to get a taxi by 10:30 am. I'd appreciate any thoughts and insights. Thanks in advance.
  25. I was wondering the same thing, and I just figured out the luggage tags are under "View More Details" when you are looking at the top level under "Upcoming Cruises."
×
×
  • Create New...