RCVoyager

1 hour ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

I agree, but I also appreciate that we have a royal port in the northeast. We’ve taken our last 4 cruises out of cape liberty and it just makes it much more affordable for us. We choose to go in April and May so we don’t really have to deal the rough northeast weather. Those that leave in the winter just have to accept that they might have a day or two of frigid temps. 

We actually agree.  I think you make my point.  I think it's crazy to have a full time ship in New York, but with 50,000,000 people within a 1 day drive, RCCL can fill a ship every week.  It is not a purchase I would make.  However, if given that trip, I would gladly take it in a heartbeat. 

So if anyone wants to pay for my wife and I to go on the Anthem in January, I can give you my email address.  Kidding of course.

Peace to you Ogalthorpe.

22 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

What did the final altered itinerary look like ?

Just checked Marinetraffic.com.  It appears as though they just left NYC with Coco Cay as the destination.

2 hours ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

It’s not the northeast weather that’s causing the issue though, It’s the weather in Florida and the Bahamas. I also take a cruise anywhere anytime. 

You are correct.  The storm was in the South.  However, you have to stay in the North, where it is cold, and you couldn't get South without going through it or waiting for it to pass before you go, which is what they decided to do.

If you are in FL and there is a storm in the East and South, you can go West.  If there is a storm in the Gulf, you can go East.  If you are in the upper East coast, there is nowhere to go.  Someone mentioned going North which you could do, but that's a bad back up plan in the Winter.

Again, if given a free trip on the Anthem in January, I would gladly go, and not complain one bit.  The thought of spending really hard earned money and ending up with what this week's travelers ended up with, it would be somewhat on me for choosing to sail from NYC in November or really October through April.

On 4/18/2018 at 11:32 PM, Jerry C said:

Hi, Does any know which port Royal caribbean will dock the ship in Napoli?

I am little confused.

 

marinetraffic.com is an excellent resource for this very answer.

21 hours ago, Cez said:

I think that we’ll be placed 12 miles from the shore to open casino

Well, I think we have our answer.  I just checked marinetraffic.com.  The ship is still in port.  It was supposed to embark at 3:00 PM.  No casino and no shops.  

1 hour ago, MinnesotaCruiser said:

We are St. Kitts abs St. Thomas for ports.  I thought it would be fun to go on a weekday just to make up if nothing is offered on Sunday on the ship but I noticed that all service times were outside of port times.    At least I can say I tried!

If you happen to be in San Juan, the oldest church in the Western Hemisphere is just up the hill in Old San Juan, and it is a Catholic Church.

On 11/4/2019 at 4:44 PM, twangster said:

Labadee and CocoCay employees over 400 locals at each location.  I have to imagine any private destination is going to represent a pretty significant employment opportunity as well as the secondary or spin off jobs delivering supplies, driving buses with guests, etc.  

Any company that employees hundreds in any Caribbean nation represents a pretty significant opportunity for locals.  There aren't a lot of companies that have hundreds of employees in your typical Caribbean country.

Gotta agree on this.   The jobs created to service the newly created area alone will be helpful to the economy.  Even if people don't venture beyond the new area, food, drinks, local crafts and other stuff will be available and purchased.

This is the part of Anthem out of NYC year round that simply doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.  I guess when you have 50,000,000 people within a 1 day drive, you can always find 4 or 5 thousand to fill up a ship for the week, but it's only November and the weather is ruining vacations.  

I guess you can compare the cold weather in the Northeast to cruising in hurricane season in the SE Atlantic and the Caribbean.  However, there are not always hurricanes in the Caribbean in September, and if there is, most of the time the cruise lines can work around them.  A dome of cold weather in the NE is a given from November to March, and there is only 1 direction you can go to get out of it.  You are pretty much guaranteed cold weather on the first day and the last day and hope that's all.

If given a free trip on the Anthem in January, I would take it gladly.  If making a choice with my hard earned money, I would fly to San Juan this time of year.

8 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

What's great about cruising is you can try new things!  If you find something that you may enjoy on the menu order it to try it and if you don't like it you can still order the steak.

Or, it you want, you can order both.

1 hour ago, Jaymac Radio said:

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-to-call-at-coco-cay/

2013 And One Time In 2014.

So that would be before RCCL invested so many $ in Coco Cay.  Makes sense these cruise lines want to protect their investment which makes the Mariner at Grand Turk this week scratch my head a little.

4 hours ago, S0nny said:

@RCVoyager

While I may have a difference of opinion when we are done, I would have to say it depends on the circumstances. We intentionally did it on this cruise because we were NOT cruising with friends/family. So generally speaking, I would agree with that sentiment; it would be hard to enjoy this experience AND try to enjoy the company of fellow cruisers. We have also had to curtail our drinking (which you may not believe if you read our live blog). 
 

It really depends on the individual person and your personal goals too. If your goal is to eat, drink, see all the shows, lounge by the pool or relax the whole cruise, this may not be the best fit. But if you pick this with intention, you may have an amazingly positive experience. If we could go back and rebook and plan this better, we probably would have NOT selected the UDP, the spa all week access, or The Key. (I’ll give a better review when we are done) Getting our certification has been a goal of ours for almost 9 years. To FINALLY be able to get it done, AND scuba in some amazing ports, AND have the security of a 5 Star PADI dive shop with amazing instructors, for one low price, it really is something that SHOULD be considered. You just must do your due diligence to ensure this experience fits the circumstances. 

I completely agree with your position on the subject.  If your group (you mention "we") is all doing it, and it was a goal of the trip, it seems to me you have hit on the one way that it is productive to do it.

My comment was based upon my experience where there was 4 of us (3 brothers and 1 best friend), and 1 did it.  It turned out to be a drag on the group.

Here is an example of how it would not work: for me to do it on a trip with my wife only or on a trip with my wife and children (21, 19, and 12).  By the second day of my trip, their trip would be ruined, and I would have to drop out of the course to save it.

I would want to save others from the same pitfall who don't think in advance just how involved the process is.

18 hours ago, teddy said:

Following with interest as I am doing the Open Water Course on our Adventure sailing in January.

Thank you for taking the time to share

 

I appreciate the effort here, but I would highly recommend not doing the course if you can avoid it.  My friend did it some years ago on vacation.  It dominates your vacation.  The OP talks about it above.  It was like he wasn't even with us.  He was in class, in the pool, and had to study at night.  If it's important to you and you have time do it at home before your vacation.

Just my opinion, but it should be a real concern.

I've never posted on a message board in my life.  Only a nerd would do that.

Oh shoot, I guess I'm busted by my rating.

Just kidding.  This is a great place for information about all of cruising... not just Royal Caribbean.  I appreciate the atmosphere as well as the info.

I did a little digging.  The Mariner is scheduled to port there this week.  However, it is a chartered cruise.  RCCL must have been granted an exception for this ship this week, because it's the only ship not from the Carnival family I see porting there for the next several months. Interesting to say the least.

I just noticed for the first time (that I have noticed), the Mariner is headed to Grand Turk (per cruisetimetables.com).  Is this news?  I thought only Carnival and it's umbrella of companies could go there because Carnival owns the dock.

Thanks for all the responses.  Seems like a pretty good way to go.  Free parking at the Country Inn & Suites.  Less than $100 (with taxes and fees) for the rental, and we can use it Friday evening to go to dinner as well as Saturday morning before drop off.

Rather than start another thread on the subject, I tried to go back to older threads to answer my question, but didn't see it answered directly so here goes:  We can rent a car from multiple agencies  at MCO for $45 per day.  That's pretty cheap for transportation to the port plus having it available for the overnight.  Which agency is most convenient to the port?

On 10/16/2019 at 1:58 PM, RRoberts said:

I always use Ace Luxury Transportation. They will pick you up at your hotel and drop you at the pier. The cost all depends on how big your group is.

www.aceluxurytransportation.com

 

Thanks for the tip on Ace Luxury.  To your knowledge, will they pick up at Sanford airport and drop at one of the Port Canaveral hotels?

Highly doubtful

I would highly recommend one of these repositioning cruises.  We did one a few years ago (Ensenada MX to HI).  It was a really good value.  We had to check-in in San Diego and then bus to Ensenada.

3 hours ago, Vacation Crazy said:

We seen a Bon Jovi cover band in August while on Ovation.  This 80's girl was in heaven!  I've always been a fan of Bon Jovi and now even more.   They will always remind me of our wonderful Alaskan cruise.  

Why see a Bon Jovi or Journey cover band when you can cruise with the actual bands?  I know Bon Jovi has done this.  Not sure about Journey.  Sixth Man is one company that does it (mostly on NCL).  Carnival now has their own brand of music cruise.

1 hour ago, Kerry said:

The Rock Boat is my dream vacation!!!!! So jealous!!!

***Edit - you're talking Ships and Dip, though, right? I just realized I confused myself with my music dream cruises. Rock Boat is Sister Hazel...

Yes, we did Ships and Dip twice and the Mayercraft Carrier.  Gaelic Storm now does the Rock Boat annually.  I'd like to do it.  It's already sold out for next year.  

This is just my opinion, but to me, there is no comparison whatsoever to the current trend of music cruises where the normal entertainment is given the week off and touring music acts (usually at least 1 headliner and a bunch of lesser knowns) are brought on board to entertain. I've been on three of these cruises, and they are amazing.

The first two were headlined by the Barenaked Ladies.  We were guaranteed 1 full length concert with the band.  We got 2 and several additional appearances and experiences.  At the sailoff show they said the following (or something similar) "We are here with our families.  If you see us with our families, we ask for privacy.  If you see us out by ourselves or with other band members, stop us to say hello."  In addition to that, the band sat for hours for each travel party to come through a line in which a photo was taken of your party with the band.  Each passenger was given a free 8X10 photo.

On top of that was the legendary Barenaked at Sea photo in which some 700 people gathered on the Lido Deck to drop their robes for 5 seconds to create a moment we will never forget (it can still be found on the internet).

Then the best part of all was that we were exposed to some bands we never heard of.  Most of them you might hear for a couple of songs as you walk by the venue in which they were playing.  However, you might also hear something fantastic... and we did.  The band 'Gaelic Storm' started playing on the stage in the casino one night.  I'm convinced, this is the greatest band noone has ever heard of.  I always suggest people check them out.  Crazy talent, amazing stage presence, strong lyrics (drinking songs, funny songs, meaningful songs), and without a doubt the most fan friendly band in the business (they come out to do a meet and greet with fans after every show and are known to have fans on stage during the show).  Great band.  Check them out.  You won't be sorry. 

No chance for us.  We don't get alone time near enough, so that time is important to us.  Our two daughters are up and out.  When they have traveled with us, they have their own cabin (s).  Our son is 12.  He stays down the hall with Grandma.   I get it that some have other views, but no chance here.

I like this idea.  We could use some of these.  I'm going with a pre-cruise idea to get people excited.  I'm doing a question a month to the group and then I'll supply the prizes.  One of my questions to to see which of the people in our group can figure out my "handle" on this website.  I'm not trying to draw attention to myself, but rather draw people to this site to see all the information that is here.  There are plenty of clues as to who I am for people who know me.

My questions are not limited to RCCL or cruising.  Below are a couple more.

Another of mine is for me to supply a photo of a map I picked up on our recent trip to Las Vegas.  It has a pretty big error on it that anyone with geographic awareness would spot in a second.  (It shows US 95 as Interstate 95).  First person to figure that out gets a prize.  

We are going zip lining in San Juan pre cruise.  First one to post a video from the zip line company gets a prize... ect.

Trying to get folks excited pre cruise.

19 minutes ago, brian_md said:

@RCVoyager I have stayed at el convento and absolutely loved it.  Excellent location. Join the loyalty program for small luxury hotels so you can get access to member rates. If you stay, I would highly recommend getting a rate with breakfast included.  When I stayed, they offered continental breakfast to members of the loyalty program, but their terms have changed since then, I think.  They let us use the value of the continental toward anything, the servers couldn’t have been nicer, and the food was quite good.  Rooms are older, obviously, but well kept relatively.  I never figured out how to connect to hotel WiFi. Wifi didn’t matter much as I had decent cell signal anyway.  There’s a “lounge” area where you can get bottled water, coffee, and tea 24 hours.  They also put out a fruit and dessert selection during the day.  Small pool on the roof with decent area for lounge chairs - beautiful views, as long as you look past all the rooftop antennas.  I want to say there’s only 40-60 rooms, and not many use the pool so it can be a nice spot to cool off on a hot day, meaning everyday. 

If you need a car, parking is valet only and not outrageous at $15 a day.

Thanks for that review.  It is on my list.  It really is the heart of OSJ.