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RCVoyager

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Posts posted by RCVoyager

  1. 54 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:

     

    I'm not going to defend NCL other than to say that I keep a fairly close eye on weather, and I had to look up the term 'bomb cyclone'.  By definition, it is a rapidly developing storm.  Maybe there wasn't enough notice or there was no notice at all.  Just a thought.  Even if the bomb cyclone wasn't their fault, this thing with Hurrincane Dorien was not handled well.

  2. 9 minutes ago, Dalewood said:

    I was a bit surprised to see the Pride leaving Baltimore yesterday going to Grand Turk. Carnival must really feel confident about the track and timing of Dorian.

    I would agree the Pride trip is questionable, but it can go East then South and stay 200 to 300 miles away from the storm.  At this point, there are no watches or warnings that far North that I know of.  Coming out of Charleston today, with the main interstate in contraflow away from your site, is really taking a chance.

  3. I would also hope Carnival would offer a 100% refund for any passengers who can't get to Charleston, don't want to leave their car with possible on shore flooding, or who don't want to be subject to the rough seas they will encounter, but I don't see any mention of it on their website.  

    When people come on here with complaints, I'm usually one of the first to say "the cruise line did the best they could" in a given situation.  This one has me scratching my head.

  4. I'm a little surprised Carnival is still planning to go forward with it's 5 night trip, on the Sunshine, from Charleston this afternoon.  They have cancelled the Half Moon Cay stop but currently still plan to stop at Nassau on Thursday.

    I guess they will try to dart out a couple of hundred miles directly East and then come back in behind the storm.  It will probably be a bumpy ride. 

  5. For the most part, once on board, the cruise line can adjust pretty quickly to a storm to stay away.   It seems the big impacts involve the port of origination.  If it hits there on turn around day, it would impact a lot of people which appears to be the case this weekend.

  6. I see the Freedom of the Seas is out of service from January 12th to March 8th of 2020.  We've been thinking of scheduling a cruise for a group of couples (March 8th), and I am interested in what is being done to her while she is laid up.

    It would be nice to have some cool new features, but also I have concerns the work won't be done or most importantly, the cruise be cancelled after a lot of planning has been done by your's truly.  

    Looking for some thoughts.  Thanks.

    As a side note, the group of 20 includes some seasoned cruisers all the way to one person who has never seen the ocean, so making a good impression is important to us.  As another side note, a four night pre-cruise stay is in order in San Juan complete with sailing, zip lining in the rain forest, and a walking tour of Old San Juan.  So San Juan will be the port.  It's a matter of whether March 8 will work, wait til the 22nd (like the Aruba intinerary)... or possibly jump the fence to the Norwegian Epic in February or March.

  7. On 5/19/2019 at 8:02 AM, Bob_KY said:

    We did a repo on the Radiance from Honolulu to Vancouver (positioning for Alaska itineraries).   Going to the different ports in Hawaii - awesome and no issues.  The repositioning from Maui to Vancouver was 5 long days and we had rough seas.  We thought there would be more balcony and pool time - weather prevented that.  I don't know if that is the norm.

    It seems there is a Northern cruise (HI to Vancouver) and a Southern cruise (San Diego to HI).  We purposely chose the Southern cruise because of the potential for better weather.  I would not hesitate to do the Northern cruise, but would choose the Southern route given the choice.

  8. On 5/17/2019 at 6:04 PM, Brenda Landry said:

    Has anyone gone on  a Hawaiian cruise. Was it rough seas?  Was it a great way to see the islands. We have never been there. 

    We did a 12 night repositioning cruise from Ensenada, MX (just south of San Diego) to the islands.  It was remarkable and a really good value.  The 5 days across the ocean were wonderful sea days.  Then there was 7 days in the islands.  The cost was not much more than a typical 7 night cruise.  We did it on the Carnival Spirit.  I'm guessing there are many choices.  April and October would be the months.

    I will say some things didn't go perfectly smooth.  We think it was because most of the trips most of us go on are done by the cruise line every week.  A repositioning cruise is out of the norm, and it showed itself a couple of times.

  9. 8 hours ago, Edb said:

    Could not make April 14 cruise on Harmony because flight to Ft Lauderdale cancelled due to weather.  Had trip insurance with original booking.  Paid for many extras, excursions drink package, spa, etc. Only thing reimbursed so far, drink package and a couple of excursions.  Royal Caribbean still owes original cruise cost plus excursion, and spa.  The delay for reimbursement is now over 30 days.  I have another cruise in November and they want me to purchase in advance more excursions. I think not.  What good is their insurance.  Give them money and it's like trying to pull teeth to get it back.  Everyone beware.

    Always go a day ahead.  It's not just the insurance/money.  It's about your vacation.

  10. 1 hour ago, kimberlyelayne said:

    Going to St. Martin for the first time.  Suggestion please on a beach.  We are a active family of four.  2 Older teens with Mom and Dad.  My 18 year old is 7 months post op ACL surgery so we are limited on what we can do but still want options if that makes sense.  Looking for a beach with lots to do and near by food.

    For ease, you can water taxi right to the beach that is in the center of town.  It's right in front of the ship.  It's a little worn because it's so easy to get to.  There are many other beaches on the island.  Orient Beach is on the French side and is a world famous beach.  You will see some topless beachers there.  The last time we were at Orient Beach, there was a ton of sea weed.  I don't know if that's still the case.

  11. 3 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

    Lengthening of Enchantment or any previous ship, that was done, was part of the refurbishment, for that ship, regardless of cruiseline... which has been several. Royal has done it a few times, Enchantment was the last they've done.

    I don't think anyone suggesting it should or should not be done. I've simply asked what ship would anyone like to see extended. The extension proved to add not only more cabin, but a few additional venues as well...which add to the overall enjoyment of the ship, versus the original. More is always better, in this case.

    The post got hi-Jack from just a fun little thought, to how it not cost effective, when it apparently was...enough to be considered a success.

    It was you who introduced the cost into the conversation in your original post.  

    There was no hi-jacking of this topic.  Just experienced posters with material information to add.

     

     

  12. 11 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

    @RCVoyager, you readily admit you don't know if any of that is true...that's all conjecture on your part. I'm going off what is actually stated, from what I read. That's a difference vs anyone's feeling/think what is the case.

    Actually everything I stated is factually correct.  NCL did extend two ships in the 1990s.  There were massive overruns on the Empress refurb, and the refurb did not involve an extension.  And yes, extensions seem to have dried up.

    I only tried to add to the conversation by pointing out that NCL did it 20 years ago.  Not sure why you say I 'readily admit I don't know if any of it is true'.  I do know it's true.

    Peace.

  13. 10 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

    Should some ships be considered for lengthening? What ships would you like to see lengthen & by how much?

    Several ships has been extremely refurbished in such a manner. One of the most well known ship many here would be familiar with is Enchantment of the Seas. At $55-60 million, in January of 2005, Enchantment OTS grew 73 feet longer & added 2500 tons, while only losing 0.2 nautical miles in speed. Bet Boleros and Ben & Jerry's was ecstatic about that. ?

    For more information on the whole process, here the link & an interesting read I must say, for those interested to learn more.

    https://www.vacationstogo.com/articles/cruise_articles_Stretching_Ship.cfm

    NCL extended two ships in the 1990s.  I don't think they were all that thrilled with the outcome.  Don't know if it was the cost or the result, but ship extensions seem to have dried up as an option.  Think of the cost overruns on the Empress and that didn't involve cutting the ship into two pieces to add a third.

  14. 10 hours ago, KathyC said:

    Our next cruise will be a repo from Bayonne to San Juan.  We disembark on a Saturday, and was thinking about staying overnight and flying home Sunday.  We haven't been to San Juan in many years, but when we were there we didn't stay overnight.  Looking for recommendations for hotels.  I'm thinking we'd like to stay in Old San Juan, near the "day visitor" cruise port?  I know we disembark at a different port but my search through these threads tell me it's only a 5 minute taxi ride into Old San Juan from there. 

    Okay experts, go! 

    For us, the Sheraton Old San Juan is perfect for 1 night.  If doing two or more, I would look at one of the resorts.

  15. 54 minutes ago, Splendora Diggitt said:

    We're scheduled on Allure in May 12, 2019.  The cruise line switched routes and now we're going to San Juan instead of St. Thomas.  I'm annoyed...I wanted to enjoy the beaches of St. T but now i cant.  Are there any "relaxing beach getaways" in San Juan?  

    Probably because of Allure's current propulsion issue.  There are beaches along the Condado.  They would be easy to get to.  I might suggest spending some time in Old San Juan if you haven't before.  Incredible history there.

  16. 33 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

    I agree 100%!

    We loved Disney (our first cruise - honeymoon back in 2004 on the Wonder) which set the bar very high, but we have never been disappointed with RC. Not worth the premium and limited ships/itineraries offered by Disney IMO too (and we love Disney/Disney World)... we'll try them again one day for sure, but not until we've sailed on a few more RC ships!

    Slight tangent... it's crazy to think that an Oasis class ship (225-228K tons) is larger than the Wonder or Magic (83K tons) plus the Dream or Fantasy (130K tons) added together in total displacement!

    The Oasis is 5 times the size of the Titanic (in displacement).

  17. The topic on the News and Rumor page about Holland charging for a second entree begs a question.  Some swear by Royal.  Some by Princess, Carnival, Celebrity, ect.

    Here's the question:  If you could take all branding out of the ships, is there that much difference going from Royal to Carnival to Princess to NCL and on down the line of the mainstream lines?

    I think there is a notable difference in the ships, but really from line to line, I think the experience is about 90% the same.

    I'm specifically asking about the on board experience.. not itineraries.

    Thoughts?

  18. If you treat others with respect and kindness, not for your own profit, but because it is the right thing to do and should make you feel better about yourself, you will oftentimes be rewarded by others, including the person you are currently being nice to, with good tidings beyond what you paid out by being kind in the first place.  Not always, but it often does work that way.

  19. I'll go out on a limb here:  For the most part, I've found that when you treat anyone with kindness and respect, the other party will do the same.  I've found that to be especially true in the travel/tourism industry.  I'll give you an example:

    Two weeks ago, my wife and I spent a wonderful week in the Turks and Caicos Islands.  We wanted to have dinner at an oceanfront restaurant called 'Hemmingways' on our last night (Friday).  Being that my cellphone was expensive there and we had a car, I stopped in on Tuesday to make a reservation.  The nice lady said "sorry, we're booked to half Friday, and since it's supposed to rain Friday, and half of our seating is on the beach, we can't add any more reservations now."  She went on to say, "come by Friday morning, and we'll see if anything has changed."  I stopped in Friday morning at 10:00 only to be turned away without a reservation again by the same nice lady as there was still rain in the evening forecast.  She was as pleasant as can be, and I was to her as well.  She did say that "if you and your wife can be here at 5:45 this evening, I will try to help you".  We arrived at 5:45 and it was not raining.  She said "I was hoping you would come back, and I was able to save the best table on the beach for the two of you".  We had a really good, albeit pricey, meal with a front row view of the sunset over Grace Bay Beach.

     

    Point is, kindness, respect, and working with people goes a long way.  Talking down to people and issuing threats seldom works.  Based upon the reaction of the OP to other posts in this thread, I can see what happened.

     

     

  20. 3 hours ago, kimpossible1 said:

    I think it's a shame that people take pleasure in other people's misfortunes.  I didn't need the photos with the captions or the reposting of the video.  

    It is kind of fun to watch people running and make it onto the ship.  It does put a different light on the situation when they don't make it.  However, there is a 99% chance this was not a simple misfortune, but rather a neglect of responsibility. 

     

    If we can leap from misfortune to neglect, we can then leap to the possibility that it's not the first time they've pushed the envelope in any number of instances when in a public setting.  In that you get a little piece of karma.

     

    I wish they'd have made it and this topic didn't come up, but as mentioned, there is a very good chance this isn't the first time.

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