Carlos A.

2 hours ago, Antonio said:

It's seeming more and more like the FYRE festival...

CocoCay Perfect Day "opening" day . 

On 2/8/2019 at 2:23 AM, mattymay said:

For those experienced in Falmouth, Jamaica - what is the best shore excursion to do here? Open to anything, and not fussed if it's through RCI or someone else. Thanks.

Almost every Beach or similar excursions involves a loooooooooooong bus ride from and to the ship (some of them more than an hour long one way)

I would stay on the ship 

On 3/2/2019 at 6:41 PM, Andrew72681 said:

I noticed when we were in Falmouth a very high number of visitors badges around the ship. Would appear that a large number of crew is from that area and they allow them onboard to visit for the day. So there’s already a system in place to account for comings and goings of non passengers. It also meant lots of non passenger kids in the pools on Harmony that afternoon. 

On Harmony while on Cozumel there were a lot of people (and I mean A LOT) with visitor badges (Travel Agents and special guests) everywhere. 

I don't see the logistic nightmare, it seems that RC knows how to handle this kind of situation very well.

Last year I sailed on Harmony and I had to use Royal iQ, now I see that Harmony doesn't use it anymore and now uses the new app.

I wonder if RCI will include Ovation on the new app before Alaska Cruise season...

21 hours ago, cruiselife said:

Day 1 (Embarkation-Chops and Super Bowl Party)

The service was a little bit poor to be honest. It took about 15 minutes to get greeted and there were only bout 5 or 6 tables in the whole restaurant. Once we ordered it got a little better but we still thought it took a little longer than it should have overall. It didn't bother us much though, nothing does on a cruise. No big deal.

I experienced something similar a few months ago. Waited almost 20 minutes to get greeted. Then other 15 minutes to the waiter to arrive. Other 30 minutes to the starters to arrive. Then other 20 minutes waiting for the main course until we gave up and just left. No one there seemed to care, and there were only about 5 or 6 tables in the restaurant. 

17 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

It's up to $32 for my June Ovation cruise as well. Up until now it always had the sale banner on it, so I guess this is normal price? Probably only worth it on a 2-3 night sailing at that price.  I know that Ovation has very few rooms left on my sailing. 

Same for my August Ovation cruise. It's too much for something that isn't described correctly on the Cruise Planner. It states things like " Reserved VIP seating at shows in the Main Theater, AquaTheater and Studio B"

Ovation doesn't have AquaTheater or Studio B!... It says nothing about North Star, SeaPlex or IFLY

12 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Which port?

I believe both are in Juneau 

I will be there on August and just reserved the Helicopter Glacier trek. I agree, not cheap. Hopefully it will be worthy. 

Your choice sounds great too, but a little more expensive than the one I choose. 

Has anyone taken any of these tours?

1 hour ago, Baked Alaska said:

Where do you reserve this? Didnt see it on the cruise planner. Thinking we may prefer it to the train.

I didn't reserve it through RC. It's an external company. Here's the link: https://www.diyjeeptours.com/ 

18 hours ago, Matt said:

I did a guided tour via Hummer to Emerald Lake. It's a long drive, but you do get to see what I'd consider to be the real countryside.  Also a decent chance at seeing wildlife along the way (although we only saw one bear).

Here's my review: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/07/09/excursion-focus-yukon-hummer-adventure-skagway-alaska

Thanks Matt! I really like the idea of having a "tour" at my own pace. In my case we're only 4 in one Jeep following no one, so it sounds it will be a nice adventure!

18 minutes ago, Kyle_cardinalsfan51 said:

With the updated list, this sure backfired in hindsight lol  just messing with ya

I don't mind. I was just responding to the original post. The updated post surely clarifies that indeed the Key is almost fleet wide. 

I have never been to Skagway but based on what I've read I have a reservation for DIY Jeep Tours. My plan is to take the recommended route to Emerald Lake.

Does anyone had taken this self "tour" ? Would you recommend it?

9 minutes ago, FlowBro Ty said:

Today I Was Looking At The Cruise Planners for Harmony And Serenade And Found That The Key Is On Those Ships. Does Any One Else know What Other Ships In The Fleet Have It So I Can Add It To The List At the Bottom Of This Post.

 

                                                                                                                                       Ships With The Key Program

                                                                                                                                             Oasis Of The Seas  

                                                                                                                                                                Liberty Of The Seas

                                                                                                                                                               Harmony Of The Seas

                                                                                                                                                               Serenade Of The Seas 

With a fleet of 22 ships I'm not sure 4 ships could consider "almost fleet wide".

Hi, this is part of a response I got from a C&A rep mail:

Quote

Dear Carlos:

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the delay in our response.

You are correct that access to the Solarium Pool for Junior Suites and above, Crown & Anchor Society members Diamond and above and Royal Premier guests is only applicable for sailing departing from China.

So we'll be Ok on Alaska cruises! 

On 11/14/2018 at 10:02 AM, Oliver said:

I’ve read that pilots always wonder why passengers freak out about turbulence. Apparently turbulence is a pain in the butt, but there has never once been an incidence where a plane has crashed due to turbulence. It has happened that people get hurt if they aren’t strapped in properly but nothing happens to the plane. Of course having said that, I have to admit I don’t like it at all and get nervous myself. It’s just physiological I guess 

I guess it's because almost no one alive knows how does it feel when a plane is about to fall and crash. The sudden feeling of falling caused by turbulence is all that you need to get nervous. 

3 hours ago, henrysea13 said:

i don't know if this helps for clothing emergencies but years ago on the liberty I forgot some items at home. a friend took me to the customer service desk said something to the lady attending , she ushered me to the back room and to my surprise it was full of everything from tuxedos to swim suits many pairs of very expensive shoes t shirts underwear etc.i did the clark kent to superman and in minutes came out in full dress, saved my cruise it was new years eve and I wanted to look good   

Did they sell/rent you the outfit or they just borrowed it? 

On 10/29/2018 at 9:01 AM, twangster said:

I went to Boleros to see if I could trade in a previous Wow band.  My old one had a muster station printed on it.  On Anthem they would not allow me to trade in my Wow band and required me to purchase a new one because the muster station from Harmony was different than my Anthem muster station. 

 

I was pleased to discover that Symphony accepted my old "Muster Station E2" Wow band and gave me a new one that has no muster station on it.   No charge.

On Harmony they sold me a WOW band with a complete different Muster Station than mine. I told them and they couldn't care less about it.

They should had activated your band on Anthem. 

4 hours ago, Matt said:

Yes you can. We did this for those booked with us on Explorer of the Seas GC and we're doing it again on the Symphony GC.

Only for curiosity, how much do they charge?

The park opens at 10 so I think you would have a little less than 4 hours.

I'm not sure if that little time is worth the price 

46 minutes ago, twangster said:

If the bathroom sewage issue had not occurred the outcome would have been very different.  However that saved me $20k and it broke me from the need of being Loyal2Royal.  NCL has some inexpensive last minute Panama Canal cruises you never see on Royal. 

I'm booked one cruise shy of hitting 340 Crown and Anchor points in 2018 and that drops the single supplement to 150% on most cruises.  Now I am reconsidering the desire for that target.  I'm still three cruises short of platinum on Carnival.  Maybe I should aim for that in case they change their loyalty program.   Horizon looks pretty cool. 

What cruises did you cancel?

Where will I be able to read your live blogs of your upcoming trips on Carnival and NCL? They sound very interesting!

44 minutes ago, stlpam said:

On the 6th, I started with congestion and a sore throat.  I didn't go to the ship's doctor because we'd heard that you get quarantined.  I had to go to Urgent Care on the 8th and my doctor on the 9th.  I have acute sinusitis and acute bronchitis.  On the 11th, my husband started getting sick.  It started out just like my infection.  We had to call the ambulance on the 14th because he could not breathe.  He has Influenza A and pneumonia.  He is still in the hospital and is likely there for another two days because he still needs oxygen.

Talking to representatives from Royal Caribbean yielded that it was our fault for not going to the ship's doctor, and since I got steak once, that was good enough.

 

 

 

So sorry to hear you and your husband got sick but I don't understand how getting Influenza could be RCI fault? 

The bow looks so weird. 

Also, I wonder what happens when the "Magic Carpet" passes right in front of the balconies behind it? Weird design too. 

I booked this package on Harmony a few weeks ago. The first thing I did when I boarded was going to the Speciality Dining desk that was located on the Main Dining Room. 

There was no line, and I was able to make my reservations on the day and time I wanted.

2 minutes ago, Courtneyn09 said:

What's the difference between surf, and surf and stream?

The speed. The Surf and Stream is the faster one. 

3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

So when you're in the port terminal for a Q-class or HM / SY, do they sell lanyards with plastic pouches to put the cards in? If they don't, I may pick up something like this:

https://smile.amazon.com/Cruise-Lanyard-Retractable-Detachable-Waterproof/dp/B074TSGTY2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536325228&sr=8-4&keywords=cruise+card+lanyard+id+holder

Kind of annoying that the lanyard I bought last cruise is basically useless for this one simply because I'm on Anthem with its RFID-type cards. Any chance they sell just the pouches, so I can re-use the lanyard I already have?

Forget the SeaPass, use the Wow Band instead! 

After all you only really need the SeaPass to get on/off the ship