mamabdw

I'm boarding Harmony of Saturday and I'm having this same debate in my head....and out loud....I think my husband is about tired of me asking him what my first drink should be. These are important decisions!!

Unfortunately, it does just require some checking of the cruise planner. Not every sale is applicable to every sailing, and prices for things (like drink packages) vary from ship to ship and sailing to sailing. Check a few times per week (especially check during any holiday weekend) and book if you think the price is good. If the price on something drops, you can always cancel for a refund and purchase again for the lower price.

Mimosas from room service are NOT included in the drink package. I know it kind of defeats the purpose of ordering food in, but have one person take cards to the nearest bar and grab a round of mimosas and bring them back to the room.

YAY, cruise month! (finally)

I just assumed this was an add-on activity that you could do, similar to getting a VIP or backstage pass. I would be very surprised if they only offer paid reservations for shows, but I could see them pushing paid experiences like the one you mentioned.

39!

WOOPS. I assumed since they made the comment about the meeting for moms of teens or whatever that this was the wife. I'm obviously a great reader

I generally look at CC reviews as a form of satire. 1-star reviews are hardly ever worthy of an actual 1-star rating. Most of the reviews are full of ridiculous assumptions about what cruising has been/should be, or weirdly specific incidents or quirks. It would be nice to get actual opinions about the highs and lows of specific ships or itineraries but it's pretty rare to find actual substance in reviews on most sites. As for the "hard sell" aspect of RC cruising....whatever. Honestly, I just say no and move along. It's not a vacation ruining experience. Not even going to touch the rest of that lady's review

I answered "yes" to a couple of questions once, as I was coming off of a cold, and was never contacted by anyone about it. I figured it was either overlooked completely or they are only looking for the combination of "yes" to having certain symptoms and a "yes" to having visited certain regions.

May 25, 2019 - Adventure of the Seas

The whole ship looks nice, and they definitely have a very consistent design aesthetic throughout the ship, but from what I've heard about guest experience on MSC, I'm not sure I'm too tempted to try them out. Their prices also seem too good to be true.

Seeing a slight price increase on drink packages for Feb 2018 Harmony sailing. That's all I've noticed that has changed, but it doesn't mean other prices haven't gone up, too. Glad I snagged the ultimate dining and drinks combo package for the brief period of time it was available. Easy come, easy go with the cruise planner..

It's been a while since this question has been asked...what's your favorite first drink on board during embarkation day?

Much to my amusement, the price on the dining + drinks combo was down a few more bucks today, ended up cancelling and rebooking for $50 less. That's some savings I can get behind.

My situation right now. Booked the dining + drinks combo during the sale this weekend, now priced them out separately and since the drink package is down to $43/day it would be $9 less than the package. The cheap side of me wants to pinch every penny, but I'm not sure it's worth it for that little amount of savings

This to me is the added value of the drink package. I don't feel compelled to finish a drink I don't like, or any drink, really. Some might say that it encourages more drinking, which may be true to some degree, but it allows me to try new things, which is part of the fun!

Appreciate the heads up! Seeing some new options for combo packages on my Feb sailing on Harmony. We're going to book the ultimate dining + drinks combo and looks like we're saving about $250 versus booking them separately at regular price.

For the morning, nothing beats a spicy Bloody Mary. Out by the pool I'm drinking a frozen mojito, and I'll normally take something like a martini to a show, since I can sip on it for quite a while. But really, pretty much any drink on a cruise is my favorite drink I'm not a huge gin drinker but I have found myself becoming a fan of The Botanist gin that seems to be stocked at most the bars on board.

I wouldn't book any flight that's before noon, especially if traveling to MIA. If you fly out of FLL, the airport is only a couple minutes away from Port Everglades, but I'm not one to take many risks in terms of missing a flight and still wouldn't book anything much before noon.

It does look like there are some discounts on shore excursions, though the discount % varies a bit (starting with 10% off onboard prices). Honestly with our cruise not until Feb 2018, I think I'm taking my chances on this sale and waiting it out a bit longer before booking anything. I'm betting on another cruise planner sale around the holidays (Black Friday, perhaps?). We're still a few months away from final payment and would rather get that covered first.

On mine it appeared that maybe the refreshment package was discounted, was really hoping for the ever-elusive deluxe drink package discount, but alas, we're still waiting for that day..

Hoping this pops up soon for my Feb HOTS sailing, I've been holding out on buying packages, missed out on the lower price for dining, so it would be a stellar deal to get this combo. Thanks for the heads up on it being available!

One of my biggest tips is to not get too caught up in planning out every detail. I'm also a meticulous planner, and although I cruised with my family as a teen, when my husband and I went on our first cruise together I wanted to plan EVERYTHING. Leave some time to relax, participate in activities spontaneously, and just explore.

Just checked my cruise planner and the price for a 7-night on Harmony in Feb 2018 is now $203/person versus the old pricing of $168. Now I'm wishing I had already booked it.

Can't say I've been overly impressed with my experience at Chops. There's nothing inherently bad there, it's just not any better than the MDR. I was especially unimpressed by the steak selections that were included at our cover charge. I'm a fan of steak, though definitely not a connoisseur, but didn't think the steak I received was anything special. Although there are obviously other entrees on the menu, I feel obliged to get steak at a steakhouse, and I really felt like they needed to step up their steak game.