Lovetocruise2002

2 hours ago, KLAconQueso said:

We're back! The wedding was amazing, and we had an absolutely incredible honeymoon. We both really enjoyed the Allure, and agreed that the two weeks were much needed. We didn't feel rushed to do everything on the ship, and the crew was absolutely amazing. If you're going to be boarding soon, visit Antony and Rex in the Schooner as well as Li and Marlon in the Pub! 

A few stray thoughts I had - 

• I was really, really impressed with the Oasis class. With most other ships that I've sailed on, they always seemed smaller in person after seeing them on YouTube. That was not the case with this ship. However, as others have mentioned, I really missed being able to see the ocean. It's easy to forget you're on a cruise ship. 
• All of that said, unless I was cruising with family (particularly family that includes younger family members) or with a very large group, I don't know that I'd book the Oasis class again for just one week. 
• If you are planning a honeymoon and want to sail on the Oasis class, I very highly recommend either considering sailing a B2B or sailing in a suite. 
• Our first morning on board, we booked a spa appointment for a couples massage. 10/10 highly recommend - book early morning (8 AM appointment) to save a little bit of $$! It was the best possible way to start the cruise after a stressful day of (same day!) travel following our wedding! 
• We dined at every specialty restaurant except for Chops (we've done it before) and Samba Grill (not big meat eaters)... and I guess Chef's Table, too, if you count that - I don't think we ever had a bad meal on board, even in the MDR and Windjammer. Our favorite specialty was Izumi (both the hibachi and sushi experiences) as well as Giovanni's Table. They still have a filet on the menu, which my husband (!!) greatly enjoyed. 150 Central Park was also a really wonderful experience and worth doing at least once. We had fun trying all the salts, and the Cucumber Martini really is as good as people have described. 
• Don't forget the champagne bar! They have a lot of really fun and tasty martinis that are worth a try if you have the drink package! 
• Food and drink fatigue is so, so real. 
• Sabor guacamole also really is as good as people have mentioned, but we struggled to eat there for dinner - it's SO MUCH FOOD! We went more than once on Sea Days just to sit at the bar and have guac and margaritas, and that was our lunch! 
• Not ship related, but port related - If you're going to do anything in Costa Maya that isn't a ship/third party excursion and you want to leave the port, just plan on taking a taxi door to door if you know specifically where  you're going. We had a pretty negative experience on the shuttle. Taxis are $2/pp whereas the shuttle is $3/pp. Walk out of the port area, and immediately there is a taxi stand. Taxis are readily available to bring you back to port as well.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but this is off the top of my head. If you have any questions, let me know! :D

Hey @KLAconQueso....Awesome that you had a great honeymoon!  Can you provide more details on that last point about Costa Maya?  Our cruise on Dec 2 has been re-routed there but I have never been there before.  We were not thinking of doing any excursions but we were planning just to get off the ship and maybe walk around.  Are there shops etc. in the port area?  What is that general area like? And is it safe?

47 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

@BrianAlt, I might not be remembering rightly, but I don't recall that St. Kitts has a port capable of handling an Oasis Class ship. I think Freedom class is as big as they can safely dock. Could an Oasis Class ship safely anchor outside the port and tender people in?

We stopped there on the Allure last year.

25 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

OMG, I"m going to lose it!! Now I have to check that out too! I am going mad thinking about this! You'd think I have nothing else to do other than thinking about a cruise!! You are too funny!! 

My life revolves around planning the next cruise....it's my happy place 

24 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

@JLMoran thank you for that heads up!!  I'm going nuts deciding what to do. Watch, I'll end up not doing anything!! LOL I guess we should all have these problems huh! :)

You must listen to the inner cruise snob....?

2 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I hope this doesn't muddle your "sign" too badly, but at least in 2018 the Adventure of the Seas will also be doing NE/Canada itineraries into / out of Cape Liberty. I've been seeing 7 and 10 night options; the 10-night ones are open jaw itineraries, two northbound from NJ to Quebec, and one southbound from Quebec to NJ. I'm sure more of these will be made available when the 2019-20 itineraries are released.

Mentioning as others here have said a lot of really nice things about Adventure and how it's among their favorite ships.

and the plot thickens for @Boston Babe.....lol

1 hour ago, DocLC said:

I still feel Royal provides the best overall fit for my family. Unfortunately, they're not doing the itineraries we want to do. 

With regards to MSC, I think people are confused about what they offer because they market themselves as a traditional cruise line, which they aren't. In addition, the international mix of passengers seems to be off putting for some. There are repeated complaints shot Italian passengers, which could simply be culture shock. 

I agree.  I could be wrong but I think from what I have read that they are predominantly a European cruise line and the customs that comes with that.  And then North Americans go to book them not knowing that and expect what they have experienced from one of our NA cruise lines.  Even before Meraviglia came out I expected it to be similar in customs to their other ships.  The twist here is with Seaside and what they have promised with it...to cater to the NA market.  This is suppose to be their ship to finally compete with all the lines we have here.  They already tried it with Divina and failed miserably and even the company admitted that.  So hopefully they have learned from their mistakes and changed things.  Time will tell.   @DocLC you must share how your experience goes.

18 hours ago, Paul&Karen said:

UPDATE.

Had a phone call from RCCL yesterday 24 Oct, to my work phone. A lady explained she could offer a JNR Spa Suite. If I was to upgrade to a JNR Spa Suite the price would be $3000 on top of my $4463 (then changed the deal to $2500) so this put the suite at $6933 in total to inc fees.

I explained that you have JNR Suite Garrantee for $5800 and dropping in price over the last two weeks and inc $100 on board credit I explained that would be a change over,  (without fees) $1388 how about I pay that right now so you have sold a suite. Reply "no can't do that".

So lady's and gents we are no better off, RCCL will not drop the fees of $2200 if we would like to upgrade.

Its sad when other can make changes without fees and I cannot. I asked why, she wouldnt answer.

I then got alittle angry and asked is it because we are in Australia and certain rules or because I am military in the Army again wouldn't answer the question other than explaining this is the best deal they can do.

Again told the lady we are not cancelling our balcony only upgrading, no not interested.

So I said you have now lost a customer.

 

Take care everyone, travel safe where ever you go.

Paul & Karen

How unbelievably frustrating! 

I guess at this point it doesn't matter but are they offering you a "Going, Going, Gone" rate by any chance?? Because I do know that those rates require a brand new booking.  That is the only explanation that logically makes sense to me.

Try not to let it bring down your experience though and enjoy your cruise. ?

1 hour ago, Matt said:

This.

I always ignore the shopping guide, shopping seminars, and anything else RC recommends in terms of where to shop in any given port.  As Billy noted, it's all just advertising/marketing and not based on any kind of real sense of one shop being better than another.

17 hours ago, monorailmedic said:

 

What I would note for you and others reading, is that to be frank, the concept of recommended shops, in my opinion, is a joke.  Most cruise lines do this, and it's 95% marketing 5% service.  Essentially the shops with the deepest wallets pay the cruise lines to be recommended by them.  The cruise lines do verify certain things - but there isn't any significant vetting process going on here - it's a marketing play.  I've heard from others who've got the runaround when it comes to guarantees from the cruise lines (or in some cases third party company that run these operations).  Again, this isn't a Royal Caribbean problem, or a Cozumel problem - it is, in my opinion, a poor practice on the part of many cruise lines.  

 

Good to know.  I have always known that there is marketing involved there but I did not know it was as large a factor.  

I guess I should clarify that in my earlier post I was actually thinking my own jewelry shopping experiences in port.  We are not big into buying diamonds and etc. when cruising but I will confess that I have a huge weakness for David Yurman and Effy pieces.  What we have found over the years is that you can get those pieces at way better prices on the islands than in a Macy's or official store here in North America.  Especially because they are willing to deal there.  So when we do go, we make sure that we a) go online first to see if they have authorized dealers on the islands that we are visiting and b) check it with the port shopping map. 

We never buy any other jewelry when cruising.  I am skeptical of that as well.

2 minutes ago, rjac said:

Definetly! And have a few drinks before you go also.

But not too many or you might end up on YouTube...?

@DocLC and @JLMoran I got curious last night and took a look at Cruiseline.com (I use their Shipmate app) and the reviews they had on the Meraviglia. There were not very many actually. Only 24 since June?!  Anyway, same type of complaints as CC but I did notice that people either hated it or loved it. There was no real in between. Which makes me wonder if MSC perhaps "fits" only a certain type of cruiser? 

I feel bad we have totally hijacked this thread and gone off-topic. My apologies...

8 minutes ago, RGobran said:

I believe this post should be pinned for first timers, so many valuable info. Thanks Buzzard. 

Yes, i still can't access my time dinning. 

For my last two cruises, dining opened up at about 170 days out and shows opened up at about 150 days out. Keep checking your cruise planner. There's no set date. I have noticed that they usually pop up on Fridays. Your drink packages will probably start to go on sale about 3-4months out. We're sailing in March and our drink package just went down to $43/day last week. Also keep an eye out in a few weeks for Black Friday. Last year they had many sales in the cruise planner during that time. So anything you pre-purchase now can be re-priced then as well.

4 hours ago, RGobran said:

Most helpful board on the internet...Thanks a lot Matt,Sabrina and JLMoran

I wish i can help some future first timers the way you helped me :)

 I couldn't agree with you more. I love this community here. Over the years I have learned so much myself from the people here. And even after many cruises I am still learning new things. The people on these boards are wonderful. Not critical or snarky like some other boards and always positive. ?

21 minutes ago, ABFrenchie said:

No kids here, which makes completing the bucket list a bit easier ? I am intrigued by the Quest! 

It will be later too...around 11pm or 11:30pm

2 hours ago, ABFrenchie said:

All fantastic ideas. I like a lot of activity and to stay busy! I hadn't heard of the Love and Marriage show but I'll definitely check it out. I want to feel like I got every dollar's worth out of this cruise ?

Then you MUST do "The Quest". Don't ask. Just go. Don't bring the kids. It will usually pop up in the cruise compass around Day 6. ?

Central Park. Night time is so peaceful. Take a stroll, find a bench, listen to live piano or guitar music, feel the breeze. Love it. The Bellini at the Trellis Bar is super yummy as well.  Breakfast in Central Park is my second favourite.

That's a terrible thing for that to happen.  Sorry to hear about that and for the heads up.  

We stay with the stores on the Port Shopping Map not by the signage on the storefront.  As far as I know, only the stores on the port shopping map are guaranteed by the cruise line.  I don't think your store was on the Port Shopping Map and that is probably why they cannot do anything further for you.  Still really unfortunate though....sorry

4 minutes ago, rjweber3 said:

The web site has been offline for the last two days. It says 

Please be patient with us as we improve your web experience. We’ll be back shortly!

Celebrity Cruises

To book or get information please call us at 1-877-812-4739

Does anyone know when it is scheduled to be back up?

Thanks.

It was working when I was on it yesterday.  Works today too. I'm using Google Chrome...

7 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Well I looked through at least half of the reviews of Meraviglia (there are currently 65) during my lunch breaks yesterday and today, with reviews from July through this month, and it's really disappointing. I'm not going to bother being the numbers guy, because from what I could see it didn't matter if the person doing the review was an experienced cruiser or a novice, new to MSC or a longtime passenger of theirs. Almost everyone who wrote a review had the same set of general complaints, that boiled down to just two main categories:

• Staffing of the ship – Meraviglia is coming across as seriously understaffed, at least with the booking numbers I'm seeing
  • When I see a specific number, it's generally the passenger to crew ratio of 3.8 or worse (1500 crew to about 5700 passengers, which is more than the 4500 she's rated for [I assume at double occupancy]); it was often noted that the ship was overbooked
  • Even without specific numbers, far too many of the reviews cite the visible exhaustion and strain the crew is under; I saw this comment in multiple reviews from Sept/Oct as well as June/July, so it does not appear that it's being addressed by MSC
  • I saw this observation even among the positive reviews (4 or 5 stars)
  • This is probably the most concerning and severe of the issues, simply because of all the trickle-down effects: slow service, rude staff, inattentiveness, food preparation, impacts on overall ship cleanliness, etc.
• Food
  • Quality is consistently cited as a problem by pretty much every review I read: served cold and/or bad preparation (overcooked / undercooked) were the two most common complaints here
  • Buffet is also cited by everyone for being the same exact thing every day and night, as well as having no crowd flow management

Apart from these two categories, the only other semi-common complaint is about the other passengers. Some of this is probably a rub-off from the irritation of dealing with overworked crew, and I'd wager the rest is from "culture shock"; it's hard to say for sure, but it did seem as though most of these complaints were from American or British citizens, just going by the style of writing and level of familiarity with the English language. That said, some of those complaints absolutely had merit in my book; I mean, a mother let her toddler who wasn't potty trained into the hot tub, where he proceeded to soil his diaper (#2), and the mother just changed him right there and put him back in??

The hard thing about this is that it's only 65 online reviews. Without getting all mathy on everyone (I can certainly give my numbers if you really want them ), suffice to say I've confirmed that's well below 1% "participation" from all the passengers who've likely been on her.

But I compared this against Harmony (almost exactly a year older) as another very new ship: Her rating is 4.0 with just over 1,000 reviews. And the estimated "participation" for her works out to almost exactly the same percentage as Meraviglia. So I have to say that these issues with Meraviglia are real, and they can't just be dismissed as the bad apples getting all noisy in the cart while all the happy campers and at-least-OK campers stayed quiet.

@DocLC, I really hope that by the time you sail on her they'll have resolved whatever staffing issues seem to be going on, or at least gotten a grip on how (over)booked they're keeping her.

@JLMoran thanks for putting that together.  And all of that is pretty consistent with the reviews from Divina too.  Same type of complaints (cold/low quality food), culture shock for some people, and "rude" staff.  Will be interesting when Seaside comes out in a month....

2 hours ago, Boston Babe said:

Of course back then I wasn't a cruise snob, I wanted to party, now I want to be a cruise snob. 

Phew....I'm not the only one. ?

@Boston Babe you have to ask around because even as you can see on this board there are tons of different opinions.  I think because every person expects and wants different things from a vacation.  The big thing is do your research.  Read reviews but be critical when you read them.  Look at recent pictures.  And like I said before, take a good look at what meets yours/your husbands needs.  One shoe doesn't fit all right.  

1 hour ago, rjac said:

But, Sabrina, don't you see how spoiled they will be and NEVER ever even think about an interior cabin again. Next cruise will have to be JS or better!

Very true...Lol....

1 hour ago, Boston Babe said:

Do tell, I'm still thinking of cancelling them and taking 9 night on Grandeur to new england!! Be honest

Ok...My apologies ahead of time if I offend anyone with this post.  

I tried Carnival in 2003 (a while ago...so maybe they are different now...but doubt it) just after I went on Adventure (which I loved).  Now this is all before I became I "cruise snob".  This is what my husband calls me now.  I prefer to think of it as we have cruised enough now that I know exactly what type of experience I want.

Back to Carnival...I found them to be "tacky" for lack of a better word.  The crowd is younger.  The atmosphere is not refined.  Lots of shouting, hooting, and hollering.  I am not exaggerating lol.  The decor was tacky (and I really can't think of another word here).  Neon lights all over the place.  I felt like I was inside a cheap Vegas casino the whole time.  Food was low quality everywhere compared to RC.  Shows and entertainment were low caliber compared to RC unless you want to party on the Lido deck the whole time.  We hated it.  And all those complaints might sound "prudish" but we are far from that.  I was only 25 at the time and my husband was 28.  But even then we hated it.

A good friend of mine, the one who sailed in the Sky Suite on Celebrity is a seasoned cruiser.  She mainly cruises RC but has tried Celebrity and Carnival (once).  She found her experience to be the same and she went just a few years ago.  However, my parents have taken more Carnival cruises than I can count so....

I really think you have to look at what types of cruisers you are.  What experience do you want?  What are you willing to put up with and what are you willing to give up?  Carnival just wasn't for us.

1 hour ago, RGobran said:

First of all, i apologize for the silly 101-questions, this is first time i am sailing and found this board to rescue me.

Here we go: My reservation is for the Oasis of the sea Eastern Caribbean cruise (7 nights) on the 20th of May. Occean view balcony (14th deck)

1) Beverage packages: From what i read, there should be some discounts/sale at some point, but it has been 2 months now since i made the reservation and i've not seen any discounts on the packages [ deluxe package remains to be at $55/p) and both people in the same room must purchase it? now my wife(to be) doesn't drink much alcohol, why shall i purchase her a deluxe package, is there anyway around this? 

2) I am really lost when it comes to food on the ship!!! I read a couple of topics about dinner and that there are 2 options for that. What about breakfast and lunch? what are the restaurants on board and what times do they operate? are they all included in the package or do we pay extra?

3)  In the plan my cruise website, when i check the dining options, the website says I cannot reserve this right now, does it open reservation a certain time before cruise day?

4) It says that the ship starts sailing 4.30 PM on the 20th of May, what is the latest time i can check in the ship? How long does the process take?

5) Internet package - shall i purchase that package now, or wait for a discount as well for this?

6) Do you recommend i choose/buy my off shore excursions now, or wait to find deals on the ship?

7) The cruise itinerary is Orlande, Labadee, St. Maartin and San Juan - Do you recommend any in particular shore excursions?

8) Shall i pay the gratitude package from now as well or do it on ship? i don't really understand the system.

Thanks a lot for your help and once again i apologize for these questions, i am sure they were answered 100 of times before. Also if you have any advice for first timers, it would be great.

cheers:)

Ramy 

Welcome to cruising...the best type of vacation if anyone ever asks me 

1) Your cruise is still pretty far out.  They probably won't offer sales this far out.  Usually when you are with 3-4 months the sale prices start showing up.  Same with Internet.  You could always purchase now and just re-price it later if sales show up.  I often do that, especially if I am sure I will get it.  Worse case scenario is if the price goes up.....

6 & 7) Can't really comment.  We are not really shore excursion people.  We cruise to sit on the ship and relax mainly.  However, when we do shore excursions we usually do it through the ship because I am paranoid about being one those "pier runners"....

8) I am always a believer in hanging onto my money for as along as I can so I do not pre-pay gratuities.  It gets automatically loaded onto your Sea pass card then charged to your credit card once the cruise is over.

Enjoy your cruise.  The Oasis is a beautiful ship.  She'll spoil you for future cruises...

11 minutes ago, Tampaite said:

 

Anyway, we went slightly off-topic, my only concern was if there were suite cancellations, booking NOW would be comparatively lower compared to while during embarkation. 

 

Not necessarily. Depends if you want to risk it or not and how committed you are to watching prices.

To give you a example, we were initially booked into a balcony cabin for our cruise on Harmony. I watch prices daily so a few months later I noticed the the JS had dropped a bit. Still more than what I paid for the balcony but low enough to make me want to make the switch.  We stayed with that JS for a while and put down our final payment and everything. Then, about 6 weeks prior to sailing, the price on a GS dropped drastically. And by that I mean over $1000/person from what it was previously going for. I jumped on it right away. After that I kept watching and it went back up again. And the GS that popped up at that point were not available before. So read into that however you want...cancellations, TA releasing their blocks,etc. Who knows. 

I've also read many posts here and on CC of people getting offered an uograde just prior to sailing for a steal of a deal. But like @twangster mentioned those usually go to your upper level C&A people. And those upgrades are usually up one category from what you have booked. So from inside to ocean view, OV to balcony, balcony to JS etc.

So there is no real rhyme or reason to it. The best advice I can give is that you should book what you cannot see yourself going below. And then watch frequently so that you know the prices well enough to recognize a deal when it does come along. 

For our Anthem cruise in March that is what I've done. I know that we want at least a JS so we currently have a FJ booked. I know the prices for higher level suites and I check several times a day so if a drop comes along I will jump on it then.

Hope that helps.

Interesting conversation I had with an agent recently...they were encouraging me to keep calling back if I wanted an upgrade. I mentioned the with the new NRD policy that people likely weren't going to cancel as much. He was very chatty and proceeded to tell me that I would be surprised to know that many people still cancel at the last minute for whatever reasons. He also mentioned often they have people cancelling just before the sail date so asking at the pier is ok too.  I'm not reading too much into it but there is still hope. If you have time then keep checking. It never hurts to ask or call.

That's awesome! Love it when good things happen like that! Enjoy your first cruise! 

2 minutes ago, rjac said:

Ok, I'll end this mystery....$$$$$

Ok. Good then I am not totally lost today. Our $20 is Queen Elizabeth soon our $10 will be Viola Desmond ? 

The Vitality Cafe, that is the one in the spa/gym that everyone is referring to, does sell the fresh smoothies. I was able to get them with my deluxe drink package on the Allure and Harmony. The protein powder is what is extra. Your drink package won't cover that.