coneyraven 2,176 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 We will never get off the ship with all of our luggage WITHOUT getting a porter again. What a nightmare lugging it all through customs. Then, in 2019, in Tampa, we used a Porter. SMARTEST MOVE WE EVER MADE!!! They knew the "ins and outs" of the port to get us through customs in record time. We almost felt guilty the way we passed everyone in line. Needless to say, we tipped well. From that moment going forward, THIS is the method we use. Porters are the Rockstars of the ports. JLMoran, WAAAYTOOO, dawnelda and 8 others 6 1 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KWong 429 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 I won't sail through Port Everglades without having my NEXUS/Global Entry card. Similar to pp, it speeds everything up in the arrivals hall and allows you to book earlier flight times. You also get TSA precheck which, if I'm being honest, hasn't provided too much in terms of time savings at FLL. At YYZ I've saved over an hour versus my colleagues when we've flown out for business. Gears, Tanner, WAAAYTOOO and 1 other 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WAAAYTOOO 12,148 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 4 hours ago, Crazycruiser50 said: Eat dinner in the Main Dining Room... After experiencing the specialty restaurants, we are unlimited dining package type of people for life. The service and quality of food is what the MDR used to be. Well worth the money in my opinion. (Especially when you catch it on a 50% off cruise planner sale) I agree with this one. We have not had a meal in the MDR in a number of years. Ogilthorpe, JimnKathy and Crazycruiser50 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WAAAYTOOO 12,148 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 One thing I will never do again - book an Oasis class ship in the month of January. There is a lifestyle group that charters an O class ship every January and they got me this year (along with @twangsterif I'm not mistaken). It really screwed up my B3B Star Class cruises ! They chartered the Oasis for the middle leg so I now have to come back after the first leg, go home for a week, come back for the second leg (which originally was the THIRD leg), change rooms and stay on for an extra week now. What a complete PITA. I will steer clear of any O class ship in January from now on. twangster, JLMoran, dawnelda and 4 others 4 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twangster 29,661 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 27 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said: One thing I will never do again - book an Oasis class ship in the month of January. There is a lifestyle group that charters an O class ship every January and they got me this year (along with @twangsterif I'm not mistaken). It really screwed up my B3B Star Class cruises ! They chartered the Oasis for the middle leg so I now have to come back after the first leg, go home for a week, come back for the second leg (which originally was the THIRD leg), change rooms and stay on for an extra week now. What a complete PITA. I will steer clear of any O class ship in January from now on. Some of the Voyager class are popular charter ships in the winter after Xmas. There is a car dealership that offers a free cruise with a car purchase and a few other companies that like the Voyager class to charter. Smaller, cheaper, easier to fill, amplified, cheaper in winter, etc. Charters are a definite down side to Royal. I've had a number of charter takeovers and it does completely mess up plans including the January 2022 Oasis date. I'm secretly hoping that masks are still required just to mess this charter up. Gears, Ogilthorpe, Jax and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJsMrs 171 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Main Dining Room - We really like exploring other options (when we travel as 4) - having said that, when we travel as 10 with the whole extended family - MDR is their favourite, especially lobster night, which we don't understand but we go (it's never as good as it's cracked up to be - cracked... ha - see what I did there ) Stay up later and take an afternoon nap to support this decision Try staying on board on a port day when we've been to the port before (except Puerto Rico - where it seems a lot of people stay on board). I've yet to experience a quiet ship while everyone is off beaching. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ampurp85 1,231 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 The art auction goes without saying but for me it was not getting off the ship/visiting CocoCay. I have been on quite a few cruises but my first one with RCG I went with a complainer who didn't want to do anything and whined when I tried to leave her alone. We never left the ship and was always in our room by 10:30. My next cruise I plan to get off at every port, stay up later and enjoy as much as possible. rjweber3, PaulRC, JimnKathy and 4 others 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JLMoran 7,291 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 I'll never do a dolphin swim again. Really neat, but definitely a one-and-done. stevendom57, Cruisegirl1976, RickinSTL and 2 others 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sk8erguy1978 1,151 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 8 hours ago, Crazycruiser50 said: Eat dinner in the Main Dining Room... We will eat in the MDR on occasion, usually with friends but that's about it. However, this gave me another reminder... I'll never do traditional dining again. Don't like to be locked to a time & we had a bad match with table mates. They spoke a different language most of the time. They were friends and speaking natively was easier for them... It made it awkward for us unfortunately. Ogilthorpe and Sharla 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DunkelBierJay 704 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 I won't eat at Wonderland again. It was fun, but...the food was... RickinSTL, WAAAYTOOO and Ogilthorpe 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gears 395 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Any and all 'Port Shopping' seminars... One of our first cruises...naively thought this was a good idea. Ended up being "Make sure you visit the Diamonds International and pick yourself up some rare crap-o-lite jewelry!". Curious how there is a Diamonds International at every port of call... Ogilthorpe and Traveler 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjweber3 52 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Any bus tour in Mexico. We've done several. All were hot, smelly and slow. Gotta be a better way to spend a day. Ogilthorpe and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sharla 420 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 I never want to eat traditional dining again, I choose MyTime so I can do specialty dining or pizza or Windjammer. As someone who likes to stay on the ship if at all possible I never want to get off the ship in Nassau or Cozumel again if I can help it! sk8erguy1978, rjweber3, Ogilthorpe and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KWong 429 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 46 minutes ago, Gears said: Any and all 'Port Shopping' seminars... One of our first cruises...naively thought this was a good idea. Ended up being "Make sure you visit the Diamonds International and pick yourself up some rare crap-o-lite jewelry!". Curious how there is a Diamonds International at every port of call... Yeah this is something you learn after your first time going to one of their "seminars". Only reason to go is that they sometimes have giveaways. Personally, I'd rather do just about anything else. In the past I've read that the Port Shopping folk aren't a direct hire by the cruise lines but rather by a third party representing some of the onland shops. It seems to make sense given that I've seen the same stores pushed on Princess, DCL and Royal, but I wonder if anyone can confirm? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MKMAJ1 21 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Go to Breezes in Nassau. It was like the Motel 6 of all inclusive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cruisegirl1976 84 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 14 minutes ago, MKMAJ1 said: Go to Breezes in Nassau. It was like the Motel 6 of all inclusive. I stayed there back in 2008, it was an unreal deal and when we arrived we knew why..lol MKMAJ1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cruisegirl1976 84 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Not get a booze package.. lol RickinSTL, dr martini and Ogilthorpe 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ogilthorpe 968 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1. The Gift 2. CATS 3. Windjammer Cruisegirl1976, Gears, Lovetocruise2002 and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JLMoran 7,291 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 39 minutes ago, Ogilthorpe said: The Gift OMG YES THIS!!!! How could I forget... oh, yeah, easily. That's how bad it was. Lovetocruise2002, Ogilthorpe, 4ensic and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MicDay 168 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 4 hours ago, twangster said: Some of the Voyager class are popular charter ships in the winter after Xmas. There is a car dealership that offers a free cruise with a car purchase and a few other companies that like the Voyager class to charter. Smaller, cheaper, easier to fill, amplified, cheaper in winter, etc. Charters are a definite down side to Royal. I've had a number of charter takeovers and it does completely mess up plans including the January 2022 Oasis date. I'm secretly hoping that masks are still required just to mess this charter up. @twangster and @WAAAYTOOO Need to know more about the charter boats, is it like the huge groups at Disney with their little flag. Hundreds of people following them, it's like a tornado coming thru. Ogilthorpe 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Curt From Canada 340 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 What a silly question. There is absolutely nothing about cruising that I would not do again. everything about it is perfect ... Ooooops, @JLMoran and @Ogilthorpe reminded me. NO WAY I would ever see these shows again: 1. The Gift 2. The Gift 3. The Gift My brain still hurts, Curt from Canada JLMoran, Lovetocruise2002, Ogilthorpe and 2 others 1 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WAAAYTOOO 12,148 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 10 minutes ago, MicDay said: @twangster and @WAAAYTOOO Need to know more about the charter boats, is it like the huge groups at Disney with their little flag. Hundreds of people following them, it's like a tornado coming thru. Not sure what you're referring to, but the one I'm discussing is a full ship's charter meaning they reserved the entire ship. Everyone with reservations already was cancelled. There ARE partial ship charters where a big group will come on board but has not chartered the entire ship. Sometimes when there is a partial ship charter some of the public areas will be reserved during certain time periods for events for the charter but it's usually only for a short time. I've been lucky. I have never had a partial ship charter cause any inconveniences for me. I have heard of some who encounter partial ship charters who are seriously inconvenienced but I think this is rare. Ogilthorpe 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twangster 29,661 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 I was on Majesty with a dentist convention as a partial ship charter. No impact really. They used the theater during the day. The only tell tale sign were people walking around with name badges on and corny dentist jokes being lobbed around at the Schooner Bar. sammy79, WAAAYTOOO and Ogilthorpe 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lovetocruise2002 11,595 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 +1 on the Gift as well. Clearly, it's been way too long since I forgot about that too until @Ogilthorpe mentioned it. Ogilthorpe and 4ensic 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stevendom57 165 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 Go to a turtle farm. Too many old, huge, majestic turtles swimming in a small swimming pool. Cruisegirl1976 and Ogilthorpe 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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