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Matt

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10 hours ago, krwillia said:

How was it?   Last minute thoughts on adventures or cool eats at port?

The cruise was wonderful.  Great holiday cruise.

We didn't eat in any of the ports so no info there.  Sorry.

On Antigua we did the Catamaran Cruise with Lobster Lunch.  It was very good and I highly recommend this excursion. They took us to 2 beautiful beaches and the lobster lunch was really good.  Some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever visited.

On St. Kitts we did the Scenic Railway.  I will have to concur with Matt on this one.  It was a "meh".  The history of the railroad was interesting and there were some beautiful views but it was WAAAYTOOO long.  ...AND it didn't help that we got totally drenched immediately before boarding so I was cold and uncomfortable the entire time.  I'm glad we did it.  I had been thinking about doing this excursion for a long time and now it's done.  I can mark it off my list and won't worry about it anymore.

On St Maarten we did the Phillipsburg by Trolley Train (there is a theme to the excursions if you can't already tell).  I enjoyed this one.  They dropped us off at a local straw market and for the first time in YEARS, I did some shopping.  When Royal lost our luggage in Galveston last year, Dan lost many of his favorite Caribbean shirts so we took the opportunity to replace many of them in St. Maarten.  The vendors seemed to really appreciate our patronage.  One sweet lady just gave me a big, long hug.  It was a good decision to stop.

On St. Lucia we also did a trolley train.  This one I won't recommend.  It took you through the uninteresting and crowded streets of town and b/c of the design of the diesel "engine", all we did was inhale diesel fumes the whole time.  It took us to a beach but I was just ready to go back to the ship.  I didn't care for this excursion at all.

We did not get off the ship in St. Croix but on a previous visit we did a tour of the rum factory which was well worth it.

I mentioned in another thread that we had the Ultimate Dining Package on this cruise and 12 days is WAAAYTOOO long for an ultimate dining package on a ship that just has 3 specialty restaurants.  Since we had 8 sea days, we had 21 meals to eat at specialty restaurants and though I love Giovanni's, Izumi and Chops, I was DONE with eating at any of them by about day 7 (but we continued to eat at them anyway !).  We did have a stroke of good luck regarding the dining package though.  I had purchased the package when it was first offered at $288PP.  Almost immediately, it fell to $216PP so I cancelled the first reservations I had made and rebought at the lower rate.  On about day 9 of our 12 day cruise, the manager of Chops (who had seen us about 300 time since the cruise started...as we ate every breakfast there (suites breakfast) and many lunches and dinners) told us that we had purchased 4 dining packages so he had cancelled 2 of them.  I told him that I thought he was mistaken...and explained about having purchased, cancelled and rebought....but he insisted so I thanked him and we finished our cruise with all of the remaining specialty restaurant meals.  When I got home, I checked my credit card account and just as I thought, the only charges for specialty dining packages had been the first 2, which were correctly cancelled and refunded and the second 2, which had subsequently ALSO been cancelled and refunded (by him).  So basically, we had 21 delightful specialty dining meals for free !  Not expecting that to ever happen again !!

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Hello! 

I don't know if I've ever introduced myself. 

My name is Bridgette and I am based out of Central Florida. 

I went on three cruises when I was in high school, but once college happened timings got difficult. My previous three cruises were on CCL and NCL. 

My NCL cruise I was spoiled, inaugural sailing, pent house suite, private butler. The works. 

I convinced my boyfriend last year to go on his first cruise and have now gotten him hooked, SUCCESS! We went on a 3-night Mariner sailing to the Bahamas and loved every second minus getting off. 

I simultaneously booked an 8-night cruise this October when booked our last cruise, and we are EXTREMELY excited for it. 

In my free time, I enjoy the Theme Parks, Photography and Videography. I'm also into reading and working out (partially so I can fit into my cruise clothes, lol). 

 

 

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Hi Everyone!

 

I will be cruising on Oasis of the Seas, 7-night western Caribbean, leaving March 17.  This will be my 2nd ever cruise.  I'm part of the 20th anniversary Club Scrap group.  I've been visiting this blog and watching Matt's videos on YouTube for a while now.  I've gotten so much good information and I'm taking Matt's advice and trying to, perhaps, connect with people ahead of time.  I'll be busy with workshops the 1st two days at sea, but the rest of the time is mine.  I'm bringing a non-scrapbooking friend as my roomie.  This will be her first cruise.  We're both so excited!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’ve been following for a long time, but finally came out of lurk mode and registered.

 

I’m Katrina and my husband Eric and I have recently fallen in love with cruising (and Royal Caribbean). Our first cruise with Royal was this past June on Allure with our two tween boys. We followed that up with an Oasis cruise last month without the boys and currently have 2 more cruises booked. (1 with the boys, 1 without)

Thank you for all the great info and tips. Thanks to this blog I have booked Maya Chan for our Brilliance cruise in December and we couldn’t be more excited!

 

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Hello all,

new joiners to the forum, we are a family of 4 from Italy, my wife, myself and two daugthers almost 18 and 13.

Never had cruises so far and to be honest never tought about seriously. This until last summer when we were having our holidays in Aruba and happened to park the car just few meters from the harmony of the Sea docked there. We were just "WOW that's insane!". I tought "if I have to cruise sooner or later I want this big toy!" Then went home, little bit of googoling and, guess what? found something which would have fit in our vacation planning. So, to make a long story short, we will be sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on the Allure of the Seas next August (I know, not the best period but this is what we have) as central part of our Florida trip.

We cannot wait to be there, we are soooooo excited!!! We are busy finding information and planning and this blog and forum, and you all guys, are amazing. Lot of incredible info here!

Still lot of time to go but what is better then planning this amazing holiday when out of the window is snowing :)

Alberto and family 

 

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Hello Everyone,

Not new to Royal Caribbean Blog, but new to the forum.  My husband and I have been cruising with RCL for years and consider ourselves to be true veterans, actually we believe this is the only way to vacation... 

We are super excited about exploring more and more on the blog and receiving all the updates and need to knows that you provide...

You are doing an excellent job and we can't thank you enough for the wealth of knowledge you bring to our lives on a weekly basis...

Serous & MiA

 

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Hi,

My wife, Sacha, and I have enjoyed Royal Caribbean and cruising dating back to 2012 when we first sailed on Explorer of the Seas.  Currently we are Diamond members after 15 cruises and all but one with Royal Caribbean (the other on Celebrity).  We have sailed on a variety of ships and itineraries.  We have been on an Alaskan and Mediterranean cruise in addition to our numerous Caribbean cruises.  We slowed down a little on cruising to have two kids because they didn't have nurseries widely available then.  Since then our kids (Logan almost 7 and Makenna 9) have enjoyed the adventure ocean program.  Our kids enjoy cruising as much as we do now and ask about when is our next cruise.  We are looking forward to our couple's cruise in July on Mariner and our family cruise in October on Harmony.  The blog, podcast, live cruise blogs,  live broadcasts etc by @Matt and others have had a positive impact on my cruising.  We now have 4 future cruises booked (a record for us).  We live in the Orlando, Fl area so cruising is a great vacation option for us since we don't need to fly to the port and have multiple ports within a reasonable drive.  We enjoy visiting Disney World when we are not cruising and we are annual pass holders.

Jason Peterson

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Hello everyone.

My wife and I have been on five cruises so far and they have all been Disney Cruises. We are Disney annual passholders and frequent visitors. We are thinking about a RCCL cruise in 2020 on Adventure of the Seas from Ft. Lauderdale to Southern Caribbean. I know the other cruise lines do things a bit differently than Disney and at first glance it would seem they are about half the price. But I'm sure there are some hidden charges to to make up some of that difference.

I'm looking forward to getting some good information from these boards. Thanks in advance.

 

Ray

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On 2/20/2019 at 12:02 PM, The Colonel said:

Hello everyone.

My wife and I have been on five cruises so far and they have all been Disney Cruises. We are Disney annual passholders and frequent visitors. We are thinking about a RCCL cruise in 2020 on Adventure of the Seas from Ft. Lauderdale to Southern Caribbean. I know the other cruise lines do things a bit differently than Disney and at first glance it would seem they are about half the price. But I'm sure there are some hidden charges to to make up some of that difference.

I'm looking forward to getting some good information from these boards. Thanks in advance.

 

Ray

You have come to the right place Colonel. As you can see I was in the same boat. (pun)

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On 2/20/2019 at 12:02 PM, The Colonel said:

Hello everyone.

My wife and I have been on five cruises so far and they have all been Disney Cruises. We are Disney annual passholders and frequent visitors. We are thinking about a RCCL cruise in 2020 on Adventure of the Seas from Ft. Lauderdale to Southern Caribbean. I know the other cruise lines do things a bit differently than Disney and at first glance it would seem they are about half the price. But I'm sure there are some hidden charges to to make up some of that difference.

I'm looking forward to getting some good information from these boards. Thanks in advance.

 

Ray

You would have a great time on that cruise.  There aren't hidden costs that are going to make up that price difference.  The only additional cost would be sodas are not included on Royal.  Otherwise, enjoy the value the you will find on RCCL and book that cruise.

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Hiya... just found this section of the site! Been too busy checking out the Navigator thread lol 

I've been following RCBlog on the various platforms for a while and often direct people to various articles on the blog, but only recently noticed there were these forums here.

So, I'm Caz. I'm from Scotland and a solo traveler. I've been on two NCL cruises and now very much looking forward to my first Royal Caribbean experience on Navigator of the Seas in April. Can't wait to hear Matt's views and see his photos after the shakedown cruise. Keep checking Periscope hoping to find something to watch but nothing lol 

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