hcs81m

We were on the same cruise. Embarkation and debarkation were both under 15 minutes and the food on this cruise was way above average.

I was not happy with either port in the Dominican Republic, but we were able to shop in the stores at Amber Cove when we returned from the Ocean World excursion. Cap Cana was not impressive and the tours were extremely expensive. The 4 hour (5 with travel) excursion to the all inclusive beach resort was not all that great and cost $320.00 for two adults and a four year old.

The Half Moon Cay stop was perfect. The weather was great and the barbecue was impressive. Holland America also did a great job organizing Halloween activities for the kids.

We are on the cruise with you and we share your feelings. I do not think that HA is doing enough to compensate the passengers as the replacement ports are not equivalent to the original ports. HA will also save a ton in fuel cost (i presume) because all stops in the DR and Nassau are closer to the embarkation point of Port Everglades, than Grand Turk, San Juan and ST Thomas. This is my third cruise with a change of ports due to a hurricane, but it is the first time I have felt like less desirable ports are being used. Bahamas cruises are the least expensive in the Caribbean. This is now a 50% Bahamas cruise. It also did not help that the cruise line slashed the prices after the changes (25 to 30 percent),

November 1, 2017 stop in St. Croix by the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam has been canceled and replaced with Amber Cover, DR. St. Croix was a replacement port for St. Thomas.

Drake- Thank you for your advice. We hope to travel to St. Croix in the future.

St. Croix replaced St. Thomas for a November 1, 2017 port call on the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam.. Based on the information I am seeing on this forum and the fact that this is the only stop for which Holland America has not published shore excursions, I am beginning to believe that we may not be able to stop in St. Croix.

I found a new source for information on a news source called the VI Consortium, They are posting daily updates on water, power and restoration updates:

http://viconsortium.com/wapa-restoration-updates/

If you google "Holland America shore excursions" and click on the result from their website, you can see the excursions for Cap Cana and St. Croix.

We are on this cruise as well. i am a bit upset that the prices plummeted. Our cabin category dropped by $235 and we were offered $30 dollars in future cruise credit.

San Juan is an afternoon/ evening stop (12pm to 11pm I think). With he current condition of the island's power grid, I doubt we will be stopping there.

We are booked for the October 28th sailing. I cannot find any cruises for the week of October 21st? Does this mean the entire ship was charted for the week of October 21st?

We had 7338 on a recent AOS sailing and it was a great location. It was a few steps from the rear elevators which means quick access to the dining rooms or Windjammer. In some ports you actually left the ship using the rear elevators which meant a quick exit from the ship, and convenient access to your room when you return from an excursion.

I saw a 849 pp suite (w) guarantee on the recent 5/3/15 (6 day) AOS sailing. We did not take advantage as we had a balcony booked for 505 pp with a 100 credit.

I wonder what Royal Caribbean's actual cost is to serve a $12.00 cocktail? With the volume of alcohol that they purchase, my guess would be somewhere between .50 cents and $1.00.

I'm not complaining because I understand that RC is a business and they would not charges these prices unless they were confident that their customers would be willing to pay them.

I am enjoying the review. Please post details on how it was sailing with a one year old. Did you bring a car seat with you for the excursions?

Lobster is only found on cruises of 7 nights or longer which is why Enchantment (nor Majesty) doesn't have it. The exception may be the 5 night cruises to Bermuda, they might have lobster but I'm not sure.

Does anyone know what our chances are to have lobster served on the 6 day Adventure cruise on May 3rd?