cdoobiest

Travelling on Symphony Feb 2020 with 20 other people.  I usually book our own private excursions due to price and we can get better pricing. However, one of the excursions we want in Cozumel is only available through cruise lines.  It is Fury Catamaran.  Wondering if RCCL will give group discount if we book everyone?  Thanks

Will be on Symphony of the Seas Feb 15-22, 2020 on Western Caribbean.  We are doing Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel.  I wanted to do Catamaran and snorkeling at one stop.  Roatan looks like lots of snorkeling right from beach plus monkey and sloth.  

Wondering if anyone has done Catamaran in Cozumel.  I see Fury but looks like lots of people and prefer something quieter.  We are group of 15, mixture of adults and kids.  Is water rougher in Cozumel, how is snorkeling offshore.  Based on what I see, ruins in Cozumel much further away, so I will do this Costa Maya.  Cozumel looks mostly like beach clubs which I don't think we would like so Catamaran looks like the best on this port stop but I don't want to just take a boat ride if snorkeling not the best and seas rougher.  Any thoughts?

Saw this thread and thought I ask my question here.  We are having large party of 4 families and have 9 cabins booked.  We received discount off regular fare (which is normal for Travel Agent we use) and refundable fares.  For booking 8+ cabins, I will receive check back for average of one person after cruise sail which I will distribute evenly to our group. 

Our travel agent did not mention any "freebies" such as GAP points for free wine, OBC, or cocktail party.  Do all cruises get this freebies with groups and should I be concerned that travel agent is keeping extra perks for himself?  We are sailing Symphony of the Seas mid February.  I know newest ship and prime sailing time, would there be less incentive to offer freebies?

I was going to book Symphony for Feb 2020 for Massachusetts school vacation for all of us but noticed Harmony quite a bit cheaper.  Same cruise plan.  Western Caribbean to Cococay, Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel.  Went through threads and just want to make sure I have everything before we make a change.

- Harmony departs Sun-Sun vs Symphony Sat-Sat

- Harmony departs Port Canaveral vs Miami - I am guessing we would fly into Fort Lauderdale so would need shuttle also.  I think non factor also

- Harmony has Grease, Symphony has Hairspray

- Harmony only has Dreamworks - our kids have experienced this already on Oasis and older now.  Non factor

- Symphony has Laser Tag, New seafood restaurant and Sports bar.  

I have 3 different families going and price difference is almost $800-1000 per room cheaper on Harmony for ocean balconies.  Children aged 10-13.  We are flying out of Boston and I am guessing Orlando may be cheaper to fly to since more options for us.  I know we would have to rent car or take shuttle to cruise terminal about 40 min away so there is that extra added cost but I think we would have to fly to Ft Lauderdale anyways if we choose Symphony since Miami has limited non stop options.  Lastly, big thing is coming back Sunday which may not be ideal for school kids starting back to school Monday but I am sure we can get early flight to get home.  

Am I missing anything?  I think for $800-1000 price difference, Harmony would be better choice even if coming back Sunday.  Other pros are potential cheaper airfare from Orlando vs FLL/MIA.  The big things for the kids are water slides likely and pool area.  We do not do specialty restaurants and meet every night for main dining room.  We were on Oasis 2 years ago and loved it.  So looking for same experience plus water slides.  Also enjoyed the aqua and night time shows.  Kids have seen Dreamworks, but a big deal now that they are older.  Thoughts and comments appreciated!!! 

Good to know.  One more question.  Does group space prices generally fluctuate as sales come and go with RCCL.  I presume prices are set for group rates early on and stay that way until rooms are booked?.  Just wondering if I see new sale with better prices, should I notify travel agent about drop in price.  Also, with group rate bookings, I am guessing better to book early to guarantee space.  

Looking at Symphony in Spring 2020 and I really don't like RCCL non refundable policy.  Since so far away and travelling with kids and grandparents, so much can change.  Travel agent I usually use who is part of larger cruise network always gets us about 10-15% off RCCL quotes.  They don't entice with extra OBC, just strictly better rates which I prefer.  We generally book 4 rooms for 3 families and I believe they get a better discount by placing us on their group rate space.  Just a guess.  

On latest cruise, I was expecting to pay more than RCCL advertised online price because I wanted refundable deposits but they were able to beat RCCL online non refundable rate by 10-15% plus still offer me refundable deposit!  Wondering if some of the larger travel agents have some more flexibility with RCCL deposit policy or I am just getting a very good discount for booking with them.  

Thanks everyone, appreciate advice as always!

Hi everyone, I live in Boston and my parents are taking Holland Maasdam for first time.

They are leaving May 12 and arriving May 19 on Canada/New England Cruise. They are Canadian. Looks like boat arrive Boston 7am. I was thinking of picking them up at cruise terminal around 10-11am. Is that too late for Holland?

Also, looks like they embark at 5pm. Would 2-3pm drop off work for cruise. I am used to Caribbean cruises out of Florida so just want to make sure I get times right for them.

Thanks

We will be there mid week, on Wed. Wondering if any places do evening flamenco? Thanks

Seond time to St Maarten. 6 adults, 5 kids. Just going to have nice beach day Orient Beach. Is there taxi or shuttle that can take 11 of us or should we just take 2 cabs

Also, I was thinking Orange Fever or Aloha. Both looks like similar costs. People walking by topless okay. Any votes for one or the other. Aloha seems to get better tripadvisor reviews. As long as there is chair and bathroom, we are set!

Thanks in advance

Bumping this up. Hearing more and more negative about his service. Once was very reliable. Any other reports

Curious when this was. I am getting nervous. Have him booked for pickup and dropoff next week.

Anyone know prices of virgin drinks or smoothies general ballpark. Trying to decide if better to get refreshment package or not. Thanks

FYI, data point for all interested.

Booked Oasis for Feb 2017. Used my Amex Plat. Received my $200 OBC from Amex Plat + 100 OBC from promo when I put deposit down in Sept 2016.

I have 4 cabins for group. Group OBC credit from my TA not eligible but was only $50 OBC.

Also senior rate applied and worked.

Did same thing for Freedom cruise 2 years ago, same policy.

If you have good TA who works with Amex Plat desk in past, you should not have problem. Have done the same on NCL cruise as well.

Arriving San Juan 1-9. Plan to do forts but need something at night. Thought show would be good, but looks like most of them Fri-Sat.

Any recommendations. We are arriving Wed in Feb. Thanks

I just found out that there is large theme cruise for my Oasis EC sail Feb 19. Music City Gospel Cruise. Approx 1000 people is what I was told.

I have no problem with music or people attending but wondering if this will affect entertainment schedules or dining schedules to accomodate private events due to this private convention at sea.

Just wondering other people's thoughts when large groups on board. I am surprised RCCL would allow during this time as it is New England and New York winter vacation for many.

Just got back from Getaway in Haven and loved every minute of it. Thought I share my experience. We had a group of 13. 2 families, 2 sets of grandparents and had 5 rooms. We had 9 Adults total and 5 kids aged 6-10. We had initially booked 4 mid ship balconies (they were connecting balconies) and one inside mid ship. We were all able to upgrade to Haven suites which made this trip special.

UPSELL

Thanks to everyone on the boards, I found out about the upsell thru CC. Here are some data points that may help others.

Day 45 from boarding - called Upsell number to ask about upgrade. Told to call back 15 days out. Made dummy reservation and there was approx 12-15 2 BR suites available and about 15 Courtyard rooms

Day 30 - asked to call back in a week, same amt of inventory.

Day 25 - Offered 750 for Courtyard, 1000 for Aft, 1250 for 2 BR. Approx same amt of inventory of rooms available.

Day 23 - Offered 500 Courtyard, 750 AFT, 1000 2 BR. I told them we had party of 13 and 5 rooms and asked if I upgraded everyone, could they give 2 BR suites for 500 for 2 of the rooms and 3 courtyard rooms for 500. After about 5 min waiting, they agreed to the balcony rooms but not the inside since they paid a lot less then the balcony rooms!

I booked via travel agent and he requested that he would have to take care of it since he booked it. I took the name of person who offered the upgrade and made sure she notated it on her end. Called my travel agent immediately and within an hour it was all booked! The upsell dept stated the travel agent does not need to make reservation for upsell which I think it is true, but if you have a great travel agent, let them take care of it to make sure booking is done correctly.

I had 4 mid ship balconies on deck 13 and one inside mid ship. I paid rock bottom prices during the kids sail free sail with UBP. They allowed us all to keep UBP and OBC we received from AMEX Plat card and our travel agent.

What surprised me was that they gave the 4 balconies 2 bedroom villas! The last interior room they were charging 1000 per person extra for 2 BR since they paid approx 1000 less for their room. I asked travel agent to see if he could get Courtyard for 500 pp and NCL agreed!

So in total, we had FOUR 2 BR villa for 500 pp upgrade for 1st and 2nd guest and 1 Courtyard Balcony for 500 pp 1/2nd person.

One other note: one of the families had 2 adults, 3 kids. They had 2 balconies connecting to fit their family of 5. With the Haven upgrade, they did not need second 2 BR HAVEN room since it holds six. We asked to cancel the room or merge reservations and NCL would not budge. If they all wanted to be in HAVEN, they would have to upgrade both rooms. Tried to have travel agent, supervisor in NCL call center help, no deal. We were willing to pay for the second balcony room and downsize to one HAVEN room but wanted to try to save $1000 by not upgrading a second Haven 2 BR. So, we literally had one extra 2 BR go unused on trip. It was a kids playroom and place for movie night. Such a shame, I think NCL would agree and resell room for more profit. I have read on other posts that people were able to merge/cancel the second room but we had no luck.

HAVEN TIPS

- I noticed prepaid gratuities was still at old rate of 12.95 a day, so I paid a few days before leaving at this rate. The other family decided to wait until on board and paid the suite rate of 15.50. I did tip the stewards and bartendars in Haven extra, so I rather give them money directly then NCL.

- All of our rooms was on DECK 16 within a few doors down of Courtyard and restaurant. I know some do not care, but this is BIG advantage for families. Kids aged between 6-10, we usually watch them closely but felt comfortable giving them freedom to go back to the room on their own to play in their own room for an hour, go to the bathroom, get a toy they forgot etc. We used the courtyard, hot tubs, pools a lot and made big difference knowing our room was only a few steps away

- HAVEN breakfast and lunch sitting outside on the courtyard was great!

- One disappointment was how slow staff in restaurant were. I know restaurant is more fine dining especially dinner but it took prob 30-45 minutes to get our meals. Dinner was slowest, but breakfast and lunch also took a long time. I know the food in the Haven is not mass produced and made to order and we had 13 people in our party ordering but for an exclusive restaurant, I thought service would have been better. They simply did not have enough waiters and assistants to handle everyone.

- That being said, the food in the Haven is one step above anything else on the ship. Breakfast had continental buffet of cheeses, fruit, pastries and the menu for lunch and dinner had very expensive items cooked to perfection. Diver scallops, lobster, certified angus beef filet and tenderloin.

- We ended up eating dinners in Tropicana nightly due to the slow service of Haven staff. Having 5 kids at each meal, we cannot sit for 1.5 hours for dinner every night. I was surprised at the food in Tropicana. All the meals were better than RCCL I think. Well prepared and even the standby daily meals were good.

- Stewards and bartendars in HAVEN were great. Very helpful and knowledgeable. We gave extra tips for their great service.

- Butlers were spotty. Having 5 rooms, we were able to compare. 2 rooms on other side of hallway had different waiter and they stated they like fruit, sweets and cheese. Every night, they received cheese plate, chocolate covered strawberries in addition to the snack of the day

- Our butler just brought snack of the day. Day 3, I asked if he could bring chocolate covered strawberries. He said not available. Day 4, instead of asking, I said "I would like chocolate covered strawberries" in a nice tone, he said ok. Curious to see what would happen, I also asked for gummi bears for the kids and chips. He brought a huge bowl of gummi bears and a Costco unopened bag of Lays potato chips!

- After this, he did bring a plate of cookies and choc covered strawberreis with snack of the day without asking

- Ask the Bar in Haven for potato chips. They were homemade and so good. Disappointed Butler did not bring these chips instead of Lays!

- Pay per View movies in Haven were free. They were approx 65 movies to choose from and many are pretty new. We had new Star Wars movie, Good Dinosaur, Big Short, Spectre (James Bond) to name a few

- Concierge was blah. Nice guy, always smiling but did not go out of his way to do anything for us. I felt the assistant did more. Sure, they did the priority on/off tenders and got us reservations for shows, rooms but I felt priority lines is a perk of Haven we paid for and the concierge did not go above and beyond what I read others have gotten. I asked for behind the scenes tour or bridge tour. Was told not offered. I did tip concierge and assistant.

- Haven staff was great but did not go out of their way to accomodate large groups. They were a number of large parties in the HAVEN this time. We were 13, there was another family of 18. I found the restaurant gave us a dirty look every time 13 of us wanted to eat. Also, when I went to make a reservation for 13 for dinner or shows, the concierge looked surprised. Just my observation.

OTHER TIDBITS

- I find so much inconsistentcy with NCL staff in terms of information provided.

- Each room had about $250 OBC Nonrefundable. I knew you could use it to tip butlers, concierge, give extra money to stewards, staff members, etc. via manual voucher at guest services.

- I had no problem doing this, when another family member tried to do the same was told they could not do this twice by different staff members. We had to go to same staff member I used to clarify we could do this.

- We missed Great Stirrup due to weather so we were refunded $11 pp for port tax. This was deemed a REFUNDABLE credit. I asked On Board Credit Desk and we could cash this out and get cash immediately which I rather have then wait for a check from NCL 10 weeks later. They told my father in law they would need to close out his account to do this and he would have to pay for any additional items in cash or credit card which is fine since last night of cruise. We did the same 3 hours later, we got the cash back and they asked if we wanted to keep our account open?

Overall, we all agreed this was one of the most relaxing trips we took. Having the Haven courtyard, private pools and hot tubs and the rooms so close to the Haven area made this trip special. We were truly spoiled and pampered and it is going to be tough to cruise again in a NON Haven or private area such as this. After seeing how busy the rest of the ship was, it will be tough to go back to regular cruising.

Going on private tour with Dexter to Stingray and Snorkel. We will get done around 12:30, and he will drop us off at the beach or port. If I wanted to go to the Turtle Farm, do we have enough time to visit and get back to port. Our ship leaves at 4.

If we spend 1.5 hours at turtle farm and leave by 2, is that too rushed. I was also thinking of taking taxi rather than rely on bus if there are taxis around to save time. We are a group of 13!

I know Haven guests get priority tenders, but do you get priority re-boarding back to boat. I read that some of the concierge will meet you at the dock but it sounds like it depends on the concierge. We are sailing Getaway in a few weeks. I think concierge is Robert.

Also, when disembarking, can you use concierge to let you off anytime or is it set time for Haven guests. I don't have flight until 12:30 at FLL, so I figure if I get off at 9:30 to meet our private transport at 10, this should be good.

I have private tour for 13 of us with 5 kids aged 6-9. They can all swim, not great but can tread water. Wondering if the reef snorkel that many tours go to is good for the kids. I have been reading 6-8 foot water and could be choppy depending on the day.

Other option would be Starfish point. Kids will probably like it, but wondering if it will be too tame and would they miss out on seeing some of the more colorful fish in the reef.

Thanks

In port 8-4 on Getaway in April. I have private boat charter ending 12:30.

Thinking of what to do after. Wondering if visiting turtle farm afterwards a good idea. Or just going to 7 mile beach. I heard buses are very easy but concerned with missing bus or it not arriving in time. Are there a lot of cabs.

Thanks

I think I am on same cruise as you with 8 year old kids. I read also that Water Toys at PB will likely be over their heads and I read concerns that as adult, you may not be able to see your kids on some of the water slides.

This concerns me, my kids can swim but still not comfortable with the water being over their heads and not being able to monitor them at all times.

Can anyone confirm this. Also, how pushy are PB staff with ordering food/drinks. I don't mind ordering small food item and drinks but since we can't get off ship until 11 and they close at 5, I don't know if I need to eat much since I will be back on the boat in 4-5 hours!!

I have 2 staterooms with $250 OBC per room because of AMEX Plat cruise benefit and TA agent bonus. I read you cannot use towards DSC or use in casino so wanted to find other ways to use OBC. I already have UBP and UDP so I was thinking of using toward illusionarium for family of 6. But I don't want to worry about show selling out since we wanted to go on sea day.

If I book now, reserve seat. Can I cancel and rebook using OBC once on board?

Thanks in advance.

Anyone know if I buy $500 OBC, can I cash out OBC in casino at end if I don't use all the OBC. Or pay for gratuities?

Curious, is this listed on dailies? Is it lobster or crab legs? or mostly shrimp!

Thanks