PuterMonkey

We had a wonderful time. Remember the ship being older is all about perspective. Does it need the carpet replaced and the glass deep cleaned? Yes. Is that going to ruin your enjoyment of the food and people and amenities? Only if you're the type to get snooty about things not being brand spanking new.

The way I view any of these restaurants is....a 'nice' dinner out, shoreside, will run you say $20-25 a plate. So while anything out on an island or ship is bound to be a little more expensive, $35/pp is already pushing the limit of what is, to me, reasonable. Then you remember that the $35 is on top of the cost of the included/free meal you paid for as part of the cruise fare, and that's just ridiculous.

Our waiter on our last cruise told us that anything less than a 10 counts against him. In other words, it's basically his job on the line with those 10s. I'd be making sure the customers knew, too.

I think it's funny you say that, because I've been wishing we could get some of the shorter cruises, 4-5 nights, up here like they have down in Miami. The 5-nighters in NJ are pricey in comparison to the longer cruises and only available in the summer. With kids, swinging the vacation time on the longer cruises isn't always so easy, but long weekends can be done.

As the mother of a toddler, I'd probably just play it safe and pick a cabin that's only one level =) Like a pp said, the ship is still being built so pictures and final details simply aren't available.

You can always book the loft suite if you really want it, and then change the reservation if you don't like the pictures when they come out.

If your sailing is on a special sale the price may be for new bookings only, so if you call they'll quote you a 'standard' rate =(

However if you're that far out from final payment, you could always cancel your booking and rebook at the sale prices.

We actually had a pretty long conversation with our last waiter about this, because one of the tablemates was an HR person and wondering how you get employed on one of the ships. I don't think they really make any more than the corresponding jobs would earn shoreside, however we were told that the odds of an American being hired for one of those jobs is very low. This is because to many overseas people, this salary level is a bigger deal and they're just more dedicated to really earning it.

I hate the way American's do Bacon. I find it too crispy to be edible. Europeans do it waaayyyy better.

Joe you made me laugh remembering my recent cruise. I was in the Windjammer getting breakfast at the oatmeal station one morning, when I was approached by a tidily-dressed older gentleman. He says with a heavy British accent, "Excuse me, are you American?" and because I was a little surprised and didn't totally catch what he said, I reply, "Sorry?" He says, "Of course you are. Can you tell me what grits are?" So I tell him and he makes kind of a grimace, then says again, "And do you actually like that? No wait, of course you do."

What? I still crack up thinking about him.

However, ftr, this American does like her bacon extra-crispy :p

Most people have to drink a fair amount of alcohol to get truly sloshed, which would mean RC would be losing money, which would eventually result in changes to the package. Hasn't happened yet.

I'm sure they have these things veeeery finely tuned based on how much alcohol the average person consumes and get their tidy profit.

Balance issues and fever...has the second person seen an ENT to rule out an inner ear issue?

Both of ours were just learning to walk on their first cruise...honestly the most fun they had was exploring. Just put them down and let them go. Funny to see what they think is interesting.

I agree with this too :). At that age, they're really good at finding their own entertainment. Take 'em down to the shuffleboard court and watch how long they'll carry those discs around and stack them.

No. Swim diapers can leak.

They also do not actually hold anything in. They aren't watertight and urine goes right through them. Same with #2 really...the diaper holds in the most visible of the nastiness but any bacteria and liquid bits are basically free to roam.

I agree with taking the inflatable tub, and some bath toys/sand toys (they're just as good for playing with water)/small cars. Another thing my son used to love at that age was to use a little dish soap to make bubbles in the water for him to play with. Or even just take a bottle of bubbles for him to run after and pop.

The day before leaving on our last cruise. We had booked an interior promenade, and I had been logging in frequently to compare prices and see if a paid upgrade was worthwhile. The day before the cruise, I logged in to double-check our booking information was correct and noticed that our stateroom suddenly was listing a balcony! It was too late to print out new docs so when we got to the port I had to explain the change to every porter and ticket agent...I kept expecting one of them to tell me I was wrong :p

The only interiors available at the end were guarantees, so I guess someone must have booked one last-minute and we were randomly selected as the room to vacate.

Biologist here. Ebola is a scary disease but as far as viruses go it's not very contagious at all. You have to be in narrow set of circumstances to get it...in direct contact with body fluids like blood. Like someone else said, it's similar to how to catch AIDS.

Even IF Royal hired someone from that area, and IF they happened to have caught it and been pre-symptomatic when they boarded the ship, they'd have to be collapsing in front of you and you rushing forward to help them despite the blood to have a chance of getting it yourself.

You have far better odds of catching the Chikungunya virus or heck, probably even better odds of the ship sinking, than you do of catching Ebola on a cruise ship.

Grand Marnier Souffle

This was delish, but on our last cruise we also had a chocolate coffee souffle that blew everything else out of the water.

Yes, you take the walkway on deck 4 all the way forward to get to it. I particularly enjoy going up there at night, because all the lights on the front of the ship are kept off and you can do some excellent stargazing.

I like to sit out there and read, when at least part of the balcony is in shade. And then just being able to watch everything.

However I'd rather have an inside than not go at all!

I don't have a map in front of me but wanted to say that we were directly across from a crew door/stairwell on our recent Explorer trip, and apart from the luggage delivery bustle on day 1 never noticed any noise.

I still don't understand why they didn't just put the dress and tux back on, go down to a few of the photo backgrounds or scenic spots, and take some standard formal photos. No, they aren't the real event, but brides dress back up for stuff like trash the dress sessions all the time. You could probably even beg the cameraman to let you recreate Titanic on the front of the ship if you begged enough.

I get being upset because I would've been too, but in life, stuff happens. You gotta learn to roll with it.

One reason would be; what's to stop you from bringing the bottle on and giving it to someone who HAS NOT purchased the drinks package?

Not just that, but they have a responsibility to cut off people who are becoming obviously intoxicated. Can't have drunken folks wobbling around causing scenes or falling overboard. When you have to interact with a bartender they can take steps to slow you down. Having your own bottles available is a recipe for trouble.

When boarding the ship with our 1 litre bottle of spirits each, would they really bother confiscating it? Especially simce we have purchased the premium drinks package each so us drinking our own stuff would save RCI money!

Yes, they will. I witness security walking off with someone's confiscated bottle during our recent embarkation.

That's a real shame :( My own wedding was still recent enough that I know how upset I'd have been if there wasn't a single picture I could look back on.

They definitely did the right thing by refunding the package, but it sounds like the person wants more and I'm not sure what to say to that. Loss of pictures really stinks but it's not material harm. They can't magically make the photos reappear, and she doesn't want to take new ones, so...

My husband and I both felt like the passenger/space ratio was better on the Voyager class. We felt like we were waiting in lines more often on the Liberty. If the choice is just which ship, I'd pick the Navigator.

However on the downside, I don't hear great things about the port of Galveston. So there's that also.

If you are going with the purpose of seeing Hawaii, you should do a land vacation. It's much easier for Americans than most places that cruise ships sail. If you want to do a cruise with a little bit of Hawaii thrown in, by all meals do the NCLA cruise.

 

Hawaii is all about the Aloha spirit, the relaxed way of life etc. You won't get that on a cruise. There are so many things to do on Hawaii - I've spent several months and have only scratched the surface.

 

If you want to get the best of both worlds, you could do one of the one way cruises that go to or depart Honolulu and do a land vacation before or after your cruise. Radiance of the Seas does two cruises each year in transit between Vancouver and Sydney. Celebrity's Solstice does the same.

Went to Hawaii a few years back and I agree completely! If you've never been there, pick and island and stay for a week. There is so much to see and do that I honestly don't think a cruise will add to the experience...and I love cruising :cool:

We stayed in Honolulu where you can do all the traditional 'Hawaii experience' stuff, but Maui and Kauai are very popular as well.

Sure. We settled on a random beach under the zip line during out visit, and waded out to play. Take water shoes. I didn't have snorkel gear but if you stood still long enough, you could see little fish come up and swim around your feet. It was pretty neat actually.