SMN73

Is it cash only or can you pay via credit card for the day pass?

That's kind of weird - since we have a reservation there November 2015???:confused:

You might want to confirm. I've read multiple places it's being torn completely down in May and being rebuilt.

We have used the concierge for all the usual things listed above, plus printing boarding passes and arranging luggage valet.

 

My most unusual request was to plan a Burial at Sea for my brother. The concierge escorted us to the main customer service area, where we were met by an officer and 2 security people. They took us through the private areas of the ship to a small balcony where we scattered the ashes. The next day, the concierge delivered a beautiful certificate of burial at sea, listing the ship, my brother's name, dates of birth and death, and the latitude and longitude of the burial.

 

It was really a nice way to send him off from a ship he had previously cruised(Freedom of the Seas)

 

Thanks again to the people at Royal who made this happen.

Barb

I'm sure that was very special and touching for you. Thanks for sharing. My condolences to your family.

Oh, I can't wait to see this in May! Although I am a not a thrill seeker, so don't know if I will be standing directly under the planes as they land. Maybe a little off to the side will work fine for me! :p

There are a lot of Quantum and now even Anthem cruises that have a Studio Balcony Guarantee. I booked one for my last January cruise on Quantum and was given a D3. Much more room than a studio. If I booked the D3 instead of the Guarantee at the same time it would have been about $1500 more.

 

Don't limit yourself to just studio balcony cabins. At times you can get a better price on a regular balcony cabin.

 

When do you want to sail? I'm always checking prices for sailing solo. Maybe I know of something.

I'm honestly not sure. I was thinking October or November. Was trying to see what studio cabins were available on which dates and decide from there. If I'm by myself I can be pretty flexible on dates. Too bad you can't filter your search on "cabin type".

Hi all. Is there an easy way to search for cruises with available studio cabins? The only way I see at the moment is searching every ship that has it and every possible date to see if it's available. That would take forever.

Doesn't have to be the royal website, but just a place that shows me what sailings have the cabins open for booking.

Thanks

Call Crown and Anchor. Give them your MLife number. You will be immediately assigned a Crown and Anchor number. Have them apply your crown and anchor number to your existing reservation. Even if you are a brand new MLife member, you will board your first cruise as a Gold Crown and Anchor member with the on board discounts already applied to your Sea Pass Card. I would think they could tell you your specific C&A level based on your MLife level.

We did this on our first cruise. Took 5 minutes and worked great!

We have also stayed at the Fairfield inn at Titusville. The 40% off is great.

Perfect. I was thinking about 5pm would be good but wanted to make sure. Thank you. I've read many things you've commented on. You are a wealth of information. I appreciate you! :-)

How late can we check in? I figure since we are coming from OSJ once we get to the ship we will just stay there. I want to check in as late as possible.

Hi all. Sorry if this has been discussed. I tried searching and couldn't find anything

What is the latest we can drop off luggage and board Adventure in San Juan? We will be spending Saturday with family in OSJ that aren't cruising and want to wait as late as possible to leave them and get on the ship.

Thanks for the help!

I got the premium drink package on Enchantment and was glad I did. As a first time cruiser I just didn't want to take the chance. I'm not a coffee drinker so I get my morning fix with a soda. Then a few drinks during the day, couple glasses of wine at dinner, and a nightcap on our balcony and I never had to worry about money. Plus we stocked up on bottles of water. Keep in mind that you can use the drink package on CocoCay so you don't "lose" a day with that stop. I probably won't get the package on our upcoming cruise because it's so port intensive, but if I sail Enchantment again I'll definitely purchase it.

Our first (an only to date) cruise was this past May on Enchantment. I really enjoyed the ship.

We felt no need to pay for any specialty dining. The MDR met our needs for dinner. We only ate at the Windjammer once but Park Cafe had wonderful salads and sandwiches for lunch. I would suggest going to the MDR on the first day and asking for a specific table if you are going to be dining alone. We asked for a table by the window and LOVED it. We were out of traffic of people coming and going and had wonderful sea views while eating dinner.

I can't speck on the entertainment other than the 70s dance party. I enjoyed it. There is no ice show on Enchantment. There is a very brief review in my signature. But if you want very detailed reviews I suggest searching Familygoboston and MPoole3. Both have amazing reviews of Enchantment that will give you more than enough info. Their reviews were invaluable to me before we cruised.

At the end of it all...it's what you make of it. Enjoy your first cruise. I can bet it won't be your last!

I e-mailed a client of mine who is from Puerto Rico to ask her. She responded that the schools get out at the end of May through July. I asked her whether a lot of Puerto Rican families take family vacations in May. She responded that they do not. The only thing she cautioned about was that some kids in their senior year take senior trips and that would be in May. She said that unlike a senior trip of US students, the number of kids are a lot less. She compared 300 US students on a senior trip to 30 Puerto Rican kids. Based on that, I'm willing to take the change and cruise in May. Next decision is whether on the sailing on May 9th or the sailing on the 16th. Hmmmmmm.

That's good to know. We are staying at a bed and breakfast for 2 nights in Old San Juan pre-cruise that is across the street from an elementary school. Looks like no sleeping in as school will be in session!

You have already met 3 fellows cruisers for May 9th in this thread. I say just come on over and join us!!!

Whatever you choose, have a wonderful time!

I will be on that cruise with you! I do hope you are correct about the last day of school:)

Well HI! Have you joined our roll call and signed up for the meet and mingle? If not, come join us!!

This is what I saw that shows the schedule. Keep fingers crossed it's right!

http://www.dodea.edu/Americas/NY-VA-PR/upload/Puerto-Rico-2014-2015.pdf

The calendar I've seen shows last day of classes the end of May. I sure hope that's right. We are cruising from there May 9 and I'm hoping everyone is still in school.

The best part of 1688 is that you pay for a D-1 cabin but get a Junior Suite sized room, less the walk in closet and bathtub!!

 

We just had 1688 on the Explorer last month and loved it, i brought my hammock along and had it out on the balcony. There was enough room for two loungers, a chair, and a table, along with the hammock!:D:rolleyes:

 

Keith

We have 7688 on Adventure in May. This is what I'm planning on doing as well. I look forward to a few naps out there!!

That makes sense. I can see people getting upset if there are none available. I'm not opposed to spreading out a towel if push comes to shove. I just think it's a good value for the money.

We are the only ship in port and get there at 7:00am. What time do you suggest we get there?

I emailed the Coconut Beach Club regarding a day pass for our May cruise. I got a quick response, but a couple things seemed odd. I will post them below...

We are currently not confirming any day passes beyond April 30, 2015 until April 2015. However, see information below on Day passes:

We cannot confirm the use of beach loungers but there is shaded, beach view seating around the bar area.

So I can't confirm them until 30 days before we get there? I thought people confirmed well in advance.

Also, why would I go there and spend $50 to sit at the bar and not be able to use a lounger?

Has anyone else had a strange response like this?

I didn't know you could cash travelers cheques on board. That's good information. Does the amount of the cheque need to be capped at a certain amount? I don't want it to be too large for them to cash on board.

Thank you for the information all!

There is a safe in your stateroom :)

 

You've already sailed on Enchantment. Did you realise you had a safe ?

Oh yes, I know about while in the room on the ship. I guess I wasn't clear. I mean while traveling. On flights, pre-cruise stays, on excursions, etc. I wondered if people really do walk about their front door with over $1000 in their pocket.

I didn't carry much cash on our enchantment cruise. We drove to the port so I used my card for gas and meals. We had quite a bit of onboard credit so didn't need it on the ship. We didn't spend over $100 in port. So needing a good bit of cash is going to be new for us.

I've searched this topic and found that many cruisers bring $500-$1500 in cash on their cruise.

Where do you carry it? For our next cruise it will just be me (40yr old female) and my 20 year old daughter. The thought of carrying that much cash on me worries me on a safety level. However, I know between taxis, tips and excursions I am going to need that much.

How do you keep everything secure and safe while traveling?

Sign up for Airfarewatchdog dot com. You will get discounted airfare alerts in your email to where you are wanting to go. The only thing is that when you get an alert a lot of times there very limited seats at the stated price so you have to be ready to jump on it when you see a fare you like.

I have bought a many arline tickets this way and have caught pretty decent fares. I actually saw some good ones ($284.00 Round Trip) to San Juan from Charlotte back near the begining of the year but it was too far (My cruise is next year) out so I couldn't book. Hopefully I will see those prices at the begining of 2015! :cool:

Thank you for this information!!

Stick with Southwest, book early prices only go up. We have our choice of United, Delta, AA , and Southwest and Southwest always has the best price and times for us.

For the most part I'm finding this true. Except for the one day I want to fly out (of course!) Right now SW is about $130-$150 pp more expensive to fly on Friday May 8th. I can fly in on Thursday and spend that same money on a hotel room, but I'd rather find a cheaper flight and just save the money all together. I imagine I will use the SW credit on our return flight and use their automatic check in so we don't have to worry about it while on the ship.

I was sure hoping not to have to drive very far to fly. Looks like that can be a standard practice though.

I wish jet blue had a terminal in Nashville. I see so many great flights from them. To be an "international" airport, the choices are very limited here.