TheTides

The drive is extremely flat, I wouldn't call the ride scenic. It is like any other highway in florida. You can take 95 up or take the toll road, which may save you 30 minutes. I would take the toll road, it cost 5 bucks and you save time AND traffic.

You guys sold me... thanks for that I will be avoiding the 940 flight!

I would do a carry on to save time, and the flight is only 44 dollars which is unreal for American. Like I said very tempting.

Hello!

I posted this in the Florida Departure section but I wanted to get your opinion as well.

So we are possibly looking to sail on the Empress OTS out of Mia, and we found a flight STEAL that leaves at roughly 10:00 (44 bucks on American). Do you think that would afford enough time for us to make it from the ship and to the airport. I know this could be slightly risky but for me, but I want to hear your experience with this!

Thanks!

Hello!

So we are possibly looking to sail on the Empress OTS out of Mia, and we found a flight STEAL that leaves at roughly 10:00. Do you think that would afford enough time for us to make it from the ship and to the airport. I know this could be slightly risky but for me, but I want to hear your experience with this!

Thanks!

Thanks guys! I think we will go in with this with an open mind and experience the "Golden" days of cruising! It will be a hoot because we are docked in Miami with some of the larger NCL/Carnival offerings so we will get a chance to see how small we really are! I will keep you up to date and if you want to know anything while onboard I will be happy to post!

Hello!

So we are looking at taking a last minute trip on the Empress, and I for one am really excited to try a smaller ship! We have done 10 trips, anywhere from the Disney Magic to the NCL Epic, and anywhere in between! So for myself, I am thrilled to try a smaller, updated ship and experience the classic days of cruising when the focus is on the water, and not the waterslides!

With that being said, We are bringing along a somewhat new cruiser, who has only cruised once like 5 years ago on from what it sounds like a Carnival Fantasy class ship, and hated it. He said the ship was crowded, ugly and distasteful food. BUT, with that being said, he said he was excited to try a different experience with us. SO the question becomes, do you think the Empress would be a solid choice for our trip? I for one would love to try it, and its so cheap I don't see what we could loose! Thanks for your thoughts!

Z

Its doable, but YES it is crazy, and this is coming from college kids. Great time was had by all, BUT the pool deck was crazier than usual (3rd time on Epic) and just a wilder ship in general. Our rule of thumb, is we book the premium lines like Princess and Celebrity over holiday times, because their clientele is more similar to NCL or RCCL during the off times. Plus their prices are not extremely higher than usual, since those sailing with X or Princess usually are not the spring break crowd in general.

Does the 150, (or 100) digital photo pass also include stock photos as well?

The one difference that we witnessed, were the variety of nationalities. The cruise director usually would speak 3-4 languages, so before all shows and overhead announcements, they would relay everything in English first, then the other two preceding nationalities onboard, usually French and Spanish.

Food wise, cuisine was standard cruise food, the shows were similar, with there being less comedians and more entertainment like jugglers, dancers, ect that do not have to say a word and still be enjoyable.

The big thing for Europe, is you will (hopefully) be spending almost all of your time in the wonderful ports you are visiting. Look for iteneraries that maximize your ports, as well as port time. Staying in port 7am-7pm is a huge difference then the standard 9-5. Europe is very similar to Alaska, where the destination is the key, not the ship. If it was up to me, enjoy the Oasis class in the caribbean, and take off on a smaller ship for the more exotic ports in Europe!

I am booked on Eclipse 10 night Caribbean Dec 11, 2016. But after reading about so many comments about how bad the shows are I am having 2nd thoughts. We have only been on 2 cruises- RCCL Oasis & Allure. We enjoyed all the entertainment on both the ships.

 

It is only me and hubby. I'm 52 and hubby is 57.

 

Which ship would you select? And what are your reasons?

 

I am going to post this on Celebrity site too.

 

Thanks

 

Sue

We have done the Getaway and the Reflection, the sister of the Eclipse. While both were great cruises, the Getaway blew us away, and the Reflection I was ready to get off the boat after 7 days. Nothing wrong with it, and honestly the food was better than NCL main dining room, but we were slightly bored at night. I know it was mentioned that there is great entertainment, but honestly the shows on the Reflection were pathetic. Their "best show at sea" Ive seen better on Celebrity's older ships, and unless you enjoy entertaining bar tenders, there was nothing for me onboard. I loved the ship as a whole, as it is stunning, extremely well laid out. But we had a better cruise overall on the Getaway.

Thanks for all the ideas.. Yes I will say one of the biggest things we enjoy would be the specialty restaurants and the ropes course/slides. It really does enhance our vacation. Dining outside during our last sailing was spectacular. Yet we do love the great outdoors, as it is one of our favorite places to relax during the day.

Hello all! So our last 4 cruises, 2 have been on the Epic, one on the Getaway (perfect cruise), and our last was on the Celebrity Reflection. You could say we have a thing for new ships! Yet out latest issue, is we are getting tired of the same old itineraries the newer ships cruise to. Its hard to book the Escape for us for the pure fact, for a 7 day cruise, you get roughly 2 1/2 days in port. SO, with that being said, we are looking at the 7 day Jade out of Tampa. This would be our first cruise in a while going on a smaller boat, and wanted to hear your thoughts whether we will be disappointed in the overall experience, or will we enjoy the simpler way of cruising, the way it use to be (kind of).

Thanks again!

If you are cruising for slides, I would choose the Getaway, Breakaway, Epic, or Escape. They have the best slides at sea easily, With the Epic having some pretty spectacular slides, and the Breakaway class having some thrilling slides as well. One side note, what you get with the slides, you give up on with the pools, but to me, I prefer slides any day. If I were you, pick one of the "away" class ships. Their specialty dining on the waterfront is pretty spectacular, and if you are cruising for the ocean, this will be a special ship, as it was our favorite out of 10 cruises.

Hi

 

Hope I can ask this on here. Soon I will be travelling to Orlando, from the UK, and will be visiting Magic Kingdom. I have booked a 2 day ticket with fast pass, and got the confirmation sent by email which I will have to take to a 'Will Call' centre, which is at Mk just after after security. ( i know there are other Will Call places but this is where I will go).

 

The Will Call place opens at 8am and the park opens at 9am. I am visiting on a Thursday In early August.

 

Does anyone please know what time the queue starts to get big for this place? If I turn up at 7.30am should I be ok?

 

Then onto Miami for a week, then hop onto the Oasis. thanks

You probably will not get a ton of information about this, just because these boards are primarily focused on Royal Caribbean, I would check out more of the Disney boards (not cruise based) to get more detailed information on this subject. With that being said, while I have never had to go to will-call, I am assuming will-call will be at the front gates of Magic Kingdom. Before you go through security, you will see four quaint booths on both your left and right, and they will be happy to assist you. I could be completely wrong on this, but we have picked up tickets here before as well.

Oh, and every pass includes fast pass! You may be referring to Park hopper which is a must for only 2 days! And you are going to Disney World! Make sure you enjoy some of the great meals there. California Grill is a must!

For these June rates, are they through MSC itself or a specific travel agent?

Hey guys!

So we are looking at taking a last minute trip out to the Bahamas, leaving on either the NCL Sky or RCCL Majesty, and were wondering what we should choose! These are both 4 day cruises, and I will list out the perks of both as I see them!

NCL Sky -

Extra port (Freeport) which we have never visited

FREE DRINKS (Hello?)

Cruising out of Miami is always a blast

Newer ship (relatively)

Better Reviews the last 6 months

Gold on NCL so really enjoy their new product

Renovated Grand Stirrup Cay (Never visited)

Majesty of the Seas

New ship experience and new cruise line to discover

Ship is larger, but also holds 800 more passengers

Cheaper by 20 dollars or so

Sails out of Pt. Canaveral (honestly a huge selling point)

Coco Cay - New port for us

From all that being said, which one would you prefer and why! I know both of these ships have seen better days and its been a LONG time since we have taken an older ship, but I think this would be a fun inexpensive way to experience the Bahamas. Thanks guys!

Gambee, No need to respond but I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful reviews! You have fantastic commentary, witty and practical, and of course fabulous photos! If we can't be on a ship, at least we can relive others adventures while we wait! Thanks so much again!

Thanks for all the great feedback guys! We were thinking of navigator, and after all the positive comments, I think you have sold us! Great thoughts guys!

So this question seems intuitive, but I thought I would ask it regardless! We are looking at doing our first RCCL cruise after 10 cruises, as we are getting tired of the same old NCL/Celebrity itineraries! So we are looking at 2 itineraries, and would love to get your opinion on which one to choose.

Choice One: Freedom of the Seas doing the 8 night itinerary: Labadee, San Juan, St. Martin, and St. Kitts

Choice Two: Navigator of the Seas doing a nine night itinerary: Labadee, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba.

Now my instant choice would be the navigator, as it is the longer itinerary, going to four new ports that we have gone to, and it has been renovated a few years ago, including the "newish" flo rider. Yet after reading more about the navigator, I feel like there are a lot more negative reviews of the navigator than the freedom in regards to food (which is subjective) and entertainment. Are we getting the full RCCL experience trying the Navigator, or are we better off exploring on the Freedom of the Seas!

Thanks guys!

I am also posting this on both boards to get a good opinion!

Hey guys!

This will be our 11th cruise, the past have been with NCL, Disney, Princess, and Celebrity. We are looking at 2 cruises, both 5 days, with the information below:

RCCL Empress: Miami - Cozumel-Cozumel-Miami

Carnival Triumph: Nola - Cozumel-Progresso- Nola

So obviously, the Triumph will be the larger ship, nearly double the size of the Empress, with more activities I'm sure of, as well as a new port in Progresso, and I would love to cruise out of Nola.

The perks of the Empress are I believe will be the size, with better service and food due to the size of the ship. I also love the idea of spending time 2 days in one port, and Cozumel there is a lot to do.

Would love to know your thoughts! I would eventually like to try both lines, and see what you think about both of these! Carnival is slightly cheaper, but pricing is not a problem.

Thanks guys!

I am also posting this on both boards to get a good opinion!

Hey guys!

This will be our 11th cruise, the past have been with NCL, Disney, Princess, and Celebrity. We are looking at 2 cruises, both 5 days, with the information below:

RCCL Empress: Miami - Cozumel-Cozumel-Miami

Carnival Triumph: Nola - Cozumel-Progresso- Nola

So obviously, the Triumph will be the larger ship, nearly double the size of the Empress, with more activities I'm sure of, as well as a new port in Progresso, and I would love to cruise out of Nola.

The perks of the Empress are I believe will be the size, with better service and food due to the size of the ship. I also love the idea of spending time 2 days in one port, and Cozumel there is a lot to do.

Would love to know your thoughts! I would eventually like to try both lines, and see what you think about both of these! Carnival is slightly cheaper, but pricing is not a problem.

Thanks guys!

The aqua park and all the activities on the upper deck are complimentary, or already paid for.

I may be the exception in this conversation, but a sushi bar sounds fantastic to me on celebrity, and would really represent modern luxury well. I doubt they will discontinue the free sushi in the buffet since A) it is popular, and B) the sushi is extremely basic using cheap ingredients in the buffet comparative to nicer rolls. When we were on the Reflection in December, the area was vacant, I may have seen 4 or 5 people enjoying a meal in there the entire trip. They also had a glass cabinet of their display of food, which honestly looked disgusting. Personally food should never have to be displayed to be sold. The glass display turned us off enough not to try it. If it was a sushi bar there is a greater chance we would go.

I guess my question is, since lets be honest most shore excursions cost more than 50 bucks. So can I use all my shore excursion money on one island, or do I have to use 50 on each island.