travelinmoma

I have this exact question for an upcoming May cruise. What did you end up doing? We also have a group of 14, but we only want to eat together one night of the cruise. We will be on the Explorer. If anyone has an email address or a suggestion (rather than splitting up), I'd love to hear how you made it work. I can only link up to 10 people online. We want to eat together on the second night. I'm fine with waiting and letting them know our request on the first night, as long as we will be able to get a reservation the second night. Also, everyone wants to eat early (6ish) and I know that time is more difficult to get last minute. Thanks!

Thanks! That worked.

Apparently I'm only allowed to link 10 people, so I will have to figure out another way to get us all together. We only want to eat together one night -not every night. Maybe we can arrange it once we are there.

Today I tried to reserve the times I wanted for MTD. I had no problem reserving the first night, but then when I went to reserve another night, it reads "this item is already in your cart" and only gives me the option to modify the one I just did. Is it not possible to reserve a different time each night of the cruise?

We also have a group of 18 traveling. We would like to all eat together on the 2nd night. Is it possible to do this by adding people to my reservation number or will I need to go another route with a group that large? Thanks!

Thank you all for the responses. Great ideas! I prepaid gratuities, so that's already taken care of. I ended up buying a coffee card and the FNDR. I still have $23 left for a few extras. Woohoo!

I found this online after doing a search, but it's from 2015. Is this info still current? Do they still offer an Early Bird discount? I will be on Explorer in May. Thanks?

Royal Caribbean Online (Computer Room)

Guests wishing to access the internet and emails can drop by Royalcaribbean online® located by the aft elevators on deck 8 overlooking the Centrum to use the computer workstations (a per minute rate applies). A black and white printer is also available with charges per sheet printed.

The cost to access the internet is $0.65 per minute or alternatively guests can purchase pre-paid packages as below (subject to change):

60 minutes = $35 or $0.58 per minute

100 minutes = $55 or $0.55 per minute

150 minutes = $75 or $0.50 per minute

250 minutes = $100 or $0.40 per minute

500 minute = $150 or $0.30 per minute

An Internet Early Bird Special is also available between the hours of 7.00am to 9.00am for $0.44 per minute.

Never done it, but what an amazing opportunity!

Thanks for all the great ideas! Can I use it for ice cream at B & J's or at Johnny Rockets? Either one worth it?

I saw several people mention specialty dining. I was thinking about doing FNDR, but that would eat up $40 of the $100 right off the bat. Is it worth it?

We don't drink, so I'm looking for other fun ways to spend the OBC. I know I can use it for excursions, but I've already booked and paid for those. Since it's a week long cruise, I would like to leave the OBC for fun things on the ship (Explorer of the Seas).

If anyone has Sprint, you can use this link to check pricing and availability. You just type in the name of your cruise ship. For Explorer of the Seas, it shows I can make calls for $2.50/minute. Does anyone know if there are any additional charges that I should be aware of? We are leaving our son at home and my father also has pancreatic cancer, so I'd like to be able to just check in for a minute daily. https://support.sprint.com/support/international/roaming?INTNAV=ATG:HE:SPT:INTL_TRAV

New to RCI and have been sailing NCL. They have an in-app purchase for phone and text - $15 pp I think. We are traveling with two 18 year olds on spring break so communicating with them will be important. Still in booking. I think it will be Harmony. Do they have anything similar? Sorry, not trying to hijack, just a good reminder that I need to think of this and so many things I don't know!!!

 

 

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Yes. This is one thing I loved about NCL. I'm not sure why other cruise ships/lines can't make this happen. I mean who wants to keep running back to the room to read a note to find out where people are or running back to the room to leave a note about where you are going next?

We have a group of 18 going on Explorer in May. I have a feeling this inability to communicate easily will be a problem. It was on our Carnival cruise a few years ago. On NCL, it was so easy and well worth the money. I think we paid around $8/pp.

So if you buy this for $20pp you can order anything on the menu and it's included? Thanks!

Any update reports on this? Seems like in the beginning everyone was having different experiences.

My Dear Moma,

 

Any question posted by a person of high status is inherently not silly.

 

For instance: Does anyone know if Royal would announce my arrival for dinner over the PA system? I think people would enjoy knowing I am there.

 

Sent from my SM-G920P using Forums mobile app

LOL Maybe if I'm really lucky they'll let me sit by you!

I meant on CC, not this thread. I realize this thread is a spoof.

I think a lot of people on here post silly questions just so they can mention their status or that they booked an expensive suite.

I got discounts on the excursions I wanted for my Alaskan cruise. I was hoping for a deal on the soda package. No such luck. I'm debating about the drink package (not the alcohol one) because at this point it's only $10 more per day than the soda package.

Does RCI ever offer any Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals on excursions or drink packages for already booked cruises? If so, when do they usually announce the sale? Thanks!

What about a 6 pack of Diet Coke packed in the suitcase?

We have a large group coming from Missouri, but we will be getting on when you're getting off.

Ship - Escape

Deck - 9

Stateroom # - 9212

Stateroom Category – B4

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Some creaking and tapping noises

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Awning of the waterfront was below us, so you could not look directly down. You could see lifeboats, but they did not obstruct the view.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - n/a

Any specific problems with this cabin? - no

Any other comments? - Would take this cabin again. Great location to get to 6-7-8! Bed was by balcony.

HMM....my son is 38" as of his doctor appointment this week. Maybe he will grow 2" in 3 months! Then he can go on the waterslide with me...I wonder if spiking his hair will work...

Put some water shoes on him, too!

Just got off the Escape Saturday, had several rooms. My experience was if it's listed as a 4-person (Pullman bed) then the main bed is by the balcony. If it's a 3-person bedroom then the main bed was by the closet. We were in 13188/186/184/182.

Ours was a 3 person with bed by balcony.

Thanks for the review. How would you compare your NCL experience to Carnival overall?

Tricky question!

I think my husband and I would have enjoyed NCL so much more sans kid. If we sailed again just the two of us, I would pick NCL.

If traveling with children, Carnival is definitely more fun and family friendly.

We were there late May, and we always ate outside. The temperature was perfect IMO. I was freezing in the restaurants! I wish I had brought a sweater. I was pretty much cold any time I was indoors!

A little background: I'm 42, DH is 46 and DS is almost 11. We have only cruised once before on Carnival.

The Escape is a beautiful, new ship. Even though it is big, it is very easy to find your way around. We arrived at the port around 11. Check in was very easy with no lines. The only thing I didn't like is that I wanted to take care of some things (like putting a certain amount on my son's card ...more about that later), and her answer was always to see Guest Services for that. I wish she would have been given more authority. We were given boarding group 13. We were able to find seats in the waiting area, and didn't wait very long at all before our number was called. I thought it was going very smoothly until we went around the corner and saw the huge line of people. Even though it was a long line, it went fairly quickly, and we were on the ship by about 12:15. We had our bathing suits on under our clothes, so after a quick stop for nachos and margaritas at Margaritaville (not crowded at all), we headed for the water slides and pools. We had a great time. I'm so glad we did this because the pool was basically useless for the rest of the trip. It was so unbelievably crowded that my son actually played a game of "try to get across the pool without anyone touching you." There was no way it was sanitary. My son didn't even want to get in it for the rest of the trip. I guess this was a good thing because by the 3rd day, I was completely grossed out by it thinking it was full way beyond capacity, and by the 4th day it was shut down (apparently someone pooped in it). Here comes the bad part about wearing your swimsuit. On Carnival, when our room was ready, our luggage had been delivered. I just assumed this was the case. WRONG. So, we went to our room with enough time to shower before our Teppenyaki reservation and no luggage! Oops! I had to ask for some robes, so we could at least get out of our wet swimsuits. We waited and waited and waited. I finally went out in the hall and offered to help search for our bags. They finally arrived at about 4:10. Muster was at 4:30 and dinner reservations at 5. I don't know how we did it, but we made it!

We had a family balcony on the 9th floor pretty close to the elevators. In my opinion, it was the perfect location. The roof of the waterfront extended from our balcony, so you couldn't see straight down, but that didn't bother me. In fact, I felt a little safer having that there with my kiddo on the balcony. It was so easy to get to 678 from our room. I loved that when we came back from a port day, we didn't have to wait in the long elevator lines. We just walked right up to our room. And we were really close to the District Brew House which was awesome! Another thing to consider if you are traveling as a family, the shower in a balcony room is frosted, so you have more than one person in the bathroom at a time. This is not the case in the mini suites.

We didn't spend much time in Miami. We did fly in and out of the airport which I had heard was terrible. I didn't think it was bad at all. In Tortola we did the Baths through an NCL excursion. We enjoyed it, but I felt it wasn't worth the money for the little amount of time we had there. Plus, it was really crowded and we were the only cruise ship in port that day. I can't imagine what it would be like with more than one! In St. Thomas, we got off the ship as soon as possible and took a cab straight to Magen's Bay. It was so beautiful and not crowded at all! We left around noon. We went back to the ship for lunch and then headed out for the sky ride to Paradise Point. FYI: NCL charges the same amount for an adult ticket as walking up and purchasing one, so no advantage to buying it from them unless you have onboard credit to spend. We had built up $250 using their Mastercard, so we bought our tickets from NCL. I was upset though that they charge $15 for a child ticket, and it's only $10 if you walk up and buy it. So that was a rip off. In Nassau, we went to British Colonial Hilton. The pool area was nice and the food was very good, but the beach was terrible. We have been there many times, and there are definitely nicer beaches. I would not go back to BCH.

Speaking of food, this was my favorite part of the cruise! We upgraded to the balcony room shortly before final payment so that we could get all the perks. We got kids sail free, ultimate beverage package and the specialty dining. I'm so glad we got the dining package. We had some of the best food! The T-bone at La Cucina was amazing (the filet was overcooked). Teppanyaki was fun and the filet was the best I've had! We also ate at Cagney's twice. We got the ribeye both times. The first time it was AMAZING! The second time -just meh. I also recommend the Beef Wellington in the main dining area. We thought the service was better in the dining room on the port side (can't remember which one that is -Taste or Savor). We ate in the dining room for breakfast almost every day. It was delicious! The dining room with the bad service would do things like bring out your pancakes with no syrup and then take 10 minutes and 2 reminders to bring syrup. Drinks often went unfilled. Etc. We figured this our quickly and just went to the other side. Much better!

Entertainment was lacking. I was so glad that I was on CC and knew to prebook as much as I could. I felt sorry for people who didn't get into anything the whole week. For the Record was incredible. I could barely keep my eyes open for After Midnight. Neither were family friendly though. We did see a juggling comedian who was very good. The whole family enjoyed that show. We went to an early comedy club show (7PM). It was dubbed family friendly, but the comedian did talk about ************ and making love to his wife, so beware. We played Bargain Bingo one day, but it's really no bargain. You pay half the price, but get 1/3 of the Bingo cards. Plus kids don't play for free. So, I wouldn't recommend it at all. We did the ropes course and it was one of our favorite things. Do it at night on the St. Thomas day because they keep it open late. It's especially scary at night and there was no waiting. You not only have to have close toed and heeled shoes, but no tank tops are allowed either. We also played mini golf, shuffle board and went to the evening movie at Spice H2O -oh and the Glow party!

I can't say anything about the Kid's Club. DS wouldn't go. I guess he's at that age where such things aren't "cool". He loved the arcade and met some friends there. Speaking of the arcade, I wanted to put $50 on his card, so that he would have a budget to spend at the arcade, gift shop whatever. I was told this was not possible. I had to give him access to our whole account or nothing. I think this is a flaw that NCL definitely needs to fix. I was able to do this on Carnival with no issues.

I went to the CC Meet and Greet and slot pull. Both were very fun. I received chocolate covered strawberries in my room, and I'm assuming it's because I went. I wrote a little thank you to the hotel director and dropped it a guest services. The next day, I got another delivery of strawberries. Very nice touch!

Overall, I felt like most everyone went out of their way to make sure we were enjoying ourselves. The food was very good. I like getting the extra perks (especially drinks). I liked all of the different spots to hang out. I HATED the pool area for kids and that was a huge disappointment. That was basically a deal breaker for us. We decided we prefer an all inclusive for that reason. We were thankfully able to find chairs if we went up to the 19th floor, but no swimming or splashing around in the pool.

Disembarkation was way worse than Carnival. I was amazed by how long the line was! On our Carnival cruise we just walked right off, went through customs easily and done. This time we were the very last group called, so we thought most everyone would be cleared out. Wrong! There was LONG line. Oh and they don't mention this, but you can exit from the forward or the aft. There was an incredibly long line for the forward exit, so we went toward the aft just looking for a place to sit and hang out for awhile. Then I saw a few people leaving that way. I asked an employee, and he said you can exit either way, so we went down the aft way easily. But then when we got off the ship, the customs line was snaking all over the place. Ugh.