WrittenOnYourHeart

On cruises of 7 nights or more' date=' the theme of the last night is "Till We Meet Again." The dining room CMs do a little parade with flags representing the various countries represented by the crew members with the music to "It's a Small World" playing (not endlessly like on the ride). Their costumes that night feature flags also. This little show is not connected to the tips--they are NOT parading to the tables to collect the envelopes. It is a choreographed walk thru the dining room for the flag thing. You can give them the tip envelopes at any time during the evening, but if they haven't collected one from you before the end, they will visit your table afterward to wish you a safe journey home, etc and get their envelope.

 

While an attempt is made for CMs to carry their correct national flag, they do sometimes get busy and whoever is available grabs whatever flag needs a carrier. Two of the head servers will carry the US flag. It's just a nice little farewell event.

 

This does not happen on 3 or 4 night cruises because the last night on those cruises is the signature restaurant. There is no themed dining on the last night on short cruises.[/quote']

 

Gotcha. Thanks. So I should brace for this on my upcoming cruise. :P I don't see why we can't just say good-bye with a handshake and smile rather than this IMHO outdated "tradition", but I am weird like that. (Although on HAL they added in cabin stewards who carried towel animals...and the way one or two carried their elephant led to some giggles in our group. ) Or... Maybe I'll see if I can score a second Palo dinner once I'm on board for that night and just see my servers on the final morning. Hmm...

The prices are higher than that now. Family beach cabanas are $590, and Serenity Bay is $420. The increase is due to the new Bahamian VAT of 7.5% effective 1/1/15.

And I just learned on another board that there is NOT a bathroom with the cabana so you have to either walk or page the cabana host to come and get you on a cart to go to the general public bathrooms. Wowza. I wasn't interested in one anyway, but if I'm paying that kind of money, there better be a bathroom attached.

No but you may feel akward at dinner the last night when the others around you are all handing out tip envelopes and thanking the wait staff.

 

On DCL the wait staff does a parade around the dining room the last night as a fare well to their guests and then its tradition to hand them the envelopes and than them.

 

It's up to you.

Is this new? Or on longer sailings? I've done a 3-night and a 4-night and don't recall this parade thing at all. (I do remember it on HAL this past summer, and remember that that made the service that night among the worst because they were so worried on being in place for the parade.)

Granted even on DCL people ignore the signs, but since they don't charge extra for soft drinks, they have disposable cups at the drink stations that you can use to refill your personal drink container. (And they can be folded at the lip to make filling a bottle easier.

Sorry I didn't explain.

We sailed on the Grandeur 3 weeks ago and stated in this very same cabin. We now have brand new matresses, new pillows, shower curtains, etc. This room was clean before but this time it looks like it was just installed on the ship.

 

There is NOTHING about this room and ship that would cause me concern.

Oh, ok. Thanks for explaining. :) Definitely NOT what I pictured with the phrase. Now it makes sense.

I am currently on the Grandeur and in a cabin that shows indications of having been one that housed an infected person. This is Day 5 of the cruise, I am healthy and not worried...because:

 

this crew is amazing! They are working around the clock to make sure that no virus can exist on the ship. Every one of them, from dancers, to Loyality Ambassador, to concierges, etc. are out and about sanitizing. They are working in cycles in the food venues to make sure that no guest touches serving utensils. They are pulling very long hours but always have a smile on their faces.

 

I am so very impressed by them and proud of them.

Ok, I'll bite. What exactly indicates that an infected person was in there? Because the only things I can think of are things that would send me running to the hotel director to have the cabin re-cleaned as clearly a good job even for a cabin NOT housing an infected person was not done.

OP the weather is typically 20-40 degrees fahrenheit, January is usually colder than December and the Atlantic Ocean can sometimes be rough going down the East Coast of the US.

 

Temperature isn't the only concern…..snow and freezing rain can close airports thus delaying many flights…this just happened last week. Guest arriving to/from Cape Liberty on the Quantum were met with delays at local airports. Also if you have a connecting flight somewhere in the US take into account the weather conditions that time of year where the connection is.

 

Just recently the QOS missed San Juan because of rough seas going. I thought someone on CC posted a picture of her with snow on the decks.

 

So my advice to you if you really want to sail on the Anthem fly in a couple of days early and aim for the beginning of December….less chance of snow and temps are usually in the 40's.

 

Hope all works out.

As someone who lives in NYC, I generally agree with this. Early December would most likely be better, BUT...

Definitely get trip insurance!

It is not unheard of for us to have snow and ice even in early December. I will not make travel plans out of here pretty much any time from mid-November through at least the end of March without all-inclusive trip insurance. (I typically don't travel without it anyway, but ESPECIALLY in winter in this area.)

Thanks Irene; I guess I jumped the gun a bit at the beginning.:o:o

 

Everytime I go, I miss the ship more quickly. It's hard for me to imagine now that I could wait a YEAR between cruises. The one lady at our dinner was leaving the Fantasy to do a B2B 5-day on the Wonder in Miami--I was soooo envious!!

Awww!!!

One week from now I will be trying to sleep at the Hampton Inn & Suites Gateway Village (MCO) and leaving on the Fantasy the next day!!

We did the southbound route on the Radiance in August 2012. Fantastic! Can't wait to do it again. Make sure to take your camera, etc. My wife says it's a photographer's dream.

 

Here's a link to her website in case you're interested in seeing the slide shows she made with some of her pictures from that cruise

 

Radiance of the Seas - Southbound Alaska Cruise

 

Alaska is amazing! Happy cruising!

Thanks so much! :) We're on the southbound as well. Last year I cruised with the same group (The Great Alaskan Running Cruise) on Holland round trip from Seattle, so I'm excited to see some new places and see some sort of familiar places. :)

The pictures are great!

Captain announced whales on April 1 several years ago. That was funny, then he said they were on the other side 2 minutes later. Not as many takers that time

Haha!

We actually did have them - LOTS of them - in late July. The funniest thing was we were in the middle of a stretching clinic on deck (I was with a running group) when the captain announced a whale sighting off the starboard side. NONE of us hesitated one second - we just jumped up and ran to the rail. Haha!

I would hope that during Alaska season they would announce whales when sighted. I was on HAL this past summer, and the captain did announce whale sightings the first couple of days at which point it became clear that whales were going to be sighted multiple times daily on that cruise, so then the only announcements of wildlife were during Glacier Bay day.

Agreed on both counts!:) The back of the theatre has a few 3-seat rows and we really like those because (1) you can see the entire stage well, and (2) no one climbs over you before or during the show.

 

Also, I have never sailed concierge but if she paid that much, I assume she may have been in that area. To be fair, it looks like some of those rooms are located forward on Deck 11 right near the adult pool/area which seems a little strange; because if you wanted to walk straight out and across the deck to swim/get a drink/go to Cabana's with your child, it appears you couldn't. So that may have been the case, but not sure. But I'm sure the concierge staff keeps those guests well informed as to any perks, rules, etc.

You're allowed to walk through, but you're not allowed to stop and hang out.

The Verandah 24hr coffee station only has self serve regular coffee, hot tea, and water. For lattes, cappuccinos, etc. you'd have to pay extra or get a package where it's included (and go where it's offered). Café Latte-tudes on Deck 5 sells those specialty coffees. In order to get the premium coffees in a drink package, you'd have to go with the ultimate.

Again, thanks so much!! Knowing that I can purchase the drink packages even on board will make it a bit easier as I can see what our run and free-time schedule will be and if I'd be getting specialty coffees or not and how often before deciding. (We'll have the general schedule a little in advance of sailing.)

You will love the Radiance - she was built specifically with Alaska cruises in mind with ocean views from every venue!

 

There's a 24hr coffee station on Deck 11 Starboard in the Windjammer Verandah. The pub and movie theater are tucked away on Deck 6 forward. The pub generally hosts trivia in the evenings -- it was a must do for us last summer.

 

The Boardwalk Doghouse on Deck 11 Port side is no fee, so enjoy a variety of hot dogs there! The Park Café in the Solarium (adult pool) on Deck 11 is also no fee and have sandwiches/Panini's, salads, desserts, etc. When the Windjammer is kinda crazy, it's a nice place to go to avoid long lines.

 

You can also go out on the helipad on Deck 6 forward for a "I'm king of the world" Titanic moment.

 

Have a fantastic cruise!!!

Thanks so much!!

Is the coffee station you mention included or is that one with pay-extra coffee? I'm debating drink packages this year - I opted not to get one on HAL this past summer and resell regretted it as I only budgeted a set amount for on board spending and with things besides drinks, it dwindled fast. Knowing how my group likes to socialize, I know I won't regret getting a package. I'm just trying to figure out if I want ultimate or premium.

Thanks!

As to the night lights, yeah...I figured I'd take one or two. :)

The Alaskan Running Cruise I went on last summer on HAL is going RCCL this year - Radiance of the Seas!

I decided on an interior cabin this time because while I loved my verandah last summer, I really found myself skipping some group social time to make it worth the cost of a verandah - and even an ocean view was about twice as much, so I decided I'd try it. Any advice? (Changing isn't an option as I'm not doing verandah again, and we have sold out of the group's allotment of ocean view.)

What do I need to know about Radiance? :)

I LOVE being as far forward as possible! I'm actually kind of sad that my cabin for this summer's cruise is more midship - but really everything the TA working with our group was given in the allottment was more mid. :/

I should give my history - realized I forgot that. Just to put things in perspective.

First cruise was on the Emerald Seas when I was in 6th grade. Just to do something special for Spring Break as we'd been in a rented house since our move 3 years earlier and had no prospect of moving to our own house (couldn't find one), so they had a kids sail free special or something and my dad booked it. I mainly remember getting REALLY sunburned - and that the pool was only open when we were in ports.

Next cruise was on DCL - Dream - in July 2013 to finish up a weeklong family vacation celebrating my parents' 45th anniversary. LOVED every moment of it. So much that I booked on board for a SOLO cruise on the Dream, this time 4-night, over President' Week. And I'm 10 days away from a 7-night Fantasy cruise and have a Wonder cruise booked for Presidents' Week 2016! Clearly I love Disney and it works for me.

The only other cruise I've been on was on Holland America's ms Westerdam this past summer to Alaska. And...well...unless the group I was with for some reason goes back to HAL, I don't intend to cruise them again. It's just not my style at all - not to mention stuff like the sauce for a soufflé dessert one night was left behind until the server noticed I barely touched it (sorry, I can have plain cake ANYWHERE) and was leaving and then was like "Oh! I forget the sauce! I get it now!" I was like "No thanks. I'm leaving." (It was cold by that point anyway.) As a whole I found the crew much less friendly and attentive than on DCL - and I'm not talking holding my hand...I don't need that. I mean just smiling and saying hello. My cabin steward and his assistant were the friendliest - but only after they cleaned the first morning and I guess saw all the DCL stuff I had around (a hoodie was hanging up, I had shampoo and conditioner in the shower along wit a bar of soap, I had a Disney plush on the bed (it travels with me), and I think a couple of other Disney things. I just know I went back to the cabin between our deck race and our stretching clinic and they were with their supervisor who was going over everything with a checklist - and every time I saw them after that they were EXCEPTIONALLY friendly and cheerful (I heard them say hi to others on the hall, and it was nowhere near as exuberant). I kind of think they thought I was a spy or something. But HAL is just not the cruise line for me.

I am open to trying other lines (I do have some I won't try...mainly Carnival - I can tell from the ads and everything else that it is just not my style) - I'll be on Royal Caribbean to Alaska this summer, so I'm interested to see what I think of it. But for now, I am definitely happy with DCL, and for me it is worth the up charge for an experience and environment I know I will be happy with.

Wow - we haven't had to deal with either of these yet partly because I haven't had the nerve to get in line alone for a character (my daughter would never :rolleyes:) and because we sit in the back of the theatre for the stage shows since all the seats seem to be good, and I don't need to see directly into the eyes of the performers lol.

 

This does remind me of an incident we witnessed on this cruise tho--the first night before dinner, we were walking past the bar at the adult pool and saw a young mother with a toddler in a stroller screaming at the bartender at the top of her lungs (it startled us) because apparently someone told her she couldn't bring a child into the adult area...and "she paid $11,000 for this cruise, blah, blah, blah". We were shocked and moved quickly through so as not to stare.

What made this even more strange was later that night at dinner we were sitting near the side door of the MDR and saw and heard this SAME women with the SAME baby/stroller screaming at our head server about the same thing! He turned around afterwards and was so red that we felt bad. We called him over later and told him about the bartender incident and made him smile. We were shocked because we couldn't believe anyone could be that angry the first night of a cruise!

I actually prefer to be further back so you can take in the whole stage - even when I see Broadway shows. UNLESS it is a small, intimate play or musical where facial expressions are super important - but that is NOT the shows on DCL! :)

And I hear you. The entitlement issue sadly does raise its ugly head more times than it SHOULD on a vacation - but so many people are all "This is MY vacation and I'll do what I want!" forgetting that it is the vacation for pretty much everyone else around them (not the CMs obviously, which is why I said pretty much), and we ALL paid a lot to be there. I wouldn't ever pay $11,000 for it, but if I WERE to pay $11,000 for a vacation, you can bet I'd do my research and know that there were some adult only areas and where I could go for family time.

With pictures, I look at this: if the people who added on get in a group picture, no problem. If they all want their individual picture, I'm going to be hacked.

 

Anyone who complains about adults meeting characters is clearly on the wrong cruise and is lacking an appreciation for Disney Magic!

 

 

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If it was just a group picture, ok. But this was clearly going to be lots and lots of combinations - the adults were discussing what they had decided would be the ideal ones.

They really need to get this line cutting crap under control. Happens all the time' date=' and it isn't right. This sounds like a more obvious example than many, but bottom line is you shouldn't be able to cut into a line. Period. I don't care if your wife is in line--she's welcome to move to the end with you.

 

I know, I'm dreaming. Just like the "no saving seats" in the WD theatre that is not enforced at all. But I'm a nasty on that one. I'll give you one seat, but when they send someone to save a whole row....I'm happy to sit there and remind them that there is no saving seats. I've even gone so far as to suggest that if they have a problem, they might want to get a CM to discuss it.[/quote']

 

I agree!

 

Honestly if it was *just* her husband and their kids (not the cousins or friends or whatever the relationship was) I would not have had as big of a problem with it. It was the sudden influx of at least 10 people that was annoying! And in this case clearly changed the whole timing of everything - in all likelihood the interactions were more rushed than they would have been - because I will give Disney props for not moving the cut-off point of a line up (like you thought you were in, but suddenly they move the end of the line up to 4 or 5 people in front of you). When they set an end point, they MIGHT move it back if interactions go quicker than expected (like what seems to be a large family only wants one picture rather than any number of combinations), but they are almost never (except in case of emergency) going to tell people they've already cleared to be in the line that suddenly they can't be anymore.

This reminds me of a conversation that happened back when I was a kid and my family was looking for a new car. My dad's boss had an Impala sedan and Daddy LOVED that car and wanted one. But with 2 kids, a station wagon (yes, I'm dating myself here) was the more practical option. Daddy was talking with his boss and the car shopping came up. When he explained his dilemma, his boss said, "Jim, the point of a car is to get you from A to B. Some of us go in Impalas; and some of us go in station wagons. But as long as the car runs, it gets you there, and that's the point."

Same basic principle with cruising. If you want a cruise vacation, there are lots of ways to go. Some of us go Disney, some go RCCL, some go HAL, some go Carnival, etc. But in reality, those lines will pretty much hit the same ports (depending on itinerary) with the main difference for Caribbean cruises being the private island the cruise line may own. It's just a matter of what for you is the WAY you want to get to and from the ports.

Thanks! Again, interesting about the "normal" number of children onboard. For whatever reason, it appeared to both of us that there were many elementary school children, which surprised us. We kept asking each other--"why are they not in school?" :p

 

And somewhat off topic.....I really wish that Disney would offer a few "adult only" cruises. These would also attract an entire new group who refuses to sail with them for that reason. This is not meant to offend anyone with small children (I had two at one time!;)), but I think it would be great if they offered that opportunity periodically throughout the year. We could then experience the center area in front of the funnel vision on the Fantasy (the kids' area), the hot tubs in peace (these are ALWAYS filled with children when I cruise) and even the character interactions without feeling silly. And personally, I would love to see what the kid's clubs are all about too! (it's the kid in me ;))

We had 2 other mother/young adult daughter combos at our dining table, and they expressed the same desire. One experience cruiser who said she was platinum on four lines (I asked her if she was mokismommy on this forum lol--she wasn't) also thought they should offer "adult only" time with the characters! She said she's been in line for a picture and had other parents comment that she was taking time/space away from the little children.

As I said before, with a) people who homeschool and can take off whenever, b) people from other countries where "typical" school time off varies from that in the US, and c) people who don't give a rat's patootie about taking their kids out of school to make it more convenient for them, there are likely to always be a good number of elementary school and younger kids on at any time during the year. I think you do see a bit of a drop-off of out-of-season cruising with middle school and above simply because it is hard to deal with missing school and all the catch-up work (and how fast things tend to move in classes of those ages) the older the kids are.

While I do think that the idea is nice, I'm not sure Disney would ever do it for a few reasons. First, you'd be putting the youth counselors out of a job for up to a week, and that's not fair to them. But more importantly, thanks to other cruise lines (at least one, but there are others as well), the image most people have of "adult only cruises" is not really in line with the Disney image, so I think they would have a bit of a challenge getting around that. The concept is nice, but I don't know that they'd ever do it.

As far as characters, I have no issues getting in line (or getting a ticket...though I'm still iffy on Anna and Elsa because though I love them, unless it's changed Elsa's wig is so not right...her hair is like platinum blonde, not white. So she just looks creepy with white IMHO) for character pictures. They are there for all of us on the cruise, and no one should feel bad. Yes, there are always going to be some people who make comments, but often they themselves are not following the rules either. On my Dream cruise last February, there was an adult couple in front of me (not directly but a few groups up) in line, and the woman waiting in line IN FRONT OF THEM with one child made some snide remark about adults "taking up time". I was too far back, but would have ignored her anyway. The couple ignored her, BUT just before the woman in front of them was about to have her little snowflake get a turn, the rest of her family - I'm talking a couple of sets of adults each with a couple of kids and her husband with a couple more kids - came rushing up to join her, making the line MUCH longer than it would have been had they followed the rules - and definitely took time away from other children in line because that character was out only for a limited time. As in the CM who was there doing line control but had a time or person number at which they would cut the line off had to start the cut-off earlier than they would have otherwise. I ended up giving up my spot to a child who without being a whiny brat or using Mom to get a spot simply nodded sadly and started to walk away - I asked the CM if I got out of line if the child could get in line and she said "Yeah, I could do that." But I guarantee you if there had been one little iota of entitlement coming from kid or mom I would have stayed right where I was.

Thank you and love the part in bold since I am struggling with that holiday this year!:)

I've hated it since college when there would be tables upon tables lined up with things sorted alphabetically in the main building on campus - where you pretty much had to go through to get to the cafeteria. So pointless and obnoxious.

Even when I was dating someone, we didn't buy into the hype.

Interesting about the dress. We were once on a cruise with a large group from Mexico--again' date=' very dressed up.

 

Fewest kids--14 teens (I know that because my daughter was one of them). 14 night cruise.

TA a couple years ago 400 kids, mostly toddlers

2014 TA 600 kids, tended to be young, but more elementary students around.

Normal Magic 1000-1200.

 

President's week--Have fun. That week the ship tends to be full of teens as many private schools take the whole week off. We did that week once. Teen CM commented that the week before she had 1/2 page of teens, that week she had 5 pages.

 

The ship changes not so much in number of kids as in age ranges. September/January has lots of pre-school kids. President's week has lots of older kids as this is as close to "off season" as many families can get.

 

FWIW, our Pres week cruise had great weather.

 

To OP, congrats on gold.[/quote']

 

Yeah, I already figured I'll haunt the adult-only areas moreso than before. Haha.

 

Actually I was on the Dream last Presidents' Week and it wasn't bad - the kids, tweens, and teens often seem to be largely contained in their clubs, so I didn't notice them as much. I actually noticed the far fewer kids on HAL in Alaska last summer more than I ever have the kids on DCL - probably because their kids' area never seemed to be open (and I heard a couple of the kids complaining that it hadn't been fun when they went)...and HAL doesn't really have an adult-only area beyond the spa.