kicker

I know I'm basically dumb, but I thought I'd be able to figure out hotel distances from the Tampa Port. Problem is, when I google the Tampa Port I get an address of 815 Channelside Dr, Tampa. When I look at this link on CC

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/hotels/hotelResults.cfm?departurePort=223&page=5

 

it gives me hotels within a half mile of the port, but when I MapQuest them, they come up about 25 miles away!

 

Again, I ain't the brightest bulb in the box, but I must be doing something wrong.

 

HELP!!:confused:

First, as a cruise friend once told me, "any cruise is a good cruise", and I think the OP pretty much says that in her first post. We've cruised mostly Royal, but also Celebrity, Princess, Disney; only Carnival was 30 years ago so I can't really compare that to anything.

 

Princess was similar to Royal; I liked Princess's food, but I think that was mainly because some of the menu items were unique and different from Royal. That being said, I've never had a Royal dinner in the DR I didn't like. I didn't personally care for Disney's DR offerings, but I have very plain tastes.

 

Dress: We did a Disney cruise out of Texas. One poster mentioned for formal night she was going to iron her husband's jeans - that should give you an idea of what formal nights were like (and shorts are common in the DR).

 

Overall. we like Royal the best, but we've enjoyed every cruise. One interesting comment to add: on our last Royal cruise we had breakfast the last day with a couple (age 60 or so) who complained vociferously about the food quality on Royal, and told us Carnival Food quality was equal to four star restaurants. They said the only Royal meal they had that even came close to Carnival was dinner at Chops. I can only guess (from everything else I've ever heard or read), they were delusional or on drugs.:rolleyes:

What balcony cabin # was this? Thanks in advance!

 

1236. If you look at the deck plans, Cabins 1230, 1232, 4, 6, 8 1240 & cabins 1530, 32, 34 all are larger than standard balconies. I was concerned about being so far forward - never noticed any difference from being our usual mid-ship.

Never "humped" on a cruise (well, never had a hump cabin), but we did Liberty OTS this past June and had a forward balcony cabin that was larger than most balcony cabins. If you look at the deck charts some of the cabins look a bit larger than others, and from my experience, size does make a difference!:D

You might want to post your question here Florida Departures

 

You might also look into Timeshare properties, although many would have a more than 2 day minimum.

Sorry if this has already been posted on a forum, but new to this site and trying to figure out. First time cruiser here for our 10th anniversary sailing to Bermuda in Sept. on RCCL Liberty of the Seas. Are we able to pre-book on-board shows prior to sailing using Cruise Planner? I keep trying to go on, but keep getting message sorry you need to book on board and wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong or you truly cannot pre-book? The only thing it spears I can book is fee-based activities? Keeping our fingers crossed the Atlantic stays storm-free as well! So excited to cruise and visiting Bermuda! Thanks, everyone!

 

Quickest answer is no, you can't book shows with the exception of the Ice Shows. You can book specialty dining and excursions, but Liberty (unlike the large ships Allure, Oasis) has shows that are first come, first served. My experience has usually been that there's plenty of room at shows (comedians, Saturday Night Live, singers), although we did Liberty this past June, and the theater was packed every night.

 

Welcome to CC. As someone said, please check out the Royal boards, the Port boards, The Meet & Mingle thread for your cruise - you'll find all sorts of useful info.

Having cruised mostly Royal, but also Celebrity, Disney & Princess, I'd say Royal has the worst selection of tv stations. That being said, like most people I don't go cruising to watch tv, but its nice to have some basics. As a mainly baseball fan (who'll be cruising during the 1st round of playoffs!), I can usually get scores and info from their ESPN feed, although that feed is often international (soccer, cricket, etc.).

 

Royal will play what they feel are the most important sporting events; hopefully your game will be one they deem worth broadcasting. And one other note: the sports bar and the Casino are usually the best place to look if they're not on your cabin tv.

My Take: Thank you, Royal Caribbean, for offering us a place to meet with people we've been chatting with for months. Thank you for the raffles & gifts; maybe some don't appreciate them, but others go out of their way to try to win the same at Trivias and other events. Thank you for providing either the CD or sometimes ship's officers to welcome us. Thank you for offering this free event in an age when everybody (cruises, AI's, etc.) seems to be cutting back.

Haven't stayed here, but booked for one night pre-cruise Oct 2. I think I've looked at hundreds of hotels on Trip Advisor over the years, and I think Coral Princess is the first where I found no negative reviews.

 

I'm sure I'll post a review after we stay, if you can be patient!:o

Thank you both for the answers (I love CC for all the help you get on here!). My guess at this point is we won't snorkel. With a lifejacket and me next to her, I wouldn't worry about ten feet, but deeper would definitely scare my wife!:o

 

We did Grand Cayman two years ago, and our DGD got to hold turtles and see them. Swimming with them would be great, but not worth even the minimal risk. Thanks again.

Checked out some of the threads here but couldn't find an answer to this. Our 6 yr old DGd will be with us; I know she'd love the turtle swim/snorkel, but DW is afraid of the water depth (DGD can swim, but living in Central NY we don't get to swim often enough).

 

My snorkeling experiences: don't think I ever snorkeled on any excursion where water was more than ten feet or so; I assume it might be like that with the turtles (but it also might be deeper). All answers appreciated. Thanks.

DW & I are on the Oct 3 Adventure. Seems like a nice group with a nice itinerary - 5 different beaches!

We did the June 4 9 day; had a great time, no complaints. To add to your comments (which I totally agree with):

 

We just got off the LOTS on Saturday and had one of the best cruises we ever experienced. The ship is in great shape, the service is amazing and in the opinion of our group of 11, the food was good to very good. Very happy with the food. Oddest thing: we never met our Head Waiter until the last day of the cruise. Less attentive because of more auto tips? Actually, we did Liberty out of Fort Lauderdale this past January, and the Head waiter was at our table every night.

 

I do have a few constructive criticisms that I want to share. Maybe RCCl is watching.

 

1. There are good programs for the kids under 18, but my 18 year old daughter found there to be very little directly geared toward her age group. She still had a great time, but things for her to do were not as abundant as for the lower age groups. Yes, every ship/line seems to ignore this age group. When our kids were in their teens about 7-8 yrs ago things were more relaxed (easier to get into nightclubs and such, but not able to drink); too many lawsuit threats - they have to be extra careful.

 

2. Drinking on the ship. Me and my wife normally will have 2 to 4 drinks per day. We would have not benefited from the drink program. I also know that if I did get one of the drink programs, then I would have been drinking a lot more than I should, and that's not a great idea. I would have made sure I got my monies worth. But as far as the drink prices, I think that $14 for a Pina Colada is extremely high, as well as the cost for most of the drinks with the inclusion of the 18% gratuity. I definitely would have purchased more drinks had the prices been only a little over priced.

Drink of the Day was usually around $7, wine $7 or $8 per glass. We're not drinkers; wouldn't benefit from a package. But also, as far as prices are concerned, think how much you pay for a beer at a game or concert.

3. I think it would be a great idea for RCCL to have an app that would provide you the ability to communicate with others in your group on the ships. We found that we all still carried our phones with us to take pictures. I think that if they could provide the ability on an app through Wifi and allow people to communicate. I wouldn't mind paying a small fee for this. It would have to be much less than the fee for Wifi though. The app could have adds on it for stuff on the ship. They could really create an additional profit center with this. I think the newer. larger ships have Ipads or something to communicate with, but I don't know if they can be personalized to interact in a group. On Disney they give parents phones so you can be reached at any time if your child is in their program. Expensive touch, but nice feature. I doubt we'll see that from Royal, unless they offer it at an additional charge.

 

That's really about it. Every thing else exceeded our expectaions. Can't wait to cruise Royal again.

Me too! Cruising in October!:D

DW & I usually buy one pic as a remembrance of each cruise. Had one taken formal night last cruise - I must have blinked and sneered, and the photog caught it at the right (wrong?) moment. I look like a pirate, so naturally that's the pic we bought.

 

Also, my DS & I used to compete to see who could make the funniest face for season pass cards for water parks, etc.. Did that on Royal for our boarding pics a couple of times - good for some strange looks from security!:D

I did Enchantment in 2010 (Balcony) and in 2014 (Inside). Both times I found the ship and stateroom to be in great shape, no complaints.

 

Your experience was obviously not the norm, or Enchantment wouldn't be sailing anymore. However, you seem so displeased, I don't even understand why you'd want to cruise on Enchantment a second time. Sounds like you'd be looking for trouble.

 

PS: My cruises include Royal, Celebrity, Princess, an old Carnival - never found a good reason to complain about any of them.

They better not try to sell me an All-Inclusive package that I don't want. If they do I'll boycott them!:mad:

 

By the way. I already boycott my local grocery stores - they raised the price of eggs, milk, meats, all sorts of stuff.

 

I also boycott clothing stores. Have you seen the prices for pants & shirts lately?

 

And, I stopped driving. they're not gonna get me to pay higher gas prices.

 

I might be hungry, naked, and have to walk everywhere, but I'm happy?:confused:

 

Can't blame any cruise line for trying to find new ways to bring in revenue. With the cost of everything rising, they're welcome (as far as I'm concerned) to try new things; the cruising public will tell them if they work or not.

We had a walk for MAW but it was announced they have ended their official relationship with the Charity. Right now it seems each ship (CD or whoever) is choosing their own charity. They were still selling tshirts and towels, no kid's sizes available.

 

On any of our cruises: I never felt forced or even urged to donate. As previous posters mentioned, I don't like stores constantly asking, but I never felt Royal pushed it too much.

I posted a review on CC which gives my impression of Liberty (just did the June 4 9 day sail). The only thing I saw out of order was a broken seat in the theater; otherwise I was amazed at how well they can keep the ship up. We saw them removing, revarnishing and replacing rails near the pools, painting the outside of the ship at every port, and just overall constant maintenance everywhere. As my reviews states, try keeping up your own home if you had that many visitors every day of the year, even if you had a crew to help you!

Okay, this thread has gone too far with people sniping at each other. Here's a solution that should make everyone happy. Rinse the dishes and glasses off, then pack them in your suitcase as souvenirs - no worries about where to leave them!;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And how many people will think I'm serious??

Personally I like finding Room Service trays in the halls - you can find some good snacks,

 

And, before anyone gets too excited,

 

JUST KIDDING!,:D

Years ago when Johnny Rockets was free I witnessed many teens ordering large amounts of food, and either trashing it or even throwing it overboard. No doubt that has to figure into the cost of things.

 

And let me add: those teens were a small number of the total teens on board; just a few bad apples that give the rest a bad name.

You said this was honest, so I don't know why some people have to bash you. Obviously you liked enough things to give them another chance.

 

Toast: I have never, on any cruise line I've sailed, had a good piece of toast, not even in the DR's! I think they teach everything to their staff except toast making!:rolleyes:

I remember a thread about a "homeless" cruiser: to get on the ship he booked as a third person in cabin with a friend who was married, but the wife didn't want him sleeping in their cabin. The last night of the cruise he found someone to bunk with after sleeping on the pool deck for several nights.

However, my favorite is a thread about eating French fries in the Dining Room. Some posters thought French fries were only for "white trash". It seriously devolved into nasty comments about lowlifes, foreigners using mayo , proper dress in the DR (only tuxes allowed), and much worse until CC finally pulled the thread. Geez, some people DEFINITELY take things too seriously!

It actually inspired me to write some limericks about the thread, such as:

[FONT="Impact"][B][SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkGreen"]While asea on a fancy cruise line
A cruiser watched someone else dine
When he saw fries and mayo
He exclaimed, "My! I say, No!
I think I will need some more wine![/COLOR][/SIZE][/B][/FONT]

Our last several cruises have been Royal (both set time and MTD) and Disney. We found the service comparable in every case - I would think you might get slightly less personal service with MTD, but we had the same waiter & Asst every night, so maybe that's why it was good.

 

A few cruises back DW noticed the couple next to us having an Escargot appetizer (not on the menu). She asked the waiter and, every night afterwards, she was given Escargot as an appetizer. That is something that certainly deserves an extra tip.

 

And, to go back some posts, I believe the correct saying is "A broken squirrel still finds time to eat a nut twice a day";)

Just wanted to add my name to the many who are grateful for the pics of Cape Liberty, especially this last one showing the distance of the parking lot. The port sure looks better than when I cruised out of there in 2013! People like you are what makes CC such a great site. Thanks again!