Rjh8842

My parents are going on this cruise. We booked close to a year ago. We got a decent price. But it is definately better now. Unfortunately my dad needs a wheelchair room. And those prices have gone up drastically.

Taxes and fees will stay the same. I even changed too a different cruise once and they stayed at the higher rate. You can get the lower taxes only if you cancel. My experience so far is taxes and fees always go down after I book.

If you rent a car bring quarters. We have lots of tolls around here. Also current parking at the disney parks is $20-40. If you are only here for a day I have a few recommendations. Only do one park. Park hopping (which costs more) is not worth it for most people. The exception would be if you have rollercoaster lovers. The 2 scariest rides are at Hollywood Studios. But the rest of that park is pretty much under construction and does not have much to do. You can schedule fastpass+ 1 month before coming. Fastpass+ is a must to make the most out of your day. Lastly I would not have a sit down meal. With the limited amount of time those character meals can take a couple of hours.

I found on our last cruise the problem with wj is if you have a large party and want to sit together large tables are limited.

Just remember you will have bad apples on board too. My then 14 year old niece was grabbed on the rear by a drunk. She was only a few feet away from myself and my dad. Rccl did the right thing and kicked the guest off the ship. But just imagine what can happen. Your grandkids should enjoy freedoms but they need to still be carefull.

Room service now has a $7.95 fee which includes tip.

If I remember correctly the 1st show was at 630. It was also only on the last night of our cruise. Which I thought was inconvenient. We had first seating for dinner. However since we had to get up early for disembarkment we decided to go to the first show. That night we just went to wj after the show.

I have noticed for the spa it means on a very rare occasion you will find the item for that price. On my upcoming cruise everything at the spa averaged $60 - $100 more than the starting price.

I think the problem that you may not have thought about is the room may not accomadate 4 people. Some rooms only accomadate 3. So you may not even be able to add the 4th person to that room. Plus since the wow sale is now over you will possibly lose the onboard credit that was included for that sale.

I am someone who works in the tourist industry and was hit by Irma. I live in florida and we did not have as much damage but it was more than enough. Many without power for over a week. A coworker actually told me that he had to sleep out side on a bench for over a week because of the heat ( only in the high 80s over night outside). Others I know had to stay at hotels and that cost an arm and a leg. Others with flooding and roofs ripped off and more. I was lucky compared to most I only had damage to my car and a tree on the roof. Here in florida 100,000s of people depend on tourist for a living. Many tourist businesses pay by the hour. So employees lost wages while the bussiness was closed. So I think royal is making the right choice. We all want to rebuild but we can not do it without the tourist. And while I do appreciete that you think donations are key I disagree. Those donations will not sustain bussinesses and livlihoods but customers can.

I am a picky eater and a vegetarian. So I will order everything that is vegetarian on the menu (unless it sounds disgusting). That way I can try different dishes and hopefully find one to enjoy.

i was just reading a recently published article by cruise critics that stated this about johnny rockets

There's a flat fee of $6.95 per person for anything on the menu, excluding ice cream, milkshakes, soda and alcohol, which cost extra. Breakfast served on Oasis-class vessels is gratis.

I thought soda and icecream was included in the price?

tia

Cruise: Independence 3/2/17

I am going to try to cover mainly information that I have not seen covered in other reviews.

Dinning: Windjammers

The first night we ate at windjammers. We were easily able to find our party of seven. And it was away from foot traffic. This was the least crowded we saw it the entire cruise. The next morning when we had breakfast it did not start off so great. My father is in a wheelchair. And unlike the day before the only table that we found to accommodate all was in a pretty crowded area. Despite the fact that my father was in a stationary position person after person kept tripping over him. He recently had to replace his very expensive wheelchair because of someone like this. So he was getting more and more upset. And what puzzles me is that out of ten people that tripped over him that morning only a couple apologized. After the tenth person tripped over (he counted) we spoke with a server to remedy the situation. They quickly got the supervisor. They quickly moved us into giovanni's where they had put some table together for us. Problem solved.

Dinning: Mdr

We dinned in the mdr the 2nd and 3rd night. We arrived at the main dinning room for the first night and found we had a wonderful view with window seating. Then noticed the step. Yes there was a step up to get to our table. I was leading our party and asked the server how my father could get to the table? He replied just up the step. Uh what? No he can not walk. So then he pointed out another route that does not require and steps. However is was a tight squeeze a wheelchair user would never fit. So after some confusion by the waiters a superior came over. After realizing the problem they come up with a solution. They moved us to the mtd level and had a table ready for as immediately. As we walked by the people waiting for a table my mom hears someone make a snide comment about us getting to cut in front of them becuase of the wheelchair. They gave us this table for the rest of the cruise. And despite the fact this was the mtd room we were able to immediately go to our table nightly without stopping at the desk. And the staff out front had been informed to let us straight in.

As for the service and food my family was quite pleased.

Dinning: ben and jerry's

The only food I paid for outside was a couple of milk shakes. I thought the shakes were only okay. (But I an a milkshake snob)

Drinks: We ended up not bringing any wine with us. So instead I brought sparking apple cider. The whole family enjoyed it one night at the mdr.

I found the lemonade to be decent if you stir it. I did not care for the apple juice and orange juice. Also something to note if you just want a glass of water on the sports deck you do not have to wait in line at the bar. At the bar off to the side is a water dispenser with cups.

Dinning: vegetarian

I am a very picky eater and a vegetarian. While i did see some options available at every meal I generally did not care for them. I ordered all the vegetarian entrees at dinner and tried most items on the buffet. I can not do spicy at all. most of the options were spicy. I can not say I really enjoyed the food. I even resorted to ordering kids mac and cheese. I would not recommend it. Boxed mac and cheese it probably better. I think the best thing I enjoyed was a spring roll. But I think the vegetarian that is a little more adventurous would find plenty to eat. But the good new is while the rest of my family gained wait from all the eating I lost weight.

I will write more soon.

recently booked next cruise on board for only $50. Now that the further out cruises are available I want to change my cruise. Can I keep my low deposit? Anything I need to know?

Beware this only applies if you did not already get a price adjustment. When I did a price adjustment it changed my final payment date.

I would get a good idea of what you want to do. Keep an eye on what you want to buy and when it goes on sale purchase it. If you wait til last minute you are most likely to pay more.

Are all milk shakes created equal? I have been abstaining from them in preparation for the cruise. I know there is a Johnny Rockets and Ben and Jerry's onboard. I will be honest I am a bit of a shake snob? How good are they?

1) how do you pack your wine? 2) any recommendations for a fort lauderdale beach?

3) I read that you get your seapass card from your cabin door. How can that work? Couldn't anyone take it?

Thanks

loking at booking at park n go at fort lauderdale. I plan on dropping my car off at 10 am. But I will probably be closer to one of the last off the ship. Since I will get back to the lot after 10am they charge by the hour. But I am not sure what time to put for the return time. What time do you recommend?

They can add excursions all the way up to final payment. I was told by rccl rep. And on my upcoming cruise they added several within 2 months of final payment. Look on rccl excursion page and you can get an idea of what they might add.

Do the perks for a suite differ from ship to ship. We have a JS on Rhapsody?

From what I have read junior suites do not get any suite perks.

You are right. As a vegetarian it is a pet peeve of mine when someone says they are a vegan or vegetarian but eat fish. This is why so much misinformation is out there. I should not have to constantly have to explain that I do not eat fish. Someone that eats fish is call a pescatarian. I do not understand if pescatarians do not know this or what. But they make it harder for the rest of us. I have not eaten fish, meat or poultry since I was a child. If I did not have an alternative I did not eat. It is not a when it is convenient lifestyle choice. As a matter of fact it can be pretty hard and inconvenient. Sorry to kind of rant but like I said it is a pet peeve.

I am confused by something you said. You mentioned that the wheelchair accessible room was very roomy. But then you mentioned that the ship provided wheelchairs for use on and off the ship. Did you not have a wheelchair? Or were you just mentioing the wheelchair availability for others? Because how spacius a room is with a wheelchair in it is not the same as without. A wheelchair user takes up a lot of space when moving about a room.

I book with rccl. First I do like to be able to contact rccl 24/7 and have my needs immediately taken care of. Second I travel with someone who has special needs. I would rather speak directly with rccl and know that the correct accommodations are made. It is unfortunate that I lose out on perks with a ta but that is not my priority.

We took a Jeep tour to Punta Sur (offered through Royal Caribbean) last week. If I remember the road signs correctly, it's about 25 kilometers (so 15 miles) from the International Pier to the park.

 

Other than maybe the lighthouse and the crocodile boardwalk, which are about 3/4 of a mile apart, I wouldn't say anything is really walkably close in the park. The beach clubs are quite a ways down the road from the lighthouse.

 

If you find the park in Google Earth, you can actually follow Street View along most of the road. It might give you a feel for the distances.

Sounds like you did the excursion I am thinking of doing. Would you mind answering a couple of questions? If I do this excursion it would be my niece and I. I prefer not to drive. Is that possible? My niece is a pretty decent pool swimmer. But the ocean is a whole other beast. Did you think the snorkeling portion was easy? Thanks