Wanderista

Wow, the people being described are incredibly inconsiderate.

I'll admit I was nervous about myself because I like to swim a lot. I like going back and forth between the pool and a sun lounger when I am using the pool. There's no way though that I'd want to just mark a chair and leave it unattended if I'm not using the pool.

It sounds like maybe this behavior begets more behavior because people think that because others do it that they need to do it too. There's no way that people should be able to go off and leave the pool area for hours while hogging a chair.

I would not want to leave my stuff unattended that long.

I might want to use the pool during two different stretches during the day but I'd have no interest in holding the same chair for it. I would bring my stuff whenever I want to use the pool and then leave with my stuff. Hopefully it won't be difficult to do that.

I should add that I myself got to Dubrovnik by a Croatian ferry from the islands/Split so I docked at the pier and I remember walking easily. I think the cruise ships must dock around the same area. If you needed a cab though, it wouldn't be difficult. I have taken a lot of cabs in Croatia with no bad experiences.

I have done extensive travel in Croatia.

Dubrovnik is very easy to get around in. I remember seeing the cruise ships. If you do need a taxi into the Old Town, it is no big deal. It's a very touristy city and once you get to the gates of the old town, it is very walkable. Be prepared to climb a lot of stairs but you can easily get around on your own, maybe with a good guide book/map.

Walking around the tops of the city walls is very cool. There's a main street called Stradun. There are many restaurants and cafes on the streets, all generally very good. I actually had "Mexican"-inspired food there that was very tasty. Coastal Croatia/Dalmatia is known for a lot of seafood, so things like grilled fish with lemon and olive oil are delicious and common. Calamari is common. There's black cuttlefish risotto which is a local delicacy. The local region makes some good wines as well. Expect also to see pastas like tagliatelle which will just be called "green noodles" in an English translation. Oh, Croatians eat a lot of pizza too. There was a local beef dish called Pasticada if someone would rather not have seafood.

I really liked the Rector's Palace. I have also ridden the cable car which is cool too. I did this in the evening when they played jazz music. As an alternative, I remember finding a cafe/bar that was built into the city walls as well with a cool view. I went to Cathedral of the Assumption too. There's a nice view of the old city from its steps. I remember eating at the restaurant that is out in front of the main gates too. I don't have any bad memories.

I have been to some of the surrounding area but that's a good idea of the city itself.

Actually, the ability to bring my full-sized shampoo, conditioner and body wash on the cruise without worrying about liquid size or carrying on vs. checking is a very appealing aspect of cruising to me!

I'm planning to bring my own shampoo/conditioner because I use specific products that I like. I do hope to just use their bar soap though.

I have no idea what my friend will do but she's actually going on the Grandeur for 10 days later in April (very lucky and her first cruise) so she'll know what she's doing by then.

I will probably report back about my experience when I go in May. I'll admit that I was a little nervous about reading some of those reviews but then I noticed the long list of varying reviews for the same sailing so it sounds subjective.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise so I hope it's not smelly or unsanitary. I don't care too much about an "older" ship as long as it is safe and in pretty good condition.

Also, I agree that the winds here have been bad and it is unusually chilly today.

I'm new to all of this but I can see the benefits of both styles and I hope that Royal keeps the options. On this cruise, MTD was waitlisted. While I might have originally picked that as a new cruiser, I thought about it and decided that I actually want late traditional seating. I'll be very happy to either sit at a shared table or a table for two depending on what the availability is.

Funnily enough, I think the one I wouldn't usually want is early traditional because I don't want to have to hurry back from an excursion or eat in the WJ. For this cruise, we have booked a long excursion for one of the days that runs past the early seating. I wouldn't want a late seating at like 9 but 8 pm is fine. If we catch a show, that's great but we aren't going to plan around them. We will plan around maximizing time sightseeing.

I am traveling with a friend in this case. It will be great to catch up with her and also to meet any others. My boyfriend is very skeptical about cruising. (He has never tried it). If I do get him on a cruise, I still think I'll be ok with either MTD or Traditional and I will like having the ability to choose between either option depending on itinerary or availability for a sailing.

I'm somewhere in the middle between introvert and extravert. I don't blame others for being particular about one option or the other. I think it is good that the choice exists. Also maybe I would try NCL sometime but I don't think Royal needs to be NCL. I should add that I do have one food allergy (to mangoes, not gluten or peanuts or dairy fortunately). I am kind of glad that I'm doing traditional dining for that reason and I will alert my staff who will know me.

Thanks again for the ideas, everyone!

I'm not in a balcony but I'm replying to this because I did the guarantee thing for this cruise. I'm new to it all and I'm interested in trying it out but I also wanted to keep costs low and competitive. (I decided on this in a relatively short timeframe and I paid for the cruise outright. I also had to get reimbursed by a friend who I am booking the cabin with so we wanted to keep the per-person costs low).

I will say that I'm pretty happy with the room we were assigned by rolling the dice this way. I thought we'd get the cheapest or least desirable room that they could assign us but that hasn't happened at all. They actually gave us the largest size of stateroom in our category, so definitely worth more than we paid. The location is maybe not the most perfect but it is pretty good and I am happy so far. We were actually put on a great floor and in a large room. We are near elevators and we are kind of above the theatre but we're not near a late night nightclub or lounge or below the pool deck or anything.

I would chance it with a guarantee again, but it would depend on the ship. If I were considering a balcony on one of the large ships with various types of balconies then maybe I would be pickier.

I did sign up for C&A and got a nice person on the phone when I booked. I was really flattering about how I was excited to experience the line. I don't know if that helped but I would consider my experience with booking a guarantee to be good.

I am new to all of this, but I do hope that Grandeur doesn't leave Baltimore without being replaced by something interesting. Honestly, I would probably not be trying cruising if I didn't find a great price on a ship that I feel comfortable with that is also really convenient for me. I considered going to Bermuda by air/hotel but this was a better price and a good way to control the high costs in that country.

I thought about Carnival but it is just not really my style to be honest. I looked at a lot of photos and reviews and I felt way more comfortable with the Grandeur, personally. Given that I was curious about trying the cruising experience, everything lined up and I am now really excited and I think it's a good fit for me. I would be disappointed if it were to leave Baltimore.

I am also close to good airports and I am open to lots of kinds of travel. I would probably not go out of my way to cruise if there weren't a good convenient option nearby. Never say never, because I might try cruising out of NJ but I wouldn't say it's something I would particularly seek out doing. I'd rather go out of Baltimore or maybe Boston unless I were wanting an itinerary that is not Northeast US-based. I could also easily be tempted to choose a different type of vacation though if cruising were too inconvenient.

You can find lanyards at Lowes and Home Depot, typically near where keys are made. You can find them in department stores like Walmart, Kmart, and Target. If you're a member of AAA, they also sell them. Sporting goods stores have them. Office supply stores, like Staples, sell them. Lanyards are not hard to find. Yes, the ship's gift shops have them, but selection is somewhat limited. It's been a long time since we've been on a RCCL ship, so I don't remember if they give out free lanyards or not. It may not be practical to wear a lanyard while swimming. You might want to leave it wrapped in your beach towel, or tucked in a book like a book marker.

This all sounds good. I have a Kindle though so I probably won't be able to tuck it into a book. I also don't know that I'll want to leave the Kindle unattended while I'm not watching it. Good ideas, though!

Have got my lanyards on eBay -- rhinestones and not. If you get the kind with the pocket you have to take your card out to hand to bar server; if you get the kind with the clip you have to take the lanyard off over your head to get a drink (or fight with the clip).

 

Here's a fact: I wear my cell phone in a neck wallet on vacation because it is my only camera. My lanyard-worn card-key kept getting "demagnetized" so it wouldn't open the door, and front desk kept telling me it was the phone. Flatly, I didn't believe that a phone in airline mode could do that... but just for a lark, I attached my sailcard to a keychain that I clipped to my waistband... and sure enough, no more demagnetizing episodes.

 

So whether in your pocket or around your neck, just make it NOT where you also have your phone.

This is good to know, thank you!

Thanks for the replies and ideas!

I know that people do not like others to "hog" the chairs with their stuff while doing things like swimming so it would be a way to keep me from doing so. :)

Hi there,

I do have a general beginner question that isn't cruiseline specific. I skimmed a little bit of that really long thread about lanyards at one point.

Do you have to buy a lanyard separately? Can you buy one on the ship? Where else is good to buy them? Is the pass just handed to you as a loose card if you don't have a lanyard?

Dumb question, but the ship pass/key card is definitely waterproof, right?

I really love swimming and I anticipate that I will spend a fair amount of time both on the ship pool deck and on the beach out in the water. I am thinking that a lanyard will be practical for this.

It's not something that I'd probably ever use outside of a cruise but it sounds like a good idea for this purpose.

there's one, I like them because its convenient and quick, vs doing a mock booking on the Royal Caribbean website. The mock booking is time consuming, where the fish website allows you to see everything across the board.

 

do a google search for "cruise price tracker" one of the top results will list the word "fish" - click on the "finder" at the top of the web page and then click your cruise line, then itinerary and then your date. easy!

Totally new to this. What do the percentages listed under "Categories" mean when you find your sailing on this unnamed site? Are those the percentages of rooms that are booked or still available or something else?

Very interesting info. Thanks in advance!

DH prefers larger cabins for longer itineraries. He's said that he won't do an 18 day in less than a JS.

I can't tell if that is a good or bad problem to have. Lol.

My comments aren't all that useful because I haven't sailed yet but I'm in a similar position because the Baltimore port is really convenient for me. I'm going to Bermuda as my first cruise but I've definitely been interested in the New England/Maritimes itinerary as well - not for this year but maybe in the year or two after. I used to go to New England every summer and always wanted to go up to the Maritimes. Lovely region.

As long as the engine issues are sorted, I'm looking forward to the Grandeur for my 5 day Bermuda cruise. I think that for a lengthier itinerary, I might go for a bigger, more unusual ship. That said, convenience might ultimately win out for me.

I'm just saying that I'm understanding what you are thinking.

Thanks for the information, I hope you both feel better soon. That's not great news to hear about. I am going on my first cruise on this ship in May.

My boyfriend who is not going on the cruise (and has never been on one) is convinced that cruise ships are full of noro. I thought that was just paranoia but now it looks like it is indeed on this ship. Just great. :p

I hope the rest of the cruise improves for you and that the engine issue isn't too serious.

I haven't been on a cruise before but I am pretty excited to try it for myself and see what I think. I'm a bit anxious while I am figuring out the itinerary for the port days but I'm pretty sure that things will work out and when I get that sorted, I'll be happy.

I will say that I have noticed this kind of thing with other types of travel. For example, there are a lot of people who will complain when they leave their home country about how "different" the place that they are visiting is. That's sort of the point of travel though, to experience new things and also to appreciate life.

I guess that I'm just agreeing that the best thing to do is to keep an informed but open mind and to form your own opinions based on your own experiences.

Tell her to check the coffee in Cafe Promenade. Sometime they use Starbucks beans in the specialty coffee.

Thanks, I'll tell her that. I mean, she'd be more disappointed if she got the package not knowing that.

For me it's good to know but it's not a big deal for me. I know I can't drink enough alcohol to justify one of those packages but I might well be able to make use of this one. It's good to know about the Freestyle since I'd wondered if that was in this same package too.

Honestly, there's a part of me that could just drink lots of iced tea and be happy. As I understand, that's "free" but is the free stuff limited to mealtimes? I'm someone who drinks a lot of fluids, but honestly, I drink a lot of water and iced tea.

I have been thinking about fresh-squeezed orange juice though ...

Coffee from the dedicated Starbucks venue is not included in any package.

Thanks very much, I will tell her that. She will be disappointed.

Quick related question since I am also considering this package on a ship that has a Starbucks, is Starbucks included with the specialty coffees in this package?

My traveling companion is a Starbucks fiend so she will really want to be sure of that if she gets this package.

Yeah, it's a 5 day cruise out of Baltimore. I live a short drive from the port. Things lined up so that both my friend and I could go then.

I only asked because I noticed that pretty much all the other sailings on that ship for that month had a roll call. It's ok though. I had been hoping to see if there were any other privately planned excursions or if anyone wanted to join us on a tour of St. George since getting there and back can be a bit tricky.

I'm sure that we will have a great time though, whatever we end up doing. Very much looking forward to it, and yes, it looks like a great ship from the photos!

Thanks everyone, I'm pretty sure there isn't one yet. I might start one but I haven't decided. I'm pretty savvy about travel but I don't know much about cruising yet.

Hello, I would like to thank this board because I have never cruised before and reading so much helpful information and so many comments on this board helped to pique my interest in trying cruising. I've traveled a fair bit in the past and I've been on a couple of ferries/whale-watching day trips, but I have not been on a cruise before.

I'm very excited to be going on Grandeur of the Seas to Bermuda on May 21st with a friend. My question is that I have looked for a roll call for my sailing and I don't see one. How does one get added? I know it's not too far from the sailing.

Thanks again for all of the useful info! :)