mco_rich

just boarded Independance, got there at 10.45am, absolute chaos line after line after line, no communication from RCI now 3pm & rooms not ready

Nothing can go wrong……..

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

If past, recent accounts hold true, you'll see three different times week of sailing on web, email docs, and text.

 

They don't prioritize among YC rooms.  A deluxe is just a square room with walk in closet.  MSC figured they could charge more for them.  Show up at white tent when you feel so.  Depending how you enter, if people ask for your bags make sure you tell them you are YC as there are different porters.

I just want to get to the bar, as I said only placed a bid for minimum should be fun as I am usually cheap 

1 hour ago, WirelessRoute said:

 

Makes since why now why minimum bid was so low. Min for Seashore 7 day at least for me was around $900.

I should have been more specific, 3 nights on Divina from 05/26

My Embarkation still says 2.00pm, think its ok to get there early now we are in deluxe suite ?

Leave on May 26th originally had balcony cabin, we placed bid on Tuesday response Friday

Just got upgrade to deluxe suite for minimum bid of $395 each only placed offer as a joke but paid off, can’t wait !,

Mac Allan was on Mariner last month, not much left after our 3 days !!

Got off the Mariner this morning, apart from using drink package spent nothing and had a great day, plenty of sun and shade, pool is amazing 

We booked a guaranteed Ocean view on the Mariner and got assigned a Port Hole cabin by the elevators on Deck 2, I increased my bid to $125 each and it got accepted today to 8th floor balcony. We leave on the 16th so 9 days out. I have a feeling we have been played a little but wife is happy

Yep I was wrong, the $52 per day is after the discount, as noted in earlier posts when you get to the cart it says $360 ish after gratuity, I was a little naive there .....

as my dad used to say if it looks too good to be true it usually is

Just booked a quick 3 day on Mariner & drinks package Is  buy 1 get 1 50% off so $78 day for both of us, is this as low as it will go ?

We did both the whiskey and margarita tasting on the Epic over thanksgiving, both very enjoyable

20 hours ago, 20165 said:

.We were on the same cruise, should have review done tonight, 100% agree above, some good things we may go Norwegian again but not the Epic

Its a busy drive until you hit 417, I would time it to be at the hwy 27 exit on i4 by just after 9.00am then the worst of the i4 traffic up to Disney will be much better, then a straight shot to the port

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We did the Whale watching cruise from the Aquarium, fantastic experience if the time works

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It's not my 'belief', it is what is quoted. Just passing along the information I know, at least at the time of my cruise.

 

 

 

You need to DO something that generates receipts and keep a notebook and take pictures and keep all of your papers from your visit for 5 years. Again, just passing along what is written and stipulated.

On day 1 we took the RC walking tour for 3hrs and then wondered round Havana for dinner and drinks, Day 2 got a cab and explored again, nobody in Cuba or USA cares

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I don't understand how people can be that unhappy on a cruise? Maybe you should find another hobby and let the rest of the people enjoy their vacation!!! Sorry....lol

Unless you go for the mega ships I think RC and Carnival are pretty similar, I think buffet is better on Royal but Guys and Blue iguana make the difference

bars are definitely better on Carnival, we cruise a lot on the 3/4 nights from Port Canaveral and it really is your attitude and other passengers that make or break the trip

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Yes....

You get the visa at checkin, need to fill in before arrival (Month Day Year date) $75 charge to account

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Thank you.

Not sure if carnival is the same but on Royal the $75 visa charge includes medical insurance for Cuba

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Ha ha, well said!!!

 

 

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Well yes, because it's advertised as such. If it said to connect to a dial up speed connection no complaints

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One thing I forgot to mention was that the visa / ticket included medical insurance in Cuba.

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What’s the tipping situation in Cuba, same as elsewhere?

Every body wants a tip, even the staff in the Fort

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Wepulled into Havana around 12.30 on day 2. Spectacular views of the city. We hadbooked Hemmingway's walking tour so had to be in Dining room by 2pm where allour documents were inspected by RC staff and were escorted off around 2.15pm.Passport control was a breeze, they take Visa and stamp passports which servesas the visa for the rest of the trip. Security was easy and certainly the best dressed!We had been told not to change out money until after the trip but as there wereno lines we dashed in and changed money, after going down the stairs(very steep but elevator to the right) we were directed to the bus waitingarea. As the rain was heavy our walking to be changed to a bus tour for thefirst 2 hours which was great as we saw sites we wouldn’t have by just walking.One thing I remember is the square where Castro made his 7hr speeches –Amazing.

We stopped when the rain ended and walked roundthe town, stopping at a Cuban food distribution store (still have rationcards), Floradita bar and another for drinks. All in all a great tour worth themoney. We went back to the ship to change into dry clothes and returned to townfor Dinner, you will get hassled by restaurants, beggars, everybody needsmoney. Food was good and pretty cheap but menus limited to mainly seafood.

Day 2 we walked around town and just headedinland from cruise terminal very interesting to see where the locals shop andeat.

Waiting to get on the ship around 2 hours beforedeparture the weather got really bad and the ship was blown away from ********** which slipped down. We were delayed about 45 minutes whilst they fixedthe gangway and moved ship. This lead to a wait of around 2hrs for some to geton board.

Overall Cuba was interesting, next time I won’tbook and RCI tours and just book a cab from the Port.

Biggest takeaway is that you don’t have to bookan RCI tour you are just pushed to the back of the line to get off, Cubans arevery friendly and date in Visa needs to be in DD/MM/YYYY

I’m on the same sailing. I’ll try and post some pictures of the cruise compasses.

 

 

 

Captain just left Empress. I don’t know his name. I think he might be Norwegian?

 

 

 

Formal night was day 3. Same day we departed Cuba.

 

 

 

Only real hiccup so far has been the super long check in times at the port in Tampa. Took us almost 4 hours and heard many others complaining along with apologies from the crew once onboard.

 

 

 

Process in Havana seemed smooth. I think security got backed up around all aboard time because I heard a few grumbles about it from others. We were back on about an hour before that though and had zero issues.

 

 

 

I wish we booked a tour outside of RCL in Havana. Others did and apparently had a better experience for a better price. Our tour guide was ok, and he tried, but his English wasn’t great and you could often tell he was struggling to find the words. We also ended up bouncing around quite a bit on the walking tour because places were full or closed he was trying to show us.

 

 

 

Crew has been excellent. They all seem really excited about Cuba.

Agreed, for some reason I couldn’t get on WiFi but I really think RCI went over the top with saying you had to use their tours, we booked the Hemingway walking tour which ended up being a bus tour because of the rain then did our own thing in Havana at night and the next day, no issues and no hassles

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Looking forward to your update as we’re on a very similar itinerary on Majesty in June.

 

 

 

Can you let us know if there’s a formal night scheduled? For some reason I was thinking Majesty and Empress didn’t do formal nights, but I may be making that up.

Formal night is the night of the 2nd day in Havana, there were massive delays boarding and the weather was terrible so wasn’t well attended. I’ve had WiFi issues so will do review when get back

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