RubySlippers102

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

I lost a bucket list Panama Canal cruise due to schedule changes. So swapping St Thomas for San Juan doesn't really register on my scale of cruise frustration.

Ok? That’s you. Sailing the Panama Canal wouldn’t be my thing at all but I would never downplay your frustrations about your itinerary change just because it doesn’t register on MY scale. Your comment was snide for no reason and contributed absolutely nothing to the conversation but I’m guessing it padded some cruise superiority complex of yours so have at it I guess. 

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

You already agreed via your cruise contract that you acknowledge they can change itineraries. So the timing is mere coincidence.

 

I’m not sure what your point is. I’m well aware they can change the itinerary and I’m not calling them up demanding they change it back or demanding some sort of compensation or something ridiculous 🙄 - but to say it’s mere coincidence when it was announced the morning after the cancellation date is asinine. It’s frustrating and I think being annoyed about it is a natural reaction. If you disagree…I couldn’t possibly care less but ok. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

10 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Thus far not affecting the Jan 14th sailing Western). Curious as to why refueling needs to be done in San Juan versus Port Canaveral at the start?  Guess Crown Bay doesn't have refueling capabilities.

@RubySlippers102.  Itineraries do change as you should know. So don't let this dissuade you from RCCL.

It’s not so much the itinerary change itself, it’s the fact that they sent out the email the very day AFTER you can cancel with no penalty. Clearly it was already in the works and they waited to let everyone know until they couldn’t change their minds without forfeiting money. I have 3 cabins booked and I would have found a different sailing but I don’t want to lose a big chunk of change so I’m stuck. I’m sorry but that’s shady business practice and I’m not a fan.

On the same sailing and pretty annoyed by this. I specifically chose this itinerary for St Thomas, we’ve already been to Puerto Rico and yes originally we were the only ship at Coco Cay and now it looks like we will be there with another ship. The fact that they announced this change the very day AFTER the final payment/cancellation date is so shady. This is our first time sailing Royal and will probably be our last.

What in the world lol - I saw them listed for $1499 for another cruise?? We went to the Maldives last year and had an overwater bungalow for less than that a night 🤔

Hello, we're booked on the Wonder 1/7-14.  This will be our first RCCL sailing since our previous 2 bookings were canceled due to covid.  We'd like to book a cabana for CocoCay and just wondering how far out from the cruise you're typically able to do this.  Do they just pop up on the website one day?  Right now it just says check back later. Thanks!

I know we are a few months out from seeing the winter 2023 deployments, but do we have any idea which ships will sail from NJ and FL?

I’m wondering if shortening the itinerary is a possibility or if it’s more likely they will go straight to cancellation.

I’m booked on the 9-day Oasis for 7/30/21. Assuming ships are even sailing, they still will not be allowed longer than 7 days by then if I’m understanding correctly. This particular cruise is no longer showing up in searches so it doesn’t appear it can be booked by anyone, but it’s still showing as booked in my portal. I reached out to my TA and she has heard nothing. Does anyone know what the plan is for these longer cruises?

Is it possible they aren't opening all cabins for reservations because there may be capacity restrictions when sailings begin?

This is my first time sailing RCCL and I was looking at excursions for my ports and several are shown as sold out, including all cabanas for Labadee.  The cruise doesn't sail until 7/30 of next year.  Is it possible these are all actually sold out already or could they just not be available to book this far out?

Such great tips, thanks!!

We'll be cruising to Bermuda on the Escape in a few short weeks. This is only our second cruise, the first being on HAL to Alaska, and it seems very different. Would love to know things you wish you had known before sailing NCL and the Escape in particular!

We're a group of 4 adults traveling the first week of October on the NCL Escape. We have about 2.5 days in Bermuda and will be in port at the Royal Navy Dockyard on Wed, Thurs, Fri (are there typically many ships in port those days?). Looking for recommendations on how to make the most of our time!

Day 1 - We were thinking of taking the ferry to St George to see Crystal Caves and Tobbaco Bay. We'd also like to meander around St George a bit. Are there minibuses available to get from the ferry to the caves and then from caves to the beach? Is Tobacco Bay the nicest in that area or is there a better beach we should think of (we won't be snorkeling, just looking for a nice beach)? We're thinking of then hopping the bus or taxi to spend some time in Hamilton. Is this planning too much for a single day (ferry, explore St George, caves, lunch at Swizzle Inn, Tobacco or another beach, taxi to Hamilton and explore a bit, ferry back)?

Day 2 - We planned to take the minibus to Horseshoe Bay and possibly venture out to Warwick Long Bay and then in the afternoon look into a snorkeling excursion. I know the best snorkeling is offshore, looking for recommendations for an excursion that will allow us to snorkel both in nice reefs (Blue Hole?) as well as a shipwreck. For those that have snorkeled in Hawaii, how does the snorkeling in Bermuda compare?

Day 3 - We disembark at 1 so were thinking of jet skiing/parasailing in the morning. Recommendations for a reputable company that does both?

Also general questions - this is our first overnight port, are you typically able to come and go on the ship as you please at any time? Any interesting nightlife to check out? Favorite places to grab a bite?

Thanks!

Aimee

We are first timers sailing the NA to Alaska tomorrow (nothing like last minute preparation), and I just have a few questions about things I've been confused about. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated!

-The Explore4 package - includes the drink package. Is this 15 drinks per person on the package or per cabin? And does that include soda as well as alcoholic beverages? I'm wondering if I should even budget for drinks as that seems plenty. Are drinks you consume from the mini bar included? How about in the MDR and specialty restaurants?

-On board expenses - I understand they will put $60pp/per day on hold, so for a 7-day cruise that's about $960 because they're actually holding for 8 days, is that correct? So will they only put additional authorizations on hold if we've exceeded that initial $960? Also, if I understand correctly the gratuities will be charged to the account so will that come out of the $960? I'm concerned about the limit on my card because we booked a dog sledding excursion which was a little over $1000 which was cancelled yesterday, and I had to scramble to find another company that offered it and they charged $1200. In the meantime, still waiting for that $1000 from the original booking to be refunded so that was a good chunk of my available funds on my card unexpectedly used. Besides the gratuities are there any other expenses onboard that will automatically be charged to the account?

-Is it customary to still offer cash tips in addition to the automatic gratuity or is that not expected?

-Are there wine glasses to use in room for the 2 bottles of wine we're allowed to bring on or would I have to pack that?

-Pools/hot tubs - warm enough for Alaska??

As I said, I've emailed Coastal and am waiting to hear back. I've explained to them the details just as I explained in this post. I was just wondering if anyone had been in a similar situation and how it worked out.

I've emailed Coastal but haven't heard back yet. 4:15 is the pickup time. This is my first cruise and I just booked both of these excursions yesterday so I didn't even know who to contact about the return time. I was hoping maybe people here who have taken the TA excursion could tell me if it did in fact leave at 9:15 (the ss is listed as 10:30) and if they remember getting to Juneau by 3:15. I also don't know how long it will take to get to the dock once we get off the small boat...I thought I remembered reading you have to go through customs?

We'll be on HAL Amsterdam in Aug 2017. I've booked the Tracy Arm small boat excursion and in the description it states the tour departs at 9:15 and is 6 hours long. This would have us arriving in Juneau at 3:15. I've also booked the Coastal helicopter dog sled/extra landing for 4:15. I'm feeling like this may be cutting it too close? They don't have a later time for that tour but they do have a 5:15 for just dog sled, no extra glacier landing. Should I just rebook?

Thanks for your input! Can anyone give me an idea when excursions become available for booking thru the ship?

We're booked on HAL for August 19-26 (2017). Our itinerary brings us to Tracy Arm just for a ss and then goes on to Juneau. I've made the tough decision to forgo Harv & Marv's in order to do the glacier dog sledding (hoping that if that gets cancelled we can do it in Skagway since that's our #1 excursion for this trip) and was wondering how likely it is to see whales at Tracy Arm during mid/later August. Excursions aren't yet available for our itinerary so I was also hoping someone could give me an idea how much the excursion is, when it becomes available to book, and about how long the ride is. The ss is scheduled for 10-10:30, would we board the small boat right around 10ish? Trying to figure out when we'd arrive in Juneau.

Thanks all for your advice. We want to see Alaska, not the Caribbean, so that's not an option. I wasn't looking for a party cruise, just looking for some entertainment on the nights we're not exhausted from excursions. Decided to book with HAL after all, on a round trip from Vancouver (the itineraries for one way look amazing but budget-wise it was either spend extra money on a flight or do glacier dog sledding, and the latter easily won out). We'd love to do land/sea but at this point we just don't have the vacation time since we are doing Disney with the kids in January. Scored an aft balcony and already happily planning our excursions. It's going to be long year of anticipation. :D

Why should I try to talk you into anything?

The fact that you even took the time to reply and write that....:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone else for your helpful input!

We do enjoy blues music and because itinerary is the most important thing, I bit the bullet and booked an aft balcony 7138. Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!

Just when I thought I had settled on a cruise line, of course I've decided to change my mind. I'm planning our first cruise to Alaska for August 2017 and the Nieuw hits my important itinerary requirements, but I've heard so much about Holland catering to a more mature clientele that I'm really hesitating. I know the ship choice for Alaska is very low on priorities but still, we are a young couple in our 30s. We'd like to have some couples around our age to connect with, and some nightlife...not crazy but a lounge that plays music from this decade would be nice. We're also foodies so dining is important. If you've sailed on Nieuw and loved it, please sell it to me! Also recommendations for a great balcony cabin would be much appreciated! I'm confused by the VA, VB, VC, etc categories...not sure what the difference is and which are better.

Thanks!

Aimee

Do remember to take reviews with a big grain of salt. I've been on ships for which I'd read reviews at each end of the spectrum. Oftentimes people find what they're looking for...

 

On the Noordam in early June this year there certainly were plenty of folks in their 60s and above, but also plenty in their 50s and 40s and 30s. Even a fair number of children were present, but obviously not to the extent you see on a four day florida cruise. The ship was in fine shape as far as I could discern.

 

From what I could see while in the ports the demographics didn't seem substantially different on the other ships in port on the same days. Disney of course attracts a different demographic.

 

With that said - what do you consider "catering towards a more mature group" that you wish to avoid? I mean it's not like the dining room closed at 6pm after the 4:30pm rush or that they turned off all the lights around the ship at 8pm. I didn't see a single episode of Matlock on the tv either. :)

Lol! I really just mean who we have the opporortunity to connect with...what I've read is that Holland attracts more mature passengers because they stick to traditional cruise standard with high tea, formal nights, etc. We'd like a ship that has a little bit of nightlife, a lounge with some current music, etc.