the2006Junket

Hi, we're sailing on the Quest's Spain Intensive itinerary beginning Oct 31. There is an excursion option in Cartegena called the Chef's Experience in which we would go to an outdoor market, sample foods and go to a restaurant where a Chef will prepare Paella.  It's $189 pp.  Has anyone done a Chef's Experience in this port or others?  Did you like it and think it was worth the $$.

Thanks much!  Lynne

My husband LOVES the Puerto Rican dish, Mofongo.  Where do you recommend to find the best in San Juan?   Thanks much!   Lynne

Hi all, we're interested in trying a Chef's Table experience for the first time on our 3/26/23 sailing on the Celebration to Amber Cove, SJU and STT.  There are two sea days and two Elegant nights.  When do you enjoy having your Chef's Table experience?

Any other feedback or thoughts on the Chef's Table experience on the Celebration would be welcome!    

Lynne

Hi all, we'd like to tour the Bacardi facility when we are in the San Juan port.  Will there be plentiful taxis to take us there and back?  Thank you!  Lynne

Hi all,  I JUST made final payment on a June 16 sailing on the Magic to Bermuda and then a business meeting conflict has come up...grrrr.  I'm happy to reschedule to an Aug '22 sailing instead of cancelling with Carnival completely.  I booked over the phone with Carnival.  Has anyone had experience with NOT losing their deposit and being able to rebook without penalty?

Advice?!

Hi, it is very easy to do this on your own.  You can take a ferry to St John from three places on St. Thomas:  Crown Bay https://www.interislandboatservices.com/products/cruz-bay-to-crown-bay-2, Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook https://usvi.net/information/transportation/ferry-schedules/st-thomas-to-st-john-ferry-schedule/.  If your ship is docking at Crown Bay, that ferry would certainly be most convenient, since you could walk there.  Once on St. John, the National Park Visitor's Center is a short walk from where the ferry drops you off.  There are many hiking trails as part of the Park, but it will likely be very hot during your visit, so I would recommend hopping into one of the easily available open air taxi/jitney's available in the center of Cruz Bay to either Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay beaches and enjoy a day of snorkeling and swimming at these incredible beaches.  Both have food, bathrooms and other services.  Despite what the official Park website says, Cinnamon Bay is open for camping and going to the beach (I was there last week).  I think Cinnamon is a bit more interesting to visit because there are planation ruins on site to tour and a Visitor Center with maps available.  Note that the jitney's usually wait to leave Cruz Bay until they get a couple of people heading to the beaches and they will stop at the beaches along the way.  When you are ready to leave either Trunk or Cinnamon, there will usually be jitney's waiting at the exit to bring you back to town.  You'll want to leave plenty of time to get back to Cruz Bay for your ferry in case the Jitney driver waits a few minutes to get more people.  Enjoy St. John!    Lynne

Hi, just returned from St John (passing though St. Thomas to go to the airport).  I saw Harmony of the Seas in Port.  Yes, you can take a ferry from the same Crown Bay port as where the ship docked.  https://www.interislandboatservices.com/products/cruz-bay-to-crown-bay-2  Or take a taxi to Red Hook and take the hourly ferry over to St. John.  Enjoy!

Hi, we were just in St Thomas, passing through on our way to St. John for a 5 night stay.  St T seemed still very closed up from a tourist perspective, with many of the jewelry shops etc not re opened.  I would recommend taking a ferry to St. John and then a taxi to one of the fabulous beaches.  Cinnamon Bay, Trunk and Maho have food and other services available.   Enjoy!

22 hours ago, GM1999 said:

We are set to sail on the Symphony this Sat. Family and friends are telling us to cancel because of the govt warning. However, if we cancel we're out $4000 in airfare. Now we're thinking go to Disney World/Universal instead? Although what's the difference in being around crowds there vs on a cruise ship where crew is disinfecting all the time? No one is taking temps at the Disney entrance right? Trying to keep a level head but when friends are telling us they're all cancelling their plans it makes us think. Haven't heard anything about Harmony or Liberty ships having trouble so that makes me feel better. I wish we didn't have to make a decision in 36 hours. 

Hi, I'm just off the Navigator of the Seas and sailed with my 89 yr old Dad, 55 yr friend and I'm 56.  The ship was sold out, my two flights to/from MIA/BOS were 100% full and we had a blast.  I'd definitely be more concerned about Disney/Univ vs. a cruise right now simply because you are in such close proximity to other people standing in the lines and you HAVE to keep touching the seatbelts on rides.  Royal was taking the temps and not allowing people from the affected areas to board...the parks are not doing those things.  They MADE you wash before entering the buffet and were constantly washing the handrails, elevators etc and there was plenty of Purell!

Does anyone in your group/family have underlying health conditions or a comprised immunity system?  Anyone elderly?  If not, I'd go!  26 people in the U.S. have died, 22 in Wash State, 19 of which were in one nursing home.  For most of us, if we got COVID, it would likely feel like a cold.  Bring Clorox wipes for wiping down your airline seat area and to clean the cruise cabin (we cleaned our outside doorknobs etc every day), wash ALOT, use hand sanitizer, take your vitamins, sleep and eat well/healthy, press the elevator button with your elbow and spend time outside in the beautiful sunny weather.  20,000 people have died from the flu this year, but you were still planning to travel...Enjoy your trip!

On 2/25/2020 at 12:51 PM, Jkcyoung said:

We just went last week. It was a fantastic way to spend  the day, highly recommend. We went on a tour of Nassau Harbor. Snorkeling at a small reef with tons of fish, snorkeling at another spot with sea turtles and then fishing. So much fun!

Hi, what company or boat did you go snorkeling with?   Thanks much!  Lynne

23 hours ago, stompy said:

but the issue isn’t the sleeping arrangements, it is the Star Class benefits. They wouldn’t get Genie service

23 hours ago, stompy said:

but the issue isn’t the sleeping arrangements, it is the Star Class benefits. They wouldn’t get Genie service

Since I'm sailing on the Navigator, I don't think there is Star Class or Genie anyways...correct?

On 2/18/2020 at 5:58 PM, Desert Cruizers said:

If you get the cabin, he could sleep in your cabin. If you do not get the bid then your present cabins would remain the same. 

Thanks, glad Dad could stay in our cabin.  Do you know if they would be willing to give him a key to our suite so he could come/go?

Thank you!  Lynne

Hi all,  we are a party of 3 sailing in two cabins (me and a friend in one and my Dad in the other cabin across the hall).  My question is:  if I bid on a two bedroom Grand Suite, RCI told me that we couldn't officially move Dad into our GS.   I understand that.  But, could we keep his cabin (not cancel) and simply allow him to sleep in our Suite.  He's 89 and I like to have him nearby, especially at night.  Would anyone (the Cabin Steward) know or care???  I don't mean to get sneaky, but I'd love to get the GS and still have Dad close by. 

Thoughts?

Lynne

Hi all,

CoCo Cay first time here!  We're three adults without any kids traveling with us and I'm looking for recommendations for a relatively quiet, oceanfront (not pool) area with chairs. We don't want to swim in pools or go on the slides or anything...just a lovely place to lay on the beach and swim in the ocean.

Can you point me in the right direction?

Thank you!   Lynne

Ship: Serenade of the Seas

Sailing: 9/11/19 Boston - Bermuda

Show: Vibeology

Thoughts on the Production:  I thought this was one of the best cruise productions I've seen!

Thoughts on the Cast:  excellent voices!

Did you do a Behind the Scenes Tour?: no

Would you see the show again?: yes

Any other notes?:

Thanks!  Guess I'll throw mine in the suitcase after all!

Hi all, it's been awhile since I've sailed on RC.  Will there be a robes in my balcony cabin on the Serenade of the Seas from Boston to Bermuda?

Thanks much!

Lynne

4 hours ago, little britain said:

Don't say that!!   We are coming a long way just to see those leaves!!!!

 

I'm checking the foliage forecast on a daily basis now...!

Little Brit,  are you planning to do any land touring before or after your cruise?  Honestly, in late Sept/very early October, the most reliable foliage will be at higher elevations, rather than at sea level.  A car trip to the Green Mountains of Vermont or the White Mountains of New Hampshire would be pretty reliable to have beautiful colors.  Enjoy!  

Depending on your return flight plans...are you ticketed into Hartford or Boston?   If Hartford, you can take a taxi/uber to Hartford and take Greyhound bus to Boston and taxi/uber to the cruise terminal (or take the Silver Line T).  If Boston, then I would just park at Black Falcon cruise terminal and take a taxi/uber from Logan airport after the cruise.  Enjoy!  Lynne

Hi, Lucca and Bricco are excellent, I also like Limoncello and Antico Forno...both very traditional but yummy Italian food.  And, NO ONE orders desserts in the restaurants and instead like up (as the OP mentioned) for cannolis at either Mick's or Modern Pastry shops (the debate rages on which is better) on Hanover St.   Manga!  Lynne

Hi all,

I'm currently reserved on the Serenade of the Seas in Cabin 8566 (Oceanview Balcony) and due to several price drops, I'm considering moving up to Deck 9 in a cabin like 9610 (Spacious O.V. Balcony).  The website says the OV Balcony has 179 sq ft/20 sq ft balcony and the Spac. O.V. has 204 sq ft/41 sq ft balcony.

I'm sailing in the cabin with only one other person, my niece.  Will the extra sq footage feel noticable?  I assume it is worth the <$50.00 to switch to the Spacious OV?

Many thanks!

Lynne 

Are the pools heated or covered? Am doing the transatlantic cruise from Copenhagen to New York and I know the weather will not be hot. Just wondering if we will use the pools at all.

Hi, we were on the Breakaway in late June in the Baltic Sea and it appeared that the pools were heated a little. The only covered pool was in the Haven. Given that your sailing is in October, I'm guessing it will not feel like pool weather, except for the days that you are very far south in the Azores. Might be a good sailing to get the Thermal Suite pass!

Thanks for the responses. Captain John, were you on an ncl cruise as well? Did you have to wait for the ships tours to disembark first? I wonder if we could insist to disembark with them. The private tours are aware of this process but it seems the ship is treating us poorly because we are using private tours even though we have paid for the cruise same as other passengers. If RCL is changing their policy to allow all passengers to get off simultaneously then NCL will lose alot of potential cruisers to the competition.

 

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Hi Nooreen, we sailed on the Breakaway week of June 16 and I can confirm that there were no separate lines once off the ship for NCL tours or Private tours. Same immigration/border control lines for all. We toured with SPB and they had multiple vans/mini buses departing for tours and it seemed that once one filled up, they would take off. We were in the Haven, so we were escorted to a staff elevator and were off within 3 minutes (a key reason why we booked the Haven). We ended up waiting for our SPB group to fill up for about a half hour on the first day. Second day was much faster through immigration. If I were not in the Haven, I would just ignore whatever grouping and announcements that the Cruise Director is announcing and get in line and get off. Enjoy St. Petersburg! We loved our 2 days there! Lynne

Just got back from this cruise 7/13 -7/22. They did offer us a special laundry service. It was right at $20 for a bag. The bad thing for us was, it was on Monday of our Cruise and it said it would be returned by Friday evening. For us, that would not work, because we only packed a carry on bag and we needed our clothes during that week. We did a lot of handwashing in the sink. :-(

Hi, just thought I'd share that we did use the Bag O Laundry offer and sent it on Monday of our sailing and it was back on Weds. I think they tell you it will take 4 days as the worst case, but often is back sooner. We were in the Haven so maybe it comes back quicker for Haven guests, not sure. Was a very handy service!

Lynne

Hi all,

We sailed the Breakaway in the Baltics in June and brought these Brita refillable filter bottles:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075RSW6K5/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wasn't so concerned about filtering the ship's water (though a little extra filtration never hurts), but so that we could refill our bottles in the many countries we were traveling through. Except for Russia where we were advised to only drink bottle water, we just refilled our Brita bottles everywhere. We'd start the day with ship's water and refill at water fountains everywhere. Had no GI issues and saved lots of $$ on not buying bottled water.

Lynne