RobInMN

48 minutes ago, temple1 said:

Do you have a link to something official? My sister (Diamond) will be taking a short cruise with her granddaughter (not Diamond and over 21) in the fall. My sister is an absolute stickler and she has it in her head they cannot share her drinks that it is treated the same as a drink package. I tried calling to confirm but no one seems to have a clue what I'm asking about. They gave the lame ask on board, go to guest services, etc.  

I don't think you are going to find anything specific in writing, but essentially it's no different than receiving 4-6 paper coupons for a "Free" (up to $14 value) drink. This is vastly different than having a drink package where the person with the package can have unlimited drinks. If you attempt to share a drink package, you are effectively stealing. Vouchers are finite, and they don't care who consumes the beverage. Once you use all your daily vouchers, that's it.

There's a whole thread dedicated to keeping track:

58 minutes ago, jimdalva said:

GooomBay Smash, but dont ask me whats in it! 

56 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I believe it includes spiced rum, coconut rum, apricot brandy, pineapple juice, and orange juice.😉

Close

We base our wardrobe options on the question of whether or not we will want to do pictures on that cruise. 🙂 

I have only done Ama in Europe. I fully expect a Nile, Africa, Duro, Mekong, or Columbia cruise experience to be a bit different. For instance, on the Nile, from what I understand all river cruises are actually subcontracted to local operators per Egyptian law, regardless of whose name is on the side of the ship.

On the Europe cruises, there are almost always anywhere from 2-5 excursion options. Almost all excursions are included, things like a evening Mozart concert could be an extra cost. The length of bus rides depends on what you want to see. Want to see Salzburg from Linz, that will be 1.5 hours each way, regardless of whose ship you're on.

Wine, beer(?) and soft drinks are included at lunch and dinner, and there is a happy hour before dinner. Outside of that, their is a cost. As has been pointed out, they are happy to refill your wine prior to leaving the dining room. 🙂 

For dress, here's what I wrote in a review of a B2B AmaMagna:

I think the average age on the first week was lower than the second week, and this seemed to be reflected in dress as well. We are both 54, and I think we were right in the middle the first week. The second week, I think we were on the lower side. I feel that in general, people the second week dressed up slightly more than the first week. Less jeans, sweatshirts, that sort of thing. This was a slight difference, not drastic. The first week for the Captain's dinner, I put on my sport coat and tie, and I think I was one of three sport coats, and maybe the only tie. Seemed like what I've seen in recent years on Royal Caribbean for "Formal" night. Anything goes (ok, not that bad), but some people like to dress up. Next week, just my designated dress shirt, and I was probably in the minority.  

On a Rivers and Castles cruise in the middle of summer in 2019, it was HOT, shorts were common during the day and on excursions. I changed into slacks for dinner just to have something fresher on. 🙂 

Land tour extensions can have long bus rides, but that will also depend on what it is. We did Prague pre cruise, that's a 3.5 hour drive. Bucharest is an hour from Giurgiu, and to do the post cruise to Brasov is another 3 hours each way.

We have had great experiences on Ama, and really have had no reason or desire to go looking elsewhere.

We have our first TA Fall of '25.

Our thinking is as @firefly333 said, we'd rather have the long haul flight at the beginning of our vacation and the shorter flight at the end. So for us, that's Europe to the US Westbound TA.

One the other end of the globe, after we rite, we want to fly down to Australia, tour around by land, then a bunch of B2B cruises doing Australia & New Zealand, then turning into an Eastbound TP from Australia back to the US (or Vancouver if that's what we have to do for the PSVA)

37 minutes ago, Tina80 said:

Very nice, thank you! Booking the Ephesus tour now.

as for Santorini, the "tender to port then bus" part sounds more convinient to me compared to all the other tours I looked up which they require you to meet them at the exit of the cable car. Or maybe getting there via the cable car doesn't take that long, not sure. 

I didn't really find anything that much more appealing than the ship's Akrotiri Ruins and Oia Village, and with the tendering, we decided just to do that one.

20 minutes ago, COcruise said:

What is ABD? A quick google did not yield anything. 

On 7/13/2024 at 8:20 PM, RobInMN said:

Even Adventures by Disney for River Cruises says:

Minimum Age: 5
Suggested Age: 8+

 Adventures by Disney

1 minute ago, RobInMN said:

My Athens tour was through ShoreExcursionsGroup (or *****), not Viator.

HA!

Apparently we are not allowed to say the name of that competitor to Trip Advisor. 🤣

Well, they didn't flag the link in my earlier response, so there's that.

12 minutes ago, Tina80 said:

@RobInMNI canceled my $393.00 tour with the ship and am about to book the very same tour through the link you posted, if I book the private one it will cost $205, if I pick the small group, it would be $150 something. Which one do you recommend? Do we waste time waiting for others to cime before we leave? Oh I am so excited, you saved me so much money! Thank you!

We booked the Mini tour with Terrace Houses. It will be a maximum of 10 people. I believe that the Private one is you booking the whole vehicle for yourself. 10 people is usually not too much of an effort to keep herded and on time.

27 minutes ago, Tina80 said:

Yesterday I booked Viator's Athens tour and they asked me to purchase my own Acropolis tickets. Did you have to buy your own tickets or lunch with the Ephesus tour?

My Athens tour was through ShoreExcursionsGroup (or *****), not Viator. The one we booked (linked above) includes tickets to the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. They have other ones if you are not interested in the museum.

None of the independent tours I booked includes lunch. A lunch stop may be planned, the actual food is not included.

On a completely different note.

Deadpool & Wolverine was SO MUCH FUN!!

2 hours ago, BND said:

Just an FYI.  Royal doesn't "operate" any excursions.  They contract with local vendors who provide them.

Well yes, of course.

Many times they are even run by the exact same tour company that also lists them independently on their own web site or places like Trip Advisor.

I haven't watched the Olympics in years. I think it has gotten so far removed from it's original intent. Break dancing? seriously?!?!?!

If anyone remembers the old George Carlin routine of there only being 3 sports and everything else a game or activity. Anyway, in my opinion , there is also a category of "Olympic Sports". 

My rules, I make them up:

• Individual or small team/pairs (like relays) where the whole team plays at once. Nothing that has rosters or rotating players.
• Quantifiable (highest, longest, fastest, strongest etc.), nothing judged
• You can't make a living at it professionally. No hockey, basketball, etc.

😝😁

9 hours ago, Tina80 said:

Thank you for your helpful comment, very helpful. Is there any way to cancel the Ephesus tour I booked through the ship? Also, what did you think of your Santorini tour?

Yes. In the cruise planner, go to orders, find the tour. You should have a cancel option. 

Don't know yet, we don't go until end of October. 😉

3 hours ago, Tina80 said:

I was trying to find out if those specific tours (offered by the cruise line) are worth the money compared to the other 3rd party options. i.e. viator. From what I read online, 1 is a great and well recommended tour, and for 5, there are far better options with 3rd party tour companies

ok. That helps. Ship tours are always more expensive. Sometimes it's worth it, especially on tendering ports. Ship tours have priority on the tenders. Then you have the guarentee to return to ship. If the ship's tour does what I want, sometimes it's just easier than finding an independent one. The other issue I have had with ship tours is the "free time for shopping and the blatant shopping kick back tour guides must get for pushing specific shops. The worst experience we've had was a Capri, Sorento, and Pompeii tour back in 2018. I feel like you don't get this with independent tours.

While we are on similar itineraries, they are not identical.

#1 Ephesus. We booked an independent one via TripAdvisor (Viator). They seemed to be highly recommended on many other roll calls, so I booked them. I see your tour has a Turkish lunch and a carpet demonstration. I don't care about that. I imagine that there is a nearly identical ship tour to the one we booked, as there is for our sailing. The main difference being that the independent one adds the Terrace Houses, which you do not get with the ship tour. The tour is cheaper than the nearly identical ship one, and a max of 10 people.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g297972-d11462366-EPHESUS_4_to_6_Hours_Private_Tours_ENTRANCE_FEES_are_INCLUDED-Kusadasi_Turkish_Aeg.html

#2 Crete. We didn't book anything. This is our last port stop (on a 12 night), and nothing really caught our eye

#4 Santorini. For us, this is a tender port. I also was not finding anything better than the ship's tour, so we went with the ship tour. We chose Akrotiri Ruins and Oia Village as opposed to Oia and Fira town.

#5 Athens. We went with an independent tour here. It's not necessarily a small group. Could be anywhere from 20-50? (one place says "Standard" group size, another place says "small group"). But it is a 7.5 hour tour that does as much as we can fit in and only does stuff we are interested in. This one I also ran across by looking at other roll calls and appears to have great reviews.

https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/tour/athens-introduction-with-acropolis-and-museum/euatintro

Was there a #3?

Not exactly sure which direction you are going with your question. Looking for recommendations that would be enjoyable for a 9 year old? These specific tours vs. other ship tours? or ship tours vs. independent?

We are going on Greece & Turkey (formerly Holy Land) in October. We are doing ships tours at 2 ports, independent at 5. and nothing at 1.

10 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

That’s great! Where did you get this information?

@orville99 was reporting what was said at the captain's corner on their cruise. Not sure which ship/captain reported it.

6 minutes ago, SUgwoz said:

 

Interesting if they go that small, could see split between Med and the smaller ports like Tampa.  2500 capacity with more suites, more balconies, and latest technology vs. current small ships is going to fetch a premium.

I am also surprised it will be that small. I would have bet a minimum of 120K

In 2019, we did Ama's Rivers and Castles, from Nuremburg to Luxemburg. Unfortunately, some barge hit a sandbar somewhere which delayed river traffic until it was cleared. So we entered the Rhine Gorge a few hours late and it got too dark to see after not too long and we missed a lot of it. I highly recommend this one, the ports were great (Cathedrals, Castles, Forts, and Ruins 🙂 ). Hits Main Danube Canal, Main, Rhine, and Moselle.

We have Basel to Amsterdam booked next spring (also Ama) with our daughter and her fiancé. This will take us down the Rhine Gorge again. For us, this will complete the entire Amsterdam to the Black Sea! We are doing the 2 night Zurich, 2 night Lake Lucerne before, and will spend a couple days on our own in Amsterdam after. We are only doing the 7 night. There are longer ones that go up the Moselle and back before continuing, but my daughter is limited on vacation time. With the pre & post, we are already at 2 weeks.

Odyssey has Chromecast, but we bring a firestick.

There's a number of threads on here, but here's one that is specific to Odyssey:

I'm not into ice skating shows typically. I respect their talents, but it's just usually not my thing. That said, I have found 1977 entertaining. I thought the story line was descent (sure beats Effectors - What story) and liked how the projection/video mapping onto the ice surface enhanced the story. The drones were fun also.

Interesting. I had not run across any references to relaxing the ship size. Good to know.

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

Aside from the air draft problem some of the newer larger cruise ships have run afoul with protrusions in transiting the new neoPanamax Locks.  This usually is related to the life boats overhang beyond the hull.  According to current Canal regulations any protrusion beyond the hull must be slightly higher than 55' above the waterline.  HAL's Koningsdam fell into this category, however a waiver was granted and it has made one transit of the Canal.  Voyager/Freedom class may have a similar problem with the dinning room walk around on deck 4 which may be less than 55' above the water assuming they could overcome the 208' air draft.

Yes, this has been brought up before also. Even if you ignore the height issue, Voyager, Freedom, and Quantum classes still wouldn't be able to go through due to how the life boats (and in some cases the actual davits themselves) stick out beyond the hull line. I wasn't sure the actual height. On Radiance and NCL's Bliss, the lifeboats are fully contained within the hull lines. So I think any new class will also have lifeboats that are fully within the hull lines like Radiance is.

Moving on to another design feature, I also believe that there is a good chance it will have self-contained tendering abilities like the Radiance class does. I do think it's pretty cool how that works. Would need to increase capacity though. Maybe operate 2 platforms with 4 tenders? 

Let's keep it to this thread:

At this point we can only speculate. There has been nothing official form RCL other than they finally announced that it will be an Amplification. All we know of potential plans is what was originally planned:

https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1403/new-amplified-adventures-on-royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas-to-make-a-summer-splash-in-europe/

It's a 6-week dry dock from end of February to beginning of April.

When the original Amplification was cancelled, she was only about 5 weeks away from dry dock. One would have to imagine that a lot of the custom built stuff was already in warehouses nearby in Cadiz. Anything RCL couldn't immediately sell or repurpose (like TVs?) is likely still there (like the giant purple slide).

When we were on Allure last September, the hotel director at the loyalty event said that Sabor and Champagne bar were going away. That matches the original plan, which originally would have been Portside BBQ and Robotic Bar (we can hope for a Pesky Parrot). The original plan had a Playmakers, and no Wonderland. The speculation is that if they keep it that way, that it will replace the Crown(Diamond) lounge. It's almost a guarantee that the Crown lounge will be relegated to the windowless deck 4.

We were originally booked on the post-Amplification TA in 2020. We booked the WB TA next October the day the itinerary was released.

Again, let's try to keep comments, replied in the other thread.

1 minute ago, latebuyer said:

What size do you need to go through inside passage? I know some people say you don’t need it but my understanding is some people go to vancouver specifically to see inside passage. I think there is only one celebrity ship that leaves from vancouver.

The Inside Passage itself? or access to Vancouver? I have not heard/read of any size limitations with the Inside Passage itself.

For Vancouver, access is limited by the Lion's Gate Bridge, which has a clearance of 200'. 

Other bridges of note:

Francis Scott Key bridge (Baltimore) was 185'. Chesapeake Bay Bridge is 186'. (so a new FSK bridge having more clearance doesn't help).

Sunshine Skyway Bridge (Tampa) is 180' (can be higher based on tide??)

I would image that these 3 bridges (plus the Bridge of the Americas) will be the factors that limit the height of a Discovery Class.  

2 hours ago, goldfish65 said:

The vlogger mentioned that Discovery ships could be wider…but wouldn’t they want to get through the Panama Canal?

Radiance is a Panamax ship, which is a designation for the original locks.

Specifications:

950' long, 106' beam (width), 190' air draft (above water line), 39.5' draft (below water line).

The new locks are referred to as "NeoPanamax". That is:

1200' 9" long, 160' 9" beam, 190' air draft, 50' draft.

NCL's Bliss is the largest cruise ship to traverse the Panama Canal (new locks).

For reference:

Bliss is 168K tons, 1094' long with a 136' beam and carries ~4000 passengers. Air draft might be about 190'?

Radiance is 90K tons, 961' long, 105' beam, 2500 passengers. 172' air draft.

Voyager is 137 tons, 1020', 126' beam, 4000 maximum passengers. 208' air draft.

Freedom is 1111' long, same beam as Voyager.

You can go wider (more than 50% wider), as well as longer (another 250'). The only thing you can't do is go much higher (only ~18'). So you could start with a hull about the size of Voyager or Freedom (or even larger), but with a shorter air draft and still be able to traverse the Panama Canal. 

See my post:

39 minutes ago, shay869 said:

Do you think the Icon III will sail in europe at

summer 2026? 

Oh, now you've done it. Waiting for @billaraneta to ask if it will sail Asia. 🤣