jcc1025

We always book as close to an elevatore as possible and have done so on Liberty many times. We never have heard any sound from the elevator. As others mentioned they are a seperate area and so several walls between you and the elevator. 

We have had this issue is another port were the hote had a two night minimum stay. But when we went to one of the hotel booking sites like Booking.com we were able to get a single night. On another occasion we also called the hotel directly and they booked us a single night. Enjoy your stay, we live in Long Beach and she is a fun experience. 

We live in Long Beach and so were happy to see Royal come back so we didn't have to fly to Texas or FL.. Understand the the port choices are limited and we have been to all them several times but at this point with ships like this we find the ship is the destination and we enjoy sea days but also enjoy port days in Ensenada since we usually don't leave the ship and have the decks and pools all to ourselves. Just provides for a good three or four day get away for us. We have never sailed this class and so like the idea of getting to see a different ship and signed up for the first cruise out in October. 

We had done a couple of thanksgiving week cruises in different locaitons (med. and carr.) and they had the decorations up on both cruises the week of Thanksgiving. 

1. We live in Long Beach, those are great months to sail out of the west coast ports. Will be warm and sunny all the time. Here we can get a marine layer in May (May gray) and June (June gloom) that can block the sun, still warm enought just not as much sun during those months. 

9 hours ago, pcur said:

The specialty restaurants compete for the Unlimited Dining Package buyers, as they are guaranteed income.  People that want a single reservation still have many, many options for dining at their restaurant of choice.

 

My sister and I like (because she's fussy) to get the UDP.  I book us for lunch the first day, pay for it, and we have the charge reversed when we show up on Day 1.  I also hand over our list of reservations we would like to make for the rest of the cruise, with a tip, and our specialty lunches and dinners are booked by the time lunch is over. I would like the convenience of doing it in advance, but having them made around noon on embarkation day is plenty early enough for now.  

 

Even if you don't eat lunch in a specialty restaurant the first day, it's open for you to ask they make your reservation(s) for the cruise; you don't have to wait until dinner time.

Agree, we do the same thing, the we have a list of our desired reservations and the first thing we do when we get on board is to visit a resturate and make all of our reservations. Occassionally we might have to move a half hour or so but not often. I would like to do it on line also, but from a business standpoint I get why they do it this way and its not a big deal for us. 

This is just an opinon from a service business point of view. If they allowed the package people to reserve a spot ahead of time it would take up all the key slots. Then people who only want one night would look, see the time slots were all full and not purchace the dinner. So they would lose that business. They already have our committement to dine in a specialy dining spot and so would lose possible additional revenue. My feeling is that block out individals slots for single dinners for each night so as to not upset people who might dine one night and like it and decide to do additional night. We have never had an issue getting a time within a half hour of our desired time when we book on line with the UDP. I know some will not like the idea but if it was my business our yours I think you would do the same thing. As long as you book your reservations early, that is the first thing we do when we board we have never had a problem. 

The pricing yesterday for the Ultimate Dinning package was a little over $300 per person, this is for an 8 day cruise. The Drink package was $72.99 per person and that is the lowest I have seen in the last couple of months. 

We live about 5 minutes from LBX and about 25 minutes from the port. The number of delays due to fog in Long Beach is very small. I work down near the port, can see the ship from where I work. Delays due to other ites, like customes or passenger issues can come up. I never use the highway to get downtown to avoide that traffic and use surface streets regardless of the time of day and it is never more than about 30 minutes to the airport from the port so an 11:45 flight should be easy. 

22 hours ago, BND said:

Of course, if they have custody/guardianship, then it would.  It appears that isn't the case.  I'm guessing Royal for some reason assumed the grandparent was the parent.  

Well since we have the same last name, live in the same house they may not have known that I was the grandparent. We have actually had this happen more that once. Not really a big deal since he didn't get any of the perks that go with our status. More of a funny souvenir than anything else. We are now Diamond+ and going again this year so will be interested to see if he gets upgraded, lol. 

8 hours ago, BND said:

That shouldn't have happened unlesHes he lives with you as a minor.  

He does. his mother and him live with us, so we have the same address and I was paying. But they didn't extend the rating to my daughter, I assume since she has her own account. 

4 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

If your kids have cruised with RCI, they should have a C&A number. If you are Diamond, for instance, then your kids should be Diamond also. Call C&A to verify that your kids have numbers and that their status is the same as yours. Their perks on board will be different than yours (no BOGO glass of wine for instance) but they will have several perks that apply to the younger cruisers.

Kind of a funny experience. We are Diamond and purchased a cruise with us for our daughter and 6 year old grandson on his first cruise. When we check in, my daughter is Platinum and she was looking at the sea passes, this was when they had a status in bold type on the bottom of the card. Hers says Platinum and our grandsons says Diamond. Since I purchased the cruise he got our status. Didn't really make any difference except now he has the sea pass as a souvenir. 

Labadee is on the oposite side of the island from Port-au-Prince were all the problems are and you can only get there by boat. They have huad this issue down there several times over the year and it has never effected Laberdee because of its location and there is so significat benifit for the rebels who are trying to take over the goverment and if they do will need every tourist dollar they can get. I would not go down to the south, but have been to Labadee during previous uprising like this and Royal monitors the situation and we never felt threatened. So I would tell my college age kids not to worry but by the way don't go to walking around in Jamaica.

Anybody can file a lawsuit. Many have no status and are dismissed but the only the first post will be publized. Many are filed because their lawyer has convinced them that the ship will settle rather than spend the money to fight it and so they will be some payment. Is"s a sleazy move but then some people don't care. 

2 minutes ago, Cruising to Retirement said:

Trying to arrange flight home- looking at booking an American Airlines flight that departs SNA- John Wayne Airport at 11:40am.. Want to walk off with Bags and catch an Uber.  Can anyone assist with the first available time to walk off the Ship.. Arriving on 5/24 after a 4 night cruise... Greatly appreciated

 

Is it doable??? Thank you  

If there are no delays they will start walk offs between 7:30 - 8. The bigger issue will be souths traffic on 405 at that time of the morning to SNA but should be ok. 

On 1/31/2023 at 6:57 PM, bgoff60 said:

+100 on the Cucumber Martini

One of the best drinks ever. We always look forward to this cocktail. Got the recipie and have done it at home but its just not the same. We are going back late summer on Harmony and can't wait to go to 150. 

23 hours ago, Jetswdo said:

  My cruise departs from San Pedro port.  I live about 1 half hours from the port, so we are planning on just driving to the port in the morning and would like to get there about 10:00 am.  As I am completely ignorant of how this works, I would really appreciate it if someone can explain the procedure.

Here are my questions:

1.  Is it difficult to find a spot, and do you just park anywhere in the lot?

2.  When we enter the parking lot, are there sections for specific cruise lines.  (This is for Celebrity Eclipse- 1041  B93, whatever that means)

3.  If you just park anywhere in the lot,  do you get on with your luggage on a shuttle?

4.  I believe there are two ships in port that day:  Celebrity Eclipse and RC Navigator.  A there porters specifically for each ship, or do you bring your luggage inside the terminal building.?

Thanks for any knowledge of the above, and any other tips.  Anita

 

We live about 20 minutes from the port and park there all the time. If you get there at 10 there will be lots of parking available. You get a ticket when you come in and pay with a card when you leave. The lot is not separated by cruise ship. The B93 is the pier number, you will see them when you arrive. Parking for the Battleship Iowa is separated to the west of the cruise ship parking. A tip we got from a shuttle driver once was to look for the tall tower to the west end of the lot and park near it. I will be a longer walk to the terminal but when you leave the parking lot can be very congested and from that location you can get out easier than if you’re parked up close. Last time we came in we were off the ship, through customs and out of the lot in about 45 minutes. If you park close just need to be prepared for a longer wait to get out of the lot upon return, they are just across the street from the terminals.

There are shuttles that tour the lot when you come in. You must take your own luggage from the parking lot to the terminal. Porters are available at the terminal, but this is the one area where patience is needed as it’s not the best organized operation but still did not take long. Have fun, happy cruising.

We just got off a seven day Mexico cruise and in Mazatian booked a pvivat van tour through Mazatuan Van Tours. It was very convenient and they all have none private tours. The driver was excelent, we took a tour up to the Tequila Factory. We had lunch at a great authintic Mexican resturant which is not included in our tour. It was a great day and we could recomment it. You can see them on trip advisor. 

On 5/16/2023 at 11:50 AM, CruisinShips said:

Worth it, or does it make more sense to wander around on our own at this stop?

 

Thanks

Most of the area around Cataline is a Marine Protected Area so there are many differnet species of fish and wildlife. It is a favorite of recreational suba and snorkeling. You would still have time to wonder around town, which is also very cool after the tour. 

Plus using the ship excursions they know where you are and will not leave without you if some problem comes up in thring to get back. 

Besides using the currency of their country you can put up some savings on the exchange rate. Businesses can set their exchange rate as a please. Even when you exchange dollars for pasos at your bank you will be charged some exchange rate but it will always be equal to or lower than what the local business will charge because they also will be charged the exchange rate when they convert dollars to paso's in Mexico put the time and problems of getting them exchanged. Besides the fact that even in our high tourist location with the exception of a few places right on the boarder, we do not take paso's but expcect them to take dollars. We always take some paso's for small things and shops and use credit cards in resturants since the bank makes that exchange for them. 

The Malicon in PV is very safe. Lots of art works along the beach and resturants and bars, if you keep waking you get into the Romanic Zone which is also nice and more shopping if that is what you are interested in doing. Its kind of a walk for us from the port, we take a taxi both ways. 

Depending on your home bank we order some local currency from our back before we leave. Will be the most up to date exchange rate and has been very convenient. 

Much of the area around Catalina is covered by a Marine Protected Area and is either off limits to all fishing or highly regulated for both commercial and recreational fishing in the area. If you do go out need to find out what gear is approved and in which locations. The area is monitored by California Fish and Wildlife to insure compliance. 

We always print a copy just in case of some glich in the phone or trasmissions at the port on that day. The app check in is great but I always like to have a non tec backup in these situations.