rjrpar

Adventure....

 

Better Price

Better Itinerary

Better Ship

 

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Agree, easy decision

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After 30+ ocean cruises, we took our first Danube river cruise last month. We both loved it.

Now my wife refuses to go on our next Caribbean cruise, so I'm taking my Mom instead. She now wants to book the Rhine river cruise for the end of the year instead.

So comparing the two very cruising experience we're wondering what's the very slim or no chance that the mass cruise ship lines may adopt some of the unique river cruise practices that we prefer:

- no kids

- walking tours included in each port

- alcohol served at lunch & dinner

- small intimate ships

- etc...

 

We know, ocean & river cruising are two completely different experiences. But for the few of us who now has grown children, who now wants the convenience & enjoyment of a cruise lines we've known for years, but with a new experience. Of course it will cost more, but we'll save on the airfare & inconvenience of flying to Europe or Asia, included walking tour excursions (or included transfers to the beach at each port) & included one or two alcoholic drinks at lunch & dinner (not all day alcohol) will negate some/most of the higher fare.

Please no flames from you hard-core ocean cruisers defending the status quo, since we used to be one once too...

Try Viking or Oceania - about the same price as river cruising.

Also, I don't think that most river cruises ban kids or that ocean cruise lines don't serve liquor with lunch or dinner. It comes down to $$$

We were there once about 4 years ago and booked an independent tour on 4-wheelers and it was great. Going back next February and are planned nh on s beach day st Rainbow beach

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The food is what it is. It's mass produced, cafeteria/banquet food. If you're going expecting land based restaurant quality, you're going to be disappointed. You can always find something decent. But don't mistake this for anything close to high end eating. It's grub for the masses.

Good summary of cruise ship food

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For us the MDR experience was subpar, poor service and fair food.

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Looking at booking a cruise, we've done Allure, Oasis and Harmony so are used to the bigger ships.

 

But our favourite itinerary is on Serenade of the Seas, on the website the ship looks great, but what are your personal views on the ship?

 

Probably looking at staying in an ocean view room, person I'm with happy to lounge by the pool most the day, I get a little bored and love activities etc.

 

 

 

My next question is having only sailed during September + October (yup hurricane season) what's March like in the Southern Caribbean? Obviously you can never predict the weather all that much but is it generally smooth? I get super sea sick and have thankfully never been affected during hurricane season.

Been to the Caribbean 20 times in January-March and the weather is beautiful. Probably 2 days of rain in over a hundred days

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There seem to be mixed reports on the condition of Orient Beach. We will be there for the day end of June and would appreciate some valid information.

Orient beach is still in bad shape. I wouldn’t go there other than to see the devastation. It is a real shame

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We will dock in St Thomas for 9 hours in February. We have never been to either or any USVI. Have always wanted to go to St John. Advice on what we should do for the day, We love laying on the beach, quirky little beach bars but think we should see a little of the islands too. Any advice on how to spend the day, suggestions. How does one differ from the other? Should we focus on 1 or try to see both? Not really fan of group guided tours

 

Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated

 

TIA

I would focus on St. Thomas. St John is noted for nice beaches but not much else to do there.

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This has been addressed multiple times, just search down a page or two. I think people get tired of answering this same question

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Traffic is awful ANY time of day....allow for slow traffic and delays. Even at 2am, traffic can be god-awful.

 

Aim to arrive around 11am...that way, boarding will have begun, and you won't have to stand around, waiting.

We had no traffic issues at all, breezed thru the tunnel and in the port in 5 minutes. A little congested in the terminal but we were on the ship within an hour.

Agree with arriving at 11:00. Very easy process

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Visiting St Croix for the day while sailing Celebrity Summit. Early February of '19 In order to get the husbands to cruise we promise them they can golf. Are there any courses that would be available to cruisers and rent equipment?

Probably get a better answer with Google. We were there a few years ago and saw no golf courses but we weren’t looking

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Yes, but only if you remove the $200 instant discount part of the "sale" price.

According to their website, the “Flash Sale” discount is only $75.

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Are C&A balcony discounts combinable with the current flash sale? My TA is telling me no

Thanks in advance for any info

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Most meals will NOT be hot... disregard the cheerleaders having 200 years of hot food with RCI:rolleyes:

Pizza and Burgers and any fresh options in Carnival WAY better! (y)

 

Overall food is better on Carnival.... but you can argue over that...

 

Food temperature is another thing anybody telling you that more than 50% of the food is served hot on RCI is plainly lying... ��

RCI is a trademark for luke warm food! :D

We are Diamond on RCCL and lately have taken a few Carnival cruises. Without a doubt, Carnival has better food overall, especially the burgers, pizza, and tacos.

We pretty much only eat at specialities we find the "free" food to be terrible so if speciality has become just as bad this might signal the end of Royal for us. We have been cruising Crystal and the food has been wonderful, we are going to try Royal again because our "Member berries" is drawing us to Royal.

 

I will log on and see if I can find Enchantment or Majesty's menus I am sure they will be similar.

 

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We were on the Quantum in March. The MDR food is terrible, I think they have finally cut the quality (and service) too far. We actually skipped the MDR several times for the WJ.

The specialty restaurants are much better but unfortunately, they also continue to cut quality in those venues . We also do not believe that they warrant the extra charges that keep increasing. We have started to look at more land based vacations.

Pretty sure I've seen little plastic PB packs just like the jelly packs you'd use for toast in WJ for breakfast.

That is correct. Haven’t seen them at lunch but haven’t looked

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We were in St Thomas in March on Silhouette. Very disappointed in the lack of effort to recover from the hurricanes - as though they expect everything to be done for them. Contrast with St Maarten where the constant background noise was hammers and saws. Next time we're in St Thomas we'll stay on ship.

We did a private 3 hour tour of St Maarten in early March. I totally disagree with your statement that St. Maarten is recovering well from the hurricane. We walked Orient beach and absolutely nothing has been done. Most of the restaurants in Grand Case are closed. Phillipsburg still has many closed stores and restaurants. Very few hotels are open anywhere on the island. The only road into Anse Marcel is closed by the government. St. Maarten will not be ready for vacationers in 2019. Maybe a few cruise ship groups but visitors wanting to spend time on the island will have to look elsewhere. We already booked 2 weeks in Barbados to replace our time in St. M.

Getting off Allure, I know the port is not far from the airport but has anyone done a flight as early as 11am? Is it too stressful?

You can be at FLL easily by 8:00. Not stressful for most

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odds of spending no money onboard? We got the soda package, prepaid for the shore excursion and plan to only eat at free places. Are we being unrealistic to think we can spend little to nothing onboard? No drinking or gambling.

And we complain about RCCL being cheap with their cutbacks. Quite an objective, spending no money on vacation

Dear all,

 

 

 

First RCI cruise......so from my understanding....there is no fresh grilled burgers and fries (like Guy's joint).....cafeteria style burgers and hots probably in some big metal container of "juice" on the buffet and soggy fries......No Blue Iguana or anything comparable to that on RCI.....

 

 

 

What great "FREE" food items does RCI have?!?! What is there to eat for lunch?!?!!? What am I missing here?!?!

We are Diamond on Royal and have cruised Carnival 5 times and have been on both lines in the last 6 months. There is no doubt that Carnival provides more variety and higher quality lunch foods than RCCL; Guy’s, burritos, better pizza, good deli, etc

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Remember cruising when you paid your fare and taxes and gratuities and that was IT? Now cruise lines, especially RCCL, are charging for basically everything- better food, room service, fancy coffee, yoga classes. My question is: What will they charge for next? How far does their nickel and diming go? Here’s my guesses:

 

Theater and show tickets

All food and drink (except tap water)

Flowrider, zipline, rock climbing wall, carousel

Public bathrooms

Hot tubs

Meet ups with dreamworks characters

Kids programs

Gym usage

 

What do you think? Where’s your line in the proverbial sand?

 

 

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You’re wrong. Royal doesn’t charge for extras any more than other cruise lines. You need to look at the overall cost of the cruise before criticizing the “pay for what you want” pricing strategy used by mass market companies. In some cases, today’s cruise prices are so cheap that adding specialty dining every night is still cheaper than cruising 15 years ago

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I would not go to Orient unless you wish to see the devastation. It is not ready for a normal beach day

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I will say that after doing some on my own last time, the ones through the cruise line are way less stressful. There are some I will do on my own, but may also continue to book some through the cruise line in the future. When they have sales, it brings the costs close to or the same as most of the reputable third party for the ones I have seen.

The cost is not the major problem with ship tours. They herd everyone around in large groups and too much time is wasted waiting. Check out the long lines on the dock of people waiting to start their tour, and it doesn’t get better

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I would also check with travel agents, they could be holding group space.

Good point, check with some big ones. They will be cheaper if you find one. Good luck

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I'm sure Joël Robuchon – 31 stars since 2016 is not the boor and oaf that Ramsay is with his 6 stars since 2016.

 

It's called people skills and respect two things that are not in Gordon's makeup.

You do know that he is a tv actor in addition to a very well regarded chef. If you know him personally and he always acts as he does on tv then you are right. If not, wise up and remember it’s all about ratings

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