rjrpar

Just finalized my booking today. The itinerary was great in the Southern Caribbean to all new ports we have never sailed.

 

I think I got a great deal with the BOGOHO and WOW Sale ($200 OBC)

The final cost in an accessible outside cabin is roughly $2,100 including a couple of perks my TA threw in with the $200 OBC and trip insurance.

 

Did I get a good deal?

 

Best pat of all is 10 days on vacation. Has never happened before.

We travel in February and usually pay $250-275 per nite for a balcony cabin. I think your $210 for an ocean view is a good, not great, deal.

Have a great vacation

Have been on both. Both are very nice ships and provide a very similar experience. I'd go with less expensive

Shuttle that bad? I've never sailed out of NJ so I have no idea what to expect.

It's very easy to use the shuttle. No sane person would cancel a cruise because of a 2 minute bus ride. It drops you 20 yards from he ship.

Is that 3 complimentary drinks per day as Diamond or 3 for entire cruise? Thanks

3/day/person, just like Celebrity offers on many of their cruises. Worked out great for us.

Can't even see show times for our 2/2/15 eleven nite cruise. Is MM only shown on days 1 or 2? I assumed they would have a Welcome Aboard show on day 1 at about 7:00pm. Guess MM is right after that??

Thanks in advance.

Agree, calling is the only answer and I'm also very frustrated with the process. The incompetent IT dept is making the lives of customers and service reps very difficult.

This is pretty consistent w/ my experience on the 11 night. MM 2pm/9pm sea day, and 7/9pm shows for the headliners stuff. The other show... be darned if I can remember its name, was similar to MM later in the cruise.

 

Judy

Is MM available at those times every sea day. We are on the 11 night on 2/2/15 but can't see any entertainment, just trying to plan dining and it's very frustrating. Thanks

What I like most about cruising is the fact that it's hassle free. It's the one time of the year I don't have to be involved with scheduling and decision making once I complete my original reservation. My biggest decision during a cruise is which entree to order at meals.

 

If I didn't have family that had already booked with me and are looking forward to the Quantum (I'm scheduling dining and shows for the 3 cabins) I would have cancelled. As it is, I have booked my next cruise on a different line and plan never to sail RCCL again. In my humble opinion, the personal caring service on RCCL is a thing of the past.

Great post. Booking dining and entertainment for an eleven day cruise is not my idea of a relaxing time, never again. I won't sail on this type of cruise again.

This is my first experience on Royal Caribbean and it looks like it will be our last. We usually sail on Celebrity. This Dynamic Dining is terrible. We are having the same problems as everyone else with the reservations. Can't believe my cruise is a year away and I'm not able to get the times I want. That's ridiculous!!!:(

Royal provides a good cruise experience but IT support of their website is very amateurish. What bothers me is management tolerates it. We too may not sail with Royal again and we are Diamond members.

Doesn't worh for me either, but it shouldn't be a surprise.

I was able to book Mama Mia and then I tried to book another show and this is the message I received.

 

WELL, THIS IS UNFORTUNATE.

 

Here you are trying to plan a vacation and our website decides to take one.

 

We are aware of the issue and are currently working to fix it. Please try again later and sorry for the inconvenience.

What are the times for Mama Mia? thanks

What a cluster----. Remember when cruising was simple, and fun.

CD's have absolutely no influence regarding how I enjoy my cruise. Have taken over 30 cruises and can't tell you the name of any.

Yes they do, they are responsible for planning and coordinating all the entertainment on your cruise. Just because you don't know or remember names, don't undervalue the work of the cruise directors.

A cruise director's main job is to provide good entertainment on the cruise, not necessarily be the entertainment. If the entertainment staff is active, the guest entertainers are good, music around the ship is enjoyable and abundant, etc, then you have a good cruise director. If he or she is also talented and personable, it's a bonus.

Celebrity Solstice class ships are really nice; Solstice, Eclipse, Reflection, Equinox and Silhouette.

Totally agree. The average age on Celebrity is slightly higher but they provide a very good cruise experience, but probably not ideal if you have young children.

I totally agree with everything you just said. It really is sad that Carnival, which is known for the "wal mart" of the cruse industry :rolleyes: serves a USDA Prime cut of beef for 35.00 while RCI charges you 35.00 PLUS makes you pay for a better cut of beef.

 

35.00 for a sirloin????? REALLY??????????

Carnival is no more "Walmart" than most other mass market cruise lines. Been on both, mostly RCCL, and Carnival can be a very good value.

How does anyone know what time to make reservations for dinner. On the regular ships entertainment is around the two dining times. With Quantum how can you possibly figure that out? Frustrated that we may miss something we really want to do or see due to dinner. I guess we can always go tot the windjammer if it doesn't work out. I am also not going to put money down for restaurants a year in advance. I think that is just crazy. Even with Oasis we did not do that until about 90 days out which is okay but would not want to do it before that.

 

A bit off topic I guess but just trying to figure out what to book.

I think it is more important to reserve the 4 or 5 free restaurants around May 15 and worry about the pay restaurants later. If you book a conflicting time with entertainment you can always cancel, then rebook or walkup and wait a few minutes. People are making a big deal out of this and it really is not. No one is suggesting booking pay restaurants a year in advance; they are usually begging people to eat there.

Does anyone have any information on how reservations will be made for dining on May 15? I thought I read somewhere that there will be an app? How will we be able to access that? Or will it just be done via the Royal Caribbean website?

Very good question. I had the same concern but I guess no one knows.

I stayed at Fairfield Inn and Suites in Ft. Lauderdale before taking a cruise. It was wonderful. There was breakfast in the morning. The staff was extremely nice. It was clean. Shuttle from airport and to cruise port. I believe you had to pay a small fee for the shuttle to the cruise port. Got a really good deal on "Park, Sleep and Fly". There was also a gas station walking distance, which had a convenience store that sold water and other things might want to pick up before the cruise. Whatever you decide, hope you have a wonderful vacation.

Agree, nice hotel, very good free breakfast, and friendly staff. Also, very close is the Rustic Inn. Great seafood, fun restaurant; almost walk able but there is a free shuttle service if you ask at the desk.

I am wanting to plan an Alaska cruise and land tour for late May 2015. I want to go on Princess or HAL. After researching these boards I have decided it might be best to book it on my own as opposed to a cruisetour. Looking at current prices we would probably book an OV, balcony too much of a premium price.

 

Here are the stats. 2 adults from Atlanta. Northbound 7 day to Alaska. Would like to take train to Denali, at least 2 full days in Denali, train back to Anchorage, maybe one day in Anchorage

 

The component costs are the cruise plus tips plus cruise extras, airfare, train or transport to and from Denali, hotel rooms, excursions, and insurance.

 

My question is what would you ballpark a total for this trip to be? I am guessing $5000. Can it be done for closer to $3000? I know that you do not know what our excursion or OB spending will be but just average that. We will do some stuff but nothing extremely expensive. I am not opposed to a cruisetour if it goes where we want to go long enough and is truly a better price than booking seperate. Thanks for any insight.

We are planning a 15 day cruise tour on HAL in August, 2015. I think your cost estimate is real low; we are planning to spend at least $10,000. From PA the flight is about $800, the cruise tour is $6000(balcony), tours-$1200, food-$1000, onboard spending-$500, misc-$1000.

I know this isn't exactly the same cruise, but $3000 or even $5000 is not going to happen.

We are planning the Y3 for July or Aug, 2015. It will be a costly vacation and we thought about doing the cruise first to save some money, however, I think we have read enough comments to do the land first to convince us. Also are considering an inside or ocean view instead of our usual balcony. We will only be on the ship for 4 nights and the difference is $1400, that's $350/day extra for a balcony.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

BTW - we are planning a $1000 for food on the land tours and we are simple eaters; burgers, pizza, Do intend to try a Salmon bake

All cruise lines charge for shuttle busses. Cruise lines need to get their revenue. Either you pay these additional charges or you pay higher cruise fares, which today are pretty cheap and need to stay competitive within the industry.

I prefer the ala carte pricing so I pay for what I use. There is no free lunch.

It's a waste of space

We just completed a 14 day So. Caribbean on Celebrity Eclipse, it was wonderful. Stopped at 8 ports and the ship is beautiful, a notch up from HAL

Would do it again next year but right now we are booked for 11 days on the new Quantom OTS.

I dont know which ships you have been on perhaps carnival but its higher quality then your applebees.

Actually Carnival food is comparable to RCCL and Celebrity. All cruise lines are good at convincing cruisers that the food is high quality, when actually it is banquet quality and probably below most chain restaurants. Just think about their steaks, salads, desserts; would you be willing to pay restaurant prices for them.