JerseyGem

So its connected to Vibe but not inside Vibe?

Yes, part of the bar is inside Vibe and part is outside Vibe. I haven't cruised the BA in almost one year, but at that time, there were nice soft chairs right by that bar- a very nice area to relax. The only downside is that the area could be all in the sun or all in the shade, depending on the direction of the ship (and time of day).

You know, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Vantage Corporate almost seems to be working at odds with the company. If you can get past the unanswered e-mails and telephone calls and the occasional rude person, once you step off the plane and meet the people actually doing the trip you are in excellent hands and everything is worth it.

Thanks for this post! This is what we're experiencing right now. I really need to hear that once we're actually "on the ground" we'll have a great trip. We're not picky people; however, I need to know what's planned, what are our options, what to expect, etc. When I'm in a foreign country (where I speak very little of the local language), I don't want any surprises. I can adapt to almost anything- but I need preparation to do so. I'm not getting "preparation" from Vantage corporate.

Thanks to all of you for the clarification. I'm relieved that I won't have to add one more cost to this trip just for fancy or even regular coffee! DH loves a cappuccino (or two, etc.) after dinner. (Of course, I'm quite willing to pay more to upgrade to a wine package!)

As it stands now, we may not even take this trip (or any with Vantage). Vantage just changed our cruise from a "Culinary French Waterways: Best of Burgundy, Beaujolais & Provence" special cruise to just a regular river cruise (deleting all the extras from the itinerary). This comes after almost one year of major changes (such as sailing date) and minor changes by Vantage- most made with no or little explanation. So frustrating! I'm about to cancel completely and book the same river with GCT. We were really looking forward to trying Vantage.

.......... We had purchased the ship's coffee package which included a covered coffee mug. We walked into the dining room every night with the mug filled with wine and no one ever questioned us. As an aside, my husband thought the coffee was fine, I thought it was awful. So if you don't want to purchase the coffee package, bring your own mug!

We are taking our first Vantage cruise in October (after many GCT cruises). What is included in Vantage's coffee package? On GCT, all coffee drinks (from the machine) are free and available all the time. Can we at least get a cup of regular coffee on Vantage without purchasing a package? How about hot tea; is it available all day? Thanks!

If you're at all particular about the taste of your tea, bring your own tea. On the Liberty OTS, all the free choices made very weak tea. I couldn't make a decent cup with multiple tea bags nor by letting it steep until lukewarm. As for the "fancy" teas available for a fee, most of the choices were assorted Tazo "fruits" and/or "flowers" teas (like passion-fruit, chamomile). I just wanted a hearty black (and sometimes a green) tea. I even bought the package that includes the upscale teas; very disappointed.

http://www.dennismersereau.com/2016/01/blizzard-2016-frequently-asked.html

Wonderful! Thanks for the laugh- as I sit here with 23 inches predicted. TV meteorologist just mentioned that people have been calling in and asking if it might end early. His reply: Not a shot of it ending early. The look on his face- I know he wanted to add: Suck it up, folks!

Hello all - we received the dreaded phone call from GCT today for the 11/29 Christmas Market sailing on the Elbe: 3 nights in a Berlin hotel, 3 nights in a Dresden hotel (should have been on a boat), and 4 nights on a boat docked in Wittenberg. We have a week to decide whether or not to cancel. Uggh.:eek:

We're just back from our deviated Essence of the Elbe cruise (non-cruise) with GCT. My DH (CPT Trips) will post more later (when he wakes up LOL), but I'll just comment now that we had a wonderful time and thought that GCT went out of their way to make our non-cruise a great vacation.

Our 7 day non-cruise was divided just as your cruise will be- 4 days docked in Wittenberg with bus trips (near and a little far) plus 3 nights in a hotel in Dresden (in town trips and one more distant). We saw and did everything that we would have with the original cruise itinerary, except see the banks of the Elbe as we sailed along. As DH mentions elsewhere on this thread, GCT added extras to keep us busy and happy. We had fewer people (many cancelled- almost 50%) which made it much easier for our PDs to do more with the two smaller groups.

Would I have preferred to cruise? Yes. But we both had such a wonderful time that we just can't find anything to really complain about! I'm very glad we didn't cancel.

Lynn

Ship - Liberty of the Seas

Deck - 7

Stateroom # - 7626

Stateroom Category – E1

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? – Yes.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? Yes, connects with 7628. At our request, the connecting door was unlocked. (We were traveling with family)

Balcony View -– Good view, no obstructions. At our request, the balcony divider with 7628 was opened. It only opens half way (the outer panel slides back alongside the inner panel).

Balcony Size? Normal. Two chairs and a small table with plenty of space to move them about.

Was wind a problem? -not usually, but we had a few windy sea days (windy on all outer decks) and the balcony was windy, even though somewhat protected by the side panels.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - n/a

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Because this is a connecting cabin, you do not have a sofa. There is one upholstered chair instead plus a desk chair. If we had a third person, their bed would have been a drop-down.

Any other comments? - The bed is by the balcony. There was quite a bit of storage space in the cabin and in the bathroom. The shower is round and small but still serviceable. Cabin is convenient to the aft elevators. We were very happy with this cabin and would book it again.

Just returned from LOS, deck 7. Our cabin steward opened the divider between our balcony and our daughter's balcony. The divider opens only half way (the outer half slides back along the inner half). This made a great area for our granddaughter to explore. This AM, as we were getting ready to disembark, a crew member came along the balconies and opened all of the dividers so that they could hose off the walls- interesting to look down the whole length of the ship.

My family and I leave on Sept. 27 out of NYC on Breakaway. YEAH, 10 more days!

 

Reading through the threads tonight and just saw a thread where they said the Breakaway stopped doing the fireworks on the last night out of Bermuda. Is that true?

 

I booked this vacation back in April. Any other recent changes?

 

This is our 2nd NCL cruise. Did the Gem to Bahamas 2 years ago. Did another line last year but didn't care for it as much.

Yes, unfortunately, it is true. Another change (since the time that you booked) is that the departure from Bermuda is earlier. For our cruise, all aboard was 2:30 PM on the last day in BDA.

We still had a wonderful time. Bermuda is beautiful and the ship has a lot to offer any cruiser. (Although our next cruise is back to the Gem!).

We are going on the Liberty this month with our DD, DSiL and 15 month old granddaughter. We wanted connecting balcony staterooms. Our TA went around and around with RCL to find appropriate cabins (in a deck/location that I liked!). It turns out (after several calls with RCL) that there is a requirement that a 15 month old be in a cabin with tie-downs in the floor for a pack and play (tiny crib). We know that our granddaughter will be sleeping between her parents in their bed, but RCL said the cabin must have those tie-downs even if we didn't want RCL to furnish a pack and pay. A Coast Guard reg????

So my advice for a 3 1/2 yr old (who would probably be too big for a pack and play): make sure RCL knows that your child is too old for a pack and play so that they don't limit you to the few cabins that would have the tie downs.

We did finally find appropriate cabins and are looking forward to a great cruise.. If we come up with any tips for cruising with little ones, we'll post when we return.

Yes, stateroom walls are metal.

Wonderful! I hope she'll be entertained long enough for the rest of us to change for dinner each evening (or sit and have a drink before dinner!).

I just went down to Guest Services and asked your question. The answer was "Absolutely, no problem" ! There are some ships that will not allow the dividers to be opened, but Liberty isn't one of them. I've certainly seen dividers opened on other Royal C ships that I've been on.

 

Hope that answer helps! :D

That's great news. DH &I will be sailing in adjoining balcony cabins with DD, DSiL and 15 month old granddaughter. I do have one question- are the cabin walls metal? On other lines, we have been able to post miscellaneous "stuff" to the walls to keep the cabin organized. We bought magnetic letters and animals to entertain G-daughter; will they work?

Thanks, Lynn

Jonathan; Thank you for this wonderful review; I'm looking forward to more! DH & I cruise on 9/19 with our DD, DSiL and our 15 month old Granddaughter. This will be the first time any of us have been on a Freedom class ship. We love your idea of eating lunch at the Cafe Promenade after boarding. It's on deck 5 port side, but I don't know what deck we'll be on when we board. I want to figure out the quickest (and easiest) way to get to the Cafe with a stroller. Any advice?

Thanks, Lynn

So if you have a stateroom that sleeps 4, but you only have 3 guests, can you ask them to make up only the pull-down bed and NOT the sofa? It would be good to still be able to sit on the sofa.

I suppose you could discuss this with your cabin steward. But you'd have to be careful not to hit your head when you stand up from sitting on the sofa. Will you have a child in the bunk (who would be napping at times that you'd need to sit on the sofa)? Since the bunk will only be dropped after you leave the cabin for the evening (or the sofa turned into a bed) and then put away while you're at breakfast, using either really only impacts the hours when you're sleeping or getting ready for breakfast. But if your child needs to nap during the daytime, being able to pull down the bunk (which stays made up with sheets) would be convenient since the sofa would not have sheets on it during the daytime.

Currently, no state sales tax is added to beverage package prices purchased on board.

Thanks for the reply. We will wait until we board (so we can use our OBC). Lynn

Just wait until you are onboard to purchase the drink package. That way you can find out exactly what is covered, and what venues serve what.

Bob- Do you know if NJ tax is added to the drink packages if we purchase them as soon as we board? I know that tax is added to the per drink cost if we don't have a package and buy a drink while docked in Bayonne. Lynn

We are back from the 8/2 BA in an angled balcony (12272). It is definitely bigger than a regular balcony. However, the cabin numbers are different on each deck; on deck 11, the angle balcony appears to be 11274, not 11272.

The balcony: one side is the regular width (going out from the cabin to the rail). The other side is longer: enough that a lounger can fit from the cabin wall to the rail. Our balcony had two regular chairs, the lounger and a very small table. We had previously sailed the BA in a regular (non-angled) balcony and only had the two chairs and very small table. We never completely reclined the lounger, so I'm not certain that it could go all the way flat in the space, but I think it could.

In 12272, the bed is by the closet. We didn't think we'd like this set-up but ended up preferring it to the bed by the balcony (as on a previous cruise). We did rearrange (actually, the cabin steward did the work!) to make more space to access the closet. He moved the bed a little towards the sofa. We put the bigger night-table by the closet and the smaller one between the bed and sofa. This made more space in the closet area.

As for the location, we loved it- very convenient to the elevators and stairs but quiet (except for drunks walking to their cabins late at night- but that can happen any where). One of the kids' areas is on deck 12 forward, but we didn't notice any more traffic in the halls than on other decks.

Check out the deck plans and try to change to an angled balcony!

Some time before our arrival in Bermuda (early August), the main bus used by HOHO was in an accident and couldn't be used. That left a taxi (5 people) and a large van (14 people) for their program. They were only going to one beach at a time with no stops or pick-ups any where else. The lines were long and disorganized. After a long wait (and being told that it would be even longer- if they even decided to stop elsewhere), we asked for and received a refund. Plan on walking to see the attractions in St Georges.

We purchased the $6 hand stamp to ride the HOHO bus (hop on hop off) that picks you up at the visitors center and stops at various places along the way. We had taken it to Tobacco Bay and then walked to St Catherine. But, if you stay on the bus at Tobacco, the very next stop is right at St Catherine beach. Super easy.

 

Others have walked there from the visitors center depending on how well you ambulate, how big a group, kids and ages involved and your time limit if you would want to do that or not. :)

We just returned from Bermuda (8/2-8/9). Some time before we arrived, the main bus used by the HOHO group was involved in an accident and could no longer be used for the program. That left them with a taxi (5 people) and a large van (14). Because of the crowds, the HOHO vehicles were only going to one beach at a time, with no other stops or pick-ups. Needless to say, there were long lines and chaos as groups decided whether to walk or split up into smaller groups to fit into the small taxi. After a long wait, we asked for (and received) a refund of our money. Plan on walking.

Had to smile at this. I've just finished potty training my two year old who is teeny teeny tiny and I wondered if I might get some questions/looks from people at the pool on our next cruise! :)

I agree it's hard to know actual ages (my granddaughter is wearing size 24 months at 14 months). But a few in that pool area weren't even walking yet. I just couldn't imagine toilet training a child who can't yet walk to the toilet. I guess it can be done, though.

Re the Buffet on the BA: We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of food at the buffet. We always found a table without too much trouble (except the last morning when everyone wants to eat at the same time before disembarking). But I just now realize that I never saw any booster seats or high chairs. I'm not saying that NCL doesn't have them; I just don't remember seeing them.

Ship -Breakaway

Deck -9

Stateroom # - 9280

Stateroom Category –regular balcony

Starboard or Port Side - port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – My cousin was in this cabin. Since she's not on CC, I am posting on her behalf. First, you can sometimes hear music from somewhere (I assumed from the deck 8 venues). Second, there is a water pipe running down along the wall between the bed area and the balcony (it's on the balcony). Between 4 AM and 8 AM every morning, the pipe made a rhythmic tapping noise which woke them up. We assumed the deck crew was washing down the upper deck, and the noise was water draining from above. Bring ear plugs if you're a light sleeper.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Excellent looking out to sea. Great view at the railing looking forward and aft. Looking down, you see the lifeboats and the roof of the Waterfront.

Balcony Size? This is a standard sized balcony for the BA. Two chairs and a small table.

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Just that water pipe!

Any other comments? The bed is by the balcony. My cousin liked being near the elevators (aft).

Ship - Breakaway

Deck - 12

Stateroom # -12272

Stateroom Category – Angled Balcony (B4)

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Yes

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Excellent view looking forward and straight out at the ocean. Great view looking aft if you stood at the railing. Looking straight down, you see life boats and the roof of the Waterfront.

Balcony Size? This cabin has an angled balcony which has more space than a regular one. We had one lounge chair, two regular chairs and a small table. We even had enough room to position the chairs in different ways as desired to block or seek the sunshine. We've already booked another angled balcony.

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - No

Any other comments? The bed is by the closet. We had previously sailed the BA with the bed by the balcony and were disappointed that this cabin was reversed but ended up preferring the bed by the closet. We enjoyed sitting on the sofa looking out to sea (when it was too rainy to sit on the balcony). We had two night tables with different widths. The narrower one was placed between the bed and the closet, making a tight squeeze to access the closet. We asked the cabin steward to move the wider table (the one between the bed and sofa) and to move the bed away from the closet. We tried putting both between the bed and closet but didn't need that much space. With the bed moved slightly towards the sofa, the wider table by the closet and the narrower one by the sofa, we had plenty of space to access all of the closet.

We just returned from the BA on 8/9- without a toddler. However, we did look around for toddler "ideas" because we're going back to Bermuda in September with our 15 month old granddaughter (on another ship).

As already mentioned, leave the big stroller at home! Our cruise was full- with many families and kids of all ages. Your cruise may not have as many teens running around since many schools will have started, but expect a crowded ship with narrow walkways in many public areas.

On deck 16 (foreword elevators), there is an indoor play area for toddlers (I think it said 6 months to 3 years?). It's right by the elevators. I don't know if the door is ever locked.

We're taking a small, blow-up pool to use as a quick play area for our GD on our balcony as well as to bathe her. The BA doesn't have a pool area for kids in diapers, but I did notice some very young kids in the "water park" area who were so young I would be surprised if they were completely toilet trained.

Once you get to Bermuda (I assume that's your destination), you won't need a car seat on a bus, ferry or taxi. Some beaches are better suited to toddlers (such as Tobacco Bay Beach), but even Horseshoe Bay Beach will be OK since the waves, while looking large, were very gentle. Many kids were having fun playing at the water's edge, digging in the sand, etc. This could change if there's a large storm at sea.

We had planned on spending a day at the man-made beach at the dockyard (Snorkel Park- a fee), but several parents warned us that the beach is rocky, and kids should have water shoes on at all times (in and out of the water). Our GD doesn't like shoes! Rather than struggle with her to keep them on, we'll skip that beach. However, right outside of the entrance to Snorkel Park, there is a free play area. For toddlers, there is one swing with a bucket style seat (several strap seats for older kids) and a water play area- water spurting out of the ground (concrete)- I think our GD will love this! (There is a climbing area for older kids) I didn't notice much shade right there, though. By the end of the week, I saw several very young kids with red faces, arms, etc. Even under an umbrella or hat, the reflected sun can burn.

Have you checked out the Family cruise area on Cruise Critic? You might get more ideas there.

Do any recent cruisers remember what groups were in the various lounges? Are Arvin & Emily onboard? Les Gatreux? (I know that's not spelled correctly!)