Chickpea19

If you have Marriott points, you can book an Atlantis hotel room with them, plus the resort fee. I had no idea Atlantis was a Marriott property until I read it on cruise critic! We're headed to Atlantis tomorrow aboard the RCI Anthem. I booked their "value" hotel using 35,000 points, plus about $50 in resort fees.

How much it the parking for the week?

$20 per day.

I'm on Anthem now and this is our first RCCL cruise, after doing an NCL cruise about a decade ago. I found the NCL MDR enjoyable so long ago, so had similar expectations this time around. Unfortunately, our experience thus far has been so very poor in the MDR and Windjammer (aka, Wind-jampacked-er!). Everything is so loud and hectic. We can't eat together in the windjammer because it's so busy - my husband has to take our 3-year-old to find a table while I get his food; by the time I'm back with my food after waiting in all the lines and navigating the crowd, my son is done eating and my husband hasn't even gotten a chance to get his food yet! The MDR was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves think. And it took 30 minutes and three requests to get my son a glass of milk. Servers are clearly trying, but can't keep up. Food quality was bad. It's obvious they are starting with low quality ingredients and trying to make up for lack of flavor with salt and meat tenderizers - and not terribly successfully, I might add.

I've just upgraded our specialty restaurant meal plan to four nights. Pricing isn't too bad with one of the packages. Seems to be necessary now to get decent food and service on RCCL ship, I guess. Now I know.

For those with kids, 5 and under eat free and others are only $10 each.

Thanks, everyone for all your help. Turns out, my real problem was with voom and 5,000 people trying to simotaniously update their rental car reservations, among other things. The "no cars available" messages I got this afternoon appear to have been bogus. Internet is back up and running nicely as of 1 am and I was able to rebook with enterprise at the Mullet Rd location - the much-preferred option bc I'm able to get the rental free using points!

And if anyone is curious as to how Royal handles this kind of flip flop:

So far, our iFly reservations were automatically moved to the new day at sea, but looks like our mid-day We Will Rock You reservation is still unresolved. We still don't have access to the cruise compass for day 3 and it's 2:30 am now. So seems like some poor souls are working overtime to update activities for the new sea day. Might be the case that our matinee reservation might stand after all - shall have to wait and see. We've found MDR food and atmosphere (so, so loud) to be lackluster at best, so the silver lining of all this flip floping schedules is that we were able to upgrade our dining package for an extra night in the specialty restaurants. (Had a WONDERFUL meal at Wonderland this evening! Huge upgrade from the included food and so worth it!) RCCL has offered free internet access to folks who need to change privately made reservations (explains my frustration with the bandwidth, but seems to be the decent thing to do). Overall, I'm pleased with the accommodations RCCL has made. Wait and see is just hard for type A personalities like me ;-)

Hi all,

I need some emergency help with Port Canaveral rental cars, please. I'm on Anthem now and our Port Canaveral day has been switched from 3/28 to 3/31 due to a motor/speed issue with the ship. That means I had to cancel the rental car I had reserved with enterprise at the mullet rd location, but there don't seem to be any rental cars available through any of the rental companies at that location now. What other companies/locations offer port shuttle service??? I'm not sure who to rebook with. This is important, because I'm traveling with my 3-year-old son, so we can't just grab a cab or uber due to car seat issues.

Thanks so much for your help. And while I'm on board, feel free to ask me your Anthem questions. I'll do my best to help out.

I just emailed the Melia resort earlier this week and received a wonderful response. The representative provided the menus, maps and all of the activities, some included, some not. I think my husband and I are going to give it a go!

 

Our day passes can be purchased once you arrive on property at the front desk registration area from 9am - 5pm daily. They are not all-inclusive and cannot be purchased in advance. The cost is $45.00 per adult (age 12+) and $25.00 per child (age 2-11).

 

Please be advised that snorkeling (inclusive of snorkel, mask and fins), lounge chairs, pools, and use of towels are included in your day pass rate. All other water sports will be at an additional cost (see brochure attached).

 

Presently, we are offering a promotion on day passes, where the adults will receive a free Starbucks beverage with each adult day pass purchase.

Thank you for this info! Could you post the menus they sent you? I'm trying to decide between purchasing a Melia day passes for myself, my husband and our 3-year-old; or using my Marriott points to book a room at Atlantis for access to the aquarium, pools, water park, beach, etc. I will be in Nassau on 3/30 on the Anthem, too.

It's cheaper to book Atlantis (with the points, at least), but I'm not sure it won't be overwhelming for my son (he'll enjoy the aquarium, the pools and maaaybe the beach, but we won't use the slides at all). And I'm worried about the food costs in both locations, which could tip the scale significantly.

If anyone has an opinion on Melia vs. Atlantis, assuming the cost is the same, I'd love to hear it!

Can someone please tell me what amenities are available if you DON'T get a cabana? Are all those blue chairs I see in photos free to anyone, first-come, first-served? Or do they cost? Can you rent an umbrella? Or is it unnecessary bc of the trees? Is enough water available (for free) to anyone? Or should I plan to bring it from the ship? Am planning to show up to the beach with my swimsuit and towel and am hoping for a chair and some shade. 😁

We have a foldable one as well. It's actually a great step stool for any type of travel - it's easy to throw in the car on a road trip, too. The fold is extremely compact. At home, I use it in my bedroom closet, since I can leave it folded when not in use to save space. Am planning to take this along with our oxo foldable potty seat (another great travel tool!). I'd say, bring what you need so you're certain to have it.

We will be saing with our three-year-old on Anthem this month and I would really like to try Wonderland. Wondering if anyone has any experience dining in Wonderland with their preschooler? He's an adventurous eater and fairly well behaved in a restaurant so I'm not worried about that part. But I remember reading something on RCI's website about Wonderland not being kid-friendly. Will he be welcomed? And with no kids menu, will they try to charge us for him? Or will they be willing to bring us a few small plates, or at least let him eat off our plates? I know the kids club might be an option, but I'm not certain how my son will take to it (if I had to guess, I'd say he's be upset to be left, especially at dinner time) and I'd rather eat dinner as a family anyway. He spends enough time in daycare when we aren't on vacation! Thinking of booking a 3-restaurant package. Any other specialty dining options I should avoid with him in tow? Thanks for the help!

We'll bring his spiderman one that fits on the toilet. But any idea where to find of a light foldup step stool ?

Yes, indeed! This is what you need: https://www.amazon.com/Jeronic-11-Inch-Plastic-Folding-Stool/dp/B01BZUVSAE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1489642518&sr=8-3&keywords=Folding+step+stool

We have a very similar one bought at the Christmas Tree Shop and it works great to travel with.

Well, then, don't - wait for a sale or try to make a deal on board.

Is there likely to be a sale last minute, or one on board? I've never cruised RCCL before, so that's my real question here.

Wow. Not too much positive to say about the off-site parking. Maybe if it were just me and my husband, but don't think I'll try it this time around with the kiddo in tow. Thanks for your help, everyone.

I think there's little likelihood of this working.

I figured as much. Just hurts my brain to pay more to dine in a single restaurant than it would have cost us to dine in two! Sigh... :mad:

How about you throw some $ to your cousin to drop you off?

Have thought of this, but she'd have to also be home to pick us up, which is not a safe bet since she travels so much for work. And sounds like she'd get stuck in a bunch of traffic to get us to the drop off point. Have also thought of a cab or uber, but it's not practical bc of the car seat issue. I don't care to drag one with us on the boat if we aren't going to need it on the trip.

So, I think I've missed the boat (har har) on booking specialty dining and Internet as far as taking advantage of sales. I'm sailing March 26 and would like to try out Wonderland and have Internet access for a single device.

As far as dining, it would have been best for me to purchase the $30 two-for-one dining package for the first two nights. I really only care about trying Wonderland and hesitated because it didn't originally look like we would be allowed to bring our 3-year-old with us - and I'm not certain as to how he will take to the kids club. Since then, they must have relaxed those rules because I can now book Wonderland for all of us. But now the package isn't being offered anymore and Wonderland costs $50 each on its own (I know my son will eat free anywhere). Should I just suck it up and book? Can I call RCCL and plead for the $30 package since a change in their policy was the cause of me missing it? Or will there likely be a discount on dining once on board? Like I said, I don't care if we eat in multiple specialty restaurants or not. Just looking for the best price to try Wonderland.

Same goes for Internet. Am I best off booking in advance? Or will there be an on-board deal?

I am not a Diamond club member and don't have any on-board credit, so lowest dollar amount for the services I want is the most important.

I know all this can be unpredictable, but any insight you can all give would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Hi all,

We will be driving to Cape Liberty for a March 26 Anthem cruise. I understand that you can park for $20 a day at the port. But I have heard that there are private parking operations that are less expensive. We are staying overnight with a cousin very close to the port, so I'm not looking for a hotel room/park package. I've heard of this company: http://www.bayonnecruiseparking.com, which looks like it's about half the price of port parking. Has anyone had any experience with this company or another? Pros? Cons? Of note is that I am traveling with my 3-year-old, so not having access to a child seat, even if it's only for a short trip, would be a deal breaker for me if the transportation to port would be in a smallish van where one should be wearing a seat belt.

Thanks!

Great info - thank you. We'll be sailing with our 3-year-old in a few weeks. Wondering how he was recieved at Wonderland? Seems they used to not allow children, but appear to be ok with them now.

Also, where did your son sleep? We have a similar stateroom and I'm not sure if it will make most sense to try to get him to sleep on the sofa, or if we should just give up and accept that he'll be sleeping in the main bed with us.

I have a noon "appointment" for embarkation. Does that mean I should arrive at the port by noon? Or does it mean that I should have the car parked, bags checked, and be waiting to get checked in at noon?

Would rather go much earlier, as we'll be traveling with a preschooler who will be hungry for lunch around that time, but took the earliest available when we checked in. If we do go earlier, can we get checked in sooner, or will we be stuck waiting for noon no matter what?

Hi all,

Need a bit of help here. I have my eye on an Anthem of the Seas March 26th sailing. However, it seems the deals and prices keep fluctuating. I was wondering if some of the more experienced cruisers could help me out with what RCCL's typical sales cycle looks like. Trying to determine when the best time to book would be.

A few things about us that might help:

• We are a couple in our 30's planning to bring our toddler (will be just three at sailing) and stay in one cabin.
  
• I would like a balcony cabin. Not decided on whether we should pick it ourselves, or take the significant "guarantee" discount, based on having our son with us (not sure what the best sleeping arrangement will be for him in the cabin yet).
  
• I need to book through my credit card website, not RCCL, as I plan to use points to pay for about half the trip.
  
• We are not big drinkers (especially not while we're watching our son!). On-board credits are nice, but a deal on the cruise price itself is more attractive.
  

When should I book? Am I seeing the lowest price now, or will I be better off waiting a month or two?

We just got back from our cruise last week (NCL SUN), and I’ve decided to post a (VERY LONG!) review of our day in Santo Tomas, since there wasn’t too much information about this port when I was trying to decide what to do, and even less information about anything NOT involving Gus. Don’t get me wrong…I’m sure he runs a nice tour. I’m just not much of a tour person to start with, so I like to find things we can do ourselves. I hope this helps some of you on your vacations!

Santo Tomas is a great port for going off on your own because of the way the taxis are organized. When you take a taxi from the port, your taxi driver basically becomes your private tour guide. It seemed to me that most of the drivers spoke English to at least some extent. They all go to classes at night, so the more time you give them, the better and better their English will become. I speak fluent Spanish, but our driver still spoke English to us, I think in order to practice. Everyone at this port seems so excited to have tourists there, and they are really eager to show you their country. It also felt very safe, by the way, so don’t be put off by any scary stories you might hear about the capital city!

We took a taxi from the port to Las Escobas Waterfalls ($60 round trip for up to 4 people for the taxi and $5 per person entrance into the national park, all paid at the port). It was a quick trip to the national park (about 15 minutes maybe), and you get to drive through the town of Santo Tomas. People here are, of course, very poor as you may have read on other posts, but we still found it very interesting to see how people live, etc. At the park, your taxi driver comes with you on the hike, and you are also given a pre-teen guide to point out different plants and animals along the way. Basically, for the two of us, we had two private guides ;-). I don’t think the children speak very much English, but if someone in your group speaks some Spanish, it is much easier to communicate. Also, since we had the taxi driver there, I’m sure he would have tried his best to translate if I wasn’t able to understand. Keep in mind, by the way, that for two people, this was half the price of going with the cruise ship tour (I think they charge $68 per person!), and we got to do what we wanted, when we wanted, with a private tour. We saw lots of different kinds of rain forest vegetation and our guide explained what the uses for each plant were (shampoo, coco, baskets, hats, roofs, furniture, etc). The hike is not too long and the waterfalls are really very beautiful. For us, the most interesting thing was just being in the rain forest and being able to get an up-close look at all the plants and wild life. It was so nice to have the freedom to go at our own pace, stop if we wanted to, not wait for anyone, and run past the crowds on the cruise ship and other tours. We even saw a Quezal, the Guatemalan national bird, which we are told is very rare. What a treat!

On our way out of the park, our driver found a native fruit for us to try. I wish I remembered what it was called, but it was about the size of a pineapple, with a tough, green skin and a white, fleshy inside with big black seeds. It was interesting to try it, and very nice of the driver to think to take it from the forest for us. He didn’t have to do that, of course, and it was very endearing that he was so eager for us learn about his country. He was so full of information to tell us!

We decided we wanted to eat lunch, so for an extra $40 for the taxi, our driver took us to Puerto Barrios to a restaurant called Safari. The place was right on the water, and VERY Guatemalan. There are not too many cruise ship ports left that you can go into a restaurant and be the only tourists there! They serve traditional Guatemalan food, or if you aren’t feeling adventurous, they also have sandwiches and the cheapest burgers I’ve ever seen (a burger with fries was about $2.50 and my fiancé said it was very good). I had the Tapado, a traditional coconut milk based soup with seafood and plantains. For $11 I got an ENORMOUS bowl (looked like a serving dish!) with an entire fish, 2 crabs, shrimp, gambas, a huge piece of conch, and plantains. It had a sweet, smoky flavor to it, and was absolutely delicious! Here’s a link to a recipe I found online, but the one I had tasted a bit more complicated than this (I think there were more ingredientes): http://www.recipesource.com/soups/soups/20/rec2087.html

After lunch, we were given a tour in the taxi of Puerto Barrios and were able to see where they filled all the shipping containers to export bananas. Then, since we still had time left (the $40 had bought us an extra 2 hours with the taxi after lunch), our driver took us to the botanical gardens. We were able to see more exotic plants and could see the flowers up close here. Be prepared, however, if you come here, because there is no charge to visit the garden, and they rely on the gift shop and café to support the place. We didn’t feel any pressure from anyone to buy, but we felt that we ought to spend some money there since we did enjoy the gardens. Fortunately, they have a nice gift shop with lovely hand carved Mayan masks, paintings, Guatemalan weaved cloth, jewelry, and the typical touristy things like post cards. Usually I hate buying souvenirs because once you get them home, there doesn’t seem to be any use for them except to lie around. Here, however, we had no problem picking out a really nice Mayan mask to hang on the wall.

We went back to the port, where they have a very large metal building set up with music, dancers, and lots of vendors. There is a huge selection of merchandise here, and in my opinion, Santo Tomas had the most interesting things to buy out of our whole cruise. I broke my “no souvenirs” rule again here, and bought a painting as well. This and the mask were the only things we bought the entire trip, and I love both of them :-) All in all, we had by far the best day of our vacation in Santo Tomas and it was, without question, our favorite port. Do yourself a favor and do some exploring here. Those who stayed on the ship really missed out!

I wish we could get to Tikal. Tikal is offered on the Sun out of Cozumel, but it's a long day on a bus, and I don't think my kids would be happy for it to take so long.

Actually, it is TULUM that is offered through the NCL Sun at the Cozumel port, NOT TIKAL. If you consider the distance between Cozumel and Tikal, it would really be ridiculous, if not impossible, to get there and back in one port day. Tikal is in the far northern section of Guatemala, for those of you who don't know. You can pull up a map from mapquest if you are curious. It can be done as a day trip from Belize City if you are staying there overnight, but would be too far to go on a port day. I have never been there myself, but have heard that it is a VERY large site and you may consider staying overnight and spending two days if you are very interested in Mayan ruins.