RNCheryl

How far ahead of time (The 120 day booking) are show times available.  We are a group of 10 and need to coordinate with the other travelers about which show times appeal to them.

You can't always get what you want... I have baby fine, limp, straight hair that requires products and a curling iron, with industrial strength spray.

Oh, for curly wash and wear hair..

Can ten of us be accommodated in Teppanyaki?  7 adults and 3 kids?

Likewise, for family dining in Manhattan, is a table for 10 available?  Reserve in advance?

We are taking our family on the Bliss next July to celebrate our 50th anniversary.  There are 10 of us, in 5 cabins.

Will I be able to get the sign on information to all 5 reservations on the web site in order to make sure we all see the shows together, have a specialty dining, etc.  Husband and I are being billed for all 5 cabins.

Have you looked at Regal Princess? We did the Baltic tour last year, arranged all our tours with ST. Petersburg tours, and were completely happy with everything. 2 days pre cruise in Copenhagen.

Could have happened to us in Nassau. DH was at a lunch meeting with a client, and I just spent about half an hour walking around. Sailing time crept closer and closer. He didn't answer texts or calls. I was literally shaking worrying that he would not be back on time. Of course, the passports were in the safe on board. I imagined him in a foreign country with no passport, trying to catch the ship at the next port. (a third country). Since then, the passports have been in my bag on all shore excursions (haven't done any snorkeling, etc yet)

We were on a Rhine river cruise and a couple missed sailing. They grabbed and cab and we pulled over to shore at a designated place to get them back on board. They were almost celebrities for the remainder of the cruise.

Our 50th anniversary coming up summer 2019. Want to take the family with us on an Alaskan cruise. We have been there on a Coral Princess cruise some years ago and absolutely loved everything about it. But now we have three granddaughters who will be 12, 10, and 7 at cruise time, and the Coral would be boring for them. Looking for the best fit of family and sightseeing.

Daughter in law is afraid of seasickness, so I am concerned about sailing round trip from Seattle, where the ship goes west of the Inside Passage. Is there much difference notable when you are in the open ocean?

The Bliss looks like it was made for kids. But I understand that the ports are all tender ports, is that right? Would that be a big deal to someone who is prone to ( or thinks she is prone to) nausea?

Do you think there is enough time in port to really see Alaska?

We loved Glacier Bay; what are the alternatives like, if we go with Pearl?

We will need an ocean view, maybe aft balcony, cabin for us, inside cabin for a friend, balcony for 2 people, and the family of 5, how would you suggest berthing them?

First world problems....

Not sure where this hotel is, but A1A is closed because of all the sand migration onto the street. Today is a beautiful, hot day in Ft Lauderdale, barely a breeze blosing

Any idea when summer 2019 Alaska cruises will open for booking?

We are a family group of Grandparents, Son 1 and wife, Son 2, daughter in law with 3 kids who will be 12, 10 and 7 at sailing.

Would also welcome cabin configurations, i.e. 2 adults and 3 kids.

If you like to sing, whether you are very good or not, each Princess cruise I have been on has a Princess Chorus. Practice is every sea day. There are printed lyrics and a cruise activity person directing. I have met some wonderful folks doing this. The highlight is performing in the atrium. Maybe all the passers by didn't enjoy it, but I sure did!

Our experience on Reflection was very different. Husband has a history of low back pain, but does not bother him too much. Right before our cruise, he carried lots of heavy stuff that he should not have. The first day on board was fine, back pain managed by ibuprofen. However, the next day he was in spasms and pain. The clinic gave him muscle relaxers; he stayed in the cabin with ice packs, etc. But he was miserable and we were missing all the cruise activities. We decided to go home from Jamaica (we live in Florida). The concierge could not have been more helpful. She booked flights, arranged for assistance disembarking and even accompanied us to the cab, carrying luggage for us. Above and beyond. I didn't expect a get well note from the captain. We got good customer service.

I just booked today!! We are on Serenade of the Seas 10/8. I booked Oli's Trolley 4 hour Acacia National Park tour. In Halifax, we are doing Taste of Hallifax "Eat Hallifax" tour. Got both ideas from Trip Advisor

Feeling your pain, and hoping that everything is better from here on

Forgot to add that one of our choice criteria was air conditioning. It was quite warm when we were there and we were glad for our choice.

We stayed as Swissotel on Dam Square. It is such a wonderful walking city, easy to walk to the Anne Frank House, canal cruises. We were a block from the tram which takes you to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum. This is a city to people watch, and our hotel was a great location for that. We took a cab to the port (river cruise)

Cruised Allure in January. We had breakfast in Windjammer twice. Once would have been enough for me, but DH wanted to try again. The thing they represented as an "omlet" was a horrible square of eggs with no meat visible. The bacon was greasy and not crisp. Of course there were plenty of healthy items: fruit, granola, etc. But I am on a cruise, I want good stuff. By the way, it was only slightly worse than Johnny Rockets. Stick to MDR for breakfast

We were on a Royal cruise a couple of months ago. Docked in Nassau. Hubby had business associates there, and went for a business lunch. I walked around the dock for a few moments and back to the ship. Well, we got to 12 minutes before sail away, and he was not on board. I had called/texted during the previous half hour, with no response. He made it on board, but just barely.

What I have learned: if you are in a foreign country, have your passport with you. Had he missed the ship, he had nothing but his US drivers license and credit cards. How to get from Nassau to St.Maarten.

Plus I gave him the evil eye and associated treatments

We loved the Cosol tour in St. Lucia. We had a rocking bus load of cruise critic friends, and have stayed friends 6 years later. Our last visit to St. Maarten we did the Flavors of St. Maarten food tour. One of the best we have ever taken: http://stmartinfoodtours.com/

Mani/pedi. Pack the night before. Less stress. If I forgot it, I can buy it. (making sure passports, documents, medications are included)

We have cruised Celebrity and Princess. This is our first Royal cruise. Hubby wanted to try one of the mega ships, so Santa brought him a cruise on the Allure of the Seas.

What we liked:

The cabin (ocean view, deck 8, port, aft) was spacious and had lots of storage space. The bed was very comfortable. I asked the steward for a softer pillow, but not to be. The Tube/Shower was claustrophobic, to say the least. Our cabin attendant was friendly and did his job well. We boarded at 2:30 and luggage was not in the cabin by 6PM.

Food: We had Any time dining. The first night was a Laurel and Hardy comedy, no one knew what any one else was doing. Many folks signed up for reservations on Any Time. Isn't that what you were avoiding? In any event, we learned to avoid 6:45 and went earlier, and wait times went down. Main dining room food was good. Prime rib was better than I expected and the tenderloin was excellent. Worth mentioning: the linguini with pomodoro, lentil soup and key lime pie. Waiters were personable. There was a problem with filling tables, especially the first night. There were tables, both clean and dirty, near us, and remained so for 30 minutes, while people were waiting to be seated.

We took the Galley tour, $20pp. Billed as a small group of 15. Turned out to be a group of 30. Our tour guide was from India and, although very knowledgable, his accent made it hard to follow. We saw a very restricted portion of the kitchens. We were disappointed in this tour. However, the idea that they can feed all those passengers many times a day is amazing. 40,000 rolls per day, who knew!

Our specialty dinner was Chops and it was very enjoyable. Beef was excellent. Aleksandre was a memorable waiter.

The buffet: what can I say. Compared to our other ship experiences, it was chaotic. No omelet station. No waffle station. Bacon greasy. Not to my liking. However, breakfast in the dining room was much better. Eggs Benedict, smoked salmon, etc.

Breakfast in Johnny Rockets one morning was unremarkable.

I had a hot dog and a slice from the Boardwalk venue and both were good.

Entertainment: once you get past the fact that advance reservations (which I made) were necessary, we were pleased. We enjoyed the comedy club, Mama Mia, diving, Blue Planet and the Ice skating show. The featured entertainer, Earl Turner had us on our feet laughing and dancing.

The staff was friendly and accommodating. Our cabin steward was a hard working exuberant guy. Calling out the daytime bartender in Schooners and the line staff in Park Cafe: surly at the best, rude at the worst. Dining room staff was excellent. They worked hard and smiled.

The not so good:

Internet $13 per device per day, seems excessive to me.

In room TV, we didn't watch a lot, but the satellite signal left a lot to be desired. Even in range of Nassau, CNN kept going in and out. And now that I mention CNN, is there a Fox News equivalent to keep things balanced?

The Library: I brought a Kindle with one book loaded. I wanted to find a book for hubby to read. The Library was a disgrace: only German language books available. No excuse. Royal, go to Amazon and order a few hundred used paperbacks.

Others: The shower is a tube which is claustrophibic. I always bring our own shampoo so no comments there.

Compared to Princess and Celebrity, we missed wandering around in the evening, finding music to listen to. Guitar, piano, trios, etc. This wasn't obvious to us till the last couple of nights. Props to Elliott, who is the musical director of Mama Mia. He did West End/Broadway songs in Schooners one evening late, and I stayed awake to enjoy.

Did not enjoy this: the constant overhead announcements of "buy 4 get the fifth free" and similar promotions. Trying to relax and read in Schooners while hubby was taking a nap, and every 2 minutes (I kid you not), blaring announcements for the fantastic bargains to be had. PLEASE

Our excursions were all self directed. Hubby had a business contact in Nassau, and he met with and had lunch with him. I wandered to town, and quickly returned to the ship.

St Thomas: we took a cab to Red Hook and went on a sailboat, stopping at a snorkel spot at St John and had a lovely dinner. On St Martin, we did Flavours of St Maarten, food tour, and had a great time.

In summary, we are glad we did this trip. But will not do the Oasis Class ships again. That said, we met many folks on board who were doing B2B or who had sailed on this ship many times.

C'est la vie.

We are booked on the Regal in June. Itinerary shows a stop in Warnemunde. Port guide shows we will be docked at L31 which is across the river. Anybody know if Princess provides a shuttle to the town?

Are you on the June 2nd cruise? We have engaged SPB tours for a trip to Berlin on this stop. I know it is a long day filled with travel, but we have never been to Berlin, and are likely not to be there again.

That being said, I have seen some trip reports of wonderful days spent in the Warnemunde area

Princess does it right; laundry room on nearly every deck

This was a lot of fun in Aruba:

https://www.trikes-aruba.com/

Reminds me of our Panama Canal cruise on Princess. There was an obscure little announcement of a "choir". We practiced every sea day, probably 20 of us, mostly women, from around the world. Last night at sea we gave a concert in the main atrium. It was the most fun I have ever had at sea.