RNCheryl

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.

We have eaten at Casa d'Angelo on special occasions and have really enjoyed it.

The latest hot spot on Las Olas Blvd is Louie Bossi. We are eating there tomorrow night, took 2 weeks to get a reservation. Outstanding reviews, all pasta homemade. http://www.louiebossi.com/

Another fabulous place is Cafe Martorano, real old school New Jersey/Italian. Just a spot in a strip mall, but you won't forget the food.

http://www.cafemartorano.com/

Try asking people on your Cruise Critic Roll Call if anyone is interested in joining you in Qsine. It is more fun with a group

Hi Terry: looking over some records, here were the tours we did on our semi-transit tour on the Coral.

Cartagena: "Tour in Cartegna" with Marelvy Pena-Hall - $65 per person (approximately 6 hour tour):

Limon: "6 Highlights in 1 Tour" with Eduardo Humphreys - $71 per person (5-6 hour tour):

Ocho Rios: "Blue Hole Tour" with Liberty Tours - $50 per person:

Cartagena: there are many private tour organizers that go to approximately the same locations. We chose this one based on trip advisor reviews and were not disappointed. Very active vendors at some sights. Hot hot hot

Limon: this was a very interesting tour. We went to an animal sanctuary, along a very scenic drive.

Ocho Rios: The Blue Hole is a great natural sight. Some very agile locals helped us up to the top of the hill and dived into the blue hole. I am a complete klutz, but these guys made the transit easy. On the way back, stopped for jerk chicken. Delicious. The guide (owner?) Ricardo was delightful.

The Coral size ship is our favorite. Small enough that the servers get to know you. In just 2 days, we had our favorites for morning coffee in the International Cafe, and drinks at Crooners Bar. And there are laundry facilities on each deck, reasonably priced, which is helpful in a hot/humid environment for this length of time.

My husband, who is a techie/engineer type, loved this cruise thru the canal. Me, not so much. But glad we had the opportunity to do it. Would suggest you get The Path Between the Seas; a great, easy reading history of the sacrifices made in building the canal.

Terry, the cruise "maven", I can't believe I am offering you advise. We sailed Coral through the canal. I was bored, but my husband, who is a bit of a techie, was in heaven.

My suggestion for you is for Aruba. We did the Trikes of Aruba tour. First, they give you a thorough orientation to the workings of the trikes. The tour goes around the island, stopping at all the major sites, with an historical perspective from the tour leader.

It was one of the singular most enjoyable trips we have had in the area. (and we are not youngsters!)

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

cmjfgal: When we did our initial payment, travel agent booked us from Basel to Zurich. No specific destinations provided. When we met in the hotel prior to the cruise, I spoke with cruise director and advised him that, as we were traveling on into Switzerland at the end of the cruise, we needed to go to the TRAIN STATION instead of airport.

It turns out that those two locations are very close together. We were on a bus with passengers going to the airport from Basel, and a few minutes later we got to the central train station.

Just speak with your cruise director prior to sailing. Avalon made transfer very easy.

Yes, there certainly was a piano play on board. I must admit that most evenings were were tired after dinner and an after dinner drink, and were ready to go back to the cabin to relax.

No complaints, as I knew this going in.

Just back from a wonderful European escape. Spent 3 nights precruise in Amsterdam. Stayed at Swissotel in Dam Square. Nice room, in the middle of the tumalt of central Amsterdam. Tram station a couple of minutes walk, easy to get everywhere. We took a canal boat tour with Those Dam Boat Guys and recommend. Small boat, personable and informed captain. http://www.thosedamboatguys.com/#intro

Context tours of the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum. Again, you get what you pay for, personalized and informative narration. https://www.contexttravel.com/cities/amsterdam

Toured Anne Frank house. There is a 30 minute English session prior to the tour that makes the whole thing come alive. Highly recommend.

Finally, we did a WWII tour with http://www.slagveldreizen.nl/. A very passionate tour director and well worth your time.

Boarded the Avalon Tranquility on Saturday afternoon after the optional tour to Zaanse Schans windmill village. Very touristy, but never the less interesting. Lovely photo ops here. https://www.dezaanseschans.nl/?lang=en.

The Tranquility II is a lovely ship. Our cruise had 125 passengers, almost total capacity. The passenger mix was mostly folks in their 60s, well traveled. Some young folks in family groups, a couple of 40something couples, some older. Cruise director was Stefano. He was always available during the day, went on several of the included excursions, but, unlike on ocean cruises, we never saw him in the dining room, or in public places in the evening. He was personable and very efficient, but not super friendly.

Cabin was on the 200 level, panorama cabin. Slightly smaller than an ocean cruise, but lots of storage space and a very nice, modern bathroom. It was great lying on the bed and watching the countryside as we sailed.

Meals were fine. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style. I had a veggie omlet specially mad almost every morning. Great bread. (On a tour of the galley, the chief chef told us that someone from the staff goes to the local village on every stop and buys fresh produce and freshly made bread). Lunch always had a great soup, plus a full range of hot and cold dishes. Dinner was a set time for everyone. Regional wines were featured and were very good. Some hits, some misses, but you always got enough to eat.

After dinner activities were marginal, at least in our observation. We attended a violin duo one evening (excellent), and the crew talent show (funnier than you would imagine). Otherwise, there were lots of movies on the in room TV.

The optional excursions that we did were as follows: A food tour of the Jordaan area in Amsterdam (a new excursion). We really enjoyed this and got to eat lots of regional treats such as herring, bitterballs, and Poffertjes.

We bypassed the Black Forest excursion, as it seemed like a long time on a bus for a short excursion. We walked thru the local village instead and had a lovely experience. We did the Alsace wine testing trip. It was OK, but hot and crowded.

Of all the stops, Koblenz was my favorite. Just seemed like there were dozens of alleys and squares that needed to be explored.

Avalon did a great job of transferring us from Basel to the train station in Zurich after the cruise. This just required a little planning with the cruise director.

A couple of other things that Avalon did well: on German day in the restaurant, there was an accordian player making music for us. On the Castle day, there was a BBQ on the upper deck, so you could castle watch and munch at the same time. After every excursing, there were cold towels, cold water and drinks awaiting you on return to the ship.

After the tour concluded, we spent 5 nights in Switzerland. What a magnificent time that was. 2 nights in Lucerne (rainy and cloudy, but we made do) and 2 nights in Wengen in the Bernese Oberland. Jaw dropping scenery. Our favorite hotel of the trip was http://www.hotel-schoenegg.ch/?lang=en-GB. The friendliest staff ever, and the views from our room could not be compared.

An expensive trip, but probably the only visit to this area, as there are so many places to see and so little time.

Enjoy!

We did this tour in Aruba, and it was the most fun we have ever had in the Caribbean.

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

I had never read that about AM room service. Sounds like a good way to start the day.

Enjoying your review very much. We will be on some of the same ports on Princess next year.

But mostly I want to have a hug to your sweet freckled grandson. Grandma and Grandpa are out of bounds wonderful. This is the best

Loving your review. And I have a Grand Niece due in August, her name to be Luna!!

Miss Magic: We are a retirement age , but still working, couple with children older than you.

We would LOVE to cruise with you. Your attitude is infectious and you would be great dinner companions.

Love your photos. Sharp and on point.

We did a Princess canal cruise last year on the Coral out of Ft. Lauderdale (our favorite ship, by the way) It was 11 or 12 days and too long for me.

Happy cruising!