Chigirlcruzin

My sister is on Adventure of the Seas right now. It’s her first cruise in 12 years after many years of Disney World vacations. They are in Grand Cayman on Tuesday and have a private excursion booked. How do they get tender tickets? I know it will be in the newsletter but not sure if she needs to look today or tomorrow. I have many cruises under my belt but only two Royal and have zero recollection of the tender process. Thank you in advance. 

My sister is on this cruise! Enjoy!

15 minutes ago, Monica887 said:

This was in roatan. Perhaps it varies?

Mahogany Bay is developed by Carnival but the vendors are not run by Carnival, so it’s not really a private island. Carnival’s private island (actually Holland America’s island that Carnival uses) in Half Moon Caye, Bahamas is the actual private island and is set up more similarly to GSC. HMC is more beautiful in my opinion. I’d book a Carnival cruise just to go there again. 

1 hour ago, Monica887 said:

One more plus for NCL, on the private island you can eat at the buffet ( which isn't great but gets the job done). On carnival I just had to pay to eat at fat Tuesdays on a private beach.

Carnival offers a “free” buffet on their private island. 

1 hour ago, Oakman58 said:

Threads like this drive me batty because of the people who say the Epic is their favorite ship.  Why is it your favorite Ship?  What does the Epic offer that the other large NCL ships don't?

 

People who complain about the Epic almost always list what they don't like yet those who say they love the Epic never mention what makes the Epic their favorite.  C'mon, tell me why the Epic is better than the Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Joy, Bliss, and Encore.

I find the Spice H2O area superior to later iterations; I prefer the pool to the “water feature.” Bliss is also superior on Epic. I much prefer the Bliss setup on Epic to Bliss on Breakaway/Getaway and Skyline on Epic. I like the size and fact it’s completely separate from the casino. I also like the gym on Epic the best. It’s the largest and therefore the least crowded. I haven’t had to wait for a machine on Epic. I have no Getaway and Escape. 
 

I have zero interest in sailing Encore because the the removal of Spice H2O and addition of go carts and laser tag take away the already limited outdoor space. 

11 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Any word on a new location for Chef's table?

I was on the 12/1 Freedom sailing and we did the Chef’s table. We were told it is staying the same, though they are trying to make that space a bit more private. 

Change that flight! It’s not impossible to make, but why stress yourself out at the end of a great vacation? Cabs are quite limited in the port area, and it’s about 45 minutes to the airport. It was almost 8 before they started the debarkation process on my July cruise. Computers were down at the Copenhagen airport which greatly slowed luggage check in. Then there was a shift change at passport control that required us to wait. My bag was pulled for additional screening when we went through security. We arrived at the airport 3 hours before our flight and only had time to go to the bathroom before boarding, and we flew the day after the cruise. 

2 minutes ago, yearsofcruising said:

SDP is going to be Bayamo ..Moderno...Food Republic       Platinums for Cagneys & Le Bistro..

Perfecto.  That was my game plan.  Thats what I thought

You can’t use the platinums for Cagney’s and Le Bistro. You get one coupon for one dinner for two at either Le Bistro or Cagney’s. You get another coupon for another dinner for two at either Moderno or La Cucina. 

You don’t have to change anything though. Use your SDP for Bayamo, Cagney’s, and Food Republic. Use your platinum vouchers for Le Bistro and Moderno. 

1 hour ago, Birdy9003 said:

The tax would really add up plus the 99 dollars a person a day plus gratuities.  Let hope it's not the case.  I dont want to rack up 100s of dollars in tax charges.

You won’t. Never been charged VAT tax on drinks on any of my Europe cruises. 

I was not charged any VAT tax while in any European port. This includes Epic out of Barcelona in July 2018 (Spirit to various Greek and Italian ports in July 2017 and Getaway to the Baltics in July 2019). 

I was on the Getaway July 4. They had the pasta station every day. 

Bottled water, fresh squeezed juices, energy drink, Starbucks, and drinks over $15 are not included in the premium beverage package. 

There is an upgrade available for $35 per person per day ($29.99 + gratuity) that does include all of the above. However, I was on the July 4 Getaway sailing and did not see this offered (and I was looking for it, only out of curiosity. I didn’t want to upgrade). 

Perfect, thank you all! Suit will stay at home. And kiddos will have to deal with pants for a few hours lol. 

Hi! Experienced cruiser but only one on Royal ten years ago. We’re booked on Freedom of the Seas in December. I see there are three types of dress codes - casual, smart casual, and formal. 

Regarding formal night, do men really wear suits and ties? I’ve been doing a lot of NCL and that is definitely not the norm. No big deal if it is, but don’t want to bring a suit if it’s not necessary. 

Are there nights that are specified as smart casual? Last time I was on Royal it was either casual or formal. 

Finally, I assume children under 12 have to follow the same dress code? Specifically they will have to wear pants for dinner? 

I have no issues following the dress code - I just want to know the norms. Thanks in advance!

12 hours ago, crucero said:

I've never cruised another line besides Carnival, but I've been looking at other lines in Europe. I enjoy cruising, but I'm ready for something besides the Caribbean.

I hit platinum on Carnival and then started exploring other lines. I am now also platinum on Norwegian and have cruises booked on Royal, Celebrity, and Norwegian. Huge variety of itineraries out there. Branch out...you’ll find there are a lot of great cruise lines out there. In the past two years I’ve done two Med cruises and just got back from a Baltics cruise. Carnival offers nothing like the itinerary I have booked on Royal and Celebrity. I am not a Carnival hater - I would gladly return with the right price/itinerary combo. 

I was on this cruise, too. Did you feel the crew was just a bit “off”? We ate in specialties 8/9 evenings (dining perks plus my platinum rewards), and service was SLOW, we were delivered entirely wrong meals, incorrect meat temperature, etc. 

The safety drill was the worst I’ve ever experienced in 26 cruises. Doing it in 4 languages took tooooooo long. People were rude, but listening to something where only 25% was applicable made people, especially kids, restless. I suggested they do separate muster areas for each language when I got the survey - no idea how feasible that is. 

I thought the only bad weather was the rain on embarkation day, otherwise we didn’t have rain and it was comfortable enough. I bought a jacket on the ship which I was happy to have for the evening in St. Petersburg and kayaking in Helsinki. 

We booked this same ship for the Mediterranean next summer. 

I booked on board last week. The cruise we booked is not eligible for the discount but the sailing before the one we booked is. We went from an 11 to 10 day cruise but saved $1500 in doing so. Done! One extra day in Rome!

7 hours ago, wikoffclan said:

So, please help me do the math - on a 14 day cruise with "free drinks" the gratuity is $303. At $21/day that's great for the wine/cocktail drinker in me, but is it true it doesn't include bottled water for my friend? What about specialty coffees or fresh orange juice. I'm hoping she sees some benefit from this "perk". Some insight would be appreciated.

 

 

$303 per person.

The perk does not include water, fresh squeezed juices, and specialty coffees. You have to upgrade the package (at $29 per person per day plus 20% gratuity) to get those (and I don’t know if coffee is included). 

If your friend doesn’t drink at all, it might be worth it for you to pay the cost of both packages as even at $606, you only need to drink about 4 drinks a day to break even, which is very easy to do unless you have a lot of 12+ hour port stops. If you friend drinks minimally, she only needs to average 2 drinks a day to break even. 

I got off the Getaway on Saturday - 9 night cruise with 6 port days (overnight in St. Petersburg and 8-5 in the other ports). We each had a minimum of 8 drinks a day so it was well worth it for us. Once they know you have the package at dinner, they keep whichever wine you ordered flowing. Somehow on cruises I don’t get drunk lol so keep them flowing. 

19 hours ago, EganFire said:

Question - for those who have traveled Solo on other ships (besides the Bliss) with Studio cabins, did you find the host organized more activities than just dinner?

 

For  those who traveled Solo on ships without the studio cabins, did you ever have a host organize more than dinners? 

 

Thanks for your time responding. 

I’ve sailed solo on Epic 4x, Getaway 1x, and Escape 2x. The host always planned extra activities, usually with the schedule prepared upon boarding. 

I stopped attending the solo gatherings because the 5pm time was just too early for me, as was the subsequent dinner. Fortunately I met my match and no longer cruise solo ☺️

I would always choose 7 nights over 5. 

How did you get to $1000? The grats would be about $435 as you mention, but $99x11x2=$2178 for two people, for a total of $2613 if you do not get the drink package included. I love the drink package. I like picking my own room so I wouldn’t consider the sailaway rate. If you drink 2 drinks a day, you come out ahead. If you only drink beer, you’d need to get 4 beers to come out ahead.

You can get two drinks per card at a time. I’ve never had an issue with lines. As previously mentioned, you cannot being alcohol off the ship. 

You can reserve your tender spot via the iconcierge app as soon as you board.

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I’m going against the grain. Vibe is overrated IMO. One hot tub, a shower, but nice lounge chairs. It gets very hot up there, and it’s WINDY! I bought it for my first Escape cruise. Second Escape cruise I never had an issue finding a chair and/or a quiet space.

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I have 25 cruises under my belt. First 23 cruises I’d get to the port around 10-10:30 and be amongst the first on, for many of the reasons listed by others. The last two cruises, I ended up sleeping in at my pre-cruise hotel, and got to the ports around noon. No waiting in line, and I was able to walk right on the ship after checking in at both Miami (Escape December 17) and Barcelona (Epic July 18). I’ll aim for noon in the future. I find Vibe overrated and I like not having to wait around.

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Just got off the Epic and while I didn't join in, the solo host was fabulous. He had a week long itinerary laid out with a different dinner gathering each night in a free restaurant, an activity held by the ship, and then an entertainment option, 1 early and 1 late so you could be occupied with other solos from 5pm to midnight.

For example: happy hour in the Solo Lounge at 5, dinner in O'Sheehan's at 6:15, bowling in Bliss, the show in the theater and then a late night entertainment.

I was in the Epic a month ago and I was just going to type something similar.

As for the age ranges, I’ve done 7 solo cruises on NCL, and ages range from 20s to 70s+ with most in the 40-60 range. M

I tend to not participate in the solo activities as much because the meeting time and dinners are just too early for me. I do go the first night and meet people and tend to connect throughout the week on our own, though.

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