cyclenut

If we are supposed to wear a mask, I'd wear one.  It's not that big of a deal.  Obviously you can't wear one while doing certain activities and I would expect them to understand that.  Waterslides, flowrider, swimming, etc.  Dining is a no.  Drinking in the bar is a no.  Anything that requires frequent hand to mouth.  

However, during certain assemblies (e.g. Muster) or shows, no issues for me.  Anyone who has a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask should seriously reconsider cruising as they are at high risk anyway.  

Once we have a vaccine, I think this whole thing will be a non-issue.  You will likely have to show proof of vaccine as you do for other sorts of travel (e.g. Yellow Fever in some areas).  

It's disappointing to see so many people making assumptions about Royal's intentions for "killing" the M&M program.  I see no evidence of that.  I'm an IT person myself and its far more likely that this particular application had some sort of database problem that went undetected until reported but has now been restored.  M&M is a relatively cheap loyalty program for Royal Caribbean.  No reason that I could think of to want to kill it.

I checked our M&M and it shows something like 125 guests registered.  I re-registered and it still shows our cabin listed.  We should be good to go!

I enjoy craft beer.  My favorite is Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing.  I was at their new Windsor brewery last week and took home a case.  Happen to be sipping one right now.  

Very disappointed in the Harmony beer list posted above.  Looks like a healthy number of them are from AB-InBev, including the Belgian style brews.  Mass produced, readily available in large quantities.

Last cruise was on the Disney Wonder and I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have more to choose from, but looking at this list, Disney has done a pretty good job of putting decent variety on tap.  

We do have the drink package, so I'll likely find myself going with rum drinks and an occasional whiskey since the beer list is so disappointing.  Will be on Harmony this August.

I don't find that to be true, at least on DCL. I like the chicken tenders (that's my afternoon pick me up snack). I also like the burger, fries, pizza, and the sandwiches served there.

 

Now, poolside food on most of the other lines we've been on, I'll agree with that statement. Except for the burgers on Carnival, those were great.

It's very hard to have these discussions on food quality as tastes vary greatly. I will agree on the chicken tenders though, just skip the fries. I really can't even eat the pizza and I've tried, even this last April. It's just not good and I LOVE pizza. I remember the pizza on Royal being better, but it's not poolside. I stopped eating any burgers at any Disney site a few years back as I couldn't get a decent tasting burger. They overcook the meat to avoid any risk of foodborne illness. Just too dry. The exception is their higher end restaurants where they will cook to order.

Guy's Burgers on Carnival are amazing and the burritos at the poolside Mexican place were also very good. That's only the newer Carnival ships though.

It should be OK. Most electronics are allowed. It's unlikely they will even know what it is when they xray it. Would not hurt to ask of course.

I'm sure that if you are bringing it, you know how to configure it and use it, but I have never seen the need. I also have done work on my company laptop while on vacation, but we have a system that encrypts communication between the laptop and the company network to prevent (well limit really) issues from a public WiFi network.

This cruise is just me and my wife so we were interested in some adult activities. We like the whole Disney thing and she had always wanted to do an Disney cruise. Hope it’s as nice as everyone says it is. 3 sea days so hope to relax. I have a very stressful job so it will be nice to leave the work phone at home

 

 

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It's usually just my wife and I on cruises these days and we enjoy the Disney experience. There are some adult only activities throughout the ship, but you do need to look for them. When you get on board, talk to someone right away to get some tips and maybe some help to get into some things that appear closed on line. Mixology and various tastings are available, but they often fill up quickly.

We like to play games in the pub and there are some adult only trivia. There were also some dance lessons that were adult only but not sure they are offered every cruise as we have never tried them.

Adult pool area is far less crowded most of the time. Late night clubs are fun. We like to nap a little in the afternoon to be sure we can stay up for the after dinner shows. We also do late seating, which has fewer kids.

We have loved the service Disney offers, but if you go into the cruise expecting too much, you may come away disappointed. This happened to us on our first Disney cruise. We did a lot of research and heard such amazing things we had unrealistic expectations. When those were not met, a perfectly great vacation was made to seem less so. Disney cruises are great and you do pay a premium, but they are not flawless or perfect or even a luxury cruise experience by any means.

If you really love Disney and go on the cruise vacation expecting a great vacation experience with a few bumps along the way, you will have a great time. Then, if you just happen to get lucky and get your version of perfection, you will be truly delighted.

We will continue to sail Disney, but for what it's worth, our next cruise will likely be on Carnival. We really want to try out their Havana Cabana rooms. Very unique and looks like a lot of fun.

We have been on 22 Disney cruises. And yes I think I should get some advantage to being platinum. So we book certain things as soon as they become available usually 120 days out. I wish we got discounts or free drinks or laundry like other cruise lines. Alas no. But we have never failed to make changes to an existing reservation at palo, add a cocktail tasting or get additional slots to princess gathering while onboard. Just go to guest services as soon as you arrive and call palo when they open on first night.

I just think Disney has their frequent cruiser perks wrong. Yes, you should get some perks for being loyal, but Disney only gives you perks that don't cost them much, and they have shrunk some of those perks for Gold and Silver members. The think I am most unhappy about is the mixology and tastings. I've never had much luck booking those once onboard. Palo yes, those, not so much. Frankly, I think you should ONLY be able to book those once onboard. But alas, that's not the Disney preference so we suck it up and deal. Not a fan though and I do let them know this at every opportunity.

We paid the same amount as other cruisers. Our slot opened up and everything is already sold out. I know I will be bashed because this is our first cruise with Disney. I think Disney should set some tables for first timers so we can experience the whole Disney experience. We been to Disney world over 20 times and we don’t get any extra perks why should people get them because the cruised 5 times

 

 

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This is also one of my biggest gripes against Disney. They have so few ships and the number of people that are DVC members or have Platinum status is pretty high it seems. They always get priority and it's nearly impossible to get what you want until you are at least gold, especially for the popular itineraries.

Disney should do something different to ensure that first time cruisers get the chance to experience all of what Disney has to offer.

There are a lot of things that are not permitted by DCL that happen. I get that they won't rent you a private room on the ship for a vow renewal or wedding. It would be extremely difficult to regulate what a small group of people are doing on the beach...unless' date=' of course, one is in a wedding gown! If someone wants to hold a small ceremony to remember a departed grandma or to worship the sun god, it is unlikely that DCL personnel would even notice unless the group interferes with other passengers.

 

A DCL planned wedding or vow renewal on Castaway is not "private" either--they use areas that are less used by large numbers of guests, but anyone can walk by during "your" time.[/quote']

 

I would not recommend that anyone try to do a wedding vow ceremony of any kind on Disney property (Ship, Castaway or Hotel) without paying the Disney fee and having Disney run it. They are known for interrupting these attempts and have likely seen enough of them to recognize them pretty easily. I'm sure that some have gotten away with it, but they don't allow it. I could only speculate why they are so strict, but my guess is that if they didn't police it rigorously, people would be trying to do it all the time and it would quickly get out of hand.

 

The Disney cost is actually quite reasonable if you've ever tried to pay for a wedding (as I am doing for one of my daughters right now).

We've eaten at Cabanas for dinner. It was very enjoyable. However, I would prefer to have a buffet option for dinner. If I want table service, I'd go to the MDR. I really think this is another area that other lines have an advantage over Disney. They can serve you a very quick table service meal at Cabanas by the way, so if you are in a hurry, just tell them. That said, a buffet dinner is going to be faster.

The pool side food is borderline inedible most of the time.

We love Palo and try to do both a brunch and a dinner. They do set aside some times for booking on board. If you go immediately to the Palo reservations area when you board and talk to them, I think there is a good chance they will find a way to fit you in. You'll have to be very flexible on the times though. As was mentioned, Brunch is only available on sea days so it will heavily depend on how many sea days you have.

What I like about the brunch is you can order food prepared for you or you can just select from the buffet. They have some meats and cheeses that you may not find many other places, including fresh prosciutto. Service is also excellent. We've been impressed every time. They record who your server was the last time and even a few details you may have shared. Our server greeted us with a welcome back and we picked up a conversation like old friends. Talk about feeling welcome. His name is Mlad and he's on the Wonder.

The bikes are beach cruiser style. They have the standard frame and the step through (typically for women). The seat is the wider beach cruiser style and they do have a cup holder on the bike to take a drink with you. You can ride around all the paved areas pretty easily, but you can cover so much ground on a bike, you run out of places to go pretty quickly. I like to ride out to the observation tower to get a great view of the island and the ship in the distance.

I've found that I had picked out a decent bike and when I returned from the observation tower, someone had taken the one I was riding and left me with a different one. It's pretty much a free for all in that regard. They don't really keep close tabs. It's not like anyone is going to steal a bike.

There are some rough rocks in places along Serenity Bay (adult beach) but once past them, I've been fine. It isn't a bad idea, but it is required either.

Wife and I purchased a pair of Reebok water shoes that look a lot like sneakers that we use. They work great not only for the water but just for walking around. Hard to get the sand out of them though and they are a bit heavier in the water than the thin water shoes we've also tried that are really only good for the water.

While everyone here has advocated for trip insurance, we doin't always purchase it. We evaluate each cruise to decide if we need trip insurance or not. Much of the time we opt out. If it is just my wife and I and we can drive to the port, the chances are much lower that we'd miss the cruise. If we are just planning on being beach bums, the risk of injury is pretty low too. We are rolling the dice a bit. That's the thing about insurance. It reduces your risk. We decided to purchase the trip insurance for our 14 day Panama Canal because we booked so far in advance and we'll have to fly to and from two different ports.

Just sailed the Wonder in January after having sailed her twice before. We had an aft cabin on deck 7, close to the OP cabin. 7132 I believe. We sailed out of Galveston on a fog delay and the captain had all engines at full RPM through our entire journey across the gulf, skipping Key West, to get to Castaway Cay at a reasonable time (we were still late).

The seas were relatively mild, but we definitely noticed vibration and noise greater than usual, although tolerable. We slept fine. Later in the cruise when the captain was at more normal speeds, there wasn't much of an issue at all. Having looked at ship speed, wind and sea conditions and listening to the Captain tell us what he was doing, I concluded that it was a combination of full RPM and the ship pushing against current and headwind to make speed that contributed to the vibrations. I was also guessing that the new Duck Tail contributed to the issues, but since our first cruise on the Wonder was Alaska, we never experienced those conditions. Our second cruise on the Wonder was SB Pacific Coast and I don't remember anything then either, but we were more midship. Point being, I really couldn't say if the vibrations existed prior to dry dock. That part is pure speculation.

I've been on other ships and other lines in aft cabins and they all have some sort of noise or vibration from the engine room at higher speeds. That's pretty normal and largely unavoidable I would think. These are big machines after all.

THANK you, everyone, for responding. I've decided, after reading many reviews on several sites, that I should skip this cruise. It seems that there is engine noise (creaking/banging/stuttering) ) or cleaning crew (2nd floors) or some matter of disturbing noise (pool, dining rooms, theater) no matter the floor or the area of the ship. I've been on the Dream a couple times and never had noise issues - perhaps because it's a bigger and newer ship - or maybe I just got lucky. I'm 68 years old, a light sleeper, and I get very cranky if I can't sleep. Two nights out of three without sleep and I'm just ready for my quiet bed at home. I'm hoping my daughter and her family don't have too many issues with noise and movement - I will give them advice on noise canceling machines , ear plugs, and motion sickness pills/patches. They are both teachers, and their son is 11 years old, so this is a real treat for them - just to get away on a DISNEY cruise. Also hoping they aren't too disappointed, as the last two cruises I took them on were on the Dream...a much better ship. Again, THANK YOU ALL!

That's your choice of course, but not one I would make. I've been on the Wonder three times now, the most recent in January. I didn't find our cabin any different than the other ships and lines I've been on in terms of room noise. A LOT is dependent on cabin location, weather and your particular sensitivity to noise. Aft cabins are going to be more subject to vibrations from engines but only at top RPMs, rougher seas are going to cause twists and creaks. If you look for posts about noise, you are going to find a lot of them. People don't write about quiet cabins, they write about noisy ones. It's one thing to heed the reviews of others and it is quite another to look at all of the bad reviews and make your decision based on that.

We've done the NB on Royal and SB (your trip) on the Wonder. We were lucky enough to actually spend two days in San Fran with an overnight, making it a six day.

You should expect a very nice experience that is a complete cruise with all the same bells and whistles as any other cruise. You may find a bit more maintenance going on as they sometimes use a repo cruise like this one as a way to transition the ship too. You may notice some Alaska port gear on clearance or shops changing over merchandise. On our trip they were doing some refurbishments on the rooms so there were blocks of rooms that were empty and small areas blocked off. I would not expect that this time as the Wonder is currently in dry dock. Just know that they sometimes use that time for this type of work. It's much harder to do while the ship is in Alaska.

Someone mentioned choppy seas and I want to emphasize that. Be prepared for much more rocking than you would experience on many others itineraries. They can't really go around storms much because they are hugging the coast and there isn't a lot of extra time. Our SB wasn't all that bad but it was definitely noticeable. Our NB trip was very bumpy. So much so the cruise line had to empty the pool because it had become a wave machine, sloshing large quantities of water out onto the deck. Most are not going to be that bad, but the Pacific Ocean is much more active than the Caribbean on a day to day basis (sans Huricanes).

All in all this is an excellent itinerary.

Being that this is Cruise CRITIC and we do publish professional and member reviews, I thought that this would be of interest to our members.

 

Disclosure: Cruise Critic is owned by Tripadvisor.com.

 

"Have you ever spent a night in a damp, dirty, splooge-encrusted hotel room? Has a restaurant ever served you a meal that was gross and obviously (and badly) microwaved? Me too. For a lot of people, the first port of call in these scenarios is Yelp, or TripAdvisor. The problem is that a lot of companies have a tendency to get a bit litigious in these scenarios.

 

Thankfully, Congress just advanced a bill that makes it much harder for businesses to sue customers for posting negative reviews. The Consumer Review Fairness Act bars businesses from sneaking non-disparagement clauses into contracts with customers."

 

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/09/14/tripadvisor-reviewers-may-gain-legal-protection-salty-establishments/

Good to know. I recently wrote a review of my Carnival Breeze experience and never thought about a possible disparagement clause.

We were priority and self assist. We were off the ship and through immigration and customs by around 8 am. Very quick really. I saw people looking for porters and a few were able to get them but we didn't need one. We travel with one large roller bag each (not the carry on type, the larger ones), a backpack for each person and one additional duffel. Worked out fine.

The one problem we had was elevators. Even with self assist before any floors had been called the lobby was full of people with luggage trying to come down from the upper decks. A door would open and there was no room. We were deck 7. I thought about just hitting the up button and getting on just to get a car, but we schlepped our luggage downstairs ourselves.

I also noticed that while we were told to be there by 7:30, by the time we arrived there was already a long line and we were there just before 7:30. Basically, people came pretty early and just waited. I don't think it ended up making a big difference, but just know that this could happen.

Breakfast is open as early as 6 am on debarkation day so if you want to eat before you leave the ship, plan to awaken very early. With a 10 hour drive ahead of you, I'd recommend you get on the road and grab a quick breakfast on the way.

We were in our car and heading down the highway by 9:30 am. That was after stopping for gas. Our drive was only 5 hours.

The only addition I have to this is that the Hub app chat feature seems to have some issues. There were two in our cabin (wife and I) and we each paid the $5 for the chat. It worked once. After that, our messages to each other never went through. Very unreliable.

The Hub app has a nice feature for the pictures. Take a selfie and it will use facial recognition to find the pictures. You can purchase them as a digital download through the hub app. You never have to go to the Pixels area and search for your pictures again.

Just off the Breeze last week.

The OBC is the only benefit, but it is better than nothing and you do get those vouchers for friends and family so they can join you. Every little bit helps.

You can only book the Carnival product while onboard a Carnival cruise. Even though Carnival owns several other brands, you can still only book Carnival.

There is a session you can attend on one of the last sea days that will go over the entire program in detail, but if you wait until then, you will stand in long lines at the future cruise desk. There is only one person and the hours are limited. Yes, they are posted in the Fun Times, but they are still limited.

We decided not to book since the other restriction we noticed was that you really need to know what cruise you want. There is some flexibility to change but it appeared you had to sail by the date you booked onboard.

Carnival advertises incentives so often that we found we had almost the same deal booking on shore as we would have received on board. By almost I mean we had a $50 OBC and would have received a $100 OBC. Everything else was the same in terms of price.

I really want to love Carnival. They have a lot of ships on the water sailing from many different ports to some very good places. We sailed the Breeze just last week and were in a Jr. Suite. I was surprised by how "ordinary" it felt. Yes, the room was larger and we enjoyed the balcony but really don't like the room layout. The larger bathroom was nice too but that was about it.

The thing I think I noticed the most was that the ship felt a lot like a cheap Vegas hotel. We more or less expected that so we were not disappointed but we are usually so enamored with a cruise that we book another one onboard. We've never been compelled to do that with Carnival and were not this time either. They will remain our "cruise on a tight budget" or "getaway" cruise line.

That's not a bad thing mind you but it won't likely make us frequent Carnival customers.

I love a good burger and I'll be on the Breeze soon to try them out. I don't have high expectations. We have some amazing burgers here in the Dallas area. One is Twisted Root, which ironically was a single shop that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Guy's most popular show). They are now a small chain and they are awesome. Another great place for burgers around here is Kenny's Burger Joint. Kenny is a chef that has a few different restaurants around town and he hoped two of these Burger Joint locations. What makes both of these places so good is perfect balance of a great patty cooked just right, with a bit of pink in the middle and still juicy (some call that greasy I guess), a fresh but firm bun lightly toasted so the juicy patty doesn't immediately render the bun soggy and a good variety of fresh toppings. Lettuce and tomato are basics so it needs to go beyond that.

I also like 5-guys, In-n-out and Mooya for what they are. A very good fast food style burger. All of these chains also use fresh ingredients and have found that right balance between meat and bun. A lot of people in Texas seem to love their Whataburger, but I'm not one of them. Fudruckers used to be great but something has changed and I'm no longer a fan.

Other places that serve burgers that I really enjoy are Red Robin and Chili's.

I'm hoping that Guy's is a cut above 5-guys but I am not expecting it to match Twisted Root or Kenny's. I've eaten at a couple of Guy's restaurants on land and really enjoyed what he did there. I'm not expectating it to reach that level.

One of our best cruise experiences was on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. Beautiful ship with awesome entertainment. Had the best time. We've sailed Carinval a few times but only the short itineraries out of Long Beach. Next week we'll be on the Breeze for our first 7 day Carnival experience. We live in Texas now so itineraries out of Galveston are more attractive.

The entertainment we've experienced on Carnival to date has been pretty horrendous. The comedy shows are not bad but the production shows were almost like a parody of a real production show. Dancers were marginal at best and there was only one good vocal talent, which wasn't enough to carry the shows. I'm hoping our Breeze experience is different, but I'm told by those in the performance industry that Carnival can't attract the top talent. A stint on Carnival for a performer is not looked at favorably by casting directors (so I'm told). I'm hoping that is old information as I've heard Carnival is working to improve its reputation.

The other thing that I've noticed that's different is that Carnival really pushes it's alcohol. On the ship and prior to sailing. When I order a beer on another line, they bring me a beer. When I order one on Carnival they try to insist a get a bucket (if I'm anywhere near the pool).

No thanks, I don't need a bucket.

Are you sure, let me bring you one.

No, I don't need a bucket.

It's almost like getting a free beer.

Please just bring me one beer.

OK if you insist, but I know you'll be wishing you had chooses the bucket.

Seriously?

Disney has a nice thing for beer lovers. They have a beer mug program. It's really just a gimmick or twist on the bucket but you get to keep the mug and bring it back on future cruises for discount draft beer.

The staff on Royal was quick to learn my drink preference and when I arrived in the theater they would bring me one before I even ordered it. Totally shocked but it happened more than once and not just in the theater.