cruzgryphon

They use Seattle's best coffee at Café Promenade.

Were you actually able to go right to your stateroom too?

It's highly unlikely. Typically staterooms are available around 1pm to 1:30pm.

Assuming Provence really means the port of Toulon (I think that's how they listed it when I did my Western Med cruise a couple of years ago) - it wasn't very good. You had to take transportation to the major sites in the region such as Marseille, Cassis etc.. From what I've heard about Palma - it sounds a lot better.

The only other difference in the itineraries is docking in Cannes vs. Nice. Nice gives you access to Monte Carlo - which I liked a lot. Don't know anything about Cannes aside from what I've read about it - and it didn't sound as interesting as Monte Carlo. Both are places to watch how the rich and luxurious folks play so it might be a wash.

Here's the information my TA sent to me for my cruise last December on the Jewel:

Emergency number of 888-724-7447. You’ll needname of ship (Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas) and the cabin numbers. It will ask for a credit card right up front and it's about $8 / minuteUSD once connected. If there is no answer in the stateroom a message will beleft a guest services and they'll get it to you.

Add me to the list recommending the Sheraton Convention Centre. When booking be careful because there are two Sheraton's in San Juan. One is in Old San Juan and the other (which I'm recommending) is by the convention centre. Happy cruising.

Sailing on FOS in May in the Western Med. Wondering if anyone can recommend any of the ships shore excursions for La Spezia and for Naples? So much choice it is confusing.

For Naples I would recommend an excursion to the island of Capri (can't remember if there are more than 1) but if one of the excursions goes to Anacapri I would choose that one.

For La Spezia I would recommend an excursion to Florence - the one I did was " HistoricalFlorence & Accademia Museum – LL01" and I really enjoyed it.

As Bob mentioned you're itinerary and route would, to my mind, be a key factor in deciding whether or not to go with a balcony. It maybe quite scenic and you may want to sit on your balcony watching the scenery with a coffee/tea in hand or it could be mainly sea, in which you may not want to go with a balcony.

Good point about the customs. With Vancouver, as long as it fits through the scanner you're ok. I think the biggest limiting factor will be the height when you lay it on it's back. Length wise (handle to wheels) pretty much anything goes.

Keeping the US customs item in mind, as long as they can fit through the scanners you'll be ok. Be careful with the size. When I went through Vancouver, my carry on (that I carry onboard the plane as well), barely fit through the scanner.

I've taken a couple of 500ml bottles of water onboard in my carryon luggage two or three times and haven't had any problems.

I agree with the postings above regarding order. When you're looking at excursions, I would start off by researching the ports that you'll be visiting first. That way you can get a feel for what you're interested in seeing/doing. Then you can compare private offerings vs. RCI offerings (look at the Ports of Call forum and its sub-forums for ideas). Enjoy - you're in for a fun time :)

I did a seven day Baltic cruise last year with a Balcony and it was well worth it. I'm not sure it is quite up to par with Alaska, but I still think it's worth it.

For example, if you're going to Stockholm - the cruise through the archipelago is amazing - with a balcony you don't have to fight for space on the upper decks. You'll find the Baltics weather wise to be similar to Alaska in case that factors into your decision.

I haven't sailed on Oasis class yet. But on other ships that I've sailed on that used to give out the booklets, haven't in the last couple of years. It's a pity they were quite handy.

I agree with Enchantment over Majesty.

I wouldn't do the overnight in Nassau as there isn't enough to do there to justify 2 days.

I've taken 3 and 4 day Royal Caribbean cruises and never found them to be much of a booze cruise type atmosphere. Mind you part of that could be that I've never cruised on an American long weekend.

With respect to Coco Cay - it's worth pointing out that since it's a tender port, there's always a chance that it will be skipped due to sea conditions. Just something to consider.

There's not much difference between Coco Cay and Norwegian's private island. In fact you can see Norwegian's private island from one end of Coco Cay.

With kids that age if you like a particular brand of potato chips (e.g. Pringles) bring it with you from home or else pick it up from a grocery store your embarkation port as they, along with gum, chocolate bars are quite expensive to buy on the ship.

If you're not tied to a specific airline, I would suggest trying Delta, directly on their website. Cheap flights out of Toronto and a lot cheaper on their website than the same flights on Expedia etc. (even if you're looking at Fort Lauderdale as an option).

Just be careful with connecting flights irrespective of airline.

This past December I flew to San Juan via Miami on American Airlines. There wasn't any snow or anything like that and the flight left from Pearson on time. However when we got to Miami there was a big storm around the airport and we got redirected to Fort Lauderdale until the storm left.

Even though I had 2 hours time between arrival and departure of my connecting flight, I still missed the connection and the next available flight with room didn't leave until 4:30pm arriving in San Juan until just after 8pm local time (don't forget San Juan is an hour ahead of us).

Luckily I was flying in a day earlier or else it would have been an utter disaster.

If it says to book on board then it's possible that all the booking spaces for online bookings have been filled.

If you post the time of your flight and whether it is a connecting flight to somewhere else in Europe from which you'll leave Europe (e.g. fly Barcelona to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to say Boston) or if it will take you out of Europe directly, then we (cruise critic people) will be able to give you some more specific advice.

Agree definitely go private tour operator for Russian excursion. If you go to the ports of call - Northern Europe and do a search for St.Petersburg private excursions you'll find lots of reviews and information.

Enjoy your trip - Baltics are great.

The times will be available about day 5 (if you're doing a 7 day cruise). But the times they provide will only be the time you get off the ship - not the time the shuttle leaves for the airport.

If you need to get to the airport early, then you are probably better off taking a taxi. If I remember correctly when I took the shuttle to Barcelona airport the disembark time was around 8:30am then you get your luggage etc. and the bus is outside the terminal. The bus then waits to 80%-100% full before it leaves for the airport. So if you self disembark you'll still have to wait a bit before the shuttle is ready to leave. There won't be a shuttle for those self disembarking. If you check with Royal Caribbean they will generally suggest that you don't book the shuttle for flights leaving before 12pm.

Do you mean the post cruise excursion? A couple of possibilities:

1) Often they don't put the post cruise excursions on the cruise planner

2) Since you're so far out (relatively speaking) it's likely they will add it later. A lot of times they don't have their complete list of excursions until about 6 months from sailing date. They are very inconsistent that way - sometimes they'll have all the excursions posted 9 to 10 months before sailings other times you need to wait until 6 months out before it's finalized.

One thing to remember with the times is that they are approximate. Depending on traffic etc. you may be a little earlier or late getting back. Something to keep in mind when booking dinner times.

Lately there have been periodic pre-cruise discounts on specialty restaurants (like 20 to 30% off). If you have your email on your account, you should get a notice when they have them. So you might want to wait for one of those. You have lots of time - unless there is a particular day and time that you want to book. Another thing to keep in mind is that typically you won't be able to book a specialty restaurant until 6 to 9 months before your sailing.

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has been able to download shore excursion brochures from the following link: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/shoreExcursions/downloadBrochure/

I was able to do so a couple of weeks ago for sailings in September and December, but now when I try I get a message that it can't find any sailings for my ship/dates. Anybody else experience this?