novalab

Even if they think you have a travel iron in your luggage you will need to go to the Naughty Room! This happened to me on our recent Allure cruise. When I didn't receive my main suitcase, I went down to Customer Service to report it missing (never received a notice that it was being held & it was already past 7 PM on our departing day, I was stressed). CS has a list of confiscated bags & I was escorted to the Naughty Room. The first thing they asked me was "Do you have a travel iron in your suitcase?" I have cruised enough to know better. They had me open my bag & we went through the 'area' of suspicion that showed up on the scanner. No Iron but I did have a small dial type suitcase weight scale. We all figured out that little scale was the questionable (but allowable) item & they apologized & I was able to take my bag.

So, save yourself the stress & wear wrinkle like the rest of us:D

Have a great cruise!

Have done both & prefer RCCL. I found the decor on Carnival way to agitating. I could never really relax. The children on RC seem better behaved & tend to be with their parents when out in public as opposed to running in packs without adult supervision which we seemed to run into on Carnival. That may just be due to the times of year we normally cruised in the past. Now, we choose never to cruise over the summer or during Spring Break on either cruise line if we can help it. The food on RC seemed better to us. Service has always been good in the MDR on both lines per our experiences. Carnival does have some fun restaurants (Guy's for instance) but Royal's specialty restaurants are better & more varied. We just sailed Allure in May so I may be sort of leaning a little more towards RC at this time. That was our BEST cruise to date!

I urge you to try both & see what you think. In many ways they are very similar. We just like Royal better...they really do keep their ships in beautiful condition along with points I mentioned above.

Of course if you post this same question over on the CCL board, you might get different answers....:rolleyes::D

More frustration - thought I'd found the perfect idea - the Jewel 5/16/15 leaving San Diego, ending in Vancouver on 5/22, with a B2B 5/22 sailing on to Alaska. Just as I began booking, I realized this violates PVSA since the Alaska cruise ends in Seattle - transport for the B2B begins and ends in the US. Sad, but not RCI's fault.

 

Second thought - do the first leg on the Jewel, spend a night or 2 in Vancouver, then find another Alaska cruise leaving Vancouver. Found one (different cruise line) leaving on 5/23 and decided to go ahead and book them both. The RCI online price for the 5/16 cruise is actually a little cheaper than our usual online TA, so decided to book online directly. I picked a cabin, got all the way to the point where I had entered all our information and was ready to 'review cruise information' and got the message "Sorry the information you requested is not available at this time, try again later". We've all heard it a million times, but why can't RCI fix their website!!! It seems you have to pick the lesser of 2 evils to deal with RCI - an hour on the phone, or an hour+ on the website. Much as we'd like to do the Jewel Pacific Coastal sailing, it's getting much too frustrating.

Don't give up...try talking to one of RCCL's booking reps. I'd have a copy of the 'print screen' picture handy of your online price when you make your reservation, just in case their quoted price to you is higher than their website pricing. It really will be worth the effort:o

No, the gangways are open 24 hrs. You can come and go from the ship as you please.

Thank you for your reply! I think that is the answer that she will want to hear. :)

I have another question about an overnight stay, such as we will be having on this cruise in SF. I have friends that want to book this cruise. She asked me if RC allows cruisers to stay out late when the ship is in port overnight. Is there a curfew?

I told her I would ask & get back to her as I have never overnighted in a cruise port.

Thanks!!

New terminal is at Pier 27. It's due to open later this year. It's about half a mile from the current cruise ship pier. Due to open within the next few months. If 2 ships are in the same day, the one that is originating from SF will board there, and a visiting ship would be at the old terminal.

The new port is in between the old port and pier 39 is all within walking distance of each other. The new terminal is set to open sept 21st I believe I know it will be open for my Alaska princess cruise on the 27th

 

 

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Thank you both for this info! I hope there will be a SF originating ship in port the day we arrive which would cause us to divert to Pier 39. I loved the convenience of having our ship just steps away from so much to do, see, & eat!:p Plus, due to a past injury, my DH can't walk all that much these days (guess we could grab a ride on the electric trolly up to Fishermans' Wharf). Really looking foreword to this cruise!

I live in the Bay Area. And had to jump ship temporary for a princess cruise to Alaska round trip from San Francisco. But I am going on the jewel california costal cruise next year. It would be nice if they followed princess footsteps with a quantum class out of San Francisco to Alaska. Have amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge and glaziers through North Star.

 

 

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Is the new San Francisco cruise port terminal close to the old one....around Pier 39 @ Fisherman's Wharf? We loved the terminal that Mariner docked at when we went on her Pacific Coastal! Hope the new dock is still within a short walking distance to our favorite sourdough bakery (Boudin,s).:D

There are 3 Pacific Coastals (Jewel of the Seas) on the schedule for 2015. Two will be departing from LA & one from San Diego. The months are: May, Sept. & Oct. We have already booked the Oct. 3, 2015 sailing which overnights in San Francisco. Our other ports will be Santa Barbara, Monterey & Encenada (4 ports total not counting LA).

We are so thrilled to have a RCCL ship back on the West Coast! Even if it is for only 3 cruises, we just can't pass it up. Maybe RCCL will send us another ship in the near future if we can fill these 3 cruises & show them that they can make money out west! We're sure going to do our part!:D

We were on Allure the first week of May & it was on the menu on the 2nd Formal night (also lobster night). Didn't see it any other time.

I miss this ship more than any other that I have had the good fortune of cruising on! Can't wait to book another cruise on this class as I know we didn't see it all the first time!:eek:

Our favorite restaurants: Giovanni's & Izumi

Some of our other favorites:

LOVE the cookies @ the Promenade Cafe (their specialty 'charge for' coffee's were actually better than Starbucks. Regular coffee & tea were free)

The secret balconies on deck 11 (and a few others)..great place for a nap!LOL

the cinnamon french toast for breakfast in the MDR

The Dog House...really good hotdogs!

The Comedy Club (be sure to make reservations if you still can!)

How to Train Your Dragon Ice Show...really cute!

Quest!!!

I could go on forever but I will leave you with these suggestions for now.

Have a WONDERFUL cruise!!!!

So envious! We LOVED our recent Allure cruise & just hated having to leave her. We tried most of the specialty dining options & have to say that Giovanni's & Izumi were our favorites. If you like French toast, try the variation they serve in the MDR for breakfast...it was really yummy & the warm cinnamon aroma was fantastic!

Have a wonderful cruise!

The 2 bottle ship special of Sheriden's:D

Our family have 2 upcoming cruises for the summer, one on RCCL & other on Carnival.

Our 2 kids (now 21 & 18) have cruised with us for most of their lives.

So far, We've been very happy with the food & service in the assigned Main Dining Room.

We've dined in a specialty restaurant once on Princess, without the kids. Great experience.

 

Now that the kids are older, we've always wondered how/why would we want to pay $35 upcharge per person ($140 for family of 4) for bypassing one dinner evening in the MDR for a Specialty restaurant experience.

So let's use Chops Grill, for example.

Wondering if the better ambiance, service, & higher quality of beef justifies the upcharge. Further upgrade to dry aged beef or lobster is another $20.

 

Could see we maybe go if just us 2. But want to spend quality time with kids also, so still wondering if upgraded Specialty restaurants worth it for our family?

We tried several of the specialty restaurants while on our recent Allure cruise. Below is what we felt about each of them(taking into consideration the cost for what we personally received):

Chops...OK but not as good as we have experienced in the past. We still had the old menu.

Izumi...Really liked this one & felt it was worth the extra charge & then some.

Samba Grill...OK but wouldn't book it again. After a while, most of the meat we tried tasted the same (I'm probably not being fair to Samba's. DD & I are not big meat eaters & passed on many of the offerings. It just wasn't worth the expense for us.) The sides were good:rolleyes:

Giovanni's...this was our favorite of the four we tried! We had a lunch & a dinner in Giovanni's & experienced the best service & food both times. DD tried their petite fillet at dinner & said it was better than the Chops fillet. Their espresso's are fantastic! Also try their tiramisu, best we have ever had!!

I would definitely recommend Giovanni's for a fun family dinner if your ship has one.

Enjoy your cruise!!

Was just on a B2B on Allure and the sound was there as soon as we boarded the ship and each time we disembarked!....:)

We sailed her last month & the sound was still there:p

Does anyone know how long it takes for the points to be added to your account after a cruise? I don't feel comfortable since the website was changed.

Thanks.

Mine showed up about a week after our recent Allure cruise.

We are doing the Liberty Thanksgiving cruise and it looks like our flight will not leave FLL until 8:30pm so we are thinking of doing an excursion. Do they hold your luggage? Anyone do one? There will be 8 of us, 4 adults and 4 children. thanks

We recently took the FLL city tour excursion offered by RC after our Allure cruise. It was a nice way to wind down our cruise before our late afternoon flight. You can either walk off the ship with your luggage or put it out in the hall the night before (you'll have to pick it up in the terminal prior to the FLL tour). All the luggage goes on the bus with you for this tour. You'll also be in the first group of passengers to disembark the ship (approx. 7:30 AM).

We thought the best part of the tour was the paddle wheel boat that took us on a nice trip through the inter-coastal waterways of FLL. Some of the homes were amazing! Our tour guide was also amazing. She was very knowledgeable, had a great sense of humor, & provided us with info overload!LOL

The tour ended at the FLL airport at 1:30PM. We had plenty of time to go through airport check-in & have lunch before our flight departed. RCCL also has a separate bus tour for those that are flying out of the Miami airport.

Wow....I did book the cruise on Sept. 26, 2015, and traditional dining is already closed. :eek:

Apparently, this cruise is selling very well. The hump cabins I wanted are already booked.

We ended up on deck 8 in 8688 (I think). At any rate, we are fine with that choice.

Also, they are asking for prepaid gratuities already.

 

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

Pat

We booked the Oct. 3 cruise during the first week it opened. We couldn't get a hump cabin on deck 9, (our deck of choice) as we are only 2 people & the hump cabins on that deck can hold 3 (the new RC rules on cabin capacity applied to this sailing). We too are fine with our 2nd. choice.

Due to choosing MTD, pre-paid gratuities was already added on to our booking confirmation.

So glad that RC is offering a Pacific Coastal cruise again. We do hope they sell out all 3 WC cruises & decide to return a ship to our side of the county on a permanent (seasonal would be OK too) basis.

Really looking forward to our first Radiance Class cruise!

Thanks! For some reason RCI doesn't love me. :(

They must not love me either. Never received one after our recent Allure cruise. In fact, we didn't receive a copy of our final bill either (neither did any other cabin in our area of deck 11 aft). Had to call them when I got home for an e-mail copy. I know they have my e-mail address correct because of all the e-mails that I received from them pre-cruise reminding me to buy one of their drink packages:rolleyes:.

THank you JTICarruthers. Between you and Clarea I think I understand.

 

So if I booked this today, would the price of the lowest oceanview cabin be locked in at todays' rate?

They set the amount of credit at the time they get the redemption request.

I recently (well, sort of recently:rolleyes:) did this for my Allure cruise. I had enough points to redeem for a free companion fare for my DD. I took a chance & redeemed the points when the OV cabin was at a high price point. That pretty much cleared out the cost of DD's cruise (we booked a Boardwalk balcony). My longtime TA handled this for us through RC/BofA (at one point, a 3 way conference call was needed to make sure we got the best value possible for our points). The only down side to this is the fact that once you cash in your points with RCCL, if you should have to cancel your cruise, you do loose your points. They do not reapply them back on to your card. They make sure you know this right up front. The RC/BofA rep asked me twice during our conference call if I understood that point.

Luckily, we did not have to cancel our Allure cruise. It turned out to be our BEST cruise ever & thanks to the BofA/RCCL Visa card, one of our most economical! (note: I'm not an employee of RCCL or BofA Visa.....just a very happy with their program customer:p) Oh, & I was also able to apply additional points that I had accumulated prior to the cruise for OBC:D

We recently stayed at Hyatt Place Convention Ctr. They have free airport shuttle service, a complimentary breakfast & is located within a short walking distance to lots of restaurants & a large shopping center where you can buy your pre-cruise wine & anything you might have forgotten at home. We took a taxi to the port & it was around $14 for the two of us (plus tip). BTW, the rooms at Hyatt Place were wonderful! We had a 2 room sweet with a wetbar (and fridge), desk area, conversation pit sofa, 2 queen beds, nice bathroom with separate sink area, a safe in the closet with an iron & ironing board. And, the rate was VERY reasonable!

I think there was a lot less rudeness on this cruise compared to the last one but the people insisting on shoving into an already packed elevator is simply ridiculous. There are 24 elevators on this ship... if you can't get on the first one it's not the end of the world :rolleyes:

Hi Chris!

Jess & I felt this was our only minus to the best cruise that we have had the pleasure of experiencing. My poor DD, she had her little feet stepped on so many times while standing in the elevators during this cruise. In fact, on our last elevator 'ride' as we were heading out to disembark, (jam packed with passengers & their luggage), a man who was told by many in the elevator to wait for the next one as ours didn't even have inches to spare...ignored our requests & turned his back on us, pulled himself & his HUGE suitcase into the elevator & crunched down on DD's little toe!:mad: Of course she was wearing sandals. It is still swollen & black & blue.

So word of caution....we found this elevator jamming to be the norm on this ship. Guard your toes!

Happy to have shared this cruise with you in person! We LOVED every minute of it!

Judy & Jess

Look under specialty dining and you should the times it is available on your sailing. We went the first night, however it was offered on at least one other night.

On our February Eastern cruise Rita's Fiesta was Day 4 and 5, 8:30-10:30PM. ken

I thought I had seen that on RC's site when I was making our other dining reservations several weeks ago. However when I checked today, the option of making further dining reservations was not available. Seems they pulled the plug on our cruise. I suppose it is because we are sailing next week?

I will check on it when we board. Thanks everyone for your information!!

Been a while since I sailed Allure, but they had the Rita's Fiesta on the first night both times I did. My wife, friends & I loved it.

Thank You treborry! That is what I needed to know:)

After reading so many favorable posts on Rita's Fiesta, I feel that we should give this experience a try too! We will be sailing on Allure (Eastern Itinerary) next week. What days/evenings is this offered?

Thanks so much for any help & advice!

One more sailing and then we will be on the Allure!! Can't wait!! We cruised on Oasis, and even though it is HUGE, it just didn't feel that way!! Balcony cabin, deck 12, 12+ days and counting!! :)

We'll be right there with you!!:D