CruiseMomTX

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

By all means go for the full transit and the Radiance is a great ship for the Canal, lots of topside, forward viewing areas as well as the bow is open for passengers to view the transit from there as well.  I know the tour that takes you through the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut can wind up being a long day,  but not every one of those tours end up being hopelessly delayed with late return to the ship.  Even though you are planning a full transit, this excursion provides a different experience being on a smaller vessel, very different from when you transit on a large ship.  Give the excursion another thought when you visit Colon.  Whatever you eventually wind up doing... enjoy!

Thank you so much for your help!  We don't do a transit on the 2/27 sailing just a stop in Colon and will rethink the tour options.  But we are also looking at a Fall or later sailing that would do a full transit.

23 minutes ago, BillB48 said:

The Vision and Radiance class ships use the original locks.  To date Royal has not sent any of their larger ships through the Canal.  Many of their larger ships such as the Oasis class won't fit under the Bridge of Americas. 

 

At the top of this forum there is a pinned post Panamax Ships, the last post in that thread has a fairly complete list of ships from various cruise lines that can use the original locks.  Royal Carib is listed with all of their ships that can use the old locks.

Thank you!!  We are sailing on the Radiance for the first time on 2/27 and visiting Colon & Cartagena for the first time and are excited.  I think we finally decided on the Eco Cruise on Gatun Lake for our Colon excursion.  We wanted to do one that went through some of the locks but after reading how long of a day it is and then sometimes the tours get stuck behind canal traffic causing the excursion to last even longer we changed our minds for now.  Considering a cruise in the Fall on the Radiance that does the full transit.

I forgot to ask if any of the Royal Caribbean Ships do a full transit through the old locks?

On 2/5/2023 at 12:56 PM, njhorseman said:

Not only is a full transit preferable but you should also try to sail on what is called a Panamax ship...a ship that can use the original locks. A transit through the new locks is not nearly as interesting. 

Thank you everyone for the information.  What is a Panamax ship?

Thank you for the information!  That dessert looks delicious, what is it?

Thank you!  We also booked her for our Feb 27th Radiance cruise.  Were there opportunities to buy water, drinks, snacks?  Trying to decide what to put in our backpack.  

Thank you everyone for the information/input!  

So sorry for your experience and from the tour description it sounded like you should have also done the observation deck.  I would have gone straight to the excursion desk and complained and asked for a refund or some sort of compensation.  

This is why I wish people would do more reviews on here of their tours. Just a basic review of the ship excursions and no need for a huge review unless you wanted to.   We are on the Radiance 2/27 also our first time to Colon & Cartagena.  For Colon we purchased the ship excursion Eco Cruise on Gatun Lake and for Cartagena we booked a tour with Dora the Explorer.

Sorry I posted that on my phone and did not realize you can't really read the fine print on the computer.  Thank you for putting the info..

Here is our menu from the Allure. Read the very bottom.  I can’t remember if we ever made any special requests but I think if you’re nice to the staff & tip well you may not have a problem with a request.  
 

I saw the link to parade route information after i posted this. Whoops. Also like the above question people that live there might have better insight. Also looks like there is a 5K that morning. 

Were on the Adventure this Saturday 2/11/23 and received an email from Royal about possible traffic or road closures.  Does anyone know if there will be road closures, etc. that we can plan for?

We have now parked at:

*North Lot Premium Covered - Fantastic and were literally steps away from the terminal so walked our luggage over to the drop off area and was even nicer when we got back.  

*North Lot - Still great, I got dropped off with all our luggage, took our bags to the drop off area and then waited while my husband parked and walked to the terminal.

*South Lot - Also still great parking and same as last time I got dropped off with luggage while he parked and then walked to the terminal.  I think this lot may have a shuttle but it wasn't necessary for us.  Upon return I waited with luggage while he walked to our vehicle then he came and picked me an luggage up.

While it is more expensive than our usual of EZ Cruise, and honestly not that much more, the convince and zero hassle make it worth it for us.  Make sure to sign up for their loyalty program and sign in to it before booking it helps to save on the next booking and so on.

We are on the 2/11/23 sailing. 
Is anyone currently 2/4/23 on the Adverture ?  We just got this email & I know they are talking about celebrations in Galveston but got us wondering if there will be any Mardi Gras celebration onboard the ship. I see there is a Valentine’s Day Lovers Ball with Adventure Orchestra at 5 & 9pm in the Imperial Lounge.  There is also a Special Valentine’s dinner at Chops for $79.99.  Also wondering what they have planned for the Superbowl even though I’m just a “Yay Sports” person, lol.  If anyone is onboard & wants to ask we would appreciate any information.  

 

In Cozumel take a taxi downtown and. wander, eat shop, drink, eat at Guitdos

In Costa Maya go to El Fuerte for the day 

lots to do 

Oh and taking the stairs is good for your health...coming from something that is out of breath after 2 flights, lol.  Relax and enjoy your vacation!!!!!!

You do you!  If someone lets what other people wear to dinner dictate if they have a good time or not is on them, lol.  My mom is a travel agent so we always pack for my hubby a pair of pants and a long sleeve button down but only wear them if absolutely necessary.  Oh and alway pack anything you can't live without in your carryon...meds, swimsuits, a change of clothes, etc..  I think you are good with a nice pair of shorts and a button-down or pants and a button-down. You paid for your vacation not for other people to enjoy theirs!!  Have fun.

Does anyone know if any of the places that offer yearly plans are primary insurance?  We do not currently have medical insurance and now that we are cruising again have multiple cruises booked for this year and are interested in a yearly plan but do need it to be primary insurance.  Thanks for any help!

5 minutes ago, LaceyJenee said:

Thank you so much for posting! I’ve been looking forward to these!

Your welcome!  The portions were always way more than enough & too much sometimes. 

3 minutes ago, taznremmy said:

Well said!

Thank you!  We were on the actual Live Allure sailing 1/22 also and wish we were still on.

Oh wow & what a saint you are!!! I hope they realized you saved their a$$.  I got half way through reading this & had to start over out loud so my husband could hear the story.  So glad you made it back on the ship & hopefully someone shows this to the Captain or Cruise Director & they need to give you an award!!! Try to enjoy the rest of your journey. 

We were on this sailing with y'all and had a great time!  Thank y'all so much for the live even if I tried not to spend too much time on my phone to keep updated and am mostly catching up back home.  It is fun to see how everyone on the same sailing spends their time.  I almost hate to also vouch for Sky Reef as we don't want it getting crowded but love going there.  We have only gone there while staying in Cozumel but never on a port day.  Have never seen it too crowded, fantastic snorkeling, good food, drinks and service.  

The last few sailings while in Cozumel we have gone to No Name Bar for Bloody Marys and to lay out by the pool and then walk downtown to eat at one of our favorite places.  We did recommend last month Sky Reef to a couple fairly new to cruising and glad we saw them at the end of the trip to hear how much they enjoyed it and appreciated the recommendation.  

4 hours ago, Tagsalong said:

We did Regal Princess B2B over the holidays and were treated regally.  If Princess would put a ship in Port Canaveral (practically in our back yard) we would do mostly Princess.  And we are Top Cruiser on Brilliance this week.

We have never sailed on Princess but considered it and we are Diamond on RCCL.    Could you elaborate more on why you would switch to Princess?  Also any information you are willing to provide as to what you enjoy most on your cruises, etc. would be helpful.  We are in our 50's, enjoy most of the food and shows on RCCL but probably spend most of our free time in the casino so earn a lot of "free", lol, cruises.  

We finally started booking with Next Cruise in January after a lot of new friends we made kept telling us about the OBC and in our case casino free play they were getting.  We have booked 2 different cruises onboard and then another we filled out the form on the last night and dropped in their box and then received an email with a confirmation number.  A few days after we got home we called and picked a specific sailing for that booking.  Now we know to either book something onboard or at least fill out the form and drop in the box.  To be honest we always thought the Next Cruise was going to be something like sitting in on a time share presentation but glad to know it is not.

We have never been to Krazy Lobster it always looks too busy.  Like c-leg5 said El Fuerte is usually pretty quiet, sometimes a big group comes next door that can be a little loud but never a bother to us.  

58 minutes ago, GJustice said:

New menus, we'll let you know how the excursions work out. 

Thank you and enjoy your cruise!