mconthehighseas

Many years later in February, 2017... Luis, the pan flute, and his animal calls are still presenting tours! We were there three weeks ago and had the pleasure of being on his tour.

Did you meet up with him through a ship's excursion, or arranged a tour privately?

There is a museum on Nevis about Alexander Hamilton, who was born there. I haven't been there, but it is on my bucket list. There is also a museum devoted to Horatio Nelson.

http://www.nevisisland.com/historical-sites-landmarks

I lot of people must be lurking here, because cruisecal is Vverrrrrrrrrrryyy Slow today.

of course, i'll call again in an hour to see if the answer changes.

 

lol!!!!!

Also, the Deployment flyer has been a updated a little:

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2017_2018/17054855_Deployment_OpeningSchedule_Flyer.pdf

 

 

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Thank you for posting this flyer. My TA hadn't seen it, and I was happy to fwd it to her, so she could relax about getting me booked on a Dec 2018 Oasis class out of FLL. (She is unavoidably out of pocket this week.)

Thank you to cruiseboy and everyone else for posting the latest info, and the C&A info. Threads like this make CC a great community.

At the Harmony Inaugural Michael Bayley was asked about ships coming back to the West Coast. He said the door is open for discussion which is better than the "no" we've been hearing. Maybe it will happen one day...

I think it will boil down to competition with other cruiselines. If they can retain their loyal following by avoiding west coast ports, which are expensive for many reasons, then they won't need to return

I'm so glad I found this thread, and I am so glad it resurfaced, to quote Matt. It answered most of my questions.

The one thing I didn't see addressed was babysitting. Is that something the genie can arrange? (I would expect to pay). On our last cruise, our son did NOT want to go to Adventure Ocean, and we were bone weary at the end of the day. I am hoping that by taking a one year hiatus, he will be more amenable to spending time away from us, but just in case, I want to have a backup.

racerzxspeedy did an excellent job outlining many of the differences. I only have one thing to add.

If you are bringing children, you will be much happier on a Royal Caribbean ship. The children's programs are more organized, they have areas dedicated to children that are very kid-friendly, and you don't have to take them past noisy bars or the casino to get to places you want to take them.

Some things aren't as important to some people as other things, so the pros and cons can help you decide what's important to you. For me, the pools on Carnival seems much smaller, and the buffet area (Lido/Windjammer) seems much more narrow (and for me, claustrophobic) on Carnival. With the way the atrium is set up on Carnival, it seemed like a much noisier ship. But the price is better, and I think the food is too. So I cruise with my family on Royal Caribbean, and on Carnival with my friends

we are sailing on OOS on Sunday 2/26. I sent an email' date=' as I always do (we are D+) to special needs & they responded with "we no longer offer the egg-crate topper, as all our beds now have them" we shall see......[/quote']

 

 

Please report back and let us know how comfortable the beds were

Check out this thread, where people trade info about what's in store.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2400549

We were on Liberty OTS in December, and I brought our 3 year old to Adventure Ocean. I explained that he was potty trained, but sometimes has accidents. They told me that this is totally understandable, and since I would have a pager, if there was a problem they would call me. I asked specifically if an accident would get him banned from the program, and they said absolutely not.

The camp area was NOT empty, and there were constantly people coming and going.

I suspect that the literature says they can remove a child for an accident as a way to be rid of children who really are not trained at all. Of course, each ship might be different

What is Topher?

I think he's the dog at Jack's Shack

I noticed that the cricket pitch is not very far from the pier in Nassau. Does anyone know if it would be difficult to get tickets to a cricket match, and where I could find a schedule for that venue?

It's my understanding that the games can be very long, so we might not be able to watch an entire game, but it would be a nice change of pace and would get us to spend time with the locals

but we went to the BCHilton just for tea, went to the Pirate's Museum across the street, then shopped on Bay St. (Our own excursion.)

 

 

There are good walking maps of Nassau online- folks can walk to the many of the lovely Nassau buildings.

I really like your self- excursion! Is the BCHilton in walking distance to the ship?

I have booked independently for a sea lion adventure on Blue Lagoon Island. Haven't taken this trip yet, but it is the same vendor that the onboard excursions are booked through.

How long does this excursion take? We have some people in my group who like to sleep in, so I wondered if it can be done just in the afternoon.

You will get more responses if you move this to the Turks and Caicos portion of the board, since Grand Turk is not part of the Bahamas.

Sorry I can't help you; my first time in Grand Turk won't be until this summer.

Do any of these excursions take small children, like around 4 or 5 years old?

Our little one is 3 and will be Platinum on his next cruise. I told my husband that my goal is to get him at least to Diamond Tier in time for his honeymoon! DH laughed - but don't you think I am a very thoughtful MIL?

People tend to be less formal on Caribbean itineraries as opposed to European ones, and the shorter the cruise, the fewer tuxes.

HOWEVER, the great thing about a tux is that you can rent it precruise, and then

1- there's more room in your suitcase for other stuff, or you can take less luggage

2- the tux is delivered to your room on your first day, (try it on when you get it, and you can get it fixed/altered in time for the first formal night if there is a problem)

3- they take it away after the last formal, and then there is more room in your closet for laundry and souvenirs!

4- you don't have to worry about packing ties, etc.

DH loves all the compliments he gets when he wears a tux!

Thank you for your wonderful Kudos to Anis.

 

I corrected the spelling of Anis's last name and updated Liberty's Concierges generally. Did Anis start in the SL on 11-27-2016?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hKBiGZ9Gqcp2G2owtX3RyQy7yQ0ijgxCL0nPjQKK8j4/edit?pli=1#gid=0

Thanks Sherri! I'm glad I was able to controbute something to this thread.

I was on the Dec 4 sailing, and he was already on the ship, but I do not know what his start date was.

Rather than cancel and rebook, I would find a TA I like and ask to have the reservation transferred. But first, I would get in touch with the TA, probably by phone, and explain that I am unhappy and why. It may be that your TA was unavailable for a good reason. But you deserve to have a backup address and/or phone number to call when your TA is away.

If you prefer to stay in touch by email, your TA needs to know that, and to provide you an address that will be answered within 24 hours during the week.

It's been a week since I returned from our cruise, and I wanted to report that I could not have done without our Concierge. We were on Liberty OTS, and Anis Tebbeb is a wonderful Suite Concierge. I did not get to see Carlos Ortiz in the Diamond Lounge, because we were travelling with a 3 year old, and young children are not invited there.

Anis helped us get my husband's tux problems fixed at the last minute, he smoothed things over with the maintenance people when our son damaged the television (did I mention he was 3?), and arranged for a Next Cruise agent to come up to the lounge, where I could concentrate. He also helped us get a refrigerator for our suite, also at the last minute.

(I promise you that when it was just me and my husband travelling, I wasn't this disorganized!)

The new suite is beautiful, and comfortable. It's not as convenient as the one on the 10th floor, but it is worth the minimal extra effort to go upstairs. And the bartender, Beresford Hiddo, is still on staff and still excellent.

Sherri, can you update the doc with the correct spelling of Anis's last name when you get a chance?

Just got this note from the Liberty Suite Concierge: (note that the suite sit-down breakfast will be in Giovanni's and not Chops on this ship)

"As a special VIP guest(s), you are offered exclusive amenities and services not available to other guests onboard the Liberty of the Seas. For your convenience, here is a brief summary of those services:

· Use of the Suite Lounge located on Deck 14, aft

· Spa bathrobes for use onboard & upgraded bathroom amenities

· Complimentary pressing service on the first formal night.

· Continental breakfast served in the lounge on Sea days 8:00 am to 10:00 am & Port days from 7:00 am to 9:00 am

· Breakfast served in Giovanni’s restaurant daily from 08:00 am to 10:00 am on sea days & Port days from 7:00 am to 9:00 am ( closed on departure day )

· Hors d’oeuvres, petit fours and complimentary bar setup served in the Concierge Lounge deck 14, every evening before and after dinner from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

· Daily menus displayed and pre-ordering for your dinner wine.

· Full Dining Room Menu, Room Service privilege (available ONLY when the Dining Room is open).

· Priority reservations for any of our specialty restaurants, sport activities, Shore Excursions, Salon and Spa appointments, etc.

· Arrangements for private parties.

· Limited VIP lounge chair set-up above the Sky Bar on Deck 12.

· Reserved VIP seats for production shows and ice shows. (Please show Cruise Director’s Staff gold SeaPass card at the entrance – No reservation needed. Seats will be reserved until 10 minutes before start the shows)

· Private lunch in Giovanni's from 11:30 pm to 1:00 pm. ( Open exclusive on Sea days )

· Priority tendering (Please contact your Concierge for more details)

The Suite Lounge is designated as a smoke-free area. We respectfully request that guests observe a Smart Casual dress code when visiting the Lounge (no swim or pool attire is allowed, footwear is required at all times).To ensure all our guests are able to enjoy this exclusive lounge, we require that all guests 20 years and younger must be well behaved and accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times. "

Thanks for the very thorough information on LB. We really depend on folks to update us on the the Concierges and the lounges. Updated the GoogleDoc https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hKBiGZ9Gqcp2G2owtX3RyQy7yQ0ijgxCL0nPjQKK8j4/edit?pli=1#gid=0

Sherri, I was very happy to contribute something after all the info I have received on this thread!

I just hope I get to cruise enough to become a frequent contributer :D

I will be sailing on Liberty OTS this Sunday, and I got my Welcome email from the Suite Concierge, Anis Tebbeb. (which confirms the info we have).

The Suite Lounge on Liberty has been moved to Deck 14 next to the Viking Crown Lounge (in what used to be the card room).

The daily suite breakfast has been moved to Giovanni's, as well as the private suite lunch on sea days.