Cruising4theFirstTime

Hi, does anyone know if they will let members of your party (same stateroom) check in separately at the port? Half of our party is already there, and the other half is on a delayed flight. We'd love for them to not have to wait for us. Thanks in advance!

I have no plans right now to cancel our cruise for the end of April. But I do feel better knowing I now have the option if 1. things really start to go south or 2. if my company requires me to not return to work for 2 weeks following. They have already put this policy in place for people traveling to China, Japan, Italy, South Korea... However my guess is that would be pointless as it will probably be all over the US by then anyway. 🤷‍♀️

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

Interesting. First I've heard/read this but you experienced it. Did they say why? Kind of defeats the purpose of MTD for those that do not want to be tied down to a specific time. 

Yes, I thought it was strange too.  We switched to MTD when we boarded and were wait listed for it until Day 2.  Then when we went, we were asked to choose between 6:45 and 8 pm.  

2 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Nothing new. You've always been able to go MTD without reservations and when you're ready. Reservations are not required but only an option. If you sill want the 6:45 PM or whatever time when you first board the ship go directly to the MDR for MTD and ask if 6:45 or whatever time you decide on is available. 

Interesting.  We had MTD on Grandeur a few weeks ago, and they made us reserve times.  But I've also had it the other way before, where you just show up whenever.  

I chose my 6:45 pm for MTD in the cruise planner.  Now when I view my calendar, it no longer shows 6:45, but instead says "At your leisure."  However, you can still go in to pick specific times for MTD.  Of course my 6:45 time is no longer available.  I have a 3 year old, so I really hope we didn't lose our time slot.  Does anyone know what happened?  Or has something changed recently, and now we can actually just go whenever we want?  

Some of the ships have Ultra Spacious rooms, which have bunk beds.  We've got one booked on Harmony.

15 minutes ago, NJsharon said:

 

I think theme nights can vary, but there's always a 70s night.

Yes, there is bingo.

Lots of game shows... Song titles/artists, love and marriage, battle of the sexes, quest.

Trivia every day, sometimes multiple times a day.

Yes there is a solarium. It's nice and quiet. You won't see many kids there, as it's adults only, and especially Grandeur where there aren't many kids anyway. 

Grandeur is a smaller ship, so most activities happen in the schooner bar, theater, centrum, or South Pacific lounge. 

I was supposed to have a South Beach bed right after South Beach and Coco Beach Club were scheduled to open.  I think it was Feb. 4.  The South Beach beds weren't ready yet, and we didn't find this out until we got there and were redirected to the area that is now called Breezy Bay (it wasn't called that then).  We complained to the Shorex desk, but as noted above they are clueless.  I should add, we were NOT looking for a refund, we just wanted to know why we were sold something that didn't exist.  I wonder if the removal of South Beach beds from the cruise planner, and switch to Breezy Bay, was because of complaints like this.  I know we were not the only people who had this happen.  Now the South Beach beds presumably are open (they looked very close to being ready when we were there), but they are few and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they get overbooked.

We did enjoy our time at Breezy Bay, actually, once we got over our initial disappointment.  It was not as quiet as South Beach, but not too bad.  You can see the over water cabanas from there, but they aren't directly in front of you blocking the view.

Several categories are down on Harmony April 26.  I was able to upgrade from a 5D OV balcony (booked as GTY) to an Ultra Spacious OV Balcony for a great price.  New bookings for this same sailing could get amazing deals right now for balconies and below.

Our April 26 sailing on Harmony has been dropping.  There are still tons of rooms showing as available, and we already have our GTY assignment.  It still hasn't dropped lower than what we paid, but I'm watching and hoping I'll be able to upgrade!

The sales are kind of a joke anyway.  All the prices in my cruise planner are the same now during this "sale" as they have been all along.

We were just there the other day, also had booked a South Beach day bed. The tickets that were in our room still read "South Beach," and since the Coco Cay map said it would be open Jan 31 we figured they must be open now, and we would indeed have our bed on South Beach. Nope. We followed the directional signs to South Beach, only to be told by a bartender that those beds aren't ready yet. We were then directed to Chill Island, and the hilarious thing is, they have a little sign that says South Beach on the concierge kiosk there, but it is absolutely NOT South Beach. We enjoyed our time, but I was disappointed that we didn't get the quiet surroundings that we had booked. We went to the excursions desk back onboard. I wasn't expecting a refund, but wanted to point out that they're selling something that doesn't exist, to hopefully save others from our same predicament. She said the system said we were booked for Chill Island, so I had to show my tickets as well as my receipt. Both clearly say South Beach. She said someone would get back to us (I'm sure they won't). So be warned: if you have your heart set on South Beach don't bother booking it until you hear firsthand accounts of it actually being open. 🙄 However, it did appear they will be ready soon!

If it's like the one we had on Freedom (1854) a few years ago, we LOVED it.  So much space, amazing views, and an additional half bath.  Plus separate area for our son to sleep.  We got that one for a steal, as they were somehow still classifying it almost as like a regular OV.  

I'd take it over a balcony any day.  

13 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

As suggest by the previous poster........Menu?  There isn’t even a building yet. I was there today. 
No over the water cabanas either. 
 

 

WOW.  And yet they are selling beach club passes and cabanas for my Jan 31 sailing.  

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I forego the vast majority of upsells and stuff on cruise ships. It's an interior for me without all of the extras. With that said, I will gladly pay a small amount to choose my room. Being assigned a room means you are getting what everyone else did not want. I wouldn't want to get stuck on a lower level in the front. That's quite the walk to get back and forth. I like my mid-aft higher levels.

I booked OV GTY for my upcoming cruise because GTY was the only thing available.  I'm pretty happy with the cabin we've been assigned.

I see that there is a 3-class package option for my upcoming cruise on Grandeur for $29.  This seems like a pretty good price to me, but I don't want to purchase now since I have no idea what classes/when they are offered.  I'm thinking I'll go to the fitness center when I board, and purchase the package after finding out the schedule.  Does anyone know if the price is the same if you purchase on board vs in the cruise planner?

For our cruise coming up on Jan 31, I just booked the Chops +1 package for $59.  It's really just a 2-night package, with the first night having to be at Chops (fine by us, since options are limited on this ship anyway).  Seems like a decent deal as the stand-alone prices for Chops and Giovanni's are $39.99 and $32.99 respectively.  

My mom and I did this class on Allure, and it was a lot of fun.  There was a large group of people in the class that couldn't eat certain things for religious reasons, so they were given alternatives.  You could always just use veggies and avocado to make your rolls if you don't want to use the seafood items, if you are unable to just attend with her and not participate.  I would think they would allow you to just be there, but I don't know for certain.  

I always assumed the Grandeur balconies are more expensive because there are so few of them.

Sent from my LG-H830 using Forums mobile app

We just did our first Disney cruise last week on the Fantasy, and it was amazing. It was our son's very first cruise, and he absolutely loved it. My husband and I have previously sailed 4 times with Royal Caribbean, and we considered them again for this trip... but when we compared the prices, we decided the extra $1000 total for us was worth it. The split bathroom was wonderful to have, and the larger room (compared to RCI) was definitely nice for the 3 of us. He loved the Oceaneer's Club so much that he didn't like to leave. I'm sure he would have loved the kids' club on RCI too, though.

One thing I haven't seen already mentioned in this thread is: Lifeguards. Disney has them everywhere, and they are extremely vigilant. According to our tablemates, at least one child's life was saved during our cruise thanks to the presence of lifeguards. I would say that is worth some of the extra cost!

We certainly have no hesitation about going back to RCI, but we really did love Disney!

I just went to Bermuda on Grandeur May 9, and I did not feel that the seas were rough. No rougher than my Western Caribbean cruise on Freedom in May of 2010. Obviously that varies depending on the weather!

I was on her May 9-16 and had a great time! I too was expecting bad food due to the reviews, but I don't think I had one bad meal. I also expected to be disappointed in the ship after my last 2 cruises on Freedom and Oasis, but still had a great time.

Remember that only a tiny percentage of passengers write reviews, and people are also more likely to write about (perceived) negative experiences than positive. I try to take reviews with a grain of salt too, because some people just love to complain!

Does anyone have the cruise compasses or recall the order of the menus?

 

Also, some of the passengers on the cruises during and just after the norovirus outbreak noticed that the crew seemed tired and that the service the passengers received was less attentive. Does the crew seem to have bounced back at all?

Sorry, I did not keep the compasses, nor do I really recall the menus very well. But as to your question about the crew, I felt that they were pleasant for the most part. The only time I thought they seemed tired or irritated was at the Park Cafe, but I really think that had a lot to do with the fact that it was sometimes the only place open for food, and they often got crowded with people when they were trying to close so they could prepare for the next meal (such as between breakfast and lunch). Then again, I'm usually happy as long as no one is outwardly rude, so my opinion may differ from others!

We were also on this cruise and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and the seas were never really rough... Though that seems to be subjective as one guy we saw in the elevator commented that it was really rough out there, and he wasn't joking. I would say the ship was rocking slightly, but it wasn't "rough." But as I said, we had really nice weather.

Regarding The Smell, we were on deck 3 and smelled the faint sewer smell on day 1 and then never again until around 2am on the last morning. It was so strong then that it woke me up. Then around 5 I was woken up again by the smell of exhaust. My parents, who were also on deck 3 but on the opposite side, smelled it too.

You're from Raleigh, NC. The weather in Bermuda will be about the same as in NC. Look at a map. Bermuda is EAST of NC, not South.

The water temps will be chilly ... just like at NC beaches that time of year. Maybe consider doing some other activities in Bermuda rather than going to a beach. ;)

LuLu

Thanks, I'm aware of the location of Bermuda. I wish Bermuda did have exactly the same weather as NC. Then it would be in the 80s next week!

njhorseman (and everyone else), thank you for actually useful information. I'll discuss it with my mom and let her decide since she's going to be the one really bothered by cool weather.