kctwinmommy

We like both lines.

 

I would agree about the ice show, they are terrific! Flow rider is a lot of fun and different. All Royal ships have a rock wall which is also fun and provides an amazing view should you reach the top. First time I did it the guy told me, "don't immediately ring the bell to come down. Turn around and take in the view." So glad I did!

 

The Royal Promenade is a great area and a "hub" of the ship. The cafe and pizzeria are a great alternative to the congested buffet (called "Windjammer on Royal) for lunch on boarding day.

 

Live shows are very good and still feature a live orchestra. Indoor solarium is a great space for quiet away from the kiddos.

 

One of our favorite things on Royal is the salad bar set up in the main dining room. You select the ingredients you want and they make it for you. Fantastic!

Cool! Thanks for the info! I want to try the wall climbing for sure. And yeah, the Promenade area looks neat. And good to know about other options for lunch too.

We've obviously cruised before, as shown in my signature, but almost all Carnival. I asked on the RC page too, so I've gotten a few responses there. But I thought I'd post here too, for those who have maybe done mostly Carnival, but did RC once or twice too. Anyway, if anyone has suggestions for things we might not expect being different between Carnival and RC.

I'm just curious if there's things that may be different, and things we're not expecting. I've already been told by several to not miss the ice show. We did the anytime dining too since the cruise we're taking has really long/late days in port. We're going on an 8-night cruise to N. Europe in July. So the 4 port days are truly like 12-14 hours that we're there. So we didn't want the earlier dining, but didn't want to be tied to the later one either. We did the same thing on our Alaska cruise.

I did find the roll call for this cruise too, so I can get more specific info there I know. Thanks so much!

Thanks for the tips on the ice show! We'll certainly make sure we catch it. Is it just one night? And more than one show on that night? Or is it different nights?

Loved the ice show on Independence, but it is a little chilly in there... dress a little warmer than normal :)

Good to know! LOL! I get chilly quite easily.

We have never been on Carnival, so I can't compare, but congratulations, it is always exciting to have something new to look forward to. :)

Thanks! As of 4 days ago we were looking at a driving trip around the American southwest! But we were running into some lodging roadblocks since we're only about 6 months out. I found this cruise and thought that would be fun!! So quite a change of plans! I'm just glad we were able to get a good balcony still! :D

Even though you indicated entertainment is not high priority, would definitely recommend the ice show. Something unique to RC and amazing that you can skate on a moving ship.

Good to know! I just was saying it because I know some people are big on that, some people are big on bars, etc... We go to get to see places. :)

Not new to cruising, but new to RC. We just booked the Independence of the Seas N. European 8-night cruise for this summer. It's obviously pretty full as our choices were pretty limited. But we still were able to pick a balcony on deck 8, so we're happy. It's nice that there's a sale, although I know in retail, everything gets marked up so they can put it on sale. ;)

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions for things we might not expect being different between Carnival and RC. We've typically done Carnival because our friends picked it when we started cruising with them, so we just stick with them. We're happy with them too, no real complaints. We also realize this is a cruise for the sights, I don't get hung up the entertainment and such. We might go to a show when we have time. In other words, I'm just looking for things we may not even think about.

I did find the roll call for this cruise too, so I can get more specific info there I know. Thanks so much!

We always fly two days early to where ever the cruise leaves from as we want to get to know the area and tour the city. If it is a city outside of the East coast, it also helps with the time change. At the minimum I would fly a day early, just in case, you would hate to miss the cruise due to airfare problems.

 

I am hoping for not too cold of weather in Alaska. I am not a big fan of the cold, at all. I can take mid 50s but that is it. I guess we better layer up :)

Oh yes, we always fly in early, for all our Caribbean ones even! I don't take that chance! ;) But I was just wondering if you came early and toured around. We're tentatively thinking of flying Iceland Air. Then on the way back, staying 2-3 days in London and then 2 day layover in Iceland.

And yeah, we did Alaska in July this past year. It was pretty chilly every day, except for the afternoon in port at Skagway. When we got back, it was in the 60s at least. So I could put on some capris and sandals to walk around the top deck. My son was in shorts and t-shirt. You can see pictures in my trip report, listed below. But otherwise, it was on the colder side. I even ended up buying a jacket on the cruise ship (great deal too!), so I could be more layered. Layers and boots are the most important thing for Alaska.

That looks like a great sailing. Our Baltic cruise also went to Brussels, Hamburg, Oslo, & Normandy/Paris. Loved Brussels, there we went to Brugge, what a place! Think of it as the town where Cinderella lived :) Great chocolate too, brought a whole bag of it. Hamburg was okay, nothing too exciting. In Oslo we visited the Viking museum and the sculpture park. In France we went to Paris (it was mine and DH's second time but first with our son). The bus ride from the port to Paris was a few hours, not too bad.

 

The weather should be warm and not humid, for us Floridian is comfortable weather as we are used to the scorching heat.

Haha! Yeah, I get that with the weather. While being from Chicago we're not the same, we still get really humid in the summers. We did an Alaska cruise last summer though, and it was pretty chilly every day. I know that's expected, I was just hoping we would have gotten some rare warmer days! ;)

I've been to Paris as well, although my husband/son haven't. But I really want to see the beached of Normandy. I've heard Brussels is beautiful, and I'm all about the chocolate!

Did you guys fly in early or stay later after the cruise?

Which ship and itinerary are you looking at specifically, and what month? We went on a Mediterranean and also Baltic cruise two VERY different sailings.

Yes, I understand that. This is their 8-night European City cruise, that's what they called it. It's on the Independence of the Sea. It is R/T from Southampton, stops in Brussels, Hamburg, Oslo, & Normandy/Paris. It sails in July.

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/8NightNorthernEuropeCitiesCruise-ID08Q024?currencyCode=USD&sCruiseType=CO&sailDate=07%2F07%2F2017

I'd love to hear some feedback from those who have been on this. I did search, but I wasn't finding much. It appears this ship does a lot of other cruises during the year, and not this one as much. We've obviously done Carnival several times, as seen in my signature. So we're not new to cruising. We've always done Carnival because we earn our points there and we go with others who have a higher status. In other words, while they're usually our first choice, we're not exclusive. And since they don't have anything for Europe this summer, it doesn't matter.

I'm just curious on the weather, if you stayed before/after the cruise and where, highlights, etc... We've been to Europe before, but it's been a LONG time. My husband was actually stationed in the UK in the 80's. We were considering just a land based Europe trip this summer, but there's so much we want to see, we can't totally agree. But this cruise seems like a nice collection/variety.

Thanks in advance!

We were on the Magic last August and they did this. That was my first time seeing it done. It really makes no sense to me. I did not notice any obscenity...of course I didn't really look. I just wrote something on my balloon and left. It was nice seeing the balloons fall later in the evening but I didn't go rushing to catch any.

After the drop my sister and I both looked at each other and ask "that's it?" We were expecting something more after the drop.

Haha! Same with us! We thought they were going to do/say something with all the notes written on the cards. We didn't quite understand the purpose of it.

But it's sad what the OP said, if people are writing nasty things on there. I mean, ours happened later on night, I don't remember when, but it was filled with kids! So it would be pretty crappy if people were writing nasty things on there.

also, if we are flying into a port, we prefer a longer cruise than a shorter cruise.

I feel the same way! It usually costs us about $350 on average to fly into the port cities when we cruise. We did it the first time, and did a 3-day cruise only because 2 other couples had never cruised before and were nervous about liking it. The next time, we all did a 7-day one! I'd never do anything less than 7 days, but that's for us.

I would choose the Conquest for sure. We just went on the Magic to Aruba, Curacao and Grand Turk - loved it! I liked having those sea days as well (we had 4 of them!). But it was neat seeing new islands. And it sounds like that's what he wants to see as well. So if you can afford the extra cost, I'd say do that one then!

I honestly don't care that much about the ships. And honestly, the ports are all nice to me. We usually go in the cold months here in Chicago, so it's nice to be anywhere warm! LOL! As long as there's a beach, sunshine, and some water, I'm good.

EASIEST and FASTEST embark and debark we have done. It goes so fast... no kidding, you are on the ship before you know what happened. Same on last day, you walk right off and out the door. No long lines for customs, just hand them the paperwork at the door on your way out. Boom. In the parking lot before you know it.

So true! We had to call the car service because we got off an hour earlier than we had booked them for. Luckily, they were able to be there in like 5 minutes!

Yeah, right around 11 or so is when we started boarding too. We also had FTTF. It's a little smoother process than some we've had in the past at Port Canaveral. Just not as crowded feeling to me.

On the infamous FB page (you know the refund one), someone posted that there was in fact a Princess ship (and presumably the Glory) scheduled in that time slot and the ships were removed after they were unable to dock. So that would explain why it is now showing as blank. Other cruise port websites did in fact have the Glory and Princess scheduled to call on GT so I don't believe that theory.

That's what I saw too when I searched. Other sites that list ports of call show the Glory as having been scheduled to be there. Like you said, they probably update it after.

I know they won't be as "professional" appearing------but this is the main reason we bought a Fuji XP waterproof camera (usually on sale for around $150) for our upcoming Freeport dolphin excursion. The description says you are allowed to bring a camera (though the dolphins MIGHT consider it to be a toy!).

True, some allow, but others don't. It just depends.

I've read on one of the reviews that the dolphin swim excursions booked through Carnival have very pricey photo packages, but that sometimes those pictures are available back on the ship in the pixels gallery. Anyone have luck with this? I would much rather pay the high pixel's price than the higher excursion photo price.

Maybe someone else can say for sure, but I've never seen any photos like that in the gallery. And the outrageous cost of photos is the biggest reason I have yet to book one of those excursions. We looked at doing it on our 2 last Caribbean cruises, but I really feel the companies are just gouging people because they know you're going to want a couple of pictures of it. I don't mind paying what they charge for the excursions themselves, but the extra $100 for a couple of pictures is ridiculous!

Day 8 - Sea Day - Once again, the standard issues arose, but since we had found our little table and chairs in the corner, it was all good. This time, the brunch was a bit better. We only had to wait like 10-15 minutes for food. We of course had the standard last night dinner with the waitstaff, same singing/dancing. We went to the Ship stars show, this time was quite good. They even had a couple do a dance routine, which was different.

We did have the table magician come by again. His name was Sameer. We found him to be quite good, so I'd recommend stopping to see his act if you come across him. I realize they don't always do shows on the ships, but we've found them in the Lido buffet area, later on night, or if you see them at dinner and they can stop by - ask.

Oh, and we did go to the balloon drop on the last night, with all the notes people write inside. It was OK, but I thought there was more of a purpose for writing the notes we placed in there. We also bought a canvas this time, our first one. We've often bought a formal picture, but never a canvas, so we thought we'd get one this time. It really came out pretty! Although on that last night, when we picked ours up (we ordered it the night before), the sales counter was understaffed and very busy. People were waiting 15-20 minutes just to get helped. I think there was some miscommunication on who was supposed to be doing what. A worker came over from the other side to start helping and seemed frustrated that there weren't more workers there.

My overall notes, general impression of the Magic - The lines for things were definitely longer than we've dealt with in the past. It's a big ship though, so there's a lot to do and see. I liked having more options for food. I felt that there was more motion/movement than past ships/cruises. But I also realize that could be due to the ship, the weather, etc... I also learned early on about the light control by the door. I saw the piece of paper sticking out of the slot, by the front door, and took it out to look at, then put it back in. Maybe everyone else knows about it, but what they expect/thought people would do is put their S&S card in there. We didn't, neither did the previous guests, nor did our friends. People stick a piece of paper in t here. This is how your lights are able to stay on!

Debarkation - We walked off, after having breakfast on the Lido deck, at 7:50 a.m. It took us about 15 minutes to walk off and go through customs. And we took all our luggage with us. Then we had to wait about 20 minutes to get our shuttle (Cocoa Beach) to go to Orlando airport.

Dr. E hosting the balloon drop

The waitstaff at the farewell dinner. The one on the far left (in the red frilly thing) was our head waiter, William.

Here's a few more pictures before I finish the report...

Passing by the Dominican Republic on our way to Grand Turk

The view from the Margaritaville pool, you can see the Magic there

The 2 ships docked in Grand Turk

Snorkeling near the ship in Grand Turk

Yeah, like others, not quite sure what you'd want them to do. Some people completely ignore the news & TV when they're on vacation. Making announcements during a highly fluid situation can cause massive panic as well. People can watch the news and see what's going on themselves. I feel it's best to wait a little bit to see how the airports are handling things. And I'm sure Carnival was quite busy with the people trying to GET to their cruises. If you're already there, then there's less for them to focus on for you, if that makes sense. I'm just saying, they were probably dealing with the hundreds of calls they were getting for people who were going to be delayed getting to their cruise because of this.

We were sailing when the 2015 Paris attacks happened. Yes, less likely to impact our return to port, but certainly a much larger attack. We do watch the news, so we did see what was going on. Other people had no idea though.

How does carnival track if a kid should be in tween club or older teen club? Do they scan the card or just look at the kid?

 

 

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They look at their S&S card, and use the information you have entered for them for your cruise. We always register our son before we sail, but you still have to sign paperwork in the club though. If you're looking to see if your kid can move up to the teen one, because of siblings/friends/or close to that age, that you'll have to wait until you get on board. It always depends on the camp director and capacity of the kids in each group.

Getting very excited for cruise (only two weeks away). I have a few questions regarding the comedy club:

 

1. What are the show times?

2. How far before show starts would you recommend getting there?

3. Also how good are the comedians? We have gone to the comedy club in the past on Carnival, but it has been a while.

 

Thanks.

If you read my review (in my signature) I talked about a couple of the comedians we saw. We first started going to the comedy club on the Legend last summer, we had never been on our previous cruises. We could walk right in and get a seat. So, when we decided to do it on the Magic, I was shocked the first time when I got in a line that stretched back 100 people! Now, we still got a seat, I was surprised at how many people that place can hold. They do kick everyone out after every show though, so you have to get back in line to see the next one. The next times we went, we got there a little earlier, about 30 minutes and got better seats. But I wouldn't get there are showtime and expect to get in.

I don't remember the exact show times though, but they were typically later in the evening for the ones we went to. They often had PG shows at like 7 & 8, then around 9 they started the adult shows, going until like 11. There were usually 2 comedians each night as well.

Like the others said, I think this always depends on the capacity. I can't comment directly on these programs, as my son was never in those (he didn't cruise until he was 12). But that first cruise, he was in Circle C. And like denrusk said, they do make exceptions for those kids when it's not too busy. That cruise (Nov. 2015), there was a girl in Circle C with my son and our friend's son, and her brother was 11. They allowed him to join Circle C, but there were only about 10 kids that whole session.

You're going to just need to ask when you get on board and explain the situation, see if they can do anything.