capriccio

4 hours ago, Sailingpeace said:

Looking at the Windsor tour from Southampton. My guess is that you can also send your carry-on luggage &  CPAP to be seen again at the airport, and only take valuable items with you for the tour in a bag that can be carried as you visit Windsor Castle and go for lunch in the city.

All advice welcome. 

 

We did this tour in 2019.  It was the first time we've done a cruise line disembarkation tour and it was flawless.  The bus was about half full because, as either the guide or driver said, "we have to account for luggage space for each passenger."  All luggage was stored in the bottom compartment of the bus.  We really enjoyed the tour and appreciated having the guide on the bus and the included audio tour at the castle. 

2 minutes ago, FLAlaska said:

Im in a Signature Suite in Jan 25.  Having cruised in the old Club, not needing a reservation was the big plus. I hope it stays the same as we just like to go whenever we feel like it. The option of jut walking in without a wait is part of the justification, for us, of the larger price point.

That's my personal opinion too.  We're also sailing in Jan 2025 so there is lots of time to determine how everything is working or not. 

Opinions wanted:  given that the Sun's Signature Restaurant seems to be accepting reservations does that mean that the "no need for a reservation" currently touted for the Reserve (Club Class) restaurants will not be true for the Signature Restaurant on the Sphere class ships?

We've been on both ships for multiple cruises.  Without a doubt, I would pick the Sapphire Princess.  It is smaller (500 fewer passengers) than the Caribbean Princess and, important for cool climates, has an indoor pool that includes a covered seating area above it.

11 hours ago, Teechur said:

We were on the Emerald deck in balcony cabins near the laundromat. About 10 cabins further aft is a door which leads to an outdoor deck that runs the full width of the back of the ship and offers great views. We strolled out there for pictures and viewing several times each day.

11 hours ago, capriccio said:

Good to know.  I love those decks - we were on the Coral for 28 days last spring only 3 doors away from that viewing area.

I was curious and went to look at the Island's deck plans on the Princess website.  the Emerald deck is the only one that still has an aft viewing area.  All the other decks had aft facing cabins added where the viewing areas were.

I agree that the entire YC is quiet. 

We like the convenience of deck 16 - also where the Top Sail Lounge and the Concierge desk are located and just up one flight of stairs to the restaurant on deck 18 (there are no deck 17s on MSC ships because 17 is an unlucky number for Italians).

8 minutes ago, Teechur said:

We were on the Emerald deck in balcony cabins near the laundromat. About 10 cabins further aft is a door which leads to an outdoor deck that runs the full width of the back of the ship and offers great views. We strolled out there for pictures and viewing several times each day.

Good to know.  I love those decks - we were on the Coral for 28 days last spring only 3 doors away from that viewing area.

5 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

The reference was to the remodel where they removed the Universe Lounge and replaced it with cabins. Lots of new cabins and less public space. They moved the gym downstairs to a windowless room. The Promenade can no longer be traversed all around the ship as it is blocked off when you get to the beginning of the aft cabins.

The addition of the aft cabins also meant the removal of all the aft viewing areas, at least one of which (Caribe deck IIRC) had lounges on it. 

19 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Any way for someone to post these as I’m not on FB. 

Nor are we but I was able to see them by clicking on the X in the top right corner of the Facebook log on box.  The box disappears and you can see that video and forward to others.

I am cautious and would prefer to wait longer in the gate seating area than worry about a mad dash to the airport. 

An 11:30 am flight will begin boarding around 11 am so I would aim to be at the airport around 9 am to get your large group thru luggage check-in and security. The drive should be around 40 minutes on a weekend but you need to give yourself 60 or 75 minutes on a weekday to account for rush hour traffic. Port Everglades has facial recognition in all its terminals I think (ask on the Royal Cruise board to confirm) so disembarking is a very fast process.  So counting back for a planned 9 am arrival I personally would aim to be getting in the transportation around 8:15 am on a weekend and 7:45 am on a weekday. 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! 

Every major cruise line has a dedicated forum for questions and comments.  In the case of Royal Caribbean it is https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

If you post your question there it will be seen by more RCI cruisers and hopefully you will get more responses.

Hope you get it all straightened out!

7 hours ago, George C said:

Veterans , police and first responders get ten percent discount.

As do other active and retired civil servants at the federal, state and local levels.

44 minutes ago, StanleyStanley said:

Oh they understood.  The exact quote was “we have to tell you two hours”.   Makes it impossible to book non NCL tours of a reasonable length.  

When you look at the NCL offered tours are all of them starting at least 2 hours after arrival and 2 hours before departure?  I doubt it.  You can use their beginning and ending times as guidance for your excursions.

We were on the Caribbean Princess last summer with our 2 granddaughters and their families.  The 4 year old absolutely loved the splash pad area.  Even the 8 year old had a good time when she wasn't visiting the kids club.  Parents and grandparents enjoyed it too.

You didn't say which ship your are considering but the Seascape - and I presume her sister "sea-" ships have a lovely terrace at the bow of the ship accessible through the Top Sail Lounge which is also great for a secluded atmosphere. 

10 hours ago, KreinKrunker said:

I don't ever remember the Sun Trolley going to the airport.

Pre-covid it did for a few years.  It was advertised as a convenient way to disembark your cruise, store your luggage at the baggage storage at FLL and then take the Sun Trolley to Fort Lauderdale and back again for your flight.

21 minutes ago, jbme203 said:

Thanks, I'm wondering if I should put in a bid for the cheapest interior yc but I'd give up a balcony so I'm not sure if it is worth it and the quieter pool area is a main draw.  

On our 2 YC cruises (Meraviglia in 2020 and Seascape this past December) the pool areas were quiet even on sea days when they were more crowded.  We've never had a problem getting loungers and the guests were never rowdy.

Do the other YC amenities - included drinks, the Top Sail Lounge, the dedicated restaurant and poolside grill, etc. - have no appeal? 

2 hours ago, leck57 said:

Not sure what your point is about the embarkation lunch. It is always available in one of the Dining Rooms, as it was in your case. I must be missing your point.

In the first post @Pansy2801 wrote "The  “embarkation lunch” was served in Alfredo."

Since Alfredos isn't an MDR, @Steelers36 assumed that the embarkation lunch MDR had closed by the time Pansy boarded. Pansy reiterated "if you are not on RP now you don’t know that on this sailing breakfast and lunches are in Alfredo and not in Concerto dining room."

Turns out it was just a bit of confusion given that the names are similar. Pansy meant the Allegro MDR as explained in post #5.

54 minutes ago, edp-70 said:

We've just booked two Princess cruises. Sun Princess in the Caribbean in October 2024, and Sky Princess to Norway, Denmark and Sweden sailing on May 31, 2025. Both of our reservations on their website instruct us to go onto their app and book our dining times. I know that this is often the practice for anytime or mytime dining, but we want fixed early dining with the same table and wait-staff. Any idea? Thanks!

This is discussed repeatedly on the Princess forum, so you might want to also post there or the admin may move it.

As a frequent Princess cruisers I can confirm that there is no longer 'traditional' (choice between 2 dining times - early and late - and the same waitstaff).  Now you make a reservation on the app picking the MDR and the time.  We have had success requesting the same MDR and same time each night and then, if we like the wait staff, asking for them on the rest of the cruise.  That's worked more or less on 4 cruises in the past 2 years with two adjustments.  On one cruise even before embarkation Princess changed the 6 pm daily reservation to 5:40 for our group of 6 and when we got there the Host wanted to change it to 5:20.  We compromised at 5:30 and had great staff for our 28 day cruise.  On another cruise with a party of 8 the first evening we had no issues with the wait staff but the table was right up against the waiters' station.  We asked for another with more space around it and were happy with the new table for the rest of our 7 day cruise.

6 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Curious why you need to know the dock assignment more than 7 days in advance?

And since that information is not set in stone and more liable to change over time, always check before heading to the port and/or check the assigned terminal signs at each security station.

Welcome to cruise critic!

We haven't done this itinerary but I have general answers to some of your questions:

3. "We fly into Fort-de-France, Martinique around 3 pm local time and we fly back out at 3 pm on return also. There seems to be only flights on Saturdays to this destination so we are not able to fly out there the day before the cruise."   What time is sail away?  You may be giving yourself very little wiggle room even if the flight is on time to collect your luggage and get to the port for embarkation which usually closes an hour (or more) before sail away.

4. "Our ports consist of 1)Martinique, 2)Guadeloupe, 3) Dominica 4) St Maarten 5) Antigua 5) St Kitts. Is it easy to do third party tours or do we have to stick to the ones the ship sells?"  Check out the Caribbean Ports of Call board at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/ for discussions of each island and lots of tour recommendations.  We've been to all except Martinique and have only done third party tours.

7. "Also, for US residents, were you hit with any foreign transaction fees on your credit card ?"  You will need to check each of the credit cards you intend to use since the imposition of foreign transaction fees is bank specific.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Welcome to cruise critic!  While you are waiting for MSC specific responses, there is an entire forum devoted to cruising with kids:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/28-family-cruises/

It is full of great ideas and recommendations.  Our family has used it since our 9 year old granddaughter went on her first cruise at 11 months on Royal Caribbean.  It was so helpful.  Our daughter and son-in-law still talk about how wonderful the entire crew was when they saw the baby (many of them have children at home that they dearly miss). 

I hope your family has a wonderful cruise.

3 hours ago, boasman781 said:

my wife and I are on the MSC Seascape and we have Aurea Suite with a jacuzzi on the balcony. it's out first night on the cruise currently as I write this.. I am beyond disgusted went to fill my jacuzzi and there's cockroaches all around my jacuzzi! u gotta be **** kidding me.. 🤮 I'm attaching a picture I got of a baby one slipping into the cracks as I tried to snap a photo.. I am definitely complaining about this.. 

I'll ask the same thing I asked on the other thread where you posted this:  Did you bring this to the attention of the ship's staff before or after posting?  If so, what was their reaction?

Did you bring it to the attention of the ship's staff before or after posting?  What was their reaction?

Good choice.  If you stop in any of the same ports we did I can recommend the following excursions:  Santa Barbara - whale watching, San Francisco - Sonoma vineyards, Astoria - Mt. St. Helens (one of our favorite excursions ever), Seattle - easy to Do It Yourself, Victoria (I left that off the earlier list) - Buchart Gardens, and the entire city of Vancouver (one of my favorites).