SensFan11

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_Freestyle

Mainly in the U.S. And Canada and now a small number of Burger Kings and Five Guys in the UK. The UK ones are significantly different to the U.S. ones in regard to what they stock as well.

Up until recently, Coca Cola Freestyle was only in the US. The first Canadian machines showed up in Toronto around 18 months ago. I live in Canada's fourth largest city, and we got our first three freestyle machines (in a city of a million people) six weeks ago.

And, like others mentioned, I would only ever buy the soda package on a ship with freestyle.

We had been planning to drive, park and train for our January cruise, but now plan to park at the pier instead. Big difference for us is our cruise is on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas out of Cape Liberty NJ, which is MUCH more difficult to get to than a Manhattan pier. For us, it would have meant a car service costing $60+ each way.

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Another option (which I've never done, but know of friends who have) is to drive a little further to Poughkeepsie, NY.

Poughkeepsie has a few big advantages over Albany - mostly as it on the the Metro-North commuter rail (similar to the Go Train). This means the fares are MUCH cheaper, and the trains are much more frequent!

You should check the MTA website for up to date details, but the last time I researched this I found trains usually leave Poughkeepsie Station at 54 minutes past the hour, every hour. Additional trains at 4:37pm, 5:39pm. Most trains approx 1hr 50min travel time. Adult ticket $17 one way (off peak), Family Fare (child 5-11 accompanied by a paying adult) $1.

http://as0.mta.info/mnr/stations/station_detail.cfm?key=58

They also have on-site parking:

Parking lot operated by LAZ Parking. Covered Garage connected to station by pedestrian bridge. Rate $6.50 per 24 hours, weekends and holidays free. Machine accepts credit cards.

http://www.rrparking.com/parking_lots/26

I agree. Montreal is beautiful in September - fall weather, but not yet cold (think sweater or light jacket)...but it's not yet winter, which means you don't yet have to worry about snow and snow-related flight delays. Montreal also, as mentioned, has great views right in the city from Mount Royal, where the changing colours of the leaves will be breathtaking if you've never seen that before.

Miami - definitely better as a beach destination, and better shopping, but there is the chance a hurricane could cause a major crimp in your plans.

One other consideration - what are your flight plans? If you have to go through Europe, Montreal will give you shorter flights for both legs. I know there's nonstop flights from Vancouver to Montreal - to get from Vancouver to Miami, you need to connect.

And one more thing...Vancouver to Montreal is a domestic flight, so you avoid going through US customs again.

Very good advice Noel. We're just concerned we're not cut out for all-inclusives. We aren't very good at sitting around for 5 days straight in the same place and have heard the food quality and entertainment quality is also higher on cruises vs. regular AIs (the high end AIs may be another story but they are far more expensive than cruises).

Thanks. I'll back up that idea...we used to do the AI thing until we tried our first cruise in 2008...and we just got off our ninth cruise in those six years! We also squeezed an AI in there in 2009, which reinforced our perspective. For us, the food and entertainment has been is SO much better on the cruises we've been on...only a five star we stayed at in Jamaica years ago came close to the cheapest cruise.

A big part why is works for us is we're not huge drinkers....probably 3-4 drinks per day on board...makes the value of paying per drink worth the trade off of inferior food at an AI.

Also, according to the royal Caribbean website, both Adventure and Jewel have royal babies. I'm not sure when Jewel's dry dock is...Adventure underwent a dry dock a little over a week ago.

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The ports are generally great...all with their pluses and minuses, as discussed above.

So, let me give you me perspective, as a father that's sailed with young children: our youngest took her first cruise at 10 months old, and her second cruise at 24 months...

- both ships offer Royal Babies - this will be a great option for a few hours at a time to give the adults a chance to relax and unwind - whether for a dinner together, or time in the sun.

- get a balcony cabin...will be a great option for getting some sun while baby is napping

- a good umbrella stroller will be a must for getting around the ship and around in ports

While both ships are good options, to be honest, with a baby I would probably consider a different ship/itinerary, for two main reasons:

- Lots of ports on these itineraries...and it will be a challenge to plan for port days and baby's nap time. And, while Royal Babies is a great option, I'm not sure whether you can leave the baby there while on a port excursion. More than likely, I'd expect the baby (and one of the adults) to stay on board the ship for one or two of the ports...or maybe just go for a short walk around to port/downtown area.

- Babies aren't allowed in the pools. That's right, in the hot Caribbean sun, there's nothing a little one would love more than to splash around. While that's great for beaches on the islands, both Adventure and Jewel have strict 'no swim diaper' policies for their pools. Only a few select ships (e.g. Oasis, Allure, all the Disney ships) have special splash zones specifically designed (and separately filtered) for babies in swim diapers.

So don't get me wrong...cruises can be great with little ones (after all, I just took my five year old on her fifth cruise!)...but just requires a different way of thinking about things, and a lot of advance planning!

Noel

I wonder then if we're not the only ship in port that day and the other's passengers booked them, or indeed have precedence. It just seems so far in advance to be sold out. And if they were just sold out why wouldn't the agent have just said that? Beginning to think I really am SOL.

For a cabana, these days, you're really not that far in advance. A couple years ago they only released shore excursions (including Labadee cabanas) only about six months in advance. Lately, they often release cabanas YEARS ahead of time.

For my January 2015 sailing I booked my cabana at Labadee in October 2013! A friend tried to do the same in Jan. 2014 (one full year in advance) and had to settle for a 'beach' cabana, rather than a preferred 'over the water' cabana...they got the last cabana listed for sale!

However - don't fret...people do cancel cabanas. In particular, I'd check in the couple weeks before final payment is due...that's when someone may opt to cancel the cruise (along with their cabana).

Noel

That's not what the fine print says though.

 

I think until someone actually books something now and changes later, we won't know for sure.

 

I'll be leaving on Legend in a couple of weeks. I'm booking 2 cruises - one for a ship/sail date that won't change, and the 2nd for a sail date that will change when the 2016 dates are released for the cruise I want.

 

But that isn't likely to happen until next Spring - so I won't know until then.

My interpretation of the fine print is the same. If you book a specific sailing and make any change, you're on board credit will drop to what it would have been if you'd done an open booking in the first place.

I've made seven next cruise bookings over the last few years with RCCL. Under this new system, I can't picture ever doing so again.

...plus, if shows are important, don't forget that later this year, Oasis will lose Hairspray. Cats will be the new show on Oasis :(

If you're booking even further out, don't be surprised if Chicago gets replaced by something else as part of her dry dock next year.

A couple things, based on experience:

- Carnival does not offer the option to book in C$ - only US$

- When you book a cruise on Royal in C$, this also locks in your pre cruise planning into Canadian dollars. If you book excursions or specialty restaurants in advance, they'll be quoted to you in C$. The exact price will vary...RCCL adjusts prices every once in a while (sometimes every few weeks, sometimes every few months) based on prevailing exchange rates...so, one day it may cost you C$38 to book Chops - a week later it may cost you C$48.

- all of this is different and separate from the 'dynamic currency conversion' offered for on board accounts...of which much has been written in separate posts here in cruise critic.

I sailed Oasis exactly four weeks ago...and Allure exactly one year before...and I preferred Allure for many of the reasons mentioned above.

A couple other differences that I don't think have been mentioned yet:

- Allure has TWO ice shows (Ice Games and How to Train your Dragon), while Oasis has only a single show (Frozen in Time). IMHO, the show on Oasis was better.

- There's a small play area for kids on the boardwalk on each ship...much better on Oasis, including a double decker bus.

Yes, they accept Starbucks Cards on Allure...and if your card is registered you earn 'Stars' just like on land. I used mine most days onboard Allure last month.

They have a separate machine at the Starbucks just for running through Starbucks cards, which prints out a separate receipt, listing your purchase having been made at Allure of the Seas in Miami, Florida, and providing an up to date card balance...so yes, it connects via satellite Internet to the Starbucks card payment system.

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As I say above, we will head to one of the three (JR, Wipeout or Park) depending on the crowds. ;) I assume we will end up on the sports desk soon after we board.....I can see my almost two year old (he actually turns two while cruising) disrupting all of our golf games (love him for it...well maybe not our other kids). :p:) Thanks again.

BTW, not sure if you're aware, but there's also a separate, adjacent mini golf course for young kids (at least there was on Allure)...bigger balls, larger cups. Probably more for 4-5 year olds, but your two year old may enjoy chasing the balls around there.

First, thanks for the amazing review.....its been said over and over, but it is proving VERY helpful in the planning of our cruise! I am so glad I was able to find it after all this time. Second, I know you didn't travel with kids but was wondering if you had any helpful hint for what to hit or 100% NOT hit with kids (we wouldn't dream of taking them to the Chef's Table, Chops, etc). Are there places that we should steer clear of? Lastly, for the first day lunch (since we have 4 kids ranging from 2 years old to 8 years old) we were thinking about doing Johnny Rocket's or Park Cafe since I believe they are close to each other and would be good for them and close if one is CrAZy (would love to do Giovanni's, but don't think we could convince the kids to eat the stuffed chicken :p. Well, thanks again.......we are getting EXCITED. :D

My wife and I just sailed on Allure three weeks ago with our daughters (ages 8 and 4). We had similar thoughts for embarkation day...in particular, we wanted to avoid what is usually a very busy Windjammer for the first lunch (actually, our goal on this trip was to NEVER eat at the Windjammer!).

So we did book Giovanni's for a 1pm lunch, right after boarding...and it didn't work out too well. I think it was the combination of the girls being a bit restless after the hectic morning of packing, making our way to the pier and the waiting around for boarding. We were all very tired, but the girls also just couldn't sit still...and I should mention they're both very accustom to restaurants - we took them to the main dining room every night.

If it's open for lunch that first day, I agree with Brian that Johnny Rockets would be a good choice (Hi Brian!). Also, to echo Brian's comments, our two favourite restaurants on board were 150 Central Park (yes, you must go...our kids went to Ocean Adventure that night for our one dinner just the two of us) and the Park Cafe (I love their made-to-order salads!). For embarkation, I've heard Park Cafe can get VERY busy, and it did seem busy the afternoon we boarded Allure.

If I were in FLL on a B2B, I'd seriously consider renting a car...even if just for 5 or 6 hours, would be much more convenient and probably cheaper.

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A question I am sure has been asked before but I cannot find the answer, if we are cruising in/out of Miami and flying in/out of FLL how much time should we allow to disembark and get back to the FLL? Would a 11:30 flight be too early to schedule? Cruising Disney. :)

 

Thanks, Kate

Well, I would probably go for it, figuring you want to get to the airport by 10:30am, and it's a full hour to FLL...you should be off and through customs by 9:30 am ... Especially if you take your own bags off. You'll also need a car service lined up or take a cab.

Also-what day of the week? If it's a weekday morning, travel time will be more.

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I just wanted to check in with the folks that have been so helpful here...a couple months back I asked questions and got great advice on taking public transit to Cape Liberty.

Well, sometimes the best laid plans need to have a backup! We've made it in to NYC - flew in via Newark this afternoon...and after lots of traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel, made it to our hotel at 35th and 6th.

Lucky that our hotel has power...half a block away is the blackout zone...it was surreal to take a taxi in the pitch black down Fifth Avenue. Most of Midtown west (including Times Sq) has power, but from 5th > east between 35 and around 40: all dark.

Next test will be tomorrow...an it's been clear for a couple days that taking the PATH and NJ light rail would not be an option! Hoping our prepaid car from dial7 will be here on time (all sorts of issues with gas shortages), how long it will take to get to Bayonne, and whether we really do go ahead with boarding Brilliance of the Seas.

It's been an adventure these last few days checking the status of things and altering plans as needed, but well worth it!

Noel

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Where do I buy PATH ticket?

I know the answer to this one! You can use the same New York City MTA Metrocard on PATH...that's right, the same card you use for the subway and bus in New York will work in the PATH turnstile...they'll deduct $2 per ride from your Metrocard balance.

Noel

Thanks for the detailed reply!

For the inbound, I hadn't considered NJTransit...will probably depend on the weather...if it's cold or rainy (or snowing?!?) on November 1st, it's probably worth the extra transfer and the extra stops on PATH to arrive two 1/2 blocks closer to the hotel.

For the outbound, I know for a fact there's an elevator from the street to the PATH station on the west side of Broadway just south of 34st St...we used it at least half a dozen times last week commuting between midtown and our hotel in Newport with our three year old in a stroller. It's in the Herald Center building which includes a big Staples...let me see if I can figure out how to upload a picture...I've put a red circle around the elevator!

As for the taxi, how long did it take them to arrive? I was thinking I'd call them while on the light rail when I was two stops away? All told, I'm thinking the trip from Herald Sq to Cape Liberty should take 60-90 mins...

Welcome to the new thread, and thanks to those who contribute their great first-hand knowledge!

We're sailing on Brilliance of the Seas out of Cape Liberty on November 2nd. We'll be flying in to EWR the day before. Initially, I'd booked the Hampton Inn on Staten Island - especially to take advantage of their shuttle from EWR and to the Cruise Port - and because I don't like the idea of paying the huge taxi or car service bill from other area hotels.

Now, we're considering staying in Manhattan instead. We were just in NY/NJ last week (stayed in Newport and commuted to midtown on PATH), and using public transit struck us as very doable. So, I've found a Hampton Inn at 35th and Broadway...I'm thinking if we stay there, it would be easy to get there from EWR (AirTran>PATH), and then to leave for the cruise (PATH>NJ Light Rail>Taxi).

Anyone have personal experience of getting to Cape Liberty by public transit? Is it really relatively pain free? We're a fairly active couple in our 30s who will likely have one rolling suitcase + carryone each...so not a tonne of luggage.

Thanks in advance!

Noel