kalliekae

We've sailed Oasis and Allure several times, but we always go the week before or after Thanksgiving. Less kids on those cruises. On our last Allure cruise, we encountered some rude people crowding the elevators and not letting people off the elevator. Other than that one time, we have not had a negative encounter. There are always plenty of seats in the balcony at the theater so perhaps that would be a better bet than main floor. I'm sorry you encountered so many disruptions to your cruise. If you like Freedom, stick with that ship. You have to do what works for you.

After sailing Oasis and Allure several times, the smaller ships are too boring for us. We love all the things to do on board the large ships and have never felt crowded. We usually book a JS on the hump and enjoy the balcony plus Central Park is never crowded and always a quiet place. If you time your meals in the "off" times, the WJ is not crowded. If crowds bother you, don't try getting an elevator when a show lets out. Wait a few minutes until the crowds thin or take the stairs if you can. There are plenty of ways to avoid the crowds on the mega ships.

We've ordered the strawberries and champagne. The champagne was in the room when we arrived (1pm) and the strawberries were delivered within the next hour. Enjoy the strawberries. They are delicious!

Baltic cruises are so port intensive that most people are exhausted at the end of the day. I don't remember attending any of the shows. After we had dinner, we either went to the cabin or had an after dinner drink and then crashed. It was one of our favorite cruises and would do it again. Enjoy!

8 minutes ago, Aodhan said:

It was not.  My mother was walking up an uneven, slippery slope at the end of the excursion when an operator distracted her when he popped in front of her requesting/reminding her to tip.  Distracted and startled she lost her footing and fell.  It was all a strange series of events but if he'd helped her up the slope instead, it might be a different situation.  (btw: we have no issue about tips.  We are actually over tippers most likely in everything we do - so it wasn't about the request, it was that the request was done at an inappropriate time and way and had consequences.)

I'm not an attorney, but honestly, I can't see this as a case that an attorney could win. It's your word against the tour operators' word. Also, as someone else said, those tour operators do not make a lot of money so even if you win, they probably could not pay you. It was an unfortunate accident.

In our experience, there is usually a lot of food so you don't need to order extras. For example in Chops, the sides feed two people easily and the entree was sufficient for one person. You will not go away hungry. 

I'm just curious if the injury occurred at Dunn River Falls. I was injured there and ended up in a wheel chair for the rest of the cruise because I tore ligaments in my foot. We were required by the tour operator to hold hands while climbing the falls and one man fell pulling me down on the rocks. I remember that the excursion specifically stated that you do this at your own risk. It never occurred to me to go after the cruise line or the tour operator. I was just sorry I went on the excursion and it was a lesson learned to be more diligent in picking excursions. However, I was not disabled as your relative appears to be. I don't think you'll be able to find an attorney to take on this case, but please come back and let us know what happens. I am sorry for the pain your relative has suffered.

I agree with the others who recommend deck 8. It is so convenient to grab a sandwich or coffee at the Park Cafe in Central Park plus it has bars and music at night along with several specialty restaurants. Central Park is a great way to cut across the ship and avoid the heavy traffic on the Promenade. You will love the ship and November is a great month to cruise.

We watched the ships depart from the beach at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort. There is also a nice bar with loungers on the outside, elevated deck that gives you a nice view. The ships are not real close, but you can definitely see them.

Had a manicure on board once and it was ok, but expensive. They also try to sell you products and are not very nice when you say no. Would not do it again.

We prefer Chops over 150. We prefer to eat outside at Chops, but honestly, I doubt we go there on our next cruise. It is not as good as it used to be and the service can be hit or miss. We think Royal has upped the prices, but not the quality of food. May as well eat in the MDR than pay the higher prices in the specialty restaurants. The only specialty restaurant we will eat in next time is Izumi. 

Your Mom might enjoy staying on board the ship. Last year, I stayed on the ship while the rest of our party took advantage of the beach. It was very quiet on board and I enjoyed having my choice of loungers while reading a book. Lunch was not crowded at peak times and one could sit in the WJ and not be hurried. 

I've sailed on Royal's mega ships and I respectfully disagree with this statement:  

"There is a big difference how this line handled it and how HAL does it. Definitely HAL handles it much more seriously."

Having sailed many times on HAL and Royal, I can tell you that I have seen no difference. Royal takes it very seriously and the ships are immaculate. In the dining rooms on Royal, there are no condiments or bread on the table until the waiter comes over and serves you one roll and some butter. Yes, dining utensils are on the table along with cloth napkins and a tablecloth. I don't think one can take issue with those being on the table. After all, a waiter must bring you the utensils at some point. A friend of mine was on the ship when the noro situation occurred. She said the staff was being very diligent going so far as to wipe down every hand hold on the climbing wall after EVERY person had finished their climb. I would say that was extremely diligent on their part as these climbing walls are huge and this took a lot of time to do each and every time. I have always seen Royal crews diligently cleaning the ship on all our cruises. 

Royal does have an open buffet, but people are literally stopped at the door and required to use hand sanitizer even if they say they have washed their hands. It is not voluntary. You are not seated unless you sanitize. Additionally, hand sanitizers are everywhere on the ships. Is it perfect? No, but I can honestly say that I have sailed on more HAL ships with noro than Royal ships. HAL has never offered us any type of credit or refund for a noro outbreak and I never expected one. Noro can happen anytime, anyplace. I applaud Royal for giving everyone a full refund on their cruise. 

I am not a fan of Dunn River Falls. We went with kids who were in 4th and 6th grades. They had no problem with it and enjoyed the climbing. I was the last one in our group so I had to hold hands with a man who had trouble climbing. He fell and pulled me down with him causing me to tear tendons in my foot. Those rocks are slippery! I finished the rest of the cruise in a wheelchair. 

Our Baltic cruise was at the end of July a few years ago when that area was experiencing above average temps. It was 90 degrees on a couple of days and most buildings are not air conditioned. The Hermitage in St Petersburg was stifling hot and none of the tour busses were air conditioned in any of the cities. I would advise you to check the 10 day weather outlook before you finalize your packing.  As for dressing in the MDR, we found more people participated in formal nights than on other cruises. Europeans tend to dress up more than Americans. Whatever you wear, this is a fantastic cruise. Enjoy!

We usually sail the week before Thanksgiving on the Allure. We have not noticed a lot of kids on any of those cruises. One year, we sailed the week of Thanksgiving and it was full of kids as expected. Honestly, kids we've seen behave better than many adults.

On 9/25/2018 at 1:18 PM, dcourt said:

We did 2 days and took the first day there and flew to Moscow using a ship excursion - what an amazing trip. The second day we hired a private tour guide through the ships excursions and was able to see everything we wanted to see including the museums (guide got us fast passes through the entrances of every place we went). I would do it again in a heart beat!!

This is what we did. Moscow was amazing and we enjoyed it far more than St Petersburg. We enjoyed Catherine's Palace more than the Hermitage. If the op has the option to do one day in Moscow and one day in St Petersburg, go with that choice.

6 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

It's happened to us at FLL once, flying Southwest.  They said they have limited space at the gates.

This happened to us when we flew American a couple of years ago. They said the same thing....not enough room at the gates. Personally, I wish FLL would expand. It is just too small for all the passenger traffic.

Looking forward to your posts. We did the Panama Canal in 2000 and would enjoy cruising it again. Thanks for taking the time to blog. 

Just an FYI.....when we were in St. Kitts, there was an oversized golf cart that held 6-8 people that ran between the ship and the front of the port area where you line up for excursions. It was a huge help to us as we had someone with limited mobility. You had to wait in a line, but it wasn't a long wait. We did not see any place to leave a scooter once you left the ship. Perhaps you could ask Royal to help your friend off the ship via a Royal wheelchair and then utilize the golf cart to get you to the excursion area.

I would suggest you go to the MDR after embarkation and request a specific table. In our experience on the Allure, many of the two tops are very close to one another and there is no privacy. You will hear other people's conversations and we've had people butt into ours. The Allure has some lovely two top tables along a wall and that is what we always request. No neighbors on either side of us. :)

Agree that it happens all the time. We got a call from the security dept of a credit card we have that had not been used in months. Someone had charge $1100 worth of merchandise in CA and we live in IL. No idea where or when they got the credit card number. It's just a fact that happens many times a year and I never blame the last place where I used it because it could have been stolen months before.

I would go with a longer cruise than you usually take and an upgraded cabin. Have you thought of a Baltic or Mediterranean cruise? For our 25th, we did a Panama Canal transit, the Baltic on our 30th, and for our 35th, we did a Mediterranean cruise. Do what you can while you're young and in good health.

Can you tell me how much the Lyft was to FLL? I have a 11:45am flight and will be flying by myself so I'm thinking it will be cheaper to do a Lyft or Uber than a cab.

Cabs are right outside the door and there are a ton of them. No need for Uber. The airport is real close--about a 10-15 minute drive. Cab fare was reasonable, too. Sorry, don't remember what we paid, but I remember thinking how inexpensive it was.

We have unplugged on the last few cruises. Dh is always on VM or business calls at home so it's nice to unplug and really enjoy the vacation time. Here's a side story......our friends took their first cruise to Alaska and the husband felt he HAD to work while on the cruise. So he paid for the internet package only to find that it really didn't work all that well. He ended up spending more time trying to send documents back to his office than enjoying the cruise with his wife. He also said that was the last cruise he will ever take which is sad since he really didn't try to enjoy the cruise. So find your happy medium and go with it.