elaine5

Asking here on CC for late 2024.  Didn’t realize excursions are still Canx after boating incident. 

2 minutes ago, blueslily said:

 

Has the cruise you're going on restarted offering this excursion? If yes, which cruise line? Thanks 

I was just checking Blue Lagoon options when planning a cruise. 

4 hours ago, My3Daughters said:

November or around thanksgiving or early December; but I’m guessing prices are high. Is January or February a good time to do the Caribbean?

Thanksgiving is a bit higher, but not much. You can still get a bit of tropical weather in mid-late Nov, esp. in W. Carib. Early Dec weather tends to be calmer and pricing tends to be fairly low, as it's between holidays and most kids are in school, followed by Jan, with Feb getting higher. We love March (usually good weather), but pricing can be a higher due to spring breaks. Water tends to be warmer in early Dec than Jan/Feb. 

The "older, with good stuff" ships on RCCL that I'd look at are Freedom/Liberty/Indy and Voyager/Adventure/Explorer/Navigator. I think all have ice skating shows/sessions, flow riders, climbing walls, putt-putt, sports courts, water slides, fun indoor promenade/cafe area. Most (all) have been renovated.

As it's your 1st cruise, I think you'll be wowed by any of those ships. And, personally, I'd save the "bigger/better/newer" ships for another cruise. We've done both newer and older ships. When we got off Explorer this summer and DH said, "I really like that class of ships, it's a great size and layout, and the slide/flow rider are fun."

From a family of 5-tip. Some of the older ships (Liberty, for ex), have lots of cool tween-teen things to do and come in at a much lower price point. They have family Oceanview cabins (ultra spacious Oceanview) that can be a really good deal. There are some configured like a suite (usually front corner rooms, below) with a separate small bunk bed room. We have done both 5 person cabins and 2 rooms depending on the pricing. 

if platinum, is daily charge $7.50? 

I didn't smell any smoke from Verandah, so I don't think so. The smoking was "avoidable." Casino is 3rd floor forward. If you came to Billboard/Rolling stones (on 2) from midship, it was OK towards that end. The front part was not OK. To get to main theater (front of ship) to avoid casino, walk on 2 to front where there is an elevator. We just avoided aft pool area. 

Yes, very nice time, we're beach/water people-we also get a great deal ( 2 months out). Agree, Celebrity tends to be $$$  unless we're booking last minute.

If I may ask, how did you get a great deal on your Amex? Was it just for HA?

How did you like it? How does the beach compare to Grand Turk or ships' private islands/areas (Coco, Half Moon, Castaway, etc.)? 

We were on the same sailing, also in early 60s. Our 1st HA.  We had an enjoyable time, great weather on a beautiful ship. We echo original poster's thoughts with a few additional observations. Agree--smoking was an issue. We could only sit on the far side of Billboard and Rolling Stones, with already limited seating; and almost zero seats by main pool (sun or sahde) by 7am--never had this issue on RCCL, Celebrity, Disney or Princess. We met another couple who said the pool chairs was a deal killer for them for future HA Carib. cruises. 

Main DR food was very good (maybe even slightly better than MDR Celebrity/Princess), Rudi's excellent, buffet was fine, but we found above-listed cruise lines to have more variety and better taste/spices. Room was wonderful, shower great. 

Entertainment-HA seems to have given up on this, with the exception of a dance group, which was excellent. Otherwise, mostly single entertainers (comic, magician), a lecture on HA history, a few movies, and steel drum band (very good) as the headliner events. The steel band was what I'd expect on the pool deck or in a club, not as a headliner. We enjoyed Rolling Stones and BB King Blues each 1 night, but found ourselves just watching movies in our cabin the other nights--HA has a good selection of free on demand. We noticed many people with coughing, sneezing, upper respiratory issues.

We actually enjoyed Grand T and HMC, both places we snagged seats in the shade. We sailed a similar itinerary last year with Celebrity and found the vibe and entertainment more our style and would choose that again in heartbeat. After this sailing, we would sail HA again only if it had a great itinerary for a great price, esp. if in Europe with more port stops and using the ship as a floating hotel. 

can anyone report back about their experience the past year? 

Are we allowed to take a small shade tent (we'd sit on towel on sand, top of shade tent hits just above head)? OR can we bring a typical beach umbrella? Or are the ship's clamsells all that are allowed? 

Are we allowed to take a small shade tent (we'd sit on towel on sand, top of shade tent hits just above head)? OR can we bring a typical beach umbrella? Or are the HA clamsells all that is allowed? 

We’re on princess majestic to NZ this spring. We had the same decision. Princess balcony vs celebrity OV. We’re about the same age. For this cruise, we don’t care much about entertainment. But I find Celebrity entertainment better including a great 2 person cirque type show. The overall celebrity vibe was a bit cooler, hipper than princess. Think princess-very nice Marriott, celebrity-hotel indigo. 
We ultimately decided on princess for balcony and slightly better timing. 

Oh, I understand now. Yes, federal BCBS covers overseas. If anyone with federal BCBS has any advice, please chime in. Thanks. Elaine

29 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

Just a note @elaine5 if you're on Medicare, Medicare does not cover you outside of the US. We find GeoBlue us an affordable supplement to our BCBS. 

I agree GeoBlue seems very reasonable.  I'm just trying to understand what GeoBlue would give me that BCBS, which uses GeoBlue for outside USA doesn't offer? And, as BCBS provides coverage outside USA, so wouldn't it cover us even if Medicare didn't?

We have federal govt nationwide BCBS standard, which is using Geo Blue for overseas in 2024. 

Any reasons to get GeoBlue policy when BCBS is adding GeoBlue as their overseas manager for 2024? The GeoBlue thru BCBS covers medical evacuation arranged by GeoBlue. I'm surmising that they're using the same standards for whether medivac. I also have Princess Platinum coverage, which has $75K medivac. We'll be in Asia for 3 weeks, including many sea days. 

how far out can one make reservations for Oasis, and which shows? 

You can easily get to Amsterdam, as well, via Eurostar train as option for cruise departures, esp. if you're going to Paris. We love cruising and usually do 1/2 land and a week cruising.

Another option, if you're going to Disney Paris to based out of the DLP area for a few days, to explore France. There are good train connections from the DLP train station to Reims and (farther out to Strasbourg). You can also take a relaxing bus ride thru the countryside from DLP station to Provins, a medieval town. With a car rental, the excellent WWI museum in Meaux is just 15 minutes from DLP. 

what is the email to send to for Princess? Going to try today. 

what is the email to send to HA? I'm going to try that today instead of the APP and see if it still works. 

thank you. I thought I read that C class got wine with dinner. seems like the C perks are meh for us. 

does gty concierge include perks? Is wine anytime or dinner? Is the sparkling wine anytime/anywhere, or only in cabin? Is there a selection of wine by the glass (or price limit)? Is there a different dining room or different menu in MDR? Any "bad" cabins? thanks, Elaine

One week later could be the pricing difference, esp. if around Easter? Usually, I find them similar prices. Like others said, there are TAs whose pricing beats RCI direct by a quite a bit. Princess pricing tends to be very similar on their website and via TA. We sail both lines frequently and like both. I view Princess as a step-up from older Royal ships for amenities, entertainment, food, and equal to older (newish) ships like Anthem. Haven't been on newest Royals yet. Enchanted would deliver a quality product, Royal will have a bit "funner" vibe and more active/sports offerings. With teens/young adults, we prefer Royal, but not for 50% more! 

thanks, I thought a read about a new policy for 2 hours in advance.