SailingSal

Our son had his hip replaced and his physician gave him a wallet-sized card to carry with him for the purposes of going through security when traveling. I'm sure your friend has the same card, and he should have no trouble traveling with his new hip. Bet he feels great!

My husband has 2 knee replacements and he is ALWAYS pulled aside and wanded - every time we enter the ship and through TSA. My husband has "his card" but they still pull him aside to wand him. It is no problem - just be prepared. It actually makes me feel safer that security does this:)

Unknown, but I do know that SAS Travel is $15.00 per person.. Check them out.. we use them

Agreed - We use SAS all of the time from Fort Lauderdale Airport to Miami and the are always on time, reliable, and only $15/person. Just used it last week for our Cruise on Enchantment - a wonderful time! And I believe that the Chops was the best we have ever eaten at.

Just looked at my Navigator sailing. It's $35, with a 5nts for $105.

 

I sailed on Navigator out of Galveston in April 2015, and it was $30 and Sabor was $20, which we got for $15 because we went the first night. :eek:

It bothers me that it is NOT a set price throughout the cruise line. Rather, it is more like, "Let's make a Deal".

We just sailed on Enchantment and it was $35. Since we are Diamond+, we paid for a dinner and received one for free. Perhaps too many people are taking advantage of this benefit.

I was also surprised when we signed up to eat at Chops, the waiter asked me if we would like to do a Chef's table. I replied, "no thank you, we did that recently". He asked how much I paid, and I told him it was $75 or $80. He told me he could give it to us for $60! I still said, "no", and then he told me that to think about it as he could go down to $50:eek:

As I said, "Let's make a Deal".

My husband has carried a CPAP for years - it is very portable and he does put it in his carry-on. He has almost always been asked to take it out. He does carry a medical card for the CPAP and his knees - they are both replaced. We always have to wait for him to be screened and taken into another area to be wanded again. Even with the medical card, scars on the knees, and 74, we always hold up the line:eek:

Although - I would rather be safe and know that everyone is doing their job:)

Has anyone up-graded when checking in at port? We are leaving in 2 weeks and there are many Jr suites and a few grand and owner suites still available.

What are the chances that we may snag one when we check in?

We leave September 5 on Enchantment - love this 4 day cruise:)

When you get to Key West, you will be able to find loads of trinkets to buy!

The trolley ride and train is a great way to see Key West - and taste their Key Lime!

Hahahahhahaha... I have a MS in Statistics (I know, lies, damn lies and statistics) and I thought exactly the same thing!!!

 

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Oops - I thought it was "lies, damn lies, and "statricktics":D

I love, love, love your review.

We sailed Empress twice when she sailed to Bermuda out of New York. She is a great "little ship".

Your review could have been written by my husband when he was single:rolleyes:

Hope you get to dinner eventually!

Thank you for making me smile:)

Just off the Enchantment 7 - 22 . Great cruise, great crew, wish they would schedule Key West as first port stop, thus eliminating the customs check, it would give the passengers more time in Key West.

You are so brilliant - I never thought of that. I wonder why they don't:confused:

Perhaps because it makes perfect sense? I must be missing something obvious - but there would be more happy people not waiting for a customs check.

Loved reading your review:)

We leave on the September 5th cruise. Only question I have and can't remember from sailing before: does the Windjammer have outside seating?

I save my calories for special desserts, too;)

At one time my husband and sons all wore tuxes on formal night. When we started to fly and had to worry about the weight limit, they exchanged them for suits/jackets and interchangeable ties and pants. I am very careful with weight and flying, too. So I still dress with long and short dresses but am careful about shoes:eek:

Enjoy your trip and have fun.

On a 4 day cruise you will be ok with an OV room. Especially for the price - think of all the money you are saving!

One time we had to cancel a 7 day cruise with a balcony room because a grandchild was due - she was born earlier than expected - and then we decided to re-book the cruise. We could only get an OV room and we survived:rolleyes: We "missed" a balcony, but so enjoyed those 7 days at sea.

Deck 4 will be fine - you will not have noise.

Enjoy your cruise!

We were just talking about the horse racing. My husband and I would always bet on a horse and it was really quite fun!:)

When our children sailed with us we bought a horse with our family. The kids did decorate it and took it with them everywhere! My brother had broken his leg and so the horse was called - "Break a Leg" and raced the horse with his crutch. Our daughters dressed up like nurses and though we didn't get first place, we met many people and had a ball. This was on Empress of the Seas back in 2003.

We are looking at a cruise that leaves from Venice, but would like to fly into Rome and spend 4 or 5 days there, first. We are leaving from New Jersey/New York area and flights are so high that we want to enjoy as much time there as possible. What is the easiest way to travel from Rome to Cruise ship in Venice? I would appreciate your suggestions:)

5 night Bermuda is NOT enough. We just cancelled the 5 night Bermuda because we just needed more time there. We have been to Bermuda 6 times and the last time was 5 nights - we barely got there and then we were leaving.:(

IF you can do the 9 nights - go for it;)

I have read all of the suggestions and agree that you need to propose the 1st day- at the set sail;)

Adventures has the most beautiful sail-away at 8:30. I suggest you find the quite corner in the Viking Crown Lounge, order your favorite drink(champagne, etc), and ask your girlfriend to "sail into your next adventure" together - marriage!

This will make the rest of your cruise worry-free and relaxed without the pressure of more planning. I am certain that a photographer would be happy to stand by to snap pictures.

Flying to San Juan is costly - and has been going up each year.:mad:

We fly out of Philadelphia and our first cruise was only $600 for two, that was 7 years ago. This past march, it was $1100 :eek:

We fly USAir/American because it is direct and we book a year in advance. We never see the flight price go down, only up. We love this southern Caribbean route and that is why we keep going back to San Juan - this past year we did a back-to-back since the airfare is high and the cruises are more reasonably priced.

Two other things I forgot. The outside movie screen was still not working. Picture but no sound. Also the in room TV offerings were very limited. While I enjoy a bit of the Royal Caribbean "how we built this ship" stuff, it repeats often. The channel I missed the most was what I call the map channel. The one showing a picture of the ship's chart plotter with so you have an idea where you are. Seems like they could have fixed that on a $50 million upgrade since they didn't spend it on ice cream machines!

Thank you so much for your honest review. I tried to talk my husband into going on Empress again - we had sailed twice on Empress out of New York to Bermuda with our family. At the time it seemed so large to us - it was our second and third cruise. We loved Empress and our children had so much fun. When I read that you didn't have the map channel it made me :)

My husband loves watching the journey of the ship and he too would be disappointed without it.

So instead of booking Empress we are going on Enchantment since the itinerary is similar. Your approach to your vacation was so refreshing - you were out to have a wonderful family vacation with great memories. Sometimes we forget that is the purpose of vacations. You have great stories that had some disappointing results - but it didn't ruin your family time. Hopefully there will be some changes on Empress and her future sailings won't fall so short!

Hi everyone,

 

I'm heavily reading up on cruise tips of all sorts, but I wanted to extend a "Please help me by telling me any huge cruise tip I may forget or not know as a first time cruiser" thread, as I could miss something since there's SO much to read out there.

 

Fiance and I are leaving on our honeymoon cruise next Sunday MAY 22nd-29th on the Freedom of the Seas (Western Caribbean). Any tips would be appreciated, especially lesser known tips/less common sense tips :)

You will have fun - relax;)

We like to do sail away up in the Viking Crown Lounge as there you have a great view; favorite drink; and not blown away!

Take a day to watch the sun rise and set - and feel comfortable to talk to the crew and where they are from - so many stories to enjoy.

We never put an additional tip on the bar tab - we bring lots of $1 and $5 to give to our bartenders and steward/breakfast server when they give us service on particular days. It is always appreciated and we know it goes to the person that deserves it. Love breakfast in the main dining room - windjammer gets too busy in the morning.

We had no idea what to expect on our first cruise - and it was everything we wanted and more! That is why we keep on cruising.

We were on Adventure a few weeks ago and ate at Giovanni's for the first time. We were very disappointed with the food and the over-all experience. We have always had at least 1 meal in the specialty Restaurants when we cruise and have enjoyed the "upgrade" of the atmosphere, service, and food. Perhaps it was that particular night, but the service was rushed and the restaurant was loud. Seating was more crowded than in Chops or Porto Fina. We were just not impressed with the food at an additional $30/person:(

I would recommend 2 balcony rooms. The two bathrooms and privacy is very nice. We have shared with kids - it was much better to have separate rooms;)

I have been waiting patiently to see where Empress goes after July.

What has anyone heard??? :confused:

I would love to book - anyone hear anything?

Based on everyones answers I guess I have to go back to the drawing board. I am looking for a short fun trip with hubby and maybe a few other couples. We'd all be leaving kiddos as home so unfortunately we don't have 7 nights to spare! We were hoping for a fun getaway. Will continue looking.

Well, I see you are from Canada? So you are flying to get to the cruise ship?

If that is the case - why not go on a 5 night Bermuda cruise out of Beyonne (Anthem) or Baltimore? If you are going with other couples for the get-away, the ship time will be fun and Bermuda is wonderful. It will be a relaxing time away from children and not so intense to see many ports in a short time. Bermuda is our favorite island of all - and then the southern caribbean route. If you decide on the Western caribbean trip, take more time on the ship and enjoy:rolleyes:

Hi everyone,

I would like to go on a cruise this January and have been looking at 4, 5 or 6 night cruises within the Caribbean. I have been on a 3 night cruise on the Enchantement (Coco cay and Nassau) and the 7 night eastern Caribbean on Freedom. I enjoyed both. I am looking for advice from folks with lots of cruises under their belt who have been to these places and can help me eliminate or highlight a few choices.

Many thanks,

The ports choices are as follows:

1. Cozumel Mx,

2. Labadee Haiti and Fairmouth Jamaica,

3. Puero Costa Maya Mx, Cozumel Mx,

4. Nassau, Cozumel Mx

5. Nassau, Coco Cay, Key West

6. George Town Grand Cayman, Cozumel Mx, Puerto Costa Maya Mx

Well, honestly, I would not visit any of these ports again.

Grand Cayman is probably my favorite of these - but crowded when there are more than 2 ships in port.

Why not Eastern Caribbean? Or Southern? We have been to all of the ports and would recommend any of the islands on those routes;)

Many thanks for your quick reply

 

thought we could have a drink in champagne bar but not sure if it is only open after setting sail?

 

Food wise was thinking of speciality restaurant Giovanni's intimate dinner if we can book it ahead of time?

 

Also anyone know how much photographer costs per hour would like them to do some shots before we change

 

so if we wait until after 1pm the que will be less & boarding should be easier?

As I replied before, Giovanni's is not intimate - very,very loud and somewhat chaotic. We did not really enjoy our dinner there last month:(