cynt

Yes.

Hilton Riverside hands down. That's where we stay before and/or after our cruises. It cost a little more but the convenience of walking to and from is worth it.

More pics I'll type up day 2 tomorrow when I'm on my laptop.

We just returned from Bermuda via Liberty OTS. We spent the night in Bermuda Monday to Tuesday aboard the cruise ship. We enjoyed our 2 days in Bermuda. We have added it to our list of places to vacation. Day 1 We exited the ship later than I would have liked 9ish. Ship took longer than expected to clear. We decided to get the 2 day pass, $31.50 pp. We purchased it because 1. the line to purchase tickets were long, very long. 2. The ticket line almost caused us to miss the ferry. 3. We were not going to lose precious time standing in line again. The ferry is huge and has an upper deck. Some of the top deck is covered from the sun but there isn't any Air condition. The lower deck is enclosed with nice plush seats and has AC. Today was Cave day and Horse Shoe Bay day. We hopped on the ferry and took it to St. George. Once we docked in St. George, we asked the ferry operator how to get to the caves. We had to walk to the street, turn right and when we got to a bunch of steps we had to climb up the steps to the street level in order to catch the bus. We met some great Bermudians who reinforced the directions to the caves. There were several ferry passengers who also selected this route to the caves. We waited, and waited, and waited for a bus. We arrived to the caves. We didn't have a reservation so we had a 45 minute wait. This was no problem. We didn't make a reservation because we were not sure on the timing of the ferry, busses, ship, etc. I'm glad we didn't make a reservation. I'm going to pause for the cause right here. I wish I would have known Bermuda is laid back, on Island time like in Hawaii. I have no problem with this but had I understood it before hand I would have thought out my transportation differently. Keep reading. The Crystal cave tour was $24pp. If you are into caves go. If not, don't go. It's a one and done. The 80+ steps are not that bad. Three of us are pooh size and we did it. The steps are spaced out so you are not climbing up 80 steps one after another. The worst part is climbing the last set of steps to get out of the cave. The last 10 steps or so are grueling. Suck it up buttercup. Left, right, left, right. And then there is an incline to walk up to get out of the entrance. We struggled but we did it. Fat and out of shape. Afterwards, everyone needed water and food. We had water and powerade from the convenience store at the bus stop. Make sure to grab something to drink before or after the cave excursion. We asked the tour guide which restaurant does he get his fish sandwich. He said Mama Mias. So our original plan was to get some Baileys ice cream and then a rum swizzle. But our plans changed since Baileys was closed. We started looking for the Blue Hole. We failed and grabbed a taxi to Mama Mias. Our plan was to catch the bus. We didn't want to walk back to the bus stop and we didn't want to wait. Taxi driver took us straight to Mama's. 4 fish sandwiches later, we were stuffed. DELICIOUS! The Waahoo fish is the filet mignon of the sea. We ordered it the way it came. 3 with cheese and one without cheese. It arrived fresh and hot. We don't know how this fish sandwich works but it does. It stacked high with layers of waahoo fish. We each ate about 2/3 of our sandwich. We knew we were at a great spot because the locals were coming and going the entire time we were there. Just go and get you one. Now we're stuffed and ready to head back to the ship. It was after 3pm by this time so we decided to move our Horse Shoe bay day to tomorrow. We walked to the bus stop and waited and waited and waited for our bus. The bus took us to downtown Hamilton bus hub. We thought it was taking us directly to the ferry. No, we had to walk to the ferry. It's not hard to find but you have a nice walk to the ferry. And everyone we asked just said walk to the water and you will see it. They left out the part that you have to turn down a couple of streets before you see the water. We caught the bus and headed back to the ship. We were still full and all needed naps. We didn't even stop and shop. Cabin, shower and nap.

THIS! We had our first taste of a JR suite aboard the Symphony. We really enjoyed Coastal kitchen. No waiting in lines and faster more attentive service. When we can swing it we'll be back. Our next suite we want to try the grand suite.

Well, while I was young and robbing Peter to pay Paul I cruised on the cheap. But I had to have a balcony. We only did what was free. Our account would be less than $20. This was before auto gratuities. We passed gratuities out in those envelopes. I'm not a big soda drinker nor alcohol drinker so I'm fine with the water and lemonade on board. We finally reached Diamond an we have a hard time spending our 8 vouchers between the hubs and I. While cruising Our last conversation before bed is usually, how many vouchers do you have left? LOL! Now with A few job promotions and a little extra disposable income, We once got a great deal on a dining pkg during covid. It was like $99/pp for a 7 day cruise. WE LOVED IT! We will splurge on it if we find a great deal. But 89% of the time we go to Windjammer or MDR for dinner. Plenty of free food and drinks. You do not need to spend anything extra.

WOW! What a vacay! ENJOY! ENJOY! Happy early birthday ! Party like a rock star!

I loathe tipping. But I tip anyway because that's what I'm supposed to do. But since C19 it has gotten RIDICULOUS in every avenue, and service has gotten worse. We just tipped $22 last night on our dinner. We ran out of water about 2/3 the way through our meal. He never refilled it and we couldn't find him. SMH! We leave the automatic tips on our account when we cruise. I wish they would bring back the envelope system. It seems like we received better service when everyone had to earn it. I am a firm believer that the cruise line should pay the behind the scene employees accordingly. I don't believe it is my responsibility to tip them. WTW! Maybe I should remove gratuities day one and tell everyone if you earn it, I'll reinstate tips at the end of the cruise. We, I should say I do not tip the porters any more. I would always tip $1 a bag. About 10 years ago I was reading a thread, kinda like this one about how much the shoremen earn and that some of them are unionized. I stopped tipping. I'm reading in this thread that some tip $5 a bag. WOW! My DH might give $5 for all our bags. I had to stop him from giving $20 for 2 bags. An example - $5 per bag X 5000 passengers = $25,000. Divided by 50 shore men equals $500 per shore men divided 8 hr day = $62.50/hr on top of their $20-30/hr wage = $82-$92/hr. SMH! $1 a bag yeilds $12.50/hr. $32 - $42/hr. That makes more sense to me. This is a rough guesstimate and I might be way off base, but I think you understand what I'm trying to say. So no, I'm not tipping the shore men for taking 2 seconds to put my bag on a cart and wheeling it on the ship. They usually don't care and if I hear a grumble, I take their picture. You are not going to miss my $1. LOL! Great debatable topic. I understand both sides. Do you and don't worry about what other people do.

@whitecap might be time for you to cruise on a different cruise line and/or select a different type of vacation. Don't spend your money on an experience you no longer enjoy, for whatever reason. I have never liked buffets...mainland or on cruises. So I usually purchase the dining plan or eat most of my meals in the MDR. No sense in complaining. You have the option to do something different. Do it!

Thanks for the live review. 12 sleeps until we board her. I'm excited about Bermuda. Here's crossing everything that can be crossed that our itinerary doesn't change. We're so ready for a vacation we don't even care if it does. Just get us on a ship!

I can vouch for this. My dad passed last year. We had already paid it in full because it was after the final payment date. I was calling to cancel and told them why. Sure enough they refunded it in full. My dad had purchased the trip insurance but they refunded that as well. My condolences. Sending virtual hugs @amindu

This thread is hilarious! It's a $1.50! Are you seriously tripping over a $1.50? Plus there is free ice milk by the pools, free ice cream at dinner in the MDR and the Windjammer usually has free ice cream in the back near the desserts at dinner. Don't pay or eat the $1.50 ice cream. I don't consider $1.50 nickel and diming. I mean it's a $1.50. Have you visited your local ice cream parlor? Or purchased ice cream at amusement park or arena or stadium? I'll gladly pay $1.50. I think we paid $5 or $6 for Ben&Jerry's. I think cruising is slowly evolving to a floating hotel. Room and board and Minimum food included. I'm ok with it. We've been on several land base vacations in the states since covid and cruising is still a GREAT value even if you add the dining package and the nickel and diming. We easily spend double on resorts than our cruise costs without even trying.

Aww man. Yesterday I booked a last minute cruise with my MC. I would have used my chase card had I known. Aww shucks.

That's CRAY CRAY!

We're cruisers and Disney World fans. Disney prices are crazy expensive now too. We haven't been to Disney since our covid trip October 2021. Greatest trip EVER! DH gambles so right now we're just booking his free casino cruises and paying taxes and port charges. We're taking a Family Alaskan cruise July 2024 but the prices are stupid crazy. I usually book our group cruise directly through Royal but I'm seriously thinking about using a big box online cruise agency to get more perks than normal since it's so expensive. And I'm going with whoever is the cheapest Princess, Celebrity or Royal - North bound. Anything round trip from Seattle is crazy. Even adding additional airfare plus cruise fare for traveling into Vancouver and out of Anchorage is cheaper than a r/t from Seattle cruise fare.

I organized a group cruise October 2022 and gave each person a goodie box with the following: Bite size Snickers and other bite size candy bars Variety of fruity candy (It was around Halloween so all the candy was on sale) Lanyard Luggage tag holder for cruise luggage labels Towel clips Chap stick Tylenol packets (2 pills in a pack) Shout out wipes to go Single use Sunscreen packets Band aids EmergenC single packets Purell single use packets Custom magnetic door signs. I put them on the doors prior to the 1pm cabins ready. It was a lot of work. LOL! Lanyards were a hit for our cruise newbies. The luggage tags were appreciated. Everyone used something in the box. They really enjoyed the bite size candy. A quick snack b4 bed, on excursions or pre dinner snack. Several used the Shout out wipes. Have a great cruise!

Why didn't she just miss the ship as it departed Juneau? She should have acted like a pier runner and chased the ship. Too bad she didn't get on CC to check and see how to do this. LOL! I would have packed some old clothes and left them and an old suitcase in the room. In my backpack I would have my real clothes and important papers and documents and whatever else I needed. It really baffles me that people don't ask more questions about things they plan on doing the first time they experience something new.

9 hour drive! I would drive in the day before. I agree with your mom. I have a 4.5 hour drive to my home port and always drive in the day before. My DH and I are too excited to wait until the day of to drive. LOL!! Nothing like waking up in the port city the day of your cruise. Thanks for taking us along on your journey.

Great review @bonsai3sand @ARandomTraveler. Thanks for taking us along for the trip.

Yes, just what I needed, a Wildra review to read in the middle of the night. Menopause and insomnia are terrible over here in these parts. Looks like I'll be courting your reviews all week. Hopefully your review will last longer than this weeks cycle of M&I. Hopefully we'll join you in FL in 11 years and 10 months. But whose counting. LOL! We're hoping to find a quiet little town between all the big towns within an hour or so from a beach and a couple of hours from a cruise port. Love your review as always. Thank you for the time you put into these reviews.

M2M gave an excellent description. Zero dollars needed to have a great beach day. Coco Cay is one of my favorite spots.

You have to call Royal and ask to add the transfer.

The horse races. On my 1st cruise I thought it was the coolest thing ever. My 2nd cruise people were teaming up and dressing them extravagantly. We had so much fun.

OMG! I was just telling my husband that Royal use to have a topless deck. I remember stumbling upon it while looking for an empty lounger.

Those prices are crazy. I won't complain about my $3800 Jr suite on the Symphony Oct 2022. I'm hoping they might send Icon to my home port Galveston one day. It looks amazing. We finally got an Oasis class ship down here.