cruisin from florida

In December. What happened to the edit function?😳

We're on her for a short cruise in Decatur. Definitely hoping that the mattresses will be improved a bit for the WC, and that we'll reap the benefits.

Thanks everyone! When booking a guarantee, we accepted that we'd be happy with what we got. Midship on relatively high deck is a bonus!

We just booked a last minute (sails in 3 weeks) cruise. Saw a good deal on a balcony guarantee and grabbed it. After a few days of barcode showing "-GTY" it is now showing a cabin number, and I'm really happy with the location. Has anybody seen their cabin number change after the barcode trick shows a cabin assignment? I don't want to get too excited if it's likely to change.

We're doing a Celebrity Med cruise followed by a Royal transatlantic from Barcelona. They hit 4 of the same ports (fine by me, we've never been there, so a second day is welcome!) It's VERY interesting to see the price differences in the exact same excursions between the X and RCCL cruises.

I understand that these are business decisions, and the company is called Royal CARIBBEAN, but I'm still disappointed. We live in Florida and are done with Caribbean cruises except with friends and family. We want to see new places, and had hoped to reach Pinnacle seeing them on Royal Caribbean. Loved our Greek isles cruise and want to do more "new to us" European ports. We'll see how it plays out.

I'm anxiously waiting for it to be bookable. I would really like to see prices on the '25 Brilliance.

I got voom on one upcoming cruise (brilliance, Panama canal, 9/24) for $15.99 per day. Finally a real deal.

Is that on the US RCCL site? What are you putting in as search parameters?

Either. I did a search on Allure. For February of 25 (the latest date it shows) the only destination is the Bahamas. I've noticed that the search engine filter can be funky. I'll go sacrifice a rooster and try again.

If the survey asks about it, I'm honest. And frankly, the folks who have REALLY given outstanding service know it, and don't generally ask. I see it mostly in the dining room.

I can't see it at all. IT needs deployment help. (Pun intended).

I hate being asked to give good reviews. Yuck.

It did in September '22. You could go to the airport or Venice. Same price.

With the service going down (once per day cabin service) and autogratuities going up, we may not tip as much additionally as before, unless the service is really outstanding. Unfortunately, that's less likely than ever before because the staffing levels have been reduced. We'll probably still add a cash tip for our d+ drinks.

We're booked on Ovation 4/29/25 Honolulu to Vancouver.

According to their rep, Viking let's you fly in and out of one of 25 cities up to a total of 30 days pre- or post-cruise, for an added charge of $100 pp. I haven't used this service, so someone may have better information. We're planning to make our river cruise part of a wider European trip, so this option was of interest to us.

This is very helpful! Thank you!

Ok, I'll hijack my own thread..😁 Why Ama over Viking? They seem very similar on the surface. One reason we're leaning towards Viking is that their air deals allow deviations/extensions for $100 pp.

One of the best things about retiring from teaching was being able to cruise the shoulder season and repositioning itineraries.

LOL. At Royal Caribbean IT, it's always 2005.

We're doing late spring or summer in Europe. I think we'll use the balcony. If we're docked right next to someone, maybe we'll make new friends!

Really great input and information! I'm thinking we might want to enjoy a glass of wine on a balcony while sailing... For our first trip I'm leaning towards Ama or Viking for the balcony. If we don't use it, we'll try the French balcony on our next river cruise.

We're planning our first river cruise and were looking at Viking and Ama veranda/balcony cabins. Avalon has some good deals going on, but they only have french balconies. We've done a lot of ocean cruising, and I didn't really care for their new infinity veranda on Apex. Looking for opinions on Avalon and their panoramic suites vs the true (but probably small) verandas on Ama and Viking. Thanks!!

I just booked Ovation Honolulu to Vancouver arriving May '25.