kearney

Keep in mind if you are in a suite, RCCL gets the premium for that suite, not sure staff sees much of that. If you can afford a suite, you can afford to tip as appropriate for services that deserve tipping. Also if you don't get that level of service no tip.

On Oasis our guy was on his computer quite a bit. At on point I recall asking him for something and realized that while he was on the computer a lot, he was on their working on something for a passenger... eg looking for reservations etc. I realized that he was not surfing the internet or doing email, he was actually working. So keep that in mind... that they may actually be helping someone out. Hard to prove one way or the other... but thought I would mention that:)

Looks like they are trying to have fewer passengers 'fall' off the ship. Lawyers probably advised them to have some type of control over consumption. Blame the idiots who find a way to go overboard despite chest high railings.

the same thing happened to me in Barcelona. none of my luggage arrived. I was a basket case!! Fortunately we arrive 2 days before the cruise. I called the travel insurance company and they did all the work for me. By that evening they had delivered 1 luggage and the day of embarkation I received all of my luggage.

 

the insurance company did all the work. All I did was call them right away.

May I ask, what insurance comp. did you use?

We have done several cruises with a short time frame. My husband was recovering from knee surgery and about to go into shoulder surgery, so I scheduled a cruise out of Tampa on Brilliance about two weeks before the cruise. I was not picky about location and more concerned with cost, given all the surgeries. We booked an inside cabin.... Turned out it was next to crew staircase. Not the best location given early morning traffic up and down the staircase. The other thing I did not consider was that if DH was tired of walking, there was nothing to see in the cabin. A balcony cabin would have been a better idea. That way if he did not feel like going anywhere, he could have just sat on the deck.

Later in the year after shoulder surgery and before his next knee surgery, I booked a cruise on Oasis on Aug 29th for Oct 31. This time I was wiser and fortunate to be able to book a cabin near the aft elevator on the same deck as the Diamond lounge... above the Schooner bar and the main dining room with easy access to both the boardwalk and central park. This time we were more prepared. He sat on the balcony when he tired of walking and the walking was not too much... I was worried about this given the large size of the ship.

Traveling with a large group may mean that you are spread around the ship more than you would like and cabin selection might be more limited... but with the right attitude... you should still have a good time. I am not familiar with Anthem so I am not sure where good cabins might be located.

We planned our next cruise 5 months in advance... which is very advance planning for me. When I want to go... I like to go now or at least as close to now as possible. Best wishes on you planned surgery. But to consider a room with a view, for those days you might feel better staying put. The nice thing about cruising with a group is that there is enough to interest different people... you don't need to all hang out together if you have different interests... just meet for dinner... or joint activity... Best wishes on your surgery

Ocean view balcony is far more private too.

We are driving from Atl to Orlando, staying with a friend and then on to Ft Lauderdale. traveling on Allure.

Cost of cruise including taxes, for ocean balcony $2000

Gratuities $190

package of 4 specialty dinners $190

All access tour $150

est of drinks and misc spending onboard $175 (not big drinkers, plus we are diamond members)

one night at hotel in Ft Lauderdale $112

Parking/tip at park n go $72

travel insurance $112

misc meals coming and going to ship $250

Gas for drive (excludes other costs of maintenance) $240

roughly $3500 for the trip (excludes misc like sunscreen, OFF, any new clothing which is minimal)

I enjoyed CATS

I would really like to know why people liked or did not like CATS. My husband and I saw part of it on our last Oasis cruise. We snuck out with half the audience at intermission.

I wanted to like it. I blame it on, sitting too far from the stage (husband has knee trouble) so you could not appreciated the details of the performances. Plot was a bit heavy for a cruise.... you want light happy...; the music was, for the most part, not particularly memorable (pun not intended). The cast was great, voices great, dancing great.... I just did not like it...

Those who liked it... did you sit close to the stage?

while the ship MIGHT arrive at 6:30, assuming no delays of any kind.... keep in mind that the ship has to clear customs before passengers can leave. Also Customs needs to be set up and ready for passengers... and you are among hundreds trying to leave early.

I would recommend a noon flight, otherwise if you are like me you will be stressing, beginning the day before arrival as you plan how to get all your stuff off quickly.... don't do it.

I believe Zika is on St Thomas. I plan on bringing repellant. While I am not as concerned about Zika impact on me... don't want US mosquitos spreading it from me to others. I have a relative who is pregnant. My thought was to use it if I go on excursions... eg St Kitts trip into countryside. Not sure it would be needed on the ship. As I understand it the mosquitos dont travel around much... I figure that if I have it with me I can decide later if I need it.

Elevator - Unfortunately their are able-bodied individuals will jump right in front of as it you didn't exist. No it isn't just kids. In fact it's more often adults than kids. You need to get on the first elevator that's somewhat empty regardless of it's direction top be assured of getting on. During period you're best to go to the Forward or aft bank of elevators. For example the bank of elevators that's close to the pool or windjammer is always the busiest.

 

Dining Room - On embarkation day go to the MDR. Check to see that there is a sufficient path to your table so that you can drive the scooter and than transfer to a chair. If not than see the Matre'D and request a change in location. The wait staff will park the scooter for you and than return it after dinner. Have the wait staff return the key to you.

 

Shows - Unfortunately the wheelchair accessible seats are not the best location. The wheelchair location is the last row on the main floor which is actually the first row when coming into the theater. It's best to get there early.

 

Tendered Ports - If the itinerary has a tendered port the scooter will only be allowed if the tender has roll-on capabilities. Even if the tender has roll-on capabilities it's at the discretion of the Captain if conditions are safe enough for scooters and wheelchairs to be boarded. Suggest you do not pre-book any excursions for tender ports and a getting a refund is not likely. Following was copied directly from RCCL's website :

 

In order to safely board most tenders, guests must be able to take steps and use a collapsible manual wheelchair. In addition, motorized wheelchairs and mobility scooters can not be taken on tenders, unless roll-on capability is available. Inquire about tender roll-on capability at Guest Relations Desk while on board. Please note roll-on capability is not guaranteed.

 

Weather, sea conditions and other factors may preclude tendering. Safety of our guests and crew is our primary consideration, and the Captain and his staff will make the final decision regarding transferring guests and their assistive devices based on safety reasons.

 

If guests are unable to tender or disembark because of due to these circumstances, there will be no refund or credit for missed ports. While we recognize your disappointment, the safety of our guests and crew takes precedence.

 

Size of scooter - Though another poster suggested you rent the smallest scooter the type of scooter vendor will rent to you is determined based on your weight relative to the weight capacity of the scooter.

If you require a full size bariatric size scooter know that it will not fit through the doorway of a standard cabin and will require to have booked an accessible cabin. Even if you qualify for a portable size scooter it will be a tight fit getting it through a standard door cabin. The hang up will be the arms rests not necessary the scooter itself. The arm rest will have to adjusted or completely removed in order to clear the door frame. will have to be backed out.

 

The scooter CANNOT be left or stored in the hallway should it not fit through a standard cabin doorway. Doing is a violation of SOLAS ( Safety of Life at Seas), cruise line and coast guide regulations. Ignoring these regulations can and does impede that safety of others whether disabled or abled bodied moving about the hallways not to mention impedes the safety of other in the event of an actual emergency. Even if the cabin attendant tells you it's Ok it's NOT ! I for one will contact the ships security to have the scooter removed if one is observed left in the hallway.

 

Following was copied directly from RCCL's website;

Assistive devices including mobility scooters must be stored and recharged in your stateroom so fire doors, corridors and elevator lobbies are kept clear for emergency evacuation. When parked throughout the ship, they must be parked out of the way to allow safe and easy access by other guests and crewmembers.

 

Taking scooter off the ship - Unless the scooter is full size or a bariatric size the typical rental scooter is the Pride GoGo Elite Traveler which has an under clearance of only approximately 1.5". Therefore it's not unusual that the scooter will get hung up on the gangway joints. Under no circumstance should you allow the ships personnel to force push the scooter over the joints which is their first reactive response. The scooter needs to be placed in freewheel mode and than rolled over the joints. If you aren't to walk down/up the gangway than a person from the ship's crew must guide the scooter up/down the ramp while another pushes the scooter up/down the ramp. If you are unable to walk up/down the ramp it's recommended that you do so than scooter can be rolled up/down the ramp in freewheel mode. If this isn't done the scooter can be permanently damaged and if it's rental your on the hook for the full replacement cost if you did not purchase the insurance offered by the rental company. Replacement cost will be in excess of $1,600.00.

 

Other things to note : You can request wheelchair assistance to board when arriving at the port. However it's important to note that there are a limited number of wheelchairs to board passengers and a wheelchair will NOT be left with you. The attendant is also NOT allowed to take you directly to his cabin. The attendant will take you to a public area of the ship . Once cabins are available to passengers someone from your party will have to go to the cabin to get the scooter. Also note that the scooter rental contract, whether it be http://www.CareVacations.com or http://www.SpecialNeedsatSea, states that the scooter will not be delivered until 2:00 PM . It's also important to note that rental equipment delivered to the ship is not given priority loading by the cruise line as ships supplies take precedent. Therefore the scooter might not appear in the cabin until closer to the sailing time though the it was deliver to the port by 2:00 PM.

 

The rental scooter must be left in the cabin on disembarkation day. The cruise line will not provide wheelchair assistance/pickup from the cabin. The night before a location for wheelchair assistance for disembarkation will be published in the daily cruise newsletter. You f can ride the scooter to that location but than someone from your group must than take the scooter back to cabin for pickup from the rental company.

 

Scooter keys are not unique as car keys and all the rental scooters look alike, Scooter keys are universal and a scooter can easily be mistaken. I print an extra luggage tag an affix it to the scooter as well as tie a bright green scarf to mine as an additional identifier.

 

Cost of rental is based on the following criteria

• Embarkation Port
  
• Disembarkation Port.
  
• Weight and height of end user relative to weight capacity of the scooter required
  
• Number of cruise days
  
• If insurance if purchased
  

 

Scooter do not automatically stop when you take you hands off the control. It rolls to a stop and length of the roll depends on the speed that the scooter was being drive before attempting to stop.

Thanks for this information. We did not need a scooter on our cruise, but we were thinking about it and may need to do so in the future... you raise a lot of issues that are best considered early... thanks again

It seems to me that someone on board would have posted something to cruise critic.... Do cruisers sailing out of Asia generally post (while on board) or is this strictly a US/UK phenomenon?

A few thoughts, my husband tore his quad a few years back... I remember thinking about a scooter... See if you can have a cabin where the bed is near the window/balcony. Otherwise there is no way you can get it in your cabin. Even then it will be crowded. Of course an accessible cabin would be great, if available.

What ship are you going on. I noticed, and it may be my imagination, but the Oasis class elevators... at least aft, seemed larger and there were more of them.

Avoid Windjammer.... on Oasis the tables seemed more jammed together than I recall on other class ships making a scooter difficult.

If Oasis class, consider a cabin near the aft elevators... at least then you are over many key areas of the ship, so at least you dont have to travel too far.

You might contact Royal and tell them about your situation, they can plan ahead for what to do with your scooter at night. I dont think they like them left in the hall, unless there is a plan for the staff to take it away, hard to get down the corridors with items left in the hallway. I suspect they have a protocol for this, I see quite a few.

Back row for theater is set up for wheelchairs and scooters.

Good luck. One more thing. Please consider a balcony cabin, if you haven't already. If you get tired of driving around you at least have a place where you can relax and have a view. After one of my husband's several surgeries, we celebrated with a cruise. I picked an inside cabin. It was a mistake, because my husband did get tired of walking everywhere, but was compelled to just to be able to see something... he did not have a scooter, so it was probably more of an issue for him

On our next cruise... after surgery #3, we went on Oasis, selected a cabin near rear elevator... only steps from diamond lounge, and elevator ride to schooner bar and easy access to dinning, Central Park and the board walk... again no scooter... but less walking than if we were mid ship... We did not make it to the solarium but once... but he was able to have a good time despite limited/slow mobility.

Just tried to price my 10-30-2016 cruise on the Serenade repo out of Boston and the Crown & Anchor discounts aren't coming up. Doesn't look like anything has been reversed to me.

I just tried a mock booking on this same cruise and saw the 30% deal but not the C&A balcony savings....

That's what I miss most about the new website (I still call it new even though it is what..2 years old?) they eliminated the ability to search for senior, military, residence and C&A rates.

 

I don't understand why they would want them hidden. You would think that because they are offering the discount they need to sell cabins and that they would want people to be able to see those deals easily.:confused:

I periodically do mock booking on the same cruise to see the impact of various deals on cabin prices. I think that the system is designed to give you the best price option available. So if the 30% off benefit is better than senior benefit.. it selects that one. For my upcoming cruise I was told at the time that I was getting the senior discount instead of what ever the deal was at the time, because it was a better deal... (I had to double check when I got off the phone, but it appeared to be correct). I like to track pricing so I have some idea on if a deal is a deal or not... it is really hard to tell with all the adjustments that have to be made... now I just set a target price for an ocean view balcony and if it is close to that price I consider booking.

My husband and I usually book within the 6 month window. To be honest, as a diamond member and having been satisfied with RCCL for many years... I almost never look at another cruise line. A change like this means that there is less benefit to being loyal to RCCL. So if this change remains, I will shop around. The issue for RCCL is that if I have a good experience with another line there will be more competition for my next cruise.

I understand the desire to either improve profitability or increase the mix of new vs old cruisers... but I would think that the last thing a company wants would be solidly loyal customers looking around. Lets face it be benefits of moving from Diamond to Diamond plus are just not that great... so the upgrade C&A benefit was important

LAST UPDATE: So we took above advice and purchase 2nd flight to smaller airport 45 min away from us that leaves the day after cruise and we insured it, so if we dont need it we have a yr to use the tickets..Thanks everyone for advice. Will def update in Oct on if we make the flight home or not lol. Im calling this our 350 dollar lesson learned :(

Glad you made the changes. There is nothing worse than worrying the entire last day of your cruise about whether or not you will make the flight. It could remove all the pleasure of your cruise with the unnecessary worry. My husband and I tend to drive.... from Atlanta. We stay with a friend a day or two in Orlando on either side of the cruise, but this allows us to depart the ship at a later time. It is so much more pleasant than wondering if you can get off early and carry all your bags.... you will be much much happier with the change you made.

As I recall on Oasis the track is on deck 5. The problem is, that while there is an ocean view, the track is narrow with not much place to sit... if at all. If you are walking you will be fine. It depends upon how many people are actually running. We did not spend much time there, and did not fully explore the track.

I love the Oasis Class, but there are a few things missing. The ship is inwardly focused, so unless you have a balcony cabin with an ocean view, there are few public places to see the ocean other than out near the aqua theater or the solarium or at a few tables in the main dining room. The Viking lounge no longer exists with its panoramic views. The running track is one of the few places, but you may get yelled at if you are blocking runners... assuming there are runners... it is that narrow.

I am not a sun person, so I was alway looking for those places where I could sit outside in the shade. One of my few complaints about this class of ship. But there is so much more to like on this ship.

I am glad this information was posted. We are D members and tend to book within the 6 month timeframe. Frankly I have looked for RCCL cruises exclusively. As a result of this change I will broaden my consideration of cruises. The risk to the company is that people like me will like the experience of another cruise line. Perhaps they are trying to shift their mix to more newer cruisers.... less cost... eg onboard diamond lounge liquor expense. Anyway if I find I like another line once... I might like them even more a second time... then I am tied into their loyalty program.... seems this sort of thing could be short sighted. We will see.

Any recommendation on other lines sailing out of Ft Lauderdale, Port Canaveral and anywhere in South East

It does not look like this ship has virtual balconies. Here is a link to Royal Caribbean blog with more information... also included a link

"Virtual balcony staterooms are offered on Navigator of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas."

http://www.******************.com/2016/01/15/top-5-different-staterooms-you-should-consider-your-next-royal-caribbean-cruise

Currently RCI has 3? Year contracts or is it 5 for all their shows, which is good news for grease , Saturday night fever and mama Mia, but bad news for Cats which means it is around for a couple more years

Boy, I am glad to hear someone else didn't like Cats. I had never seen the show and could not sit through it. I tried and really wanted to for the sake of the cast, but ducked out with half the audience at intermission.

I tried to figure out why I did not like it. The cast was fabulous and clearly talented. The dancing, costumes and set design were terrific. We were sitting in back row, my dh has knee issues. I think part of the problem is that you need to be close to the stage to really appreciate the performances. Another is that it is rather heavy story, not light like Chicago (which makes light of a heavy topic-murder), Mama Mia, Grease. You are on a cruise and want upbeat shows. Finally, frankly the songs were just not as good as I expected. Other than Memories, the music was just not as memorable as I would have expected. I have seen Mama Mia on Broadway and am looking forward to seeing it on Allure.

Maddy,

My upcoming cruise on Freedom in November will be my first Diamond cruise. Is the 24 hours free internet actually 24 hours online or for a 24 hour period?

 

I love this thread! I'm definitely going to consider Celebrity. It seems like a more "adult" experience. I prefer fewer kids, so never cruise during the summer, spring break or holidays. The smoke free casino is very appealing. The casino is my favorite excursion!

 

Sandy

It is for a 24 hour period. So If you start at 11 am on day.. it ends 24 hours later. I like the idea of NOT being connected to land, but I still feel the need to check email and news a couple of times .... I usually use one of the benefits around day 3 of a 7 day cruise and then us dh's benefit on the last day of the cruise. Just enough to know what is going on without completely losing touch.

Last fall we sailed out of Port Canaveral. We parked at Park N Go, which is very close to the port. If you reserve/pay in advance the cost is about $8/day. I think it is about $12/day if you drop by later (google parking at port canaveral and you will see Park n Go) When you drop off your car, they will park it and you immediately get into a van with others heading to the ship and after they fill the van... within a few minutes they drop you and your luggage off by the baggage handlers. When you return... there is a spot where the vans come regularly to pick you up. This took a bit more time than the original trip. It worked out well and cost less than the $15 day they charge at the port. And the nice part, we all stayed together ..vs dropping bags and other passengers off and then going to park.

Glad to hear that things are looking better. sometimes when we have nothing better to do... we look at the harbor web cams and look at marinetraffic.com... where you can actually track the ships progress... My husband noticed the ship doing a loop and heading back. Sorry to hear it was a medical emergency but I guess it was a good thing that they were so close to port.

Moms worry, it is their job:) There is a website where you can actually track the ship. Frankly it is rather cumbersome to figure out. I am putting a link, but don't know how well it will work. It should show were Adventure of the Seas is located (currently st Maarten). http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-63/centery:18/zoom:10

If it doesn't work. go to the web cam for St Maarten... someone already linked... at the bottom you will see the map and you can click on the ship... the website that provides this informaition also tracks the ships location.

My husband and I have sailed on a ship trying to outrun a hurricane a number of years ago. I have issues with motion sickness.... but I was actually in pretty good shape. The ship rocked a bit... but everything was generally alright and actually a bit more exiting than usual.... came home with some good stories... no issues.