RCCL Fan

We did a 5night on Wonder. Here's our review.

I would book a flight leaving anytime after 11am

I've a 45 year old guy who has been cruising since he was 7 years old. You name a port in the Caribbean and I likely have 2-3 different "friends" there who I've done so much business with over the years, they know me by name. After 300+ nights at sea, I'm about to visit the Rivieria for the first time of my life. I have NO IDEA what to do and I am looking for your help and advice. We're sailing to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan over the Christmas holiday. It's a group of 7. 4 adults in our early to mid 40's 2 teenage girls 1 8 year old girl. We all tend to like the nicer things in life. We love personal tours, but not HUGE on adventure tours. Our kids get bored on city tours We're not a fan of big groups We're want to do some type of whale watching in Cabo But totally lost on the other two islands. I'd love your suggestions and recommendations. How should we spend our time? upscale resort recommendations? personal tour guide recommendations? Something we really should do/see.

It doesn't matter if you buy the pkg or just walk in and sit down with no package or pre planned anything.... your kids will be charged the price that corresponds to their age.... and they are allowed to eat whatever they want. Go and Enjoy

Went to buy the dining pkg for my upcoming cruise.... got one for me, but not my wife. When I tried to add two it said, "sorry we're stuffed" guess that means they only have one left. Anyone with experience with this? Do they add more later or no?

There have been so many changes with RCI during the pandemic and the restart. My past few cruises I've seen no more priority boarding lines for C&A members. Is that a permanent change? Was it gone pre-pandemic and i just missed it.

In my continued quest to "find something new" in cruising, we decided to book Navigator to the Mexican Riviera. I've never been on the pacific coast of mexico, and thought it would be fun to see what it has to offer. I got my first taste of cruising watching Gopher, Doc, and Isaac sail each week to Mazatlan, Cabo, &Puerto Vallarta but outside of what I saw on ABC each week, I am clueless. My travel agent said, "don't expect the white sand beaches you're used to in St. Maarten and the Bahamas" this is less beach time and more exploring. OK..... Outside of that, I have NO CLUE what to do. What do you suggest? I love to book private excursions when possible. We're in our early 40's two girls (8 and 13) and bringing some friends similar ages. We're not big sit on a charter bus and do city tour people, and we're not doing a 150 mph speedboat or jungle exploration, need a happy medium. I hear I should do whale watching at some point, but outside of that. I'd love to hear from my RCI peeps what you enjoy, suggest, loved and hated in Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta.

Nah, life's too short to get bent out of shape!!!

Sorry I missed it. I get yelled at by my friends for posting on facebook, but never bothering to actually read my feed and seeing what other people are posting. Selfish jerk I am. lol

Right, I know. That's why I tried to pay for mine as soon as I booked the cruise, and everyone on here was like nope, they're free on Navigator. Just passing along the update on this ship.

Just an FYI -- Casitas are now being sold on Navigator. When I first booked this cruise, I went to buy a casita for Sea Days because my last two cruises had crazy packed pool decks and no where to sit. Paying for a casita wasn't an option in the cruise planner. I asked about it on here and everyone told me casitas are free on Navigator. No charge. Well guess what popped up in my cruise planner today? A $200 Sea Day Casita. Just fyi - in case you have navigator booked.

Super helpful --- thank you both.

Thanks good to know both kids 8 & 13 get the vouchers. but tell me more about kiddie diamond plus perks.... what's on the list? I don't think we've ever used them. So they each get two free days of internet, no photos. what else?

I'm sure I've brought this up before, but don't remember the popular opinion... Is there a policy for drink vouchers when it comes to kids? We usually buy the soda or refreshment pkgs for the kids, but are thinking, if they get 5 free drinks a day as diamond plus members, do they really need more? 5 sugary drinks a day in plenty. But I can't remember what kids get in terms of drink vouchers on the ship. Do they get 5 free drinks as diamond plus members or is it just for mom & dad? Also my daughter is 13 now, this will be her first sailing as "an adult" I'm assuming since we book her as an adult and she has to pay to eat in specialty dining that now she will get other diamond perks like free internet etc or am I wrong does she not get that until 18?

I'm looking at the Joy & Encore

Longtime cruiser of a rival line here, thinking about trying NCL. Have 3 questions for you guys. 1) We're usually suite people, but one thing that concerns me on NCL is the Haven is in the very front on the ship. My experience is the front of the ship has the most motion... I'm used to suites being in the middle. What's the ride like up there? Is it rocky in rough seas? I'm wondering if I should save my cash and pick something else. I'd love your thoughts... 2) While on that topic.... which rooms are larger than a regular balcony but not a haven suite? Is that the spa suite? or club suite? 3) Last, is it possible to get "unbundled" pricing with NCL? I'm really picky about my airline and seat choice and would rather book that myself, same with shore excursions. It is possible it get a cruise only fare, without all the "pick 4 for free" options?

um... I just was booking it. I just picked out a room 10 minutes and am on the final page. March 2023 i came online to see if anyone had recent reviews.

I've lost count but I've had a few bad ones. 🙂

Already been on the celebrity road, just looking around to try something new and was curious what was out there.

Thanks I was more interested in if any other cruise lines besides MSC did a status match. Is it just them?

He had nothing to do with the restaurant, he walked in, walked directly from door to us , talked/checked in and left. He wasn't working the specialty, just came to check in on us and see if we needed anything.

I'm starting to venture out of my comfort zone and try something new vacation wise.. My TA is looking into some all-inclusive options but I told her, maybe a new cruise line is all we need to shake things up a bit. I know MSC does status matches, but does any other line match RCI's status?

Has anyone had a head waiter show up at Chops, Wonderland, Etc, seek you out, greet your party by name and check on your service? We've been doing dining pkgs where we weren't in the dining room much, and was surprised to see the head waiter come find us and make sure we were good. routine? or a really good head waiter?

I felt uncultured, but I just didn't care much for the ruins. I looked at the coliseum in Rome nodded, said wow, that's crazy and moved on.... not feeling overly moved. But walking the streets of Santorini, Ephesus, getting a sense for the cities' histories, style and culture were awesome, and very fulfilling.

It kinda depends on two things. 1) I think with the right entertainment staff/activities Odyseey could be good. there wasn't a lot going on, on board the ship. It felt sleepy. With the right cruise director's staff keeping the activities hopping I think it could be quite nice. But if you enjoy sitting places and just listening to music, you'll be fine, there's tons of that. Just not much else. 2) How much time do you spend on the pool deck? If you truly enjoy the pool deck and like to spend time out there, I will tell you that's a struggle on Odyssey. She just doesn't have enough space for the amount of people on board. It was just packed to a level that made me uncomfortable and not enjoy it. With the top unusable to the crowds and below deck empty but with little going on, I just found sea days boring. Nights after dinner was bedtime, as there just wasn't a feeling of "we need to be out here doing this" Both are great ships for different reasons. I would just ask yourself about how much you enjoy pool time? How much crowds bother you? and choose from there. If I were you facing that choice, today, i don't know what I would choose. I'd probably let price and cabin location dictate my choice. I'm hoping after my cruise on Navigator over the holidays it will help me have better perspective as to the crowds, but I'm almost certain Navigator does a better job of absorbing the number of people inside the ship.