avw3

Thanks everyone for the comments. We did the excursion last week and it was good. We did NOT have to wear long pants for any portion of the excursion, and everyone was dressed in either shorts or bathing suits. You ride the hilly trails first then end up riding in the water at the end. Water shoes are recommended because then you won't have to take them off or change them before you take the horse into the water. It was 90 degrees that day and long pants would have been VERY uncomfortable. Please not that there is a 200 lb. per person weight limit to ride the horses. THEY WEIGH EVERYONE PRIOR TO BOARDING THE BUS. They bring a bathroom scale with them. If you weigh over 200 lbs., you will not be allowed to ride the excursion and your money will NOT be refunded. 

The excursion was a little disappointing because while the trail ride was good, the ride in the water is short. They basically have about 100 yards of beach area near the stables, and you ride the horse back and forth in the water three times so that they can take photos of you. The photos will be available for purchase when you return to the stables. I thought we would actually tour the St. Maarten coast in the water with the horses, but that is not the case. They give you a free small rum drink (dixie cup size) when you are done, and they have bottled beer and rum punches available for purchase after the ride.

Not sure we would do it again for $99 per person. 

Hello! We will be doing the Royal Caribbean horseback riding excursion in St. Maarten next week and noticed that the requirements were to wear long pants. Is that required or necessary? It will be hot, and it seems like shorts would be fine in the sun and water.

Will they turn us away if we wear shorts (not bathing suits?) Any insight would be appreciated.

It is most likely a web site glitch, but if the ship is chartered for a large group, they sometimes won't sell the Deluxe Beverage Package. We were told this by some of the RC bartenders a couple of years ago when the next cruise after our return to port was going to be a heavy-metal rock cruise. The bartenders said that everyone abord that charter cruise is always super nice and very polite and respectful, but they would drink the ship out of alcohol (profits) if they were to offer the DBP. They said that Royal does this for certain "theme" cruises on a regular basis.

BennyBrun  - thank you for the detailed information on the Diamond Lounge! We will keep our refreshment packages based on your comments. Also, with Symphony's Diamond lounge being on deck 4 and our cabins on deck 9, it would be a lot of travel going back and forth. We'll pop in for afternoon snacks for sure and probably a breakfast bite or two during the week.

8 hours ago, JamesEM said:

I was on the Symphony for the Sept.10th, 17th, and 24th cruises.  Kept looking for someone with a camera in the Diamond Lounge, our paths never crossed.

 

This will be our first cruise as a Diamond and we are trying to figure out if we really need the Refreshment packages that we purchased. Would you please be able to answer a few questions for us?

What were the hours of the Diamond Lounge when you were there?

Did they have cappuccino and lattes available during those hours?

Do they have bottles of water available during those hours?

Do they also have things like fresh orange juice, soda, ice tea, and other beverages that we can grab and go?

Also, do they have a computer available for use to check in for our return flights home?

Thank you in advance. 🙂

Andy

Thank you for the very detailed account of your cruise! It really is helping us plan our cruise on Symphony later this month. Well done and safe travels back home.

jennyumaa - Great review! Thank you for taking the time to do this. It's what makes being on CC forums worth the time. We will be on Symphony in October (we are all "grown-ups" but kids at heart), and will use all of your information. Thank you for such great detail and for your enthusiasm!

We received a mystery refund to our credit card a few weeks back and it turned out to be my wife's FCC. My own FCC was applied to our next cruise as we had wanted, but when we tried to apply her certificate number at booking to the same cruise we were told that it had already been refunded. Why they did this, we have no idea. We followed the money with our TA and sure enough it was my wife's FCC to the dollar that had been refunded. I had to put her portion of the cruise back on my CC.

You can post the question in this Royal forum and somebody will probably respond having just gotten off a similar sailing. For instance, a post with a subject line "Looking for a Cruise Compass or list of special nights for Symphony of the Seas 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami," would probably work.

Yes, they still will give passengers a printed Cruise Compass each day if they request it from their cabin steward (we did this on Allure a few weeks ago.) If a fellow passenger didn't have a paper copy you might get a current passenger on-board your ship to list the special events from their Royal app while on the ship if they are also posting here on CC. You want to get the list from the same ship that you will be on and that ship sailing the same itinerary.

We have been to Labadee three times just prior to Covid. The two zip lines are so much fun and it is a must-do whenever we are there. We have a link to our zipline video in my signature below if you want to check it out. You'll have a great day there no matter what you choose to do.

The 18% gratuity that you paid gets split around the ship's bar staff and you aren't asked to tip anything above that. If you have the drink package and would like to tip the bartender an extra dollar or two per round (we like doing this since they work hard and really take care of us) you can either give them cash or ask for the slip at the time you place your drink order. Just let them know that you'd like to add an extra tip. They normally don't print out the paper slip when you have the drink package. The system is set up so that they can swipe your card or enter your cabin number and you can walk away. Totally up to you, but we like to get to know the bartenders better and they usually reciprocate with little perks here or then when they can. Plus, many ships are still not at full capacity so the tip pools are much smaller than normal, and of course the Covid shutdown financially hurt these wonderful people and their families.

Just now, Biker19 said:

Wait to buy it on board after you ask the barista how many punches they use per the drink you want - if it’s more than one, but a la carte as the card is not a good value then. 

Good point. I have read that it can be different from ship to ship.

I don't see a Cafe Promenade on Independence like on many ships for specialty coffees to go, so you may be limited to ordering espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, etc. from the main dining room, room service, or the specialty restaurants.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/independence-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2173/05

If two of you order a specialty coffee every night after dinner or have one each morning from the MDR or restaurants, it may be worth it, but you'll have to factor stopping into those locations into your cruise plans for the week. I'm not sure if the Windjammer staff has access to an espresso machine, but maybe someone just off of the Independence can add their comments. Specialty coffees are around $4.25 depending on the ship. There have been discussions here on CC that a large latte or cappuccino counts as two punches on the card, so also keep that in mind.

"You are welcome.   

You could always simply walk in with a glass of wine using your voucher from a lounge. "

We have done this many times at CK, MDR, other bars, etc.

You can dance wherever you feel like it as long as you aren't blocking a walkway. My wife and I have danced in almost every bar or club on Allure and Oasis. Some of the clubs have dance floor areas, but if they don't you can move a table and dance to the music. Don't be surprised if other people join you since many people don't want to be the "first ones" to do it. Have a great time!

We were in a JS on Allure January 16-22, 2022 and we either called or knocked on the door each morning or early afternoon to make a reservation. We ate at CK every night without a problem. If you are a little flexible with your times the host/manager can usually find you a slot. When you get there for dinner you will need to knock on the door or follow someone else in. We found everyone to be very polite and professional.

They don't seem to publish the CK phone number anywhere on the ship, but if you call guest services you can ask for the number or simply ask to be transferred to CK. We got the number so that we could call from any ship phone rather than having to run up to the restaurant and miss out on some activity.

We were just on Allure and the Schooner Bar bartenders seemed to make the best drinks most consistently. I had several old fashions there and my wife loved their cosmos.

Thank you for your updates and reviews! We will be on Allure this Sunday (fingers crossed) and are really looking forward to this cruise!

Thank you for the great cruise review! We are still planning on boarding Jewel on 1/15/22 for an 8 night cruise and are going to have fun no matter what. We are people who enjoy cruising and can easily roll with the punches. 🙂

We just did the Marriott beach day at St. Kitts three weeks ago and it was awesome! Beautiful sandy beach with loungers and cabana-like roofs. Access to the three pools. Reasonable food and drinks at 10% off, clean changing rooms and bathrooms. Easy cab ride to and from the cruise port (about $15 each way total for two people).

Highly recommended. My wife wants to go back to St. Kitts just so we could do another day like we had there.

Here is a balcony cabin tip: Make sure you shut the sliding balcony door BEFORE you open the cabin door to let the waiter or the stateroom attendant in. The suction from the balcony door being open will pull your cabin door wide open and a 30-mile an hour wind will come flying into your room from the hallway. We learned this the hard way. :)

Captain just announced sail away will be at 6:30 or 7:00 sincerely they are still loading luggage and supplies for cruise. They need to do an OBC to make up for the inconvenience in my opinion.

Boarding has begun! There are still hundreds maybe thousands outside that haven't checked in yet though. My guess is we will not sail away at 4:30 as planned.

See first post but basically the ship got in late for some reason.

Being told there are 11 people left on the ship and once they leave we will start boarding. Hopefully in the next few minutes.