Joshscure

Is the Vibe pass worth it if you are sailing from NYC to Bahamas mid March? Worried the first and last sea days will be too cold to sit outside? Also is there shade?  I read a post that on the Encore it was windy and no shade in Vibe. 

Thanks!

We are traveling on the Bliss with our two adult sons. When I checked us in to get our edocs they came up with different boarding times. We have 10:30 and they have 12:30.  Will they turn them away if we all show up at 10:30?

We just got off the Breakaway last Sunday. Our group consisted of Me, my husband, 21 year old son, his 20 year old girlfriend and my 16 year old son. We are all veteran cruisers except the girlfriend this was her first cruise. We have sailed 4 different cruise lines in the last 20 years.

Main thing I want to say is relax! I too was nervous after reading reviews, but honestly we had not one issue with the boat.

- Service is horrible - We found the service to be as good if not better than on any other boat. We are easy to please and don't demand much except cleanliness, but I truly felt all of my needs were met at or above my expectations.

- The free soda package - we don't drink soda. We drank the ships water. Filled them in the buffet from the dispenser. Yes we used a clean cup to refill the bottles.

- The food is awful - We LOVED the food. Not picky but I love a really good meal. We felt food was the best we had on any cruise. We only ate in the main dining room and buffet. No specialty restaurants. Waiters brought us what ever we wanted or needed. My 16 year old had 3 apps, 2 entrees and 2 desserts one night. He ate every morsel, mind you LOL.

- hard to find chairs - We do not smoke so I can't help you there. But as far as lounge chairs on the deck, we always managed to find 5 together. Last warm sea day on the cruise my husband and I did planted ourselves in chairs by 9am and hung out there through out the day. We did leave for lunch and a trip to the gym but there was always someone in our party at the chairs during the day. We never left for more than an hour at a time.

- lines for meals - If you get to the buffet by 8:30am you will have not issues with tables. That's what my hubby and I did. The kids on the other hand didn't' arrive until 10:00 or even 10:30. Was it crowded then? Yes but they always found a table after a few minutes. We had reservations some nights and none others. We NEVER waited for a table. We ate between 6:30 and 8:30.

- rooms were dirty - I will admit the rooms were not as clean as I would have liked. Nothing horrible but I am a clean freak and we are very germ consious because of our sons health issues. I solved the problem by bringing clorox wipes and giving everything the once over. Took me 5 minutes.

I will add entertainment - No reservations anymore except for second city. We got to the shows 30 min early and got 5 seats together.

- which brings me to my BIGGEST CONCERN - SPACE IN THE ROOM - Can't comment on room size. We had connecting mini-suites. But as people have said before you don't spend too much time in your room.

Some other advice: We did the water slides the first sea day. Wasn't exactly hot out but doable and there were no lines. We also did the ropes course the evening we were in Port Canaveral until 9pm No line. Never did the rock climbing.

We did self disembark. We brought our luggage down to O'sheean's by 6:30 on the last morning, had breakfast. Got in line to get off the ship at 7:20. We were through customs by 8:20. We had friends who waited until 8:30 to get in line and they did not get off until 11:00.

Relax and have fun. Will everything be perfect? Probably not but the good far out weighs any of the negatives.

Michelle

Do you need to bring a birth certificate if you and your child have different last names?

Does anyone know if there are magnifying mirrors in the family mini suites on The Breakaway? I have looked every where and can't find any info.

Thanks!

When can you make reservations? Can u make them before sailing or once you board?

Thx!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I am trying to figure out if the master bedroom in the Haven 2 Bedroom suite has an actual door. We will be sailing with our 3 almost adult children and we are trying to figure out if this cabin would work for us.

Thanks,

Michelle

How does the Ice Bar work? Can you make a reservation or is it on a first come first serve basis? Can those under 18 go into the bar?

Thanks!

Can you make reservations for the ice bar or is it first come first serve basis?

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Can you park on Saturday for a Sunday cruise? We are staying in a hotel Saturday night and don't want the hassle of moving the car Sunday morning.

Thx!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

How would they know if you are the legal guardian or not? Say I brought one of my sons's 20 year of friends and said he was my son, how do u prove u are the guardian? Many kids don't have the same last name as their child. Do you have do bring their birth certificate? Just curious how this would work.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Our son was a recipiant of an RCI make a wish 11 years ago. He is now 20 and we talk about our amazing trip often. His wish was to be Captain of a cruise ship. I can not even express to you all what this meant to our son and us. We were given a beautiful room, all sorts of extras and special treatment. We got to meet the "real" Captain and given a private tour of the ship's bridge. The Captain's wife even gave our boys cookies and milk. Josh was given a captain's shirt and throughout the week, whenever crew passed him anywhere on the ship, they saluted him. Josh was so proud. Brings tears to my eyes remembering this now. Although Josh still had and has days filled with medications, treatments and therapies, we have these wonderful memories to hold in our hearts and to lean on when the going gets tough.

I just want to say thank you to all you wonderful people who have supported this program and to let you know that the recipients of the wishes are forever grateful. Words can not express what it gives to the families and children who go through so much.

With all our gratitude,

Josh and his family

That's strange that you found the place shut down. I got an email from him on 1/23/14 confirming bike rentals for March. I emailed him directly, not through his website. I guess I will email him directly again.

Michelle

As someone said previously, can you book your specialty restaurant dinner reservations in advance by calling and then buy the ultimate dinner package when you board?

Was there a place to have lunch at Sapphire beach? I was there several years ago and remember how beautiful it was. I read a post that said there were no longer any places to get food on the beach.

Thanks for the info.

About my review of the ship. I just want to let you know that I am not really a picky person and my husband is even less picky than I am. We are usually the type of people who can find the best in a situation. He too was disappointed with the ship.

We usually take other reviews in stride and find that other's negative comments, are not how we feel when we have the same experience. But this ship deserved my negative review.

Just wanted to clarify.

The non alchol card was about 32 Euros and included kiddie cocktails and sodas.

The adult card was 79euros and included wine, cocktail of the day, martinis, I think shots of most liquor and coffee, capp and esspresso.

Please be careful about getting sick on this boat. I just found out another child in our group has become ill and he is now hospitalized. We left the boat last Friday April 25th. But the group was together until April 27th so we could still have been passing it along. My husband and son were ill but so far I am fine. I am a diligent hand washer and sanitizer.

I just got off the Aquamarine and I don't have great news for you. First of all let me start this post with the fact that I have taken five other cruises with Royal Carribean Cruise lines and you can not compare the two. Secondly after doing some searching I discovered that my huysband and I were on this exact boat 19 years ago for our honeymoon. It was then owned by Royal Carriebean.

Well, not much about the physical appearance of the boat has changed. Maybe they did change some carpet in the hallways, some seats in some of the bars and they took away the RCCL signature Viking Crown Lounge.

I will start with our cabin. We had an inside cabin with twin beds. I don't think the bedspreads were changed since our honeymoon. There was a constant odor of urine in the bathroom and our entire bathroom filled with two inches of water every time we showered. This water stayed there until the ship tilted the other way and the water was able to run back into the shower drain (someone had forgotten to put in an additional floor drain in the bathroom). When we went into our cabin, it had not been vacuumed since the last occupants and I found stuff left by them in the draws. We had no soap or shampoo and I spent two days asking for pool towels to be left in our cabin. Other people got those tacky towel animals left at night but we did not. In my son's cabin the toilet seat fell off and took two days to have it fixed correctly. The poor boy had to use our bathroom, because he was afraid to sit on it.

The alcohol at the bars was definetly watered down. The service was sparse. At the buffets, there were constantly dirty dishes left on the tables. Again maybe I am comparing this to RCCL, but on that line you barely are finished with your food and they are cleaning up after you.

In the dining room, our waiter was down right rude and rushed us through dinner every night. He also didn't give each of us a menu and gave us about 30 seconds after sitting down to decide what we wanted. Second helpings were not an option.

I have to say the food wasn't bad. There were some good choices. Breakfast was exactly the same everyday, but there was variety. We did get scolded for using a coffee cup for juice (even though there wasn't any jucie cups available).

Tha cappacino and specialty coffees were good. We bought the all inclusive drink plan. I think we broke even with this. I liked it because I didn't have to worry about paying each time I got my afternoon cappacino.

But to top all this off, there were many people who got a nasty stomach bug on this boat. My son was vomiting for 8 hours and he missed a whole day of his cruise and then spent the next couple of days of our vaction feeling pretty crummy. Then his buddy got sick, and then my husband.

So all and all I would not recommend this cruise line. The islands were great and we enjoyed that very much.

We took the taste of Crete tour and didn't think it was worth the money. The rest of the tours were good. Ephisus, Volcano in Santorini and the bus to Myknos (although I think the cruise line should have offered this no charge).

Hope you can enjoy your trip. One piece of advice is hand wash constantly and sanatize your hands after you serve yourself from the buffets and before you eat.

I am looking for reviews too. I am going in 3 weeks with a school trip. I will post when I get back.

Michelle