Hoopster95

Love the pictures. Did they do anything with the cabins?

Yes, LMawxwell answered this question the best

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1944034

Here's another set of photos back up for anyone trying to view them. These ones were down almost immediately after I posted them :)

I caved... purchased a subscription (grr :mad:) so that my photos can show.

Enjoy everyone :D:D

Hey mpoole3, thx for all the great pics!

What program/website do you use for picture posting here on CC? All my photos from Photobucket aren't showing up anymore due to "exceeded bandwidth". Thx in advance :)

So I came on a couple days ago asking for advice on 2 totally different ships- (thanks for the help) but now my friend has worked out her schedule and we can go for 5 days!! Yea! Anyway we want to leave on Saturday so that leaves us Brilliance or Liberty. Pros and Cons of each? Is Liberty worth the extra $$$ about 600$ or so more? The difference in ports is Liberty/Belize and Brill/George Town.

 

Thanks

Hi sonocruiser. I just looked at your profile and noticed you've mainly posted in th NCL and HAL forums in the past. Is this your 1st RCL cruise? If so, Liberty all the way!!!

Splendour is on the New Orleans Port schedule (winter 2015).

 

Rhapsody appears on the Buenos Aires and Montevideo port schedule.

 

It might change but it seens to be a good info.

Aha!!! So Rhapsody takes over Splendour 7 day itineraries perhaps in summer and TA's across the pond to take over for Splendour in South America. Got it.

That repo the Splendour may have up to the Caribbean (Galveston??)could be an awesome itinerary :D

Winter

Splendour goes to New Orleans

Rapsody goes to South America, replacing Splendour.

This is a fun thread, but I'd personally love to keep track of what some of the facts that have been discovered truly are:

• Rhapsody for sure in Rome summer 2015 (this ship in Rome's port list and is already repositioning from Sydney to Istanbul)
  
• Jewel for sure in LA Sept/Oct 2015 (per San Pedro & Catalina's port Schedule). Will Jewel do Alaska in place of Rhapsody? Jewel found to be back in Carribean in winter so no TransPacific for Jewel.....
  
• Therefore what ship, if any, goes to Australia?
  
• Navigator as been found to be calling St. Maarten, Adventurer seems to be no where in Caribbean in 2015, so assumption Navigator goes to San Juan because.....
  
• Galveston expecting a larger class of ship. Does not show on Port schedule yet but commitment to expand port in preparation for Freedom Class
  
• I believe Serenade has been seen in Europe port schedules for 2015. Please correct this point if this is untrue
  
• While Singapore's and Sydney's ports are being expanded, there's no ships posed on their port schedules
  

Have I missed any "for sure's" out of this list?

Now there's been a lot of guessing from the above:

• Australia/Asia to get a Freedom Class ship due to port expansions, but nothing in their port schedules yet. How would a Freedom class ship sail there? Repo from Euopre through Suez??
  
• Splendour, is she posted on a port schedule in the Caribbean or in NOLA in 2015? Where is this info coming from?
  
• Many assumptions that Majesty will be retired 2015, and replaced. By which ship? Vision? Huge latin market the two times I've been on that ship, they need a ship with Boleros or dedicated Latin themed lounge... or there's the thought that RCL abandons Miami all together and sails the 3/4 Bahamas cruise out of FLL instead. The Vision I just came off of in Nov was FANTASTIC in the latin market, would work perfectly.
  

Any other thoughts that seem to fit the puzzle?? :)

I would love to see more points added to the first list when we see more ships posted in various port schedules around the world rather than just pretending/guessing. I found it fascinating following the Rhapsody thread a few months ago when we CC'ers figured out the scoop (more or less) on Rhapsody a month before the repo was announced :D:D

Thanks hopefully they reply!! I'm also looking at Indy now..

Hello CamaCama,

Here's a bunch of the previous links you can follow:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1973232

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1944034

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41263770#post41263770

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1957394

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1944034

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1953730

I just discovered that my photos are not viewable at this time as they've "exceeded bandwidth" from all the views the post has had. Supposedly bandwidth will be "re-set" at some point during the next month.

I use photobucket... if anyone else can give me an idea if what else to use to post photos I would be grateful, so please reply.

Thanks all!:)

Lastly, earlier season cruises will likely get within a kilometer of the glacier when sailing into the fjords. In 2010, I was again on the Rhapsody... Tracey Arm at that time was closed to us do to ice, but we travelled down another fjord (I can't remember the name) and our view of the morning was the following:

And after the spinning in place for a couple of hours while they served coffee+baileys top deck here's the view as we pull away:

Magical!!!!

And lastly... While videoing a pod of humpack whales in the distance from deck 5 alongside a few hundred others, all of a sudden there was screamming and shouting... this small family (3 were seen, 1 baby) of Killer whales appeared right below us swimming alongside the ship!!! I was filming video at the time and I am able to snap stills, but of course in my excitement and trying to move the camera, etc... this is the best picture I got. My video is much better! I tell you what, just an awesome day. Half the crew was out there with there cameras also

This was my favorite day of the entire trip. Google this boat "The Aleutian Ballad". It was almost destroyed by a rogue wave several years ago during filming of the Dangerous Catch TV series. The same owner still owns the ship, and the crew sailed on the various boats that made the show during the years. What an excellent day... I have about a hundred photos I could share! We held all the creatures also (except for the wolf eel.... dangerous!!!). Various crabs (Snow, hermit, dungeoness), starfish, eels, we even got to see octupuss close up from their cage which had crawled in. They also fed eagles who flew in from the trees toward the ship and dove into the water right in front of us. Read some reviews of this excursion and also on Tripadvisor. I HIGHLY recommend this

You cannot believe what you see when sailing out of Tracey Arm... the water was smoother than glass, absolutely still. The imagery of the sub and reflection of the clouds and mountains into the water are breath taking!

These pics are from my handheld simple digital camera on auto-settings.

The Helicopter Glacier trip was out of Juneau... the following are a full day tour bus trip using FrontierTours. You can book them inline or find their office on the main drag about 1 block up from the Saloon. The bud tour bade a ton of stops that the train doesn't, and went farther than Carcross. Here's a couple of pics:

And here's Emerald Lake in Yukon, the farhest point we reached on this tour.

Here's the ship the morning we sailed into Tracey Arm Fjord

We did not get to reach the Glacier aslate into the season there were too many ice flows. The pictures does not do this justice... tey can be as large as cars underneath the surface

I don't have time right now, but I will post a couple of photos later today or tomorrow to really get you amped up :p

As promised....

I originally booked the full Dog Sled plus glacier landing privately (you cannot get both combined off the ship for some reason) but weather prevented us flying to the very top where the dogs are. So at least we got to do 1/2 of the excursion and land/walk on the Glacier. Note, the weather was not ideal this day for flying, and I understand this company had the most experienced pilots (two other companies did not fly that day so I would have missed this). These pics do not do this trip justice, everyone should do this at least once in their lifetime

I've never been on a cruise when the Roll Call thread started so slowly!! We sail August 29 from Seattle and we only have about 4 regular responders with 10 total responders! How can we get this going? I have never been to Seattle or Alaska, and the Rhapsody is a new ship for me. Help!!

You'll be on the very last Alaska run for the Rhapsody before it repositions forever away from our West Coast... I wonder if therre will be any special events for you?

You'll be getting off in Vancouver... if you've never visited here, be sure to save at least one day (definitely not enough) to stay overnight and enjoy this city. You will regret it if you don't once you sail-in to port.

I did this exact cruise and itinerary last year. This ship stops in Ketchikan rather than Victoria which is great. Be sure to look up "Bering Sea Crab Fishing" excursions (I think they're called that). You sail on the exact trauler (refurbished to fit visitors), with some original crew, of the 2nd season of "Dangerous Catch" TV show. Google this excursion and read reviews on TripAdvisor. I had a supremely great day and very highly rated as a top Alaskan port excursion.

If you have a chance, open your wallet and take a helicopter up to actually land and walk on the Glaciers... I cannot explain it in words, and videos don't do the trick either. At first I thought the money was really too much, but I closed my eyes and did it... I will do it again in a heart beat:)

I don't have time right now, but I will post a couple of photos later today or tomorrow to really get you amped up :p

We enjoyed the Enchantment although the dining buffet venue b/c of the stretch was crowded. The Grandeur I understand has more seating available b/c she wasn't stretched. (?)

 

We are considering the Vision anyone with experience on her? Also pics of balcony strms appreciated. :)

These should help you:D

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1973232

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1944034

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41263770#post41263770

I had to change my sailing to the June 9 Vision of the Seas. A few years ago, I was on her sister ship the Legend of the Seas. I recall having the magnetic card slide safe, Since Vision recently had a refurb in 2013, does anyone know if they have changed to the keypad safes?

 

Thanks for any information.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

Yes, keypads. Have a great cruise :)

I seriously doubt the ship moves any more or less than any other similarly sized 70K ton ship. Some people may be more susceptible to motion; and in bad weather any ship will pitch or roll... I was recently on Vision of the Seas, of similar size to Legend

LMaxwell is totally bang on with everything said... I've been bashed around in rough seas on larger ships and sailed smoothly on the smaller. It comes down to personal feel of each individual and how sensitive you are to motion.

I wish to add that on the same cruise as LMaxwell, I was in an aft corner on the Vision (almost exact same ship as Legend). DO NOT give up that cabin!!!! It is spectacular and will make your cruise :D We were rough seas out of Miami and slept like a baby in our aft cabin that night.

From personal experience from only two months ago, each time arriving or leaving in port, you will definitely feel the shutter and vibrations in the aft. It's been said here on CC that it's because the Vision Class ships don't have the same Azipod set-up as Radiance and higher, using aft side thrusters and rudder like in the "old days". I figure that's exactly it. And you will definitely feel that shutter as the ship is moved in a circle to spin around or sideways to get away from piers.

If you're BF does get seasick, and seas are rough(er), you will not get away from any bobbing on any ship no matter what deck or cabin you're in, big ships or small ships. You should try "Bonine" pills for seas-sickness as I understand from others who get seasick and have tried a few things that this was the best they have tried and worked for them. I've seen RCL has given these out in the past as well.

Lastly, $2800 more?!?!?! :confused::eek: Don't do it! That Legend itinerary in Sept is excellent imo and priced incredibly well. Spend an extra day in Quebec City before flying home. Have an awesome cruise :D

But would any of you give up cabin 9256 for a midship junior suite??

Don't lose your aft!!! Research some pics of corner afts, read some reviews, and how many people book these cabins 2 years in advance... There's a reason for that. I just came off my very first corner aft 2 1/2 months ago and I'm still ranting and raving about it ... totally unreal view. breakfast on the deck, midnight moonlight and stars, I can go on :D:D

For what the Panamanians charge for a ship to cross from one ocean to another, the bridge will be rebuilt to accomodate the largest ships afloat.

 

Heresay......but that is what I was told. Only time will tell!:)

 

Rick

This was also the discussion with the Capt & the Canal Admin. A new bridge isn't even close to being discussed by anyone. But then again, who really are we to know!:p

The only other discussion was modifying the top deck (masts/aerials) of the ship to shave off a few feet, but the cost and the risk didn;t seem likely. Having said that, I think the Soltice is being modifed to ensure it's passage underneath the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver for May 2014 so obviously can be done.:)

If the Bahamas cruises are money maker for RC, then definitely Majesty will be replaced by another ship. Either from Miami or Port Everglades!

• Vision - replacing Majesty?
  
• Jewel - to the West Coast LA, but then what?? too many berths in Alaska imho and prices have dropped at least 50% to what they were 3-4 years ago across all cruise lines. Maybe no need to replace Rhapsody?
  
• If Jewel doing the Canal to the West Coast, what's replacing her in San Juan?
  
• Rhapsody - some rumors around saying that once reaching Istanbul she will do a couple of Black Sea itineraries before home porting in Rome
  
• Explorer - 3 Voyager Class ships in Asia??? I don;t see it as Mariner & Voyager staying there. If not Asia then where?
  
• Indy or Freedom - replacing Rhapsody? The Aussie's will get excellent use of the Flowrider, I can definitely see this... question is how are one of these ships going to get there??? Around South America, up the West Coast and then over, or like Voyager via Mediterranean, Suez, Dubai, Singapore?? :D:D
  

Rick, I believe you are correct that Quantum (and even Oasis) will fit in the new locks. What seems to be the problem with these ships is that they cannot fit under the Bridge of the Americas.

Hi everyone,

Here's a thread that may interest you:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1922387

Scroll down to post 13 I believe:

"I just came off of a Panama vacation and visited the locks... actually had dinner at the Captains table on the Vision with the lead Authority for the new Locks. He brought all the blueprints for the locks for the Capt and "talked shop" with him for quite a length of time.

I asked him point blank how long the completion delay will be, and he mentioned "hopefully Dec 2015". There are only 4 of the new gates delivered from Italy... 16 more still in Italy and the company to transport them went bankrupt. They are looking for another solution. There's also some "extremely complex" issues regarding the electronics/cabling/etc needed to be installed along the entire length of the locks. For the most part most of the labour has been local (Latin American and primarily Panamanian) but it seems their seeing issues with next the step in getting hi tech labour in that the locals cannot do.

Our tour drove right through the area where the new locks will be built, a drive that will no longer exist when the new canal is dug up as a bridge will have to be in place. Also witnessing the amount of work so far completed, I personally mentioned that I cannot see anything being completed unitl 2020! I really can't... the amount of work yet to do is astronimical, I can't see it being done by 2015 when projects like the big dig in Boston for example were over 15 years.

Having said that, he wasn't sure that bigger cruise liners would go through anyways. The new locks will hold approx 1200 foot length and 176 foot wide ships (with 2 foot clearance each side) ... so far so good for Yoyager class, but Voyager is 207 feet high. He did mention the issue will be the bridge and not the locks.

The other issue is cost... The highest price paid so far for any ship going theu the locks was the NCL Dawn (per Capt Srecko) at about $450,000. That's based on gross tonnage/capacity... The Legend for example would've been somewhere between $300,000-$350,000! I can just imagine what the Voyager would cost for RCL... and divide that back to the per person cabin costs of the paying customer. May not be at all profitable to bring a big ship through even if the bridge was high enough anyways.

It was pointed out in this thread that even Oasis Class can fit in the locks, which will allow for a "partial" transit itinerary thourgh the Gatun Locks into Gatun Lake and back through to the Caribbean side... Princess and HAL already do this itinerary.

But any ship Voyager Class and larger cannot fit under the Bridge of the Americas located at the entrance to the Pacific, and therefore no full transits to the West Coast for the larger ships. There was some discussion regarding a Voyager Class, timing the tides, and ensuring that a high(er) speed supplies enough draft to pull the ship down into the water and squeeze under the bridge... there's no way the captain wanted even to think about that risk, let alone any one of many other variables to deal with when you are already 7 feet too tall and you're trying to get under that bridge!!! :eek:

Is there a jogging track on the pool deck? On a different deck outside?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1973232

Scroll down to post #13 for pic of jogging track on topdeck 10

Click the links on post #1 for reviews and thoughts on the Vision if you haven't found many.

Have an awesome cruise!! :D

Hello - A few things about our previous cruise (LOS):.....So from a pricepoint, it looks like VOS would work for our next vacation.

Then yes, according to all your points you said above, Vision Class will be awesome for your family:)

BUT I'm wondering a few things ...

Because it's not a "kid friendly" ship (like the Freedom/Oasis classes) will there even be any kids on the ship in Adventure Ocean?

Will the majority of passengers be older and the entertainment will serve more of an older crowd?

While we like to relax, we also like to be entertained ... will we be bored on a Vision class?

 

Thanks :)

1. Yes, plenty, and especially because out of FLL and because of pricing. AO and teen areas are newly renovated.

2. Nope! A great mix of ages like all other ships imo

3. You won't be bored AND you'll be relaxed too! You're sea days wont be spent standing in line with your son at Florider for an hour... you'll be top deck enjoying a great pool (larger than Radiance I think) and having a great day chilling out!

Thanks everyone for posting pictures...maybe I missed it, but would still like to see pictures of the Concierge lounge on the Vision..anyone have these?? I looked thru the various posts and did not see any..Anyone...thanks

Ah, I'm D (D+ next cruise:D) so did not have access. I thought LMaxwell's thread had a pic or two???

Just wondering, if you can not see your acct via the TV, is there another way to keep tabs on your acct? I guess maybe guest services could print something mid week??

This is exactly right. Or speak with your DL or CL if you're D or D+. Here's a few more pics to further amp you up......:D:D