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I will be on the Celebrity Apex, visiting Ashdod on October 9th and 10th. How easy/difficult is it to get to Jerusalem on your own using public transportation? I understand there are shuttle buses that take you from your cruise ship to Ashdod, and from there you can take a bus or train to Jerusalem. Is it fairly easy once you are off the shuttle to make your way to the bus or train station?

Thank you.

If anyone has recently returned from traveling on the Radiance, could you please tell me what the spa facilities are like at present? I cruised in 2017 and had a week-long pass  on my Alaska cruise and really enjoyed looking out the huge windows while relaxing on the heated lounge seats (while watching a Bald Eagle fly by), the showers, the steam room, the sauna, and the relaxation room. Are the various stations still as great as ever? I was thinking of purchasing another cruise-long pass.

6 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The price you see should already include any discounts.

 

Thanks for posting that you were able to see cruises arriving a day early.  That is certainly a nice change back to how it used to be.  

I was able to tell the agent on the phone that I wanted to arrive a day early and also that I wanted a flight back days after the cruise ended as I wanted to travel on my own as well. Just tell the agent your dates and the flights you are interested in and make sure that you have the agent choose seats for you at time of booking if that is important to you. By confirming that I could check a bag and choose my seats, I was also confirming to myself that this was indeed Main Cabin, and not an economy seat that would not allow me checked bags nor seat selection. Booking online leaves that up in the air, IMO.

7 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Noticed today when looking on the Air2Sea site was able to actually search a find flights flying out a day ahead of the cruise and it brought up selections for me to pick.

 

I thought you had to call Air2Seas to fly in a day or 2 ahead of your cruise date. But right now that does not seem to be the case.

 

My question now is though, the cruise I have booked is suppose to have an Air discount of $200 - $500 depending on the kind of tickets you reserve......My question now is do I have to call them to make sure I'm getting the discount............or is the discount all ready figured into the price I'm seeing.

 

I used the just looking link at flights and the price was indeed higher, but only like $150 in total for 2 tickets higher...........Not like $400 higher like I was expecting..........So I'm still confused how the Royal air discounts are figured in to the prices I'm seeing.

In my case, the tickets to Europe were $200 less than the Delta price booked on the Delta website. The Delta price, however, included no change fees and if you decided to cancel your flight, you would receive an e-credit. The Air2Sea pricing includes changes up to the day that you pay in full for your cruise, after that, it costs $200 to make changes. Also, I have read from other passengers that when their flight changed they had to call Air2Sea for help, the airline refused to work with them because they had not purchased their tickets directly from the airline. 

You have to consider all of these factors before making a final decision as to how you want to buy your airline tickets. Although Air2Sea was the best deal for me in regards to Europe, when I called them asking for a quote on a flight back from my upcoming repo cruise in which I needed only a one-way return ticket, I was quoted a higher fare than what I was seeing online on various airline's websites, so I booked my one-way ticket on an airline's website and I am very happy with the savings and the fact that I was also able to choose my seats for an additional fee.

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I called Air2Sea and told the rep that I would like to choose my seats before committing to the booking. He was able to get my seats assigned through Delta, so I was happy and saved money by using Air2Sea. I have read that some people unfortunately had problems when their flights were changed, but others said that Air2Sea took care of them. Looking forward to the flights and cruise.

My main concern with Air2Sea is that I am still not sure if you can choose seats at the time that you pay in full for the tickets. I can't imagine a worse start to a cruise then finding out that the Air2Sea program has sold me a ticket in which I am not allowed to choose my seat until, say, check-in 24 hours before the flight. Yikes. You could end up in the middle seat somewhere in a different row from your traveling companion. 

For those of you who have booked your flights with Air2Sea, were you able to choose seats along with final payment?

2 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

Not recent, but I booked air to sea right after covid as the ship started to sail going to Europe on Delta.  I was able to pick my seats and qualify for my automatic medallion upgrade right after booking.  I booked Delta but was a Virgin operated flight.  Not sure if it was considered Economy or not.

Thank you

3 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Delta's Main Cabin does NOT include checked bags.  If you have the Delta AmEx, that will include one checked bag for each member of your party.

 

And "Basic Economy" (not Economy) is the "no seat selection"/board last version.

Thank you

I called Air2Sea to book a flight on Delta. I asked the agent if I could choose seats while booking. He said that I would have to purchase the tickets first- then he could call the airline or I could go online to select my seat. Everything on the Air2Sea webpage  mentioned "Economy", so I asked if it was Main Cabin for sure or Economy (if Economy, you can't choose a seat even for an additional cost, and you board last). He assured me that it was "Main Cabin". I told him I would think about it. 

Has anyone else booked a Delta flight to Europe from the United States using Air2Sea? If so, did you end up with "Main Cabin", which includes checked bags and seat selection?

Thanks.

Just now, Northern Aurora said:

Depending on the size of the items, and if you roll tightly, we can generally get about 30 items in a laundry bag.  These items are underwear, shirts, blouses and so forth.  If a pair of jeans is included then less than 30 items.

Thank you!

How large is the bag provided for the free Elite laundry benefit? Several items, or only one outfit?

Thanks.

I am wondering which types of soft drinks are available at Johnny Rockets, specifically, do they still offer Pibb Extra? Can you order that a la carte? 

Great advice! Thanks everyone!

Has anyone taken the overnight Cairo overland shore excursion (2 days/one night)? How did you like it, and what was your transportation experience from the port to the various sites visited and then back to the port the next day? Is it worth the money?

On 2/3/2022 at 12:01 PM, Selion said:

We are trying to plan out our days for our Viking cruise next month.  For most ports we are doing the included walking tour of old town/city, and we have selected the first available time slot for them.  For these included walking tours, the descriptions always state "return to your awaiting ship" at the end. 

 

My question is, does Viking allow passengers to drop off the tour group at the end of the tour?  Just so we can explore on our own afterwards and make our own way back to the ship.  We'd want to spend more time in the city/town centers, instead of spending extra time travelling back & forth between city center and the ship.

 

This is assuming that independent exploration is allowed after March 1, as Viking is expecting.  If that's not happening, then this discussion is rather moot.  😅

For cruises departing in January and February 2022, you can't leave your group to explore on your own. The only time on our trip when that it would have been possible to do was during our stop in Turkey. After our second excursion, we were once again brought to a shop for a demonstration on rug making which quickly becomes a sales presentation as the artist almost flees the room as dozens of carpets are thrown down on the floor in front of you. You could leave and wander away from one of these stores, where our tour guide was not interested in showing us back to the ship until he had to. 

There are shops at the port ranging from a little shop to a dozen or more stores and restaurants (in Turkey).

I am fine with the idea of using the cruise line's sponsored tours. It is an easy way for the cruise line to control where the passengers are going and to lessen the chances of picking up COVID while ashore. Prices might be higher, and choices limited, however, you also don't have to worry about the ship sailing away without you should your tour return late, and hopefully, the tour companies follow the same protocols as the cruise line so you will remain as safe as possible. 

As mentioned by others, this is a temporary requirement put in place by the cruise lines to help keep everyone safe. In future, we will be able to return to normal programming. 

I called Crown and Anchor directly and was able to quickly "lift and shift" my cruise to a transatlantic on the same ship departing in 2021. The rep did ask at the beginning if I knew which cruise I had in mind, so clearly she would have been able to help me select another one if had been unsure. I have read in various posts that some cruisers are asking for the L/S online which gives you several choices between different cruises to substitute. The downside of this is that you will have to wait to see if your first choice is assigned to you by Royal and of course you will not know which specific cabin you will be assigned. I was able to keep my same cabin, which was important to me. I highly recommend calling Crown and Anchor- they have always been able to help me with my reservations over the years.

16 hours ago, Host Kat said:

 

Howdy!  

 

From the Guidelines:

 

Signatures
Cruise Critic has the following suggestions for keeping your online signatures manageable:

• Keep your images to around three (approx) -- which would include a picture, clipart, photo or your countdown.
• Try not to have any one image that is TOO large, which then takes additional time for your fellow members to download,
• If you have a LONG LIST of prior cruises, think about chopping off some, OR rearrange them horizontally rather than vertically;
• From time to time, browse through your signature and eliminate any extra blank lines, or old countdown codes, etc.

 Cruise Critic reserves the right to remove/delete portions of your online signature and will let you know that we've had to resize your online signature.

 

At this time you have "dead" codes in your signature for some Cruise Critic Countdown Clocks that no longer work. This causes you to have the problem since you are over the 3 image limit mentioned above. I have removed the codes. This should clear your path to the signature you want.

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

 

Thanks!!!!!!

I have recently tried updating my signature following the advice posted previously to no avail. I edited my information and hit the "save" button only to have an error page appear. I have tried to edit my signature several times over the past two months since my Viking cruise to Paris was canceled. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

They could still go ahead with the buffet, just have the staff hand you your selections on a plate. Leave the entire seating area open, but space out the tables to be used, taking into consideration the need for social distancing. If they set up fewer stations, with fewer selections offered- perhaps choosing a theme each day such as Italian, American, or Asian- then they would have enough staff to serve everyone. 

During a past cruise I was on, during fears of Norovirus, a salad buffet was served in the MDR with the staff making the salad for you. There are other options as well, both casual and speciality restaurants, which provide extra dining choices which not everyone utilizes but may be worth considering depending upon how crowded the various facilities become. 

I definitely believe that the buffet option needs to redesigned, not only due to the current outbreak, but just from observing guests' past behavior such as the passengers who touch bread, for example, with their bare hands, only to put it the bread back on the tray after deciding they didn't want it. More than once I had to alert the staff after taking the item out and setting it aside so that no one unknowingly chose that item for themselves. 

I hope that Royal can keep the buffet concept going while at the same time keeping the food served free from contamination. 

On 3/13/2019 at 4:44 PM, ShipsandDipper said:

 

 

Harmony has a sauna, a steam room, showers, and heated tile loungers.  These are all in an interior area with no views to the outside.  

Thank you! I will indeed check it out.

The only time I had MTD I just waited in the line for the next available table. I was asked if I wanted the same table, at the same time every night - I declined. The whole point of MTD is that you choose when you want to eat every night, according to your schedule, not the ship's. I was rather confused as to why I was asked to choose the same time/same table for each night, I guess maybe it benefits the staff not to have to find tables for everyone constantly?

On 2/28/2017 at 3:29 PM, auntiedodo said:

We have a b2b cruise in a suite booked for March and always buy cruisecare insurance. My husband had a sudden detached macula and retina, emergency surgery, and we can't go on our cruise that we booked a year ago, and bought cruisecare insurance a year ago too. I cancelled as soon as he was admitted to the hospital, the same day we found out . NOW we are being told that we are in "the PENALTY" phase and will only get back a few dollars IF the insurance claim is accepted. DO NOT waste your money on cruisecare insurance through Royal Caribbean!!!

I always buy my insurance through insuremytrip.com. You get to choose from a wide variety of companies/plans. Much better coverage at much better prices. You can add on "cancel for any reason" which will give you a refund if your plans change last minute.

6 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

Just off the Oasis OTS and I asked in the spa and they confirmed that the sauna and steam rooms were for a fee and not public.  I believe this is true for the Harmony OTS and all of the ships in the Oasis class.  A little disappointed as I enjoyed using the sauna and steam room after working out in the gym on the Freedom OTS last year.

I wouldn't mind paying the day rate of $20-25 to use the stations if they were worth the money. I did that on Radiance. The facility was well worth the fee I paid for the week long cruise. On that particular cruise, I was usually the only one in the room which had different types of showers, a really intense steam room, a less intense one, heated tiled chairs in which you could use while looking out the windows at the Alaskan wilderness. There was also a station with a bench in which to relax with scented air at the end of your steam experience.

I was curious what type of stations they had- I guess in the pay-to-use area since it seems that's the only way to go on Harmony. Thanks!

My transatlantic was canceled due to dry dock plans Royal said. I was offered a choice between two other transatlantic cruises for the same price. Both were longer, therefore they represented a better value, however, one of them was on a much smaller ship which did not have Promenade cabins, so I was offered an interior cabin. I turned that down immediately and booked the other cruise offered on a slightly smaller ship which did have a Promenade cabin, however.