pennielz

We sailed in a suite for the first time on our last cruise. We loved, loved, loved it!! But the price has to be right to do it again. I can't say what right is but, I'll know it when I see it!

This makes me a bit nervous since we are booked for the first time on the Brilliance in April....:eek: We know this is an older, smaller ship....and we are not to please so hopefully it will be okay.

 

We were lookig for a better alternative for a 5 day cruise rather the Carnival Fascination which only goes to the Bahamas.....

We were on Brilliance in March and loved it, especially The Solarium! You can't let one person's opinion dissuade you. I'm sorry they didn't enjoy Brilliance but, we LOVE it!!!:D

But--I would like to add that on our TA we had the drink package and we were presented zero bills to sign each time we ordered a drink. The bill had printed on it that a gratuity had been included. [in text on the top]

 

However, it (1.--negated the benefit of not having to sign slips every time you have a drink and (2.--made me feel cheap if I did not add an additional tip. :mad:

We get the drink package on our cruises. We find some bartenders have us sign the tickets and others don't. That being said, we typically like to leave an extra tip the first -time we are served by a bartender. He or she doesn't expect us o tip every time and we get GREAT service!

Wear what makes YOU happy!:p Let others worry about what makes them happy! :D

GREAT Video. Can you imagine driving on the Skyway when the horn is blown....HOLY SMOKES !

 

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Been there, done that! It's pretty cool but, not shocking. 🚢

Both Freedom and Independence have a large water park just for kids. They also have a large and active kids club. While we on Indy a couple of weeks ago, we saw the kids club on the go all over the ship.

I think they would be great for kids!

I think you are referring to the drink packages. You can purchase them on online, in advance, or the day of boarding. There will be several places on board where you can purchase them.

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Martina's are included in the package.

West Bay Bike Rentals is up and running. I highly recommend their bike tour!!! Below is a link to the thread where I have posted my review of West Bay Loop Bike Tour.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137853

 

Pennie

Unfortunately, my post that I had linked to before was removed because I did not post it in reply to a question. So, I am replying to the question about Bike Rentals.

We did an excursion with West Bat Area Bikes on our last cruise to Grand Cayman. In addition, they rent bikes, as well. However, you might want to consider the bike tour they offer. It was a 9.5 mile bike ride around the West Bay Loop and it was so much fun and very easy! Richard McKee, proprietor, picked us up just outside the cruise terminal and drove us to the Cracked Conch Restaurant where he stores his rental bikes. On the ride over, Richard asked us about what would were interested in seeing on our bike ride. As we had been to Gran Cayman several times, we told him we were not interested in the usual tourist attractions. We said we wanted to see the real Cayman, to get a flavor of the island and island life. We met Eddie, our tour guide, at the Cracked Conch and he and Richard, again, discussed what we were interested in doing along our ride. We given a couple of beach cruisers and helmets and then we were off.

Eddie was a great tour guide. His family have lived in the West Bay area for over a hundred years. In fact, his family lived all along our route. He would greet his family and introduce us as his "friends from Florida". We even got to meet his 95 year old grandmother. A very sweet woman. She was very welcoming. Eddie showed us the ruins of his family's cooking house. It had been built over a hundred years earlier. It was very interesting.

As we headed towards Barker's National Park, we met Arad. Arad's family were the first to live in West Bay. We enjoyed chatting with him. And, just like Eddie's grandmother, was very friendly and welcoming!

Barker's National Park had very beautiful beaches! Very private and secluded. They were extremely clean! We learned that was because Arad and his family kept the park clean by picking up the trash left by visitors. Many of the beaches had shelters that were made from pallets. Local families will come to these areas of the beach and camp for a week or more. The shelters would be used for storage, sleeping and cooking. Many of them had shoes nailed to the outside. The shoes had floated up on the beach from the Caribbean. A lot of people were missing shoes!

We, also, go to see where Queen Elizabeth had visited when she came to dedicate the park in 2008. It was beautiful pier on one of the salt lakes in the park.

Following the National Park, we stopped at a local store for CayBrew beer. It was icy cold and very good! The store was a family run business and the lady running was very friendly. We enjoyed chatting with her while we rested and enjoyed our beverage.

We then moved on to Heritage Museum at the beginning of Seven Mile Beach where we met Rose, the proprietor. On the same site is the Heritage Kitchen. The food is supposed to be very good but, it is not open on Mondays and Tuesdays so, we did not get to try it. :( The museum has small gift shop with very reasonable prices so, we picked up a few souvenirs!

We rode along Seven Mile Beach and Hell on our way back to the Cracked Conch where we had lunch (on our own) before being picked up by Richard for the ride back to the Cruise Terminal.

While enjoying wonderful cracked conch sandwiches, Richard asked if we would be interested in seeing their local rum distillery. Since we love rum, we said yes! :p Richard drove us over to the Cayman Spirits Company where the owner, Walker Romanica, gave us a personal tour of the distillery. It was very clean and the process of distilling rum is very interested. We, also, got to taste, and buy, some great rums!

West Bay Bike Rentals is up and running. I highly recommend their bike tour!!! Below is a link to the thread where I have posted my review of West Bay Loop Bike Tour.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137853

Pennie

How sad for the family! I hope the child is okay.

You cannot change a booking that has been done prior to the cruise. So, no, you cannot cancel on board and rebook it to get the onboard savings. If you book on board, you can transfer it to a TA. You can get the same promotions on board that they offer on their website or by phone. The promotions for booking on board can be found on the RCI website.

You will hear many people on here say don't use a debit card. I just got off Indy on Dec 6, using my debit card. When I got off, I had mo holds or charges on my account other than what my cruise receipt. You should check with your financial institution to see how they will handle holds before deciding.

BTW, this was my third cruise this year using my debit card with no problem.

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I just bring along my smokeless ashtray. Never had any problem or issues with it out on the balcony.[ATTACH]333633[/ATTACH]

You do realize there is a fire hazard to smoking on balconies? Many ship fires have started from smoking on balconies. Your smokeless ashtray doesn't prevent balcony fires. 😠

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I just upgraded from Promenade to balcony for $58! 🎉🎊

Also, the shipyard was always scheduled after this cruise. The shipyard probably does not have the space to bring the ship in early. Therefore, they have try to make the best of things. BTW, I used work in ocean going shipping, I experienced with how shipyards work. 😉

We have stayed at the Intercontinental. A shopping center is right across the street. It has some interesting restaurants we tried and liked. One was a very busy Maggianos Italian restaurant. The hotel itself had a Don Shula steakhouse, but I don't know if it is still there.

 

The Port Tampa web cam has a large advertisement for the Tampa Marriot Waterside Hotel and Marina. It looks so nice we will likely stay there if we book a cruise out of Tampa. If you would like to check out their ad, go to porttampawebcam .com. The ad will pop up first before the web cam.

Don Shula's is still at the Intercontinental. The Marriott Waterside is gorgeous but, very expensive!

Just got off Independence on Saturday.

Welcome Aboard Show

Freeze Frame -An Ice Spectacular

Headliner - Magical Evening of Grand Illusions

Invitation to Dance

Farewell Show with Carl Banks

They were all great!

I would recommend a hotel in the Westshore area of Tampa. Holiday Inn, Double Tree, Marriott, and Intercontinental come to mind. It's a short distance from th port. If they don't offer a shuttle, it's a short taxi drive.

Westshore Plaza, shopping and restaurants, are close by. I know the Holiday Inn offers a shuttle that runs between Westshore Plaza and International Plaza, another shopping area with restaurants a mile away. We have stayed there and love it.

Pennie

Then give them 18%, however don't ask others too.

 

 

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I haven't asked others to. Please show me where I have. I admitted I wasn't sure if it was 15 or 18 and stated my opinion that they deserved 18. I never asked anyone else to give 18. I'm just glad RCI requires the 15%, otherwise most would give very little or nothing

I recommend Freedom class or Radiance class. I haven't been on Oasis class but, I hear positive things about it.

You'll love RCI!

This is my personal opinion only.

It all depends on what your expectations are from a ship.

 

Suggest you start by considering Celebrity as this is a mid range Line. If you require a more formal cruise, then consider Cunard. Only venture towards RCCL if you are seeking an experience close to a holiday/summer camp.

 

 

 

If you wish to be mess

Just curious, why are you on the RCI posts if you don't like it?

You, also, get priority boarding.

I was on the Independence last week. There was at least one person smoking on his balcony. He was beside me. I reported him.

I reported the one I saw as well. Not only do I not want to breathe it, it's a fire hazard, too.

Is that a typo? Grats on bar bills are 15% - not 18% and automatically added

If you had read further in the thread I admitted I didn't honestly know but, flet they deserved 18%.

Yes, pouring a shot into a glass sounds very labor intensive.

Unfortunately, they don't just pour shots nor does a customer just order shots. Besides, who do you think preps the bar, cuts the fruits, washes the classes, stocked the bar, etc? Oh, and don't forget they have to deal surly, demanding passengers.