Great 2 B at Sea

Great review, Radio.....it's always a pleasure to follow your postings. Enjoy your extra day at sea, and thanks for letting us cruise right along with you! ;)

How unfortunate to have had this happen to you. We always book our cruises about two years out, and what happened to you is our worst fear. You pick your perfect cabin, get a decent rate, and you really look forward to all the fun you will have. Then RCCL takes it all away from you! I feel extremely sorry for you. I agree with Bob, Royal should offer you something else, and with price protection. Hopefully you will be able to turn this horrible situation around. Good luck and keep us posted.

I guess it's best to purchase the drink package once we board instead of on RC website since I hear they put your cup in the cabin and have to wait till around 1 pm to get into cabin?

You won't have to wait until you get your cup from your cabin. You can go to any bar that is open when you board and show them your sea pass card, and they will serve your soda in a glass.

Can you get your glass filled at one of the bars?

 

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Yes you can. They will probably ask for your sea pass card to verify you have the pop pass.

Where are they located on the ship? Cabin is on Deck 8 midship.

There used to be 4 in the Windjammer; 2 on the Royal Promenade and 1 in the Arcade. This was two years ago. Not sure if they have moved or added any since then.

Weather has always been a concern for us when sailing out of Bayonne, since we drive there from Michigan. Only one time did we ever have to deal with snow, and that was last February when we sailed on the Quantum. And the snow we got was nothing in comparison to what they are predicting right now. We arrived at our hotel around 6:00 pm the night before the cruise. The snow didn't start until around midnight, and fortunately it was only about 4" - 5". With that amount, the earliest shuttles were running on time from our hotel, although we don't know what happened later on in the day. (I would definitely try to get an early shuttle.) The area was a mess, especially as our shuttle got into the port area, and it took a very, very long time to to get us to the drop off point. Our driver said he wasn't looking forward to the rest of his day because everything was turning into ice. The ship didn't leave port until around 7:00 pm due to so many passengers arriving late. Hopefully the amount of snow will be much lower than they are predicting. I wish all of you safe travels to Bayonne and have a wonderful cruise! Just look at what you will be leaving behind for everyone else to deal with! ;)

We are going on a cruise in three weeks and sailing with another couple. We are all staying at the Hyatt House Ft. Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port the night before we sail. I have already made reservations to park at the Park N Go, since this seemed to be the most popular place. However, our friends are considering parking at the Hyatt for the duration of the cruise because it would be cheaper. To me, cheaper is not always better. Plus, everyone seems to rave about the Park N Go and how prompt they are with dropping you off and picking you up. So, I told them I'll toss this out on a thread and see what the feedback is. Has anyone parked at the Hyatt before and what was your experience? I guess a bonus would be to hear from someone who has parked at both places, and what their thoughts are. I appreciate any feedback.......thanks!

My wife and I are on the Feb 15th sailing 44th aniv.

Have a great sailing.....maybe we'll see you at the M&M. Happy 44th Anniversary to you and your wife! ;)

Thanks, Ken and Biker19, for your feedback. I was very interested in finding out how others seemed to know, and now I have my answer. I realize it is almost impossible to truly know the numbers. I guess the bottom line is......as long as we have our cabin reserved.......it really doesn't matter what the numbers are. Take care!

Looking forward to doing 11-night Southern in late March, does anybody have menus or compass for this itinerary? Would help me with my OCD pre-cruise planning.

 

Also would love to hear any tips or advice from recent Serenade / Southern Caribbean cruisers.

We are doing a B2B on the Serenade beginning February 5th. Here is booklet of the cruise compasses (50 pages) from the November, 2, 2015 Serenade 11-night Southern Cruise, that I bookmarked when it was posted in November of last year. Hope this helps you out. Sorry, but I don't have any menu information for you.

http://issuu.com/hochmania/docs/compass_-_serenade_11-2-15/3?e=2025714/31455235

I was wondering if there is a site that shows you how much a particular cruise ship/cruise is already booked? I see in some of the threads where members say their sailing is already a certain percentage booked, and I was curious how they know this. Guess I am out of the loop. :D

Its a piece of cake! We normally move ourselves (as the stewards have enough to do on turnaround day) and if you want to do that, they will lend you a hotel style trolley so you can hang clothes. Two other things. Don't forget each cruise is seperate, so make sure you check your bill for the first one and settle it like you would normally. Second, go and find your new steward a few days before end of 1st cruise and ask them to do your new cabin first so you can move into it quickly. Last thing...look really smug at breakfast, 'cos you're not getting off!!:D

 

Simon

Great advice, Simon, on all counts. I like the idea of us moving everything ourselves. And we will find our new steward and ask to have our room cleaned first.....hope they will comply. With all of the horror stories we've heard, we will definitely settle our bill. Love your breakfast comment....we can finally be "those people" who aren't getting off the ship. :cool:

Keep all of your luggage in your first cabin. They'll coordinate with you on the move and your new boarding passes a day or so before the end of the first cruise.

They gave us our new boarding passes after everyone had left the ship and had us get new pictures taken for the new passes on board the ship. After you get your new boarding passes, you're free to leave the ship,if you want to.

Not sure how they will handle customs for,you. We did our B2B in Italy last year and we were never asked to go through customs between the two cruises. That may be different in the U.S.

Thanks, bay guy, for all of your information! One less thing to be concerned about.

Hey all you experienced cruisers out there......I've got a question for you. We are doing our first B2B next month and we will be switching rooms. How do we handle our luggage and tags for the second leg? I know they will only move clothing on hangers to our next room, and we are responsible for the rest of our stuff. So, on the last night of the cruise, do we put our new tags on and set our luggage outside of our room? Or do we just keep our luggage inside of our room until the next morning? I know this is a no brainier for a lot of you, so will you please help me out? Thanks!

Definitely agree with St. Maarten for the cheapest prices.

We've also sailed the Indy two times and we love this ship! You will have a wonderful time!

Thanks for the review! We will be doing a B2B on the Serenade beginning Feb. 5th and we can't wait. Glad to hear you enjoyed it so well!

It is crazy that you had to go through all that for something that was RCI's fault. They should have fixed the problem that they created.

You are so right! I told your exact comment to every Rep I had spoken to. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to matter. And I went through all of this for a hundred dollar voucher! ha ha Never again.

Hello. Quick question..

 

We booked a cruise through a travel agent. Sailed the cruise and booked another while onboard. We weren't aware that this new sailing would automatically go back to the original travel agent that we used.

 

Per RCI's policy, you may transfer the booking as long as it is NOT paid in full, and it hasn't been more than 60 days since it was booked. I'm fine on both parts.

 

I contacted the agent who has our booking to inquire how to move this booking to another agency that is offering a more favorable option for us, and he basically bashed the other agency's offer and flatly said that we cannot transfer this booking.

 

What are my options here?

 

Thanks in advance.

I can feel your pain and I might be able to help you make this right. I went through the same fiasco......it was a total nightmare which took me six months to complete. I can't tell you how many phone calls I made, how many people I spoke with at RCCL who gave me misinformation or how much anger and frustration I felt throughout this whole ordeal! Hopefully my information will enable you to get it done a lot quicker, and avoid going through what I did.

We did an Open Booking while on the Quantum this past February, and while filling out the form, a Sales Rep. advised us to put down "No Agent" in the area where it asked which travel agent you wanted to use. By doing this, your Open Booking would be in RCCL's name. We also didn't want to have our current agent be on the booking, because we no longer wanted to use him. They said when you actually went to apply this booking to a cruise, it could then be put into your new travel agent's name. My husbands was correct when we received his.....it said RCCL on it. Mine, unfortunately, had the travel agent we booked the cruise with on it, even though I, too, wrote down "No Agent!"

Here is what I was told to do. RCCL will have you first contact the agent who now holds your Open Booking. You must request they fill out a transfer form with all of your information on it, and have them transfer the booking from the agent's name to yours. Once that is completed, RCCL will then be able to transfer it to your new agent. Well, my agent was very compliant, so he said, and he did the process twice. After they supposedly do the transfer, you must wait 7-10 days to call RCCL to see if it was completed in their system. Well, each time I would call RCCL to see if the transfers were made, of course they hadn't gone through....my booking was still in the travel agents name. After many hours of being on the phone with different people at RCCL, and encompassing many months through this whole ordeal, I was finally able to speak to a Supervisor. Many other times when I was talking to people at RCCL, I had asked to speak to someone higher up, but was denied. This made me very angry. After over five months had gone by, I was finally able to find someone who could actually help me. I got someone who finally let me speak to a supervisor! Evelyn, the supervisor I was transferred to, had such sympathy for all that I had gone through. She said I will help you get this taken care of. She couldn't believe all I had been through! Of course, every time you call RCCL, there is documentation of your call. She read first-hand what I had gone through, and she was very apologetic that it was taking so long to resolve. She told me, if the agent isn't doing his job and the transfer isn't going through, then I could send in a personal request to have this taken care of. I could either send by regular mail, or email, a letter to the Resolutions Department explaining my situation, and they should definitely do the transfer for me. You must have your signature on either the email or letter for them to accept it. I was able to do this, and Evelyn told me she would watch for my email. After about two weeks, I received an email from her that it was received, and would be processed. After six months, my transfer was finally going to be completed!

I sincerely wouldn't wish on anyone what I have gone through! And it still gets me so upset to think of all the times I had asked for some help, and wasn't given any! I was always told I had to go through the required steps.....which was a crock to me! drhall, since your agent said nothing could be done, definitely do the letter to the Resolutions Department. You must include your membership number and the Open Booking number for the transfer request, along with an explanation of your agent saying there is nothing he will do for you. If you would give me your email address, I will send you Evelyn's information. She was definitely my saving grace in all of this! I don't know if it's possible to privately send that to me or not through these message boards. Good luck, my friend!

We are doing our first B2B on the Serenade in February. We've never been on this ship. Can't wait to sail! Wishing all the lucky people who sail before us a fantastic cruise!!

You inquired about hotel parking, and may want to check the Fairfield Inn & Suites Marriott (FLL Airport) via parksleepfly dot com. There are two hotels that allow up to 21 days of parking, and the Fairfield charges only $5.00 per day for additional days (Quality Inn is $10.00/day for add'l days):

 

Quality Inn & Suites

8 Miles from airport

Free Parking: up to 21 days | Max Occupancy: 4 guests

Continental breakfast

$249.99/night

Free Cancellations

 

Fairfield Inn & Suites Marriott Fort Lauderdale Airport and Cruise Port

Customer Rating: 4 of 5 stars (6 reviews)

1.5 Miles from airport- close to ship

Free Parking: up to 21 days | Max Occupancy: 4 guests

Hot full breakfast

$269.00/night

Free Cancellations

 

The room rate may change, I entered 2/13/16 for about a three week stay. And that is a busy time of year so I wouldn't wait to book. At Fairfield you would register your vehicle at the front desk upon arrival and obtain a parking pass. There are three scheduled departures to Port Everglades (make a reservation ahead of time at the shuttle desk in the hotel lobby). The transfer to the cruiseport runs $8 p.p., each way.

Wow, jmf123, you went above and beyond anything I ever expected to receive! Thanks for taking your valuable time to give me all of this very detailed information......I sincerely appreciate it! I will check into both of them. Once I get the information, I'll share them with hubby and we'll go from there. It's nice to know we have some options. It's wonderful people like yourself, and the others who gave me advice, that make these message boards so advantageous.....thanks so much!!

2nd that. Park n Go are fantastic. We use them every time we cruise or fly out of FLL. Would not even consider using anyone one else, fast, friendly, reasonable and just a great place to leave your vehicle while you are gone

Thanks so much! This is definitely where we will park.

Park N Go They are very reliable. And close to the port.

Thanks for the response. We will definitely check them out!

We are doing a B2B next February on the Serenade. We will be gone for 22 days. I know we can park at the pier and pay the daily rate, but if there was another alternative, we would consider that. Does anyone know of a hotel that would let you leave your car in their parking lot for a minimal fee, or maybe even free (which I doubt very much) for the length of time your are on the cruise? We have done this in Bayonne, but we were only on the ship for 14 days. I know 22 days is a long time and most hotels would probably charge you, if they even let you leave your car there. I was wondering if anyone has ever had this dilemma, and if so, what did you do? Thanks for any feedback.

Those of you that have cruised on Quantum, have you been able to use them in the complimentary restaurants during dinner? It sure would be nice rather than carrying a drink into dinner.

We were on the Feb. 2nd sailing, and during the "Ask the Captain and his First Officers anything you would like" seminar, someone asked the Captain why we couldn't use our three complimentary drinks in the restaurants. The person asking the question said it's a pain to have to buy your drinks at a bar and then carry them to the restaurant you are eating at. The room filled with noise from others like us who agreed with this. The Captain turned this question over to The Hotel Maintenance Officer. He responded "You should be able to use them in the restaurants.....that was supposed to have been implemented......you mean you can't do this?" A lot of us then responded "No, we aren't able to!". He then said "I guess I will have to do some checking on this and make sure they change this policy and allow it." Don't know if that was ever implemented or not. Maybe some fellow cruisers who have sailed since Feb. 13th (when we got off of our cruise) can let us know their experiences.