excited1stcruise

The Vision will be in Key West on December 1

Thank you so much for the info you all provided. Do I really have to measure and start a reservation for his tux online or can we just wait till we board?

Hello all you happy cruisers! I just brought a really nice formal dress and was thinking of having hubby rent a tuxedo. Has anyone rented on the ship before? Any idea in price? Also do they give you two shirts for both formal nights? Thank you in advance!!

When my daughter went on a cruise with some friends a couple years ago she had to be with someone 21 or over in order to go. From RCI webpage

Onboard Policies

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Q: What is Royal Caribbean International's Age Policy? A: Royal Caribbean International's minimum age to sail unaccompanied on sailings originating in North America is twenty-one (21). The minimum age to sail unaccompanied on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18).

The Company retains the right, on rare occasions, to raise the minimum age to sail unaccompanied on any sailing when local laws require or permit such a modification.

For voyages originating in North America:

No Guest younger than the age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years old or older. A guest's age is established upon the first date of sailing.

This age limit will be waived for children sailing with their parents or guardians in connecting staterooms; for underage married couples; and for active duty members of the United States or Canadian military.

Certain other restrictions and conditions will apply; such as compliance with the age twenty-one (21) alcohol policy, and proof of marriage for underage couples or proof of active duty military status required

We were on the 11-15 Explorer cruise. This by far was the worst boarding we ever have experienced. We arrived (never got an email stating what time to arrive) around 11am. Lines were going every which way. They kept on moving us and others to different lines. Finally on the last line I refused to move. They told me it was the diamond and diamond plus line and I told them that there own staff put us here and this time I wasn't moving. It just wasn't us that they moved there.

We watched several people pass out along with a gentlemen that split his head open. Finally they brought out some water. We never got on board till almost 3pm. By the time we did get on I was in so much pain from standing in line that basically the first two days of the cruise was ruined as I was in pain.

Even though this happened and I know its not the norm, we had a wonderful cruise minus all the people complaining on board. I swear I have never seen so many people complaining about every single thing. One guy complained that there was not enough food choices in the Windjammer. This whole thing about complaining to get something for free is sad. A cruise is what you make of it. Things happen and they try to do their best.

All this said I would still do it again in a heartbeat as the crew was the best we have ever had and she was and is a beautiful ship!

I am going on the 15th of November. PM me if you still need help

Wow I am so sorry you had to go through this awful ordeal! I do not blame you as you were worried about your son.

Not sure when she was last refurbished but she is scheduled for early next year.

I was hoping they would have one also but it appears that there will be no mystery dinner on this cruise. Hubby and I had a blast on our last cruise on the Indy at the mystery dinner and plan to attend anytime its offered

Thank you so much for your quick response. Hubby now feels safe making a reservation for a rental car.

Happy Cruising !!

Hubby and I are thinking about renting a car for the night when we fly into Orlando the night before our cruise. The only question that I have is when he drops the car off how does he get to port? I saw somewhere on CC that a lot of people do this but didn't see the info about returning the car and getting to port. The cost to rent a car for the day and drop it off to different location is about 40 bucks.

Thanks for any and all help

I try to pick up a Pandora Bead for my bracelet. Hubby collects watches (Mostly Citizen Eco's) and usually picks up one or two a cruise.

Following along :) Excellent start and can't wait to read more! We are on Explorer for a 9 night cruise this November.

My suggestion is to go and tLk to your parish priest. He might be able to put a small amount in a container that you could use. And also if in a port that day look for a Mass. We attended a Mass in St Thomas or maybe it was St Martin but anyhow it was such a blessing to attend while we were on vacation.

Happy cruising!

1. Pool games and such are regularly done on NCL ships; fairly similar in my opinion.

2. If you are not foodies, odds are NCL's food in the free venues will be satisfactory. Foodies and those who like more variety should budget for some of the specialty restaurants.

3. NCL generally does a good job with entertainment. A couple ships have comedy clubs similar to Oasis and Allure, but older ships on either line do not have dedicated clubs. NCL comedy is often Second City; I have had some very good troupes aboard.

4. Freestyle means everybody shows up and dines in the main dining rooms when they wish (no reservations except perhaps for a very large group). The specialty restaurants do take reservations.

5. Crew....I've been on over 40 cruises. I have a lot of great waiters and cabin stewards, and I've had a few less than stellar ones. Honestly even the lesser ones give as good of service as I'd likely get at local establishments in the US. On average, I would say the waitstaff and stewards have been a bit better on Royal Caribbean than on NCL. Still the range on NCL is decent to excellent. Plenty of smiles from NCL crew; I foresee no problem there. (Side note: if you book a full suite on NCL, expect at least as good or better service than Royal; NCL shines in the suite area.)

6. NCL has a range of ships with a range of designs. Once you narrow down what ship(s) you are contemplating we can tell you more about seating, venues and breezes and such.

 

The age mix on my NCL sailings has varied, as it has for my Royal Caribbean sailings. Longer sailings on both lines skew toward an older crowd (5-7 night cruises should draw plenty of younger folks at popular travel times. 8 nighters may, too, depending upon days of week...retirees are more flexible than people in the work force. Cruises of 10+ nights you are apt to see a shift toward retirees as cruises get progressively longer...thats on either line) Obviously, more families sail when schools are out. The big Royal Caribbean ships you have sailed to date tend to draw a younger crowd than some Royal's smaller ships (Radiance class, fr example, is a favorite of many established Royal Caribbean cruisers who don't care about flowrider or ice rinks). You'll find the same variability on NCL. NCL seems to attract a more casual crowd (no required formal nights) and generally a fun-loving crowd. Comparing apples to apples in terms of ship type, length and sailing date, I do not think the average age on NCL is substantially different from RCL. (OTOH, HAL and Celebrity and Princess seem to draw an older crowds on average, especially HAL in my limited experience with them.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply in such detail. We are thinking that we should try one of the bigger ships on NCL. Hubby thinks since we started with the biggest on RCI and are working are way down that we should do the same. Still in discussion on which ship but I will be back to share when and what ship we are booked on. Again thank you so much for your help and making us feel more comfortable about sailing with NCI.

What we like is:

1) Pools and some of the games and contests they do.

2) We are not foodies but do enjoy a nice meal with a nice glass of wine

3) We do like to see the shows and most popular are the comedians.

4) We do like the my time dinning and not sure what all the freestyle means with NCL. Do you just show up at any level of the main dining area when you want or do you make reservations?

5) Clean room and smiling faces

6) nice spots to sit and relax and look out and enjoy the view and breeze.

Is there a good mix of ages on board? Heard someone once say that NCL is for the older crowd.

I have looked at many of the ships from the newest to the old ones. We dont really care where they go but prefer leaving out of ports in Florida or Baltimore. Nothing shorter then a 5 night and nothing longer then a 8.

I really appreciate all the responses. Like I said we have only done RCCL since we do get some special perks so this was the only place I knew I could get information.

Hello, we are currently booked for a November cruise on the Explorer of the seas with Royal. We wanted to add another cruise in before the November cruise. I have been doing some research and see NCL has some decent rates for the cruises I inquired about. Is there a lot of difference from RCL to NCL? Will I be missing something? We have only cruised RCL because we have family that work directly with Royal at their home office in Miami and stayed loyal.

Any and all information would be appreciated.

Also people need to consider others.

 

For instance I take a medication for arthritis and Crohn's disease that severely weakens my immune system. I am very susceptible to infection. It is very likely that many people on the ship that take similar medications. Yes we have to be careful and responsible for ourselves, and I am; I even take Clorox wipes and wipe down contact surfaces in my cabin' but it is hard to be careful when people are chucking poop soup out on the pool deck.

I have an auto immune disease and with the biologics I take I have a very low immune system. It's so easy for me to pick up anything from anywhere. I to am extremely careful and so far I have never gotten sick on a cruise other then having sea sickness during some rough seas.

I wish others would also be careful and courteous to other passengers when sick or disposing of possibly contaminated water. If you want your non potty trained to play in water please be considerate of disposal and others.

We did the mystery dinner on our last cruise on the Indy and it was held in the Viking and then down to Giovonni's table. We had the best of times plus the food was delicious! I highly recommend the mystery dinner and can not wait to do it again on another ship.

My first introduction to cruising was a 14 night San Juan-Barcelona in April 2012. I loved it so much that I took one this past April 15 nights from New Orleans-Rome and am going on another from Santos(Sao Paulo) Brazil to Barcelona.

 

Be prepared for the fun sea days. Go to the main dining room for lunch on sea days and enjoy their Tutti Salad bar and great entrees etc. You are first seated and then you can go up as much as your heart desires to this delicious salad bar.

 

I love participating in the events and night disco dancing/70s party etc.

 

The three formal nights were nice and we felt that this was an appropriate number given the length of the cruise.

 

What you don't realize is there is so much going on from the Art Auctions to port overviews and music etc that you may forget your on a cruise. That is until you go up on deck and walk around the track.

 

The fitness center and Solarium(Adult only pool) are great places to be especially on the long sea days. I take the stairs as often as possible to avoid waiting for the elevator and to keep my weight in check.

 

I can't think of anything better than going on a 14 night cruise. I have spent 17 days in Hawaii and while that was nice nothing compares to a cruise.

 

Be sure you have your Crown and Anchor number linked to your reservation.

 

Arrive at least the day before if not earlier to your port destination so you won't miss the boat if you flight is delayed.

 

Also at your final destination of the cruise spend a couple of days there as well or even overnight to avoid any rush or delays getting home.

 

Be sure to look over the Cruise Compass and bring along a highlighter and highlight what activities look interesting. They tend to over plan so there is literally more than one event happening at the same time.

 

Go and watch the movie if there is a movie screen up on deck and the weather is nice you can sit in the pool or enjoy a drink and watch a movie.

 

If your ship has the Park Cafe located in the Solarium go there as they have a variety of sandwiches(including the famous Roaststbeef Sandwich which is not on the menu) . In the morning they have a Bagel Bar and breakfast sandwiches pastries etc. For lunch they have sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts as well as snacks throughout the day.

 

There is also a coffee, tea and hot chocolate station with water and juices located in the Park Cafe. So if your in the Solarium you can grab coffee and take it with you to your loungechair with a snack.

 

Overall you will have so much fun that you will want to book your next 14 night cruise on board. Plus you unpack only once.

I just had to say that this is such a wonderful post! Very detailed and its nice to see someone take the time to reply like this. I thank you as I will hold onto this info for our future 14 day cruise!

Honestly for me, the hair dryer RCI has blows! Haha I have medium hair length and my hair is rather thick but after our first cruise I make room for my own blow dryer even if I have to leave a pair of shoes behind! And ya know us women love our shoes!

If they have the mystery dinner I would book it. Both my husband and I did the mystery dinner on the Indy and we had the best time!

Happy Cruising!

When we where on Oasis we found the couch bed to be rather ummm uncomfortable. Maybe ask for an egg crate or something. Remember this is just my opinion and I have a bad back and hips so someone else may think differently.

Happy Cruising

When we were on the Indy in November they were not offering the valet luggage service. Was told they would sometime in the future.

Mary

We booked our hotel on Expedia and stayed at the Hyatt Place 17th street convention center. Was close to restaurants and shopping for anything you may need including alcohol. Paid just over 120 for the night. Free shuttle from the airport to the hotel and seven dollars per person to the port.

Comfy and spacious rooms that were clean. Free breakfast is also included.