Lilfrog79

Just got back from there today. We had great weather. About 26-29 degrees and dry. Started to rain as we got closer to Sydney. But otherwise was lovely. Can't say it will stay that way, but that's what it was like all week pretty much!

Howdy

No about the special visas only the ESTA which lasts for 2 years. I wish we flew out in 3 weeks have to wait 102 days. How many of you are going ? Kids ?

Looks like a similar trip to the one we did Cozumel was great loved that place and Grand you gotta try the rum cake. and Castaway cay is great fun too.

 

In regards to tipping we just went with the prepaid gratutites except for out stateroom attendant he was great with the kids.:)

 

Port canaveral is easy to do if you have kids make sure you get the wrist band for the kids rooms and go in on the open days.

 

We never done the Adult dining, i felt the main dining rooms were more than adequate.

Thanks. Yeah we cruised last year from LA and didn't have an issue but just wanted to make sure. Have the ESTA!

No kids going. Two adults (Me and My sister), chose Disney because they have such positive feedback and wanted to do a cruise line you could not get in Australia. Expensive but I think it will be worth it, from what I am reading! Can't wait! Plus we both secreting are Disney fans! LOL

Hello, and thanks everyone. I never thought to actually tip with cash for room service. So used to everything being on the card, but I think I will do that from now on.

Last cruise we didn't tip, and afterwards I was kind of thinking, Gee you tip for everything in the USA I probably should have tipped for that.

Oh it's a learning curve isn't it? LOL

Howdy fellow Aussie Cruiser. We are from Brisbane and when we sailed the Magic in 2014 we weren't in a hurry but it took about 45 mins through the immigration area of Port Canaveral. It then took another hour for the line up to get the car rental shuttle.

 

Getting on the ship I cannot comment as Pe arrived there at 11:30 am there was no line up at the check in counter and after we checked in we were whisked away as we got chosen to be family of the day. Which meant we got on the ship before anyone else except for the b2b people but we also had to stand up in the port and get introduced to the entire load of passengers. But all was great.

 

 

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Hey Aus,

Thanks for that. I have a town Car booked to pick us up about 8:15am. So my plan was to do a self assisted disembarkation (Which I think starts at 7:30am). So I was hoping that it took about 45 mins all up. I have been on other cruises from the USA and did not really find the US Customs too slow, so I am hoping it's the same here.

Can I ask did you have any special visas or anything. My Last cruise last year from Los Angeles we didn't have anything only the ESTA thing, and the customs lady made a little comment but all was OK in the end. Was just wondering if we should have had something extra that I missed. She didn't seem to really know what she was talking about though cause she had to ask someone else, but it got me a bit nervous.

Can't wait though. The count down is on, and fly out in less than 3 weeks! Wonder how many Aussies will be on board. It's amazing we fly to America and get excited at seeing an Aussie over there LOL

The port will be busy as its opening time really so its going to be. Traffic wise you can never really predict it.

 

 

 

Pirate night menu is a little rubbish in my opinion but then they have the buffet upstairs after dinner so I always think they keep it fairly boring for people to eat at least a bit up there. The menu in the restaurants other than the specialty ones will be the same that night so you wont miss much apart from the menu. http://www.disneycruiselineblog.com will show you the menu for the pirate night. Personally I always pick this night as I would rather experience the other menus.

 

The only way you could semi-know what restaurant you were in that night is to request a dining rotation. However when you get onboard this may or may not have been done so you could still end up with a different rotation.

 

 

 

What you will have is the first time (usually) you are in each restuarant you will get the signature restaurant menu - so the 3 main restaurants will have their own menus. This means as you move between them you will get each of these menus once (while people in the other restaurants are experiencing theirs). On the other nights all 3 restaurants will have the same themed menus. So for example on Pirate night all restaurants have a pirate menu. Hopefully below makes more sense as I feel like my write up is confusing (using a 7 night as an example)

 

1st night -

• Animators - standard Animators menu
  
• Resturant 2 - standard Resturant 2 menu
  
• Restuarant 3 - standard Restaurant 3 menu
  

 

2nd night

• Animators - standard Animators menu
  
• Resturant 2 - standard Resturant 2 menu
  
• Restuarant 3 - standard Restaurant 3 menu
  

 

3rd night

• Animators - standard Animators menu
  
• Restaurant 2 - standard Restaurant 2 menu
  
• Restaurant 3 - standard Restaurant 3 menu
  

 

4th night (Pirate night)

• All Restaurants - Pirate night
  

 

5th night

• All Restaurants - themed menu 1
  

 

6th night

• All Restaurants - themed menu 2
  

 

7th night

• All Restaurants - themed menu 3
  

 

Fingers crossed that makes a bit more sense! So if your rotation was R2/R3/Animators then you would have:

• Night 1 - standard Restaurant 2 menu
  
• Night 2 - standard Restaurant 3 menu
  
• Night 3 - standard Animators menu
  
• Night 4 - Pirates menu
  
• Night 5 - themed menu 1
  
• Night 6 - themed menu 2
  
• Night 7 - themed menu 3
  

Yes Yes, this does make sense. So I booked Palo for the same night as the Pirate night, so hopefully it's the right decision. Looks like it based on the few comments I have read so far. Thanks this does make sense now.

Thanks everyone. I will allow about an hour to get to the Port. We are staying near Universal Studios, I think give or take that we should get there at an okay time. It seems 11:30 will be pretty busy regardless?? Is traffic usually bad around the port or coming from Orlando?

And at least I know I can change my dinner if necessary. I did read somewhere that pirate night did have the poorest menu?? So I booked it on that night, but I wasn't sure which restaurant I'd be missing and how people would know that?

And I guess this leads me to the next question. Does each dining room have it's own set menu each night? Or are all the dining rooms on the same menu and you sit in a different restaurant? Sorry that's a little bit confusing.

Thanks again!:)

Hello,

We are cruising on the Fantasy on the 17 Sept 2016. I have cruised a few times before, but never on Disney and Never from Port Canaveral.

I have a few questions. Sorry if some have been answered throughout, I have been perusing the boards for a while and just want to clarify a few points.

Firstly Embarkation and Debarkation. I have checked in online and listed 11:30am as arrival time and booked a town car from Orlando to the Port for 10:30am. From what I can see the trip is about an hour? Is this a reasonable time to allow for the trip? And debarkation, I have done a self assisted debarkation on other lines, and just wondering if Disney have the same option. Also does anyone know on average how long it takes to get off the ship and clear through customs? I have booked a pickup for 8:15am and was thinking of getting off about 7:30am? Is this pushing it? I have a flight at 11:50am at MCO (Domestic flight) is that enough time to get to the airport safely (Thinking no later than 10:00am)?

Dinner? We have the late sitting? Is there any way to find out what nights you have what restaurant? I have booked Palo for one night but was just wondering how I would know what restaurant I would miss? Also how strict are they on the formal night? Coming from overseas we don't feel like lugging fancy clothes for one or two nights. Just thinking nice clothes but no formal??

Tipping for room service? Yes or no? Like with cash? Not sure about tipping, we don't tip in Australia, however I know it's a part of life in the US and am happy to do it? But never really sure when to do it or not? Even for the guys who take the bags from the car and put them onto a cart? Do we tip them? It seems so strange but don't want to insult any one.

Ok, that's it for now, sure I will have a few more to come. Any hints and tips to make this cruise the best ever are welcome.

Thanks

No longer possible on X, RCI will likely follow.:(

Oh those buggers. Well it doesn't surprise me. I was surprised they allowed it on my last cruise (Not for me, but for my oldies who spent a total of $4 on board LOL).

Choosing the ship or the bank to do your currency conversion does not have any bearing on what conversion rate is used. If you choose the ship to do your conversion they will charge you three percent of what your final account balance is for doing so. The fee charged by your bank for the currency conversion can vary from zero to whatever each individual bank charges. the actual conversion rate is always a fluctuating number and admittedly the ship " may"use a less favorable number but it is still determined on a daily market number.

Yes, it is based on the market rate, but the ship will most certainly have a less favorable exchange rate than most banks or money exchange places. For example, last week the US dollar was at 72c (just going by the news). Money exchange places were selling for about 69cents. My bank was exchanging at 69cents. On board the exchange rate was 61 cents.

I use a 28 Degress Mastercard which charges no overseas transaction fee, so I choose to allow my bank to do the conversion. Even getting charged a small fee by my bank, it would work out cheaper. For my bill of about $1200 usd I saved nearly $200 allowing my bank to do the exchange.

So yeah, that was my only point that the exchange rate on board isn't really that crash hot. :(

X is stopping the cashing out of all OBC(refundable or not) fleet wide, RCI is making it harder, they may well follow X's lead.:(

The sneakiest way to get back your money is to go to the casino and withdraw it from your account. As if you were spending it in the casino. They give it to you in US dollars and charge a 5% fee but you will get your money back.

RCCL stated in their compass that the credit was non refundable. Well I think it was in the compass, maybe it was somewhere else but I did read that. However you could still get it from the casino cashier.

Thanks Lilfrog79 , just what I was looking for ...recent experience . I take US$ on and settle in cash the night before even though I tick VISA . Lucky enough to put some aside when dollar on parity

No problem. That's usually what I do. I go and get, say $1000 changed over at a currency exchange before the cruise. Then I use my Visa card on the account. A day or two before the end of the cruise I pay off what is owing, and then Whatever is left I let go to my Visa card, making sure I allow my bank to do the conversion, so that I'm not getting 60c to the dollar instead of 70c.

Some ppl are concerned about getting charged a conversion fee from their bank however it's usually not that much, and ultimately u will save money by letting your bank convert the money over!

Hope you have fun. I'm already depressed and starving hehehe

Thank you all for your kind replies. Our first Diamond cruise is on the Explorer in April. I suppose we will try the Diamond lounge on the first evening and if it proves to be too packed and therefore too hard to get a drink we will use the 3 free drinks in any bar option the rest of the cruise.

Just off explorer and I can say that the diamond lounge was quite busy most nights but if u pick your time right you should be ok. For example we went up about 6pm each night just when a Lot of people were leaving for dinner, and we always found a seat. If not straight away, after about 5 minutes. 7pm many people also left to go see the show, so if you're a little flexible you should be ok.

The free drinks is also nice, and you have a list of about 10 or so different alcoholic drinks to choose from.

Just off explorer and our $100 OBC was in US dollars. Booked through Aus travel agent it said on the booking $100 and it ended up being in US dollars!

Also a handy hint, when u get on and they ask if you want the cruise line to convert your money at the end of the cruise to Aus dollars or your bank, I would recommend letting your bank do it. The current exchange rate was 61c to the dollar which is crap! Just FYI.

Currently on Explorer OTS and just left New Caledonia this arvo! Captain has been updating us about Winston for a few days. The seas are quite big 4 metres but so Far not much wind! Boat is rocking a bit tho! Thanks Dramamine for keeping the voms at bay!

Thoughts are with Fiji! Hope the storm fizzles out and no one gets hurt or worse!

You ppl need to realise that this is TV, and a lot of what you see on TV is rubbish. Obviously they are not going to show you people waiting in line, and obviously that girl getting picked for the show was all staged. If people can't work that out then there really is something wrong! Same when you watch shows like "worst cruise holidays" or "vacations from hell". It's called editing! They will only show you what they want you to see!

New Caeldonia looks nothing like the few beauty shots they showed. Of course they are not going to show u the rude people, or the homeless. Or the container terminal when u dock. No one wants to see that!

A lot of that footage would be from old shows, such as when they showed the promenade from VoTS. Just filler! But it makes for easy watching, so people usually don't care!

Wow. What a dreg this guy is. Worst journalist ever! Seriously I can't believe I watched 3 minutes of this rubbish. I'm still not sure what his point was, except self promotion. You couldn't get a booking in a restaurant ? Boo hoo mate! P.s learn to spell! Probably something they teach you in "being a journalist 101"!

Hello,

Can anyone advise, if a cruise is due in at 7:00am and I wanted to book a town car at say 8:30 am would I likely be off by then or would the process take longer?

Also can anyone recommend a reliable town car company?

Thanks.

Thanks sooooo much for this great review. I'm booked in Ruby to the Mexican Riviera in October. Being from Australia I'm not too sure what to expect however after reading your review I'm so much happier. Glad you had a great time with your grandma! Might I suggest a career as a travel writer? Haha lots of free cruises in that line of work LOL

There is a 1230 train and a 3:00pm train. If I got a Town car at say 830 I'm estimating it might take at most 1 and a half hours to get to union station. So arrive at 10:00am then can we drop our bags (check them in) then go wander around till about 12 before returning to get ready to board? Or do we need to check our bags closer to the train coming? Sorry I've never done an Amtrac before. Mostly I'd just be keen to go to philipes and get a French dip and then jump on the train.

Hello,

I am cruising on Ruby Princess on 25 October - 7 November 2015. Ship returns to Port at 7:00am and from then I am going down to San Diego for a few days.

My questions are as follows.

I plan to stay a couple of Days in Long Beach prior to the cruise. Is the Princess Terminal very far from Long Beach? Would a Taxi be say around $20?? I thought LB looked a little nicer than San Pedro.

After the cruise my plan is to take the AMTRAK train down to San Diego. My main issue is getting to Union Station. Any suggestions on the best method of transport. Does princess offer a service or am I better off paying say for a town car? How long would the car trip be on a Sunday morning at say 8:00am? There is a train at 10:00am but I think that might be pushing it??

Cruising to the Mexican Riviera. From what I can see I don't need Visas or anything? Is that correct? I have a USA Visa Waver to enter USA and that's all I can see that I need.

OK I think that's it for now, any other tips or pointers would be great. Thanks. :)

Until something changes again! :D

 

It used to be that you got offered complimentary tea/coffee at the MDR at the end of dinner as well. Removing that was just one of the trade-offs to help manage increased load, and raise revenue.

Just off voyager and they did have complimentary tea and coffee after dinner. Just not the fancy coffee. That coffee you had to pay for. But tea and normal coffee was free.

Where do I get the outgoing passenger cards if I want to complete these early?

As far as I know you can only get the from international points of departure. So airports etc. I had some left over from last time I traveled (I always grab a few extra) and filled them up at home. So much easier. Maybe grab some for NEXT time ;) and also a few extra incoming cards.

Just bring a pen and something solid to lean on and you can fill them out while you are in line, you should have plenty of time to do that!!

Or even a cruise, since you don't actually get to see/stop at any ports!

 

Very different experience.

Haha exactly. Sale for three days and end up back in sydney. What fun is that Lol??

Thank you so much for your review Lillfrog! I'm sure my friends would have had a great time as well - he's always the life of the party so I'm sure he would have had a whale of a time even though the in-laws where cruising with them!

 

The main thing that concerned me was the extra passengers because of the new cabins which meant that there was less crew to service them as the ship only holds so many!

 

Seems from your experience that there wasn't too much to be concerned about! I will catch up with my friends tomorrow to hear their experience of your cruise. They've only cruise once before with P&O and loved the experience of cruising but just wanted a something a bit more up-market they thought for this, their second cruise.

 

Gae

No problem at all. Just remember if you are doing the my time dining, then book ahead online. Can't comment on the traditional dining times however!

And yes, I did not really notice much difference from my previous sailing on VotS in Nov 2013. The level of service seemed the same to me. The occasional wait but otherwise fine! Hope you have a ball!!

Having just experienced the 3 day cruise on the VotS, comparing your experience with mine is good to see that some things are not one off while others are. the length of a cruise can often change demographics and cause some of the issues that are not seen at all on the longer cruises.:D

Yes I do think the three day cruises which I think ppl refer to as Booze Cruises are a totally different experience to a long cruise. 14 days on board people paced themselves a lot more than they would on a 3 day. More time to try things like the flow rider, ice skating bingo etc etc, so the lines are much shorter. Bars not as busy either. And more time to relax of course!!