MNfamilycruiser

That is what I am thinking. I don't mind sitting on the beach alone.

 

What Alaska cruise did you do? If I put it off I have more time to save up and possibly do a cruisetour.

Looking at the signature I see Zaandam - Prairie Home Companion Charter and Oosterdam - both HAL.

Many here have done either Radiance or Rhapsody.

Have you been to the ports I have not been to?

 

I'd love to do Alaska but I also need to look at cost. If I wait a little longer, I will get a better balcony discount and my friend will be done with college classes and can come with me.

Another thing to consider is what you will be doing in port - we found that the tours in Alaska were quite a bit more than in the Southern Caribbean. And to get some of the best ones, you need to book well in advance.

Our last cruise was Southern Caribbean on the Adventure - we had amazing tours in Antigua and St. Lucia - actually we had a pretty amazing time at all our stops - except St. Maarten. (the island was beautiful - we just didn't have good luck with our tour driver) We had a very active roll call - many of the group went on the same tours.

What I found interesting in this thread is the obvious differences between introverts and extroverts. It seems like sometimes they can't even imagine that what the other type needs would be tolerable, let alone enjoyable.

There aren't as many of us introverts - but we still like to vacation! And I do have one extroverted child, so I can easily see how the other side thinks ;)

Hi everyone,

 

My family and I will (Husband and 3 kids) be doing our first cruise with RCCL this December. We have booked room 8000, just wondering if anyone has had this room before? From what I can tell, it seems to be the smallest??

 

Thanks for any info :)

I don't think there are significant differences in size (or any difference) between rooms of the same category. It states on the deck plans when a stateroom has a smaller balcony for example.

To me 8002 and 8502 look wider but shorter than 8000 and 8500 - they should still be the same square footage as listed for the category.

:D I received the "undisclosed merchant or service provider" email and phone call from BofA today. ;)

They must have decided that it would be cheaper to give everyone at risk a new card rather than deal with the potential fraudulent charges.

BTW - I have found BoA to be VERY QUICK in identifying fraudulent charges -and as soon as they found them, they shut down the card if they can't get hold of you immediately. We were liable for $0 in both cases - not sure who covered the charges - the merchant or BoA - but it wasn't us :D

Are you sure they actually came from Bank of America?

Yes, I got a new one in the last month - my husband did not - because he didn't shop at Target in December. I just had to laugh at their "undisclosed merchant", yes there were a few other merchants that were also hacked but....maybe it is because Target is headquartered here - the security breach was BIG BIG news here.

So, I posted this yesterday....about upgrading to the RCL Signature Visa cards.

 

Guess what we received in the mail today...new RCL credit cards! I was incredibly impressed by the supersonic delivery service. :rolleyes: Until I read the accompanying letter and looked closer at the cards.

 

In an effort to protect our security AND privacy....new Platinum Plus Visa cards have been issued...blah, blah, blah. Please begin using your new cards and numbers immediately. Your old cards will be deactivated, etc.

 

I'm not sure I should even bother to activate these, and that other card is looking better and better. :D

Did it mention a security breach at an "undisclosed merchant"?:rolleyes:

......ummmmm you mean Target?

I should just call royal and see what the policy is. Thank you both for the help!!

Good luck with that....call three times and get 2 or 3 different answers is the typical pattern.

Sorry, but that link actually specifies that you may NOT bring on any beer . liquor OR non-alcoholic beverages except for 2 bottle of wine per stateroom and only on embarkation day. It is misleading because in the next paragraph they state their right to check water bottles etc, which if you can't bring them on, then why do they need to check them??

Yes, it implies that you can, but doesn't state that you can.

At 22% interest, who cares about $100 off a cruise???

Who pays interest? None of these card benefits are worth anything if you don't pay off the card each month....

The bridge tour is complimentary for guests in a GS.

 

Concierge Lounge windows depends on the ship.

I didn't know about the bridge tour! Thanks for the information. We were in an OS on Adventure 2012 - one where the CL was inside with no windows - and never crowded. But it was a very port intensive cruise - so I don't even know when we would have had time.

This year we will have 2 sea days - hoping I can drag dh out of the casino to go ;) On Radiance the CL is up with plenty of windows and views - I am expecting it to be much busier.

Wondering how they know which package you have - do you get a wristband or is it on your card?

on your card

You might like to ask this on the Alaskan board.

We prebooked our whale watching in January for our May sailing - but we chose a tour operator who has a very small capacity.

My impression of ISP from reading about it, is that it isn't all that big or "touristy". It might be the one port where you wouldn't have luck trying to book once off the ship.

I'm interested in this too. We will be sailing this Thanksgiving with 7 grandkids.

 

Four of them will be ages 15, 15, 14, 14. Those four will want to be together, not separated, in the teen club.

 

We also have a 12 year old who will not fit in well with the teens--he is young for his age and very much a kid yet. I'm hoping he can go with his 11 and 9 year old sister and cousin, although they may not spend much time in the kid's club anyway. I think he'd be intimidated in the teen club.

Ask - it won't hurt. They allowed it with my two girls. My guess is that it is very dependant on the numbers and situation on your particular cruise.

The reason they gave us on Allure for grouping all the teens together when we sailed was because there weren't that many 12 - 17 yr olds on that cruise. Which was surprising to me, because we cruised during prime Spring Break in early April, 2013. Just wondering if this is a general practice on other RCI ships where they group the teens together, depending on the numbers.

Yes, it is. We had that on the Adventure out of San Juan for Thanksgiving 2012 - there just weren't enough of the older teens coming to the club to keep them separated so they were together with the younger group. I don't know what the cut-off is for "not enough" - but they will do it. It is not so much how many kids are on board - but how many come to the teen and kids clubs.

I am actually hoping it will be the same for us on Radiance this May - my two will be in separate groups. My youngest dd will never go to the club if she has to go alone - she needs her more extroverted sister to drag her along.

I believe it has happened to my kids when they were younger too - we have typically sailed off-season when there are not as many kids on board.

Depending on the ages and how many are in each group, they will allow siblings to stay together sometimes - they have allowed my older dd to stay in with the younger group.

I've actually been meaning to do that but never remember to look when I'm out shopping. It's really sad because I read that was good for your hair like 2 years ago and every so often I think "next time I'm shopping I'll look for a silk pillowcase". Two years later I still don't have one. lol That's my wonderful memory....

It made a noticeable difference in reducing the frizziness at the back of my hair (I sleep on my back for the most part).

Thanks for all of the ideas. I am a Deva Curl girl but tend to use Ouidad when it is humid. They seem to mix okay for me. I went and bought KCCC at Target and have used it a couple of times. I like the curls, but they seem to be crunchy. Am I using too much? Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

After they dry - scrunch them out with your hands. The crunchy goes away very easily and leaves soft curls.

I tip my head upside down so that I can scrunch all the way to the root.

You are not alone. Up until I turned 30 my hair would air dry pin straight! I'm 32 now and the right side does this weird spiral frizzy thing, the left side is beautiful waves and the back is straight. So, yeah that's fun. It's halfway down my back so for cruises it's ponytails or buns because it's so hot I can't stand it on my back.

 

I also can't use anything with heavy moisturizers too close to my roots because they get oily but the curls get frizzy. My hair needs therapy.

Try switching to a silk pillow case :D

Also got the offer in the form of an email. Called Bof A and they were clueless....imagine that! After the BofA agent stumbling over every word, I got transferred to RC and a guy named Shawn who works for RC in the rewards redemption department, he went over every detail and answered all my questions. He knows his job!!!

 

Signed up for the new card. Should arrive in a few weeks...all points transfer over, you also get 10K points after your first purchase, that is normally just for NEW card holders, but is an added bonus for the Signature card.

 

As others already stated the two for one airfare...after you spend $3500 in 90 days.

 

***

hmmmm....didn't see the extra points in my offer - wonder if we will get that.

Why not get the Southwest Card where you get 50,000 points, almost always enough for 2 free round trips or more

Because some of us don't live in areas where there are very many Southwest flights...unless we wanted to spend the whole day connecting to get where we wanted to go.

Hi

 

We are due to sail on the Independence of the Seas in July. We have never done a cruise before so please forgive the millions of questions I will probably ask :D

 

so heres a few questions, there will be a 6 & 3 year old plus an 18 mth old:

 

what are the kids clubs like

do you have to pre book

do they have kids entertainment on at night?

do Royal Caribbean operate a no towel/coat reserving policy?

 

Thanks in advance x:p

There is also a board under the "special interest" cruising specifically for asking questions about cruising with kids: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

Now on to your questions:

the kids clubs are great, they are one of the reasons we have stuck with RC after having tried out several different lines. They will each go into a kids club specifically for their age group. I don't know about the 18 month old, when I cruised with a toddler we were with a big family group and I never had them in the kids club on that cruise.

The first day/evening you sign them up for the kids club, they get a wristband that they must wear at all times. Then whenever they want to go you go with them, sign them in, and sign them out when they are done. Yes - they especially operate the kids clubs on sea days and in the evenings - so that you may enjoy your own entertainment.

My kids are teens now - so it has been a while since they have done the younger kids clubs - my information may be a bit dated - I am sure other can correct any mistakes I made :D

I am not sure exactly what you are asking about with the towels/coats?

I'm not sure I follow. On side balconies, you have a 180 degree view - towards the front, towards the rear and straight out. If aft balconies only see a "pie shaped wedge", that would be about 45 degrees, much less that the 180 degrees of the side balconies. That would make the view of a side balconies a "much larger range" :confused:

Maybe a better description would be a pie with a wedge taken out of it - as if you were standing in the wedge and the remaining arc of the "pie" is your view. More than 180° anyway. Depending on exactly where your aft balcony is - MUCH more that 180. We will be in our first aft "corner" where the balcony wraps around one side a bit as well as facing aft.

Here is another thread on the subject:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2027534

I don't know if anyone has actually used them yet, or tried to get the free companion airfare - but there is more info in the thread.

Anyone who already got their new card - how long did it take? The mailing said 4-6 weeks - just wondering if that is true.

I forgot I will need to change the credit card number for our Set Sail pass once I get the new card.

Anyone use them? Do they actually save room?

Room? No - but love them for organizing within the suitcase - and very easy for unpacking and repacking.

More important for us since we travel as a family of four. I used to use the ziploc bags - but found they actually caused trouble with overweight issues, and it is much easier to fit adult size clothing in the packing cubes.