Bit the bullet-More Royal Caribbean questions

[wannagonow123]

OK. We did what we thought we would never do, and switched from a Carnival Corp cruise to Royal Caribbean for the 5/26/16 New England sailing on the Grandeur. Kind of scary, but I am sure we will have a great time! I asked a few questions earlier, and got some great responses.. Thanks.

 

Now that we have booked, I have a few more questions...

 

I know the interior cabins are quite a bit smaller than what we are used to. (136 vs. 175). How is closet storage? Will suitcases fit under the bed?

 

Are there coolers/ fridges in interior rooms? If not, will they freeze some cooler packs to keep insulin cool?

 

Can you bring your own sodas/water onto the ship?

 

I know I am a long way out (May 2016) but are the shore excursions that they show on the website all we are going to get, or will they possibly add more? Choices seem a bit skimpy. We almost always go through the cruise line for tours just for piece of mind. Never cruised to New England before, so we are looking forward to new & exciting ports.

[Clarea]

Our suitcases have always fit under the beds.

 

Not sure if there are coolers in inside rooms on Grandeur. In any case, they will not freeze anything. Best to contact [noparse]special_needs@rccl.com[/noparse] and get a medical refrigerator.

 

Sodas and water are technically prohibited, but they usually don't enforce that rule.

[newbiecruiser09]

Never done interior so can't answer that.

 

For the insulin, contact the RCI Special Needs department and they can provide you with what you may need for your meds. They can also answer any questions about meal accommodations etc as needed. (special_needs@rccl.com)

 

We have never been stopped brining reasonable amounts of water and sodas on board. You can bring 2 bottles of wine per cabin on board at embarkation (provided there are 2 pax >21 in the cabin) but liquor is not allowed.

 

Not sure when they post all the excursions. I'm sure someone with more experience using the cruise line ones will share (we usually use private unless it is a really long excursion, a short port stop or a situation where getting back may be an issue)

[Ken at the beach]

Never done interior so can't answer that.

 

For the insulin, contact the RCI Special Needs department and they can provide you with what you may need for your meds. They can also answer any questions about meal accommodations etc as needed. (special_needs@rccl.com)

 

We have never been stopped brining reasonable amounts of water and sodas on board. You can bring 2 bottles of wine per cabin on board at embarkation (provided there are 2 pax >21 in the cabin) but liquor is not allowed.

 

Not sure when they post all the excursions. I'm sure someone with more experience using the cruise line ones will share (we usually use private unless it is a really long excursion, a short port stop or a situation where getting back may be an issue)

 

There only needs to be 1 guest over 21 YO in order to bring 2 bottles of wine.

[luvscruising2007]

I have been looking for excursions for our April, 2016, cruise. I asked my TA why there were so few and she said they seem to be adding more around the 90 day mark. So I am patiently waiting.

New England is a wonderful itinerary and you will have a great time.

[silentbob007]

There will be a slight shock at the size of the interior room. Bern there, done that, and it's true. However it's not terrible and storage is pretty decent. My dad and I did not have a problem storing our stuff for a 17 day cruise in a similar cabin on a sister ship.

[cb at sea]

The supplied dorm-style fridge will keep insulin....nowadays, most insulin doesn't need refrigeration once it's in use...so the fridge will keep it cool enough. Check with your doctor about that. The cabin will be quite tight....so you don't want to bring in another fridge, if you don't have to. The cabins are well-laid out, for max storage...just not much floor space! Remember that the bathroom space is included in the sq. footage!

[AAA75]

My first room was an interior room, it was ok. I didn't mind it as we were out and not in the room. The water must be in full cases only. We also like to book outside of cruise line as sometimes we get deals. You may want to look into that. Don't forget to check review websites.

[newbiecruiser09]

The water must be in full cases only.

 

We have never brought a full case and have had individual unopened bottles (maybe 6-10) in carry on bags for every cruise we've taken. LIke to have sports top bottles for bedside use. As long as it's unopened, they've never stopped us.

[bossjetter]

I always bring water and security even opened my cases thinking it was liquor probably. Anyway they returned my luggage with the 3 or 4 bottles of water. I book excursions with cruise.com. They guarantee smaller groups and guarantee you get back to the ship on time. Sometimes they don't have that great of a variety to choose from but worth a try.

[Ren1216]

It has been my experience (albeit on a different itinerary) that they did indeed add more shore excursions as the sail date approached. Can't promise this will be the case for you, but I have definitely seen it happen.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Bob327]

We have ONLY book interior rooms for maybe 5 or 6 years now because frankly we only sleep in the darn space ...we also cruise 2 or 3 times a year ...

 

Been on the Graudeur 4 or 5 times and and 2 of those were B2B cruises (18 days ones) ..while the rooms are truly SMALL we had no problem at all even on the 18 day B2B trips.. We have never had a small refrigerator in our rooms ..

 

They do have at least 2 floor plan configurations for interior rooms (that I know of anyway as they may have more) both of the 2 configurations that we have had both worked for us.. the one room we had them remove one of the Upholstered chairs..from (My wife uses a mobility scooter which takes up space inside the room)

 

I never saw the need to carry water on board ... there is plenty on board and its not a problem keeping some in the room at night ...

 

You will have no problem getting a cold pack etc to store your insulin in .just ask the room attendant ...these guys/gals are terrific only thing we do now is carry our own door stopper so my wife can use on the door to keep it open until she drives her scooter in or out of the room on a few ocassions they could not come up with one..

 

Bob G

Edited September 27, 2015 by Bob327

[TomAceEsq]

I'd wait to book excursions on board. We booked all our ahead of time, then realized there were more options on the ship (that were never online) that piqued our interest even more.

[denatravels]

I was on the rhapsody in an interior room. I asked for an ice bucket. When the stateroom attendant saw that I had some water bottles in there, he brought me a fridge!! I needed to ditch the desk chair, but I used this more!!

[cantonrlc]

bossjetter, I saw you just got off the Liberty and had a question regarding the Galveston Port. I will also be in a GS, but have been hearing horror stories about the long lines at customs. I have a flight out of IAH that leaves at 12:30. Questions:

1. Was a Carnival ship docking at the same time you arrived?

2. Did the separate line for Suite passengers expedite the customs line?

3. How early did you get off the ship? I am concerned and may want to carry my own off early.

 

Thanks in advance!

[BND]

bossjetter, I saw you just got off the Liberty and had a question regarding the Galveston Port. I will also be in a GS, but have been hearing horror stories about the long lines at customs. I have a flight out of IAH that leaves at 12:30. Questions:

1. Was a Carnival ship docking at the same time you arrived?

2. Did the separate line for Suite passengers expedite the customs line?

3. How early did you get off the ship? I am concerned and may want to carry my own off early.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

You might want to start a separate thread with your questions as this thread is 6 months old and bossjetter might not even see your post on here.