Mommags123

Thanks O2B@Cagain ….

Do you happen to know the answer to this one:  ( or does anyone else)?

I am trying to see, I need visual aids,  how close the Pirate museum is to the Skyride to Paradise point... it seems what I am reading is that they are close, but are they walking distance from each other?

So if we took a cab from the Crown Bay dock to the pirate museum, could we walk to the Skyride from there?

Thank you -

Does anyone know if Royal Caribbean also docks at Havensight dock? WE want to go to the museum and trying to do it on our own and not the high price ship excursion....Thanks

Thank you Fishbone! You have reassured me about Aruba and given me hope for Curacao. 

We are looking to take the bus in Curacao to do the factory/distillery tour.  I could see on the map where the bus stop was but wasn't sure how walkable it really was from the ship....  

Thanks!

People have made a lot of great suggestions and comments. 

But here are a few more from me ...I always like to give my opinion... :)

A lot will depend on the group size ...

Introductions could take a while if the group is over 60 people.  So name tags would be great. Plus I am a visual person if I see the name with the face it is easier for me...especially if you are going to throw drinks into the event...  I am never going to remember that many peoples names so if we get teamed into smaller groups I can meet a few, hubby can meet a few etc....

I think if they could do an ice breaker activity to get people mingling - and don't necessarily  let family and friends stay together.

Split the group up by what color shirt they are wearing or something. Maybe a game of simon says or quick trivia …. Ask each team 5-10 questions, they have to agree on the answer and the team with the highest number wins a small prize.

Speaking of prizes - it would be great to include prizes for kids too. Maybe an arcade card or a free milk  shake at Johnny Rockets....  Other prizes that would be nice would be free mat rental on Coco Cay or Labadee, free snorkel rental, free bingo card... things that would encourage people to do things they might not otherwise do.

If anyone is on the Navigator on the March 29th sailing, I will be at the meet and mingle... hope to see you there.

Thanks for all the suggestions and tips....

It seems they are not horribly expensive and for the convenience it makes sense to get our own.

I may wait til January as the cruise pay off and a Christmas hit my credit card in December.... 

Hoping my husband will have enough American Express or Amazon points to get at least one set.... :)

Hi there.

We are cruising on the Navigator of the Seas in March 2019 to the ABC islands.

We have some excursions planned but plan to do some "on our own" sight seeing of beaches.

The kids ( 20 year old and 26 year old) have expressed an interest in snorkeling but not that we want to do a snorkeling excursion...

Like they may want to do it for an hour or so at each island.

So we can buy 2 snorkel sets and take turns....  Or somebody said you can rent them on board.

Does anybody have any information about what they charge? Is it per day ? And or do they sell it on board?

Or ( sorry, I am famous for multipart questions) does anyone have a strong recommendation for a brand of snorkel gear that's good for beginner/ occasional snorkeler...

We have all done it before but on an excursion  with their equipment...

Being an accountant I want to do the cost analysis...  :) Thanks

I just got the $250 on board credit for our cruise in February.

We booked it 2-3 weeks ago and I saw a thread on here about getting the credit.

I redeemed the points, got an e-mail instantly, then next day I followed the directions on the email and within 12 hours had a confirmation that it was applied to our reservation.

HELLOOOO DRINK PACKAGE!!!!! :)

It was super easy and I will definitely remember it for next time we book a cruise... I too have lots of points. :)

Thanks for your review; I enjoyed reading it, especially as hubby and I will be sailing on FOS next month! I agree with the poster who said that they appreciated your looking at things with "the glass half full." People who give scathing reviews for minor irritants just annoy me. Can you imagine being a crew staff member who has to deal (politely) with those type of people week after week? Especially considering their long hours and little pay. Anyway, I digress! Thanks again for taking the time to give us your blow by blow! Glad you had a great vacation! PS. What type of "free print" did you get for attending the Art Auction? I've attended a couple of those (although I think one was on Disney, the other on Celebrity) and never received anything.

You have to stick around til the end of the auction to get the free print.

On a week end cruise we did on the Majesty with our girl scout troop they just gave them away at the art gallery - probably because there was not much time for auctions since it was only a week end cruise and they just wanted to get people there.

But in both cases the prints were 8"x8" and were fairly generic. The one I got on the Majesty is a wood rail fence in a grassy meadow surrounded by blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The one I got on the Freedom is of a flower vase and a fruit bowl sitting on a table. Both prints are very colorful and along with my jars of seashells and sand help complete my "serenity now" section of my desk at work.....

This is a great example of the difference between someone who can roll with the punches and have a great time and those who look for everything that didn't go exactly right and feel it ruined their trip. Good insight to the mindset of someone who can recognize when something could have been better (like your shower problem or the steaks) but doesn't let it ruin their trip, and this is exactly how people should learn to be so they can enjoy their vacations instead of coming home and telling us how horrible everything has gotten.

 

I'm glad you had a good time, and I can see how doing Disney first might be the more logical option, but overall sounds like a great time.

 

Also, the simple fact that you were consciously aware of trying to ensure you weren't the annoying people at the dinner table means that nobody would ever accuse you of being such a thing :)

 

 

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Thanks all.

The way I see it, any day on a cruise is better than a day at my desk.

(And I like my job)

But not everything can go perfectly 100 % of the time.

if so, I would win the lottery every time I played!:rolleyes:

But as long as nobody gets or I have to spend a lot of extra money, I can roll with the punches.

Even when the luggage was late showing up, there was another flight an hour later so we had already started making alternate plans when it came out on the conveyor.... I like to have plans, but I also like to have back up plans!

My family had a FANTASTIC time on our Freedom of the seas cruise.

We had no doubt that we would have fun, but were a little leery because we were not traveling with my sister and her family who usually come along.

Me, Hubby, Son (24), and Daughter (18) were on this cruise to celebrate high school graduation and would be following the cruise up with a week at Disney.

Note - next time do Disney first and cruise last to take advantage of relaxing opportunities.

We flew down from PA the night before. Had a panic moment at MCO when hubby's bag did not arrive with all the others even though we were sky priority... but after about 15 it finally came out. Grabbed a rental car from the airport, drove to the port, grabbed dinner at a local place that had great food but mediocre service, then went to the hotel for the night.

Next morning we grabbed our free breakfast at the hotel, got our paperwork and luggage tags all organized and headed over to the ship around 10am. Hubby dropped me, the kids and the bags off while he returned the rental car. he returned the car and was back at the ship within 20 minutes. We are platinum with Royal so we got in that line, which was very short. They processed us through - 2 cabins( kids in one parents in another) very quickly. We probably could have boarded right away but took some time to get lanyards for our sea pass cards that they were selling right there... We found Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Browns ones - had to get them!!! We were in the wind jammer by 11. Son who supposedly went to the bathroom between plates came back with his first drink ( prepaid for drink packages) by 11:30. YUP, boarding was that fast and simple!!!

Had an informal meet and mingle planned with our roll call peeps at the sky bar. Had a good time getting to know a few new folks - all those Kentucky people and Brits were quite the crowd at the bar!

Muster drill was HOT - Sweat rolling down my back awful hot.. but they moved it along and we got to see some dolphins playing in the channel while were there sweltering.

Room steward hooked us up with extension cord for Cpap and opening up the balconies right away. Very friendly guy, great job on the room, a few cool towel animals... but we don't require much. We did mention our shower not draining right and I think the language barrier might have been a problem, but it never seemed to get fixed. So we stuck a washcloth in the hole behind the toilet and took short military style showers.. nothing to get upset about.

Dining room staff - friendly, especially our waiter. He was great. Only issue was getting drinks at dinner but after speaking with the head waiter we seemed to get better service. On other cruises we had after dinner shots offered, but not on this one... bummer. But if we wanted we could have walked to the bar and gotten them if we wanted.

Food was good. Didn't have a meal we didn't like. We got a free meal from travel agent for specialty restaurant - we chose chops. Food was great, but our steaks were over cooked. Since they were free we didn't complain and they were still tasty. We just like them pink and ordered medium rare, and they came out with no pink at all.

Since we normally cruise with my sister, we wondered if we would get just a table for 4 at dinner or if they would seat us with other people. We had a couple who were celebrating their honeymoon and a mother and college age daughter.... So it was a great mix of ages and we all seemed to have a lot in common and could maintain decent conversation. The mother and daughter duo were a little quiet - they daughter was pretty shy actually and had her phone with her at dinner which didn't help... but they were pleasant and we were glad we didn't get stuck with anyone obnoxious. (And secretly hoped our table mates didn't think we were the obnoxious ones they feared getting stuck with)

The ports we stopped in were great. I love Coco Cay. We did the jet ski tour and it was a million times better than the one at Labadee. Longer ride times in Coco Cay, no local merchants pestering you in the waters to buy stuff, and a great group of staff that made sure we all made it back safely when the sudden thunderstorm broke out at the end of our tour.

The food buffet however was completely unorganized - one line had burgers, but no buns. Another line had buns and no burgers... it was crazy!

St Thomas was beautiful - we did the boss underwater helmet/scooter dive.

Great crew on board. Beautiful boat ride out to Buck Island. We got to snorkel while we were waiting turns for scooters. Very patient and helpful staff because we had folks with issues ... One lady didn't want to get her head under water to get into the scoter, but they coaxed her and she loved it. Hubby had a moment of panic from claustrophobia and they helped him get adjusted and he was able to enjoy the whole thing. Took our cameras and got pictures of our family... just wonderful.

St Marteen we went back to Maho beach. The bar at the end of the beach is REALLY expanding and is just awesome. Shrimp po boy was delicious. There was a big difference in the beach between this trip and last one about 2 years ago... This time it was high tide and so the beach was much narrower and the climb out was not so steep. It was Bastille day ( July 14) and our taxi driver was anxious to get off work and head over to the French side to party with friends... Talked a little politics with him - similar problems in their country as ours.

Sea days were relaxing. I went to the art auction for the sole purpose of getting a free print for my desk at work. Got some free champagne and a mini education on art. I was surprised by the cost of some of the paintings but some of them were very nice.

We spent some time most nights in the casino. Hubby would be either hit or miss - lucky or not. I usually was not. Until the last night when we both got lucky and seemed to win back everything we had lost and then a little bit more. Nice way to end the trip.

We each had big / heavy suitcases but opted to carry it off ourselves because we had arranged for a shuttle and our disembark time would have been too late. Worked out well - we got through customs in about 45 minutes and was off earlier than expected. Luckily, Cortrans shuttle was able to take us and we were off to Orlando for our week at Disney earlier than expected.

Definitely had a great time, and it was everything we hoped for and expected.

Now we just need to plan our next cruise.. Thanks to all the folks in our roll call who came out for the meet and mingle - hope you all made it home safely.

We are on this same itinerary in two short weeks ....trying to kill the time reading other people's reviews. Glad to hear you had a great trip!

Thank you for a wonderful and entertaining review.

We go in July and I can hardly wait... was living vicariously through your review.

:)

Hey sister from another mister...we truly must be twins....

I am really enjoying your review...

I love Coco Cay.. so relaxing and serene.

For the life of me I can't remember the name of the delicious island concoction that is the specialty there? I know in Labadee it tis the Labadoozie... Whatever it is, I am looking forward to sucking down a few....

Can't wait to read more.

Cindy

You had me at hi all!

We are doing the eastern itinerary in July and also are Disney fans and doing time there after the cruise.

My daughter is 19 too....

I think we are twins!

Looking forward to your review - please type fast! :)

I can tell you that if you get too drunk you may be escorted back to your cabin. If you become obnoxious or if you become too drunk too often they can take away drinking privileges for the rest of the cruise.

This, sadly , happened to someone we were traveling with in spite of some efforts to baby sit him.....

Moderation!!!!!

Wow... we were there last year and it looked very different then.... there was a lot more beach then.. now it all looks like boulders...

It was a steep drop off from the road to the water, but in these pictures the little spit of beach that used to be there where the chair and umbrella man was is now boulders.......

I hope there is still a sandy area to get to the water... we are going in July 2016....

Bring me a bottle of gin and a straw...

 

I've earned this vacation and this drink.

Love it! Last cruise we had the drink package as we were celebrating son's college graduation!

I asked for a gin and tonic at dinner the first night and each night after that there was one waiting and another one magically appeared as needed!!!

Now that we have experienced the drink package, we love it.

We are not lushes in normal life... ( maybe 1-2 drinks a week) but while on vacation we like to relax, let go, and live it up! And we do!!! :)

It's all a personal preference..... pay up front and be done thinking about it or be reminded how much you are spending with each drink you sign for...... ;)

Thank you for your quick response! Sorry for the over share with money it's just my main concern! I intend to buy the top liquor pkg but knowing my credit card has only 500 tops it worries me. I would just rather pay it off in cash since I have it on me. The main reason I ask is because I want to know if I can just walk up with cash and pay for the pkg.

Set up the cash account and give them the amount for your drink package and tips up front. Then check your charges every other day and see what else you might have charged and then pay it off as needed. Don't just hand them all your cash... you have a safe in your room.

Other things you might be charged for would be shopping on board, excursions booked, things at Coco Cay or Labadee like snorkel gear or a floating mat.... otherwise your drink package will be the big ticket item.

Have a great cruise! Enjoy!

Favorite for me is being out on the ocean, surrounded by the smell and feel of salt water and the sound the ship makes swishing through the waves. :)

Least favorite - when the toilets all get clogged or won't flush on board! UGH! :mad: :eek:

I second that!! I can't tell you how many times I have started dinner conversations with " Today on cruise critic I read...... " ... whether it was about excursions, departure ports, transportation, etc...:rolleyes:

The wealth of knowledge on this board about cruising is amazing.

Keep that info flowing!! :)

Really enjoying your review so far! Your daughter looks adorable!

We are also from the Harrisburg area and I wanted to do the Southern Caribbean tour but we opted for Eastern with some time at Disney for our vacation next summer... so I am cruising vicariously through you on this one!

Hello,

 

Did you ever get to the bottom of this as we are also trying to find out about myvegas cruises

 

Kind regards

I would be interested in knowing this answer too. I don't have nearly enough points to redeem yet but am hoping to redeem what I have for on board credit for our 2016 cruise.

There is a Facebook Crown and Anchor group, maybe they will know.

If we can't find and answer here, maybe I will remember to ask there.

Cindy

Royal Caribbean is very good when it comes to showing big sporting events. I was on the Explorer for the Super Bowl and they set it up in the theatre, along with game day snacks. It was amazing and I don't even follow football.

We were on the Explorer for the men's world cup games last year and they had set us up in the big theater for one game with snacks and hot dogs for one game. Then another games was in one of the larger lounges like where they did karaoke and had snacks there as well. We were happy to watch and it was great to see so many soccer fans.

On a side note - watch the Women's team last night against Columbia and they will have a tough time against China without 2 star players who won't be playing due to yellow cards. ( but how about the Columbian goalie getting the red card! wow that was a game changer!)

Hope you enjoy your cruise..... :)

Rob,

You can also trying meeting people on the sports deck on board. On our last cruise they were always having team competitions and there were always single people who would join up with others to make a team.... I am presuming that since you can manage to do the flow rider you are some what coordinated and can at least join in on the dodge ball tournament!

Same holds true for the trivia contests they hold in the bars - they always ask for folks to team up....... Try Karaoke... Sexiest man contest ... The more you participate in on board, the more people will recognize you and are more likely to chat with you...

And by all means, go join a team at the Quest show if your ships has one!!!

Hope you all enjoy the cruise and what a great dad you are to allow them to bring a friend!

Hi there. Nice surprise!

We used Larry's Limo in October 2014. It was our girl scout cruise and we wanted to splurge "for the girls sake". They worked hard selling a lot of cookies.

There were six of us and luggage. We flew into Fort Lauderdale and the limo was waiting in the cell phone lot because I called and they said they would be there in 10 minutes and they were. You can pay extra for them to be waiting for you but we knew we had some time and weren't that rushed.

The driver loaded all of our bags awhile we climbed in a very long stretch limo.... When we got to the port he unloaded the bags and posed for pictures with us.

Once on board I got a call from our driver.... I thought he was calling to make sure we were ok but he called to say that one of the girls left her purse in the limo... with her money and ID!!! Luckily mom had her passport or we wouldn't have gotten on board.... He said he would hold it for us til he picked us up on Monday.

Monday came and we had a different driver - ruh roh!!! We explained the issue with the purse and he called the other driver..... We took a slight detour from the ship to the airport and drove to the other drivers house and got the purse! money and everything was still inside.

For the ride to the airport in the stretch we paid $150 plus tip.

for the ride from the ship to the airport we used an SUV and it was $125 plus tip. Both vehicles were clean and in great condition. Obviously the limo was cool with the lights and controls that the girls took turns playing with.... :)

They do take credit cards, but the drivers seemed to prefer to be paid in cash... But we used a credit card and the drivers had readers hooked to their phones.

I had researched a bit and they seemed to have the best prices. I would TOTALLY recommend them and would use them again.

Good Luck and enjoy!!!