Spurschick

Do they offer any free tours for suite guests?

 

How does the free breakfast/lunch in specialty restaurant work? What type of menu do they offer?

 

How early do they allow luggage drop off in Galveston?

 

Looking forward to my first experience with the suite life. I know about the show seating. Anything else that anyone can share that I should take advantage of?

Menu was several items you could choose from. I had the Fritata. Can't recall the other items. Fresh orange juice. Just walk in when you are ready to eat. We only did it once on Liberty as we found it slow, so allow yourself some time!

Thanks for the info. So did you book the cruise package or just the normal rate + $50. And did you arrange before you arrived? Was it valet parked all cruise or did you move it to the garage? Did the length of cruise have an effect on pricing?

Sorry for all the questions but I want all my ducks in a row! $120 extra for the package seemed high.

i know I could post on the port threads, but I noticed a lot of people here that might be able to help that don't necessarily review the Port threads.

Getting inconsistent answers from Moody Gardens. They want an extra $120 for cruise package. Transfers and parking. Parking I am told is in garage, however some reviews I have read say you can park in the garage free anyway. I also saw a post that says you can book transfers and parking for $30 a room.

I was also told by reservations you book your schedule time at 8am at a meeting, then I had an email stating 1 shuttle at 12?

Has anyone here done parking and transfers that can let me know parking and shuttle arrangements.

Thanks

Have done Playa Mia in Cozumel and would recommend. Jamaica the best tour we did was the river tubing. Want to do it again.

Our suite deposits are normally $250 pp 7 night cruises $100 pp 5 night or less. We don't book onboard we call in.

At least American, with their lowest price (as of yesterday) allow a carry-on and selection of seats. They, however, have a different pricing structure assigned to their seats for domestic & international.

When I have looked at several flights over the last few weeks on American the cheapest flight does not allow carry on nor does it allow choice of seat. I process bookings of flights for staff weekly and our TA advised of the change. I looked at booking for our upcoming cruise and noticed it too had significantly higher fees to preselect seat and have carry on.

According to AA even if you are a higher tier reward program flyer and book cheapest option you still can't select seat nor take carry on.

I stayed at Shangri-La. It was very good. Good location as well from recollection.

We are taking a cruise over Thanksgiving...we only have two stops...Cozumel and Costa Maya...We plan to see the ruins at Tulum when in Cozumel.. and it doesn't look like to much to do in Costa Maya other than beach...So I was wondering two things...Do we shop at the port or go into the little fisherman village...and does anyone know anything about the Chocolate factory..

 

 

Thank you

 

This is our first cruise and just don't know what to do.

Not sure on your ages or fitness levels. When we recently visited Costa Maya we did the Aquapark. You can also get a combo ticket to do the zip-lines as well. Alternatively there is a swim with Dolphins right next to the port.

There is also a sky walk bird atrium where you can feed the birds. DD did by herself $10 adults $7 children if I remember correctly.

When we went on Liberty if I remember correctly it was more than $19 for dinner if paying individually. (We did dining package so can't recall the exact price if we had booked it seperate) I agree when on Allure a la carte was better, and I found the menu to be better as well.

I really hope they don't change the menu.

Sabor on Liberty was so bad we cancelled our second reservation. Allure was far better. Now the quacamole isn't table side we noticed that wasn't as good either.

Any opinions on the Hyatt place 17th street convention center?

 

 

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We've stayed at Embasy and Hyatt 17th. To us it's a toss up. IMHO rooms are better at Hyatt but we didn't have a bathtub. After a flight I like to relax!

Breakfast and cocktail hour the Embassy Suites win.

There really isn't much in it

In terms of getting to the beach we got a taxi down about $15 but trying to find a taxi back was hard. We had to walk to a nearby hotel to get them to call us a taxi. They were great and actually gave us a lift back in their shuttle! We may well stay on the beach next time just for a change.

My son and daughter in law went on Anthem 5 day cruise to Bermuda to celebrate my sons birthday. Luggage was delivered to room and my sons suite case was not there. They asked about it and was told don't worry it will turn up. My daughter in law had a feeling it was left on pier. She asked them can they check pier before ship leaves. No dont worry it will turn up. We'll ship left and no luggage. Next day still no luggage. Late that afternoon they were told they found luggage on the pier. Great, my son has no clothes. After yelling at everyone the gave him $300 to buy clothes. Really? He went to store on ship to get bathing suite to go to pool. suite cost $100. Now how is he suppose to get clothes, underwear to wear rest of cruise with $200. So when they got to Bermuda they went to Hamilton to get clothes and spent a fortune. One day wasted. After complaining RCC gave them a voucher for another cruise to use this year. Well they can't get time off to go. Now what. If crew just would have listen and check pier in NJ before they left this would have not happened.

 

 

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Whilst I sympathize, yelling at everyone on the ship, really It's not their fault. As others say suitcases being left ashore are rare and they could have tracked their luggage and proven it was ashore and maybe it could have been rectified. But shore handlers are not RC employees.

Secondly as others have said cross pack. If we take a check in bag its cross packed. We always have one carry on case per person, with at least one pair of shoes and the essentials. On a 5 day cruise carry on cases would normally be sufficient for us.

Thirdly another reason why you get travel insurance. Things happen. But travel insurance would have covered a lot of the expenses.

I agree with others that their offer was very considerate.

If I had a case that was missing my first thought wouldn't be its left ashore but more along the lines of I'm going to have to visit the naughty room!

This is confusing, considering we have been told both via email and several times on the phone that we will not fall under Star Class. Is there any official confirmation anywhere that this is the case? Thanks.

If you google you can easily find the dates. The dates were tied in with the new schedule releases for next year.

You can also tell by the deck plans as the date the deck plans change for each ship is when the new categories apply.

Here's a link to a post I made after our March Regal Princess cruise. We are long time Royal cruisers. Hope this helps. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2479883

Thank you so much for sharing your link.

I found it very insightful and appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

I have a Sky Loft suite booked on Allure for Oct 1 and I'm going to be pissed if I don't get the Star amenities, as that's why I booked that room....

The changes do not apply until next year. The implementation dates were tied into the release of next years cruises.

We've spoken to numerous people at RC about this issue. We have a Sky Loft booked for January 2018, which we have been informed has been reclassified as Sky instead of Star. They will not do anything and have only offered us a $50 on-board voucher. I am furious and don't know what to do. This was booked LAST YEAR, way before any reclassification. The absurdity of this situation and the unprofessionalism of some of the customer service is absolutely ridiculous.

 

I don't know what to do.

Like I stated on your other thread, the reclassification comes into effect after your sailing date. You are not losing anything.

The reclassification does not come into effect until after your sailing. I am not sure why you think you are losing anything?

Thank you all for your thoughts. DD has predominantly sailed RC. Being a teen she knows what RC has to offer and is comfortable being familiar with the ships and is a little hesitant to move away from her comfort zone.

Unfortunately The RC cruises for the dates I need are a little too long and are doing itineraries we have already done.

I'd looked at the MSC due to the price match but the ship reviews are not great. Will probably wait to try that on one of the newer ships.

I have to say the reviews I have read on the Royal Princess are good, and the itinerary also good. The only reservation I have is it offers two departure ports. You can do a 12 night from Le Havre or 12 nights departing the next day from Southampton. I'm not sure how that would impact the guests sailing round trip from Southampton on the day in Le Havre due to guests trying to disembark whilst other guests are trying to get off for excursions.

I have a feeling this is what we will end up booking.

If anyone else has any more feedback I'd greatly appreciate it. Also how do cabins on Princess compare to Royal.?

TIA

Thank you both for your advice. I was hoping to find someone who mainly sails Royal Caribbean that had tried Princess for a comparison. Loyal royals are more likely to have sailed different class RCCL ships to give me a better comparison of features.

I can't believe no-one here has sailed Royal Princess!

I'll try the Princess board.

I am currently looking at cruises for next summer. The best cruise catching my attention for length of cruise, dates and itinerary is Royal Princess.

Has anyone sailed Royal Princess before and which Royal ship would you most liken it to?

Any thoughts on food, activities, teens on Princess etc. would be welcomed.

On sea days the slots are frequently operational in the morning and between 9 and 11am you can accrue double points. Table games usually open a bit later. Tightness of the slots seems to vary from day to day but your experiences may differ from ours.

Not sure when you last sailed but since recent changes were implemented with Casino program double points are no longer offered.

Why would anybody book a cruise without knowing or having the total intention of going?! I think its good no refunds given, this way only serious people will book and the ones who want to play games will stop.

We book as far out as possible with every intention of going. However, having a DD in school we can only guess Spring term dates etc until they release confirmed school calendar. Our school district is currently rethinking all our school dates for next year which would put us out of synch with the rest of the State. If they make the planned changes that's beyond our control as we work to school calendars.

So yes people book with all the best intentions in the world but do sometimes have to alter things closer in.

I did hear that the program recently changed. I was on the Rhapsody 2 months ago and was able to get the casino rate for an upcoming June cruise.

My understanding is if you previously cruised and qualified for casino rate if you get 1000 points you re qualify for casino rates. If not previously qualified you now need 1500 points to qualify. We sailed last month and were told we were the second cruise that it applied to. That would mean rules changed start of March roughly.

It's a shame they can't release a definitive new program like Celebrity have that clearly states points needed and benefits you can obtain for each level.

If only I could get DH and DD to jump ship!

I have received 5 certificates on 5 cruises, ranging from $200 to a free inside cabin for 2400 points. When I went to use them, I was told they weren't combinable with casino rates. I was able to combine them with the C & A balcony discount. You also can't combine them with the onboard booking bonus OBC.

We have been able to use certificates or play based with casino rates. Have yet to be allowed the balcony discount. Try to get through to Eric or Ron. They understand the program. There are a couple of newer people that I've spoken to lately that have left me with little faith that they know what they are talking about.

Also I was told the certificate was only valid for 12 months, but play based is valid for 18 months. Hope that helps.

I got a $100 certificate on the Rhapsody. When I called to redeem it on a future cruise she put me on hold for a minute then told me about the casino rate. I saved a few hundred bucks.

 

I just got off the Freedom this morning and got a $500 certificate that don't think I'll be able to use.

Not sure when you went on Rhapsody.

When the revamped program first rolled out any certificate got you the casino rate but they had so many complaints from bigger spenders that people spending a fraction or what they were spending were getting the same discounts on cabins they recently changed this to the higher point minimum to get the casino rates. I also understand the % discount varies now based on higher play.

and when you say 400 points qualified you for your next cruise, what does that mean?

 

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If you get 400 points then you get $100 certificate you can use on next cruise but you wouldn't get the cabin at casino rates, just the $100 off.

For cabin at casino pricing you need 1500 points.

Each point is $5 in spins. You put your sea pass card in and for every $5 in spins you'll see it go up. It's not win or loss for points, however once you get over 2400 points they do play based rebate based on play (win/loss time spent in casino etc) so we find the play based to be better than the trade in value. Ymmv!