TNcruising02

Most of the time, I book my excursions through the cruise ships. Several lines have reviews when you click on their excursions. I find the reviews very helpful. I noticed RCL does not have reviews, so I read them by googling. Also, the section on CC with the ports is very helpful and you can read opinions on the excursions in specific ports. I think it's easier to book an excursion through the ship, but it's often more expensive.

For someone on their first cruise, it might be worth it because the ships will have tickets in your room with the excursions, the time you need to be at the meeting place, and where you will meet (such as somewhere inside the ship or on the pier). It is one less thing to have to worry about since everything will be a new experience.

it's frustrating to me that RCL does not have customer reviews for their excursions. When I went on my Carnival cruises, I could read a lot of reviews when I was trying to decide which ones to pick. I find them very helpful. Other cruise ships have reviews, so I am not sure why there aren't any on RCL's site.

I'm convinced they change rates when someone calls to book that category.:rolleyes:

That's actually what I was thinking because the guy had me on hold for nearly 15 minutes. I was wondering what was taking him so long for something so simple.

I think I see what happened. In the time it took me to do the mock booking and then call, they changed the rates! I still have the screen shot of my mock booking earlier today. I didn't realize they change rates on the same day.

I am sailing on the Liberty of the Seas next month. It looks like the prices are dropping. I did a mock booking and it appears that I could get a superior ocean view stateroom for a total of $143 more than I paid for a promenade room.

I called RCL and the customer service person did the calculations and told me it would cost $600 more for me to upgrade my room. Since it's after my cancellation period, am I not able to get a better room at the current prices by just paying the difference? I am not sure if he made a mistake or if I am not entitled to a discounted rate when upgrading.

Thanks.

It depends on the ship. If we are cruising on Carnival, we always get the Faster to the Fun Passes and put our carry-on bags in the room. Sometimes we will even unpack them. Then we eat at the buffet. On other cruise lines, we usually head straight to the buffet before it gets crowded.

Then we start exploring the ship, deck by deck, until the room is ready. Once the room is ready, we put away our carry-on things and go back to exploring the ship. After the muster drill, we go back to the room and look at the list of things to do that evening. Then we will explore a little more before going to dinner.

This is my first time trying to post a link so I hope it works. My first cruise is coming up and I got one of these beaded wrist wallets. (Hopefully, they still have the BOGO sale going on.) I do not plan on wearing it all the time but I will sometimes (dinner). I also plan on bringing a lanyard. Why not since they take no room to pack, then I have it if I want to use it.

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/128479307/size-large-back-to-black-black-beaded?ref=shop_home

That is really cute and would be a great option in the evening.

(snipped)

For those worried about language barriers. we simply do not believe it exists. For about forty years we have traveled all over the world (on our own) while only fluent in English. Yes, we can read menus in a few languages...and have some knowledge of French (but we are really awful) but it has seldom been a problem. Common sense (travel sense) goes a long way wherever you travel. And being on one's own allows the traveler an ability to interact with locals (in any country) which often leads to wonderful experiences.

 

Hank

That sounds amazing!

In the buffet saw someone take a bite out of a cookie and put it back and someone drop serving tongs then putting them back in the food.

Someone coming out of the toilet no 2 then not washing their hands.yuk.

I usually mind my own business, but if I saw someone take a bite out of something and put it back on the buffet, I would have said something. Same for the other post about the mom who told her kid to pee in the pool. People can be so disgusting. When it comes to their actions impacting other people, I hope people speak up.

Thankfully, I can't remember witnessing any disgusting behavior on any of my cruises. Rude behavior, yes. But nothing disgusting comes to mind.

My husband and I enjoy having drinks at the same time, such as when we are watching shows. Stealing drinks wouldn't be worth it for us, plus it would be hard to completely relax always worrying about getting caught. If someone else does it, that's on them. I don't care.

I prefer self-assist when we have early flights because getting off of the ship is much quicker. One our next cruise our flight isn't until 4:00 pm, so I will take my time getting off of the ship. Given the choice, I would pick self-assist and an early flight home. The majority of the time, I can't fly direct so an early flight means I will eventually get home in the afternoon and not evening.

I could easily retire on cruise ships. I would not limit myself to one line. I would mix it up with different ships and different ports so that I would continuously have new experiences. I would take a few breaks during the year to visit family, but then have no problem getting right back on a ship. I can think of nothing more exciting than always having new experiences all over the world.

I have taken a plate with a desserts and coffee back to my cabin. As far as germs in an elevator, having food doesn't make that much of a difference. If somebody sneezes or coughs in your face, then it makes no difference if you are carrying food or not.

I don't care what other people do. I think the majority of people just want to have a good time and aren't worried about other people. Focusing too much on judging other people can suck the fun right out of a vacation.

I am going on Liberty of the Seas in the middle of June and the drink specials right now are:

$8.50 for the soda package

$18.20 for the refreshment package

$46.00 for the deluxe drink package

$54.00 for the deluxe drink package and Voom, one device

$31.00 for the cafe select coffee card (15)

$14.39 for Voom, one device

$25.58 for Voom, 2 devices

$35.97 for Voom, 3 devices

I would reprint it. When we arrived at the port, they looked at our printed boarding pass time.

It's up to you. I always prepay the tips so I can get it out of the way. I also bring some cash for random tipping like for room service, luggage handling, and excursions.

I remember how excited I was when I booked my first cruise. It was like stepping into the unknown. I was nervous and excited at the same time. The excitement has never gone away no matter how many more cruises I have been on. I am about to take my 8th cruise and am just as excited as I was before my first one.

I pass the time by coming to CC and reading the posts. I really enjoy reading the trip reports of the people who have been on the cruise ship I am going on next. I love seeing all of the pictures.

I also go over all of the excursions and have fun picking them or deciding to just wing it. I've got two cruises coming up this year. I usually book a cruise shortly after getting off of the ship because I can't stand not having something booked. Cruises are just so much fun. My husband feels the same way, so it's perfect. We've decided that it's our favorite way to spend a vacation.

What free soft drinks do you get for free through the day and evening if you don't do a drinks package? Thank you in advance :)

 

 

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No free soft drinks. The only cruise I have ever been on that included soft drinks in the cruise price was Disney.

I've found that the availability of the FTTF comes and goes. On one cruise, I checked nearly every day and couldn't get it. On two others it was available the day I booked. On the 4th cruise I had to check daily and after it showed up full for several months, it popped up as available so I grabbed it.

I usually tip tour bus drivers $5 to $10. Usually a total of $10 for my husband and myself. Same for other excursions if they involve a lot of people. If I am on an excursion with just a few people such as parasailing, I tip more because of the personalized service.

My upcoming RCL cruise on Liberty of the Seas shows the following packages. (of course prices vary from ship to ship and from sale to sale) I believe when purchased, there is an automatic 18% added to the purchase to cover gratuities:

$8.50 per day -Drink up the savings and enjoy unlimited fountain soda refills for just a few dollars a day. Your complimentary Coca-Cola souvenir cup can be used at bars and lounges, or while dining at the Windjammer Café or main dining room.

$18.20 per day - Wake up with the aroma of your favorite freshly brewed premium coffee or tea and enjoy breakfast with fresh-squeezed juices. Keep hydrated all day long with unlimited fountain soda refills in your Coca-Cola souvenir cup or a refreshing bottle of still or sparkling water. At night, pull up a seat at the bar and order your choice of non-alcoholic cocktails.

$46.00 per day - Toast to virtually unlimited options on your vacation – wake up with premium coffee, tea, and fresh-squeezed juices, then keep cool onboard with non-alcoholic drinks and bottled still and sparkling water. Relax and unwind with premium and frozen cocktails, domestic and imported beers and a wide selection of wines by the glass.

Drink prices on the ships vary, so you could try googling drink prices for your particular ship to add up your estimated out-of-pocket daily amounts.

My husband and I always pre-pay excursions, so the only cash we need is for tips and spending money. When we go on excursions, we always tip. If we eat lunch off of the ship, we pay in cash. Same for souvenirs. We usually take around $300 and make sure we have plenty of small bills. I've never used my credit card during my cruises. I don't usually spend much on souvenirs.

The ship is cashless, so you won't need cash for anything other than small tips (if you feel the need to tip above the 18% automatic tips). I always give cash tips for room service, but you don't have to tip in cash.

Everyone's spending habits are different, so you can probably base what you will need on what you have done when going on land-based vacations.

I think it was risky to book such a long cruise as your first cruise. That was a huge commitment to something new.

When my husband and I cruise, we participate in many of the activities during the day. We see the shows and especially love the comedy shows and main productions. We go dancing at night. We get off at every port and either do excursions or explore the area. The majority of our time is not spent sitting there baking in the sun, although we enjoy relaxing in the shade listening to music or audio stories for our down time. I think a vacation is what you make it.

There's a lot going on during cruises and it's a choice to participate or relax. It's the best of everything, in my opinion. But I can see how some people would not like it. Now you know that cruises are probably not for you. Everyone has different ideas of what is fun. There's nothing wrong with you disliking cruising and other people finding them fun. People can explain for the next 100 pages why they like cruising, but it will mean nothing to you since you don't.

Airlines also change the times of flights. We have a flight for a June cruise and they've already changed our arriving flight until an hour later. Fortunately, we're arriving a day early or we would be cutting it close...too close for comfort. This would be especially true without having a non-stop flight. Anything can happen. G in a day early if at all possible.

I had that happen on my upcoming cruise in June. The airline sent an email to me that they changed both my arriving flight and my departing flight times. I had to call them back to change the new departing flight time to a different time because leaving the Houston airport at 10:15 am after arriving at the Galveston port that morning would never work. They definitely can and do change flight times. Anything can happen when it comes to air travel. I always fly in the day before a cruise.

Another time the day before my son was set to fly to Houston, United cancelled the flight. He was flying out first thing Saturday morning to catch another flight in Houston out of the country. We thought everything would be fine until we got that the message the flight was cancelled. It was not fun dealing with that scenario.

I wear a water proof watch while on the ship and on excursions. I only carry my phone if I am taking pictures. While on the ship, I need to know the time for meals and shows. While on an excursion, I keep it set to the ship's time.