undercat

Looking at the 7-day Eastern on the Pride out of Baltimore, with calls in GT, HMC and Freeport. If the ship is unable to tender at HMC, does the day become another sea day or will you end up with two days in Freeport or a Nassau day if space permits?

If we can't make it to HMC, I wouldn't mind an extra sea day [emoji3]

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Love it!

Hoping to do Norwegian Fjords in 2017. That one will be bucket-list-worthy for us.

Wow, those Veranda-deck JS balconies are right.there. I'd read that they weren't very private, and someone mentioned that people can even see inside the most-forward JS from the observation deck if the curtains aren't closed!

Thank you for your review and lovely photos!

Yes, we also had a balcony cabin on Glory. As I recall there is/was not alot of difference. I don't recall having a sofa and coffee table in our Glory cabin. Being two average size adults we found the room to be adequate. Don't get me wrong there is not anywhere close to an over abundance of room but we never felt cramped.

Thank you!

Following along! Looking forward to the rest of your review. Keep those photos coming!

Thank you for your review! Did you sail in a balcony cabin when you were on Glory and if so, how did the cabin size on Fascination compare to Glory? With the lack of a sofa and coffee table, I'm concerned about Fascination's cabin feeling cramped compared to our Glory cabin. We enjoy spending time in the cabin and the Glory balcony cabin was just the right size for us, for a weeklong cruise. From what I've read on CC, the Verandah deck junior suites are comparably sized to a Conquest-class balcony cabin, but with a much smaller (and less private) balcony.

With that said, the aft balcony looks awesome from the photos I've seen of similar cabins!

I purchased FTTF as well, for the reasons you mentioned. No tender ports on this itinerary and for once early boarding won't be an issue, but priority guest services and priority disembarkation are worth it for us.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Thanks.

 

 

 

Did they have the Indian food in the buffet?

I hope they do when we sail on her later this year. We love Indian food!

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

side balcony, never heard a horn except when leaving. More issues that that to worry about, details soon.

Thanks, now I'm curious about the "more issues" you mentioned because we're booked on Fascination for a December sailing.

What kind of cabin did you have? I'm curious as to whether the foghorn-like sound reported by those staying in aft balcony cabins is still an issue.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

How is Mike Pack as CD?

Loved him

awesome!!

Agreed!

How long before JH makes this a poll topic on the other social network?

OP, I like your self-designation: value-driven. I like low prices, but I don't mind à la carte if the things I can add-on are worth the price to me. I love FTTF. I know how to fly Spirit Airlines and don't detest them for having an à la carte pricing model, but some people do. Some call it "nickel and diming". I guess there is a fine and subjective line between à la carte and "nickel and diming".

But to answer your question, I can't think of anything I'd outright eliminate from the sailing experience in exchange for a fare reduction. There may be opportunities to convert things into à la carte and people who value those things can opt to pay a premium to have those things. Those who don't value them, won't pay the premium.

I try to save 10% by buying discounted gift cards and I don't have to give anything up. :) Its worked so far for 4 cruises.

 

We are in the group that like the very best cabin on the ship, pay at the steakhouse, etc. I think cruising is the best value vacation in terms of what you get for the price for sure.

^This!

 

That's all folks!

"Meh" at best (not you personally, the "perks") :|

Maybe Mr. 'X' has another meaning. :D

Ha!

My guess is that she's web-savvy enough to know that if she put his name in text, it would show up in Google searches and the like. She doesn't mind her OWN name and blog showing up in searches but maybe she thought she was 'protecting' him somewhat by not putting his name in text. The words beneath the photograph are part of the image file and TMK wouldn't be indexed by Google (yet)

Welp, I hope she enjoyed her 5 minutes of minor internet fame.

A few webcam shots taken from my phone.

I will apologize in advance if this is hard to follow... but ive been told by Carnival this is a rarity... So i would like opinions.

 

The Carnival Fascination leaves on a 7 day cruise out of Barbados on Dec 21... It stops in San Juan on Dec 26..and picks up a new cruise of people beginning a 6 day (while cruisers from the 21st are still aboard). It then returns to Barbados on Dec 28 to drop off the cruisers on the 21st, and pick up yet another group of cruisers beginning a cruise on 28th. The cruisers that left from San Juan would then be dropped off again in San Juan.

What makes this set of itineraries "rare" isn't the Barbados-embarkation option.

I can think of two "rare" aspects.

One, from a San Juan perspective, the December 26, 2016 cruise from San Juan is only six days versus the usual seven-day length.

The San Juan departure immediately prior to that one is an eight-day itinerary, departing December 18. That particular 8-day (from a San Juan perspective) then stops in Barbados on December 21. The 8-day followed by a 6-day puts the Fascination back on her 7-day San Juan rotation after two weeks.

Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas is making a similar adjustment for Christmas. The cruise that would normally be a 7-day departing San Juan on December 18, 2016 was extended to an 8-day so that it returns to San Juan on December 26, rather than December 25 (Christmas Day). However, the Jewel's December 26 cruise is a 7-day, and the 6-day itinerary needed to bring the schedules back into line departs Monday, January 2, 2017.

So, Carnival is doing an 8-6 to account for Christmas and then return to its regular schedule.

Royal is doing an 8-7-6 to account for Christmas and then return to its regular schedule.

Both the Fascination and the Jewel run Sunday-to-Sunday San Juan itineraries.

I presume the cruise lines are purposely avoiding Christmas Day embarkation and debarkation in San Juan, perhaps due to (lack of?) holiday staffing at the port, or local regulations. I'm not sure, perhaps someone more familiar with the two San Juan ports can chime in. Hence, the extra day for those who would normally disembark on December 25 on a standard 7-day itinerary.

The second rare thing is that the Barbados-to-Barbados itinerary is slightly different for the December 21 sailing due to the 8-6 shift from San Juan. The December 21 Barbados sailing stops at St. Croix instead of St. Thomas, because St. Croix was added for December 25 and St. Thomas removed from the subsequent 6 day out of San Juan. Actual cruise length from Barbados to Barbados remains at 7 days.

For a Barbados cruiser, the December 21 cruise does seem to be unique due to the swap-out of St. Croix instead of St. Thomas.

Ha!

I'm glad I cancelled our May 28 booking way back. I wouldn't want to be on the first sailing. I'd rather wait for others to go first and report back. Good luck to OP and others still booked for May 28!

And I agree. They did far too little research on all aspects of cruising (which can easily be done without a TA, but you have to take responsibility for it) - though given all her restrictions and whatnot, I think an isolated cabin in the mountains with no connection to the outside world might be more up their alley.

+1

Concerns about the environment on board, the crew, the food and more could have been researched in advance and perhaps they may have discovered cruising is not for them before they ever set foot aboard. A heart full of passion and a head full of naivete while "off the schedule" in an unfamiliar place can lead to all sorts of unexpected outcomes. Luckily for them, they are alive and safe.

Wish they would of added special line at guest services

Me too. They probably did not want to lose their FTTF money that suite people will pay for this service.

Yep. Double cruise points would have been nice too.

12.95 standard rooms

13.95 suites.

 

Fine with me as long as they keep same levels of service and don't go to once a day.

Agreed

On a side note, I'm a tad underwhelmed if what's been announced so far is the full set of new suite perks. I was hoping for double cruise points too, but that's just wishful thinking :)

I'd prefer it empty, so I can fill it with bottled water and Diet Coke from the Fun Shops. On Glory we removed the minibar contents ourselves, placed them on the counter and told our cabin steward about it. The steward removed the items altogether that evening.

If JH hasn't made this a poll item on the book of faces, he should.

we are on the Liberty may 21, itenerary says 7-4, but on my boarding pass it has an * by Cozumel and at the bottom says "overnight aboard ship" what does this mean, gotta be back on at 4 but not going anywhere?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm curious about the same thing. It looks like people have been finding the asterisk and "overnight aboard ship" in their Cruise Managers for a few weeks now. Now we know, it must have something to do with Cozumel Plus but the itinerary still reflects day visiting hours.

My Triumph booking shows "overnight aboard ship" for Cozumel, but my 2017 Vista booking does not.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49701394

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2335397

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2335109

Yep...They're now calling them "Companion" beetles

Somewhere there's a company charging good money for a rebranding like that!

;)

We're sailing on Empress Monday (after having rescheduled from the cancelled 4/11 cruise). I'm sure the cruise will be great and we'll have a good time.

 

That said, I've never been so irritated at Royal Caribbean than with the poor handling of the cancellations. I was tolerant of the cancellation, but felt the remedies were lacking. But the thing that is really ticking me off is that I followed their instructions for documenting and submitting my airline losses. A month later, I have heard nothing. I called them and they said, "Our policy is to not provide any acknowledgement that your paperwork was received." Are they trying to make their customers mad?

If the Internet on Empress permits, would you please do a "live from" thread, or at least take a ton of photos for us?