CruisinCons

Rick, what deck will you be on? I’m booked in one of the new junior suites on deck 11 in May. I’d love it if you get a chance to check out those new JS.

Thanks, Colleen

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We have a JS on deck 9. Our first, can't wait!

It's funny, reading this thread. We sailed on Harmony last September. Next sailing is Adventure in May. Then Serenade in October. Then Grandeur in April...we are going from huge to small in a little over a year! Didn't really think about it, but at least it's gradual so it won't seem like such a shock going from Harmony to Grandeur. But after Grandeur we're back up to big on Anthem.

Yes, I will miss all the unique offerings of Harmony, but with giant comes trade offs, and I'm looking forward to getting back to the more personal touches of the smaller ships. Now if they would put a 150 CP on every ship, I'd be sooo happy. Or at least offer their signature martinis everywhere...

Cheapest I've seen is $41 per day (pre gratuity) for my Adventure in May. Black Friday sale. It's been $42 a few times, but I haven't seen it at $41 since November.

Maybe only 1 formal night?

Watching the Miami cam. There is an RCCL vessel still in port. ??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

That is Adventure fresh out of dry dock! She takes on passengers tomorrow, to head out on a short sailing, moving her to her next home, San Juan, until May...when she moves up to NJ!

Here's a great resource for aft cabins, a very long-standing thread devoted solely to aft cabins on various Royal Caribbean ships. You'll find many descriptions and photos here.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1243860&highlight=show+your+aft&page=48

Thanks everyone!

I think we're going to stick with our side junior suite for this sailing. I may move our Serenade side balcony to an aft, will go through this thread during the Super Bowl. As of right now, they are all full so it's only if one opens I need to decide. There are so few aft cabins on Serenade period...I doubt one will open up.

So it looks like our first aft cabin will be a junior suite on Grandeur in 2019!

We're in a side balcony on Serenade later this year, thinking of asking the TA to watch for an aft to open up. Love this picture, thank you to whomever made it!

There is quite a bit of vibration in the aft portion of the Radiance class ships...and it's a VERY long walk to and from those cabins....a definite "con", IMO. The "hump" area is very convenient.

We had the very LAST starboard balcony on Harmony. THAT is a long walk. This walk...not so much. LOL

This is the view from deck 6 aft on Voyager (Same class as Explorer). Large blue area beyond the balcony. My uncle plans on taking over that area when we do the TransPacific as he and my aunt are in cabin 6690.

 

Can't wait to see what happens....

 

 

 

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Do all the decks have this blue area, or is it just deck 6? We're on Adventure in May and thinking about asking our TA to watch for an aft-facing balcony to open since final payments are due in 12ish days, and cancellations tend to occur right around now. I see they are all listed as "obstructed" but how obstructed is it really?

Thanks!

Who goes on a cruise to read?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

A lot of people. Those of us with crazy lives and jobs find it to be the perfect place to sit with a book, watch the waves, and relax, which there never is enough time to do at home.

You cruise your way, I'll cruise mine.

I am a reader and I must always have books. Lots of books. Actual books.

I have a lot of trouble reading any type of screen for more than a few minutes. Have tried various ereaders, and just can't manage them. Even if I could, they just don't "read" the way an actual book does, let alone feel.

We take long cruises, minimum two weeks. In two weeks I'll read at least 10 books. I take them with me, some in my checked luggage and some in my carry-on. We shop in a wonderful used bookstore near us so we can buy dozens & dozens of paperbacks for very little $$ ... anywhere from .10 or .15 all the way to $3.00 per book! When I'm done, I leave them on the ship for others. They get snapped up very quickly.

We are planning a world cruise in 2019 and we have unlimited luggage shipping included in our fare. We plan to ship a box of paperbacks.

At home, I check out books from the library. 15 or 20 at a time ... will last about 3 weeks or so.

Have I mentioned, I like to read? :D

I am the same way. I have issues with seeing screens, and my progressive lenses seem to make it even worse. I love the feel of a real book in my hand, it's like a piece of me.

Anthem has a book drop in the library. I'm not sure if they rotate the stock for their shelves or donate them somewhere but it was a good place to leave my paperback cruise reads. I usually read on Kindle but decided to bring paper this time.

This used to be one of my favorite parts of cruising, the "take one leave one" shelf. I'd bring one book for the plane, finish it within the first couple days of the cruise, then swap it for another in the library. I'd swap throughout the cruise, and then leave with a fresh one for the plane ride home. I found some amazing authors this way, ones that I'd have never found myself. I did this as recently as September 2017 on Harmony of the Seas. They have a very small library, but it's there. And I swapped a book.

As to the person who made the age comment earlier in this thread...I'm 49. Don't own a Kindle, iPad, e-reader of any form. So I guess I'm old too??

Royal has been requiring that the 2nd person, the one requesting the exemption, purchase the refreshment package.

Got to love those longer cruises. We only have a short 7 day on the Allure scheduled for March, then we have to start looking for the next one.

 

I see that Serenade just got added to the Royal Caribbean app for use onboard. Looking forward to seeing what capabilities it has once we board the Allure.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Our favorites are 9-10 days. Just perfect - not too short, not too long that you have to pack a ton of stuff. This will be our first 12 night sailing.

The new app is supposed to be really cool! I know someone who got to play with it at the tech release event and he said it will be pretty neat.

Cool! Thanks!

Now I know how low I really am. :D

It's going to be super awesome going from Platinum to Emerald...ONE extra box filled in on the chart! LOL

We're hitting Emerald during our next cruise, and with what's currently booked will be Diamond after a cruise in May 2019. THAT jump I'm waiting for!

Great review so far! We're on Serenade in October for a 12 night, can't wait!

Here is the link to RCCL's site with their handy dandy benefit chart: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cas/benefitsLoggedout.do

Definitely suggest talking with a travel agent. They do not charge for their services (and if yours does move to another) as they would be the best to help you. If you give them your budget, they can offer you suggestions that fit your price range.

My suggestion is to go to Bermuda.

You may want to visit the Roll Call page for Anthem and post your request there. There is a thread for each week's sailing, so ask in the next couple of sailings and I'm sure someone will help you!

Where exactly do you live and what are the one way car rental prices? With a one way car rental you can drive to the Sturbridge or Framingham area and get a reasonably priced hotel on Sat night. The drive into Boston on Sun morning will be easy - I90 (Mass Pike) will take you directly to the Ted Williams tunnel to Logan Airport to return the car. Uber to the port should be under $25.

We're in central NJ. Only a few hours away. We actually contemplated driving to the Boston airport, leaving our car there, and flying back to Boston from FLL. But then we still have to drive home...

Since we are not familiar with the Boston area at all, it's hard to know where it's okay to stay or not. We're used to NYC where you don't cross certain streets, go more than so many blocks past something, that kind of thing. I'll see what I can find in those two areas you mentioned. Thanks!

United on 10/28 has $92 and $129 one way non stops from EWR to BOS. Similar prices the day before (cheaper, actually).

 

They also have a $214 and $279 one way flights on 11/9 from FLL to EWR

What site are you searching on? I see a $92 flight but we'd miss the ship as it arrives at 2:46pm. The morning flights are all over $200.

I'd love the $75 flight coming in the day before, but hotels are just ridiculous in October. Any recommendations for inexpensive hotels?

We did look at Amtrak, and it's doable at $108 for the one way, but we're about an hour from the station and the cost to get there, well we might've as well flown. LOL

If you're coming from New Jersey to Boston and flights are nearly $500 each, you should consider Amtrak or LimoLiner (fancy bus) or look harder for cheap flights. Coming in the day before is always a good idea in case there are delays.

 

If you can provide your exact travel dates we might be able to help.

Thanks; we're open to suggestions. Our sailing leaves Boston Oct 28th and we end up in Ft Lauderdale Nov 9th. Many airlines don't have their flight bookings open that far out, so I'm hoping for something better as it gets closer. Will keep checking!

We're on Serenade 10/28 and could not believe how expensive the travel seems to be for this repo. The other couple we are traveling with booked their flight from EWR to Boston, then FLL back to EWR using miles, and called us yesterday with their flight info so we could book the same flights. They are flying in the morning of the cruise (which makes me nervous but we are in reasonable driving distance) as the hotels are so expensive to fly in the day before. The price in dollars for their flights is $982 for the two of us! I can't even. So we found cheaper flights, but we'd have to fly in the day before. So once we pay for hotel, and pay to park our car at the airport, and transportation to the airport...it'll cost us that much, I think.

We're looking at renting a car and dropping it off at the airport, then just taking a car service back home from EWR when the cruise is over, to see how works. I was not expecting this!

Any suggestions are welcome!

Go to your local pharmacy - they can identify it easily and have better hours.

They may show different games in the different places, so you may not have a choice between pool & On Air.

There is The Workshop on deck 6, kindof a crafting room. There are tables in there. The library is on deck 6 also, I'm thinking it'll be more comfy chairs but who knows, there may be a space there for you. No dedicated "card room" on the deck plans that I can see. There are four top tables in some of the venues that are table height; if you're looking for daytime game space.