Jestocost

Unless something has changed, we have never had to buy wifi to make calls or text on the ship or in port. Data roaming off and call/text. It's generally called pay as you go

Yes, and the cost is very high. That's using the Cellular at Sea service through the ship and, depending on your carrier, can cost about $2.99 per minute for a call. WiFi calling just uses whatever data you have purchased on the ship so likely will cost much less. If you're using free WiFi in a port there's no cost (subject to some exceptions for international calling and other premium services as noted by PPs).

OK' date=' I want to know how to be on the lengthened cruises rather than the shortened ones. I've had 2 cruises shortened due to weather issues, never got one of those longer ones.

 

Just kidding, of course.[/quote']

 

We were on the extended Fantasy cruise and talked to somebody who I think had the best of both worlds. He had booked the Oct. 1-8 and Oct. 8-15 cruises back-to-back, so still wound up cruising the same dates but received a pro-rated refund for the lost day of the second cruise even though we was on board the ship that day! Reportedly the Oct. 8-15 cruisers also got some OBC and a 20% discount on a future cruise too, but I haven't seen that confirmed 100%.

There also was a new menu on the farewell night but I didn't take a picture, unfortunately. Chicken Satay skewers with peanut dipping sauce were a new appetizer that was pretty tasty.

One minor point to make is that Concierge cabins and suites (on the Fantasy at least) are stocked with wine, Champagne and cocktail glasses, so no need to make a special request. Non-concierge cabins do not have them, as previous posters have noted.

I wouldn't be surprised that the decision to extend the sailing one day was due to giving those on the following cruise time to fly in on Saturday since airports were closed on Friday. Plans on the Dream were also somewhat in flux, but eventually, they settled onto a few scenarios and let those onboard use phones for free to plan accordingly.

That may have been an extended reason but the main one, I imagine, would be that the port was closed when were supposed to be docking and didn't open until later on Saturday. That's the simplest answer. And when they made the decision to stay at sea an extra day there still was no guarantee that the port would reopen by Saturday (or at any time in the near future, really).

Was on the Oct. 1-9 (ha!) Fantasy sailing and from the perspective of being on board during the hurricane I can say Captain Fabian did an excellent job.

There were some initial missteps with setting realistic expectations around when guests would be able to disembark that I think could have been handled better. Ultimately the issues that resulted at disembarkation had more to do with passengers ignoring clear and specific instructions from DCL.

I booked a cruise that had it, then didn't, then maybe did or didn't, and then eventually gave up because nobody--even RCCL--could tell me what the dining situation was on the cruise I had booked. They've built ships that won't work without it and a clientele that is resistant to it (to a significant degree), and that's a business problem.

We need a "like" button.

Or an "ignore" button. YMMV

If you have an iPhone and your kids have iPhones you will be able to text them via WiFi using iMessage. No additional plan needed from Verizon.

Normal SMS text messages only go over the cellular signal. iMessage from one Apple device to another can be set to go over WiFi and Android devices can text over WiFi through various apps, but both the sender and receiver need that app.

If you are texting through your cell service (which I would suggest turning off) then you likely are going to see some Cellular at Sea charges on your next wireless bill.

Put one down twice during the first day of our honeymoon, turned it in and never regretted it. Thankfully no injuries beyond some nasty road rash, but since they apparently use some coral in the paving compound on the island it makes the road rash that much worse.

Buses and ferries are great on Bermuda! And there are stops right by the Swizzle Inn.

The Fantasy. Heading to the Western Caribbean.

Network and time is TBD at this point. My son and I are huge Ohio State Fans..I would think that it being so late in the football season, that a lot of people would want to see those games.

It's not entirely dependent on what people want to watch, unfortunately. If there's a big game they generally will try to make it available somewhere but as the PP noted when you're relying on a satellite connection and various contractual issues regarding what you can carry (that Disney, as the owner of ESPN probably wants to preserve from a selfish perspective) it just may not be possible.

O'Gill's is going to be the most likely location and if the game ends before 9 p.m. you'll be able to watch it as a family. If it's a late game, however, anyone under 18 is going to have to clear out at 9 p.m. as O'Gill's is in the area that's adults-only after that time.

That is the problem and why people ask these questions. RC needs to come out with realistic guidelines that are not 20 years old and enforce them or not.

This. Establish a reasonable dress code and enforce it.

We had a table near us at which the men wore cut-off jean shorts and stained t-shirts to the MDR every night and as near as I can tell not a word was said. So the dress code is useless if it's not actually enforced.

As previously noted, iMessage will allow for texts to be sent over WiFi; but only between iPhones. Other phones can do it using WhatsApp or other third-party apps but everybody involved has to have the app too.

One other issue with satellite connections is that sometimes the ship is just out of position relative to the satellites and you are going to be SOL at those times. No way around that, really, I guess until somebody decides its worth the money to shoot a bunch more satellites into orbit.

Yes. Attempting to board a tender in rough seas is not something I'd want to attempt.

I can tell you from experience it is not a lot of fun. We were on a Magic WC cruise a few years ago and had calm seas tendering in before a Stingray City excursion that was calm as well. When we got back to the dock where we had disembarked from the tender earlier, however, rough waves were washing over the dock area and tender service had been suspended. They wound up walking us over to what was then a commercial area of the port that was more protected (if only slightly) and resumed service there.

Lines were long and boarding was slow because the tender deck would drop down 6' below the dock level and then rise 6' above. When it would settle down briefly they would hustle as many people as possible on board and then wait out the next bumpy period. At one point one of the large mooring lines actually snapped and a crew member was knocked into the water.

Getting off of the tender and back onto the ship was equally dicey. It was one of the larger boats with the gangway on the top, and we would wait for it to settle down and they would have a group of three people run across with assistance from crew members.

All in all, not something I'd like to repeat!

Thanks, and then I guess my daughter can do it and give her code to her friends?

Only if her friends are on the ship.

No, all tastings/mixology classes are only bookable once onboard. We had no problem getting one after the rush on embarkation day. If you're flexible with times/dates you'll probably get one.

 

 

Only beverage packages are the Beer Mug (buy a beer mug token, and pay for 16 oz beer but get 24 oz); and the wine packages (3, 4, 7 day packages)

 

Or the coffee card (buy 5 coffees, get 6th free).

Also available is a buy five get one free canned/bottled beer package, although I'm not sure if the minimum purchase is five or 10. This is notable for beer snobs as the draft selection is awful, for the most part, but the canned/bottled selection has been improved to include options from Bell's and Cigar City.

Here's a link to a thread on shorter delayed boarding on Empress recently when $20 OBC per guest was provided. I would hope they offer at least that.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2389097

At least they have informed you well in advance and not when you are arriving at the port, but I still would be annoyed. I believe they typically have been giving out token OBCs in some recent similar situations; maybe $20 or so.

Typically, if you're in the first group off (7:30ish), you'll most likely be through customs/immigration within 15-20 minutes.

This is true for U.S. citizens but if the OP is traveling on an Australian passport I'm not so sure the procedures are the same. They have an entire pre-disembarkation session on board for non-U.S. passengers and I'm not sure what all is involved.

FWIW, Verizon is stingier in terms of what it counts as home territory than even AT&T. The U.S. Virgin Islands (which even are US territories), for example, are home coverage on AT&T but require roaming on Verizon. In fact, other than actual U.S. states only P.R. is considered part of the home coverage for Verizon customers.

Just note that annual policies are going to be medical only and will not cover trip delays, cancellations, etc. If that's what you want and need, great, but be sure you are very clear on what you are purchasing.

Are you saying that the server added the tip before you even got a chance to add it yourselves? I've never had that happen at either Palo or Remy. Sounds like a definite no-no

I can't recall one way or another, but is the tip automatically included for the liquor portion of any purchase at Remy as it is everywhere else on the ship? I think it may be for that part of the dinner only. Even when you buy a drink at the MDR there is the standard tip included automatically.

Wow. I just read that review. Pretty harsh, and my takeaway was "I don't like dark wood and dinner wasn't great and took 3 hours one night." But that was what, a 12-night cruise? How were the other 11 dinners? The reviewer mentioned specialty restaurants - but there are three - how were the other two? How was Compass Rose? How was the bar service, the room service, the housekeeping service? How was Regent 'pandering' to their honchos and suppliers? I'm somewhat confused by this whole review... :confused:

At least the negative review of the June 2016 Explorer cruise to Alaska has now been taken down. That one had me really confused. :o

I got this flight for 46pp each way, Im hoping allegiant has some option for us or some type of refund before I start searching other new options..I absolutely hate traveling options in our city. For the size of our city, our options are soooooo limited :(

You fare almost certainly is non-refundable and likely would cost at least $75 pp to change to a different flight.