AWL3

When does Mariner start cruises out of Miami and will the four night cruise include in Key West as Majesty used to do? If it does, count me in.

 

As an aside, Mariner out of Port Canaveral was the very first cruise ship we ever sailed. I would like to sail on Mariner again sometime.

ME TOO! Mariner was my first ever cruise! I have often thought that I probably should NOT sail on her again, and let my awesome memories stay with me- but reading about all the refurbishment has made me want to sail on her again even more!

Good Morning! I've been following this post for over a year now and I have a burning question.......How are you getting/taking these pics? Do you work at the dock/for Rccl?

The pics and updates are wonderful, by the way, thanks!

Yes, I did. It was perfect. No problems on the Equinox at all for "My Time Dining".

thank you!

Does anyone know if the my time dining like this on the Equinox? (a cluster)

We were on the Silly last December but had late seating. Thinking I may need to switch from mytime on Equinox?

Right?!

 

I am interested in reading what others' opinions will be..

OK I'll open the can 'o worms.....

WHY is it RCCL'S responsibility??

Shouldn't the people who want to party and want to "hook up" take some responsibility in their lifestyle? Sheesh!

Came across this article when searching for something RCI related....

 

"An Open Letter to the CEO of Royal Caribbean on Safety, Negligence, and Drug Use on Atlantis Cruises"

 

http://www.towleroad.com/2018/01/atlantis-cruises/

Personal responsibility is becoming obsolete.

Hi- Thanks for the review! I'm sailing on Freedom for a 6 day in April- can you tell me more about the "10 drinks for $75"?

Is it something i need to watch for, or do they market it like they market the drink packages on day 1 (obvious so I wont miss the sale) and is it coupons, or something loaded on your seapass card?

Thanks in advance!

I have been on several cruise stops in Jamaica (including Falmouth where we took an independent excursion), as well as land vacations to Jamaica and have never experienced a more hospitable and loving people. Just like anywhere, you have to be cognizant of your surroundings but if you hire a well reputed guide they will take care of you.

 

Last year cruisers were horrifically killed in the Fort Lauderdale airport; but are cruisers going to stop flying there? Everyone has a right to their opinion, I just wanted to let my positive experience in Jamaica be known.

Your opinion is heard, however I still stand by mine. Happy cruising

as much as I hate to recommend it

 

Margaritaville looked very nice and is 'inside the fence' ... there's enuf nice shopping inside the port area to keep you busy for an hour or more .... we walked around the shops for more than an hour and spent nothing then returned to the ship and enjoyed the relative emptiness. Since we had a drink package saw no need to go to M'ville and pay for what we'd already paid for a few steps away.

 

Our table mates ventured out the gates by foot and did not get very far b4 returning to the ship! Falmouth is NOT one of the larger tourist destinations in JA. The port was recently and specially built to accommodate today's larger ships; too large for the facilities at OCHO which is why you see so many excursions from F go to O .... OCHO has the attractions but limited pier space.

I totally agree with CaptBJ. We were there last April on the Allure, there was a Disney ship there also. The stupidest thing we did was wander past the port gates...it's not the best area. IF you do go on an excursion I highly recommend one through the cruise line even tho it will be "more expensive". When we were planning, i looked at tripadvisor and there were horror stories about taxis NOT returning to pick up people that dropped off at beaches...so we decided to skip an excursion at this port. 4 of us wandered out past the gate that had armed security on the ship side and 100s of locals waiting for you to cross the street on the other. Needless to say we turned around after a block and went back inside the gate to Margaritaville. The pool is nice, the seating is ample and if we ever go back we will probably just stay at the port.

Now, there's TONS of people who will disagree with me, and TONS of people who have booked private excursions and have never had an issue, so good for them. This is just my opinion, especially if this is your first time to Falmouth.

So we leave on Feb 12 for 4 nights to Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West. My bestie is coming and its her first cruise ver. We chose this one due to schedule an port. We have been talking all day about it so I figured Id check some reviews to feed my excitement. Literally every review in December is terrible. This ship just came out of drydock so Im surprised that every review said soda machines, some elevators, ice cream machines were all out of order frequently. People also complained about cleanliness, especially windows. As well most reported disappointing food and service.

 

If you go on to the November reviews most people were really happy. Good food, good service, clean.... what the heck? I don't believe that so many people posting similar experiences (both months) can be a coincidence. Could there be an all new staff due to drydock? How does the food take such a turn? New kitchen staff? I would assume things would be serviced in drydock, am I wrong?

 

I realize these are all just opinions but have any recent cruisers enjoyed after drydock?

Look at it this way- maybe December there were a lot of new staff members and it was a earning curve issue, so that will mean that YOUR cruise will be wonderful:D

Sometimes people post things just to vent- I've been on several ships (Carnival and other RCCL) where the same issues were mentioned. Don't listen to the negative because there's a lot of fun to be had- either by relaxing or partaking in the activities. A "bad" day on a ship is better than a good day at work. Nassau, CocoCay and Key West sound wonderful especially when the US is in a deep freeze....and I for one am jealous that you're looking forward to a cruise!

Have a great time!

In the adult pool area, there was a lunch serving area where they cut roast beef sandwiches (Kemmelwick) and they were delicious. And I had a blast on the bungee trampoline. I sailed on her in 2013 I think?

Y'all that said they smelled cigarette smoke- we had an inside cabin, starboard, just past the mid elevators. Our hallway almost always smelled of fresh cigarette smoke. It smelled like the vents from the casino were sucking up the smoke and dumping it in our hallway. (Except one night at 2 am it "reaked" of bacon! LOL YES- it smelled like someone was cooking bacon in our hallway HAHA!!!) I kept blaming the back cabin across the hall for the fresh smoke but I have no idea were it was really coming from. But with all this said- it really didn't bother me if I compare it to the smoke on the Carnival Liberty- now THAT is a smokey ship! It just stinks that someone paid $$ to enjoy a balcony and couldn't due to the smoke.

Our chief complaint was with the lack of bar service. We felt that they were understaffed, and it boggles my mind that a Sports Bar would NOT have bar service all day until 5 pm on college football Saturday and pro football Sunday! I made the most of it like others by heading to another bar when we wanted a drink, but the wait at every bar seemed long. Do you think they only had 1 or 2 bartenders on purpose? My husband's theory is: Someone at Carnival Corp figured out that when they sell X amount of drink packages, they've made their money. So, if they cut back on bar service they will be decreasing the amount of drinks as well as not paying another staff member- thus keeping more of the money they made.... Thoughts?

You guys are so full of information. Is there a sports bar by chance?

They "call it" a sports bar sometimes- It's located near the entrance of the ice skating rink. The name is the "On Air Club" where they have karaoke and other activities. They have big screen tvs where they show football/baseball/basketball games depending on the season.

We are on Freedom on Jan 6 with me, hubby and my 2 grown kids and their spouses. Is there good entertainment in the evening? We enjoy a variety of entertainment from piano bars, to shows to comedy shows to dancing.

Finish The Lyric, Majority Rules, Battle Of the Sexes, Love and Marriage Show, and The Quest*** are some activities/entertainment not to be missed. We enjoy all of them!

The Welcome Aboard Show and other shows int he theater we enjoy. Comedy- usually a few shows throughout the week and usually two different comedians.

**The Quest- look it up on youtube- you "have to" watch it at least once in your lifetime LOL

Also tons of trivia, 70s dance party, Silent Dicso (nightclub), pool deck activities- belly flop, hairy legs, line dancing, etc...

read the Cruise Compass (daily activities) that you will receive in your stateroom and can get some near the guest services desk. There's a lot going on!

If you're "all about the ship" and want to try RCCL, I'd suggest that you book on either the Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas or Independence of the Seas for the first time to get a good gauge of how the cruise line is (the Freedom Class Ships). The layout of these ships are fantastic, entertainment is good in our experience. RCCL private island Labadee is one of my favorites if you're looking for an itinerary.

Oasis Class ships are nice and I agree with a previous poster that it's a "must try" at some point.

I used to like the Mariner of the Seas, but recently sailed on the Navigator and we were very disappointed. It's basically the same layout as the Freedom Class ships but with one less area to eat, which created long lines when we were aboard. (there were other issues but I truly feel that they were specific to that particular ship, and it would not be a good gauge to base RCCL on in my opinion).

Liberty of the Seas/Freedom of the Seas/Independence of the seas are my favorite ships out of all of my cruises (14 Royal, 6 Carnival)

I will be sailing on the Epic soon to try NCL and have heard good things about the Breakaway, getaway and Escape from family members but I don't have experience with NCL.

This staggered boarding/FFTF is new to me- question: If my "assigned time" to check in is at say 1:00 pm, but I show up at the terminal at 10:00 am, will they still let me go inside and check in/wait? I know on my last cruise (different cruise line from Port Everglades) they "suggested" a time to be there but didn't enforce the assigned time and let me check in and such.

I should add that my upcoming cruise is a 3 day with only one non-tendered port. Is it worth it?

Thanks

This staggered boarding/FFTF is new to me- question: If my "assigned time" to check in is at say 1:00 pm, but I show up at the terminal at 10:00 am, will they still let me go inside and check in/wait? I know on my last cruise (different cruise line from Port Everglades) they "suggested" a time to be there but didn't enforce the assigned time and let me check in and such.

Going in October! Want to know what would be best one for families ?

Maho Beach at the airport- very cool. Look it up on youtube.

The taxis are a flat rate to and from. The more people that go, the cheaper it is. Restaurant with wifi, flight schedules, bathrooms, etc.

I know there is a part where it's consider nude . But from what I have read that a separate area.

They told us/ I read the same disclosure on the excursion site. Our bus driver stated "the blue umbrellas area is where your beach excursion is located, and waaayyyy down there at the yellow umbrellas is a nude beach". Thinking we were "safe", we sat at the blue umbrellas only to notice a short time later that MANY cruise passengers (women) were sunbathing topless, and the people from the nude beach weren't restricted to that area. Exhibitionists (men) strolling the beach completely nude with only a bright, florescent orange hat on strolling up and down along the water..... some things you can't unsee:o

Made for some interesting dinner conversation that night:')

Oh! Thanks a lot. I had no idea! What about taking some to my cabin? Is that usually allowed?

Yes, you can take food from the buffet to the cabin. I occasionally take my breakfast from the buffet to the pool deck and eat there for peace and quiet.

The snarky comments remind me why people do not like to post on the general Roll Call site for Royal and post only on their specific cruise Roll Call.

I agree. Hope you had a good cruise after the problem was fixed