karmac

Most cocktails are $12 with just a few ( including Long Island Iced Tea) at $16.

Thanks everyone. I knew that any drink over $10, I'd have to pay full amount for but was just wondering how many were actually over that cost. You've all been a great help:)

Does anyone have a copy of a recent drinks menu for Regal Princess? Need to work out whether to buy a package or not for our cruise in October.

You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people...etc., etc., etc. If you have never been to N.Y., the experience will be well worth the trip. St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and St. Maarten are terrific islands to visit and explore.

 

While true that the trip down and back are rather long, if the time is available, take advantage of the rest and relaxation.

No, never been to N.Y. As I said earlier, we love our sea days and this particular cruise will be to finish off our planned holiday which will consist of 5-6 weeks of driving and fitting as much in as possible in what little time we have so yes, the idea is to have some R&R:)

Just booked the gem for the 3rd time

 

It was a choice between the Ba or gem

 

The price about the same but the ba didn't require a flight home

 

Ba....did it once....and done.....unless I can get a great price to Bermuda and then would only go on the ba for my teen to enjoy the slides

 

Gem....3 times....and will be booking again I'm sure

At the risk of sounding stupid...what's Ba??

Sounds like a miserable cruiser that we often meet on our cruises. Sorry. :rolleyes:

 

It's up to the OP to decide on the cruise of their choice.

 

We prefer long rides to the 7 day cruises.

We also love our sea days (cruised for 18 nights from Honolulu with only 5 ports). This will also be the end of our holiday after a 5-6 weeks road trip so looking for some relaxation. I have my heart set on St Maarten and St Thomas:)

We just sailed the Gem before it's dry dock and refitting, in October of last year. It is a great example of NCL's Jewel Class ships, all about the capacity of Radiance of the Seas that you have sailed in the past. That's our favorite size for a cruise, not too small and not too big.

I have no desire to cruise on those huge ships. I was worried that Radiance was going to be too big but she wasn't:)

Thanks everyone for the replies.

If you are determined to sail out of New York, NCL is your only option. But, for the extra price of Haven (the better accommodations) on the Gem, you could probably fly to/from a Florida port - which would give you a wider selection of lines which you might prefer - while having more Caribbean port days for the same length itinerary.

I kind of have my heart set on sailing out of New York. We're used to sailing out of Sydney Harbour (which is absolutely beautiful) and I hear that there aren't too many harbours in the world that live up to Sydney. I feel NY could be one of those harbours. Also, the itinerary I've worked out, we're finishing our road trip there. I don't have an issue with cruising NCL but I would've liked a couple of dates to choose from.

I love the Gem, and have sailed on her five times. OK, I sail in the Haven, which may influence my experience - but overall, the ship is lovely and the itinerary is great! I recommend it highly.

Thanks, Kingmaker. Will be nice to try a new line 😊

Hi everyone, I live in Australia and we are planning a trip to US next year, around Aug/Sept/Oct. We want to finish of with a cruise out of NY that goes to St Maarten and St Thomas. I can only find one and that is on Norwegian Gem on 31st Oct. Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this ship.

I love The Pearl and also loved Gemma and Will (you do know they are an item??:) ). Glad you enjoyed it. The buffet on The Pearl isn't The Pantry. They didn't put The Pantry on The Pearl due to lack of space. We always eat in the dining room and have always loved it. No complaints whatsoever from us.

Our 3 RCI cruises have had muster out on deck and to me they are a complete waste of time. Unless you're in the front row, you can't see or hear a thing. When they did the roll call, anyone could've answered as they didn't bother looking and as you don't take your life jacket with you, most people probably wouldn't have a clue how to put it on. P&O's musters are far better and at least you feel like they are worthwhile (although I haven't

been on Aria or Eden yet).

It could be that they also have them on Facebook and most people tend to use that. I used to live on these boards but rarely come on now due to the numerous cruising pages on Facebook that I take part in.

I am seriously looking at this cruise. I LOVE the itinerary ( we did the Samoan Secrets cruise back in 2009), always said I'd like to go back to Apia. Just a shame it's from Brisbane when we live in Sydney :mad:

Dress and behaviour,

Can u believe at the entrance to the Empire restaurant was a large sign, please do not wear thongs or a swimsuit to dinner. Thongs, thongs as far as the eye can see. After spending all that money, a quick visit to Target for a cheap pair of sports shoes or Lowes for a sports shirt with collar. And that gentleman in the Buffett with a blue work singlet ! I hope I'm not pedantic.

Enough for know will send more later.

 

 

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We just had the same issue on our recent Radiance cruise. I couldn't believe how many people wore shorts & thongs to dinner even though there was a sign at the door stating these weren't allowed. And people say P&O is a floating RSL:rolleyes:

I met a bar-tender last night at the theatre that had served me once only in the solarium lounge and she remembered not only what I'd ordered but that my Mum had something different!

I said "but how did you remember me?" her answer was "well you remembered me"! Yes but there's only one of her & LOTS of passengers she must have served in that time! I was astounded!

We did B2B cruises on Pacific Jewel back in 2010 and came across a great waitress in Connexions. In 2012, we were on Pacific Pearl and was walking past a bar the first morning and heard a voice call out to us (by name). We turned around an there she was!! She remembered our names, what we drank (apologized to hubby for not selling Tooheys New anymore) and she knew exactly what cruises we had met her on. They are unbelievable:)

LOL.....just realised this is an old thread :)

Things must have changed. When we went on the Radiance 2 years ago they wouldn't allow anyone in the dining room wearing shorts.

 

 

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I was shocked. The first night is always casual on any cruise as not everyone has their bags, second night was formal. Third night, lining up to go in and there were two girls directly in front of us, one was wearing tracksuit pants and the other was wearing the shortest of short denim shorts and thongs. I said to hubby....surely they won't get in....but they did and we saw quite a few throughout the cruise dressed like that for dinner.

We had a somewhat similar situation on a 3 day P&O cruise recently where a life jacket and life buoy were thrown overboard. I don't know if it was someone drunk, or someone just plain stupid or a mix of both.

I was also impressed with how it was handled by the crew and although it was our first taste of cruising it didn't turn me off doing a longer cruise (which we are on Princess in December) but I am not sure I would do a short one again.

I think I read somewhere that it was a kid that did that.

 

It was great to see people still dress for dinner on a 3 dayer.

 

Col:)

We've done a few 3 dayers now and people always dress up on formal night and smart casual on other nights. The one thing that surprised me on our recent Radiance cruise was the dress at dinner. Apart from the 3 formal nights, I think there was about 2 smart casual and the rest casual. It wasn't uncommon to see people in shorts & thongs at dinner :(

It's my understanding that drinks packages are only available on cruises for 4 nights or more.

Gae

 

 

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That is the case for the Royal Caribbean ships but not Celebrity. We did 3 nights on Voyager & Solstice in Jan and was able to buy a drinks package for Solstice but not Voyager:)

We just cruised Honolulu to Sydney on Radiance and my husband did the all access tour. It was $150 and he said it was well worth it. He booked whilst on board and was put on a waitlist and they ended up putting on another tour.

I did a 3 nighter on each of these ships back in January. As you are an older couple cruising with no kids, I would go Celebrity Solstice. She is an absolutely beautiful ship. Voyager didn't do a lot for me, but, if you were cruising as a family, then I would recommend her over Solstice. Much more to do especially for kids. Food was also better on Celebrity.

Do you think I can ride a bicycle to the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney?

Let me explain...

 

We embark Radiance of the Seas on Monday week. DW and I have been back on our diet trying to shed a few kilos before the cruise. While she has been diligently going to the gym nearly every morning I've been quite slack in the exercise department. So, I've decided to try and ride 314km on the exercise bike at the gym between now and embarkation, which is the distance by road from our home in Taree, NSW and the OPT.

 

This morning I managed 16km which I reckon isn't a bad effort considering my recent lack of exercise. This means on my virtual road trip I've made it out of town, onto the highway and I'm at the Tuncurry turnoff. I've still got 298km to go and obviously I'm going to have to up the ante if I want to make it to port on time.

Carrying the luggage could be a little difficult:p

Agree with rkmw.

 

To sell things tax free, you must be going to an international destination, not just 12nm or such out to sea. Otherwise your domestic flight that flies a few km out of Sydney could sell tax free!

 

OTOH, to run a casino you just need to be outside the legislative controls. (Otherwise Packer would have a fit.). So going outside territorial waters is fine. You don't need to fly to another country to run a casino - why would you?

This is why I don't get it. What I have googled says you need to go into International Waters to open the Casino:confused:

to sell duty free they must be going to an overseas port which we all know that Willis Island is classed as being an overseas port but they dont stop there....to open the casino i think its 12 miles out to sea

Thanks, but I still don't REALLY get it. Nowhere on google can I see the words "overseas port". All I ever see is "must visit international waters" (for both). That's why I'm confused. Either i's international waters or it isn't:confused: