M&M Hayden

This is going to be our first cruise on an M Class ship. We have sailed Mercury and four of the five S Class ships. Most of our cruises have been on RCCL (40+) and mainly get AFT cabins on Radiance class ships because of the wonderfully deep balconies. We were excited when we saw that we could get the same on Constellation.

My question is what is the 'structure' like and the balcony railing. The reason I ask is because we bring a hammock (or two) and string it/them up (yes, the cabin attendant knows and usually the hotel director also).

Anyone ever notice if there are areas that we can get the rope around the structure and be able to tie the other end off on the balcony rail? it is so wonderful to lay in the hammock and gently sway as the ship is sailing to the next port of call (with an adult beverage in hand).

Thanks

Looking ahead to November of 2017 and planning a "Parent's Cruise" and I have some family members who may want to join us. By the time we sail in November of THIS year the new deployments should be out so we want to book on board to take advantage of the perks.

Don't think the November 2017 deployments will be out in November of this year.....they will probably come out in Spring of 2016.

Our first cruise in '91 on Song of America stopped in Labadee.

There were no roller coasters, zip lines, blow up water things, no gas fired bbqs or even flush toilets (ladies toilets were the 'squat over the opening' type.

They didn't have cement sidewalks.

They did have a big tin garage that housed the native folks selling their stuff (not sure if it's the same building as it is now).

NO vehicles went on the road that goes up to the start of the zip line back then while ship passengers were on there. It was HEAVILY guarded.

They did have a few hammocks up, but otherwise you laid on your towel.

They had 1st aid stations (huts) at the beaches (a friend got stung by a jelly fish and got to visit the hut)

Also this we miss from cruises of the past is hitting golf balls off the back of the ship.

Not sure about the excursion that was mentioned, but friends of ours flew into Fairbanks, did a RCL land tour, sailed out of Seward and into Vancouver. Had to fly home from Seattle because they had the passports cards. No issue in Vancouver.

After friends had items missing after moving to a different cabin DH & I moved our stuff ourselves......after being promised by the Hotel Director that a "supervisor" would be at our cabin at 8:30 with a cart and by 9:30 no one had shown up we moved our suitcases and clothes ourselves. (YES, we DID tell our original cabin attendant about the move, he was also a no show.) We put the suitcases in the closet, hung the clothes said HI to our new attendant and met up with the b2b group....we were late and they were holding up the proceedings because of us....oh well.....

Depending on the port where you're boarding there will be priority boarding, but not for gold members, but all the boarding goes pretty quickly because all those other crown and anchor people are in their lines and the suites people are in their own line.

We've done a number of b2bs and each port is different. We have stayed in the same cabin and we have moved.

Yes, you pack your stuff up and leave your hanging stuff.....but we had a state room attendant that wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, so we moved ourselves, even after the hotel director promised he would have a 'supervisor' at our door with a cart to move our luggage & stuff at 8:30. By 9:30 no one showed so we moved our selves. Luckily the cabin attendant for the 2nd leg was wonderful. Some ships, if there are more than 25 b2b passengers will have a luncheon for you. We've gone to this a couple of times and weren't overly impressed.

Some ports the ship has to "zero out" the passengers, everyone gets off. Other ports you are allowed to stay on board, you may have to show up for customs and immigration, but don't necessarily have to get off.

Enjoy your cruises!

Yes, it costs 5% and can be taken out in $5 increments....

our favorite place for sail away is anywhere, as long as we're ON the ship.

When doing a B2B - what is the procedure for the end of the 1st cruise?

 

Do you do everything you normally would at end of cruise and you just get back inline after going through customs?

 

Or do you get to stay on the ship like when you fly and aren't changing planes on a leg of the flight?

Depends on the port. Tampa we had to go thru Customs/Immigration on board then picked up our sea pass cards. In San Juan we picked up our sea pass cards the day before. In Ft Lauderdale we were 'escorted' off the ship and had to wait until ship was empty then we 'escorted' back on. We try not to schedule a b2b in Ft Lauderdale.

Also, if you are taking Solstice class, avoid the Reflection, the additional 200+ passengers with no additional crew DOES make a difference in service throughout the ship.

 

Safe travels to all! NYC

Interesting. We were on Reflection week before last. Crew was wonderful....didn't notice any less service from Equinox/Eclipse/Solstice cruises we've taken in the past. Wouldn't hesitate to book Reflection again.

The problem we had was we got off one ship and onto another, and didn't want to use our internet minutes to complete the survey.....got home and couldn't access the 1st cruise guest questionnaire.

The upside is both my husband and I received the questionnaire so we would each have been able to comment.

We got off Reflection 3/15, points posted 3/22.

I think it's a 'luck of the draw' as to when points are posted.

WWAAYY up at the top of the page in the title box area there is a search box. I tried it a few minutes ago and didn't come up with what I was looking for so I wish you more luck than I had.

Not sure anyone can answer this, but we will have MTD for a party of 10. Reading this post, it seems likely we won't have any problem. My question is, if we pre-book dining (my intention), do we need the reservation numbers of everyone for the dining reservation. or can one person simply reserve a table for 10?

you need their booking numbers....can't just ask for a reservation for 10....need names & booking numbers

We sailed on Legend thru the Canal in November last year. We had 11 adults and MTD.

We made reservations for 8 of us on line before boarding. The last 3 were 'last minute additions' to the cruise (2 months out). I emailed the dining folks and said that 2 tables, one for 5 one for 6 with the same waitstaff would be fine with us. They wrote back and said to check in with the 'host' that handles the reservations. They put the 11 of us at one big round table that was to hold 10, it was a tad tight, but we made it work. We went to dinner each night at 7, had the same table, same wait staff. One of us just stopped in at the host stand to let them know we were there.

Since sometimes their systems are slow to update you may want to take your sea pass cards from the cruise where you earn the needed 'nights' to make D+. If your status isn't correct on the 2nd cruise take your 'old' sea pass cards to the Concierge or Loyalty Ambassador. They can verify and get your the proper 'perks'.

In the US, you have to get off, in foreign ports it is just like a regular port of call day.

When we did a b2b out of Tampa we didn't have to get off.....Immigration & Customs came on board, we met with them and went back to our room to change into our swim suits to sit by the pool.

I didn't think you could do that. I wonder if they allowed you to do it because RCCL cancelled the initial cruise.

Not all cabins on the legend have the mini-fridge. We were on Legend last month and we were in a balcony cabin and had the 'chiller', friends who were in ocean view did not. Keep in mind the 'chiller' won't get products as cold as your home fridge, but it will help.

Legend does have their version of Select dining, called My Time Dining.

I believe I saw Diet Coke being served on board

On the Legend Members cruise earlier this month one in our group was quarantined while her roommate was not.......One evening when she didn't call room service for dinner they called her.....they were also advised they could consume whatever they wanted from the 'chiller/fridge/cooler' (whatever you want to call it) for free since it would be tossed at the end of the cruise.

We had a number of folks that came down with noro. Last few days we were being served in the Windjammer. When we were disembarking the cabin attendants were all dressed in 'haz-mat' suits and disinfecting every room and all public areas of the ship.

My Wife is having surgery on Tuesday and they are telling her up to 12 weeks to recover. She has been trying to tough it out until after our cruise in late January but it has become just tooo painful, Well as (un)luck would have it the 12th week is exactly the same week as our cruise... I am just wondering if anyone out there has dealt with this type of surgery and what was your recovery time experience? Do you think she can go on this trip?

DH had surgery in January and was cruising 1st week of March. The day we got on the ship was the 1st day without his sling

About 6 years ago while on a cruise DH and I booked our 'next cruise'. We booked an ocean view even though I wanted the JS....well, a couple of days later I went back and 'upgraded' us to the JS. My DH isn't a computer person and doesn't really look at anything other than what excursions are being offered. He wasn't even paying attention when we got to port and I walked right into the 'suite' line, he just followed.

He finally realized something was up when I headed AFT and our original room was mid-ship port. He loved the room.

Doing the Panama Canal in November and there are a lot fewer excursions offered now than three months ago. We just booked our excursions last month, so hopefully they have everything set now.

AFT cabins are the cabins that, when you stand on the balcony, you look over the wake from the boat. Not sure if there are Aqua class AFT cabins.

Hump cabins are located on the part of the ship that bumps out, generally mid-ship. I think there are Aqua class cabins there.