rjrpar

I was able to book Mama Mia and then I tried to book another show and this is the message I received.

 

WELL, THIS IS UNFORTUNATE.

 

Here you are trying to plan a vacation and our website decides to take one.

 

We are aware of the issue and are currently working to fix it. Please try again later and sorry for the inconvenience.

What are the times for Mama Mia? thanks

What a cluster----. Remember when cruising was simple, and fun.

CD's have absolutely no influence regarding how I enjoy my cruise. Have taken over 30 cruises and can't tell you the name of any.

Yes they do, they are responsible for planning and coordinating all the entertainment on your cruise. Just because you don't know or remember names, don't undervalue the work of the cruise directors.

A cruise director's main job is to provide good entertainment on the cruise, not necessarily be the entertainment. If the entertainment staff is active, the guest entertainers are good, music around the ship is enjoyable and abundant, etc, then you have a good cruise director. If he or she is also talented and personable, it's a bonus.

Celebrity Solstice class ships are really nice; Solstice, Eclipse, Reflection, Equinox and Silhouette.

Totally agree. The average age on Celebrity is slightly higher but they provide a very good cruise experience, but probably not ideal if you have young children.

I totally agree with everything you just said. It really is sad that Carnival, which is known for the "wal mart" of the cruse industry :rolleyes: serves a USDA Prime cut of beef for 35.00 while RCI charges you 35.00 PLUS makes you pay for a better cut of beef.

 

35.00 for a sirloin????? REALLY??????????

Carnival is no more "Walmart" than most other mass market cruise lines. Been on both, mostly RCCL, and Carnival can be a very good value.

How does anyone know what time to make reservations for dinner. On the regular ships entertainment is around the two dining times. With Quantum how can you possibly figure that out? Frustrated that we may miss something we really want to do or see due to dinner. I guess we can always go tot the windjammer if it doesn't work out. I am also not going to put money down for restaurants a year in advance. I think that is just crazy. Even with Oasis we did not do that until about 90 days out which is okay but would not want to do it before that.

 

A bit off topic I guess but just trying to figure out what to book.

I think it is more important to reserve the 4 or 5 free restaurants around May 15 and worry about the pay restaurants later. If you book a conflicting time with entertainment you can always cancel, then rebook or walkup and wait a few minutes. People are making a big deal out of this and it really is not. No one is suggesting booking pay restaurants a year in advance; they are usually begging people to eat there.

Does anyone have any information on how reservations will be made for dining on May 15? I thought I read somewhere that there will be an app? How will we be able to access that? Or will it just be done via the Royal Caribbean website?

Very good question. I had the same concern but I guess no one knows.

I stayed at Fairfield Inn and Suites in Ft. Lauderdale before taking a cruise. It was wonderful. There was breakfast in the morning. The staff was extremely nice. It was clean. Shuttle from airport and to cruise port. I believe you had to pay a small fee for the shuttle to the cruise port. Got a really good deal on "Park, Sleep and Fly". There was also a gas station walking distance, which had a convenience store that sold water and other things might want to pick up before the cruise. Whatever you decide, hope you have a wonderful vacation.

Agree, nice hotel, very good free breakfast, and friendly staff. Also, very close is the Rustic Inn. Great seafood, fun restaurant; almost walk able but there is a free shuttle service if you ask at the desk.

I am wanting to plan an Alaska cruise and land tour for late May 2015. I want to go on Princess or HAL. After researching these boards I have decided it might be best to book it on my own as opposed to a cruisetour. Looking at current prices we would probably book an OV, balcony too much of a premium price.

 

Here are the stats. 2 adults from Atlanta. Northbound 7 day to Alaska. Would like to take train to Denali, at least 2 full days in Denali, train back to Anchorage, maybe one day in Anchorage

 

The component costs are the cruise plus tips plus cruise extras, airfare, train or transport to and from Denali, hotel rooms, excursions, and insurance.

 

My question is what would you ballpark a total for this trip to be? I am guessing $5000. Can it be done for closer to $3000? I know that you do not know what our excursion or OB spending will be but just average that. We will do some stuff but nothing extremely expensive. I am not opposed to a cruisetour if it goes where we want to go long enough and is truly a better price than booking seperate. Thanks for any insight.

We are planning a 15 day cruise tour on HAL in August, 2015. I think your cost estimate is real low; we are planning to spend at least $10,000. From PA the flight is about $800, the cruise tour is $6000(balcony), tours-$1200, food-$1000, onboard spending-$500, misc-$1000.

I know this isn't exactly the same cruise, but $3000 or even $5000 is not going to happen.

We are planning the Y3 for July or Aug, 2015. It will be a costly vacation and we thought about doing the cruise first to save some money, however, I think we have read enough comments to do the land first to convince us. Also are considering an inside or ocean view instead of our usual balcony. We will only be on the ship for 4 nights and the difference is $1400, that's $350/day extra for a balcony.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

BTW - we are planning a $1000 for food on the land tours and we are simple eaters; burgers, pizza, Do intend to try a Salmon bake

All cruise lines charge for shuttle busses. Cruise lines need to get their revenue. Either you pay these additional charges or you pay higher cruise fares, which today are pretty cheap and need to stay competitive within the industry.

I prefer the ala carte pricing so I pay for what I use. There is no free lunch.

It's a waste of space

We just completed a 14 day So. Caribbean on Celebrity Eclipse, it was wonderful. Stopped at 8 ports and the ship is beautiful, a notch up from HAL

Would do it again next year but right now we are booked for 11 days on the new Quantom OTS.

I dont know which ships you have been on perhaps carnival but its higher quality then your applebees.

Actually Carnival food is comparable to RCCL and Celebrity. All cruise lines are good at convincing cruisers that the food is high quality, when actually it is banquet quality and probably below most chain restaurants. Just think about their steaks, salads, desserts; would you be willing to pay restaurant prices for them.

It is still a long time away, the market will eventually dictate the final prices. No sense to panic now. The prices that I've seen are too high for a mainstream cruise line and will never fill the ship.

I hate their website so much.

For a major corporation that sells online, the performance of their website is absolutely awful. The website is never ready to support the marketing effort.

Alaska is one of the best and easiest destinations to do on your own as long as you are willing to do a little research in advance, especially with the wealth of knowledge here on the CC boards and on Trip Advisor. If you feel at all comfortable with doing it yourself then I highly recommend it!

 

My husband has two extensive reviews of our trips (attempting to post links here, if not search for threads started by walleyelj, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1844695 and http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1679447) with info on our trip to Denali and people on here will be more than happy to help you as you plan!

Love the reviews. We are planning a 2015 trip to Alaska. We are considering HAL since we want to see the Yukon and they are the only line that goes there as part of a land tour. We are pretty adventurous and are also considering doing the land tour on our own. Based on your experiences, do you think that it is doable for 1st timers to do it ourselves. Your opinions would be appreciated

Thanks,

bob

Yeah that is a major issue, believe me, but we were screwed anyway price wise. A new ship like Quantum/Anthem is gonna get a premium, and apparently Liberty does too. The days of super cheap cruises on "Explorer" are over for this area. The price of having new or newer ships I guess. Are the "Liberty" cruises from NJ already on the website so I can check them out?

The prices on the QOTS when we booked 6 months ago were very fair. Much lower than some Liberty prices I just saw.

We now live in Florida and will be driving to the pier to get on cruise ships. Is there a size restriction for the carry on luggage? I know it has to go thru a scanner but I wanted to take my piece of luggage that is larger than the carry on size regulated by airlines. Laying down It measures 27 long x18wide x10deep.

 

Thanks for any help, I tried to google it but could not find anything.

No problem, but you will have to carry it around with you until about 1:30pm

X has an excellent reputation as a premium cruise line. We would not hesitate to cruise with them.

X is not a premium cruise line. It is a very nice mass market line just like HAL, Royal Caribbean, even Carnival. We have been on X and RCCL often and differences between the two are minor. Some X fans will insist the food is better but again, very similar. I think newer ships and more emphasis on entertainment on RCCL and X make for a slightly different experience than HAL.

Never been on a cruise I didn't enjoy.

I am very disappointed in RCI. I used a great vacation planner named Marie to plan our cruises on Allure and Oasis. She was very patient with me as a first-time cruiser. She always knew the answers to my many questions. I called to speak to her yesterday and a man answered at her extension. He said she had relocated and no longer worked there. I was assigned a new planner. It would have been nice to have been contacted. Has this happened to you?

I can think of a lot worse problems.

I believe this was announced earlier in the week: April 25 for C&A members, April 28 for the general public for the Winter '15-16 season.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember reading that and I'll be looking to book for that season as well.

You're correct.

I agree. If people book with the intention of waiting for a price drop it won't happen because you're filling up the cabins. Only if Royal sees empty cabins will they drop the price. Booking now at a price you have no intention of paying defeats the purpose.

 

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Agree, don't book now. Prices will fall, market demand will set the price.

We are on the 2/2/15 eleven day cruise and love the itinerary. Great ports but we would prefer 2 days on the return; 3 gets a little long. After being on the Eclipse last month, anything is better than FLL on a weekend. $700 for the two of us to fly and what a mess, prefer a cool day relaxing on the ship.