flyingandcruising

We were on the HOTS last week, also. Our family of 5 paid the upcharge for texting/chatting and it worked beautifully all week. Well, worth the $7.95 charge for us.

Thanks for this info.

The IQ app was great to have on hand, but I carry my Compass around with me all day anyway. You can indeed make reservations right from the app if you are lucky enough to catch a time that still has an opening. I could not access the MDR menus from the app, but rather checked them from the room television. I did not do the upcharge for texting as we can use Facebook messenger to communicate.

 

We wound up going to Park Cafe for embarkation day lunch and surprisingly, had a small line and we found a table! Though, what was strange was they were using two tables inside to pile all the dirty dishes on, which made for two less tables inside. I don't know what they were thinking.

Thanks for the info and review.

Wondering what you thought of the IQ. I've heard mixed things about it. Did you pay for the up-charge and use it for texting/chatting?

Where did you go on embarkation day for lunch?

Thanks

Those in wheelchairs in terminal 18 are boarded first with suites and pinnacles. That was how it was on Allure in Sept There is a separate area for those in wheelchairs. Please inquire of one of the agents there.

Thanks you, that's what I was wondering.

If you at boarding between 11:00 and 11:30 and make your way to the WJ by 11:30 it's fine, no problems getting a table. After 12:00 forget about it.

Great to know, thanks

just called my agent and balcony is only 200 more than interior room on the Allure. However, my wife just brought up about zika. I've done a search and found not much new information. We'll be heading to Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Kitts. They are listed as level 2 on cdc website. Cruise won't happen for another 9 months.

Dont know much about Zika, but I dont think you need to worry for babies, its mostly for pregnant and soon to be pregnant families. Were taking our 21 month old to Jamaica and cozumel and they are also at level 2

Our experience. We took our 8 month old on a carnival cruise a year ago, and we will be taking him on the Harmony in March, for which he will be 21 months. At the time when he was 8 months we had major sleeping issues with him so that did make things a struggle, but we still enjoyed ourselves and so did he. He was still mostly on formula and that didnt make any difference, just had to take on a few cans of powder. The crib was provided by the cruiseline and fit well in the cabin. We weren't allowed into the comedy lounge, and going to shows were difficult, but we knew the challenges when booking.

I would do it again though in a heart beat and as mentioned we are taking him this march on Harmony.

If you tell your waitstaff the night before and remind them again on the night of the show, they will get you out of there on time. We had to be out early 4 times and had no problems. We always had time to spare.

Found the Solarium Bistro the best place to have lunch upon embarkation on both of our Harmony cruises.

Thanks for the info!!

1) Depends on the size of your table. If you have a table for two, then you should have no problem finishing dinner in an hour. If you have a table for 10, no way.

 

2) Not sure what you mean by "in terms of business". Windjammer will be the most crowded, but have the most variety. Solarium Cafe will be lest crowded.

Yes, that is exactly what i was asking, which was less crowded. Business is probably not even a word......lol:D

1. If we have 6pm seating for MDR, how long typically is service? we will have reservations for some shows at 730pm, so want to see if we will make it.

2. What is the best place to go during embarkation in terms of business. Windjammer, Park Cafe, or Salarium Bistro?

Thanks

When do they typically board handicap on harmony? my mom needs a wheelchair to board and we want to get there at a good time so that she does not need to wait long.

Ah no, I don't think toddlers would be allowed for this excursion. There weren't any small kids on this excursion.

Thanks for the info :cool:

I'm not sure if it's too late to book. I don't think it is. It all depends on what you want to do! Do you want to relax, see cultural sights, do some activities? I'll let you know that our favourite excursion was last year in Jamaica. We did the lazy river tubing and we had a lot of fun!

Good to know, were not sure what to do in Jamaica, did you see many people with toddlers on the lazy river? we will have a 20 mos old with us.

Last year was the first time we utilized the program. As soon as you get on the ship, you need to go and register and set your hours (your hours can change but it all depends on how many kids are on the ship).

 

My daughter was 23 months on our last cruise. She got to color, build blocks, play with toddler type toys, and even watch some movies. We didnt know until halfway through the cruise but they will also feed the kids dinner (you approve of the dinner list) which was so nice because my daughter eats great with other kids but doesnt eat much when its just her and us. So the last few days of the cruise we let her eat dinner there. The staff was so friendly and even acknowledged my daughter when they saw her outside of the Royal Tots Program. They give you a cell phone/pager to call if any problems arise but we never had to use it. One night my daughter was the only one and they laid out a cot for her and she fell asleep watching Frozen (my kid NEVER sleeps so I know she mustve felt comfortable with them). I HIGHLY recommend it!

Thank you so much for this. I hope it eases my wife's worries. What was the cost?

Hey everyone! We will be sailing on the Adventure of the Seas in May 2017. This will be our daughters 3rd cruise. She turns 3 in April 2017. Last year we went on the Independence and utlitized the Royal Tots program (which she absolutely LOVED). We want to utilize the programs the ship has again but the age range for the Royal Tots is up to 3 years old. My daughter is on the small side (still wears 18-24 month clothes) and I dont think I'd feel comfortable leaving her in the advneture ocean program (I think thats the 3-11 year olds?).

 

Does anyone know how strict Royal Caribbean is with their age cut offs? I am leaning towards keeping her in the Royal Tots program if that could be an option.

 

(If it matters, her bday is April 23 and our sail date is May 13).

Hello, Unfortunately I dont have an answer to your question. But I have one. We will be taking our 20 month old on an commingling rccl cruise and was thinking of utilizing the tots program. What do they have there for tots? thanks.

There are daily compasses from HOTS Western Sailing posted in this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2424575

 

If I see there are any changes, I'll post them.

Thank you, I do know about that, I was just looking for updated ones. (Even though im sure not much will be different in a month)

The $7.95 charge is per phone per cruise, only if you want to text and call.

Awesome, I knew about the app, just no idea about the text/chat feature. 7.95 is a great deal, especially for families.

I thought the app was free? I never heard of the 7.95 charge. I assume that is an optional charge if you want onboard texting and calling to other app users? is that 7.95 per day?

Hi everyone! Myself and my husband will be on the Harmony of the Seas Western Caribbean sailing from Dec. 17th to the 24th. I thought I'd attempt to do a live review since it'll be our first time on a Royal ship.

 

A little background:

 

We have booked an D6 Superior Oceanview Balcony room on Deck 11. Both myself and my husband are 30 years old and have no kids. We live in the Washington DC area. My husband likes to relax and enjoy our balcony on cruises whereas I like having activities to do. This will be our third cruise. Our first cruise was on the Celebrity Reflection (Eastern Carribean sailing) in 2014 and we loved the food but I felt there weren't as many activities as I would have liked. In 2015, we decided to go on the Norwegian Getaway (Western Carribean sailing). We thought there were a lot of activities but the food wasn't great for us. We hope HOTS will be the balance we're looking for!

 

Dining:

We have three specialty restaurants booked: Chops, Wonderland and Jamie's. Other nights, we have MTD booked in the Main Dining room for 6:30pm.

 

Ports:

As for ports, we currently do not have any excursions booked for Labadee. We're not sure yet if we want to do anything there so we'll just play it by ear. We may go jet skiing or parasailing if those excursions are not full by the time we book it. In Conzumel, since we've already been there we thought we'd just do something small and we'll be doing the Reef Explorer Semi-Sub excursion booked through RCCL. For Jamaica, no excursions. We plan on staying on the ship.

 

Packages:

We did purchase the VOOM Surf + Stream package. We also did purchase the non-alcoholic drink (Replenish) package before it was changed to the Refreshment package and went up in price! The husband doesn't drink alcohol but I do once in a blue moon. I don't plan on drinking alcohol on the cruise though.

 

 

We fly to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday via JetBlue and will be staying at the Hilton that is close to the cruise terminal. I will try to give a day by day review and answer as many questions as I can.

 

If you're on the sailing with us, come say hi! We love meeting new people on our cruises. :)

GREAT!!! looking forward to your live review. We are going on her March 11 for the western as well. If possible can you upload daily planners? thanks and have a great time.

We are allowed to use Nexus when disembarking from a cruise? on a closed loop? is there a separate line?

Thank you all, very helpful.

Hello All I have a few questions hopefully can be answered.

1. What deck and where does embarkation take place?

2. what is served for lunch at Park Cafe?

3. what is served for lunch and breakfast at Solarium bistro?

4. Is there a new embarkation procedure at port everglades in the past year or so? I thought I read something, but it wasn't clear.

Thank you to all that reply.

My mom is on that cruise. Hopefully someone hears something to know their OK.

Hi, did Splendor have the old room service menu or the new one where you have to pay for some items????

New one but without the sushi.

We will be sailing in May on the splendor for the first time. Thank you for your brief review. I was a bit nervous with it being an older ship, but to hear it was clean.

Also first time in Grand Turk, can I ask what you did in this port?

We wanted to rent a golf cart. But they were all booked so we rented a car. Not worth the money. We would have just preferred to stay at the port and margarita vile.

We are going on an 8 day May 7th on the Splendor. I have looked at all of the deck plans and the ship does seemed to be laid out a little different in the pool area. We have been on several of the conquest class ships and the dream class as well as the Miracle...can you give your perspective on the common areas...are they different.

 

 

 

Also, believe the Splendor is in dry dock I think March/April time frame and I believe will be getting the REd Frog and the Blue Iguana...not sure if guys burger and the cantina area for tacos and such...anyone know??

The miracle (spirit class) is my favourite. This layout is very confusing. More confusing than the dream as well as the victory which is a conquest class I think.

Just remember. Deck 2 or 5 will get you anywhere front to back of you need to go from the dining to the show lounge.

Common areas are different because there is a retractable roof and that is where the main pool is and the movies. No hot tubs in that area other than deck 10 above the pool. Hot tubs are also in the back by that pool deck 9.

Did not hear anything about dry dock. But there is a thread somewhere talking about it.