SkaterJasp

Theres a reason why everyone else uses small ships.. and it isn't they want to use old ships.. just most major cruise line haven't built any small ships in the past decade or so. 

I didn't book the Havana sailing because I've been to Havana twice with Royal Caribbean, once on Empress of the Seas and the other on Majesty of the Seas. The biggest reason why I didn't pick Havana isn't the port or the ship, it's more I want to read the reviews first to see how well Cuba handles a large ship. Going to Havana isn't like going to any other ports in the Caribbean... when you get off the ship, you have to go through immigrations... you have to line up for them to check your Visa and Passport. Next you have to go through an X-Ray and they screen your bags to make sure you don't bring any prohibited items into Cuba. Finally most people get money exchanged at the currency exchange booth since US Dollar and US credit cards isn't accepted anywhere in Cuba. You might be able to exchange money at hotels, but theres really no hotels around the port. On the way back to the ship, you have to get your passport checked again and than you have to go through another set of screening run by the Cuban to check if you are bring anything back to the ship that you shouldn't. This is the part where they'll ask for receipts and stuff of any cigars you had purchased... and for Royal Caribbean, they have you go through another security screening to make sure you're not bringing any prohibited items on to the ship. The first day in port it can be a while before you actually get off the ship and actually step into Havana... however the process is much faster later on in the day but it's pretty much the same. Every time you get off the ship, you have to have your passport check, go through a screening... and on the way back... passport checked again and go through 2 screenings to get back on the ship. 

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

VV lists the terrace cabins at 225-265 sq ft - most mainline cruise ship's balcony cabins are smaller than that. The sea view and insides are small, but not the terrace ones.

I’m pretty sure VV measurement includes the balcony whereas other cruise line gives the measurements of the actual room and a separate measurement of the balconies.

The smallest balcony cabin on a modern Royal Caribbean ship (voyager class or newer) is 179 to 182 sq ft with a small balcony of 40 to 50sq ft making it a total of 232 sq ft. That extra sq footage is enough to put in a separate couch and bed. The aft facing terrace room looks like the same size as all the other terrace, except have a massive balcony in the back. 

If VV terrace size rooms are truley bigger, they did a really bad job at the layout if they can’t manage to cram in a separate sofa or even a love seat. 

The rooms are tiny compare to other modern ships... most new ships have a separate sleeping and sitting area... however, with the smaller rooms.. they have to get creative. It's not a new concept. 

I remember when Royal Caribbean's Sovereign Class ships came out... the beds are placed against the walls (one by the window and one on the adjacent wall).. during the day, they place a cover over the bed and the backrest comes down and it formed an L shape couch in the room... at night it turns into either 1 big bed or 2 smaller beds. 

It's not a new concept, it's been done before. Just it's labor intensive and eventually Royal Caribbean just kept them as beds all day long.. and now they removed the back rest so if you go on Majesty of the Seas (the only Sovereign class left in Royal Caribbean's fleet), you wont even realize that was the concept when it first came out.

 
the photo was a stock photo that they used in all the brochures and I just found it on Google.

Scarlet Lady will be my 80th Cruise...

Majority of my cruises are Royal Caribbean

44 out of 73 previous cruises plus 6 out of 8 future cruises are with Royal Caribbean... the rest are Carnival, Princess, Disney, and "other". 

It may seem like I'm jumping ships from Royal Caribbean... but I have too high of a status with Royal Caribbean to jump ship. I can say the only cruise line I won't go back on is NCL. 

You could always do a Back to Back to Back and visit Dominican, Havana, and Costa Maya. 

Well they may not offer a drink package... but during booking it says specialty dining, internet, and gratuities are all included... Plus they also include a lot more complementary beverages than other cruise lines, the big one being sodas.   They need to make some onboard revenue from somewhere and the casino, gift shops, "streaming" internet, and spa can only make so much... They know their demographic and they know they can make more money off of selling drinks individually. Plus we should at least wait to see the drink prices and their definition of "reasonable" before jumping to conclusion.

The "taxi" in St. Thomas is more like an open air bus ride.. but that "bus" is more like benches on back of a modified truck... think the Safari ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom but with out the doors. They also have passenger vans, but you'll more likely find the open air taxis. It's a flat fee per person but it isn't much. $4 per person each way for a ride to the main shopping area. If you want to go elsewhere on the island, the prices would be higher and pretty sure everything is per person. 

All aboard is normally 30 minutes prior to the departure time... but if you're touring on your own, it's a good idea to be back to the port terminal at around 2 pm.. you can still shop around the port before actually returning to the ship. It's best to check the all aboard time on the gangway before leaving the ship... sometime there might be a change to the schedule last minute and sometime the all aboard time can be earlier or later than posted. My last cruise we were suppose to leave Port Canaveral at 7PM but morning of they decided to changed it to midnight so "we can enjoy more time at the theme parks" but they really mean "we need more time to fix something on the ship". So who knows, just check the all aboard time before you leave the ship and make sure you are back on the ship, or at least in the port, a hour before that time.

Not sure which food tours you are looking at, but make sure they're family friendly. There are a lot of food tours that feature food that aren't really kids friendly or they also focus on local adult beverages. See if the tour operator do anything that would ensure that your whole family can take part of the experience. I honestly would just spent the money at a local restaurant and also buy some local snacks from the local stores.. it would come out cheaper than doing a tour. 
 

On some sailings, they actually have a Disney Springs Shopping Shuttle but for some reason this shuttle is $20 more than the Disney World Express shuttle. I would just rent a car... that's what I did, I was able to get a car from Hertz and also from Budget for under $40 plus gas and toll... plus you're on your own schedule.. just make sure you make it back in time before the ship leaves. 

I booked the June cruise to Costa Maya! 

The solo rooms have real beds... so it's not just suites. 

19 hours ago, Menas1 said:

Thanks for replying. What dates were u on ? 

Jan 18 - Feb 3

I don't think I've ever seen sushi in Windjammer on Adventure for dinner time after the latest refit. The Izumi on Adventure is pretty good, but all they have is sushi.. no ramen or hot rock since it has a tiny galley. It's located on the Royal Promenade where the sports bar used to be.

The A/C was fixed in Late January. I was on the ship for 2 sailings just after the AC incident and it worked fine. Not sure about the flu.. it was a real issue on my 2nd sailing.

Mercedes is really appeal among the younger 20s / 30s demographics. You'll see her at the night club and parties interacting with guests more so than other cruise directors. All my friends in that demographic can remember cruises with Mercedes but not any other cruise directors. 

Figure out how what you want out of your cruise and the ship and that will determine what ship to go on. If you want a ton of stuff to do during sea days, obviously go for Oasis or Indy... if you want a more intimate ship and possibly more destinations and better ports.. go for Vision or Serenade.

I was on this sailing and it was the 2nd of my back to back. I doubt the crew started the outbreak because no one showed signs of being sick on the previous sailing but during the muster for this sailing, there were an unusual high number of people coughing and sneezing. I think the staff and crew did a great job cleaning and disinfecting the ship and several crew members told me whats going on during casual conversation. My issue is mostly the other passengers that felt that being sick shouldn't stop them from enjoying the ship. There were people obviously should be in their room or medical but they continue to enjoy the cruise and coughing and sneezing with out even a single attempt to cover their face when they do. The incident that stood out the most was during the Lunch with an Officer, they sat me across from an older lady and she was just non stop coughing and made a poor effort covering her cough. She literally held her hand like inches away from her face. We were seated at the end of the table and there were literally no one to the side of us and she didn't even attempt to turn her head.. instead, she felt the need to continue to chit chat and coughing towards everyone at the table like it's no big deal. It got to the point where I got up and ask to be seated somewhere else. 

16 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

If you are the same Jasper that was on the Symphony TA, this is JC from the flowrider.

 

jc

hi jc

19 hours ago, Lv2sail_18 said:

 

Thank you for sharing your experience! Do you happen to recall the reserved Flowrider and iFly times? Was there reserved time for the North Star?

It was mostly before or after the regular flowrider time... mostly 9AM. It was different on both 8 night cruises. iFly time and North Star reservation were preassigned. 

I thought it was worth the price... I was already going to get the internet package on an 8 night sailing for $120 and I've always did specialty dining if offered on embarkation day for lunch and spend about $25... so my cost would of been around $145 that I was going to spend already... Whereas the Key was only $160, a difference of $15 for 8 days. I did the math between the cost of buying the internet onboard with my 2 free days vs purchasing via the cruise planner, and it always comes out cheaper on the longer cruises to just prepay it. Plus the OBC covered the entire cost of Key.

I did key for both segment on a back to back for Anthem so it was 16 nights total...for what I would of paid for internet and specialty dining vs how much it cost for Key... it was worth it. However, if I wasn't planning on getting the internet, than it's a total rip off since as Diamond Plus I get many of the same perks... plus I'm expecting to earn my 700 points in 2 cruises, there is only 2 sailing left where the Key make sense since they are both 16 nights long. 

My Experience

Embarkation

At Cape Liberty / Bayonne, Key guests would go through security check with suite guests so the line was non existent. After passing security, they  direct you to the suite check in area where there is a separate check in for key guest.. they scribble on your set sail pass to indicate your key and send you straight to the ship... the whole process from entering the port to getting on the ship was less than 15 minutes. 

Once onboard, I just went straight to my cabin since the rooms were ready. I had missed the lunch, but they let me use it the following sea day for lunch. 

When you get onboard, you are also given a Key wristband and letter with all the benefits and wifi code. 

I like to sit toward the front in the Royal Theater and also had specific places I would sit in Two70 so I didn't take advantage of the priority seating. However, I did see where those reserved section is located. On Anthem it's the balcony section but expanded to include the whole center section (the 3 sections in the center balcony instead of just the one center most section). In Two70 it's also the center balcony section but they didn't expand it to make it bigger.

The only reserved time I used was the Flow Rider and iFly times... I was basically the only one that showed up during the first 8 day sailing... the 2nd day it was me and one or two other people. It was a great way to get in extra ride time on the FlowRider... but it's probably not worth it if I didn't want the internet package.

Priority Debarkation was offered at every port onboard Anthem. Priority access to the tender... and if you wanted to get off early in a non tender port, they have you wait in one of the lounges and escort you off as soon as the ship was cleared in both Port Canaveral and Nassau. 

Debarkation Day back in Cape Liberty was easy.. breakfast was the normal breakfast menu plus two special entrees selection. One was a filet and egg and the other one was a crab cake benedict. Once you are done with breakfast, a host will escort you off the ship. In the port, the luggages are kept next to the suite luggage by the entrance to customs. 

Overall it could be worth it and it could be a rip off.. it really comes down to how much of the perks you are actually going to use AND if you are already going to get the internet anyways. 


 

If you have a wow band you can exchange it for one that works on anthem during embarkation and it’ll open the door before you get your seapass. If you don’t have a wow band, you can purchase one.  

Also Delta Comfort+ have better snacks on both Domestic and International compare to Economy. They offer the same snacks that they offered to First Class, which is significantly better than the compimentary snacks offered in Economy. Also on international flights, Comfort+ get a very basic amenity kit. It's kind of worth it.

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Also does anyone know anything about the medical coverage that the Cuban government requires? Vacation protection from carnival covered that but we opted out. I didn't realize it was a requirement.

Royal Caribbean includes it as part of the cruise. I don't think there's even an option to opt out.

Did you mean CUC? That 40 peso would be less than $2.

Yeah 40 CUC.

Sorry about the error... here are the links.

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