mlfallis

If you have 5 people in a room, one person has to be on their own reservation hence the 14 points instead of 7. Found that glitch after our last cruise. Hubby got 16 where I only got 8 since I had the 3 kids on my reservation.

We did this tour when on Independence a couple years ago. Based on what I saw of the traffic I wouldn't do the tour on my own with that short of a time window. We were in a smaller bus, maybe 20 of us and considering we were a party of 7 it worked out great. We did 4 stops in the forest. One at a waterfall, one at the tower, another where you could walk through the forest and the final at the conservation centre on the way out. Yes I would have loved it to be longer but that is all we could fit in and get back to the ship in time.

Also for what it is worth the ages spanned from 67 to 1.5 years in our group which is why it also worked out well. MIL didn't have to hike and it was just long enough to keep the little guy happy.

We finally gave up and booked Celebrity:( But we got lots of OBC, drinks and grats all free:p

I did this as well but I am really hoping to switch to Royal. Why must they take so long. I book Celebrity in November on Quantum.

Thanks deerhuntingal I will into that.

xlxo, no time planned for Vancouver as we have a trip west planned in 2017 with the kids to see family in Edmonton and drive to the west coast. Will probably do a two week trip then.

So in June 2016 we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary and I want to go to Alaska.

Currently we are booked on Celebrity Millennium Southbound with pre-cruise Tour (2B). Here is the itinerary:

31 MAY - FAIRBANKS HOTEL

01 JUN - GOLD DREDGE 8

01 JUN - FAIRBANKS HOTEL

02 JUN - RAIL AM - FAI TO DNL

02 JUN - DENALI NATURAL HISTORY TOUR (will upgrade to Tundra Wilderness Tour)

02 JUN - DENALI HOTEL

03 JUN - MOTORCOACH DNL TO ANC

03 JUN - TRANSFER TO SHIP ANC TO SWD

03 JUN - SEWARD, ALASKA depart 8pm

04 JUN - HUBBARD GLACIER (CRUISING)

05 JUN - JUNEAU, ALASKA 9am - 9pm

06 JUN - SKAGWAY, ALASKA 7am - 8:30pm

07 JUN - ICY STRAIT POINT, ALASKA 7am - 4pm

08 JUN - KETCHIKAN, ALASKA 9am - 6 pm

09 JUN - INSIDE PASSAGE (CRUISING)

10 JUN - VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA arrive 7am

We will probably fly to Fairbanks on May 29 or 30 and take a day or two to explore the area.

Things we would like to do are whale watching, dog sledding, kayaking, a flight tour of some sort. I find the boards so over whelming with ideas and with everything going on in life I am ready to hand the excursions over to a travel agent.

We will both be in our mid 30s and have 3 very active boys so we are up for a lot. With that being said we only booked Celebrity since we were on Royal recently and got great perks for booking on board and Royals for 2016 to Alaska are not out. When Royals' do come out I am considering booking a similar trip with them in Canadian $ since it is tanking these days and hoping the dates for flying are close enough I can wait for final payment to decide which one to actually take.

Any help would be greatly appreciated beyond belief. Also I know about the discount books that come out in November for the following year but is there some shore excursions that should be booked ASAP?

I did express departure, took a taxi to Newark and easily made my 10.10am flight to Toronto.

Andrew

Thanks this is great to hear. That will be us next week heading home on Porter. Did you pre-book a taxi or just find one available? What was the charge to the airport?

Where are you going in Manhattan?

 

1). Pre book a private car service like Dial7 or Carmellimo

2) go to the taxi dispatcher at Cape Liberty and arrange livery service to NYC

3). Public transit. Go to the taxi dispatcher and get a shuttle (about $4/pp) to the light rail station in Bayonne at 34th St. (Hudson-Bergen light rail under NJ Transit). Take the light rail ($2.10/pp) to Hoboken. Transfer to PATH to 33rd St, which is at 6th Ave in Manhattan near Macy's with stops along 6th Ave from 8th St to 33rd St($2.50/pp). Take a cab to your destination. This is an easy trip after the morning rush hour - all flat surfaces and elevators and not a lot of walking. You should be able to get seats on the light rail and definitely on PATH because Hoboken is the originating station. Really nice views of NYC from Hoboken and a historic train station.

Ok, I am going the other way from Times Square to Cape Liberty. Any thing I should know differently for using Public Transit? I was also thinking of stopping at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken. Has anyone done this? How much time might it take?

We are booked in 8500 on FOS for a Feb cruise. People keep saying 8200 is better, but from what I have seen, 8500 has real doors on the Master BR (a huge plus in my book), plus the kid's bunk bed room doesn't have all of the wasted space that 8200 has plus has a window (room has 4 vs 3 or 2 in other FO rooms). We have 6 people booked in this room and first and second were under $1000 and 3-6th were $399 so it was really a good deal.

If having a door is a must for you then 8500 is the way to go, you will have less space than the 8200. Approx 3-4 feet across the width of the cabin. 8500 is laid out that the master is next to 8200, then the bathroom, living room area with pull out bed and then the bunk room is to the left of the entrance door. Just something to know, as the pullout will fill most of the room so the bathroom might be hard to get to in the middle of night from the bunk room if needed. 8500 also has the 4 windows, but remember you can't use them from dusk onward.

We did the all access tour on Independent. In the garbage/recycling area they have a box set aside for Labadee. Any clothes, shoes or books that passengers leave behind go into the box and each time they went to the island they left the stuff behind.

Something I wish they would let you know.

Do you think we should sacrifice space for location? Our kids will be 4, 4, and 2 1/2? Can you think of a better option?

How many days at sea, and how often to you walk back and forth to your room?

The space is AMAZING, just remember it is a walk.

Thanks for posting the pictures. We are booked in 8200 on the Freedom and have friends staying next door in 8500. Are the stateroom doors on the same hall? The ship's deck plans are a little ambiguous and we need to know where we should put our parents for easy access. Thanks!

You can get to the rooms from either hall. The rooms are both off the hall that run across the front of the ship.

Only issue with these rooms is the walk. On the 5 night with 2 kids it was no problem, on the 8 night with 3 kids, we were tired of walking at the end.

Thanks for all the suggestion. I think I have it narrow down and bit but am still looking at Jersery City vs Manhattan. But I think we will stay in one spot for the 3 nights.

Now to research bidding strategies.

Thanks again.

I am finally getting around to looking into hotels for our November cruise. We sail on Nov 18, but are planning on flying in to Newark on Nov 15 and staying for a few days to see some of the sights.

Now the question is do we stay in New York for all the time and then just go to port on the 18th? or stay in New York for the first two nights and near the port the last night? or stay near the airport for all three nights?

Thoughts?

Once I figure out that maybe I can then narrow down all the options.

TIA

bumping up as I would love to know as well.

I love the family rooms, but based on 4 kids and their ages I would get two rooms. It also means two OBC if your TA offers it ;)

Can't you use the pre-cruise planner email you got when you booked it? That is the only way I would have ever been able to determine the date I booked.

From my online conservation with C&A this morning. I have asked him to email me the info. Fingers crossed this is just an IT mess up.

CarmenRCCL: [07:12] Thank you for contacting the Crown & Anchor Society. My name is Carmen. How may I assist you?

[07:12] Good Morning Melissa

Melissa: [07:13] I was looking at my shore excursion information last night and the cabana in Labadee I have booked for Feb 2014 (reserved in Jan 2013) no longer has the upgraded buffet as part of the perks. Can you please explain if this is still part of my cabana?

CarmenRCCL: [07:14] Absolutely, Just a couple minutes please.

[07:17] I am going to copy out the information on what all guests in Cabanas will receive as part of the Upgraded Buffett :

Barefoot Beach Club Enhanced BBQ Menu for Suite Guests

SALAD BUFFET:

Assorted Greens - Romaine, Iceberg, Radicchio, Rollo Rosso with choice of Italian dressing, French dressing, Caesar Dressing

German Style Potato Salad garnished with scallions

Marinated Greek Salad with red and green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, oregano and red wine extra virgin olive dressing,

Three Beans & Corn Salad with dill

Pineapple coleslaw, German Potato salad, Greek Salad

FROM THE GRILL:

Char Grilled Beef or Turkey burger,

Char Grilled 10oz New York Strip Steak

Grilled Jerk Marinated Chicken Breast

Char Grilled Hot Dog

Garlic marinated Shrimps Skewer

Sides - Corn on the Cob - Rice & Beans - or Baked Idaho Potato Garlic

Herb Butter is served with all grilled Entrees

Condiments - Sliced Tomato, Onion Rings, Pickle Relish, Individual Mustard, Ketchup, Mayonnaise Sliced American cheese, Burger and Hot Dog Bun

DESSERT:

Banana Bread, Sugar free Cake, Chocolate Brownie, Pound Cake, Marble Pound Cake, Oatmeal Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sliced Watermelon, Honeydew & Cantaloupe Melon, Sliced Pineapples

Whole Fruit - Bananas, Oranges, Apples, Pears, Grapes

Melissa: [07:18] so it is still available to me for staying in a cabana?

CarmenRCCL: [07:19] Yes. This is straight from our information:

Included in the daily cabana rental are the following amenities and services:

Private space to relax in luxury for 4-5 guests, complete with resort furniture and fan

Dedicated Cabana Attendant

Complimentary bottled water

Complimentary floating mats and snorkeling equipment

Exclusive Barefoot Beach Club beverage menu (prices charged accordingly)

Upgraded lunch menu at private BBQ facility

Melissa: [07:23] Ok, do you know why the upgraded description has been removed from the website?

CarmenRCCL: [07:27] Unfortunately, I do not know who runs the website or the information that gets added or retracted from it. It is taken care of from a completely different area. I wish I could tell you why the websit no longer has that information, but I am afraid I would only be guessing as to the why,

L88 Beach Cabana - Over the Water at Nellie's Beach

Prices:

Adult 250.00 / Child 250.00 USD

Duration:

At Your Leisure

Restrictions:

Minimum Age: 4 years

Departure Times:

10:30 am

Overview: Enjoy the beach on Labadee in style in a beach cabana nestled on the hillside of Nellie’s Beach with private water access.

Highlights: - Cabana rental for the full day - Furnished with luxury resort style lounge chairs and ceiling fan - Rental includes 2 floating beach mats, lunch buffet, and the use of beach towels - Personal cabana attendant service

Full Description: The upscale sea view cabanas nestled on the hillside of Nellie’s beach with water access are a great place to relax and enjoy the seclusion, while remaining among the action of Nellie’s Beach.

The cabanas are furnished with luxury resort style lounge chairs and a ceiling fan. Rental of a cabana will include 2 floating beach mats, upgraded lunch buffet, towels, and the great service of a personal cabana attendant.

What to Bring: - You should always take your SeaPass card (provided onboard the ship) - Sun protection and sunglasses - Camera

What to Wear: - Wear your bathing suit

Important Notes: - Pricing is per cabana, not per person. One person in the party should reserve the cabana. - Individual cabanas will be assigned once on Labadee - Each Cabana is equipped with two lounge chairs and will accommodate the maximum of 6 guests. - To access the cabana, you will have to cross approximately 20 yards of sand and uneven pathway. Guests with limited mobility will not be able to access the water from the cabana.

exact wording from our shore excursion booklet with a date of June 2013

I booked one in Jan 2013 for Feb 2014. Loved into RCCL tonight to my cruises and surprise surprise the cabaña is the one shore excursion I can't get into tonight. Think I am going to call C & A tomorrow. I have the downloaded the shore excursion booklet that is dated June 2013 so hopefully that will be enough proof for them.

Thanks so much for all your work. I have been following since day one just haven't had a chance to post yet.

One quick question did you have to book your cruise tour as soon as you booked your stateroom? Or can you wait and book the tour later? I am looking at 2016 but I already know what room we want but the cruise tour we probably won't. Also is the addition of the cruise tour the same no matter what stateroom you have booked or is it dependent on what level of stateroom you have?

TIA

Love the photos, thanks for sharing. Do all family ocean views have two windows? I am still hunting down pictures for the Vision of the Seas Family Ocean view cabin but can't locate an updated photo.

I would say they have a min of 2 windows. 8200 has 3 on Liberty/Freedom/Independence and 8500 has 4.

What you have to understand is that when you are booking a FP cabin you are essentially getting a stateroom larger than a Junior Suite and with a lot of the same features (minus the balcony and double C+A points, of course). The FP has a walk-in closet and a bathtub just like a JS. Plus you are getting the ability to add up to 4 other people at the "3rd/4th" passenger rate. Sure passengers 1 and 2 are a bit more expensive than a comparable PR cabin, but when you factor in all 5 or 6 people in the cabin it certainly works out well.

No bathtub in 8200.

We have 3 as well as at the time of sailing our will be 6, almost 4 and 17 months. I didn't find the walk too bad last time when the kids were 4 and 18 mths. Depends on how much time you spend in your room.

\

(someone had a hard time getting up our last day )

We stayed in 8200 on Liberty and have that room booked again for Independence. We didn't notice any movement.

I will say if you can get 8200 or 8500 (second choice) the Family Oceanview is well worth the extra $300 for the room. I have lots of room photos if you are interested in seeing them.

Has anyone stayed in a Family Oceanview room? In particular on of the ones at the front of the boat on deck 7 or 8 on LOS?

TIA