WendyVF

The Breeze - for the ship and itinerary and they have the family staterooms with 2 bathrooms!

I've heard bad things about parking at the pier. By the way which pier does the Ecstasy sail from??? Heard the shuttle is not very good, takes a long time and doesn't drop you off at the correct site for your car....How true is this???

The shuttle is fine. It is waiting right outside of the warehouse that you will park in. They mostly use small busses that hold maybe 50 people so you have to wait for it to fill up. We've never waited more than 5-8 minutes for it to fill up, even if we were the first on. It's a little slower on the return trip as you have everyone disembarking in huge groups and they have to load the luggage into a trailer behind the bus, but still goes quicker than you'd expect. They drop you off in the adjacent warehouse so they can pull in and out without trying to avoid people wandering with their luggage and cars backing out. It probably adds an additional 60 seconds to the walk to your car...really not that big of a deal.

One warning, do not give them your carry on that has liquor in it. They quickly load and unload them and they're not very gentle with the bags!

It looks like this hotel would be walking distance to the port. Can anyone confirm that? They show a room with free breakfast, free parking (for duration of cruise) and free wifi. It looks like a great deal!

It is definitely within walking distance. The entrance to the Half Moon Cruise Terminal is right at the end of the same street. It will take a matter of minutes to walk there!

Be sure to check the cost to park at the Inner Harbor hotels as some can be quite pricey.

They open it once all the previous passengers have left the terminal and parking area. In my experience its been around 11.

We prefer a OV for the additional space and they're a bit quieter. It makes me crazy to pay extra for a balcony and have to listen to the doors slamming shut. We also like the lower decks to help with the seasickness.

We were on the Adventure of the Seas last October. At that time, it happened to be cheaper than Carnival and they were offering a BOGO on the drink package. We've sailed RCCL several times and have done numerous Carnival trips recently. I was looking forward to experiencing RCCL and their ships again. While I love their ship layouts, I was disappointed in the behavior of their staff. We heard multiple staff complaining about other staff, our waiter spent more time apologizing for the assistant waiter's lack of training and begging for a good review than seeing to our orders and the final straw was the way an activity person spoke to me when I asked where the towels were as we were getting off the ship. The ship was beautiful but honestly all we used was the pool deck, bars, dining room, casino and walked through the ice show one evening. We really missed Carnival's comedy club. That being said, my parents are loyal royals and did the same trip last month and had a great experience. If we had paid more for it than on Carnival I would've been sadly disappointed.

I think you made a great choice. Spend the difference and do something phenomenal!

We've cruised mostly during Easter week and New Year's eve for the last 10 years due to our family's schedule. They are the 2 most expensive times of the year to cruise in the Caribbean. It usually ends up only costing $100-$200 more to have 2 cabins instead of putting all of us in one.

Which hotel did you use for the stay & park?

Used to have a medicine cabinet with three shelves. I bring a suction cup sink basket that I found at an Asian market.

The newer Carnival ships have shelves on either side of the mirror. Royal Caribbean ships have cabinets on either side with mirrored doors.

I'm not sure about a port being available on the TV but if you're planning on using the internet to stream something to it, you may be disappointed. The internet on the ship is typically very slow.

That is really funny. Did they remember and turn back around, or did you have to get out and search? Did you have any light coming in from outside at all, or were you in an interior? I just can't imagine.

We were in a deluxe oceanview. I was getting ready for dinner so it was still light outside. I cracked the bathroom door to let some light in and finished my shower. DH had gone to get us some pre-dinner drinks so I couldn't be too angry with him:)

I got left in the shower in the dark on the Breeze...not fun!

Thank you for the taste bar info, Was it hard to order a bar drink during dinner. On my last cruises , it was hard to find a bar waiter, usually got my mojito from a bar on my way to the dining room.

Bar service in the dining room was just OK. Better than recent trips, but not as good as ones in the past. We always grabbed a drink on the way to dinner to get us started and could usually order one more. We'd tell our head waiter and he would track down the bar waiter for us. One night we even managed to get after dinner drinks. I really wish they'd put more bar waiters in the dining rooms and get rid of the guy walking around selling shots.

Bar service was ridiculous in the casino. Many times there was only one bar waiter working the entire casino. The Casino manger said everyone was complaining and offered to buy us a drink but a waiter never appeared. I was playing blackjack for awhile and the whole table would get up and go to the bar to get a drink during the shuffle!

The taste bar is tucked up in a corner outside of the casino. I walked past it several times before I realized what it was. It's a freestanding bar and they have to bring all the food in from a kitchen somewhere else. There was always a big line and I didn't notice anything worth standing in line for!

We were on the Ecstasy a few weeks ago and I was shocked at the limited alcohol selection in the store. They had no regular Absolute, only the flavored vodkas. The shelves were almost bare by day 3!

By club I think you are talking about the Disco. Not really much gets happening there prior to 10. Karaoke is held in one and would be fine for those under 18. There's lots else going on in the evenings. Our kids always preferred to hang out with others their own age after dinner.

We are looking to sail from Baltimore on December 26th. We will drive up late on Christmas Day. I've started looking at hotels and need some help. We typically stay at the Inner Harbor/Downtown area but I'm concerned nothing will be open Christmas night for us to grab something to eat. Any suggestions for hotels in other areas? I'm thinking near Arundel or BWI and something with its own restaurant. I recall there being a hotel attached to a casino. Does anyone know which one it would be? I'm not necessarily looking for park and cruise. Typically it's worth the money to park at the port and not have to deal with shuttles.

I'm so glad you were able to post these. Somehow the front page of the tear off for the first sea day didn't scan. I have emailed that to you so you can add it.

Thank you!

We recently stayed at the Homewood Suites near the airport. There were 4 adults so we had the 2 bedroom/2 bath room which was amazing. Very nice staff, easy drive to the historic area, free parking, near outlet mall and lots of restaurants. Previously we have stayed at the Doubletree Suites in the historic area. Very nice and convenient but a bit pricey!

The food choices will be the regular buffet, the grill (burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, pizza, deli or the Mongolian Wok. All the bars will be open and in full swing. We sailed 2 weeks ago and arrived around 11:30. We are platinum and our luggage didn't get delivered until 2 or so and then only some of it. Normally they let you know at check in that you can go directly to your cabins if you are priority. They said nothing. We headed for our cabin to drop off our bags and just flashed our platinum cards. Be sure to know your benefits ahead of time!

I have them but keep getting errors when I try to attach them. I'll be happy to send them to you if you send me an email with Ecstasy Fun Times in the subject. wvanfos I still use aol!

Wendy

My husband and I just turned Platinum. We will be sailing on June 18-26,2016. Our 2 sons are coming but will be on a different cabin. Can we take them to Priority Boarding or not? Thanks

It depends on the embarkation port. We are platinum but the kids aren't so we book one adult in each room so everyone can board platinum. The ports with separate lounges keep the keys/sail passes separately. Depending on the age of the children, they may be willing to go get the others.

Just sailed from Charleston and only one cabin was platinum. They don't have a separate lounge, just a separate line. Everyone just followed behind me and when we got to the end I let them know 2 cabins, 1 credit card since one of the passengers in the other cabin was on my credit card. There's one big area in Charleston so all the keys are easily accessible.

I've been on both with teen aged children. I agree that they're fairly equal as far as activities and such (ours didn't want to ice skate or rock climb, they can do that at home without all the restrictions). I'd choose based on price and itinerary.

Try searching on the East coast departures board. I just sailed from there but parked our car. I believe you get dropped off outside of the port area, drop your luggage with porters and then catch a shuttle that takes you to the terminal. There are bridges that cross the marsh to get to the terminal. Only the shuttles from the parking/drop off area were allowed on those bridges.