horric29

I'm guessing all the folks that are saying don't cruise with your unvaccinated under 5-year old's are either childless or are afraid of unvaccinated children?  I'm sorry but, having two kids, one between 5-11 who is fully vaxxed and a 1-year-old who can't be vaxxxed, the restrictions arn't that high that it makes a vacation unenjoyable.  I don't know where that's coming from.  Yes, you have to take cruise line excursions unless we leave the 1-year-old behind with grandma/grandpa, who cares?  I'm not gallivanting off with my one-year-old on crazy excursions anyways.  Oh my gosh they can't go to the suite lounge because they are unvaxxed.  Again, who cares... I don't want my crying always hungry one-year-old in there anyways.  Get a life!  People need to go on living.  There arn't a million extra hoops, they get tested like everyone else, get a lovely wrist band that keeps them from going places where they normally arn't anyways.  Wait until you live through the experience to comment, it's really not that bad.  I would go on to say, I've enjoyed cruising with my kids more now than ever.  Fewer kids in the onboard splash areas, chairs for all of our bags and day things, people ACTUALLY washing their hands so a lack of noro! 

On 4/26/2021 at 2:19 PM, NightOne said:

 

Who?

You would need to join the roll call elsewhere to see the list.  There's another place, another location, where there's another on-going thread amongst them where they are saying hello to one another.  Quite a few of them have already indicated they are on the cruise on their normal vblogging channels (all of this without getting my comments removed for naming the channels).

I'm on the June 12th sailing but, as others have noted, there ARE a ton of vloggers that are going to be onboard.  Quite a few that I regularly watch are going to be onboard.

59 minutes ago, F27TW said:

Adventure of the Seas
Capacity at 100%: 3,100
Date: June 12, 2021
Homeport: Nassau 

 

Exactly where .. and how .. will they have check in and processing facilities in Nassau for 3,100 people departing on a ship?     That mess of a port area in Nassau can barely handle the day stopping cruise ships .. how could this dump possibly handle originating/terminating cruises ??

 

I'll let ya know...  At least as of right now I'm booked on it!  I'm wondering many of the same things...  (Not the dump of a port part, I'm actually looking forward to my pre-stay!)

On 1/12/2020 at 4:28 PM, fredflint said:

My research has shown that https traffic can be intercepted and decrypted.

 

 

It is not easy this is one place where it was discussed.

 

https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/213921/how-can-kazakhstan-perform-mitm-attacks-on-all-https-traffic

I believe a VPN if you can make the connection would be more secure.  I would not use a free VPN or one that offered lifetime VPN for a small fee.  They have to run a certain number of servers and make money so just do the math.

 

Many company computer networks have a similar setup so they can control and see what the employees are doing

https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/213921/how-can-kazakhstan-perform-mitm-attacks-on-all-https-traffic

 

teamviewer connecting back to a computer at home could be a better solution.

 

teamviewer is free for personal use and they they make a lot of $$$ on the commercial side.

 

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/products/teamviewer/

 

 

Simple answer is I check my email but don't do banking as a matter of routine.  However I have a 28 day trip coming up and may need to do it to pay bills or trust my daughter to pay my bills 🙂

 

So hackers or daughter?

 

 

This is 100% accurate, https traffic can certainly be intercepted & inspected.  Here is documentation from a brand of corporate firewall that allows you to do certificate inspection and perform a "man-in-the-middle" attack to intercept encrypted traffic.  On a corporate network they would typically load the certificate onto your system so that you do not see a certificate error:  https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortigate/6.2.0/cookbook/122078/deep-inspection

That being said, we typically exempt banking, healthcare, ...    I highly doubt Royal Caribbean has an interest in deep inspecting your HTTPS traffic beyond what sites your visiting for big data purposes.  As other people have noted, make sure the URL looks correct and the lock is up there in the nav bar.  Most people, even technical people, fall for phishing scams in email, you have quite a bit more to worry about there than a corporate entity stealing your usernames and passwords. 

Had my 6" fan confiscated last cruise...  I would say carry on you will be fine.  I was able to get it back waiting in the god awful line beside I-95 but, I had to give them a reason for wanting a fan.  Silliness.

15 hours ago, kathy884 said:

Good info from zqvol.   Just know what the costs of specialty restaurants are if you want to do any and costs of special shows (usually these have some meal included too) if you want to do any.  Most entertainment is complementary -- main shows, Howl at the Moon, comedy.   We didn't do any upcharge shows on our last cruise.   On our next cruise  DH and I are doing a cirque dinner show upgrade that will run around $80 for two of us floor seating as my brother is interested and we said sure, we'll join you guys.  Also, we are doing one specialty dining dinner where they will charge us al la carte and that will be an upcharge.  I don't have the beverage plan or soda plan, but that works best for me as the unlimited alcohol freebie costs $18 a day in taxes (good deal if you have a few drinks a day -- and lots of nice places for getting drinks and most people really like this perk).  Me, I usually drink tap water and maybe just order two sodas a day, so come out best al la carte.   We will mostly be eating at complimentary dining venues -- Garden Buffet, Main Dining room.  We are on the Getaway and they have a noodle bar place and a place called O'Sheenan's that are complimentary too.

 

DS 23 really likes to use the internet a lot to stay in contact with friends and even do streaming, so he pays $200 a week for the premium unlimited internet package and in ports that aren't US, Mexico or Canada (He has the international package that lets him use his phone just like he does at home) for $10 a day.   There is a ship social media package for less than is unlimited, but would be particularly bad for streaming.  I hear that even the premium package is not that great for streaming.  DH and I will keep our phone on airplane mode the entire time that we are on the cruise.  Some of us will pay $10 for the week for the NCL app that allows texting and calling other passengers on the ship, while phone stays in airplane mode.    There are also 200 minute packages and things like that.  It's just a fact of life and not limited to NCL that wifi is expensive on cruise ships and in foreign countries (better than it used to be, but still pricy).  The cruise lines that include the free wifi you will see have way higher overall cruise fares than NCL and other mainstream lines. 

 

I got to see the studio area on the Escape and really thought it looked nice.  They have a lounge area, that sort of reminds me of a youth hostel, but more upscale with food and places to hang out.  There is also a board where they post activities and meeting times in case those in the studios would like to join others staying in studios.   I'm assuming all their bigger ships are probably somewhat similar.  From what I saw on that ship, I would pick NCL in a heartbeat if I were doing a solo cruise.  I really thought it looked like an awesome way to go.  Have fun!

 

Since most people who are doing a lot of drinking have the drink package, you don't have people coming around asking if they can get you a  drink, etc. as much as other cruise lines in common areas like the pool, etc. or at least that was my experience.  At the comedy places and shows though someone will take drink orders.  I only maybe went to a bar to get a soda once or twice a day on my last cruise, and I had to go up to order.  But there are so many bars on the ship, it was easy for me to find one that didn't have a line or only had one or two people ahead of me.  

Thanks Kathy!  Appreciate the advice!  Havn't signed up just yet, I'm thinking I will on Thursday or Friday after all the Christmas commotion is over with.

16 minutes ago, zqvol said:

 

There are really no upcharges at all. With the drink package you have to pay the gratuity which is about $100 for the week. If you go to the specialty restaurants, you pay the charge and the gratuity, I assume that this is the same on RCCL. The Internet is not free, again I assume that this is also the case on RCCL. Other than those things I cannot imagine what you would be upcharged for. You can easily leave the ship without a balance on your account.

 

I sail NCL once or twice a year. The ONLY times I have ever had to wait more than a couple of minutes for drinks is at the pool bar. Ever other bar is quick, certainly less than 5 minutes.  Personally I don't care for the entertainment, but a lot of people like it. (I have seen each show at least once, and just prefer to use my time in other ways.)

 

IMO when you leave the ship you will come out substantially better on NCL than RCCL, a far as total cost.

Thank you so much for the responses, I was thinking I was going to fall behind a few pages!  Good info, I guess those that complain are the first ones to hit the internet.  Any good tips? 

Hi All,

Looking at making a switch to Norwegian for the first time and I want to clear a misconception and look for any tips you guys might have before I book.  I know the boards seem to be sensitive from loyalists across CC so please don't flame me!  Anyone cruised both Royal and NCL and have a comparison or comparisons?  From what I've read people seem to feel that there are more upcharges on NCL than RCCL and I'm ok with that given the price but, what do upcharge items consist of?  It looks like if I book a single studio, I get one "free" offer which would probably be the drink package for me.  Speaking of drink package, I keep reading reviews that it takes 20 minutes to get a drink since "everyone" has the drink package, is this fact or fiction?  I don't really care, I just figure as a solo cruiser I'll get more use out of the drink package than the excursion credit or internet since I cruise to get away from the digitial world...  The entertainment looks incredible to me, just seems like a different experience overall.  Any must purchases?  I read a bit about vibe as a place to get away, seems that has to be booked onboard?  I'll take any advice you have!  Thanks all!

Maybe not. [emoji15]

 

Of course, it would make for some interesting wave riding. ~trying to be positive

 

 

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Since I can't post external links... I'll just say that Florence was last scheduled to end up in the middle of the atlantic not touching the east coast of the USA... I hope it stays there! HAHA :')

Today is the last day of our trip and I can honestly say it’s the best vacation we’ve ever had! The ship is beautiful and for a first timer it’s really amazing! We have had the best service we’ve had anywhere and really have been treated like royalty. As for feeling Nickel and dimed that has been the case at times. I did end up getting my nails done and was told that I really needed an eye cream, serum and mask all for close to 200.00. I said no thank you and she continued to tell me what I was using wasn’t good. 1 day later all of my nails are chipped so I’ll never do that again. We checked 3 bags of luggage and all 3 were lost the first day. We ended up getting them close to 11pm.

As for the cleanliness of the ship it has seemed to be very clean with some areas of wear as to be expected. We had an issue with roaches climbing up the wall in our room, but they came and took care of that. We did have an issue with a massage we booked late one night that was supposed to be a couples massage for the next morning but the masseuse was sick so they told us they could only do separate rooms and when we asked to cancel she refused saying she’d charge us half. That was ridiculous as it wasn’t our fault the girl got sick. Guest services took care of everything and got the 140.00 fee taken off.

 

 

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Roaches climbing up the walls of your stateroom?

Has anyone ever done the "Copán Discovery" tour with Royal in Roatan? It's pricey but, it was 15% off last weekend. I can't seem to find anything on it other than what Royal has on their page. It's one day where my wife and kids don't want to get off the ship so I can do "whatever" I want. Seems like the ideal day to check out more ruins without a 3 year old running wild. I can't seem to find the excursion reviewed on any sites via Google either. I'm wondering if it just ends up cancelled most of the time.

If I still have any readers left, my sincerest apologies. Life with my son got crazy busy in December. Then around the holidays I met someone and all of my free time went to him. But I have since ended that relationship and now I'm ready to FINISH THIS THING.

 

One thing that became overwhelming was the time it took to reply to every poster. I hate to have someone get ignored whenever they say something witty or complimentary, so replying to each person became quite time-consuming. If I don't reply to everyone, then I am more willing to keep on top of this.

 

The entire report is written, it's just a matter of dedicating my personal time to post. Which I promise to do!

 

For those that stuck around all these months, thank you. And...I'm sorry.

Saweet! I just finished all 17 pages this afternoon and this will be my... Eh, don't remember what number solo cruise in September. I LOVE THEM!

Late to the party but, resortforaday is usually my first stop looking for excursions, used them many many times, especially in Jamaica. You have nothing to worry about with them!

I'll second that it's not as hard as everyone makes it out to be to cruise with a little one. We took ours at 8 months, no problems. She was the center of attention at dinner, loved to nap on deck in the stroller, and we caught up on sleep most nights because she was out at 8. We also brought grandma and stayed in a Crown Loft which helped, so grandma watched her two of the seven nights so we could get out. Even though there is a bit of a premium, contrary to what was said, you can purchase diapers, wipes, food, etc in advance of the cruise on Royal's site. It saved us packing space, we only packed the few diapers she needed for embarkation, and a tub of dry formula among her other things. We didn't take her to the theater shows or anything but, we were on Allure so she checked out the aquatheater and did her cooing with the characters on-board. It was a great time in all honesty just to get away. The only time we were stressed the whole week was on disembarkation. She wasn't ready to get up and the lines were long which proved interesting, otherwise it was fine. Customs got us out in a hurry when we finally made it to customs, they didn't have to but, I'm sure they didn't want to hear her crying.

massfriends,

 

You educated me again! :) I didn't know the program was only 2 years old. That means that on my previous cruises it didn't exist yet - so that explains why I wasn't told by the staff. That said I have to say that the dealers have always been VERY nice on all the RC cruises I have been on. I have been treated to free drinks on occasion from the dealers and pit bosses based on my tipping and overall action (both of which were high compared to the average players around me), which I know is not the norm. So overall, I have been very happy with the Casino Royale. I may wait for RC to get the program in better order and consider taking advantage of it.

The program has been around a heck of a lot longer than two years. I've been a member for over 4 now. It changed names and benefits/features when they hooked up with MLife. I didn't ask to be entered, the casino manager came up to me while I was playing cards, and I was playing $25 a hand but, for much longer than two hours. My friend and I went on the cruise specifically to gamble and get away....

The perks are great if you can get in, discounted rooms through a special booking number that outpace any of the tier discounts, free drinks, on-board gaming money. I would say that you have to be on the cruise to gamble to get in though, I literally was gaming $25 a hand for probably 6 hours a day and they came up to me on the 5th day with the paperwork and a collared shirt.

Did you have a thread for your first cruise with your 8 month old? We are cruising with our 7 month old on the Allure of the Seas in two weeks! :) We are seasoned cruisers but, never with a 7 month old... Her first cruise! (Wonder if she'll get some free artwork at the first time cruiser party.. :p)

I'd agree, the site has been out to lunch a good bit of the day. Prices were halved on a cruise I was checking for all of 3 or 4 minutes, refreshed the page, back up to the price I was expecting. Their CTO/CIO whatever needs to be canned if he can't get this straightened out. Their website has been horrid since the changes and it wasn't great before the changes. Don't know where their priorities are but, you would think they would be on the website... :cool:

Sad to hear that you have had negative experiences on Disney. As I mentioned we have had no issues of any kind on our 20+ cruises on DCL. As far as cost, I have never spent that much more on DCL - 5 to 10% more maybe but not more than that. We always book a verandah (accessible) most often. When I calculate the free soda and the ability to bring my own booze it's a break even for us. :D

Ah yes, forgot the free booze!

I'm loyal to Royal and loyal to Disney. I hate to say it but, they are two different things. The "broadway" style shows are far and away 10x better than Royal. They show any Disney labeled movies onboard the ship starting release day in US theaters, sometimes there are special pre-release previews. The adult areas on Dream and Fantasy are revolutionary with changing skylines to different cities all around the world. The fireworks are fantastic and the water "coaster" is quite a blast on Dream and Fantasy. I was recently on the Magic refurb and their new slide was fantastic also. The theming on the mini golf is great and I've always found the staff to be phenomenal. Free soda also, none of this soda/juice package nonsense.

Royal certainly has a leg up on number of bars, different entertainment venues, and the casino but, I can't agree many other places. I love both and can't stand Carnival... To each their own! :D

Thanks for the phone number. I called and was told that C&A does not offer discounted upgrades. The only upgrades are through the Revenue Dept and are complimentary (which seems to be the opposite of what others on this thread are reporting).

 

Maybe I'll call back later?;);)

I've called twice this past week and was told the same thing. They said revenue now controls the upgrades... Eh...

For those of you that have received this upgrade option, were you booked through a TA or RCL?

I was wondering the same thing. My bet is they booked with RCL in most cases? The TA's are commissioned so I wonder what would happen if they upgraded your room when you're with a TA.... Hmmm. :confused:

Keep it coming! I'm enjoying every second of the review! :)