cruzgryphon

I've always found the MCO to Port Canaveral RC transfers to be pretty good. They set the buses off in waves - as soon as they have enough people for a bus, they load it up and send it to the Port (and vice versa). I've always found the staff at the airport very friendly and easy to find. Finding seats/ chairs while waiting to board the bus is another issue - but it isn't a RC issue.

Waterproof shoes - either waterproof a pair of sneakers or get hiking shoes that are waterproof. Water pants as well - don't get too hot and pack very easily. Alaska weather can change in a second - one minute it's bright and sunny, then the next minutes it's a down pore.

It is old, but I think Access San Francisco is the best ever written.

 

Other than that it depends on your temperament. The people who love Fodor's are different than those who like Lonely Planet.

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll look into it.

I thought the port of Seattle was starting a luggage transfer service?

 

Read it here not too long ago.

Yeah there are a couple of threads about it on the West Coast departure boards. Maybe it's different from luggage valet....

Hi, all. My husband and I are sailing on the Explorer of the Seas in Seattle for the Pacific coastal cruise September 15-22 (Friday-Friday). We're not new to Royal but have never sailed through Seattle before. How early can we arrive/embark? The ship is scheduled to leave at 4 pm. Trying to plan our transportation for the morning. Also, our flight home leaves Friday out of Seattle at 11:15 am. (Ship arrives at 6 am) Planning on doing luggage valet on ship and then carrying off small bags with first group. Will we be able to easily get a cab or would a car service be better? Does anyone have any other suggestions as far as transportation goes? Thank you so much!

Hi,

I'm on that sailing as well and we have a really active roll call going. Lots of the people on the roll call have done this sailing before and have lots of good advice. If you haven't joined yet here's the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2322249

Come join and ask away.

Another fun thing for her to do is to ask the bar tenders to make up a virgin drink (e.g. something not on the bar list) for her that will fit with the refreshment package. They get really creative and come up with some really tasty stuff.

I stayed there this past May, I thought it was a nice hotel. I think there are too parts to the hotel if I'm correct, there is the tower looking hotel you see from the road and then there is a weird part to lower rooms - just ask for the tower if they've been updated. the lower rooms are nice, but just weird getting to it - I know this doesn't make sense, but hope it helps., But it is so nice, just getting on the tram and goes right to the hotel.

Thanks very much for the great feedback and suggestion. Will definitely keep it in mind if my plans work out the way I hope they will next April.

I've seen it on European cruises - Mediterranean cruises a few times (not all). Haven't seen it on any Caribbean cruises so far. Often times if it is available, it won't be available online on Cruise Planner, but you can get it on the ship. So if you're sailing the Caribbean - I wouldn't count on it being available.

Hi all,

I looked for reviews but couldn't find any. Has anyone taken tours with Best Bay Area Tours in San Francisco and what did you think of them. Were they at the cruise terminal on time, what were the tours like? They have pretty good reviews on Trip Advisor, but I wanted to get some cruiser perspectives on them. TIA

Pretty much all my cruises right now are solo as I can't get my schedule and my friends' schedules to line up. For a solo traveller I suggest late traditional dining at a large table. They usually try and seat solo travellers/ friends travelling together at the same table. I've met some great people that way. Also remember if you don't feel comfortable with your table mates - ask to be moved. They don't always get it right the first time but if the maitr'd knows you're travelling solo, I've found that they try and look out for you. Another suggestion if you're into trivia go to the trivia sessions. They have teams with up to 6 people and usually I just show up and see who wants an extra. Again met some great people that way. Depending on the sailing, the diamond lounge cocktail hours can be a nice way to meet people and chat. But I find that is always a little more hit and miss.

Enjoy - you'll have lots of fun!! :D

I usually get my bags before muster drill (I typically arrive at the port around 12:30pm to board so I can get to my cabin and dump my stuff before going for lunch). If I'm getting angsty after waiting a little bit, I'll mention it to my cabin steward and typically they are able to locate it quickly and get it to my cabin.

Every now and then you'll hear about assigned boarding times and Royal Caribbean. Usually it comes up when people get an email with suggested boarding times. Have never seen it enforced (someone asked the port staff about it once and they said they didn't know anything about it). Go with whatever is convenient for you :D

The onboard credit rate for our next cruise on the Brilliance is $1.32 today (Sunday, since Friday when the banks closed). Login to your Cruise Planner and hover over the interactive 'i" beside the onboard credit line (if you have some) at the top of the page.

 

The Cruise Planner drop-down window says:

 

TODAY'S EXCHANGE RATE

 

Today's onboard credit exchange rate is listed below. This exchange rate can fluctuate until you make your first purchase using onboard credit. At that time, your exchange rate will be locked. 1USD > 1.32CAD

 

I understand this to mean that rate would be locked in for all other onboard charges, like tips. I'll check the rate tomorrow and am thinking about ordering a coffee card to lock in the rate. Would buy one for DH anyway. Awhile back, it was $1.37 and I didn't bite!

Let us know what you find out about other onboard charges. It will be interesting to see if they offer the same good exchange rate or if the rate you mentioned is just for OBC.

We booked hotel and transfer through RC so can't be sure.

 

You may have to return to airport to pick transfer up there. This would not be too difficult using the underground train. We took a little trip back to the airport prior to catching the transfer coach as we wanted to speak to the airline about our return flight..takes minutes.

Great!! Thanks for the information - something I'll definitely have to look into :)

Some times (not all) when I've gotten that message I've switched to a different browser and it has worked.

On another ship me and some others were able to get into one of the main dining rooms and use a table to play cards for a few hours (2 or 3 if I remember correctly). That might work for you.

Sounds like a good plan. We have done this previously.

 

The hotel is quite old but has had some refurbishment.. There is nowhere to walk for last minute forgotten items, but the first time there we were able to purchase wine/ snacks from inhouse shop at $19. Second time shop was being refurbished so not possible. Soft drinks were available to buy at Reception. You would have time to take taxi early morning if desperate, to a store.

 

Hotel offered a very good buffet breakfast for $20 per person. Not sure restaurant would be open when you arrive and didn't use room service as we had eaten on international fight.

 

Rooms are clean and comfortable. Garden to sit in morning whilst waiting for transfer/ get some air. No aircraft noise in our room. Not a lot to look at except planes.

 

Hotel is accessed from airport via small, free underground shuttle(about 5 mins). RC also had a meet and greet with bus transfer. Free wi fi in lobby

 

Royal Caribbean transfer was well organised. Collected bags and coach transfer about 1.5 hours, including pick up of passengers arriving at airport. Got to port about 1pm

 

We would do this again if on tight schedule, but now retired so can fly in earlier and enjoy few days both pre and post cruise at Galveston

 

We enjoyed Liberty of Seas. Hope you do too.

Thanks so much for the information. Just to confirm, if I just get the RC Transfer (not the hotel from RC), they will make a pick up at the hotel itself without me having to go to the airport itself to meet the transfer?

This has come up a couple of times before (can't find the links to the other threads). Basically they are charging you for the two large bottles of water (they are likely sloppy in checking your cabin at the end of the cruise to see if you actually used them or not). It has happened to a few of us. Wouldn't bother with C&A desk if they said you would have to prove that you didn't use the bottles of water. Most people have had luck calling regular customer service and having the charges reversed.

Hi all,

Did a search but didn't come up with anything on this topic. I have a late arriving flight (11:30pm) the night before a cruise (Liberty of the Seas) and was thinking the best option would be to stay at the Marriott at IAH and then take ship transfer to Galveston the next morning. I was wondering if anyone has stayed at the Marriott at IAH (I'm assuming it is onsite at the airport) and if you did, what you thought of it? Any other options to consider?

TIA :)

More interesting is that I completed the survey before the dead line but it was never posted..... The review was not favorable to the room that we had but the rest of the review was very good we just had a bad location.

What do you mean by not posted? The RCL surveys are for internal RCL purposes only and aren't posted on any external facing sites that I'm aware of.

Try using a different browser. I've encountered the same problem you've encountered a few times and it worked fine when I switched browsers (IE to Chrome or vice versa).

One tip if you're going to get a beach towel from the ship. If you get it as you're exiting the ship they will swipe your card. When you return it when you get back on the ship they sometimes don't swipe it correctly and you end up with a charge at the end of the cruise for the beach towel. I always try and get it from the pool deck the night before (on a lot, but not all, ships they don't scan your card when you get it from the pool deck).

There was another thread about the coffee card a little while ago. A few people asked different RCL customer service contacts (web, phone, facebook) and what came back is that each punch represents a shot of espresso. So if you have a drink with 2 shots of espresso (such as a medium potentially) it will count as two shots. At the time of the thread (sorry can't find it right now) it seemed some ships were following the official policy and some ships weren't. Wouldn't be surprised if head office has stepped in and told ships to enforce the official policy. That being said it wouldn't hurt to ask on the ship what their policy is. Bottom line is don't buy the card ahead of time.

If you're interested in pre-cruise hotel you need to call them. For some strange reason they don't offer it on the website. Also they don't have it for all ports - typically just the larger ones (at least in Europe).

We are in the same situation, but our flight leaves at 11:55 pm. We've decided to rent a car (partly to store luggage) & take in sights we might have missed pre-cruise & spend the day at the Museum of Flight. Since we'll have the evening as well, we thought about taking the ferry to Bainbridge, then head to the airport.

The museum of Flight is great you get to listen in on a real control tower communicating with airplanes taking off and landing!!