balanceok

No reason to get political, but I am of the opinion that this will extend well into summer.

Just my opinion.

21 hours ago, GenerationX said:

 

Happy to help!  I was surprised the party was during the day as well. On my last cruise it was in the evening but on this one it was at 12:30.  We had a little paper in our stateroom at embarkation with all the captains club events for the week.  Sharing it below. Also here’s the laundry information you requested!

Don't they also offer a bag of laundry at a set price like RCI??

Fantastic review and congratulations on your Honeymoon.

We board the Solstice on Sept 13 and also booked Aqua Class. We'll be in cabin #1518. Looking forward to your comments on the food and service in Blu and the Persian Garden facilities.

Your review is helping us endure the wait. Thanks again.

22 hours ago, Ozzmund said:

 

No free steam room., just the free sauna.

 

You have to have access to the Persian Gardens in order to use the co-ed steam room.

I guess upgrading to Aqua Class will prove its worth.

Thanks./

Do they also have a free steam room??

Do we need to be up on deck or with the view from our balcony be enough??

On 6/30/2019 at 7:03 AM, edinburgher said:

Kotor itself is very easy to DIY and a lovely town to wander around. Full of tiny narrow streets and many little squares, no real need for an excursion here. Plenty online info about history etc. Read and/or print before you leave home.

 

Can also take either the public bus or a taxi the short distance to Perast (which is incredibly tiny but pretty) Boatmen are there to take you the short distance across to Our Lady of the Rocks. You will see Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks on the sail in.

 

Do get up early for the sail in. It really is beautiful. We have visited twice, and each time the sail in was much more tranquil and had better light than the afternoon sail out, when the sunshine was too strong.

We appreciate your post too, as it has helped me make the decision to just DIY this port.

Thanks.

We will be arriving in Lahaina Maui in September on the Celebrity Solstice and I'm wondering if there is a beach or nearby resort where we can just rent a couple of beach chairs and an umbrella like in the Caribbean.

I would appreciate any recommendations or suggestions.

Thanks.

We recently booked only our second cruise on Celebrity and took advantage of some great pricing to upgrade to Aqua Class on the Solstice.

Would love some insight on Blu, the Persian Garden and other perks for Aqua Class, specifically for the Solstice.

Thanks so much.

Question about the self-serve laundry for those of you that have been on similar Princess ships:

Do the machines have automatic soap dispensers within the machine or do we need to bring detergent pods?

13 minutes ago, stoneharborlady said:

Am I wrong in thinking the soda package includes tips?

On RCI, when you purchase the soda package, the charge includes tips.

Love the Freestyle machines on RCI, so this is great news to me.

I enjoy my Diet Coke without caffeine, so this is definitely not a "dumbing down" move imho.

We board the Sky Princess on November 3, 2019 for a 28-day Mediterranean & Transatlantic cruise. 

This will be the first time we've cruised such a new ship. We're not on her inaugural cruise, but pretty close. I'm just hoping she gets completed on schedule so that there are no hitches in our travel plans.

You'll probably get more responses if you post this question on the Roll-Call page for your specific cruise.

On 4/8/2019 at 7:58 PM, mammap said:

Is there any good snorkeling off OB???    Just curious

 

I've never considered Orient a place to snorkel. If that's your primary interest, I'm sure there are better beaches.

On 3/20/2019 at 9:47 AM, SnorkelAway said:

That is the universal definition of "clothing optional."  Complete nudity is permitted on a clothing optional beach.  Female toplessness is a different issue.  Female toplessness is legal on all beaches french-side.

Been to Orient Beach countless times and based on our experience, you will see nudity at every point of the beach. Some is topless and others are fully nude strolling up and down the beach.

14 hours ago, pamwigs said:

Are any of the 3 beaches you listed, clothing optional?

Thanks

I think all of Orient Beach is clothing optional.

I don’t want to minimize the damage that was done to this beach, but did want to provide an update. Just spent the day there and it was as beautiful as ever.

We arrived at around 9:30 am and there weren’t very many people. But by 10:30 - 11:00 the beach was as busy as we’ve ever seen it.

There are now three beach clubs open:

Bikini Beach

Kon-Tiki

Kakao Beach

The three are separated by some distance. All have restaurants and bars with comfortable lounge chairs and umbrellas. The lounge chairs are all new and super comfortable. We spent the day at Bikini Beach club. Two chairs with an umbrella were $30. Restrooms were clean and nice.

There were plenty of taxi cabs. Cost is $9 pp if there are four of you. $8 pp if there are six. And $25 for two.

It was a bit windy today and there seemed to be a bit more sea grass than usual, but we love Orient and are so grateful to see it coming back to life. Still a lot of ruin and construction in the condos and business in the area, but the beach is great.

Times are really good in the cruise industry right now, so if changes are going to be made, now is the time they will make them. Don’t be surprised to see further reduction in member benefits.

We don’t drink alcohol, so I have no real interest in the DL, other than its a nice place to read and relax on colder weather cruises. My favorite perk is the free wash & fold laundry service. That and the balcony discount will keep me grateful.  And hopefully, we won’t see those limited.

We’re on Adventure right now and our cabin reward was six bottles of water and a tray of cookies. An additional dessert tray will come later in the week and then a fruit platter. They also still offer the bath robes, which we decline, and bathroom amenities.

We cruise RCI because we like their product. I consider the D+ benefits as a bonus and am grateful for the few we get. But we don’t hesitate to book on other lines where the deal or itinerary makes it inviting. No reason to cruise exclusively on RCI and miss this opportunities. 

Unfortunately, Veracruz is no longer the safest place to visit.

Thank goodness! My wife and I did not enjoy the flee bites while sitting on the lounge chairs in the pool area near a service dog.

I understand they are often necessary and that’s fine with me, but precautions should be taken.

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I’m still surprised that RCI has been so slow to catch on to the importance of mattresses and bedding. HAL and Princess made the change over years ago. RCI mattresses are very uncomfortable and I can generally sleep fine on a firm mattress.

Worst part of cruising RCI. I wonder if Celebrity mattresses are the same.

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I don’t know about HAL, but on Royal Caribbean they upgraded our status on the second leg of the B2B when we moved up. They just added a sticker to our card and changed it in the system. I spoke to the rep on the ship to get it done. I assume HAL would do the same.

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Following.

We'll be on the Adventure in February for a B2B.

Thanks for your review.

:cool:

Now we always eat in the main dining room when we sail, and our children do quite well eating there. We eat out regularly at home, and I feel confident our kids know how to sit quietly and not make a mess when they're dining out. That being said, as soon as we were seated, there was a table of 4 sitting behind us that made it quite clear they weren't thrilled to see our children on the ship. They were probably in their 60's and 70's, and commented quite loudly, "I can't imagine why they'd bring their children on this cruise. What can there be to interest children on a ship like this? They must just be the type of people that travel with their children simply for virtue."

 

Now, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty shocked to overhear this and it did make me nervous about my children possibly not behaving just perfectly throughout their meal! This was the first time I felt that perhaps it was a mistake to book this cruise...We enjoy the quieter, smaller ship atmosphere and our children are very well behaved. In fact, the party ships make us feel a bit uncomfortable. At the same time, I kind of worried we'd be under the microscope and people would think because we had young children, that they would disrupt their meal somehow.

 

We also believe that traveling with our kids is a valuable education, in and of itself. Showing them different parts of the world, encouraging them to taste different types of food, and learning about people who look and live differently than they do is very valuable! So while the ship may have not been full of crazy adventures for little ones, it was important to us to take them along so they could experience and learn something new. We've traveled with our kids since they were infants. My son added his 36th country to his list of places visited on this vacation, and I don't believe for a second that we'll ever regret that!

 

.

Loving your review and so sorry you ran into a group of snobs on the ship. Those kind steal a lot more from cruise enjoyment than children ever do.

We'll be on the Rotterdam next month, so I'm anxious for your updates. Thanks.