tvisser

On Harmony now. The wait time for the elevator basically depends on traffic (and location). Longer wait during peak times such as after shows and some meal times.

Shorter wait times early in the morning, evenings, and during times in port.

Even the longer waits are no more than a minute or two.

 

But hey, who's in a rush?

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

I was on this same week and agree with this post. We often took the stairs because we choose to and sometimes because of the crowded elevators. One trick, if you want to go up, push down, get in, push deck level you want, and you can get in before others that are still waiting on the deck you started at when it goes back up based on my example.

We were on HOS this past week. Our check in time said 1 - 1:30 and we were on by 11:15. If we would have gone earlier, we could have been on even earlier. Not enforced last week....someday, it may. No one could tell me why a time frame is given or when it will be enforced from those I asked.

We do this for every cruise. I usually will provide the ship name, sailing date, reservation number and my request. It usually takes 2 to 3 days for them to respond with confirmation and you usually see the forwarded email to the ship dining operation usually within the same day you sent your email. I have sent my email as much as 1 week in advance up to 4 weeks in advance and never an issue. If you know of a good head waiter on a ship you can provide their name in your request.

Interesting post. I also like to tip for above and beyond service for the whole week to those that did make an effort to make our vacation even more special. If you do this as well, how much extra do you give? We discussed anything from 20% extra based on what we paid that week already to an extra $100.00 for excellent service.

Hi everyone! I picked this hotel based on many recommendations from this site. Thank you for your input. We are looking at the current food options around this hotel and have a few questions I hope you can answer.

• Does Hampton still provide fee ride to the area restaurants?
  
• Which restaurants have you tried and really like and which would you avoid?
  

I have looked at Hampton's website and looked at the surrounding area hotels and starting to read menus, reviews, etc. Thanks for your help!

You may also want to post this on the Florida Departures forum:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

Thanks Bob!

Hi everyone! I picked this hotel based on many recommendations from this site. Thank you for your input. We are looking at the current food options around this hotel and have a few questions I hope you can answer.

1. Does Hampton still provide fee ride to the area restaurants?
   
2. Which restaurants have you tried and really like and which would you avoid?
   

I have looked at Hampton's website and looked at the surrounding area hotels and starting to read menus, reviews, etc. Thanks for your help!

Blue - what tour are you referring to here: (sounds like something we would want to do!) Which beach do they stop at?

 

 

If you decide to go to STJ, consider an island tour with amazing views of the north shore beaches and get dropped st the beach for a couple hours. Total cost is ~$66pp and well worth it!

We did this back in late 80's and to this day I feel St. John's is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. I took many images (film days) and the film got lost at the developer and lost all of the images but those that I can remember. I said, when we get back to St. Thomas area I want to do the island tour in St. John's again. I have reservations since the hurricane and was wondering if anyone has done this recently can describe the conditions.

We had lost our luggage once on an overseas vacation due to flight delays and cancellations. When we got our bag our clothes were wet. We have since always place a garbage bag on the bottom of suitcase, then clothes and another garbage bag over the clothes. We have not had a problem since. If you have hard sided suitcase, this is a non issue. We are slowly migrating to hard sided.

I think that they mass emailed that to everyone.

I have never gotten an email with specials. It shows for ours on Harmony for August 18.

All, quick update. First, thanks for all of the feedback and your experiences. This has helped us. We believe we have it narrowed down to Gate1 and 16 Day Gems of Southeast Asia. This is part of their small group discovery tour that visits Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It starts in Phnom Penh, then fly to Siem Reap, then fly to Bangkok, then fly to Luang Prabang and finally a flight into Hanoi. The multiple flights was a concerned at the beginning until I researched further and all are at most 55 to 65 minutes with one from Bangkok to Luan Prabang being the longest, almost 2 hours if memory serves me well.

We have narrowed it down to this as we like the engagement within the local culture to get more of a feel. We are going to fly in a day early and currently are thinking about going to WildLife Alliance in Phnom Penh.

We are planning on going in March based on research of weather for these locations. One location, Siem Reap, may be close to 100 degrees which will be the warmest we saw in any of these locations.

The price does not appear to be too bad for what we are getting. Has anyone done this trip? Any experience in Phnom Penh that you have had good or bad? Tours or things you have done or wished you would have?

Thank you everyone that have commented so far. This trip does require a lot of research and we appreciate your comments and help.

Ashland: Thanks for the information regarding Affordable Asia. We have not heard of them before. How are they and how many times have you used them? How do they compare to others if you have researched?

1ballerina: we have not considered a cruise from the big boys. Something for this trip we are trying to avoid. We want to get more immersed into the culture and save time from not having to fly too much either that wastes hours of your limited trip. I would check the US Visa office as they would be able to help provide guidance on what countries you are considering requires visas and for what lengths. It may also depend on how you are entering their country and for how long. Not sure, but something I am thinking in regards to your cruise and going to a port.

tommui987 - we have never cruised on Viking, need to research them some. Have you been to those areas previously and if so how and what did you learn that can you can share?

Philob: Have you used a land tour in China and if so, who and what was your experience?

Deval: Cool, another we have not heard of, we will look into them. Have you used them before?

At this point in time, I think we are leaning towards Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Not sure if we can do all three but that is what we are researching still. But it is still early. Any companies you have used for these you would recommend? Avoid? Any cities you would avoid or recommend?

Thanks again!

My wife and I are excited and overwhelmed with the many options available to us for Asia trip. I am really looking for help and guidance as I am starting to plan for our 30th wedding anniversary in May 2019. We want to go somewhere more exoctic than what we have done in the past. Those have been US based trips, cruises and all inclusive to caribbean, Canada, Hawaii (yes US), Europe from London, to Paris, to Rome, to Venice, to Amsterdam, Antwerp, etc, and have been on African safari.

Our initial thinking is somewhere in Asia, more specifically but not limited to China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. We are open to River Cruise, Bus Tour, Flight from city to city, or any combination thereof. We are planning 14 -21 days and would like to end the trip in one of the nice Romantic Thailand, Bali or Maldives, etct islands for a few days. We also would like to experience what the locals do and any tour companies that help with planning activities with locals would be interested in hearing.

We would like what you have experienced, what you liked, did not and would change if you were to do it again. Where you went, what you did and what tour company you did it through and when did you go and when should you go.

Can't wait to learn from your experience and sharing ideas.

My wife and I are excited and overwhelmed with the many options available to us for Asia trip. I am really looking for help and guidance as I am starting to plan for our 30th wedding anniversary in May 2019. We want to go somewhere more exoctic than what we have done in the past. Those have been US based trips, cruises and all inclusive to caribbean, Canada, Hawaii (yes US), Europe from London, to Paris, to Rome, to Venice, to Amsterdam, Antwerp, etc, and have been on African safari.

Our initial thinking is somewhere in Asia, more specifically but not limited to China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. We are open to River Cruise, Bus Tour, Flight from city to city, or any combination thereof. We are planning 14 -21 days and would like to end the trip in one of the nice Romantic Thailand, Bali or Maldives, etct islands for a few days. We also would like to experience what the locals do and any tour companies that help with planning activities with locals would be interested in hearing.

We would like what you have experienced, what you liked, did not and would change if you were to do it again. Where you went, what you did and what tour company you did it through and when did you go and when should you go.

Can't wait to learn from your experience and sharing ideas.

Was on this ship last week and I agree with previous post and is Europe plug.

We just booked the Guacamole class

 

Thank you for the feedback

 

Noreen

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

No Problem. I hope you enjoy the Guac class. We did an excursion in Cozumel that was called Salsa and Margaritas and we enjoyed it a lot. We did make Guac and it was a fun class, good margaritas (and I am not a fan of margaritas)and learned to salsa a little. Saying it in case you are interested in something different activity.

We did the cupcake class as it came with our stateroom from TA. It fills up quickly and you should to the cupcake store and pick your day and time. There were 8 or 10 in the class. We made a shaggy dog. They tell you how to do it and let you do what you can. My wife and I enjoyed it but probably would not pay for it, but then again, it was something to do. If you have young kids they would enjoy it.

It is an easy walk and faster than the trams if all are able to walk.

Cool, you will enjoy it. We are going on HOS August 18 sailing. When are you going?

My wife and I did it on Allure and was part of our package via TA. You will need to sign up first day for your time during the week if you get coupon from TA. We made a shaggy dog. There were 10 I believe for each session. We had fun. The class was about 45 min.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Marc is great, but he only just started on Harmony a few weeks ago and is used to smaller ships (did the 3/4 day cruises from Port C for many years), so it's unlikely that he will be as visible on Harmony vs. Enchantment or Majesty.

 

Cut Mitch some slack, because on Oasis Class ships, there is a lot more admin to do, and the job is much greater. Therefore, the CD will be less visible. In addition, as Bob said, the format of shows are different. They still run the traditional events (L&M, Quest etc), but are less out there than on smaller ships.

 

As I indicated in my post, it was an observation for both Oasis and Allure. They all do those things on the other ships as well.

 

They still do run the show however, and if you view the CD as important (like me), then they are important. On our HM B2B last year, Abe Hughes added a lot to the cruise and created a fun atmosphere onboard, only for it to be sucked out the following week by Bobby Brown, and if reviews indicated anything, he didn't improve after I left. Hopefully Marc has sucked the fun back into the activities and general atmosphere onboard the Harmony.

Yes, I do think the CD helps make the week more enjoyable. That is why I posted my observation about Oasis class ships the CD is not as visible, hence, less enjoyable. We hope Marc is helping in that regard when we sail in August. Thank you for your comments.

The CD was noticeably less visible to us on Oasis and Allure. The shows are non-traditional, no welcome aboard, no farewell. It's just a different experience.

Yes it is, thanks for the post, Bob.

We have been on several RCCL cruises and the only CD that stood out was Ken Rush. We saw him on Freedom and then Liberty. Both times he was very good. He was visible, funny, interacted in many of the activities, approachable, etc. I do not recall who we had on Oasis and last November on Allure we had Mitch Merucci when he just got back off of break. I do not recall seeing him much. I thought he was OK but nothing like Ken Rush.

With the new Oasis class ships, has the CD become less visible? What are your thoughts in regards to CD? It appears in August on Harmony we will have Marc Walker. Any thoughts on him in comparison to Ken and Mitch? What are your thoughts on CD? How important is it for CD on the Oasis class ships?

We are looking at this excursion for when we are in port in August 2018. This looks like a lot of fun and was wondering if anyone has done it and what the experience was like. How long do you get to do it? How good of shape do you need to be in? How good does your balance need to be? Should we start yoga? :D My wife and I are in our mid 50's and daugher in mid 20's. I have read some of the reviews on TripAdvisor and appears that most have a great experience.

I'm not planning to "stream" anything anyway - not even sure what that is ...:o

In November I used the streaming part for football games on Saturday and Sunday. Worked great! I thought there would be some lag time (buffering, spinning wheel) but never occurred and it was an at sea day both times.