Cruise Betty

We were on Silhouette Eastern Med and Israel cruise 29th September. Guest entertainers were excellent, with special mention for Jayne Curry who is wonderful. Production shows however were the worst I can remember. All very young and enthusiastic, trying so hard but couldn't make sense of them and not keen on the music.The singers seemed weaker than usual too. We were so disappointed with Pearl that we didn't go to the second one at all. Everyone we spoke to was not impressed with it. Went to last one-Life, but came out early. I have never done that before.

Incidentally one guest entertainer didn't make it on board because of a family emergency and the cruise director Sue Denning did a one woman show at a days notice and was amazing. Maybe the best cruise director around. Not many could have carried that off so well I think.

Incidentally other than the production shows I could not find fault with that cruise. It was one of the best .

Anyone know how many formal nights there will be on 12 night Brilliance cruise leaving this Friday from Barcelona? This cruise is to eastern Med, Santorini ,Mykonos etc.

How about side balconies on Brilliance?

How about storage for clothes though? How much space is there on shelves etc?

We are on Brilliance 30 June for 12 nights with two grandsons ,E1 balcony. I am a bit concerned about stateroom storage! Never been on a Radiance class ship before. We usually go with Celebrity. Never had more than two in stateroom either but that doesn't really bother me. I will make sure two cases fit into other two and hopefully will go under the bed? But maim concern is space for clothes!

I have adult tickets for Colisseum purchased on line- 5. Official website would not let me order 2 euro free tickets for 3 children st the same time- said it exceeded max. I booked these separately and there is no option to get the tickets. You just get a voucher which has to be handed over on site- presumably so they can check children are actually children?

What I was wondering was how this will affect queuing. Presumably we won't have to join queue to buy tickets?

I could never drink enough to justify a drinks package and doubt DH could either.We will bring wine on board anyway and get son in law and daughter to do the same though they are not wine drinkers. Will try to make the most of Diamond drinks though it's a tricky one because the rest are not Diamond.

Johnjen, don't think it applies to drinks onboard as they are for consumption during the voyage.Likewise food and drink packages. It would however I think apply to bottles of alcohol sold by RC which would be delivered to take home at the end of the voyage which I think was the reason Celebrity simply cleared the drink store last year.

Biggest problem would be that every item sold in onboard shops would be subject to the VAT ,including photos .

Johnjen,where were you originally from in Scotland? We actually have a reverse situation in our family. My sisters husband is from California and was originally in the US navy. He retired after 22 years in the navy and has lived and worked in Scotland for the last 13 years.They are not on this cruise however but my daughter and son in law with their 3 boys aged 11,9 and 6 will be. The 11 year old plays the bagpipes ( but doubt he will have them with him!!!)

We were impacted by this on Celebrity Equinox last May and I think it is indeed the case that this is a Spanish issue for ships departing from and returning to a Spanish port, without calling at any non EU port.

Spanish VAT at 21% was definitely added to all items sold in the ships shops, all photos and photo packages for instance.Dont think it affected speciality restaurants and drinks packages , tours etc. ,anything I suppose for onboard use or consumption so to speak.

The complexities that Spanish customs were going to involve meant however that that no bottles of alcohol at all were on sale on the ship . They just cleared the whole section into storage so that it was not even on display.

Incidentally this was when I realised for the first time that the Channel Islands are not in the EU! Met a couple from there who were going to be able therefore to reclaim the VAT on their purchases.

Just had an email from our TA forwarding on email from RC advising that Kusadasi had been dropped from all 2017 itineraries. Ours ( 30 th June from Barcelona) has been replaced with Mykonos. I have been to Kusadasi several times before ( Mykonos too) and my first reaction was that it makes no real difference. But DH has just pointed out that with no non EU port now on the itinerary , for sailings from Barcelona RC will have to charge Spanish Vat on all sales/ services on board. Non EU citizens will I think be able to claim this back at the end of the cruise but the rest of us will have to pay much more for purchases on board.

Thanks Bob.

Anyone know what current Diamond benefits are on Brilliance?

It also occurs to me that I have never cruised the Med at the beginning of July.How many children are there likely to be on board then? The Scottish schools are on holiday but that would not be a big deal. English schools do not come off till mid July. But how about American ones and European?

Also I presume it will be quite hot though hopefully not so bad as August.

Thanks for all the feedback. I think that Brilliance is the way to go here though the problem is if I'm honest my heart is always with Celebrity!

Brilliance is also a 12 night cruise and imo a better itinerary. So sad that X withdrew Equinox from Europe for 2017. Was on her in May and had a great cruise. They have really cut the choices for 2017 Europe.

DH and I want to take our daughter and her husband with three boys,who will be 6,9 and 11 on a Med cruise late June,July next year.

We usually cruise with Celebrity and are Elite captains club. Are considering Reflection and RC Brilliance of the Seas. How do the children's clubs and outdoor areas/ pool access etc compare?

Curious to know at what age a child should start tipping?!

Yes, but what I really meant was do they in general get to go with Diamond grandmother to Diamond events because they are in same stateroom?!! If there are any such events!!

Do grandchildren travelling with Diamond member in same stateroom get to go in to Diamond lounge etc?

Is Beringer White Zinfandel not on the Diamond menu any more? Is was when we were on Splendour last October and is my favourites!

DH and I were also in 8084 ,on the 24th October Greek Islands sailing from Venice. This was our first RCI cruise although we were Diamond equivalent to our Celebrity Elite status. I was not sure how I would like Splendour being the smallest and oldest ship I have ever been on but I absolutely loved her.The ship is beautiful and well maintained. The crew were so friendly and the aft Junior suite was amazing.Sad that she is being sold. I would love to sail on her again.Cruise director Simona was amazing!

:)We are in Aft Junior Suite 8084 on Splendour on 24th October. This will be our first time in an aft stateroom and first time on Royal Caribbean actually.We usually go with Celebrity but for various reasons have opted for this cruise.We are elite with Celebrity and have now got confirmed Diamond with RCI.

I was wondering if anyone has been in 8084 and can let me know what they think.

This is also the smallest ship we will have been on and I really like the Solstice class Celebrity ships best if I am honest.I do however like what I have been reading about Splendour and am hoping for a really nice cruise!

Hi Ruth,

Thank you for your very helpful advices. We have decided to tour the Galilee region from Haifa and I will be sure to look out for the succahs in Jerusalem.

Elizabeth

Hi Ruth,

We will be on Celebrity Equinox late September , visiting Haifa on 29th September and Ashdod the next day.

What will the weather be like then?

We have booked the ship's tour to Jerusalem and Bethlehem from Ashdod, but nothing as yet for Haifa. You have recommended in other posts a tour round the Sea of Galilee and that region and have also said that the Bahai gardens are beautiful and there are lots of other things to see in Haifa as well. I know you can't make a choice for me but which of these would be your personal preference for a day in Haifa!

Thank you for your very interesting and helpful thread.

Elizabeth :)