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RCCL Fan

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  1. I saw them, I was looking for someone who has experience with them and can offer their opinion of the service.
  2. Didn't get any replies on the Greece board... hoping you guys may come through. We're in Mykonos 6am to 6pm. We're hoping to spend the day on a boat. Would love to get picked up, sail to some secluded cove away from the crowds and swim and maybe have a little beach time. I see several tour companies. Anyone have any experiences with any of them to share? We are hoping for small group, secluded beach/swim, and lunch/drinks included.
  3. We're got our plan for Santorini. Found a tour guide that will take us around and stay with us all day. I'm going to book a catamaran/sailboat tour in Mykonos, to take us to one of the coves for swimming. My trouble now is just picking which company there are so many.
  4. We're in Mykonos 6am to 6pm. We're hoping to spend the day on a boat. Would love to get picked up, sail to some secluded cove away from the crowds and swim and maybe have a little beach time. I see several tour companies. Anyone have any experiences to share? We are hoping for small group, secluded beach/swim, and lunch/drinks included.
  5. We were in the same boat. I think we finally figured it out and have a good plan!
  6. sounds great! when are you going? We're going this summer too so I think we need to book now.
  7. Yeah i never had to use services for those with mobility issues so I don't know how RCI compares to anywhere else, but I had wished there were more people standing at the ready to help. The filet was overcooked, but honestly we waited so long I was just ready to dive in. I was fine with it.
  8. There is one on the zip line for sure... 265 is what I remember. Slides differ per slide and per ship. I didn't slide on Wonder so I don't remember.
  9. i mean is obviously had an impact, but she had a great time. Her biggest issue was the number of people who kept pushing past her and not being courteous to the fact that she needed a few extra moments or space. It's a lesson in the fact that not everyone is considerate.
  10. Day 5 The Perfect Day I always feel so cheesy saying it, but I can't disagree with the marketing people.... it does always seem like a Perfect Day at Coco Cay.... even on a day I was feeling sick on a previous cruise, it was still pretty darn close to amazing. So I woke up this morning the perfect way. My wife and youngest, the early risers, got up and off the ship first thing. They went to stake our claim to our spots on the beach while me and the pre-teen woke up more leisurely and joined them mid morning. We headed down to the pier only to see the world's longest line waiting for the trams to drive you down the pier to the beach. It was like holy long line. My daughter said, "Dad, I can make it with my scooter" I do have to say Royal disappointed me a bit with their handling of people with disabilities. Watching so many able bodied people waiting forever for a tram while my kid and several others in wheelchairs got no priority kinda sucked. We set out on foot for the island. Turned back and got a shot of Wonder and our unwelcomed guest, Freedom. Wonder was scheduled to be the only ship here, and then just a few weeks before departure there was a schedule change of some sort for Freedom and now she was joining us for the day. We got to the end of the pier and then waited for the Tram to take us to the other side of the island... same thing here. Large crowds, workers not really giving any priority to those in wheelchairs and some guests just pushing right past us to be the first to jump in the tram. I just never understand that whole, "me first, me now mentality" After getting shoved out the way for the first tram, I said to the agent, "We need help for her to get on the tram." She then held people back so two seniors, my daughter, and a guy with a broken leg could make our way on board. We got to that wonderful entrance to Coco Beach club, walking through the lush trees and flowers to the entrance. Our noon lunch was confirmed and then we stopped at the bar for a drink. I was surprised to see strawberry daiquiri mix. Some folks on board were having mini-meltdowns as there was no strawberry daiquiri mix onboard Wonder that week.... global shortage. I don't really drink the stuff, but was hopeful those who had been looking for it were getting their fill on CocoCay. We met up with the family who were oddly enough in the exact same chairs we had last time we were here a few months back. The water was PERFECT. It was a great temp, cool and refreshing, and there were a ton of marine life swimming around, schools of baby fish, big sharks, little sharks, big fish, stingrays. Lifeguards were watching out, but I loved getting out there and floating on the mats with the fish! Apparently they met a family with a cabana who welcomed them up to check it out, slide down the slide whatever they wanted. It was so kind, I don't think they slid, but did check the place out a bit. My youngest as usual wasn't so keen on the ocean, and everyone talking about the marine life in the water didn't help. The rest of us hopped in and enjoyed it while she collected shells at the shore. Eventually we got her in a little bit. Lunch was at high noon and we were ready! The usual smorgasboard of starters was there... and since my group doesn't eat seafood I had my fill of shrimp cocktail. Service at the beach club was... well... slow. Nothing like our last time here. We had empty plates, and empty glasses, and long waits for food. i was quite disappointed in the time it took to get things.... but everything that came was, you guessed it, perfect...(well almost)! If you remember I had the surf and turf on my last visit and felt the lobster was a little dry. I was going to do the grouper this time, but I was encouraged to give the lobster another try. My server also threw some prawns on there too just in case. Well this time the lobster, prawns, and filet were all great. My filet was overcooked. Ordered it medium and there was no pink. I looked at the receipt it was listed as medium well but even that was a stretch. It was still yum and I enjoyed. After lunch I headed back out to the beach. I still haven't enjoyed the pool here. My wife took my daughter to it this time since I did the honors in Cozumel. However I was finally able to talk the tiny one on a raft. I kept her out there the rest of the afternoon. We floated and talked and had catchup time. Next thing I knew we had drifted way down beach to the other cabanas. I had a lovely conversation with a family down there as we drifted right onto their dock! hahaha. They were on Freedom and hadn't heard of Wonder and were asking a million questions. We closed down the beach club, and got outside to the tram attendant saying, "i don't know if any more are coming" Really? I was like "Well she can't walk so I think you're going to need to call one" A crowd had developed. So many of us leaving the beach club that we filled the empty tram she reluctantly called for us. lol Back on board... we got some balcony time today for sailaway. Lots of waves to the folks on freedom and shouts and yells to each other as we sailed away. I saw truck loads of dirty laundry leaving cococay and being loaded onto freedom. I guess they do the laundry onboard and bring it back on the next visit. It was interesting! This was the first time I had ever had a port day the day before we get off the ship. It felt weird. We quickly packed and got luggage out in the hall before heading to dinner that night. We got to the table in the dining room and watched as a Disney ship sailed by heading toward Castaway Cay "man they're early, we all thought" My wife remarked on how we saw so many cruise ships this trip. She was right we seemed to always be sailing close to someone. At dinner, the dining staff announced that Wonder had the highest ratings for best service and food of any ship in the fleet. They were proud and made their little pitch to hope everyone was happy and their scores stayed on top. We couldn't complain, we only had a few dinners here but each were awesome, as was our service. no hiccups at all. You kept feeling like the best staff was on this ship, gotta love those new ships! We ran around for last night activities.... handing out extra tip envelopes, and buying stuff to take home. This is where I really had a bad taste in my mouth, the first real bad one of the cruise, all the tags on the merchandise in the logo shop had the price cut off the tags. Just lopped off. So you had to ask what everything cost and practically everything was $49.99 or higher. They had jacked up the prices verbally and were hand typing the cost in when you bought stuff. Many shoppers were demanding why they were no prices and we were given no real answers. It felt very used car salesman like. The same t-shirts I paid $29.99 on Allure were $59.99 on Wonder. Much like coco cay cabanas, despite the bizarre pricing people were still buying it in droves. They had no merchandise and as fast as they put stuff out, it was getting grabbed. I really really wanted a ship model. I have one of almost every cruise I've been on. I was told they've been sold out since the first cruise. I wanted an inaugural season shirt, nope. I know there's a shortage of everything, but the price gouging was uncool. We got photos ordered, thanked everyone, and got a few last slices of pizza before heading to bed, and returning back to Fort Lauderdale. Day 6 - wrapup We had no issues getting off the ship the next morning. Quick and easy departure and transfer to FLL airport. We flew home from FLL thinking, lets just get out of there quickly and easily. It was kinda a mistake. American Airlines doesn't have a ton of service out of there, since there big hub is MIA so we had a bit of a wait.... a long wait.... with a million really loud announcements. Once we got onboard, the flight was PACKED. But we got home in one piece. Wonder was wonderful. She's there were a few snafus, but that's with anything. This cruise felt NORMAL. Great service, happy passengers, happy crew, Fantastic service, No masks. I loved it. It felt so nice to be back, I was a little bummed we weren't staying onboard from the crossing! Happy to answer any questions. Until we meet again!
  11. I know nothing about Ephesus and don't really want to see ruins. Would this be a good place to fart around on a scooter? or would santorini? Mykonos over Santorini for beaches? Cool! Any beach resorts? names? I should know.
  12. Pompeii is definitely on the list or the Amalfi coast. no ship tours left so i'm hoping to find someone to take us to one (figure both is too much) Anything else there I should consider?
  13. Oh that makes me a bit nervous if it take a few hours wait to get down. Sounds like a tour might be in order! lol
  14. We're sailing to Naples, Ephesus, Mykonos and Santorini on Odyssey of the Seas I know zip about any of these places but am looking for private tours. Who is the Peat Taylor, Bodden Tours or Nativway Tours or these places? Where's there version of Paradise Beach club? I cross posted this on the ports pages. We want a beach/snorkeling day a day with some countryside tours, scenic photos, maybe a motor scooter drive around day. Food and wine Which is best for which? Any companies/tour guides you recommend? I have a couple gift cards from viator, anyone use them? suggestions? Thanks so much!
  15. We're sailing to Mykonos and Santorini on Odyssey of the Seas I know zip about either place but am looking for a private tour. We want a beach/snorkeling day & we want a day with some countryside tours, scenic photos, maybe a motor scooter drive around. Food and wine Which is best for which? Any companies/tour guides you recommend? I have a couple gift cards from viator, anyone use them? suggestions? I could really use your help.
  16. Ah! That new ship smell! It's been a long long time for me. I think the last nearly new ship I sailed was Allure so this was long overdue. Let me set the table for those who don't know my reviews. Longtime cruiser here, started sailing RCI when I was a kid, never stopped. 🙂 I live in Texas with my wife and two daughters. Lately we have enjoyed cruising with friends, talking relatives of friends to join us but for the first time in a couple years we're doing one alone. I bought this cruise in the early days of the pandemic, rock bottom pricing on Explorer out of Galveston. It never happened. and got lifted and shifted and FCC credited and swapped and swirled until somehow we wound up on the biggest ship in the world. Those who are new to my reviews... I'm not onboard anymore. We got back Wednesday. I'll gather my thoughts nightly and take you day by day through the week, kinda relive the week. I like to throw lots of photos into the mix as well, although I didn't take as many this time. Just wanted to set the table so I can get myself in the review writing mode. Hope you enjoy following along!
  17. We're flying into Rome from Paris the night before our cruise. Looking for an upscale airport hotel to quickly get a goodnight's sleep in before heading to the ship the next morning. I've seen bad reviews for the Hilton, Marriott, and Sheraton by the airport. All sound dreadful if you listen to the reviews. Anyone care to weigh in on the better of the 3 or have another suggestion? (We're going to spend time in Rome post cruise, this is just a clean comfortable nights sleep before the ship the next morning!)
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