Desertbelle

There are small refrigerators in the cabins, but don't expect them to keep anything very cold....usually cool at best.

They are full of stuff they want you to purchase. If you want it cleaned out so you can put stuff of your own in it, you need to ask the cabin steward to have that taken care of for you.

We like it emptied. Not that we have much in it, but we like that there is a place in case we do want to keep something cool, like dessert or a sandwich left from room service.

We enjoy dining in the MDR and what they serve is especially good because I don't have to shop, cook or clean up afterwards. We can always find something we enjoy every night we go there.

On long cruises though we tire of eating MDR food.....at some point I feel like if I see another sauce or strange potato preparation I will scream!! When we spent a month on the Mariner in 2012 we ate at Johnny Rockets 4-5 times in the last few days. We just couldn't do MDR or Windjammer food one more time. The extra charge was well worth it!

We did a B2B, Rome to Holy Lands to Rome to Ft. Lauderdale. The main language was always English, but they would repeat everything in several other languages.

We always laughed at the Captain's noon announcement, he would talk for a minute or two but by the time the last person was done repeating what he said in several other languages usually 15-20 minutes would have passed.:)

I don't see the option on the web site.

It might be too early for it to be there. We are on a cruise in May and the options for specialty restaurants isn't there yet. I have heard some people say 60 days out, but it seems that some cruises get it way sooner. Just check it every few days, and it will show up.

Yes, they still have them. There is more than one package. One package includes the Chef's Table and the other one doesn't include that restaurant. There might be another choice also.

In October we did the package with the Chef's Table and it also included 150 Central Park, Giovanni's Table and Chops! It was great, I highly recommend it!

We have never had a problem booking a good day and time for any of the Specialty restaurants once on board. You will be fine!

Have a great time!

In 2002 we cruised on a NCL ship for $800 each for a balcony cabin for 7 days ($114 a day) what we considered a pretty good price....in a couple of months we will be on the Brilliance of the Seas for 14 days in a balcony for $1050 ($75 a day).

In 12 years I don't think the quality of cruising has changed much at all, but clearly the prices have gone down. This makes us happy....we can cruise more and for longer. Yay!!!

I personally love that we can CHOOSE to upgrade our experience without spending the huge bucks for cruising on an upgraded premium cruise line. It's our choice, we can take it or leave. This also makes us happy!

BTW we love the specialty restaurants. We usually cruise for 2-4 weeks at a time and the specialty restaurants give up something different and a nice change from the normal eating spots on a cruise.

Oh, I forgot about the martini! I got the house martini, and it was the best martini I have ever had. It was a Cucumber Basil martini....totally sounds weird, but it was delicious! Came in a cool glass also!

We did not get the wine pairing but we still got a presentation of every course from our waiter. He explained how everything was made and where everything came from....very nice.

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i.e you haven't tried Carnival yet???

Yeah, Carnival is pretty bad, here's a photo of our last cruise on Carnival....how would like looking at that every time you get on the elevator?

But the worst decor goes to NCL, my eyes still hurt from all that orange, red, blue and green decor!

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Does pointing out that I made a useless post in response to a useless post make your post useless too?

 

 

 

I think the answer to both our questions is, yes...but it feels good. ;)

:) Oops, another useless post....will it ever stop???

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Why did you bother posting that? No one here said it did.

 

Useless post.

So does a useless post pointing out a useless post negate the original useless post or does it just add a useless post?

I honestly can't remember the decor of any ship enough to make a judgement. The one thing I know for sure is that when I step on a RCI ship, any RCI ship, it feels familiar and I like that. They always have soothing and relaxing colors and I get a good feeling whenever I get onboard.

We loved it.

Important note! There were two different menus, one the first few days of the cruise and another one the last few days of the cruise, so look them over on the first day and pick a day to eat there with the menu you prefer. For us the second menu sounded horrible, so glad we checked.

And, yes, the different salts are for the bread.

We loved the Freedom and the Oasis, but truth be told, we love whatever ship we are on! Don't have a least favorite, because I don't think you can go wrong with a RCI ship, they are all beautiful and clean, have a lovely staff and I don't have to cook or clean for however long the cruise lasts!! :D

we had just had major repair work done on our hvac system when we left for a cruise on the mariner of the seas with our 2 dds back in 2007. The repair bill was much larger than we expected and we were still in a bit of shock when we arrived at the port. Imagine our even greater shock when we walked onto the ship and saw the repairman and his wife sitting in lounge chairs by the pool! They said they had just booked the cruise as a last minute getaway....hmmmmmmmm

lol!

We stayed at the Hotel Jazz and it was great! Very clean and modern, good customer service. We found a great rate booking it through one of the travel sites online.

It was walking distance to good restaurants, Las Ramblas and not far from the port.

The show times correspond with dining times. So late dining will usually have their shows before dinner or after dinner, and early dining will have their shows after dinner. Don't worry, you will get to enjoy dinner and see all the shows also!

Back in 1999 my daughter and son decided to get married just 6 weeks apart. My daughter's wedding was first and a lot of hard work, and as soon as it was over we jumped right into the planning of our sons wedding. And just to make matters even more tense, one of our other sons graduated high school the same week as my sons wedding. UGH!!

On the Wednesday before my son's wedding I arrived at work and thought I am about to have a serious melt down and need a vacation...maybe I should call a travel agent and see if we could book one of those 3 or 4 day cruises to Mexico from Los Angeles (just a 4 hour drive away). I call and she says she knew of a cruise for 7 days that was cheaper than a 4 day cruise leaving this Sunday!! This Sunday?? Holy cow, could I pull off a high school graduation, a graduation dinner, a rehearsal dinner and a wedding and still pack and be in LA on Sunday afternoon?

I call my husband and ask him if he could take the next week off, and he said no, there was too much he had to do that week at work. I call the TA and tell her no, but maybe she could find us something else in a few weeks.

The next morning while we are dressing for my sons graduation the phone rings and it's my husbands boss telling him that he would cover all his work for the week and we should take that cruise!!! WOW!! I call the TA and ask her if that deal was still available, she says to give her all my credit card and personal information and she will call and book it immediately, if it is still available. She calls back about 20 minutes later and says we are booked, no refunds, we are going on a cruise in 3 days!!

I say to her, how excited I am and how much I need this cruise, I hope I can pack in time, and isn't it funny, my son and his new bride will be going on a cruise Sunday also to Mexico. She pauses a moment and says, there is only ONE ship in Los Angeles going to Mexico on Sunday and it's the one I just booked you on!!! What the what?????? I was a new cruiser, I thought there were dozens of ships leaving ports every day, not just one!!!

Oh my Goodness, I just booked my sons Honeymoon!! Ooops!!

Later at the graduation my oldest son comes to sit with us, and everyone but him knows what we have done and are awaiting the telling, laughing and enjoying the possible fit about to take place. I say, Matt we need to talk. My husband says, do you need a ride to LA on Sunday?? My son immediately gets there is something up and says Why? What's going on? and I blurt out the news. He laughs and says it's great!! When his bride comes in a few minutes later and we tell her, she says that her whole family went on her brother's honeymoon to Hawaii and she thinks it will be fun to have us around! Whew!!

We ended up not seeing each other all that much on the cruise, spent two of the ports with them and had a wonderful time. Our first cruise on a cruise ship!! We've done 20 now, I guess we like cruising!

I have never noticed that ever happening on a RCI ship. Sadly I usually can't see the stars well because of all the lights on. :mad:

Nope that's just about the only benefit from staying in a junior suite. You do get to check-in in the suite area. As far as early boarding is concerned, you get to board about 30 seconds before the D+ passengers and about 3 mins before the rest of the passengers.

Yep. Priority boarding is not a perk in real life. :)

We had no problems with our various sized suitcases going under the bed. And if yours doesn't fit under the bed closed, just slide it under the bed opened flat. Also, there is a slight lip around the edge of the bed frame that is lower than the mattress, so if you slightly lift the frame you can get a bigger suitcase under.

You are going to love the Oasis!

One of the best things about the Embassy Suites is that it's right across the street from Kelly's Landing....the best New England style sea food restaurant/pub south of Boston! In October we ate there three times!!!

Also, when we were there in October the Embassy Suites had some renovations happening in the main areas, so I would think the breakfast room, managers reception and the ponds will be all new and in great shape. We found the bar crowded also, but that was because of the renovations. In years past the managers receptions were held out in the atrium area. That was our 5th or 6th time there and also enjoyed it.

Yep, wait. :)

We always stay at the Embassy Suites, you can see the ships from your hotel room if you are on the correct side of the building. Port is a couple miles away....close to the airport also!

We love their drinks/snacks at night and the breakfast in the morning. They have a shuttle to the port, but we always take a cab, it's less than $10.

Me too:D

 

Some of they guys were disappointed but I had a great time. My goals for this cruise were to hang out with my friends, meet a few new friends, have a few drinks and a few laughs and relax. I accomplished every one of those goals.

Cruising isn't for everyone. I know people who have cruised and afterwards thought "meh", but for me it's a perfect vacation. Relaxing and letting other people take care of me for a change and waking up in a different country is just too awesome!!

I am glad you had a great time. We will be spending a month on the Brilliance in May, I am so ready I wish I could go tomorrow!!