Chester & Brewster

As previously mentioned, good manners are the same the world over! We love a queue & a chat about the weather too.

I note your cruise stops in Edinburgh, Dublin & Milford Haven - just make sure you don't refer to these places as "England" or "English" as the Scottish, Irish & the Welsh generally hate being called English! If it all gets too confusing a generic "you guys" would suffice :)

Although the UK seems pretty small in comparison to the US, it's actually quite big & we don't all know each other. American visitors always seem to ask, "hey I once met a guy from <insert name of UK town>, do you know him?" Generally no, we don't!

Have a fabulous time!

Thanks, I will try my best to remember to go to the Vintages for Sangria! 🤤

Me too!

I’m assuming it was included in the drinks package?

Thanks for the fab review; without offending any of our US friends it’s great to read a review from a “European” point of view.

Now very much looking forward to getting on board in 10 weeks time, can’t wait…

What’s the name of the FB Naples foodie page? This I need to follow!

Thanks for the info.

We're boarding in Civitavecchia in early September, so hopefully they will have worked out a few of the kinks by then

This helps if the CC you have are actually registered for Android pay. We have an ASDA and Capital One Mastercard, neither are registered for Android pay.:mad::mad:

Oh how annoying!! I assumed all banks etc would have it set up by now.

What I've found today in London is that indeed chip and signature is possible in most places. However, if you want to be speedy and run like a local, the easiest thing for an American is to set up Apple Pay or Android Pay with the US credit card and use contactless. It is wonderfully fast (hold phone to terminal, touch fingerprint sensor, and not even need to launch an app) and accepted ubiquitously.

It’s definitely the way forward; I hardly ever even bother taking my purse out now, just my phone & pay with Apple Pay on my watch.

This is great info. We already changed our old notes, but I am wondering... my credit card is not tap to pay, BUT I have my credit card set up for android pay on my phone, which IS contactless. Will that likely work? Anyone know?

Yes, anywhere that accepts contactless card payment will accept apple/android pay. You can also use it on the underground.

Most places have a £30 limit on the transaction, but some bigger places are starting to accept it for higher/unlimited amounts.

Great post! Lovely to see someone with an original idea :)

Never have I ever:

Rung the bell on the climbing wall

Been in a cruise ship elevator (we decided the rising tide bar didn't count as long as we got off at the same floor we started on!)

Sung Karaoke

Been to an ice show

I would be interested in your lunch suggestions in Cork?

 

Janelle

Hi Janelle

Lunch options are varied depending on what you want to eat! My suggestions would be:

Greene's restaurant at Hotel Isaacs on MacCurtain Street would be my top choice for a "celebratory" meal. Food is tremendous.

They also own the Cask bar next door; never eaten there but if the food is as good as Greenes it will be great (less formal).

They have also recently set up "Bao Boi" - Steamed Korean (?) buns. If you want a lighter lunch, but appreciate it's not traditional in any way!!

The English Market is a must if you love food! There's the Farmgate Cafe upstairs, or if the weather is good you could get a sandwich from the stall on the corner by the fish stalls (can't remember it's name - backs on to the olive stall!) & go sit in the park for a picnic. My friend Kate is the chef at the Oyster Tavern; I've never eaten there but she's a great chef.

Liberty Grill & Gusto (both on Washington Street) are also good, but you may queue at Liberty Grill at the weekend.

we decided to go all out (jokes) and stay at the Premier Inn round the corner. I say round the corner, it was literally on the airport site. We then walked 10 mins to a favourite pre-holiday pub of mine (The Romper) and got 2 rump steaks, all the trimmings and 2 glasses of wine for £20. What a bargain.

Haha, most of my holidays start in exactly the same way! What's a holiday without a 'night before' dinner at The Romper??!! Have you registered for their newsletter? I'm always getting vouchers for free prosecco, free sharing starters, 25% off etc etc. Well worth it.

Thanks for the review, we're doing the same (but from Rome) in September.

Formal night is day 2 and 6.

Perfect thanks. I think I'm confusing myself with formal nights as we're getting on in Rome, not Barcelona, so our days don't match up!

I was in 10321 which was a Boardwalk balcony cabin (bed by the balcony) and had a fantastic view.

Ooooo, we're in 10319! Does that mean our bed will be by the door?

Do you remember which nights were formal nights?

Thanks for all the pictures

I'm not a massive fan of toe post "thong" flip flops; can just about tolerate them from cabin to poolside but that's about it.

For longer walks I swear by birkenstock style sandals - either single strap or double. The footbed is shaped with some arch support, so much more comfortable. They even do some plastic ones now which are suitable for pool/beach, as the leather/cork ones aren't great when wet.

I've had genuine birkenstocks & cheaper "fake" ones in the past (known as "laughing stocks" in this house!) & both are fine.

Cork city is definitely worth a visit - jump on the train & have a wander around the city if you're not interested in the whole Blarney thing. Personally I'd go to Cork in the morning (it's pretty small, very walkable) have lunch in the city & then head back to Cobh early afternoon for a wander round & a couple of pub stops, Cathedral etc, and back to the ship.

If you need lunch suggestions let me know!

I can't really help with your private tour question, but having lived in Cork for 8 years; Old Head & Garretstown beach were 2 of our favorite plces to go, so I'd definitely recommend going!

A taxi from the city with be pretty pricey though, so you might consider the local bus to Kinsale? I've never done it personally (further than the airport) but worth checking out the bus eireann website to see if it's a feasible option. You'll then need a taxi in Kinsale to get to Old head & the beach, but it will be cheaper.

A taxi direct from Cobh to Kinsale might be the same price, by the time you've paid 4 train fares to get into the city, then a cab out to the seaside.

Hiring your own car for the day would be my personal preference, but I totally get that may not be the preferred option for driving on country lanes on the wrong side of the road!

What time of year are you going? You know it'll rain right??!!

We're booked in our first BW balcony on Symphony in September (always sailed in an oceanview balcony before now) but the price difference between the 2 was a no-brainer (basically free flights to Rome!).

Looking forward to the experience!

Haha, I won’t even let my husband wear his red bow tie on the same formal night as I’m wearing my red cocktail dress!!

Was dithering over booking Wonderland, but those photos convinced me to do it!

Thanks for all the info

I always take a few clothes pegs with me & peg our wet swimmers to the backs of the chairs on the balcony to dry. No chance of losing them in a stiff breeze that way!

And if scoobies are available, get them. YUM.

OMG yes! We still talk about them now 🦀

The best meal I've ever had in Florida was at Coconuts in FL. It was a few years ago now, but if the food is still as good as it was back then it's definitely worth a try.

We love seafood, but I'd be a bit dubious about eating there as I'd anticipate everything is frozen & then de-frosted rather than fresh?

The Eat Drink Play promo is for all Broadwalk or CP Balcony view rooms - irrespective of where you booked or where you come from!

 

See you on board!

LB

Perfect, thanks. Now I know it's official name I can google :)

See you there!

I'm sure I've seen something about the $ to £ exchange rate will fluctuate until you make a purchase, then you are effectively "locked in" at that rate for any other purchases you make on your cruise planner at a later date. Don't think I imagined it.....

Thank you for all the replies.

1) We had MTD on our first cruise on Voyager on 2009 when it was still a "new thing". We had some great dinners with a big mix of tablemates, but then on our Freedom cruise all the MTD tables were for 2 & there were no "social" dinners to be had.

2) Room service charge is a bit :( but I think we only ever ordered it a couple of times, so no biggie.

3) We got our drinks package "thrown in" as part of the booking, so while it hasn't actually cost us any extra, I'm sure we'll get our money's worth. Do you still have to sign for the drinks at $0 charge or just show your seapass card?

4) We've got some OBC which we're planning to spend on a couple of speciality restaurants. I've heard talk of a discounted dining package to eat at multiple restaurants but can't see anything on the cruise planner about it? Are they only available once you get on board?

5) Think we've pre-paid grats too, so that's one less thing to be added to the bill at the end of the week. Between that, the drinks package & the OBC we could end up with a $0 bill at the end!!! (yeah right!!)

6) Do most people skip the formal night dressing up these days? We've always done it previously but a new tux purchase would be required for this one, so don't want to bother getting him a new one if he's not going to wear it......

7) I seem to remember having to swipe a sea pass card for pool towels previously, but that may have been on Norwegian Epic & not a Royal Caribbean ship.......

Couple of other things I've noticed from a bit of CC research:

We're in a boardwalk balcony & I have seen talk of a comp Johnny Rockets lunch - is that just a US travel agent perk or does it apply across the board? Not a deal breaker either way, but offers an alternative for lunch one day I guess.

Wow bands - am assuming they're a "wearable" alternative to a seapass card? Do you get them issued as standard or have to request them? I'd much prefer this to a card as I never seem to have a lot of pockets available while walking around a ship!

Thanks for all your help - most kind!