eldolko

If you booked through RCI and not a TA. Then yes ring them. I got the new rate 3 times. Just know that any OBC or other perks maybe lost.

Thank you! I will give them a call.

I have som OBC since I've used a Next Cruise Certificate I bought a couple of years ago. I'm also expecting some extra OBC since I'm bringing a couple of first time cruisers in two extra cabins.

Will make sure I get to keep it. ;)

If the price of a cruise drops before final payment, are none US travelers eligible for a reduction the same way I read all of you US travelers are?

Is it possible for me to just call my local RCI center and have my cruise fare adjusted?

On the Oasis I always got Corona in a glass bottle. Even by the pool.

I sat in the Solarium hot tub, minding my business, when a pool waiter showed up with a large wagon filled with beer. He approached us in the pool, asking us if we wanted something to drink. I had a Corona and thought life was good.

I kid you not. One minute after receiving my Corona deck patrol showed up, telling me glass bottles wasn't allowed in the pool. :cool:

He was cool though. After telling him I just got it handed to me by a waiter he went and got me a plastic glass. Problem solved.

Evidently opening the Compass app (with WiFi turned back on) re-enables the gps radios. It appears to work, the compass app is showing my coordinates, but haven't tested it with Find my Friends yet. Will try tonight at work when I have some people to test with and see what happens.

I did a little research my self and although I'm getting mixed signals it seems to be true after iOS 8.2. GPS is a passive service, meaning your phone does nothing else but receives a signal from the satellites. No signals are leaving your phone back to the satellites.

The phone basically uses three ways to determine your location:

GPS: Passive, receive only, signal from satellites. Very accurate once connected to several satellites.

Cellular towers: Triangulates your position from the known positions of the towers. Depending on how many towers your phone communicates with this may be sort of accurate or wrong by a couple of miles .

Wi-Fi: Apple has collected anonymous data for the location of a couple of million routers. If connected to a wi-fi router with a known position your phone will pinpoint you to that location.

Since the phones GPS is marketed as A-GPS, meaning assisted GPS, it will first try to locate you by wi-fi and cellular towers. This will tell the phone where in the world it's located by a accuracy of a couple of miles down to a couple of yards. It will then know which satellites to communicate with to get the most accurate position possible.

Pure GPS is usually kind of slow to get started, since the device has to search the skies for all available satellites. A-GPS is a way to speed things up by placing you kind of right in the world before asking just the right satellites for the exact location. The device won't try to ask satellites on the other side of the earth for your location if it already knows your estimated location.

I'm not sure this sorted anything out for you. But it tells a story of how many ways your phone will try to pinpoint your location.

And, as far as I can tell, the GPS will work even with airplane mode activated.

I will assume the phone can pick up GPS signal whilst at sea and there is a wifi connection on the ship then it should work but somehow it doesn't..

That't interesting. Are you sure your phone had the gps available and not put the phone in airplane mode?

I have not used Find my friends while at sea. But I have used other gps based services with no trouble at all, as long as I have had an active gps signal.

Given recent events in Europe, dd is a bit anxious about us going on our upcoming trip. She is not coming with us.

 

I am wondering if the 'find my friend' app would work on a cruise ship if we have airplane mode on, wifi on and unlimited 'voom' internet access on one of our phones so she would know 'exactly' where we are at any given time.

 

Thanks for any info/ experience.

The 'find my friend´app requires at GPS signal to determine your location. The phone then use data connection to send that information to the servers. It doesn't matter if the data transfers through your phone carriers mobile data service or a wi-fi connection of your choice. The information needs to be sent from your phone.

If you put your phone i airplane mode it will shut down the gps functionality. Even if you turn wi-fi back on the phone won't be able to pick up a gps signal since those antennas are disabled.

You could go to your settings and simply disable mobile data and not activate airplane mode. This way you can be sure your phone won't try to send data through the ships expensive cellular at sea service. You will only have an internet connection when you have an active and functional wi-wi connection. This will allow your phone to always have the gps available.

The 'find my friends' app should work at sea as long as your phone picks up a gps signal and you have an active internet connection through wi-fi.

My experience is that you won't always have a gps connection while at sea. I have used gps loggers mounted on the balcony to tag all my photos with a correct geo data. Out on the open waters I have often lost my connection to the gps satellites. You probably will lose your gps signal while inside the ship. But it can't hurt to try.

My booking history looks like this:

• 7 months ahead.

• 8 months ahead.

• 13 months ahead.

• 2 months ahead.

• 19 months ahead.

Our upcoming cruise in February 2018 is the earliest we have ever booked. But I think this will be the way we book in the future. With a child and two careers to fit together I think we will need som careful planning ahead.

Haven't done it.

But I can recommend a rental car for the day. You can get a free shuttle from the port to the rental station. Then return the car at the airport. Not only will you have a place to store your luggage all day. You will also have a cheap way to go to the airport.

This way you can spend your day anyway you like.

We did this on our last cruise and will definitely do it again.

I actually think I would have got caught by any cruise line on my first cruise. But it just happened that RCI had some good marketing in Sweden when I first got interested in cruising. So when I went for my first cruise in 2008 I chose RCI and loved it.

After that it's just kind of a habit. RCI provides a great product that we enjoy. We see no reason for jumping cruise line. We are slowly climbing the C&A ladder and are turning Platinum on our next cruise. Not that we sail to get points. But since we get them we try to enjoy the few perks we are handed.

What struck us the most after our first cruise was how great the service onboard was.

We're just back from the Baltic on Serenade of the Seas.

 

There was a post in the Cruise Compass, "Due to the outside weather conditions, we welcome families with young children to enjoy the pool in the Solarium from 10:00 am - noon and 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm."

 

I don't know that we ever saw small children in the pool although there didn't seem to be a lot of children on board our sailing.

Same thing happened last year on the same ship and itinerary.

We had a couple of kids acting out in a little horseplay in the Solarium. But it didn't bother me at all.

@eldolko Do you remember when RCCL used to sell baltic cruises on Tradera (its Swedens local ebay) and an inside stateroom for two usually sold for a very attractive price? :)

They never do that with anymore.

I had completely forgotten about that. But now that you remind me I also remember you could get som really great deals on train tickets at the same site. :)

Wow. Just a couple of summers ago I sat in our vacation home in southern Sweden, watching some really good last minutes deals on these Baltic cruises from Stockholm. Obviously they struggled to fill the ship to full capacity then.

We didn't go, but came very close in our planning of taking a last minute deal.

Last year I went with my father and payed some top dollars compared to the last minute deals I saw just two summers earlier.

But I'm not complaining. Having a couple of cruises out of Stockholm i great for us and I'm thinking of booking another Baltic cruise next summer. Better hurry before they all are sold out.

I saw this thread when it was created and thought to my self:

- Who the heck book a cruise so far ahead?

Well. It turned out I'm one of you.

Feb 1, 2018. Independence of the seas.

In January 2018 I graduate (hopefully) as a nurse. We're celebrating by going to Florida (again) and will also take a 4-night cruise to Cozumel.

Best of all, I got my hands on stateroom 1400, with the extra large aft balcony! :cool:

They always stay on ship time.

 

 

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It's my experience that they always stay on home port time during western and eastern Caribbean sailings. That's why it's very important to not ask the locals about what time it is, but always stay on ship time.

When I took a Baltic cruise last summer they did however change the ship time to the local ports time.

Sparkling water is not included in the premium package only still water. With the ultimate package you get sparkling water.

Sorry, I got them confused. They must have had the Ultimate Package then, since I'm sure sparkling water was included.

Simple system - ask for a drink, show card - if not covered they will mention it.

Unless you're unlucky like a table mate of ours on our recent cruise. They had the Premium package and ordered sparkling water along with their wine at dinner. The waiter asked for her seapass and went away. All the sudden he came back with a tab for her to sign. She was a bit confused, but this was her first cruise so she signed it anyway.

Afterwards she realized that she had acctually paid for the bottle of water. This was after dinner, so she went to guest service to clear it up.

It turned out that the waiter had given her a large bottle of water instead of a small. The small ones are included in the package. Not the large ones. They told her the waiter of course should have realized she wasn't interested in paying for a bottle when she can have as many as she likes of the smaller size. They erased the charge from her account.

Next day the waiter rushed to her telling her how sorry he was and that he would never let it happen again. I guess someone had a little chat with him.

The other couple at our table also had the Premium package. They thought it was funny that they could watch the bartender pour wine from a bottle and give them as many glasses as they pleased. But they couldn't ask to get the bottle tor bring to their stateroom. In that case they had to pay for the whole bottle.

Same wine, same bottle, same couple who emptied it. Just that the bartender had to be the one pouring it for them.

I can see their point, but I also get RCI's point of view here. Imagine how many bottles people would get just because they can only to leave them half full around the ship.

Just to clarify. Only countries that have signed the Schengen Agreement has promised to keep their borders open. While EU stipulates the right to move freely within the union, doing so without passport is not part of the agreement.

Countries like Great Britain, Ireland, Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania has not signed the Schengen Agreement and you may therefore have to show proof of citizenship on entry to these countries.

But as you see, that's not the case on this cruise.

Even so, I do believe the open borders in Schengen only apply to citizens of a EU country. The immigration booths may be unmanned, but theoretically you may have to proof your citizenship even within the Schengen area if you origin from a country outside of the EU.

But, finally, since this is a cruise that starts and stops within both Schengen and EU countries I would be much surprised if they checked your passports.

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the borderless system we're supposed to have. :cool:

On my recent Baltic cruise St Petersburg was the only port where we had to show our passports.

I have decided I will embrace the R Bar with an open mind. Even though we've really enjoyed the Champagne Bar.

Now all I need is to convince my wife it's time for another cruise. :cool:

I just noticed that Harmony of the seas will lack a Champagne Bar. Where Oasis and Allure has the Champagne Bar, Harmony will instead feature the Bionic Bar.

On my recent trip on Serenade I found Vintages where it earlier had a Champagne Bar.

According to the deck plans Radiance of the seas still has the Champagne bar, even after gone through the refurbishment program. Both Serenade and Brilliance has gotten Vintages instead of the Champagne Bar, while Jewel is up for refurbishment next year. What will happen to the Champagne Bar is anyones guess.

Also the Quantum class lacks a Champagne Bar all together.

On Freedom the Champagne Bar is replaced by the R Bar, while her sisters still seem to have the Champagne Bar. However Liberty is up for a refurbishment next year.

It has been a favorite spot for both me and my wife. Especially on caviar nights. Although I can guess why they want to replace it, since we often seem to be almost alone in the venue. Of course it makes sense for them to replace it with something that brings a steady cash flow.

So, what do you think about Royal's plan with the Champagne Bar?

Will more ships get rid of it? Am I the only one who will miss it?

Our favorite spot on the ship - Park Café.

I even got my father to try the sunbeds and even go for swim.

Yes, the roast beef sandwich is alive and kicking.

How I miss this place.

Just back from Serenade of the seas and a 7 night Scandinavia and Russia cruise. I thought I should share some thoughts from my week.

With three Caribbean cruises on large ships behind me the major difference was of course the size of the ship. Serenade of the seas is a beautiful ship and everything feels so close and accessible.

It struck me how I kept running in to the same people over and over. On Allure and Oasis I've had a hard time finding people even if I wanted to. I put this feature in the bowl of pro's when comparing Serenade to previous ships.

With only four cruises behind me it might be a bit to early to get some relevant statistics. But I felt that the level of service from the crew was much higher on Serenade than on Allure and Oasis. Freedom was okay, but I still have to rank Serenade as the best ship so far when it comes to service level.

Several staff members told me that they prefer working on smaller ships since it's a way more humane work load for them to carry comparing to the mega ships operation.

Embarkation went very smooth. But maybe I should add that I traveled with my father who has a walking disability. We had a accessible stateroom and once we passed security at the port in Stockholm we were guided to priority boarding and skipped the whole line of people. I think it took us like 20 minutes from entering the terminal building to our stateroom.

Our stateroom was on deck 2. The accessible staterooms has an automatic door opener. Once you put your card in the hole the door swings open. My father loved this feature since he could enter the stateroom with both hands on his walker.

The stateroom was quite spacious with good enough room to operate and turn his walker around. The bathroom was excellent and actually bigger than my father has at home. The shower has a fold down bench to sit on which was a killer feature for my dad. He has the same thing at home and this was one of his greater concerns ahead of the cruise.

Of course the stateroom has no thresholds. He could roll his walker in and out of both the stateroom and bathroom without any problems.

We spent most of our time in the Solarium, in Schooner Bar or in the Centrum on deck 4.

The Solarium was great with its closed glass roof since the weather treated us the way to expect during the Scandinavian summers. 60° F and rain is not unusual and the Solarium helped us feel almost like we were on a Caribbean cruise.

My father could sit in a normal chair at Park Café while I could go lay down in a deck chair. We had all our lunches at Park Café since they have a variety of salads, fruits and sandwiches. The famous Kummelweck Roast Beef Sandwich is an old favorite of mine from the Oasis class, but my father preferred the grilled paninis.

The staff at Park Café were great and gave my father a treatment he's likely to talk about for the rest of his life. They provided him the best first cruise experience I could imagine.

My fathers disability made us stay onboard for most of the port days. We've been to both Helsinki and Tallinn countless of times before so we had a great time onboard with almost the whole Solarium to our self.

We went for a guided tour in St Petersburg. It was nice even if it wasn't the kind of tour I would have gone for if I had traveled with my wife. Of course we just happened to make a stop by the local knick-knacks souvenir store with Matryoshka dolls made in China. But I guess you have to take it for what it is.

Tallin was a great stop. While I had parked my father in the Solarium listening to an audio book I went for a walk in Tallinn. You can tell Tallinn has taken their cruising industry seriously. They have built a great port on walking distance from their beautiful old town. No less than eight cruise ships lied in port at the same time.

The port provided a free and fast internet connection. Once the cruise ship next to us left we could reach the ports Wi-Fi from our ship. Unfortunately we were scheduled to leave just after it so the luck only lasted for a short while.

While Tallinn must have spent millions of dollar on the expansion of their port, the same thing can not be said about Riga. The ship literally docks at a lumber yard a 30 minute drive from the city. Walking is impossible and no taxis were available. The only way to get to town was buy booking a tour or paying for a shuttle bus.

Not that my father complained. He was to tired to go to town so he had a blast overlooking the lumber workers during the day. Quite a difference from Tallinn on the previous day.

The last sea day made the ship feel a bit crowded. But that's only because me and my father got used to having the ship to our self when most of the people were a shore.

At lunch they fired up the grill on pool deck and offered a chicken and ribs buffé. That's something I haven't seen on the bigger ships. It was great!

As we got closer to Sweden the ship speeded up while the captain informed us of a medical emergency. After a while a Swedish rescue boat boarded us to evacuate the sick passenger. Hope he or she is doing well.

To sum it up i have to say my general expression of the ship is that I think I prefer the smaller ship to the mega ships Oasis and Allure constitutes. I think I will end up on them again but I will definitely go for the smaller ships to. The service level made all the difference and if it has to do with the size of the ship I'm all about small ships from now on.

We also loved the outdoor seating in Windjammer. We had two great mornings when the weather allowed us to use it. This is a real gem on this ship. Especially since not many people discovered it.

Our accessible stateroom.

Windjammers outdoor seating as ships enter Tallinn.

Brilliance of the seas came to join us in Tallinn.

Busy day in Tallinn.

Welcome to the lumber yard of Riga.

Ship - Serenade of the seas

Deck - 2

Stateroom # - 2022

Stateroom Category – Accessible Ocean View

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Only sound we could hear was the ocean against the ship.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Any specific problems with this cabin? - No

Any other comments? - Traveling with my father who has a walking disability I went for a accessible stateroom. This was a great experience. The bathroom had a wide door and a lot of room to fit his walker. The stateroom had an automatic door opener. My father is a diabetic and a sharps container was provided for him to dispose of his needles.

This stateroom can only be accessed from the centrum elevators. The front elevators leads to the medical facility and you have no access to the stateroom corridor from the front of the ship.

Stateroom large enough to fit a wheelchair or a walker.

Large bathroom with a chair in the shower.

Shaps trap provided for needles.

Automatic door opener can be shut off, always keep the door open or open by the push of a button or with key card from the outside.

Sounds lovely!

I'm really looking forward to embark from a port just three hours from home. I'm taking my father on his first cruise.

Sounds lovely!

I'm really looking forward to embark from a port just three hours from home. I'm taking my father on his first cruise.

Good aft from Stockholm[emoji3]. Just wanting to find out from fellow past cruisers their experience on early boarding out of Stockholm? Very excited for tomorrow to arrive!

Welcome to Sweden!

My Set Sail Pass says check in from 11.00 AM. My guess is they will do as they do on the caribbean cruises and let people on as soon as the athorities has cleared the ship.

I will arrive by train at 12.30 and head straight to the port. [emoji41]