whycruisewhynot

Received the attached message on our stateroom tv after dinner this evening.  Be sure to see shows as soon as they are offered.  

Please be cautious booking with Odsessy Tours, we had asked for tour/transport to the airport. It was really important for my DH to visit a coffee factory, yet we had an afternoon flight to make. We asked the company what time we would need to leave in order to have a quick stop at a coffee plantation. They told us we would need more time, as we had to take the "old" roads to the airport. They told us pick up at 8:30 am.

 

They were there timely, and able to pick up from the ship. Unfortunately they told me that morning that they needed $40 more for the tour, which was not mentioned in the confirmation email. We did have a nice drive and views on the old road, but our "coffee tour" was a three minute stop on the side of the road, where we went to find a coffee plant, and he told us a little about it. THAT"S IT! It in no way met our expectations for the tour, and the owners were not very responsive to my email.

 

We paid the extra money, but were very disappointed with the transfer / tour. Be cautious when booking with them.

I have had this same issue, and I was told each market received only a certain number of rooms to sell, and that I should try and book on another website.

I have tried for several days to access to update cruise plans, it just says database down.

They didn't muster everyone, we spent the morning hanging at a table in windjammers, and lounging on chairs by the pool. We did see the firefighters heading downstairs and smelled smoke. Crew was very quick to respond. They did an excellent job. We did put on warm clothes and packed our valuables in case we had to leave the ship.

I don't think I will EVER understand RCCL pricing. We were able to save a lot on two cruises, but both were recently booked when they just came out.

Ovation of the Sea's May 3, 2016 sailing, got our 2nd price drop today, and have a total saving's of $1000 from original booked price (Cat Q)

Rhapsody of the Sea's July 25, 2016 sailing, saved over $500 from original booked total, plus was able to upgrade our two side by side inside rooms, to Cat H connecting ocean view cabins. Could have saved $500 more if we stayed inside, but preferred connecting door, and occupancy rules didn't allow us to qualify for booking Cat K with only two people.

What REALLY confuses me, is it only cost me $200 more for two rooms, as opposed to one room with triple occupancy.

Not true, they only have the Harmony, Jewel, and Freedom up. They also have some Adventure sailings up but a gap between 11/26 and 1/07

 

You said Jewel - is this for the summer Venice sailings or only the winter from San Juan?

 

 

I called rci this past week and the rep told me itinerary should be out on April 13.

 

I will take April 13th - will be REALLY disappointed if the Jewel is deployed elsewhere!

Just got off the phone to RCCL - I am really tired of waiting for the Jewel Europe 2016 itineraries to be available online.... The guy I spoke to told me that "he suggests I call back in JUNE for those itineraries"!! Seriously??

 

I sure hope it isn't June, I completely changed up all of my travel plans this year based upon a July 2016 cruise listed on cruise cal. So I really hope they eventually post, I check SEVERAL times a day!

Just booked Ovation of the Sea's on the US RCCL website! Dates out there through June.

@madflyer - great find on the rhapsody - any "NEW" news on the Jewel sailings next summer? I know we should expect 10/11 nights out of Venice, and the Dubrovnik dates that someone posted earlier.

I haven't priced Epic, but I may now. I did compare prices with the Allure of the Seas 2015 sailing, to the same sailing time that I booked for Oct 2016 on the Harmony. It was almost the exact same price.

 

Okay, just did a quick comparison. I could get a Minisuite or Spa Balcony for $100 less than my Cat K on Harmony. An Aft Facing Balcony on Epic is $500 cheaper, and the family inside room is $1100 cheaper.

Called the main US number, and got in immediately. The sailings had just opened up since my agent hadn't booked one yet. First Sailing Available was June 7th.

 

We booked October 16th, 2016 -- 7 night sailing from Barcelona, category K - $1259 for first two, $549 for 3rd. Taxes = 98.72. Total USD 3363.16

Any information on dates / ports for Jewel of the Sea's Venice sailings that can be found would be much appreciated! I may have to rearrange my cruise plans.

I would also agree that there is no way there are doing $17million in renovations to the Quantum to make her more suitable for the Asian market only to then send her to Alaska.

 

It would make financial sense for RCL to cancel the changes to Quantum and send her to Alaska, and build the Ovation specifically for the Asia market.

Unfortunately this just happened to us in Feb, we had our worst travel experience ever. We are coming from Europe, so had a flight to arrive into IAH at 7 pm on Saturday, cruise departed from Galveston on Sunday. Due to mechanical issure crew legality and a little weather our flight was cancelled, they put us on the only other possible option arriving into IAH at 1:30 pm. We were a bit late, but since check-in was until four, should have made the ship. Had a private driver standing by. But guess what, our luggage never arrived, however, the computer system said it had so we had to return to baggage claim area while a ramp agent checked. This cost us three days of our cruise, didn't leave the airport until 3 pm, and made it to port at 4:15, they were just locking the doors, and could not let us through even though the ship was still there. We had been in contact with the emergency travel line throughout this process, and they were able to get us approval to board in Roatan, Honduras. There were about ten people on the embarkation list. Guest services came down to greet us with our keys, and we had to stop by and fill out the medical forms, and set up credit card. It turned out okay, since we had a couple of days to sightsee in Houston, and buy some clothes. Our bags never did arrive, we picked them up at the airport on our way home.

There was talk onboard Quantum's inaugural, which was not denied, that RCI was hoping to bring the Ovation and Harmony out simultaneously. Apparently the management were quite excited as it would be a company first!!

 

This is what I was told last week by a Director onboard, there will be a huge release of both ships on the same day.

Just want to say I love following this thread, and thank all of you who search and report. Still waiting to see if my DH dream cruise is going to be offered summer of 2016 (Stockholm to Copenhagen).

 

We were on the Navigator of the Seas last week, and I chatted with one of the directors at a local bar. They stated they were informed just two weeks ago, that they would homeport in South Hampton, then transition to Barcelona for awhile, and end up home-porting in Copenhagen.

No one claimed it guarantees your will not miss the cruise. It just makes it less likely that you will miss your cruise. If you want a guarantee that snow will not affect your cruise, move to Phoenix and only cruise in June, July and August. But even that will not guarantee that you will not miss your cruise. Planes sometimes have mechanical issues.

 

Sitting in the airport waiting to catch up with our "missed" cruise. We were flying from Europe they day before and there was weather, mechanical, and crew issues. Got a flight that would barely get us there in time, and then low and behold, our luggage didn't arrive, and we had to do that. Got to the port 15 min too late. There are no guarantees!

For those in the know, when booking a cruise this week from Abu Dhabi have you been able to choose (one) 123Go option if booking ocean view or higher, the website is only showing "all inclusive" offers for concierge. I am a US Citizen living in Switzerland. Trying to figure out best option to book. Currently US website is not showing any offers available room catergories under concierge.

 

Abu Dhabi is not Europe, so I am assuming you wouldn't get to choose two.

 

Any advice from Europeans on best booking options, we are set to do this cruise, so wouldn't mind a non-refundable deposit.

 

We are currently Select on Celebrity, and will be cruising RCCL in February, wondering if I should just wait to book onboard. Want to cruise on the 12/19/2016 Constellation sailing.

I booked a private tour with Dennis Hollis the morning of July 23rd for my party of 5. It was the same price per person ($70) as the excursion or the group bus, so I think it's going to be much better--thanks to everyone here who recommended him!

 

I also contacted Colin Jennings and Lewis Foggo who are both available on July 23rd if you are looking for that date; not sure about the 24th or 25th but you could ask them. (I will also post this on my roll call thread.)

 

dwhollis@logic.bm

 

colinjenningstaxi@yahoo.com

 

lewis_foggo@hotmail.com

 

Tracy:cool:

 

We had Dennis Hollis, give us a four hour island tour the week of July 6th. He was right on time with a sign, we had him take us around the island and drop us off at the Swizzle Inn near the crystal caves. The island itself is beautiful, and I would highly recommend a overview tour on your first day. We did not gel with Dennis, and I would not recommend him. He seemed forgetful, and the only thing he talked about was what buildings were tore down, and replace, and the construction of the buildings. He repeated himself a lot, I heard at least six times that Ritz Carlton was taking over a property that was up for lease. My son (age 10) that normally loves listening to guides was bored, and wanted his phone. My husband commented he couldn't understand him very well. When we book this kind of tour it is our hope to get information about the history of the island, local information. He did not satisfy that expectation. I asked a general question about the ferry times, and he didn't know the schedule. I asked for a quick stop to buy tokens, he said you could get them at the ferry terminal, true, but I needed them before that to get the bus from Crystal Caves to Hamiliton. Luckily I found somewhere when we stopped at St. Georges.

 

There was this great tour guide at the old church, I wanted to stop and ask his name. We booked Dennis last minute (week before); there may be a reason he was available.

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. Just booked for this July. Now I won't spend all of my time planning. I'll just follow yours.:D

Cynthia

 

I was thinking the same thing, booked last weekend for July 6th sailing. Love that a planner has already done my normal work!

Have you consider the Rhapsody July 3rd sailing? We chose this one because it starts in Istanbul, and had the "must" do Greek islands. We are going to take a week to visit Rome, Tuscany/Florence, and Venice after the cruise. It's a bit more than the 7 night options, but we thought it was worth it!

 

Ports of Call:

 

Istanbul, Turkey; Thessaloniki, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Santorini, Greece; Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Messina (Sicily), Italy; Naples (Capri), Italy; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

Just saved over $1300 on my previously booked Dubai to Venice cruise, prices had not changed since booking. Retained OBC from NCC. Done very quickly and easily! Thanks RCCL!

 

I have been pricing a few others, and most haven't been spiked up, a few have, but not many.

Do you have the ports / schedules for the repositioning? They are not coming up online!

 

Contacted RCCL and they could find this sailing, Splendour of the Seas, it's still not showing up online for me. Nov 28, 2015 (leaves Venice) arrives into Dubai Dec 13 (overnights), disembark Dec 14,2015. Stops include Athens, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Oman.

 

Didn't get exact prices, but value price inside was approx. $2900 total for two; balcony ran $5000 for two.