kmurph22

I have done one TA, and don't think I would do it again, although maybe if I were retired I would consider it.

Hubb and I took the inaugural voyage of the RCCL Quantum from London to NY. Great price. Ship was very nice with lots to do, although there were a number of first-run glitches (which I anticipated and did not ruin my trip). We had very rough weather for about 2 1/2 days of the 8 day journey.

We met some very nice people, and on a TA you really do begin to see familiar faces since all the time is spent on board. I can't say we were "bored", as I'm always happy reading a book, making a donation to the slots, or soaking in a hot tub. Hey, it's better than work! But, by the time the trip was over, we were glad to be off the ship. It's just a lot of time in a closed environment with a fairly set routine.

RE: your son, at 5, he's probably still really into mommy and daddy - I doubt he would get bored because he will enjoy being with you!

Some people love TA's... I guess I just wasn't one of them. YMMV!

What happens when you don't have an internet connection :confused:

 

or no cell data access :confused:

As long as you upload the documents in dropbox to your device - they are accessible offline as well.

another idea for those who are hestiant to go paperless and want backup: save a .pdf copy of each confirmation, and upload them to Dropbox. They can be accessed anywhere via the internet.

I took a 2 week, 3 city trip to Europe without a single piece of paper last spring, it's very freeing!

if you have the time, you may also consider adding on a city to your trip - just research which flights are cheapest/best from your home city to northern Europe, because once you are 'across the pond', intercity flights are very inexpensive.

We are also taking a cruise out of Copenhagen, but flying into Amsterdam 4 days prior. We will spend a couple of days in Amsterdam and then fly from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, which was only a $40 flight on our date.

You might spend the savings in the alternate city, but I would rather spend it in a place than on a plane!

Thank you for your review Meanjean80!

Sailing the Baltics next year on the Getaway and I'm very interested in your review, especially the details re: the weather. I'll bundle up and bring the rain gear I guess.

Your story underscores why we will fly into Copenhagen 2 days early!

The more I read, the more I am thinking about booking a private tour in SPB so we can at least dictate the pace, even if we have to be with a guide the entire time. It's $$$$ but since I don't plan on going back maybe it makes sense. We shall see.

Sounds like I also need to make a plan or book a hotel room for debarkation day, as our flight home isn't until 6:00pm.

Thanks again.

Thanks Keith and all who are posting tips for the Baltics - we will be sailing on Getaway in May 2017. Following withinterest.

Have a great trip!

Not sure when it will go into effect on Oasis, but I can explain DD "like you're 8" since I've experienced it on Quantum, hope this helps...

You are visiting New York City. Within one block of your hotel, there are 10 or 12 different restaurants where you can have dinner each night. Some are more expensive than others. Some are included with your hotel package, including a big all you can eat buffet. Some are more popular than others. You will like some of the menus but not others. You might decide to make reservations, or not. If you don't make reservations, you might have to wait in line, especially for the more popular restaurants. If there's a long line, you can choose to go elsewhere, just as in a city. When you arrive at some of the restaurants, they might ask you if you want to be seated with strangers, or not. Your answer might affect your waiting time, or it might not. If you make a reservation, you can generally change it. Sometimes service will be outstanding. Other times it will seem indifferent or take a long time.

To summarize: the only thing DD isn't, is predictable. Each cruiser's experience will be a little different based on their choices.

Hi Gertie!

We were on the cruise with you! (Kathy & Scott)

Loving your review, keep going! I hope you took advantage of the $0 wine machines in Vintages on the first day - and actually throughout the cruise if you could find one that was full!

I think we arrived at the port a little before you - and we were one of the people who didn't have our tags correctly matched - because my suitcase didn't come until noon on Day 2 :O

I've had an odd "balcony" injury to my hand. When moving the locking handle it popped into place with a lot of pressure and whacked the bottom of my pointer. In seconds it was swollen up like a new knuckle. Ice helped though and it doesn't really hurt. Sure ugly though, about a third of my hand is purple and puffy like a black eye.

 

!

Mindy! Nearly the same thing happened to me! While trying to close the balcony door a little more firmly (so it wouldn't bang and bump and squeak from the high seas), my thumb kind of got caught between the handle and the side of the door - I guess i used too much force... and my thumb knuckle was all black & blue for two days! Ouch!

re: Newark area hotels;

I like the area near Jersey Gardens mall. There are 3 hotels there. Spring Hill Suites, Embassy Suites, and Country Inn and suites. There are restaurants in the mall as well as a few places you could walk to across a parking lot. All have airport shuttles.

There is a Marriott right in the center of the airport, kind of dated but it suffices as well.

I wouldn't recommend downtown Newark.

RC fun cruiser you should be fine.

Today's disembarkation was a bit disorganized, which I chalk up to the combination of new ship & new terminal. We did walk off luggage, which meant we were in the first group to leave the ship, and we were outside looking for our car service by 8:10am. The ship docked around 6:30 (?) after our statue of liberty tour. I was home in northern New Jersey before 10. I know others with later times had a longer disembarkation process.

I can't offer any guarantees, but I would say there would have to be a BIG problem for you to miss a 2:45 flight from Newark which is only a few miles from the port. If you're concerned do the walk off luggage.

also not sure if this one was answered - although we don't really have the answer yet...

The Royal IQ app itself is free. You can use it to view your schedule, make reservations, and view statement. However, the chat function didn't work so we never got to find out how much the charge was to use the chat function.

there was a card in the stateroom that said "Ice is available by request. Call your stateroom attendant".

We don't use ice so didn't avail ourselves of the service, maybe others can comment.

Hi everybody, we're home so I can answer a few questions.

I was in DO 6196 (a 50%). I didn't get great photos of the whole balcony but this one kind of shows the lifeboat in the foreground so you can get an idea. (I hope this works)

IMO we thought being on deck 6 was great - easy walk to almost all restaurants, shows, shops, and 270. Would book it again.

Casino - plenty of penny machines. I would say 3 or 4 dozen at least? I think i ended the week up on machines, down on tables, pretty close to break-even. Hubby played more tables and lost.... could be a theme.

swimming - well for much of the trip the pools were closed due to the significant rocking. But yes the solarium and indoor pool were both warm enough (air temperature wise) to swim in both the pools and hot tubs.

Overall we enjoyed the trip. The 'motion of the ocean' unfortunately limited our ability to fully access all of the events, as shows and activities were often closed or cancelled. There were so many crew/staff working on things - like a promenade parade/show they practiced for a few times, and the rock wall (? - you would think they would know how to get a rock wall ready, but it was closed on day 8 as they were putting in new flooring).

We thought the food was great and loved Dynamic dining - we ate in a different restaurant each night. Favorites were Devinly Decadence, American Icon, Jamie's,and the Grande. We were seated with others at the Grande and Chic (by choice) and really enjoyed the company - these two restaurants were pretty crowded and had waits. At the others (American Icon, Silk, Devinly Decadence, and Jamie's) we were seated by ourselves - they generally weren't too crowded. Only bad meal was husband's ribeye at Chops - he should have asked for something else but ate half my filet, which was excellent, and no one went away hungry. Wished we had discovered Cafe 270 before day 7! That's what happens when there are so many choices.

If no one has mentioned chef Devin Alexander was on the ship making sure her new restaurant got off to a great start. It's up in the solarium so not everyone seems to know it's there... definitely check it out, even if just for the AM buffet (no added charge).

We did the North Star on day 5 (I think), 2 hour wait but worth it imo. Wouldn't probably wait in line a second time though. We also did the Ifly... I would definitely do that again, a great free amenity.

Spa isn't big enough imo. Gym was beautiful but got very hot and stuffy on day 6 - I heard there were some AC issues but I'm not sure.

I didn't get my luggage until about 11 am on day 2 - there was a brief scare when hubby asked Guest Services to at least confirm that my bag was on the ship and they said they weren't sure. Yikes! I don't want to wear Quantum T shirts for 8 straight days !!!! But it was found thanks to the help of a random sports deck staffer hubby complained to, who called the Executive Housekeeper, and bang I had a bag 30 minutes later.

I didn't read the whole thread so if there's anything out there that hasn't been covered, I would be happy to give my thoughts on it.

ETA a final thought: In addition to the $300 OBC and future credit, there was a lot of randomly free stuff, like drinks on day 1 and the internet. Overall I think Royal did right by its customers. We definitely had to put up with some glitches, and honestly more glitches than I expected, but I feel that the overall value of the trip based on what we paid was very fair for the experience. The ship is beautiful and I think it will be a hit.

actually NCL does charge for the texting portion of their iConcierge app. $7.95 per person for the week.

casting a vote for Rome. Yes it's far from the city, but Civitavecchia is a lovely little town in which to spend a pre-cruise evening. My family and I all had the best pasta of our lives there! Plus, you get to spend more time exploring Rome either before or after your cruise. That's what we did this past summer (on NCL - sorry I know this is RCI board but it was a great trip!)

I felt sorry for the folks who had Rome as a port day - it's really not possible to enjoy it given the travel time and constraints of getting back to the ship.

My advice is, figure out which city you would like to spend the most time in pre or post cruise and depart from there. If you're going to pay to fly to Europe, you might as well add a few days to your 8 or 9 day cruise itinerary.

same freak flyer; mine and hubby's switches between B and F, same arrival appointment. I've saved .pdf versions of the B's and those are the ones I'm bringing to the port! If an "A" ever shows up, or an earlier time, I'll save that one!

thank you ! Happy to learn that my cabin for Nov 2 is 50%! we bought an inside guarantee so I'm quite happy with any view!

Yes I did the check in before yesterday.

But I found the Arrival Appointment as PlutO said...

go to Step 1 of your Online check in and click on edit. Click through to the 4th page of information, about halfway down, there is a new section that wasn't there before.

note: You don't have to upload your photo to do this (all mine don't fit the requirements... they have backgrounds or our heads are tilted; and hubby always wears hats. So candids aren't going to work, we will have to take a photo of each other standing against a wall. How boring!

The earliest arrival for our cruise is 11:30 -12 so that's what I picked!

Liz I didn't have anything about an Arrival Appointment either. Perhaps they aren't doing that for the Maiden TA?

you're right Miryam I missed that! I was too busy reading the BS (big safe) thread titled Royal Caribbean are you Listening????????? . LOL.

one thing for the OP to check though; a couple of years ago there was a sign at Laguardia that stated that Snow Globes were prohibited in carryon luggage. I remember because my family and I got a chuckle out of the huge sign dedicated only to Snow Globes. I guess they were concerned about the liquid inside? You may want to check airport rules if you are flying, or pack them in checked luggage.

Also - make sure you have a credit card that doesn't charge a foreign exchange fee. There are many now that don't, check with your bank.

We took a western Med cruise on NCL this summer.

Miryam's numbers are correct, but when on a cruise you also need to factor in transportation as most of the ports are in industrial areas. You will generallly want a taxi or tour to get you anywhere that's worth spending time / shopping for that snow globe / buying lunch. And if you want to go further afield, say to Pompeii or the Amalfi coast from Naples, it can be fairly expensive. There are trains that get you from Civitavecchia to Rome for a bit less.

Check out the Ports of Call boards for more info.

honeymoon, Monarch of the Seas, 1992, southern Caribbean out of San Juan. We paid $699 for an obstructed balcony cabin.

how exciting!

Check out the Ports of Call threads for Europe for ideas, but we did a Western Med to and from Rome last month. With parents pushing 80, I would definitely recommend you consider a private driver, rather than the big ship bus tours. It's worth the extra money to get in and out of an air conditioned car and be brought right to the sites. We're in our 40s with teenagers and we were hot and tired... I would imagine your parents would be even more so! Several companies are frequently recommended in the Italy threads and also check Tripadvisor under "things to do" for the port cities you are visiting.

Highlights for us:

Rome - we stayed 3 days after the cruise, saw all the sites, it's HOT in the summer and our favorite times were evenings hanging around the piazzas and people watching. But if it's just a port stop for you that wouldn't work... the city of Rome is far from the port in Civitavecchia so it's a very long day just seeing the big highlights such as the Colosseum and Vatican.

Livorno - we did Pisa and Lucca. Climbed the tower (bucket list) but enjoyed Lucca, a small artsy tuscan town, the most. We caught a flash mob of music school students singing a Puccini aria. (Puccini was born in Lucca) Probably the most amazing moment of the entire trip.

Cannes - we walked the waterfront boulevard, "La Croisette", and had a nice meal at a beach restaurant, and people watched.

Barcelona - We took a cab around the city and walked Las Ramblas. Beautiful tree lined street with great shopping and outdoor restaurants, and people watching (can you sense a theme here?)

Naples - we did a full day private tour of Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Wonderful day. Oh and there was some people watching ;)

We also docked in Palma Mallorca but stayed on the ship and made it basically a sea day because we were tired. Beaches are supposed to be amazing though. Next time!

Good luck and have fun planning!

Count me among those willing to give DD the benefit of the doubt.

For the poster above who said "I don't want to be told what time to eat dinner".... you won't be. It's the exact opposite of that.

I also like selection among restaurants. I like specialty restaurants even if I have to pay a few extra $, but I understand that it's not for everyone.

Like many of you, I used to enjoy meeting other people on cruises at our tables.... but on the last few RCCL cruises with standard dining, one or more of the following has been my experience:

a)other party/parties don't show up, or show up late

b)my kids get cranky because they want to eat right away and not wait for the others

c)my kids, now teens, feel awkward with the other kids or lack of kids at the table with us and decide to just eat room service or WJ

d)I haven't had a waiter or assistant remember my drink since about 1992

Royal has become more and more family-oriented, and to be honest, flexible dining is just more family friendly. Maybe that's their angle here.

You will see below that I have sailed NCL recently, several times. One of the reasons is the 'freestyle' dining.. it just flows better for my family. Sometimes you eat a big lunch, and want to have dinner later. Sometimes you skip lunch, and want an early dinner. Or there's a show you want to see. Not sure about Royal yet, but with NCL Freestyle you DO NOT have to make all your reservations in advance. The general advice on this with Freestyle is, if you really really really want to eat in a specific restaurant, make a reservation. Otherwise, they hold back 35 - 50% of the tables for those who just want to show up. So we did that, regularly. OK, sometimes (as with MTD) we had to wait 10 or 15 minutes for a table. No biggie.

Now, I grant that it remains to be seen exactly how Royal will implement these changes. How many tables they hold back for walk ins ... will they have those cool green/yellow/red electronic graphics everywhere to tell you which restaurants are full and which aren't... will they seat you with others or with only your own party... all filed under "More to Come". And, I don't like the idea of the complementary venues having the exact same menu every night... I hope they have a couple of specials as well.

I don't want to have to "spreadsheet my vacation" either, at least not down to the day/hour. But I do like choice and flexibility. If they do it right, it has great potential.

I'll be on the Maiden quantum voyage and will be sure to report back on my experience.