Bonnie Voyager

We had Concierge access on Quantum this week as Diamond Plus members. Just off this morning (4/12/15).

Hello! I hope you have a great cruise! We will be boarding when you disembark on Easter Sunday! I hope you will come back to this thread and let us know how the "Noro" situation is coming along. Hopefully the big clean up you had to endure, was not in vain! ;)

Layering is definitely the key to success! Also be prepared with a lightweight layer for warm weather! On our July Alaska cruise several years ago, it was 90 degrees in port! I had packed layers, but not a layer that was appropriate for a HOT day! I ended up wearing my "workout clothes" (gym shorts and tank top!) around Ketchikan with my pool shoes (flip-flops)! On our Glacier Bay day we had on every layer we brought with us PLUS wrapped ourselves in blankets as we sailed past the glaciers! We saw both extremes of temperature on that trip! It was a trip of a lifetime though! Amazing!

Hmmm...asking about the Serenade specifically since it is an older ship. Thanks though!

I used wifi in my cabin on Serenade last Summer with no problems at all! We had an aft balcony cabin (1604) so I don't know if that location had anything to do with the good wifi connection or not. But it worked well for me the entire 12 days of our cruise!

I've logged out and in again, opened a new browser and still it is showing me a still shot from earlier. No live stream and no sound at all. I'll just have to imagine it floating out. :rolleyes:

You have to hit the "play" button!

Looks like they are starting to move her out any moment now!

We also flew out at 10:40a.m. two years in a row and made it to the airport before the check-in desk was open! We did the self-disembarkation and took a cab. No problems either time we did it.

Hi Bonnie, we were supposed to be on the Jewel together. I too might have to cancel. I am going on the Quantim in March with a friend. Can't afford to do both but am excited to see the Quantum. Hate to skip the Jewel. I might wait until final payment before making my decision. Hope you have a great cruise, Hawaii?

Hi Karen! Yes, I switched from our Fall Jewel 8-day Pacific Coast cruise to a 15-day Hawaii cruise (on Princess - Ruby) departing Oct. 3rd out of LAX, for almost the same amount of money as the 8-day Jewel cruise. :D And I am also sailing on Quantum out of Bayonne this April. Good stuff! :D I was lucky with Quantum, I booked it almost 2-years out and got a GREAT price! Current prices are $2,000 MORE than I paid for the same cabin almost 2 years ago! :eek:

I sailed on Grandeur out of Baltimore over Easter week last April and don't remember any major issue with the number of kids onboard. Yes, they were there as most schools in this area (Middle Atlantic States) are OFF on Easter week. But it was just my husband and myself sailing and we spent most of our time in venues where the kids wouldn't want to be anyway. I do remember one afternoon in the Viking Crown Lounge when we were overrun by a group of teens, but they were not doing anything wrong, just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. It was just the fact that there were about 8 of them and only the 2 of us. They made more noise than we did, so we finished our drinks and moved to a different venue.

That's the only instance I remember the kids affecting our week at all. We had a great week and celebrated our 37th anniversary onboard that week. We've actually sailed Easter week every year as far back as I can remember and really never had an issue with the number of kids! I would suspect that you will have even less kids due to the fact that your cruise is 10-day. All my Easter week cruises have been 7-days (departing on Easter weekend).

My son wears size 17 shoes, and because of this he can't pack too many pairs of shoes when he travels! He always brings a pair of black slip-on Vans, which he wears day and evening!

I was on a Disney cruise back in 2002, on Oscar Night, and they did a full on "Day at the Oscars" theme throughout the ship. There was Oscars Trivia, Oscars Name That Tune, and even a black-tie Oscars Party in the theater during the showing of the actual Oscars program. After the Oscars were televised they then showed the Oscar-winning Best Picture for that evening "Chicago" (which was coincidentally produced by Mirimax Films...then owned by Disney). Oscars night was definitely fun and it was well-attended too! I would love to see more ships offer something like that! :D

I knew I shouldn't have come back and read the boards, lol. Now I peeked at the White House Black Market store and found multiple items on markdown that I want! Problem is I'm now officially on social security disability insurance now and stuck at home all day with no where to wear them too. :)

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Being "stuck at home" is no excuse! Buy something pretty! :D You deserve it!

I LOVE my lightweight "Girlfriend Cardigan" from White House Black Market! It is super-soft and very nice quality! I expect to have it for years!

http://www.whitehouseblackmarket.com/store/browse/product.jsp?maxRec=1&pageId=1&productId=570119017&viewAll=&prd=Long+Sleeve+Black+Girlfriend+Cardigan&subCatId=&color=001&fromSearch=true&inSeam=&posId=1&catId=&cat=&onSale=&colorFamily=&maxPg=1&size=

ducimergirl and Bobbie Voyger .... Thanks for the suggestions. It's good to keep various alternatives in mind.

At home I have a sturdy purse size umbrella. On cruises some ports of call can be VERY windy so umbrellas don't work well.

LuLu

Very true, wind AND rain can be a deal breaker for an umbrella!

For summer rain, a small umbrella that fits in my purse/tote serves me well! ;)

Much noise in 1600 or 1604?

As I said previously, we just got back a couple weeks ago from 12 glorious days in 1604, on Serenade. I have no complaints at all! There was never any noise that interfered with our sleep hours. Sometimes during the day hours when we were sitting out on the balcony relaxing, we could hear the cling-clang of dishes and the chitter-chatter of happy diners above us from the outdoor Windjammer dining area. But it was NEVER anything that bothered us, just something that we noticed. No noise issues at all from inside the cabin itself! I loved it! Great cruise, great ship, great cabin!

Currently I have 5 booked for 2015. I guess I'm a slacker compared to some of you:)

 

Carolyn

I'm REALLY a slacker, I've only got 4 booked...for now that is! And one of those sails this weekend, so then I will only have 3! But I know how to fix that! ;)

Hmmm, I admit to stumbling on a forum without doing much research on it, I'll look for the link. But whatever I read, said something like 80% of passengers were affected. Not my info, just what I read.

Yikes! I've never heard of any ship having a case of noro that big! I'm not saying it can't happen though! But, I can assure you it wasn't Grandeur, back in April! I was following that noro outbreak very closely since I was boarding Grandeur the next week! :eek: ;) We had a great cruise and no noro! :D

Another note, there is one other cruise that would "fit" my schedule, but certainly not what I planned fro my vaca. (Leaves from Baltimore).

 

What I just learned while goo ogling away on hold waiting for customer service to pick up (25 minutes and counting), is that the ship is the one that had the MEGA norovirus issues. I hope anyone would understand that in no way would I take my infant daughter on that ship.

 

I know that the risks for norovirus are present anywhere, and we are more likely to get it elsewhere than a cruise. But, i'd deserve for child services to take my child away if I willingly took her at such a young age on a ship voluntarily that had recent major outbreaks.

Does Grandeur have noro now? I know she had a problem back in April involving two weeks of sailing. I was onboard for the third week (which was the first week AFTER that noro episode) and the ship was clean as a whistle and no one that I was aware of contracted Noro. I have not heard any further reports of Noro on Grandeur since April until your mentioning a "MEGA" issue in this thread.

The April episode of noro was not exactly "MEGA". About 5% of the total body count was ill, which means about 95% were not. Unless there is a new episode of Noro that I am not aware of, I would not rule out Grandeur as a solution to your vacation issue. She is a lovely ship, but is of course not as large as Explorer therefore she does not have as many bells and whistles as Explorer. I think you could find a way to "party" on Grandeur though! :D

Good luck whatever you end up doing! It is unfortunate that it all turned out this way for you. I hope you get it cleared up to your satisfaction!

Who doesn't like a 4 year old thread when it's a good one! :D

 

Here are some of my Serenade cruise. I hope my aft doesn't disappoint. :p

 

Serenade #1604

I just got off of Serenade last week after 12 glorious nights sailing in 1604! Fabulous!

We arrived at Barcelona after a transatlantic in May. We were not in a rush to get off as we were staying for three days before flying back to the US. We waited in a line for over an hour to get a taxi into town. Anyone with prearranged transport did a lot better than we did.

When you do the self-disembark you are first off the ship (with luggage in tow) and there is almost NO line for a cab. We did this two years in a row and were off the ship and in our cab in about 10 minutes! Got to the airport between 7-7:30a.m. (for a 10:30a.m. flight) both times! So easy!

I had planned to get transfers for our upcoming Liberty trip to BCN trip (7/13-7/20), but the RC website says transfers are not available. The RC website says the earliest recommended flight from BCN is 9:00a, so our 10:45a flight is way beyond the minimum.

 

I'm confused by the post that transfers are available!?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

It is cheaper (and quicker) to just grab a cab! I recall it was about 45 Euros for the cab. (per cab not per person). One year we shared the cab with another couple who were in line with us. The cabs are small though, so if you have a lot of luggage, they probably can't take more than 3 passengers in one cab, with 2 passengers being optimum.

There was only 1 flight a day when we flew back to the states from our cruise in Barcelona. Our return flight was at 10:30 am and I recall when we got to the airport at 7:30 am and the ticket agents were not even there yet.

Ditto! Two years in a row we had the 10:30a.m. flight out of Barcelona and were first in line when the check-in counter opened. We did the self-disembarkation option each time and it worked out perfect. I would not hesitate to book the same flight again (and hope to be able to do so again in the future!) :D

Hmmm....I wonder why the RCI agent told me they couldn't bump us. She said they COULD offer an upgrade, but she it wasn't mandatory that we take it. I specifically want to be midship and wanted a hump cabin. And we ARE booking over a year ahead. Believe me, if there has been another cabin without Pullmans available online, I would have taken it. Do they cabins available over the phone that aren't shown online? As I mentioned, this was the cabin that RCI offered me from the onset. Now you've got me worried. Is this in fine print somewhere?

Linsifer, I am so sorry that I have worried you! That was truly not my intention. But rather I just want you to be aware that there is a slight chance that they could move you if they needed to recover the cabin for the extra bed. If they have told you they won't do that, then perhaps they have made some sort of notation that will protect you. In my case, there was no "promise" made to protect me. I just booked it online and found that even though it was a "triple" I was able to book it as a "double"...so I did! Less than a week before our sail date, when printing out my set sail pass, I noticed I had been moved :p I was so upset and when I called them they told me they had needed the cabin for a family of 3. (It would have at least been nice if they had told me rather than my stumbling across the change by chance). They had moved me to what THEY considered an upgrade (my booked cabin - 7688- was a category E2 and they moved me to a category D2) However, 7688 just happens to have the largest aft/corner balcony on the ship and they moved me to a standard balcony on the side of the ship. Not an upgrade in my opinion. But, water under the bridge! I had a great cruise and I knew that some family of 3 had a great vacation as well, on "my" big balcony. You will have a great cruise too! The likelihood of you being moved is pretty slim! I've been on almost 40 cruises and only had it happen once!

They won't bump you for a larger party.

Unfortunately they WILL bump you for a larger party if they choose to do so. I had it happen to me when I had my husband and myself booked in the infamous "triple" corner/aft cabin 7688 on Explorer of the seas a few years ago. :( So, it DOES happen. Hopefully not often though! ;)

Do you know what ships still have it, or when / why eliminated? They had it on Majesty in May, Legend in March.

 

It was exactly the same breakfast....just in it's own "section".

This past April, Grandeur had the Diamond Lounge Continental Breakfast as well as the Diamond Breakfast area in the MDR.