momzcruzing

In general I tend to be a bit of a picky eater, but I loved 150 Central Park. Each course was so flavorful.

They change the menu in the middle of the week, so we went back to enjoy the alternative menu and it was just as good as the first.

We booked late and so I could not get a single dinner reservation online before boarding.

We made our reservations day by day and we were always accommodated with a reservation very close to the time slot we requested. We loved the DD!

I thought the food was the best I have ever experienced on my 40+ cruises. We loved all of the restaurants. Never a bad meal, and a few were outstanding.

I was on Quantum two weeks ago and there was no free wi-fi. I bought a 72 hour package for $59.

The internet was pretty decent too, not as slow as on previous cruises.

Also there are only 4 computers for general use, they are counting on you using your own device.

Hope that helps!

I had a conversation with one of the restaurant managers about the difficulty we had in making reservations on line pre cruise yet it appeared that there were always empty tables. His response was that he holds back a certain number of tables so there are tables available to those who haven't or couldn't make reservations ahead of time. I suspect all the managers do the same. When we showed up for our reservation at American Icon we were informed that they had overbooked but the manager there made a few calls and set us up at Coastal Kitchen. An up grade in my opinion.

If you can't reserve on line you should be able to make your reservations on the ship or just show up at the restaurant of your choice and they should be able to accommodate you.

Wow, I'd love to try Coastal Kitchen! You got really lucky! Crossing my fingers that maybe some of your luck is still in the air.

You and I both booked yesterday and must have gotten the last two cabins! Now shows sold out. Did you get a balcony? I spent hours on the phone earlier this AM trying to make reservations. We are in the same boat as you and wondering if we should reconisder. I have until tomorrow for refund as I am within 24 hour window. Looks like a great group going on this cruise! Really want to go!!

Yes, I was able to get a balcony And got a resident discount for California.. Yay! You reminded me to look at the roll call, Wow, busy group.

It wil be a fun trip, you and I will probably be the ones begging for food outside of the restaurants... LOL. Is it possible to lose weight on a cruise? :D

Today I booked the March 21 Quantum cruise, and when I go to the dining and entertainment options there is almost nothing available. I got Mama Mia for embarkation day & guest entertainer. But Starwater has no availability.

Dining is almost totally unavailable with exception of two nights at 9:30pm at American Icon and a bit more availability at Silk.

Is the punishment for a late booking being sent permanently to the Windjammer? I am D+ so will the concierge be able to get us a few shows and some dining pre-9:30pm?

On Allure we just walked into the "without reservations" line and were always seated quickly. Does that work on Quantum? We are happy to sit alone or with others.

I am a mid-60's woman who tries to cruise alone often. It is wonderful and encourage your Mom to try it.

As for dining choose traditional and specify large or med table with others. If she gets to dinner on first night and all other table companions are AWOL, just ask head waiter to move to a filled table with a space. I got placed with a fabulous group of table mates this way on a 12 day cruise of India on Brilliance. We had the best time.

Another option for your Mom is to choose "Anytime Dining" and when she arrives each night she will be asked if she is willing to share a table. Just like at breakfast and lunch. Met some great people that way too.

Also be sure to join the "Roll Call" so she can "chat" online with people on her cruise. Chances are she will meet other solo cruisers as well as families and couples that would love her company.

Another travel option she may want to consider is "Road Scholar" just google it. It is group travel aimed at Retirees and solos. I just got back from a trip and about 1/3 of the group was traveling solo, was such fun. They have tons of trips to every corner of the world & USA and will match your mom up with a roommate (maybe me ;)) if she desires, so that she doesn't have to pay the single supplement.

Good luck to your Mom. I think once she does her first trip she'll be hooked! Just takes the courage to start.

It could happen, tho not likely.

I have been on 5 or 6 RCL cruises where priests offered Mass regularly. I think twice the priest was with a church group and was very gracious and opened the Mass he was offering for his group to all guests.

About 4 (maybe 5) other times the priest was there as a contractor for RCL, and offered a Mass daily for guests and another for crew. It seems to be hit or miss. I chatted with one of these priests and he said he was contracted thru an agency that puts priests on ships. Guess it has to do with availablity of cabins & priests, etc.

Celebrity & Holland both have priests on a more regular basis.

Hope it works out for you.

I am a veteran of too many RCL cruises to count, but of course they are counting, been Diamond Plus for past 5 -6 years.

I've also done 6 Celebrity cruises and loved them. But I'm not much of a drinker so I could not rate the bar service, and that seems to be your major problem which I can imagine would be irritating.

I stay mostly with RCL because of the loyalty cabin discount. To me price trumps if all else is close to equal. Also I have enjoyed (very much) a few cabin upgrades!

I just got off a Princess cruise (done many of their ships too) and just loved it.

It seems I just can't be unhappy on a cruise ship... I Love them all! Now to get rid of this pesky job so I can cruise more... hmmm. ;) Suggestions??

Lava flow, any flavor. Some bartenders still remember how to make the mango tango, YUM!!

Actually we had a bartender willing to make us anything we could dream up. Had lots of Rum with guava, or passion fruit juice, frozen in blender.

Enjoy!

What a treasure, we loved finding them! Yet we almost never saw anyone else looking into them, just walked past, doubt they even noticed them.

We just returned 3 weeks ago from the last cruise tour on the Island Princess of the season. I chose mid-Sept trying to avoid overcrowding in the ports as many ships have already moved out. Many ports we were the only ship.

Also while knowing it would be rainy, I'd heard that it brings out the intense blue in the glaciers & leads to more calving of the glaciers. (We saw the entire face of a glacier calve in Glacier Bay-gasp!!!) Also late in the season you are more likely to see the Northern Lights & miss the mosquitos (we never saw one)

I read the Alaska boards extensively and I would recommend that you do that. I knew to sell the Natural History tour back to Princess and book the Tundra Wilderness tour thru the park's website. It was fabulous and the mountain was fully out, a very rare happening- YIPEE!!

We flew into Anchorage several days prior to the beginning of the tour, rented a car ($68 for two days) and stayed at the Aleska Resort (beautiful). From there we took the Prince William sound tour independently and planned to do the Kenai Fjord tour but weather stopped us.

Joining the Cruise tour, we chose one that did NOT include the meals and often ate off site and saved $$. We enjoyed many meals at the Princess lodges but the menus are limited and all very similar & I was very tired of the Princess food by the last lodge even tho we had only eaten 1/2 our meals there.

All lodges had in room coffee makers so breakfast was easy & free. Coffee & instant oatmeal or a Builder Bar. Very helpful for early tours.

Be sure to book a ship going into Glacier Bay (that is why you choose Princess) That is top priority! In the ports look for the independent tours, e.g. Island Wings in Ketchikan.

Just my ideas & my preferences. Enjoy! Alaska is magical, not to miss!! :)

We did the zip line and it was so beautiful! Five long lines, high above the beautiful ocean and Caribbean greenery. Breathtaking!!

I'm in my 60's and was not the oldest one on the lines. If you haven't zip lined, this is the time to cross it off your bucket list. You will be done early enough to shop lots around the port and have pictures with the monkeys.

I have over 40 cruises with Royal Caribbean & Celebrity, but I chose Princess for our second Alaskan cruise last week. Mainly due to their ability to go into Glacier Bay which is a national park that you don't want to miss. In Glacier Bay about 5 Park Rangers boarded the ship and gave running commentary all day.

There was also a naturalist on board who gave presentations on sea days.

The land portion is extensive with many options.

I would encourage you to read the Alaska boards to make your decisions. We did 8 days on land prior to the southbound cruise & I wish we had done more. We are making plans to go back.

Alaska is Amazing! Enjoy!

I was on the Southbound Island Princess during your cruise & we did indeed do the inside passage. Our day in Glacier Bay was amazing. The entire face of the Johns Hopkins Glacier calved right in front of us. Crew that had been on the ship for 10 years said they had never seen so much calving!

Hope you enjoyed you cruise despite the omission. Celebrity ships are so beautiful! Love Them!

It has been asked why one would sell their home and move. Well.... I have lived in my home for 34 years and worked at my current job the same 34 years. In spring I will sell, retire and move.

I live in Silicon Valley, an easy walk to Apple world headquarters. My house has appreciated wildly, which will give me a retirement that I never dreamed of but even more than that is the population change. Virtually everyone in my area is an engineer (husbands & wives both) and born & raised in other countries. They do not speak English at home. There is no sense of community at all.

I would like to find neighbors, community, book club and just plain people who speak my language and share my interests.

We leave next week for our Princess Cruise Tour (land first) My travel agent called Princess and cancelled the Natural History Tour and we were refunded $95. each. Then I booked the TWT with Reservedenali.com. I had read in previous reviews that you could do this.

I've been on three Celebrity cruises in the past two years and they always have it.

Also have cute little electronic remotes for the audience to vote as to who is telling the truth.

Our hotel offered a nice breakfast and we weren't all that hungry when we boarded shortly before noon. Therefore we headed straight to the Solarium Cafe and enjoyed a light lunch with no crowds in a lovely outdoor setting. Another plus is no up charge.

The Giovanni's lunch can be pretty heavy and also less relaxing with your carry-on at your feet.

Just my opinion, because Giovanni's is wonderful, but I wanted to save it for one evening.

I too, could not get comedy show online, and made a bee-line to studio B to sign up and was able to get the reservations. It sure beats waiting 30 minutes in line and being turned away.

I've experienced the vouchers on both Celebrity and Oasis.

On Celebrity we could go to any bar and order pretty much anything they had, they were ALL friendly and more than accomodating.

On Oasis in April, in all fairness they were just trying out the voucher system, I believe it was their second week. There were several different copies of the "available drinks" card, all different. At one bar I could get Pinot Grigio another bar I was snarled at, "I only have Chardonay for the vouchers, take it or leave it." One bartender would make rum punch another would only mix rum with Coke. By the end of the week, I felt like a stalker searching out certain bartenders... all were tipped well! I sincerely hope the Royal Caribbean has had a meeting of the barstaff and standardized their offerings.

I've enjoyed meeting wonderful people in the CL for a decade but this will be a fabulous perk when the bartenders are all on the same page, as frequently bring new cruisers with me.

I love them all and have eaten in all of them many times. I suggest you buy the Central Park Package and try them all. My personal favorite is 150 Central Park. Many of the menu items are things I normally avoid, but there they are delicious--YUM! Whatever you choose, enjoy!

I had a cabin steward that drove me nuts in a slightly subtle way on a 15 Night Transatlantic cruise (on Celebrity). He was always friendly and smiling and promising to do whatever asked.... however...

I love ice and asked for it twice a day but he wouldn't bring it if there was even the smallest chip of ice in the bucket when he checked. This went on, till I started keeping the little ice he DID give me in the refrig to make it last longer. When he made up the cabin he put ice bucket on vanity, so the last bit melted. When asked he'd say "I always make sure there is some ice" (no matter how small or melted)

He would not remove dirty dishes, coffee cups, etc. A small stack of dirty items piled in the corner, repeatedly and he'd say "I didn't think you were done with them" Guess I needed to drink that last drop out of the coffee cup from 12 hours ago. :eek:

The flip side to the dishes was that on Celebrity the room steward delivers the room service coffee tray. I let him know that I liked to order coffee & spend the morning drinking it and reading (heaven) Thirty minutes after delivering the tray he'd phone & ask if he could pick it up. I'd repeat that I'd have it most of the morning. Thirty minutes he'd knock at the door. We did this every morning!! Finally I stopped answering the phone & door, next thing I know, he is at my balcony door! Gasp! Scared me to death!

He kept bedspreads in the closets and shelves & was repeatedly shuffling thru my items tho I asked him not to.

I also asked him for paper room service menus for breakfast and he said no, just order on TV. Imagine my jealousy at looking at all of the menus hung on doors at night.

There were other issues too.... I just thought I was going nuts since he seemed so smiley and friendly. I've been on almost 40 cruises and now know it was him & not me. Everyother room steward has been awesome!!

I think the most likely senario is that you will get a JS and someone who booked a JS will go up to a GS. And prob the person who booked the GS

will go up to an OS. This happened to me on Allure. We'd booked a JS & day before got bumped up to GS and kept getting wine & goodies that were intended for the people who had previously booked the cabin. They were next door in an OS.

There is a crown & anchor posting about upgrades being given to next highest level in order. Tho everyone knows the upgrades are very often very random.

Good luck. Whatever cabin you have it will be a fabulous cruise. Enjoy :)

We ate there last week and loved it.

Yes they have cannoli's for desert.

We had the jumbo scallops appetizer and it was so yummy, we ordered more. Had the lamb chops entree and was the best lamb EVER! Perfectly cooked and juicy.

Not impressed with the pasta, but I'm not much of a pasta lover anyway!

Just had gelato for desert!

Try it, so good.