BopRN

I am trying to make show reservations and keep getting this message.."Error locking the Cruise Reservation". What does this mean?

I have been looking to schedule our show reservations on Allure and noticed that on some shows, the only choices are 8:30 pm and 10:15 PM. We have Late Dinner Seating in the MDR. Is it realistic to think we can finish our meal including dessert & coffee and be able to hike to the theatre by 10:15 PM? In the past, it was not a relaxing dinner knowing we needed to get to a show.

What do you do about extra-tipping after the 1st week if you are not changing cabins? If we want to give our room steward an extra tip, do you do that after each week....or wait til the end of your cruise?

Also, if you choose MDR for dinner, do you stay at the same table for both weeks, or are you re-assigned?

We took the NCL Pride of America in Hawaii. We did not want to spend 5 days going & coming with only a few hours on each island. It was great and would highly recommend doing it that way. We flew into Honolulu, spent 1 night on Waikiki then boarded the ship. At the time, NCL was the only line that had the market on a 7 day cruise of the islands and that is why we chose them.

Now you need to know that this is NOT a typical cruising experience....more like a floating hotel. You will read that over & over. The ship is American registered and to be honest, the level of service was not comparable to a typical cruise. Lots of young American workers who were "hanging out" in Hawaii for a year or two. The positives were that the ship stays overnight on Maui & Kauai so you have 2 days on those islands. I planned our island days by reading on Trip Advisor....got off the ship, got rental cars (reserved before we went) and took off exploring the islands each day. On Maui, we went to an evening Luau which we loved. There is even a place to park your car near the ship when staying overnight. There are neat Hawaiian shows on board, narrated talks when sailing past certain things, cultural classes, etc.

When the week was over and people were flying home, they were exhausted. We were SO thankful that we stayed an extra week on Oahu to recoup and explore the island, relax on beaches, see Pearl Harbor (a must!), and just take things at a slower pace. There are many residents that have built little apartments on their property and rent them out very reasonably. We found 1 on VRBO and had the best time. It was in Kailua, a quiet residential area across the street from the beach...perfect! I highly recommend a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu. Well worth the money!

Keep in mind that it is a 3-6 hour time difference depending where you live. So the 1st night we were up 24 hours! Some people were trying to cram in Pearl Harbor the same day as their flight home. That would have been hard and exhausting.

So I definitely recommend 7 days on the islands, however you can manage it. Even after being on Oahu for a week we were still stopping at beautiful overlooks on the way to the airport. So much to see!

Look into the Klymit V inflatable mattress pad. If got one and haven't used it yet, but others on CC love it. Get the wider version if possible.

We took someone else's advice from CC last spring and bought these for our cruise on Navigator. It was a GODSEND! I could never have survived without it!

My non-surge protector strip was confiscated in March on the Navigator. They told us the policy had JUST changed to include ALL power strips. He said our room steward would supply us one. THAT was a LIE....all he had was a big orange extension cord which didn't help us at all. Very frustrating having ONE plug to fight over all week!

I am the OP. We were going to go there in March....but our ship RCCL didn't even dock there. It was a completely different dock. So had we decided to go, we would have to take a cab. There was alot of construction in that area so it would not have been an easy walk from the ship anyway.

A lot of us here from Ohio.

 

Columbus here. Actually, Westerville (suburb of Cols.)

 

lojill - couldn't believe there was another one from our fair city here. Hi ya neighbor.

We are from the Crossroads of America...Vandalia (7 miles north of Dayton).

That is where I-70 & I-75 cross....It's also probably the drug traffic center of America...LOL

(Our son is a Family Practice Dr. in Westerville....Mt. Carmel Health Systems) Nice area!

Thank you

 

I was getting the impression of frugality!

Will I be able to ask for a free drink in the MDR?

Tap water over ice is fine but if I wanted the iced tea or lemonade would that be ok?

 

I noticed you went on the Navigator in March. I hope you had a lovely time?

My husband always gets iced tea in the MDR. Never a problem! We have never asked for lemonade. We did have a wonderful time on the Navigator! It is a great ship! The staff was awesome...no complaints there! There are NO soda machines on Navigator unfortunately. We always get the soda package and here is one thing I noticed that is a change from previous cruises.....the beverage packages have become VERY popular and when you approach a bar with your cup, you are easily ignored because there are SO many people getting drinks. That was frustrating! There were 2 bars that the bartender took sympathy on us lowly pop drinkers and would fill our cups before moving onto the next drink customer. We also noticed that there were very few bar staff walking the pool decks and we almost always had to take our cups to a bar to get filled. Changes...ugh!

RCCL is very frugal when it comes to providing the tea, lemonade, etc. except in the Windjammer and MDR. I always figured it was because they wanted you to buy more alcoholic beverages. We have found that other lines always have pitchers of lemonade, ice water & ice tea around the pool and other locations. Was always so nice to have that available! Because who wants to run from the pool into the Windjammer to get a glass of lemonade! You could always bring an insulated mug and fill up in the Windjammer.

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We just did this in March and it was a lot of fun! It took us to a lighthouse, an old church and then to Eagle Beach. Sometimes they go to Palm Beach. It is crazy type fun.... open air bus with maracas at every seat and they play music and everyone shakes the maracas. Enjoyable for all ages (we are 60+).

We were just on Navigator. I emailed RCCL and was PROMISED a mattress topper, but when we got to the room was told they don't have them anymore. They couldn't be cleaned, etc. In the meantime someone had recommended these from Amazon....I purchased them and I cannot tell you how much I was so thankful for them! The bed was rock hard and hurt my joints so badly without these mattresses. And they are great to travel with. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BZ3C900/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ship -Navigator of the Seas

Deck - 7

Stateroom # - 7336

Stateroom Category – D3

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – No obstructions

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal

Was wind a problem? -No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? -

Any specific problems with this cabin? -No

Any other comments? -

We have booked a back2back cruise on Allure for next Feb. They are booked as 2 separate cruises through a TA and they are in my RCCL account as 2 separate cruises. Do we need to notify RCCL so they know we are B2B? I understand there is a different procedure for B2B guests re:customs, etc. between the cruises.

One of our prior dinner companions worked for one of the big on-line agencies and she told us that the TA who block cabins must release them 6 months prior to the cruise. I find it appalling that they are allowed to even HOLD cabins for an extended period of time! For those of us planning cruises a year in advance are put at a real disadvantage! Sometimes I want a certain cabin category and they aren't available to book. Or you go from one online TA to TA looking for who might have a cabin you want. It's a game I don't want to play!!

Does anyone have any information whether travel insurance will cover the $100 per person fee that you lose if you change or cancel your reservation?

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We recently were on a cruise and got to know a couple who used scootaround.com. They couldn't say enough good things about them. They cruise a lot and always use the same company. One thing they told us was that not all companies allow the scooter to leave the ship. But this company does.

For my husband, I purchased a light weight collapsible transport wheelchair which was a godsend to have with us. His condition is temporary but we decided if we had to do that again, we would consider renting a scooter.

The unanticipated problem we had on the ship with the transport chair (small wheels) was the metal thresholds and small metal strips on elevators, etc were an absolute nightmare! Some were fine to roll over, but many caused him to have to stand and pull the w/c over it causing him more back pain. So for that reason, a scooter would be the best choice.

You can fly to either, just know that the transportation from FLL to your hotel pre cruise and then from POM to FLL after the cruise will be higher than MIA. You can even check flying into one and departing form the other.

We just flew into FLL for a cruise out of POM. Flights were much cheaper into FLL. We stayed the night in FLL and took a shuttle by MJS Transportation to the port of Miami from our hotel and back to FLL afterwards. It cost $15 pp each way. So for $60, it was worth the savings to fly into FLL.

We bring this.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RFG0NM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I don't have a problem, but my wife does. This is easy to pack. I just have the attendant put it on my wife's side of the bed and the problem is solved.

And a BIG thank you to you for sharing this! These pads are saving us on the cruise we are on now! I was promised a topper.... doesn't exist..... steward placed an extra mattress pad, but no help at all! I had brought these pads just in case..... after an hour of painful sleep, I was blowing these up... and they have given us much restful nights!

I too was promised via email from Special Needs that a mattress topper would be in our cabin on arrival. Of course that didn't happen. The steward put an extra mattress pad which did absolutely nothing. I slept for an hour 1st nite then woke up with terrible joint pain (arthritis). I am SO thankful for the suggestion that a poster made about purchasing the Klymit sleeping pads!! I had bought them from Amazon thinking that we may not need them....BUT they are a godsend and the ONLY reason we are both sleeping very comfortably on the ship this week! I don't know what we would have done otherwise.

I also have magnetic hooks and using them with no problems. I didn't even know we aren't to have them, but no one has said a word.

We are also planning an Alaska trip and deciding between the 2 cruise lines. I don't have info on lodges, but I will tell you that I found in my research that RCCL does not have a license to go to Glacier National Park which is apparently breath-taking and a "must-do" on a trip to Alaska. Only Princess & HAL have a license to go there. For that reason alone, we will probably do Princess, even though we are Loyal to Royal cruisers.

Has anyone been on this exact excursion? We are trying to decide between this and another one. We will be cruising on March 16. My husband is recently suffering from ruptured discs and will be facing surgery in the near future.

But we are determined to still go on our cruise since his pain is somewhat controlled at this point. We will be bringing a travel wheelchair for him and looking at appropriate excursions. This particular tour says that the distillery & Mambo beach are both wheelchair accessible. I am wondering what other parts of the tour may not be accessible. Are there many stops of getting on and off the bus? Thanks!

My husband bought an Invicta on a ship 2 years ago and just had to send it in for repair this month with a $28 service fee. It was running fast. After reading this post, I guess he won the lottery with a 2 yr reprieve!:)

When you were on Bonaire, did you notice that there were a lot of potholes in the road? The reason I ask is....we have rented a golf cart to tour the island in 3 weeks. I recently inquired about taking along a lightweight wheelchair for my husband since he has sustained a recent back injury. Bonaire Cruisers responded that they currently have a lot of potholes in the road due to having frequent rains and hubby may have a hard time with the bumpy road. I am just curious how bad it is.

They will push him up the ramps and onto the ship for you. How are you getting to the port? I've always had porters come right up to our vehicles to get luggage.

We will be arriving from FLL via a transportation service. Should we tip the RCCL people that push him up the ramp?