PCHENG

I have done that with Chops,150 Central Park and Jamie's and never had a problem.  The restaurant wasn't that busy so my kids aren't taking someone else's spot, and the server even brought plates and extra utensils for the kids without asking so they can share our food.  Since my kids are not  fond of the fancy schmancy dishes, they only took a nibble and played on the I-Pad for the most part.  The server actually came by with a small portions of different appetizers and encouraged the kids to try them out.

This happened when my kids were 7 and 4.  Now that my kids are both above ten I will buy the children's dining package or pay the upcharge.

I have 6 people in my group, and my plan is to rent a large 7 seater SUV or minivan from YVR, then drive to Whistler, stay till around 4 or 5, then drive back to Vancouver for a nice dinner before heading to the airport to catch my 11 p.m. redeye to Toronto.

Since you have more people you will probably need a van instead.  Group tours to Whistler costs more than 160 per person, so for 6 people it is significantly cheaper to just rent a car and drive yourself.

I fell asleep halfway through Cats.  Bad pacing and boring music.

Mama Mia on Allure and We will Rock You on Anthem has much better music in my opinion.  

The view along the Mississippi during sail away is quite nice.  French Quarter is fun during the day, but at night it is mostly dark, deserted and doesn't feel safe.  Besides French Quarter I suggest you also visit the WW2 Museum, ride the streetcars and visit the Antebellum mansions if you have a rental car.

8 hours ago, CoffeeGoddess said:

I got the onboard credit in September and used it for a cruise I booked a few days before for February with no problems. But if you had booked a cruise in May, you could not use the reward for that cruise since it's over 90 days from when you redeemed your award.

 

Does that clear it up a bit?

Thanks for the clarification. Looks like I am out of luck then since I booked my next RCCL cruise more than 90 days ago.  The cruise fare has increased significantly since, not to mention my desire room type is no longer available.  It wouldn’t make sense to cancel and rebook now.

On 10/10/2023 at 4:44 PM, fpcruiser said:

You have to redeem on MyVegas and then send the email to casino royale within 30 days. The cruise has to be within 1 year from when you redeem the reward.

My Myvegas account says I only have 90 days from redemption to use the credit, and that the credit is only applicable to new reservations created within 90 days.  This means the Myvegas credit can only be used for cruises booked no more than 180 days from sailing, which doesn't work for me since I usually plan my cruises a couple years in advance.

Does your Myvegas account allow for longer redemption period because of how much you have spend on the app, or is there some unwritten rule that I am no aware of?

I am booked on the WA inaugural cruise of April 12, 2025.  Hoping MSC will offer better food, beverage, entertainment or service for the first sailing, but most likely not.

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I seem to recall there is a shuttle included during the kick off. Don't recall details.

When I sailed on the Oasis out of Miami Thanksgiving of 2021, I took Brightline from Fort Lauderdale down to Miami the mroning of the cruise, then transferred to the cruise terminal for free in a Tesla Model 3.  

I have sailed out of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral, and I rate Fort Lauderdale number one, Miami second and Port Canaveral a distant third.  Fort Lauderdale and Miami are destinations onto themselves, and there are plenty of good restaurants, hotels and attractions near the port.  Port Canaveral to me is just too isolated.  There are very few hotels or restaurants, and you can't really go anywhere without a car since there is hardly any public transportation.  

I vote for May and early June.  The scenery is more beautiful with snow still on the mountain top, the price is cheaper, and you avoid the Alaska state bird - mosquitoes.  

Sailing to Bermuda on the NCL Joy right now, and the WIFI service is horrendous.  I already paid for the fastest plan available, and you either timed out trying to log on, or you wait three minutes for a single page to load.  It is simply impossible to get any work done with such slow and unstable connection.  I know not to expect the same internet speed when on a cruise, but I had sailed with Princess, Royal and Carnival in the past few years, and their internet plans while not blazing fast are at least stable and serviceable.  With NCL you feel like you are paying top dollar for AOL style dial-up service.

The ship is supposed to arrive tomorrow morning, but docked early today due to a medical emergency.  Does anybody know if Bermuda internet providers offer mobile data plans that work on a cruise ship, or where I can get internet signal near the Dockyard area?

Any help greatly appreciated.  

19 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

NCL does not offer upgrade bidding to any fully suites/Haven, from either Inside or Oceanview.  You might want to call NCL (or your TA) and ask about upgrading at the current rate.

11 hours ago, Named-Tawny said:

IIRC, you're able to bid on staterooms two categories up, generally.  So if you're in a Balcony, you can do the Clubs and the Suites, and if you're in Oceanview, you can do the Balconies and the Clubs.

I've never heard of them adding more categories closer to the date.

Thanks for the clarification.  I will keep my current room then.  My cabin, 12700 on the Joy, is larger than most balcony and mini-suites, so anything less than a full suite is a downgrade space wise.

Does anyone know if NCL will allow you to bid on additional cabin categories as you get closer to sailing?

Right now I am in a Family Oceanview, and I have been invited to bid on either a balcony or club mini-suite.  Neither category interests me, and the minimum bid is greater than the price difference on the NCL website so you actually spend more by bidding.  I am interested in a SP inside family suite, but I did not get an invitation to bid even though there are plenty of availability. 

Assuming there are no takers for the SP rooms after the first round of bidding, will NCL expand and invite inside and oceanview guests to bid on the suites, or are we deemed not worthy enough?😄

What is your cabin number if you don't mind me asking.

I am booked in a family oceanview on the Joy to Bermuda, and I want to know which room to avoid.

My daughter tested positive for Covid in September, and it took her about four weeks to completely clear everything out of her system and return a negative PCR test.  Some people with stronger immune system may be able to rid themselves of the virus faster, while others may take longer.  

Just get plenty of rest and nurse yourself back to health.  Do the test again a couple days before the cruise, and if you still test positive call RCCL for a refund.  

On 11/3/2021 at 5:51 PM, FPP777 said:

We first took a cab to the shopping area and made our liquor purchases. There is a taxi stand near the court house and we grabbed one. 10 dollars per person to get to Maho. We sat at a table at Driftwood and didn’t get chairs on the beach. It wasn’t crowded at all the day we were there. 

What about the return trip?  I will be visiting St. Maarten in November, and I plan to visit Maho for some plane spotting.  Is it easy to catch a taxi back to port from Maho and how much per person?

19 hours ago, floridababa said:

We cruise lots (74) up to now and never had so much of the food to be disappointing. We are not picky- breakfast was great, lunch had few selections but I'm use to only having salad with tuna or chicken salad. Dinner was really bad. We were with another couple and they felt the same. Are they cutting back on quality?  Makes us rethink travelling on Royal again. I need to hear from you guys. 

 

Hope to hear from you guys

Hard to comment when you didn't provide a whole lot of context.  When you say the food is bad, are you comparing it to other cruise lines, or past RCCL cruises?  

I personally feel RCCL MDR food to be better than NCL but not as good as CCL.  The dishes tend to play it safe.  You won't go hungry but you won't get a memorable meal either.

3 hours ago, Rosy Season said:

My question is about the timing between when the FDA approved or authorized use for 12 year olds and when RCCL mandated them for cruises.  What was that time frame?  I have a cruise with a 7 year old at the end of November so even if I schedule the first vaccine asap then there still wouldn’t be enough time to be fully vaccinated before that date.  We also have one for December 26th so that is also concerning.  Especially if there is a mad rush for the vaccine and we can’t get a date.

If I remember correctly, FDA authorized Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15 year old kids in May of 2021, and RCCL mandated vaccine for 12 to 15 starting August for all US departures.  The only exception is Florida, where Royal waited until September before requiring vaccine, and only after several Bahamas and Caribbean countries banned all cruise ships from sailing in their waters unless everyone eligible is vaccinated.  Many parents who thought no vaccine was needed for kids when sailing out of Florida got blindsided and could not get vaccinated in time before the mandate takes effect on September 3, 2021.

Moral of the story, get your kids vaccinated if eligible, because CDC or the cruise port will most likely require them, and RCCL must abide by the CDC and foreign government requirements.

Tried Wonderland on Anthem.  The presentation and atmosphere is top notch, fun and whimsical, but the taste is B+ at best, good but not great.

Probably won’t do it again now that the novelty factor is gone, but if you haven’t done it then give it a try.

On 10/26/2021 at 6:37 PM, Rosy Season said:

Sorry got the letters mixed up. But I heard that when the 12+ became a requirement it was almost immediately mandated and they just cancelled cruises. 

It depends on what you mean by "became a requirement".  FDA authorized EUA for Pfizer vaccine on 12 to 15 years old May 10, 2021.  Royal did not require vaccine for 12 years old until August or September.

If you make arrangements to get the shot as soon as EUA is authorized, you have almost three months to get vaccinated.  It should be obvious to anyone following the cruise industry that Royal is following CDC guideline lock step and will require Covid-19 vaccine for 12 to 15, just as I believe Royal will soon require vaccine for anyone above 5.

First of all the State Department advisories don't make a whole lot of sense.  India with its 7 day average of 15k Covid cases per day was listed as level 2, while Taiwan with average of 6 cases per day was at level 3.  That doesn't even make sense.

Also, most of the cruise ports in the Caribbean are level 4 including British Virgin Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Cuba, Dominica, Haiti, Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Belize, St. Kitts, Antigua, Barbados and St. Vincent.  If Royal follows your advice it will have to cancel pretty much all Caribbean cruises.

My order of preference would be Oasis>Anthem>Allure.  Oasis was just amplified a couple years ago so it has all the bells and whistles.  The only downside is that the cabins still had the old decor.  Anthem has the latest cabin design, but the itinerary sucks (unless you do the longer 9 or 12 day eastern or southern Caribbean cruise) and I would much rather spend my pre-cruise in sunny Florida versus cold and frigid NYC.  Allure feels the oldest of the three, has the old cabin design and missing several amenities of other Oasis ships (water slide, dry slide, new bars and restaurants, escape room et. al.).  Unless you got a killer deal I would just do Oasis out of Miami.

Between me and my wife we have four Amex cards, two co-branded with Hilton Honors, one with Marriott Bonvoy and the other is a firm issued corporate card.  No RCCL offer on any of them.  

I will go with Anthem.  Newer ship with more contemporary room design and more indoor activities.  And We will Rock You is much better than the butchered version of Cats.

You bet I am nervous.  I always practice good hygiene, wear mask whenever I go out, and keep my distance from others, but sometimes s*** happens and there is nothing you can do about it.  I received call one day from my daughter's school telling us that a staff member got a breakthrough infection, and next thing I know my daughter started to cough and tested positive.  Apparently the staff member took off her mask in class because she thought she could not possibly get infected after vaccination. 

That was three weeks ago, and my daughter still tested positive for Covid this week even though all her symptoms had disappeared.  My doctor said it generally takes about a month for your body to clear itself of the virus, so if one member in your travel party tested positive anytime within a month of your sailing date you can probably kiss the cruise goodbye because he/she most likely will still test positive a month after. 

My cruise is not until late November so we still have time, but this latest development is certainly quite frustrating and shows you how quick and easy things can change.