bitofun

Thanks! Lots of good ideas and information!

Unfortunately, not possible on Explorer.

Thanks. I'm so new to Royal I don't know much about their ships. I should do some exploring ;) Not a deal breaker, but just good to know ahead of time.

From your posting history, it looks like you are talking about Adventure of the Seas.

 

Unfortunately, Adventure's balcony dividers are fixed and cannot be opened.

 

You also have another post asking about Freedom. On that ship, the dividers slide into each other like shower doors, and they can be opened at the discretion of the management on the ship.

Ship?

Sorry, would probably be a good idea to know which ship! Actually looking at Explorer of the Seas Alaska cruise next July.

Wondering if the dividers between two, maybe even three balconies together can be opened up, say for instance 3 junior suites side by side. Looking at 3 couples not necessarily wanting connecting cabins, but if they are side by side, opening the dividers on the balconies. Thanks!

You're welcome.

 

As another poster mentioned the Boat Yard in Barbados is a wonderful beach. You can take a taxi there or if you want some exercise it is only a 20 minute walk from the ship.

 

If you go to the top deck on the Freedom and look out to the right from the front of the ship you can see the bay the beach is on.

 

Once at the Boat Yard you can walk down to the Renaissance and swim out to where the turtle excursion goes. Not necessary to pay for a trip when it's right in front of you.

 

I'm also on the Freedom for the month of March 2019 and their two itineraries in the southern Caribbean have always been my favorites.

I just want to offer my opinion that what has been mentioned above is good advice. We did Cosol Tours in St. Lucia and really enjoyed it (would do it again). We did Bernard Tours in St. Maarten (twice) and doing the same tour twice should tell you how good we thought it was. We visited Carlisle Bay in Barbados. It is large and beautiful. There are several places on Carlisle Bay, one of them being the Boatyard, which others have mentioned (we have not done that specific club - we just sat on the beach and I went scuba diving in the bay with Roger's Scuba Shack - fantastic dive shop).

 

By the way, which sailing are you on the Freedom in March 2019? We are also booked on the Freedom for the same month and will also be doing all these same ports (plus a few others) on a 10 day New Year cruise 6 months from now.

Our cruise is March 31-April 7, 2019. By any chance will mattpro or Russ Lomas be on the same sailing?

St. Lucia - word of caution - if you take a land based excursion (not with RCL) make sure you allow plenty of time to get back to the ship.

 

The reason is the roads are very bad (with wash-outs & detours) and if you're late the ship will leave without you.

 

Have personally witnessed this on three different occasions.

 

St. Lucia has the only drive-thru volcano in the world. If you go there and take the mud baths make sure you have an old bathing suit because you won't wear it again. You will have that wonderful, medicinal mud in places that you never even knew existed.

 

There are so many wonderful things to do on St. Lucia you could easily spend a week there to get the full experience.

Thank you for that advice!

Yes, RCI offers self-disembarkation.

 

In the Caribbean, we usually book excursions with local vendors rather than through the cruiseline. We only use those who are highly recommended on Cruise Critic and TripADvisor.

 

In St. Kitts, we used Thenford Grey tours .

 

In St. Lucia, we used Cosol tours.

 

In Antigua, we used Lawrence of Antigua.

 

In St. Maarten, we used Bernard's Tours. We've also just taken the water ferry to the town where there is a beach and a shopping district.

 

In Barbados, we took the ship's tour of the caves and do not recommend it. Boring and too expensive.

Thanks! Looks like lots of good information. I'll be checking these out! :)

Also, forgot to ask if guests can do self assist when it's time to disembark at the end of the cruise instead of putting luggage out the night before. This can be done on Carnival which was always our preference, so just wondered if one can do the same on Royal.

Hi everyone. My sister and I just booked our 5th Sisters Cruise, but it is our first cruise on Royal. Our previous 4 cruises were with Carnival. We're really excited about cruising with Royal.

I have some questions about the ports. The itinerary is St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, and St Marteen.

The only port we have been to before is San Juan, so we feel so lucky to find an itinerary with 5 ports new to us!

I was wondering if any of the ports are tender ports.

Also would love to hear excursion experiences or recommendations. We like to do about anything on the cruises, but we don't scuba and don't do a lot of snorkeling either. We do love the islands and beaches, food and drink :D

The ship we'll be cruising on is Freedom of the Seas and we booked a junior suite. Any information about the ship would also be appreciated.

We cruise every 2 years so this cruise is way out there March of 2019. How far out from sail date will excursions and other services like beverage packages be available?

Thanks for your replies. We're anxious to get to know the Royal community.

Pat

Thank you everyone for such reinforcement of my decision. Got the JS booked last night! Yay! My sister and I are both over the top excited about the choice! I know the itinerary is very busy and we will be tired afterward, but also know it will be worth it to see 5 absolutely new ports.

Like frangran, we did have a Carnival cruise out of San Juan on the fascination booked that we will not be going on now. Fortunately though that was booked with $50 pp deposit.

nyllrap, sorry to hear you lost your only sister a few years ago :( We too lost a sister 14 yrs ago. She was only 18 months older than me. I know it is so very hard. The sister I cruise with is now my only sister and she is 12 years younger than me, but crazy thing is, we are so much alike it's almost spooky. We thoroughly absorb each other during our cruises as she lives in Colorado and I live in Kansas so our tradition has become quite special.

I know we're going to love the extra space in the JS and the walk in closet, oh my gosh. We're talking two women cruising in the same cabin so you can imagine the needed closet space ;) I know the balcony will be more spacious than a standard Carnival balcony, and will be quite adequate :)

I'm very excited to try Royal and already feeling so welcome. Thanks again for sharing your experiences. I'll soon be looking through the Royal boards to find out all I can about Royal before the cruise.

Can anyone tell me the difference, other than price, of the J3 and J4 junior suites on Freedom of the Seas? I am looking at booking my first cruise with RCI (4 previous cruises with Carnival) and plan on booking a junior suite, but trying to decide if J3 is worth the higher fare. Thanks in advance for your replies. Looking forward to trying our RCI!

Pat

Thanks everyone, you've been very helpful giving me that little nudge. We're excited to try RCI. 5th Sisters Cruise soon to be booked! Woohoo! :ship:

Pat

Promos are unpredictable. However, if you are booking under US/Canadian rules, you can take advantage of any price drops until cruise final payment date.

That's really good to know! Thanks! One other question before I pull the trigger. If I book a sailing now with $500 deposit ($250 pp) for say late March 2019, then find another sailing in the near future beyond current booked date, like mid May 2019, but same embarkation port, ship and itinerary, can a change be made without penalty?

Thanks for the info. The junior suites do look amazing and we're definitely leaning toward the upgrade. Last two sailings on Carnival booked premium vista aft wrap corner cabin with an insanely huge balcony and little larger than normal cabin. I've read they used to be called junior suites on Carnival, but no bathtub or walk in closet.

The current promo with RCI looks like a really good deal right now with the 60% off for second guest. What's everyone's experience with how long promos run with RCI and how frequently? Is this something that should be jumped on right away?

My sister and I go on a sisters cruise roughly every 2 years. We started the tradition in 2011 and up to now have only cruised on Carnival. Thinking about trying RCI for our next cruise which is way out there in Spring of 2019. We're planning to cruise out of San Juan and looking at Freedom of the Seas which is scheduled to be sailing out of San Juan at that time. We think the itinerary is great as it is 5 ports we have never been to and the Freedom of the Seas looks to be a very nice ship. We're looking at Junior Suite J4. Does anyone have experience with this cabin category?

Also, wondering if RCI has dedicated vacation planners within their corporation like Carnival does?

Anyway, just wanted to reach out here on the RCI boards to see if any of you have any information regarding experience with RCI you'd like to share. Thanks in advance to your replies.

I purchased a Carnival Gift Card from AARP's Rewards for Good. Can you use these to pay down on a cruised you already have booked? When trying to do so, it is asking me for the gift card pin. There is no pin that I know of. Don't see that you have to call or go online to activate or set up a pin. Any answers from those of you have have used them? Thanks in advance!

The PIN is on the back of the gift card, you scratch off the area of black and gray to the right of the gift card number to reveal a 4 digit PIN. And yes, you can use these gift cards to pay toward a cruise already booked, excursions, fun shops, pretty much anything on Carnival.com. Hope this helps.

On the right side of the forum in the box with the header "Carnival Cruise Lines," under "See posts about:" choose Carnival Glory. It'll pull up threads pertaining specifically to the Glory. There are a few threads where people are docking about it post-dry dock. You might find something in those.

 

We'll be on the Glory next year. Looking forward to the new WaterWorks.

Thank you, I was not aware of that feature :)

Just wondering if anyone who cruised on the Glory this past week has any info. I'll be cruising on her in 6 weeks!!! Thanks in advance for your replies :)

She sailed into Miami at about 2 this morning,

I'm looking forward to here about updates today also

We sail on her next week 3-18

I am looking at the ship's webcam right now. It is in port.

Awesome! Thanks for the updates! Will watch for more. Let us know how she is on your cruises :)

Anyone have any new information on Glory? She was scheduled to come out of dry dock yesterday, March 10. Would love to hear from anyone cruising on her over the next several weeks. We will be back on the Glory April 29 :cool:

How do i apply my gift cards to my carnival acct so I can pay for Cheers and Gratuities ahead of time?

 

 

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Purchase Cheers online through cruise manager site and list the gift card numbers and pins as payment when checking out. That's how I did it. I have read of people who have had issues with paying part with gift card and the other part with credit card. I paid for Cheers entirely with gift cards, then applied the balance left on one card to another cruise I have coming up in December.

I am not sure, but to prepay gratuities with gift card you might have to call Carnival and have them add gratuities and apply gift card. I always add gratuities when booking so they're listed in my cruise details and get paid as I pay on the cruise.

AARP $100 are avaiable...just grabbed one finally!

I was hesitant to purchase more as I don't know how long they take to arrive and I want to use these on my upcoming April cruise. Anyone know about how long these take to ship????

The cards usually arrive within a week of purchase. If total purchase is less than $100 they arrive by USPS mail, if $500 or more they are shipped UPS, signature required. Hope this helps. :)

Hello,

I started reading late last year that HMC now has a new food venue, "The Lobster Shack". What I have read is that Holland America has added the eating spot on HMC, also new paint and furnishings for the cabanas and villas, plus the addition of 3 satellite bar locations.

I'll be at HMC on my next Carnival cruise late April. Who has been there lately while on a Carnival cruise? Can you fill us in on these new upgrades to the island from the perspective of a Carnival cruiser?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Even as a pilot program Cheers was not offered on HMC

 

http://www.ahoy-c r u i s e dot com/thepartycruise/CHEERS.pdf

May, 2013 on Carnival Victory we did in fact have cheers that cruise and yes we were able to use it on HMC. Shortly after that cruise I did read on cruise critic and on CCL site that it would no longer be used on HMC.

Not sure I buy the explanation of inability to sync with their system. Our sail and sign printout showed the purchases, time was off, but number of drinks was accurate. I imagine they updated their system once we got back on the ship. Also, if that were truly the case, why not at least let passengers with Cheers use it for the unlimited non-alcoholic drinks? Personally, I think it's more of a case of not being able to watch for sharing. Just saying...

I just now checked and discovered if you are purchasing the cheers program online pre cruise you now can use gift cards as a form of payment! I couldn't get the system to work using firefox browser, so I opened up IE and went through the motions like I was going to purchase Cheers and walla, just like magic, option appeared to "use gift card"!!! :D

I didn't continue yet because I'm waiting on gift cards to come in the mail, but I wanted to post this experience. I know it's been a real issue for some to pay once on board using gift cards and receiving the pre cruise discounted price. Happy cruising everyone!!!