Giantfan13

I see many here don't mind Carnival. That's fine for them. I, and my DW, will never sail on that line again. Depending on how you cruise, like you want to party all the time, drink all the time, and have no worries that no one from the cruise line will interrupt your fun, then Carnival is for you also. Maybe we are a bit older but we sailed Carnival many times in our early cruise experiences and we sailed on her as our first cruise back after the pandemic, and as I said, never again. 

I am certainly not putting anyone down who likes to sail on Carnival, but for us, they simply have no control over what the passengers want to do and it would be a cold day in hell if they told any passenger that they cannot do something. I'm sure RCCL has its share of the same thing, but Carnival is what it advertises a Party type cruise with, I hate to say this, with a bit of a lower-class clientele, more families, and kids.

Please don't turn on me, as I am just giving how we feel about Carnival. They simply had no control over the passengers especially right after the pandemic when everyone was supposed to wear masks and Carnival couldn't care less if anyone did. Kind id scared the hell out of us.

Cheers

Len

Go to the Ports of Call board for Bermuda and you will get many recommendations as to what to do.

When we were there last we did a wonderful private tour with Heide (not sure of her email address but you can get it on the Ports of Call board). I have recommended her tour to several already and all have loved it.

We always do private tours and we see more, get more and they are always cheaper.

Cheers

Len

I would think most experienced cruisers have been to most of the ports in the Caribbean many times. We usually don't get off in Nassau, but if we even stroll thru the marketplace and see what's up, we will get off, for a couple of hours.

That said, we do many TAs, and even if we have been to certain places many times, Barcelona, Civi whatever, we ALWAYS get off and just wander about the towns./cities. We love that experience.

As I said, we do many TAs so we have enough being on the ship crossing, so when we hit land, it's good to get off, even for a bit.

Besides Nassau, I think the one port we never get off is Port Canaveral. 

Cheers

Len

1 hour ago, LobsterStalker said:

Where would I find the loyalty ambassador onboard ?

 

The daily bulletin lists the Loyalty desk, where it is, and what hours they are there. I would definitely go and see them on the first leg, tell them the situation, and that you will have enough points after this cruise to become Diamond on the next leg. If you don't get a Diamond card when checking in for the second leg then immediately go see the Loyalty rep and tell them (if on a different ship) the situation and you were told you would have Damond status on this cruise. it should be no problem.

Cheers

Len

11 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

So in the meantime were you able to use your drink vouchers Etc. ?

Or did they reimburse you after the fact ?

How did that work out ?

Yes, we were issued a sea pass card that had us as Diamond and we enjoyed all the benefits of it. If I went onto the app and looked up our designation it was still Emerald, but in reality, we were Diamond.

Cheers

Len

Thanks for your review. We were on the Anthem in January, for the first time, and, as 2 seniors, we still felt many times as you did, crowded. We are experienced cruisers and have always told people there are many spots on most ships, where you can find a quiet nook outside and just sit and chill out. On the Anthem, those are few and very far between. We love the older ships where you can sit on the Promenade deck (lower decks) and just get away from the crowds, but the Anthem has none of that. You can find several spots inside for those 'quiet'  times, but we prefer to be outdoors.

Again, thanks for your very honest review.

Cheers

Len

This happened to us last year. We were booked on an Artic TA in September. We wanted to be Diamond for that cruise so we booked the cruise before that one, making it a B2B. When we booked the first leg we asked the Crown and Anchor person that exact question, would we be Diamond for the second leg she said YES, but we needed to speak with the Crown and Anchor person on the ship on the first leg and let them know the situation that we would be Diamond on the second leg. 

Well, we did exactly that and it took a day or two but we ended up with the Diamond benefits although on paper we had to wait for the official paperwork to get done.

Cheers

Len

Thank you so much. I did google as you said and reviewed the new menus. Interesting.

I don't know if anyone has the answers, but there were a couple of nights where there really wasn't anything acceptable for us to eat as we do not eat shellfish either. So if asked the waiter or Maitre'D if is possible could get something to our liking, like salmon, what are the chances of getting it? 

In fact, there was one night when there wasn't even a fish item on the menu, I would think they would accommodate a cruiser if they couldn't eat what was there.  In the past, we used to ask the maitre'd for the next day's menu and if there wasn't anything we could eat, we would order something from a past menu (or salmon) and they were always accommodating. Would this have changed?

Cheers

Len

We also had to cancel a cruise wishing to move it to a different ship. Our TA and RCCL told us, we had to pay the $100 PP charge and there is no charge for moving the rest of your deposit to another reservation. No more FCC, you have to use the rest of the deposit on another cruise or lose it. Everything else stays the same even the booking number, and any OBC but if the deposit for the new cruise is more than what is left from what you move, you will have to add the rest to make it up.

Cheers

Len

Are the home test lits that the government has sent out OK?

Do we do the test at home, say the day before the cruise, and show the results when we check in?

Cheers

Len

Is t here a link posted to the new menus?

We do not eat meat so we usually always eat the fish option and if that isn't to our liking there was always the reliable Salmon. Has this changed?

Cheers

Len

Thanks so much, that is exactly what I as looking for.

Cheers

Len

We are really not big drinkers, what are some other differences between Elite on celebrity and Diamond on RCCL?

Cheers

Len

I'm sure this was asked and answered but I tried the search and couldn't find it.

We are Diamond on RCCL and looking to do a Celebrity cruise next year. Will I have the same status on a Celebrity? Do I also get the points for cruising on Celebrity onto my Crown and Anchor account on RCCL?

Cheers

Len

We were on the Anthem in January, but we didn't do the North Star. I do believe you go right to where you would board it to sign up. I remember going in and inquiring about the cost and was told there is no cost on port days.

Cheers

Len

On 2/19/2023 at 7:46 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Hi Len, not sure exactly where you are looking, but if you're looking here:   https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/boat-excursions. -- note that the 2023 schedule isn't posted yet.

 

If it's the actual timetable you are looking at (shown below), the top half of the table shows the schedule from La Spezia, the one you want for your outbound trip. The portion under the first yellow header shows the outgoing times from La Spezia to the farthest spot (mostly Monterosso).  The portion under the second yellow header shows the returns from (mostly) Monterosso to La Spezia. Note that right now there are only two boats that do the full return to La Spezia in late afternoon. I assume in actual season there will be significantly more options/timings.

 

Thanks so much. I see it all now. From these tables, it looks like the train back to LaSpezia is 5 PM and that would be cutting it awful close. I will wait until the 2023 times come out.

Thanks so much once again.

Cheers

Len

Just a common  4 year USAF guy. Did, most of my service in Ramstein Germany with a short tour to Nam. I was in 1966-1969 and was able to get out early because of the Nam thing. 

Proud to have served.

We cruise regularly and our next cruise is a TA on April 30, New Jersey to Rome on the Enchantment. 

Cheers

Len

Don't hold your breathe for any sort of military rate fr om RCCL. It hasn't happened in ages.

Cheers

Len

Once again, I was looking at the time table for the ferry and see the times going, but what about getting back to t he ship? Is there a time table for that also?

Cheers

Len

We had a virtual balcony on the Anthem in January and compared to many insides on other ships this one was huge. We were even able to get out of bed on each side and not have to crawl over one another.

Cheers

Len

On 2/8/2023 at 7:30 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

La Spezia is the best port from which to see the Cinque Terre ("five lands" or villages). Have you been there?  Worth looking into, but can be very crowded in peak season. You can go from village to village by train or by boat.

 

https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/

 

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/planning-visit-cinque-terre

Thank you so much--you have been a wealth of info for a long time here.

I looked at the ferry timetable, and maybe I am not seeing this correctly. I see the times the ferry departs La Spezia and arrives at the other ports. Say I wanted to stay an hour in the first port, I could just catch the next ferry to the next port and so on. But unless I am not seeing this correctly how do I get back to La Spezia and what time? 

Cheers

Len

We also will be stopping in 

LA Spezia for the day. We already have been to Florence and to Pisa so we really want to enjoy some of the local things. We don't mind doing a tour but doing things just on our own doesn't appeal to us at this time.

Is there a tour or tour company that might give us the best bang for our buck? If we have never been to this city, is there enough to do just around town, or would it be better to try and get out of town for a while?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers

Len

Missing Bar Harbor will be a drag. It is such a quaint town and so easy to explore and then there is Acadia National Park.

And, as some have already said, the Lobsta is to die for.

Cheers

Len

On 12/5/2022 at 12:03 PM, LB_NJ said:

 

We have a cruise scheduled for May that has a hop-on-hop-off bus option.  Thought maybe we would do that and do a complete circuit on the bus and then on our own. 

 

Is that reasonable?

 

We are in port 8am to 5PM.

We would be most interested in something like this also. Any info on the HoHo?

Cheers

Len

On 2/3/2023 at 7:59 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

The train leaves from the airport. The HGI runs a regular shuttle to and from the airport. It's not walkable.

Thanks so much. This basically what we wanted to know.

We can take a shuttle from Civi to the Airport and if we are staying at the HGI they supply a shuttle from the airport to their hotel. Also, from the airport there is a train that goes into Rome proper if we want to see what we want to see.

Am I correct on these?

Cheers

Len