chawkjewel

18 hours ago, rollie said:

All right you guys.  We're going on this cruise next year.  My question to you is, can we make an 11:15am flight?  It's the only non stop home.  Thanks for your feed back.

 

Rollie

 

 

We had a 10:55 flight.  We had the first time for getting off with them handling the luggage.  Yes, it was a pain but we made it to the gate with plenty of time to spare.

4 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

I'd love to hear what this roundtrip cruise was like, especially if all the sea days was just too much and what the weather was like when at sea.  Love the idea of no airfare and getting to see all the islands. We've only done one cruise on HA and it was far from our favorite.

We also just completed this years cruise.  Yes, the sea days can be a bit boring, but you can certainly find things to do. In our opinion, the port stops in French Polynesia made the sea days worth it!  We hate flying and love cruising so it was the best of both worlds. We booked again for 2026. 

11 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

For one thing, i was never once asked for my disembarkation color. The lines for immigration

 started at the forward elevators, snaked back to the atrium, did a 90 degree turn and wound up in the theatre.

You were lucky.  When we went down we first walked to the middle elevators.  The line was past the atrium and we got in just after Rudi's.  It went all the way into the dining room, turned around and then all the way back down deck 2 to the theater.  As we were coming down towards the theater, the line had grown all the way down to Billboard.  It moved but was still frustrating as clearly people were trying to get into line wherever they could and not everyone followed directions.  There were many people in line with their rolling carryons.  People on scooters were having a rough time because there really wasn't enough room for two lines plus people just trying to walk through.  

The good news was, that in spite of everything, we made our flight and are all home safely.  It was a wonderful trip and I totally agree that a 7 day cruise will be a very strange feeling.  Good thing my next one is 13 nights.

14 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

of course! I am getting all the days confused. I swear I’m getting dumber by the day. I was not impressed with the snorkeling tour I did on Papette. It was nothing like Raiatea. Would you do Tahiti by boat again? 

we were on Tahiti by Boat with everyone on the 8th. It was wonderful. I would do it again. We didn’t get to see the dolphins doing any spins but the rest was great. 

8 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

The hotel is old, famed, and just beautiful. I can relate to one of three.

you are correct - you are beautiful!

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Hubby and I just returned from sailing in the Caribbean on a side to side on the Carnival Celebration and the NCL Encore. Both ships are significantly larger than the Koningsdam. I know some of the HAL regulars feel Koningsdam is too big, but in my experience she is a nice mid-sized vessel.

We are on this cruise with you. We just got off Icon a little over a week ago so this will be a big difference in ship size. I do prefer the size of Koningsdam for itineraries like this. See you soon!

5 hours ago, peagreenid said:

Can someone tell me what time the Walk off's are allowed to disembark on the Icon of the Seas?

Can you post the sheet with disembarkation times?

I went down to get coffee at 6:00 a.m. and they were already letting folks off.  I was surprised.  

55 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

 

 He did this each time we ordered one every night. Great way to spend $1.18; hope it makes the budget so you can enjoy.

oh trust me, on a cruise this long and this pricey, I will get what I want!  

1 hour ago, Seasick Sailor said:

 

That's me too. I pay an extra $1.80 now with HIA pkg. No big deal breaker, and we've been on board Rotterdam for 48 days.

How much are they now?  I thought I saw they were only $12, so wouldn’t that just be $1.18?  Need to budget my 35 day cruise and I love Lemon Drops. 😂

33 minutes ago, keeponcruising said:

$82.60 for the week.  That included the service charge.  I don't know if I would do it again, but one good thing is that it included unlimited non-alcoholic drinks.

Thank you. I think I’ll be better off just paying the upcharge for the couple drinks per day that may be over $11. 

41 minutes ago, keeponcruising said:

 On my Rotterdam cruise I got off of last week, I went to the drink station in the Lido and upgraded my drink package before I had my 1st drink.  It was very easy.  I did get charged for some drinks though.  On day 2 I went to guest services and they printed a new card that showed EBP.  Staff looks at that to determine what to charge you.

How much was it to upgrade (per day?)?

I really appreciate your showing pictures of how you organize your room.  It has given me many great ideas over the years.  Thanks!!

59 minutes ago, cruise1957 said:

Now it looks like she is headed back to Cadiz, what someone wasn't onboard when they sailed?

now it looks like they are offloading the pilot. 

Really looking forward to following you on this adventure.  I really enjoyed following your TA so this is a plus.  We are on Koningsdam for the first time in February for the 35 night trip to Hawaii and Tahiti.

29 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Imo the food on jewel should be lower level and less varied than wonder. I haven't ordered that apple blossom dessert in ages, it's all crust and a spoon of apple if you dig. Never been anything but too much crust imo.

 

Really hope the food on oasis class is more varied and better than jewel! Better be. I'm on allure sunday and if it's not more varied I'll be vastly disappointed. I've been looking forward to more food choices and better food.

For main dining room food, I think all ships should have the same options.  I wouldn't want Jewel to be of a lower level than Wonder.  With the larger ships you have more dining options.  I hope that is what you are referring to.  

On 10/26/2022 at 10:55 AM, Teeara said:

Many of us were originally booked on the ill-fated Allure WB TA scheduled to set sail in October 2020 and had made our final payment and were excited about setting sail when Royal canceled the cruise thanks to Covid. 

We were to be on the Allure WB in 2020 as well.  We have rebooked for Symphony WB next October (2023).  Sorry we will miss you all on Wonder.

28 minutes ago, Beardie said:

Booking a 2D mid ship veranda on Symphony today. Would like recommendations on which deck (s) would be recommended for quietness, location and balcony for 2 seniors. It's such a big ship, making selection a considerable question.  Many thanks!!

When we first started cruising we always tried to be closer to the pool deck, but not directly below.  As we have done several cruises now, we find that our time is mostly spent down on the promenade deck areas (decks 4 - 8 on the Oasis class).  So now, when booking Oasis class, Deck 8 is our first choice.  It's an easy walk to Central Park.

We made final payment (Infinity) over a month ago.  The upgrade option never showed up in the cruise planner and today, when I went online to check, I saw the note about calling.  I called right away.  There was no wait and I did get a very knowledgable person who was able to upgrade us (with Elite discount) and upgrade one wi-fi package with very little time spent.  Received the email confirmations right away and now we are all set to sail.

6 hours ago, mommao729 said:

Thank you all.  Looking foward to this cruise. Lost 5 since covid started. 
 

praying for a negative test. Will be under a self imposed lockdown soon. 
is there a post about covid on mariner during or after?

There have been many posts on the sailing specific roll calls as well as that other social media site. 

We were on a couple of weeks ago.  The one production show we went to was good but nothing spectacular.  We saw the ice show back in November and it was great.  On this cruise we most enjoyed Darla Fox in the pub.  She was amazing.  They also brought on The Alley Cats while we were in Bermuda.  They are an acapella Doo-Wap group and were amazing too. They were often in the pub after the shows and Darla would get them to either sing or join her in song.  Such a great time!!

18 hours ago, vagolferbob said:

Just got out approvals for Enchantment leaving Friday.

Did you have to call?

1 hour ago, Margarita Jane said:

 

Forget to add that internet is sometimes spotty (or non-existent) on TA’s….

Not always true. We were on the Harmony WB transatlantic in 2016. I worked the whole trip and never had any issues. 

Option 2.  Longer.

Make sure to see Voices.  It is absolutely amazing.  Enjoy your trip!

Just now, twangster said:

Day is breaking in Central Florida and it’s time to hit the road.  Going radio silent for several hours while I drive.  
 

Safe travels!!