nolegirl01

23 hours ago, VegasVic14 said:

 The perfect day on our cruise is on Friday. Can any of these purchases (made before sailing) be cancelled and refunded once on the ship?

Not sure, good question. 

On 9/17/2022 at 7:38 AM, vjmatty said:

Is this the holiday week or early December? I find most travel costs are lowest almost for the entire year in the first two weeks of December so I’m hoping this is during Christmas or New Year. 

Yeah our sailing is on Dec. 24 but our coco cay day is Dec. 30. 

5 minutes ago, cgags47 said:

What's the water like over in South Beach?  Smooth sand bottom, any sea grass?

Smooth sand bottom for the most part... there were some dark patches as you get deeper and I think those were sea grass but it was small tiny patches... the majority of the beach area was smooth sandy bottom. I had water shoes on but as the day progressed I took them off and it was fine.

On our sailing in December it's pretty high too... as much as we wanted to experience the water park or the beach club, I refuse to pay these prices. It's crazy!

We haven't experienced the Chill Island day beds but we absolutely loved South Beach. It is 1 row of beds and I don't think it gets too crowded. 

We were on the Freedom of the Seas last month and they had Starlink dishes on board and when we signed on to our internet, it seems we were using Starlink. The speed wasn't the greatest but we were able to stream Netflix so not too bad!

We are going to be in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas on Dec. 28th as part of our Symphony 7 day cruise. It's our first time in St. Thomas and after looking at the offerings for excursions, I have to say they're a bit boring. It seems all the excursions are pretty much going to the beach, tour around town, snokeling and shopping, so that's not too exciting for us unless it's in like an exotic place or something. Being from South Florida, we go to the Keys and dive a lot so we were looking to do something new and experience something more exciting! I realize this is our personal opinion, as people from other states would consider snorkeling exciting since they don't do it often. I see the only semi-exciting thing on the excursion list, is doing the skyride. Does anyone know some other cool things that we can do over there? We would love to  for example ride horses, or drive jeeps or atvs off-roading, ziplining, etc... While we would love to stick with RCL and their excursions, we wouldn't mind doing a 3rd party if it is worth it 🙂

I'm going to echo what people are saying in that we've never been asked to show proof when checking in at port. 

On 8/30/2022 at 2:06 PM, alaska2023 said:

Thank you so much for the photo! It looks beautiful and secluded. I believe Freedom of the Seas is at CocoCay the day we’ll be there (Harmony), so imo secluded is good. Appreciate your help!

Yes we love secluded as well! it was lovely... we were there when the harmony and freedom were there as well and it was nice to be away from the crowds... have fun! 🙂

14 hours ago, alaska2023 said:

Hello. This is my first post, but I've been lurking for several months. My husband, two kids, and I have three cruises booked over the next year: Harmony 9/25, Independence 2/27, and Quantum 6/19.

 

Between RCCL's website, this board, and google/youtube, I've been able to find answers to most questions, but I'm having difficulty with one: Do beach beds still exist at South Beach, or were they permanently removed? We have one reserved next month, and the beds on all 3 beaches are sold out so I can't switch locations. I'd just like to make sure that we won't get on the ship and be told that our reservation was a mistake and we actually don't have a beach bed reserved because they don't exist on South Beach anymore.

 

I've found conflicting info regarding the South Beach beds on this board. Someone recently mentioned that they'd reserved a South Beach bed, but it was a glitch and they were moved to Breezy Bay because the beds were removed from South Beach and that area of South Beach is only for crew now. Someone else said they think the beach beds are back on South Beach. Another person said they visited CocoCay this past spring and the beds were gone. Can anyone who has been there in the past 3 months confirm that there are, in fact, *currently* beach beds on South Beach?

 

I'd be so grateful if someone could ease my mind. Thanks in advance!

See my post above for a picture....

4 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Plenty of day beds in South Beach.   They have them set up staggered, so that even though  there are two rows, all have direct water view.   South Beach has become a popular area since it is the first beach stop on the tram.  

enjoy

M

This is not correct... South Beach has only 1 row of day beds... we were there a few weeks ago. Even though it is the first stop on the tram, it is away from everything else so it is more secluded.

No, you can purchase just for you. Just select your name when purchasing it and not your husband's.

hmmm you all make some valid points... it's $100 extra for champagne and lobster. I like in Florida about 1.5 hours from the keys where we eat lobsters ALL. THE. TIME. so even though it's delicious, I'm not crazy excited about that to justify the price hike. Also champagne is blah. I prefer liquor. IF they had open bar while you eat dinner than that's a different story (we might not get the drink package).... So if the menu is the same as the other days and you are literally paying $100 for a lobster tail and champagne, I might just skip and go to the main dining room lol but I do want to eat at 150 CP, I guess we'll just choose another day.

It's $223 right now for the beach club on the Symphony at the end of December.... crazy! I wanted to book at least a day bed, as we've done that before and really like it but it's sold out... do you guys think they are truly sold out or will they open up more spots as it gets closer to sailing? or maybe even for Black friday?

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

I don't know if they will have a special holiday menu but CP 150 is incredible. I think it would be a great choice and I like Chops too. CP 150 feels more eloquent. Perfect for a holiday meal.

Yup they both have holiday menus, but unfortunately I can't see what they are specifically. We did want to try 150 Central Park, so maybe we should do the holiday dinner there as we already did a regular Chops dinner on another ship.

51 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

You should be able to go on the app or your account on the website and look at the menus for both holiday meals.  We did have the Chops Holiday dinner booked last Christmas because the other person we were travelling with really wanted to do it (we didn't go as we ended up cancelling the cruise), but since the only additional things from a normal Chops meal were a glass of champagne and the lobster being included, I'm not convinced that it is worth the price.  Our friend did end up going on the cruise and she did enjoy it.  We were on Mariner, so I can't speak to what the 150 Central Park menu is like.  

It doesn't show the menu 😞 In the description it mentions some plates briefly, but that's it.

Symphony of the Seas is offering special holiday dining for Christmas Eve and Christmas at 150 Central Park and Chops Grille. Anyone have done holiday dining at either? I'm just wondering which would be better for holiday dinner. I've done regular dinner at Chops Grille and it was delicious but never been to 150 Central Park. What do you all think?

I agree with you guys. Been in Barcelona since Thursday and all is normal. We went to Park Guell, Sagrada Família, Las Ramblas, Plaça Catalunya. It’s been a great time! All seems pretty much normal considering the fact. No need to worry!!!

Business as normal

Full of tourists doing hoho buses etc

 

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Thank you for the update! Much appreciated it! I will keep an eye out and see how things progress over the next few days... thanks!

We are in Barcelona now with cruise tomorrow

Our hotel is near pl catallunya and as we were in taxi getting here could see some barricades and police cars in preparation for 5 pm demonstration going on now

We can hear s helicopter circling but whether that’s police or news reporters don’t know

Can hear some crowd voices but also watching live on hotel tv and it all looks very peaceful on side of demonstrators who are filling main streets not far from here

 

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Thank you! Are businesses still functioning? I'm guessing since you said you were in a taxi, that taxis are still functioning?

Hello, we are arriving in Barcelona on Thursday Oct. 26. We are on the Epic on the 29th. We really wanted to go out and explore the city and are waiting to see how the situation develops before booking any tours around the city. Can anyone that’s in Barcelona give us a little bit of insight on what’s going on and how things are in the Barcelona? More curious on how things are going to develop over the next 2 weeks since we will be there. It’s our first time in Barcelona and I’m a little sad we might have to stay in our hotel while people protest. This was not what I was looking forward to. [emoji17]

Following. We arrive Oct. 26 for an Oct. 29 cruise and will be staying a couple days post-cruise as well. We are getting a little bit worried as well. Thanks!

Palma is a very nice city but is very easy to get to from the port. The caves at Hams are not as spectacular as the Caves of Drach in Porto Cristo.

 

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Oh thanks! that just kind of eliminated one of our options then :) we also visited some caves when we went to Mexico one time and actually was able to swim in one and also went to some in Florida so we figured we should skip the caves in this instance since we've already seen plenty of caves lol I think I rather learn more about the culture of the country. I just wish I could get some reviews on the other 2 tours since I can't find any info on it. I also heard the city is easy to get to as well, but we just want to make it extra easy and have someone drive us around and show us cool things. We're getting spoiled with these great tours and tour guides lol

Hey guys,

Going on the Epic next month and one of our stops is Palma de Mallorca. I was looking at some excursions with NCL and I was possibly interested in the "Palma in Depth", "Spectacular Scenery & Flavors", or "Caves of Hams". We have credits that are for excursions only so instead of wasting them we figured we would use them, that's why we didn't want to go with a 3rd party. My question is, have anyone ever taken those tours? Or any tours in Palma de Mallorca with NCL? What are your experiences and do you recommend them?

Thanks!!!

Schwab is my go to card for overseas. Yes you do have to open a brokerage account but I did not have to deposit money for it. I just make deposits to the free checking. also you get free checks and postage paid envelopes to mail in deposits. a broker did call me but I politely told him I no intention of investing with them. they never called again.

Yeah I think this one is the winner. I'll go into a branch this week and talk to someone about it. Thank you guys!