krev

Well you have Harmony leaving the next day, those pax must take up a considerable amount of hotel rooms.

We just bought ours through Air2sea, YVR-BCN $609 CAD pp, it's the same flts we were planning but direct with the airline was over $2000 pp. This certainly doesn't help the OP but something to think about when booking with other cruise lines.

It's a gorgeous part of the world. I just wish our Alaska cruise went through the inside passage. I've been through the "Narrows" lots of times and can't even imagine how little room there is on either side of the cruise ship. You'll enjoy it and "Rivergal1" gave you some excellent advice. Although I was born and raised there I left at 22 so really don't know the adventure companies.

Enjoy.

Where are you going to watch Grizzles? The Island is typically black bear country, but the mainland where you may see them is not far away. Float plane or boat ride.

Coral, that is really good info.

Curious how long does just the tour last? We live about 5 minutes from the gardens and go over for a walk quite often. If you are leisurely strolling it will take well under an hour. If you are looking at every petal then all day! I love afternoon tea, the gardens is good (it's been several years) but the Empress is amazing. Not quite as good as Harrods but close.

I was born and raised in CR. I would likely still rent a car. Elk Falls is beautiful. I would google "things to do in CR" not sure about a bear watching tour but fishing would be a great adventure. A trip to Quadra Island and the First Nations museum would take up a few hours. Let me know if there's anything else. We live in Victoria now and that's the usual tourist spot.

We've been on AOS twice, two weeks in the Caribbean and 16 nights last year in the med, cabin 8634 both times. It was great, close to everything, we love Adventure.

I don't want to start a huge debate or have the NRA after me, however it never ceases to amaze me that a person may own an assault weapon in the US but may not posses Kinder Eggs. :confused:

Haha,,perfect

There's not a chance I'd go on these! #9 I think was the scariest

We got a great deal on the inaugural TA, haven't done one of those before.

First of all the Harmony is not the worlds biggest ship as for the cost the answer is usually yes.

If it's not the largest then which one is? I think I read someplace that Carnival is building a larger one.

As mentioned by someone in the Harmony Facebook group... because the RCI logo on the AquaTheater diving platform structure looks like a Transformer, it is believed that the structure will transform into the Abyss water slide. :D

 

 

 

I'm curious how you have mentioned the "other" site and the post is still here. I only referred to it on another thread and was sent packing for three days!

While I agree the keg is generally very consistent, it was absolutely brutal in all ways when we were there a couple weeks back. Hopefully if you choose the keg You have better luck than us!

 

If you are willing to give up the view try Il Terrazzo, it was fantastic and is rated one of the top restaurants in Victoria.

I was just about to suggest Il Terazzo, one of our favs for sure. The Steamship bar and grill is nice, across the street from the Parliament buildings, we've only had appy's but they were excellent.

I saw a guy win about $3600 on a slot, not me though.

This is so strange, mine is in Canadian, I just make sure the country is Canada and it's all priced in Cnd $$. It did change at one point but I changed it back and no problems. But then again this is RC IT we're dealing with! Love the cruise line but the website can be sketchy!

Yes, we are in desperate need of rain, we really haven't had any since April, the few mm in May and June has done nothing. I'm really worried about the forests, there's a fire burning on the Sunshine Coast which is worrisome. So much for the "wet coast" as we fondly refer to ourselves.

Pisa was amazing, we too pushed the tower up! As all crazy tourists do lol

Not sure if you can see the photo clearly but it's there, mine doesn't change when I log out and in.

No, you always have to switch the currency. It sucks because if you forget part way through the booking and switch it, you start right at the beginning again. The other thing is even when you log into your account it doesn't automatically price in Canadian.

Actually it does, log in and at the top of the page upper right corner change the country.

When we booked our Harmony cruise for next year we priced it out multiple ways(royal Canada, royal usa and a US ta). We found that the best option was to book with the US ta as we got a better rate then the Canadian site and by using a ta we got some obc. The only thing to keep in mind is that if you book it using the direct with the cruise line way is that you can call and get price adjustments if your cruise goes down in price right away. We got a good price on our cruise and felt that it would not go any lower so were not concerned with the need to be able to call and make changes instantly.

 

 

 

Now if they were offering the same exchange rate as what others have bought obc for then we would be booking a few extra trips right now;).

You can get the price drop right away by using a TA. I called my TA and was put on hold while she called RCI, and it was Cnd $.

I would agree that I'm not sure what a Canadian candy is...certainly there have been a lot of chocolatiers spring up all over the place. One of my faves is Hot Chocolates up in Courtenay....mind you it does take a 3rd mortgage to purchase a pound, I am still stinging from Christmas. I still think Rogers produce an excellent product however, I think they have in a sense diluted their brand somewhat through the wide distribution of their product....I mean you can even purchase Rogers in a hardware store in the interior. But going into that heritage store on Government St. still is pretty special.:)

I'll have to check out Hot Chocolates the next time I'm up Island. I don't mind Rogers if it's not the Victoria Creams, they are just too sweet for my tastes. The original building is very nice though, supposedly haunted!

Not sure what candy is specifically Canadian, I'd be interested to know. I personally prefer Bernard Callebaut, 621 Broughton. I'm really not a Rogers fan, I work about a block from their Sidney location and our pts always buy them for us at Xmas, go for the Callebaut, or Purdy's, it's very good as well.

Someone else said smoking is allowed on balconies. :confused:

Not anymore

Jewel is the smaller ship with fewer passengers. I'd still pick Adventure.

 

By the way, AOS is Anthem, Allure, or Adventure.

Agree 100%, we've been on Serenade which is a sister to Jewel and although a nice ship, Adventure is much easier to get around.

Adventure, to Curacao.

Think I'd agree! We spent two weeks on Adventure in the southern Caribbean in 2013, then 16 night med this past Sept. I love the size and the Royal Promenade, we've never been on anything larger than Adventure. We're booked for the Harmony TA in Oct 2016, looking forward to an Oasis class.

Sweet! We are taking our first RC cruise in August. If we like it enough to justify the cost, I may take advantage of this.

Not sure who you've cruised with before but we're very happy with Royal. We don't have much to compare though. We have done two last minute cheapies with Carnival and there's no comparison, in our opinion.

Can you get a lower price if a better deal comes along and still keep your OBC and deposit?

Absolutely, there was just a price drop for us two weeks ago and we saved $370.