canadakath

20 minutes ago, Cruisin_n_Boozin said:

 

I am guessing this is just fine print in case they ever get something fancy.  There was nothing on the Navigator (beer wise) that we couldn't get when we went in December.

7 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

I would venture to guess any of the $6.95 + beers. But as Cruzin n Boozin said, probably something fancy.

Chimoy Blue 750ml comes to mind.  Fosters Oil Can maybe.  But if you're a craft drinker you would touch that one.

As I recall from the Symphony, the Funky Buddha brews were around $5.95 as was Sierra Nevada Pale.  Might have been a $1 more, but doubt these would not be Drink Package eligible.

Prices on most International beers in the Pubs are below $6.

Thank you both!  That's exactly what I needed to know!

In the hopes of being able to take our Christmas cruise, I was looking at the drink packages today.  Can anyone tell me what beers would be excluded from the drink package on the Navigator based on this fine print: "Package does to include room service, mini bar items and souvenir glassware, specialty beers as listed on bar menus, or super premium category beverages above $12"

We are craft beer drinkers, and we were fine on the Harmony a couple years ago with their small selection of (macro-owned) craft beers.  Just want to make sure things haven't changed and now anything non-standard is considered "specialty".

Curious to know this too. Also what kind of entertainment was in the Schooner Bar in the evenings?

Sorry, we never went into the Schooner Bar.

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Thanks for the review. Just curious, you mentioned that "Toby-Joe Reilly playing in the pub" was your favorite entertainment. What made it so good?

 

 

 

Thanks.

Toby has a great voice and is a guitar wiz! He played everything from blues to alternative rock and was personable and interactive. Plus the pub had Stone IPA and Redhook so it was the best place on board for beer. That's just our vibe, I'm sure others would love Boleros or Dazzle, but not us. The bartenders took great care of us, and it's right across from Sorrentos for a late night pizza slice. It was my happy place!

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HI, nice to hear you had a good time. For the Falmouth excursion did you book online or when you got there?

We booked online about 10 weeks out. Great company to work with, fantastic guide and driver. Very easy to walk through the port shopping area to the parking lot where they call out your tour company and the guide comes to meet you.

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Space permitting, you can walk up and sign up, but your time might be hours later.

People we spoke to on our cruise (March 25 - April 1) did this first thing in the morning and got a time of 2 p.m. I believe all-aboard was 4.

Thank you for writing your review, I only got to the part so far that you had a boarding time 2pm, do they tell you what time to show up, does RC. have staggered boarding?

Yes, you are assigned a boarding time during check in (which we did online about a week or so before). Based on reading reviews here, I was confident we could show up any time after 11:30 and get on without issues.

Just back from the Harmony of the Seas March 25-April 1, 2017 and thought I would post a quick review, as it can be tricky to find info on travelling with that "in between" age of kids. Happy to answer questions!

Pre Trip and about us

I booked this cruise in June 2015 (the great Harmony sale for those that remember) for DH and our sons ages 13 and 10. We had connecting oceanview balcony cabins (9150 and 9152). We also traveled with good friends who had boys ages 14 and 12. All the adults had the drink package - and we got our money's worth!

We flew Toronto to FLL the day before and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Ft Lauderdale East. Took Lyft (very easy) for the half hour ride from the airport. Got the free hotel shuttle to Funky Buddha brewpub for some great beer and eats! Spent the evening relaxing at the hotel pool.

Embarkation

We all had boarding times of 2:00, but called for Lyft around 11:30. Had to wait about 20 minutes (they were all buzzing between the airport and the port) but had no real line ups to deal with when we got to port at 12:30. They opened up our rooms five minutes after we got onboard, so we ditched our carry ons and went to the Windjammer for lunch. Just easier to feed everyone in one spot.

Food

We had MTD, but after a great meal the first night we requested the same table and serving staff the rest of the week. Golabi at Grande on Deck 4 was super helpful, and Nenad (who is leaving the end of April) and Iwayan were a fantastic team. We had planned to eat at a specialty restaurant or two, but enjoyed the food enough in the MDR that we didn't bother. We were going to skip the formal nights, but after seeing how people dressed for regular dinner and asking our server, we confirmed that we would be fine in our dresses and collared shirt/pants. Nenad said "I wear the tie, so you don't have to" ;)

Ate dinner at Windjammer one night (late day in Falmouth), had lunches in a variety of places including the MDR, and breakfast either Solarium Bistro or Windjammer. Very happy with the quality and variety of food - not the best ever, but more than enough to keep us happy.

Entertainment

Only saw Grease and the Fine Line - both were fantastic. None of my boys (young and old) came to Grease - they would not have enjoyed it. Only the other mom and I went. The comedy show in the Attic was also great - adult only! Our favourite part though was Toby-Joe Reilly playing in the pub. We spent every night in there.

Activities

This was the first cruise our kids didn't use the Kids clubs. With one being 10 and the rest able to go to the Teen club, it just didn't work. They both did rock climbing, mini golf, table tennis, basketball, and one did Flowrider and one did ziplining. We all did the Abyss (our shortcut to Johnny Rockets for milkshakes!) and they did the water slides. Lots to do, but without the kids club there seemed to be a bit more down time in the room.

DS 10 and I also did the Sushi Making at Izumi - really fun, and a delicious early lunch too! $30 per person and we each made a spicy tuna roll, tempura shrimp roll, California hand roll and some shrimp negiri.

Ports

We just hung out at the beach under the Zipline on Labadee - had brought our snorkeling stuff but wasn't anything to see. the break wall there made for some good swimming though, and there was lots of room.

We booked a private tour for the 8 of us through Real Tours Jamaica in Falmouth for Dunns River Falls and jerk chicken or pork lunch at Scotchies. Perfect excursion for our group and nice to beat all the big motorcoaches from the ship to the Falls.

We enjoyed the almost empty boat in Cozumel - I can't stand the people soup that the pools are on sea days so this was perfect. Great day.

We also booked the Everglades Airboat tour and transfer to FLL through the ship for disembarkation. This was a nice way to spend our Saturday morning (if you like being close to alligators and other scaly things! Oh the things I do for my boys) before catching our 3:30 p.m. flight back to Toronto.

Overall Impression

Very fun trip, rarely felt like there were 5,500 other passengers. Lots of activities. Wouldn't want to do the same cruise again, but this was about the ship and not the ports. It will likely be back to more port intensive cruises for us after this one, but very glad we experienced the beautiful Harmony! Loved all the staff we interacted with!

We did the Baltic cruise on Serenade with then 3rd and 5th graders in 2015. Absolutely loved it! (We had Disney booked but were able to get two cabins for just over half the price of one on Disney!) We found the Baltic cruise a much nicer pace than the Med cruise we had done two years prior. Most ports we did on our own, except for St. Petersburg where we booked a semi-private tour with SPB Tours. Best money we spent on the trip! We booked with another family we met on these boards so were able to keep things pretty kid friendly. I can't comment on the Norway itinerary, but thumbs up for the Baltics!

I dread the day we lose Gord to Cancer. He seems to at peace with his fate. Some of the flowrider music last night was Hip Music.

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I tried to get London, Hamilton and Toronto tickets but no luck. I watched the Kingston show on CBC and probably cried through half of it - my kids thought I was a bit crazy but oh well. A defining band of my youth. I cherish their music. So glad you brought it with you!

He has a crazy jacket but I have to say my shirt is so much cooler. Fellow Canucks will understand.

 

Great shirt! Thanks for your posts - getting very excited to board in 12 days!

We did a Med cruise on Disney when the kids were 7 and 9, and a Baltics cruise on RCI's Serenade of the Seas when the kids were 9 and 11. Both were fantastic!

Serenade of the Seas is older and smaller, but there was still rock climbing, table tennis, mini golf, sports deck, arcade, and the pool. My kids did not enjoy the kids club compared to the Disney cruises we have done and were only in it once or twice. As others mentioned though, there isn't much ship time! We enjoyed the pace of the Baltics cruise more than the Med cruise - walking right into town from many of the ports, comfortable temperatures even in July, less need to see everything in a few short hours thanks to an overnight stay in St. Petersburg. We all agreed it was our best family vacation ever. Enjoy, whatever you decide!

Thank you for the beer menu and for continuing to post great updates and information!

Thanks for taking the time to post here! We are on Harmony in March, and were wondering what craft beers are available? Maybe post a menu from Boot & Bonnet if you are able? Thanks!

Our cruise was July 19-26 this year. While the rest of Europe was having a heat wave, temps were a comfortable 20 degrees C most days o the cruise. We always brought sweaters and they were on and off several times during the day depending on wind, shade, etc. One afternoon of solid rain in St. Petersburg, light drizzle a couple of other mornings.

Obviously weather is unpredictable, but I have to say I enjoyed the cooler temps for this cruise, made it so we weren't too tired at the end of a long day touring.

We were on the July 19 sailing of Serenade of the Seas this year and flew back to Toronto on disembarkation day.

Our ship was delayed by an hour to enter the Stockholm archipelago with the pilot ship due to high winds. Then the fog was so dense we had to go very slowly. We ended up docking at 9, two hours late.

We made our flight (11:15 to Heathrow, connecting flight arrived in Toronto at 5:30 p.m.), but it was a stressful morning. We walked off with our luggage (along with a pile of other people), got the first cab we could (this at least moved very well) and as it was Sunday morning made it to Arlanda in 30 minutes. We had about 20 minutes to sit at Arlanda before boarding. I would definitely not book anything earlier.

We are taking this cruise very soon

Any info on taxis to cruiseport. Ports of call or disembarkation

 

Thanks!

We took a Taxi Stockholm cab from our hotel (Radisson Blu at the Central Station) to Frihammen. Cost of about 220 SEK, paid by credit card. we had taken the Arlanda Express train from the airprt to Central Station the day before at the summer special price of 300 SEK for two people (and kids were free).

Taxi from Frihammen to Arlanda airport on disembarkation - here we weren't picky about what cab we used, got set price of 600 SEK + 20 for airport fee (we were stressed and rushed - see docking issues I mentioned above) and had no desire to haggle. Driver was great and we were at the airport in half an hour.

We used public transport in Helsinki, a private tour in SPB, walked in Tallinn, and did the ship's shore excursion in Riga after seeing the price of the shuttle. You could stay in Riga longer than the tour and take one of the shuttles back with your shore excursion sticker. This was a great option for us.

If I don't get to my trip report before you leave, feel free to send more questions.

Hi,

 

I'd love to see the compasses if you could post them somewhere or e-mail them.

 

Questions:

- did you have the option to do a late departure on the final day?

- did RC provide shuttle buses (just the transfers, not the excursions) in certain ports?

 

Thank you!

We ALL had late departure on the final day since we didn't dock until almost 9:00! High winds and bad fog made it a slow journey to Stockholm. Just a warning to anyone who thinks they can get away with an early flight out of Stockholm! We made our 11:15 since we walked off with our own luggage but it was a stressful start to a long day.

Shuttle buses at Helsinki and Riga for sure, maybe Tallinn? All had a cost (Riga being so expensive we decided to just do a shore excursion). I will check when I get home and add this info to my trip report which I hope to do this weekend.

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer, but what did you think about the cigarette smoke issue? Last we were on her, the smoke from the casino was terrible, drifting out into the Centrum and up several decks. My eyes were stinging by the end of the cruise, unfortunately. Is there any chance this has improved? :confused:

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Hopefully Moltar doesn't mind if I jump in here. We were on the same cruise (nice to meet you at the M&M by the way!)

My husband and I spent a fair bit of time at the pub and walked through the casino to get to it. There was very little smoke in the casino, but that is probably only because there were very few people! Maybe it got busier later at night. The one side that is non-smoking was totally fine, and the side with smoking (where the cashier's desk is) was better than what I experienced on the Ruby Princess last year.

What we did have an issue with was smoke smell on our balcony. We had a family a few doors down from us who got in trouble for smoking on the balcony but I don't think it stopped them. I find this more prevalent on the two European cruises we've done.

I don't remember if this was asked and answered yet......Is there a daily maximum you can take out at the casino?

Just off Serenade and I can confirm that there was a $500 daily maximum. We tried to get additional out before we docked at St. Petersburg and the casino closed for two days, but were not able to.

Just back from our Baltic cruise. I used clips (like clothespins) to hold the two sides of the curtains together. That helped a lot.

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Just back from our cruise and did the 2 day Russian Treasures tour with SPB , with a modification of a hydrofoil trip from Peterhof. We had 5 kids in our group, all boys 8 to 12, including my 9 an 11 year olds. Alexander was a great tour guide and the kids did really well.

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That's funny about the bazaar! Good to know!

Carolla5501 or twincheryl, do you know if there were any specials offered onboard for specialty dining?

How do you check port schedules?

There are folks on this board that are much more savvy at this than I am, but I either just google the port or use a cruise timetable website. Searching Port of Riga schedule gives you two options - Riga Passenger Terminal and Freeport of Riga. Serenade of the Seas showed up on the Freeport terminal (more of a cargo dock) and not the Passenger Terminal (nicer one).

I have seen folks here use ports.cruisett.com, cruiseportwiki.com and many other sites.