HopingForFun333

We were on the Indy in November for the transatlantic. Whilst on deck we often saw a couple pushing a covered-in stroller on deck. The first time they went by I took a peek through the front cover ( love the little ones :) ), had quite a turn I can tell you, when a face covered in white-ish hair with button eyes and nose looked back at me. That'll teach me to be nosey. :):)

Seriously though, there seemed no obvious reason health/assistance wise to have this dog on board, but it just didn't seem fair to the dog. Somehow it seemed sad,surely a dog should not be kept in a stroller, they need to be able to run around, sniffing and chasing things...a ship is not the place for a happy dog.

This is no disrespect to those whose care dogs hold a special place in society and our affections.

Deck ..2

Stateroom...2316

Ocean View..window not porthole.

Starboard or Port?...Port

Quiet?.... Yes very quiet, because on one side there is a fire equipment cupboard and we heard nothing at all from the other side stateroom. No noise from deck above.

Connecting stateroom?.... No

Balcony view. N/A

Balcony size. N/A

Specific problems with this cabin?..none, great cabin.

Comments... Some people are a bit sniffy about lower deck cabins but we were advised to go midship and low as this was a transatlantic crossing. Great advice now we will always pick a low deck. This cabin is near, but not too near the lifts, very quiet, no noise from deck above. Shower had doors not curtain. Plenty of storage of course. Bed better as 2 singles in order to look out of the window without being on the bed and for more usable floor space.Ideal for us.

Hi...

Thanks clarea for your sensible reply...you are of course correct...roll on diamond status then.... :)

Merion_Mom ...thank you for your comments also.

Thanks clarea...

sorry, but how cheap is that....wow a fourteen night cruise and one cup of coffee at 25% discount...I know it's for nothing but it's not worth the effort of asking for the discount....shame on you RC you obviously hold your customers in low regard....better fewer coupons with better value.

Hi,

Have just read the list of Gold 'extras '...for the speciality coffee does this mean every speciality coffee during the cruise or just one time....can't believe RC believe it is a perk to have one cup of coffee with 25% off but that's the way it reads...please can anyone clarify....thanks

Hi,

Thanks so much for this, it's ideal for one way cruising. Thought I saw this post a few days ago...then it seemed to go missing ?....anyway glad to read this today it's just the right sort of info we needed, we have been looking for ages. Thanks again.

Hi,

We took our first cruise in July. It was a quick choice as we are going on the Indy in November for her Transatlantic repositioning to USA. We understand you looking ahead because we couldn't wait once that one the Indy was booked and spotted a good deal on the Brilliance from Harwich to the Baltic and before we knew it we had booked it too.

We can only say how we found it but are as sure as we can be that you will love it. We were glad we had taken our first cruise on the Brilliance as it is not one of the massive ones but ideal for us to get to know cruising a little. Sure though from what we have heard that the new, huge ships are just as welcoming if you choose one of those.

We found you could be as busy or as quiet as you liked...loads of places just to sit, relax, read, people watch etc or so many activities, events, entertainment that you will be spoilt for choice. It was busy as we boarded but the processing was so smooth we were on and away into the ship in no time. Yes there are a lot of people but it's a bit like going to a big shopping mall...as you park up you see loads of cars etc and think it will be heaving inside...but you go in and suddenly it's not as busy as you thought because everyone is off into different shops and things and so everyone spreads out. You will have no problem we are sure.

Royal Caribbean seems very organised, the ship was clean, the crew were excellent, and you will get loads of advice from the more experienced cruisers on here who took time to answer our questions when we are sure they had been asked many times before :).

Our cruise in November is followed by a few days in Orlando before flying back and is through one of the UK travel agents and we can't wait. The Independence has a huge devoted following and that says it all really. Southampton offers a wide range of itineraries so you don't need to fly unless you want to. We are sure you will get loads of very good advice here on that aspect.

Hope this helps

Hi,

We used this service Leeds to Harwich last month. Going down very nice coach, coffee etc ( make your own ), toilet etc. coach arrived early and we had a very good journey down. No wifi.

Coming back not such a nice coach but it got us back on time.

Any hand luggage with wheels has to go with main luggage and you'll need to tell the driver if you want the take it on board yourself and keep an eye open for it when you arrive or it will go with the rest, best put a cabin luggage tag on it just in case.

We would use it again as it went well really and any delays and the boat would wait, hopefully :-)

Hope this helps.

Thanks Adayatatime,

Yes I realise we had paid automatically with MTD but many seem to tip on top so to speak, and anyway we were happy to give our waiter team a little extra. It's just this ' headwaiter, dining room manager ' etc thing makes it complicated. We are happy with the auto gratuities just feeling our feet so to speak.

Hi,

We were on our first cruise recently, but did not use our MTD until late in the 12 day cruise. We had not made reservations so were happy elsewhere to begin with, getting our bearings so to speak.:)

We were suprised when during the later part of the cruise we received a telephone call in our cabin saying we hadn't visited the main dining room and they hoped all was ok. This may be usual practice of course but to us as new cruisers we were quite impressed. That encouraged us to try the main dining room and we were impressed with the welcome we received and the excellent waiter and assistant waiter ( Rohul and Berkay ).

We tipped them both on the last evening of course but having read these posts feel we may have missed others we should have recognised.

The lady who welcomed us to the dining room always remembered our cabin number and gave us a great table for two near the window ( as we requested ) appeared to be in charge, allocating tables etc, also someone who may have been a head waiter welcomed us but never came to the table etc....we assumed they would be in a salaried role who would not expect any further tip. But...were we wrong?.....

We would appreciate input on this...we realise we are new to this and as such the heirarchy in the dining room is new to us as well:confused:. We are on the Independence later in the year so would like to understand this rather complicated area.

Thanks for any advice

Hi,

Thanks for all the input. We are just looking at the moment so don't have any definate dates yet. We are doing the transatlantic this November and flying back all arranged through our TA. We just thought it would be good to maybe do it the other way sometime and arrive back in the UK with no airport hassle and no jet lag. Seems a good way to travel home and have a week in Florida first.

We are fine with non direct flights, it's always better when you are going away rather than when coming back :) it's always seemed quite sensible to us that if we bought a return and didn't use the second leg that we would get the travel arrangements we wanted and the airline would get increased fare anyway as they would almost certainly be able to resell out return part of the ticket and if not it's been paid for anyway.

Lots to think about then, thanks for all the info and advice, will certainly price with Royal C as well and get a full picture before we decide.

Thanks again

Hi,

We are looking at a Transatlantic next year from USA to UK.

The cruises are there but getting a flight from UK one way is extortionate.has anyone found a way to do this please ?. It seems you are not allowed to book a return flight and only use one portion which we thought would be the best way and certainly cheaper.

We thought a flight to Florida, a few days there and the cruise back would be great, think of all the cruise shopping first, ( at least for me ;) ).

Any ideas appreciated.

Ship... Brilliance Of The Seas

Deck... 3

Stateroom number... 3500

Stateroom category... Large OceanView

Starboard or Port?... Port

Quiet stateroom?...

Very noisy when docking. Noise of the bow thrusters and the vibration was impossible to ignore, a real problem if docking early. This cabin is near/under the theatre so at show times the music etc was very loud. This didn't bother us as we are always late to bed but if you have children or like earlier nights it could be a real problem. If checking the deck plan it will be easy to see why this cabin and those nearby are affected. At other times the cabin was very quiet and despite the fact that there is a door to the crew area just nearby we never heard any noise from the door/crew.

Was the stateroom a connecting stateroom?... No

we could hear the next door cabin but it wasn't a problem for us. I suppose this might depend on who occupied it though.

Balcony view and size.. N/A

Was wind a problem?..N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin?... The only real problem was the noise as mentioned above,but a cabin maybe under a restaurant or nightclub etc might well be noisier. Yes it is a long way to get..well anywhere... on the ship, but the layout is good and let's face it it keeps the weight off too..;)

Any other comments? ... The cabin itself was fine, a good size and kept very clean by KIZZY our super cabin attendant. We had the beds separate under the window so we could easily see out without climbing on the bed and felt that made the room bigger somehow.The bathroom was reasonable size, the shower had a curtain, not a door but was fine. Loads of storage ( as we had been told suitcases went under the beds easily ). Flat screen TV was fine. We got this cabin as a ' guaranteed cabin ' we knew the chances and as such we were happy. We decided before we boarded that we would just enjoy it all and we did, but that said I would not choose this cabin or any near it due to the engine/thruster problem, some docking is very early and we like to sleep late of we can. :)

Thank you Danish Viking.

Just what we needed to know. We are hoping for good weather so we can walk ( following your directions )and enjoy your beautiful city.

Thanks again:)

Hi Danish Viking,

We are visiting Copenhagen just for the day, we will be arriving at Langelinie Pier.

We are planning to see the Little Mermaid which we believe is near the port, but would also like to see Nyhven, or perhaps the older part of the city and to get a feel of Copenhagen if there is time.

My question is, do you think we can walk from the pier to Nyhven ?, or if not should we take the bus ?. Also as we are not experienced travellers, should we consider the HOHO bus do you think.

We have been looking at how the bus fares work and are a little confused as they seem to cover different areas and we are not clear what we would need to ask for. Please can you explain.

Sorry if we seem a bit confused, this is our first cruise and we are really looking forward to a ' taster ' of Copenhagen, hoping to come for a longer stay another time.

We are sure you will have answered this question many times before, and we have looked at previous posts but would very much appreciate very simple and straightforward instructions.

Many thanks in advance

Hi,

We had the same problem as you have. Looking at the shore excursions for our Baltic cruise there were no excursions at all listed for the second day in St Petersburg and there were also inaccurate descriptions on some of the tours.

I telephoned RCL and they e-mailed me an attachment with the shore excursion brochure for our cruise, I'm sure you would be able to find something to suit you then.

There seems to have been problems on the website but there will definitely be tours on your second day, I'm sure you will find them in the brochure and have a great time.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

We have just been told our coach home will leave Harwich at 8am. This is our first cruise and so do not know the usual time needed to disembark and collect luggage etc.

We would appreciate advice on whether it is best to collect luggage in the usual way or take ours off ourselves.

If it is best to carry it ourselves can we leave luggage in cabin whilst we have a quick breakfast and then collect it before disembarking, or will we need to take it with us from the start.

Also, if we choose to take it ourselves do we need to inform RCL in advance.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Hi,

Oops, got it wrong, as I realise you can't be forward and aft at the same time ( can you tell we are newbies :o )

Our cabin is forward on the right side if you follow me , anyway it appears to be near the anchor :eek:

Hi,

We booked a gty OV on Brilliance for July. We did it on the spur of the moment ( what can I say, we couldn't wait for November :) )

We have been allocated a Large OV as far forward aft as you can get on deck 3. We also wondered about noise and walking distance etc. However we accepted we could be put anywhere and we decided to just enjoy it and just hope there are calm seas etc.

We might have considered changing but considering the cost we decided to stay put and enjoy it whatever happens, just glad to be going but will report back if anyone is interested on return.

Thanks for the replies, good to know there should be space later if we choose to book.

We will just be digging away for more info, we were just disappointed that RCL haven't been able to give us quite simple details but there you go, probably we will find out eventually....

We would book with an independant tour compny but we don't want a full day out, all the companies we've looked at seem to be at least one full day if not more which may be fine another time but we need to take it a bit steady this time :)

Thanks again

Angie and Pete

Hi,

We have been trying to find out about tour PZ16 by RCL in St Petersburg.

This is a short tour called 'Panoramic St Petersburg and Peter and Paul Fortress Territory '.

The tour is listed by RCL on its website and in its shore excursion brochure but the details are of another tour. We have been trying to find out details of what/where our tour covers but RCL customer service say they don't have the correct details at the moment ( not impressed by this actually as we sail on July 1st and these tours must have been on sale for ages ).

We don't want to book until we are sure, but also don't want to wait until we are on board in case there isn't space for us then.

Please has anyone been on this tour and if so what did it cover, and/or if possible what did you think of it as a worthwhile tour /area to visit. We realise it may not be quite the same when we go but it would help if we had some idea of what it covered.

Thanks very much for any replies

Pete and Angie

Thanks PompeySailor,

Have replied on your link :)

Pete and Angie

Hi PompeySailor,

Thanks for your quick reply, it's exactly what we needed to know.

In my question I didn't make it clear I was talking about roulette sorry about that , but your answer was spot on.

We always have a ' flutter ' when we can on holiday, just a bit of fun and so we try to only bet with low value chips. The way we were thinking RC would probably be happy to get your money even in small bets so hoped the lower value chips would be allowed.

We are on the Brilliance in July ( first cruise...whoopee ) and on the Independence in November ( whoopee again :) ) looking forward to it so much...

Thanks again

Pete and Angie

Hi PompeySailor,

This is a side question, hope you don't mind :)

You mention casino chips, can you tell us what the chips are on RC eg, $1, $5, etc. and also the minimum stake on each play. I've heard both $1 and $5 so not sure which.

Also if it is $5 can you split that over the bet so each chip is $1 but making a $5 bet in total over the table. I ask this because when we went on one of the casino boats whist in Florida they allowed bets that way.

Not sure if I've explained this properly, hope you follow me :) we just bet for a bit of fun and want our money to spread as wide as poss.

Thanks

Pete and Angie

Hi,

We booked a Brilliance guaranteed ocean view cabin this week, not expecting to have one assigned until nearer sailing, but today have found we have been given 3500.

This cabin is as far forward as it can be but is a large ocean view which is nice. We just wondered if anyone had had this cabin or has any informed comments please. Plus once assigned should this cabin remain ours or can it be changed by RC without informing us ( as I seem to remember reading someone had found they had been changed again before sailing ).

We do realise and accept that a guaranteed cabin can work either way and will have pluses and minuses. We intend to enjoy whatever comes along but any comments would be appreciated.:)

Thanks