RCCL May 23 from Port Canaveral

[MeAndTheBoys]

We are sailing on RCCL Sovereign of the Seas out of Port Canaveral on May 23. I am tempted and considering doing the Atlantis deal where you rent a room at Comfort Suites in order to gain access to Atlantis. From what I have read, you receive passes for up to 4 people. It is just my hubby and me and I would be interested in finding two others interested in "sharing" this room cost so we could all take advantage of everything Atlantis has to offer and still be able to split the cost. As I said I am still considering this and am not sure yet, if it is worth the money... I want to do Bay St. / Straw Market shopping, climb The Water Tower for photo ops, maybe do Senor Frogs or something like that. We are in Nassau from Weds 5/25 at 7 a.m. to Thurs. 5/26 at 1 a.m., so 18 hours. We are on the late seating at 8:30, I am not sure yet if I will want to push to get back by then or if I will just get back to the ship by 12, for the tender. I know Tuesday is Formal night, I don't want to miss that. I checked and as of this afternoon there will still rooms available for I think it was $148, for night of 5/25. Then it said there was a $8 pp charge per day for housekeeping and one other thing. Plus tax of course, I read 12% I think. So anyway, anyone else going on this ship? possibly interested in joining us for this deal?:confused:

[laurasue]

We decided to spend the day snorkeling while in Nassau, but I did want to pop in and say hi! We'll be on the same sailing, and even late seating :D

 

Nassau is also formal night :( so if you don't come back for dinner that night, you will miss out on that. But, Atlantis looks lovely and I'm sure you will find plenty to do if you do opt to miss dinner (I think I even read that they have shows?). Oh yes, no tender boats either, from what I understand, the ships actually dock in Nassau. Makes for easy off and on the ship.

 

Happy cruising. Maybe we'll see you aboard!

[MeAndTheBoys]

I think we've decided not to do the mariott room, but we do still want to see Atlantis. When I called in to RCCL, they told me that Tues night was formal night. How did you find out about there being a second formal night? I thought 3 and 4 day cruises only had one formal night?

[laurasue]

Hmm, maybe they changed the night that is formal night?? We only have one, and from what I've read in recent reciews it's the same night as Nassau. It sure would be nice if it isn't Nassau night. :D

[TonyCruise]

Be aware that the shops on Bay Street & the Straw Market close early - around 5 or 6 I think? So you will want to do that in the morning or early afternoon.

[MeAndTheBoys]

I called the same day I left that first post, so what... about a week ago at most. The lady at RCCL told me Tues, the Coco Cay night. I agree, it would make most sense not to have formal night when we are in nassau as there is so much to do there! Have you cruised before? I haven't. Does formal night basically start with your meal time or is there something that goes on before that?

[laurasue]

Great! I'd be thrilled if it was Coco Cay night!

 

Nope, i'm a new cruiser as well, but compulsive travel planner ;) It sounds like formal night starts at either your show or dinner, depending on when your seating is. If you've got late seating often times your shows are actually before dinner. If you have early seating, they are after.

 

I have a copy of a compass from the Sovereign earlier this year. I'd be happy to send you a copy if you want.

[MeAndTheBoys]

Is that the daily bulletin they put out with details each day? A friend showed me one and I breezed thru it real fast. You don't have to send it, if that's what it is, I can see it on the ship. Who are you traveling with? It's just me and my husband, we can't wait for a break from our two little boys, 2 1/2 and 6 mos! We haven't slept a full night in almost 7 mos and we can't wait to get away!!:)

[laurasue]

LOL! I imagine it will be a nice break from the little ones! :) It's just me and DH as well, a belated anniversary celebration paired with a wedding we're attending in Tampa after the cruise.

 

Yep, that's what the compass is, it lists all the day's events and anything else that you may need to know.

 

So excited!! Just a little over 3 weeks to go! Guess I better get busy filling out our documents. :D

[MeAndTheBoys]

How funny is that! We are doing this cruise b/c we have a wedding to attend in Gainesville the following weekend! My college roomate is getting married and we are flying out a week ahead, doing SeaWorld, then the short cruise (to see if we enjoy cruising before we went head first into a full week cruise), then the wedding. Where are you from? We're in WI. I know, three weeks today, ooooh I cannot wait! :cool: I have the docs all filled out, just need to dig out required citizenship documents - we don't have passports, we should, would make things so much easier! And start making my lists, not only to pack up DH and I, but also my darling children... three bags for each of them, plus all the gear. They are splitting their time b/t both sets of grandparents and their aunt/uncle/cousins! :eek:

[sl0905]

We are just back from the 4 day Sovereign and formal night is Wednesday, Nassau night. We had early seating for dinner (for the first time) in the past we had late seating, and we made it back to the ship from our Stuart Cove afternoon snorkeling trip at 5:00. There was a champagne gala with the captain from 7:30 to 8:30 I think. Still unpacking and can't find my compass I kept.

[laurasue]

sl0905, thanks for the info! Question about your Stuart's Cove excursion, did you arrange for them to meet you at the ship or do they just show up?

 

MeAndTheboys, we're in Colorado :) It's been a long winter here and we are SO ready to get into the warm for 8 days! You will enjoy Seaworld. I've done Disney 3 times, I love it too. It was between Disney or a cruise, and we opted for the shorter cruise since neither of us had been before. Now I'm afraid I'm hooked on cruising and I haven't even been. He he!

[sl0905]

Laurasue, I'm not sure if they just show up or what, but they were a few minutes late (12:10) and I had just walked back in to the Nassau tourist center and called them when my husband ran in to say they were there. Anyway while I was on the phone with the reservation dept. the lady told me she did not have me on the list for the day. I replied I have the confirmation in my hand and paid over the phone weeks ago and the bus showed up anyway I guess. If you book with them do it ahead of time for $40.00 and call them when you get into the port of Nassau to make sure. Once we arrived at Stuart Coves I understand how it can become confusing. They have an excellent business. In fact they decided too many people were on our boat so they took 12 off and put them on another smaller boat so we only had 35 or 37. It is definately worth the money. I even went into the water on the last stop with the shark feed and there were some larger sharks. If you have any other questions about the Sovereign or our excursions let me know here or my email is salaz@fuse.net.

[MeAndTheBoys]

sl0905, What other excursions did you do? What is there to do in CocoCay?

[sl0905]

On Coco Cay we rented wave runners. We had booked in advance over the internet. The afternoon sessions were all pretty full, not sure about the mornings. I'm not sure how much they fill up. You go around to different little cays and see starfish, sting rays etc, you don't stay near the shore, in fact you don't see the ship or island most of the time. Its really fun. You can parasail or rent kayaks or snorkel. We rented the snorkel equipment 2 years ago when we were there and it was ok. We didn't bother with it this year, too many people in the beach area where they want you to snorkel. Kayaking is not for me, too much upper body work! It was popular. They also have banana boat rides. You can stay in the crowded section where there will be music and a band with dancing etc. You can also walk past the wave runner area where it is very quiet with few people. Another thing, if you plan on snorkeling here or in Nassau, I would suggest bringing your own snorkel. On Coco Cay when you get your snorkel they just pull it out of this tub of water and hand it to you, I'm not sure whats in with the water. Two years ago we rented their equipment including snorkel and my husband and I both got a sore in our mouths between our gum and jaw. We brought our own dry snorkel with us this time and used it on our Stuart Cove excursion and I felt more comfortable and since they were dry snorkels, I never had any water get in my mouth. Have fun

[MeAndTheBoys]

What is the weather like right now, on this cruise? And, as a first time cruiser, what is the temp like at night on a cruise... like while eating dinner, shows, etc. Bring sundresses? Would anything long sleeve be too warm? Sweaters? Thanks!

[laurasue]

A few more questions about your Start Cove's excursion... did you feel 35 pp was too crowded? That's one of the only drawbacks I have heard here. DH and I are now debating between it and the Barefoot Sailings snorkel excursion for a smaller excursion size. Also, what time did they have you back to the ship after the cruise, if you remember? One last question, how long were you in the water for actual snorkel time?

 

Thanks for the tip on brining your own equipment! After using the provided equipment on our honeymoon (leaks, masks didn't fit, etc.) we decided we would never snorkel again with rented equipment. We're using nice dry snorkels as well. I am excited to try them out.

[sl0905]

We had good weather. It wasn't too hot just the high of about 75 - 80. The evenings were cool outside on deck. I brought along a jacket and I'm glad I did. During the day snorkeling or beach time the weather was perfect. The water is a little chilly at first but once you're in the water you don't notice. We did this exact cruise 2 years ago in mid June and it was hot. We did not need a jacket at all in June.

As far as the Stuart Cove excursion, I didn't feel crowded at all. The boat had two levels for seating so figure 16 or 17 per level. We had room to put our fins etc on without any problem. When we did stop to snorkel, it only took 2 - 3 minutes for everyone to get in the water. It seems they like to stay on schedule, so I think we snorkeled 30 - 40 minutes each at the first 2 reefs, and the shark dive only was 10 minutes because the sharks get irritable after that. Also keep in mind, the Stuart Cove facility is about 30 - 40 minutes from the cruise ship terminal. We were second to last being picked up and third being dropped off after the excursion. It was only 1/2 day snorkel trip and it was long enough for us.

[MeAndTheBoys]

s10905, I am just noticing you said you had formal night on wednesday, at nassau. That's odd that someone at RCCL informed me that it was Tuesday night. So, either for our cruise it is different which would seem odd, but were all the improvements to the ship done for your cruise? I wonder if they are changing the formal night schedule after their refurbishments? Otherwise, the lady misinformed me. I am glad we have late seating, I don't want to miss formal night but I also don't want to miss out on Nassau and all it has to see.

[sl0905]

We just returned from the Sovereign on 4/29 and formal night was Nassau night, Wednesday. We were dropped off at the cruise dock area around 5. That was enough time for us to shower and change. It was only myself and my husband this time. If we had taken our teenage daughters they would not have made it - high maintenance girls) The changes we noticed from 2 years ago were all new carpeting in the cabins and all public areas. Our mattresses were new because I looked at it (remember the bed bug scare!) The curtains and bedspreads were all new. I did notice that our blankets were wrapped in sheets so we never had to touch the blanket. I don't remember this being done last year on the Mariner, it may have been though. Our bathroom had a new toilet and sink with counter. They were white and 2 years ago they were dark tan. The shower and tile were still the original tan. The dining rooms had new carpet and chairs. We never had a sewer smell on deck 5. We had the best service ever on this cruise. I guess I should post a positive review since alot of people are posting negative ones.