Expert Cruisers - Give me details!

[lovelycruise]

Hey guys - I am going on my first RCI cruise this summer (on my honeymoon!) A couple of questions for ya:

 

1) We heard that sometimes free upgrades are available to lucky cruisers. We are fresh out of college, pretty poor, and the most we can afford at this point is the bare minimum :o (hey it works! we are going on a CRUISE for our honeymoon! :D ) How often are free upgrades given? Is there anything we can do to help our luck?

 

2) What is the Enchantment of the Seas like? I have traveled on several Carnival ships with my family in the past -how does RCI compare?

 

3) As newlyweds and first time cruisers (my fiance has never cruised) is there anything we should be sure to check out onboard/at sea? At port? (We will be heading to the Caymens and Ocho Rios)

 

4) Any other tips/advice for us?

 

We are so excited, and these message boards are so helpful! :)

[cb at sea]

Good luck on the upgrade--they seem to be random events that no one understands!! Hopefully, you'll be lucky! If you booked a guarantee, that seems to increase your chance of some kind of upgrade--but it's still a crapshoot!

Since this is a honeymoon, don't overplan your days!!! You are supposed to be spending time getting to know each other and relaxing! Do meet others on the ship--it's alot of fun, and getting aquainted with other people will surely give you TONS to talk about!

Just go and have fun--cruising isn't rocket science! It's a vacation--there's no right or wrong way to do it!

[QTMichele]

If you book a guarantee cabin, then make sure you'll be happy with ANY cabin in that category. Don't assume if you book the bare minimum cabin grade that you'll be bumped to a suite. If you won't be happy with an inside cabin, then book an outside cabin. Also, you may want to look into getting the RCI credit card to earn points for onboard credit. You find a ton of information on these boards by doing a search or go to RCI's website and reading the fine print (tip: you get DOUBLE points when you charge with RCI and 2500 points when you make your first qualified purchase).

 

Congrats on your upcoming marriage and have fun on the cruise!

[robtulipe]

For our first cruise with RC, we booked an inside Z no catagory guarantee and got the lowest category of cabin , at the front on the lowest passenger deck but still had a fun time going to Bermuda.

[Tasha999]

The uprades are usually given to those returning to the cruiseline. The more you cruise with a particular line, the better you are treated. Some lucky cruiser got our GS that we booked on the Mariner in August 2004. Our flight was cancelled due to Hurricane Charlie. If anyone out there got this upgrade, I'd be interested in hearing about it

[Sheffie]

In Grand Cayman a visit to Stingray City is a must! We used Captain Bryan's Buccaneer and had a fabulous time. The timing of the excursion is perfect, you get to go to 3 stops, and we love sailing on a catamaran. I have pictures in my signature if you want to check them out.

 

Congrats on the wedding!

[elleluv]

Good luck on the upgrade--they seem to be random events that no one understands!!

 

 

Not only are they random, they are extremely rare! I wouldn't even hope to get an upgrade... then in the very unlikely event you do, you'll be happy. I'd hate to see you set yourself up to be disappointed. I'm Diamond and haven't ever received one... and I don't think I'm alone. ;)

 

Check out the ports of call boards for ideas of what to do in port. A lot of us have used Capt Marvin in Grand Cayman for the stingray tours and have been happy with them. http://www.captainmarvins.com/

 

We loved Enchantment... here are some pictures from our cruise in January, 2006...

 

Have a great time!! :)

[critterchick]

The uprades are usually given to those returning to the cruiseline. The more you cruise with a particular line, the better you are treated. Some lucky cruiser got our GS that we booked on the Mariner in August 2004. Our flight was cancelled due to Hurricane Charlie. If anyone out there got this upgrade, I'd be interested in hearing about it

 

The upgrades are randomly applied. First time cruisers are as likely (or not) to get them as DP. One of the perks of being Diamond Plus, however, is that you can call 3 weeks ahead of your cruise and ask about a complimentary upgrade. If there are a certain number of cabins available, you might get one. I've read that those don't happen very often either, though. So as others have said, book the lowest cabin that you'll be happy with and consider anything more to be gravy.

 

We used Nativeway in Grand Cayman during our Grand Cayman stop. We went to Stingray City and then to a coral reef for snorkelling. The sting rays were fun in a slimy, icky sort of way, but the snorkelling was fabulous. We ended up consolidated with several operators' worth of excursions - ever since Steve Irwin died their business has fallen off dramatically. We only had 10 people on the boat with us.

 

Have a wonderful first cruise!

[SC_Sam]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=484631