Christmas on EOS

oesnjstar wrote:

mary - here is a link http://cruiseadventure4u.com/index.php?p=1_5_Menus of the menus from my trip. a couple of the nights we ate in the windjammer because the menu just seemed the same as the night before. and the nights we chose the windjammer they had stirfy and pasta stations. sometimes the wait time could be 15 minutes on the line because they can only do 2 or 3 people at a time but it was worth it. even our waiter said he understood on those nights. i think portofinos is excellent. although i ran into a petite woman in the elevator on her way down there to portofinos and when i was up in the windjammer she came in for dinner. i said what happened. she said the portions were so small. well i ate there a night or two later and she is out of her mind. none of us could finish what was in front of us. i hope when they do the refurbish they add another speciality restaurant like chops. that would be nice. so personally, the menus got a 'B-' rating.

I'd love to see Chops either added to Explorer or have a ship with Chops already on-board come to Bayonne.

rex - i'm with you on that one. portofino has fine food but i would love a steakhouse. if you have ever gone on princess they have sterlings steakhouse and sabatini's italian. sabatini's was a 2-1/2 hour dining experience. 17 courses of amuse-bouche and an entree and dessert. and the steaks in sterlings were great. i prefer RCL so i'm hoping for a chops when they refurbish

I love Chops too.

Regarding the comment about Carnival, yes, they do give you a "free" upgrade, but it is the same cabin simply higher on the ship. I find Royal's loyalty program to be the best in the business...but not until you are platinum.

Once you've sailed 5 times, you automatically get $100 off any 7-day balcony or $200 off 9+ days. Once you've sailed 10 times, it goes up to $200 and $300 OFF the price. Not a false upgrade. Just a better price. Plus they give very strong coupons (the higher your level, the bigger the coupon). And you can use all of them at the same time. So you really can get a great price for a great room. Typically it is the same price ultimately for a balcony as a high level inside/low level oceanview. So THAT makes it worthwhile.

Plus the newer ships have the lounge onboard for Diamond members where you get FREE, yes FREE alcohol. Now THAT is a bargain! Carnival does not do that.

The caveat I give you, though, is that you have to do more than 1 cruise to get the very good benefits.

Those are my thoughts...and after sailing on many different lines, it is a lot of the reason I've become very loyal to Royal. Even people who love Celebrity (same company) sometimes switch to Royal because Celebrity doesn't offer nearly the benefits to past passengers as Royal.

Anyone else agree???

I have a definite preference for balcony cabins but the first 12 cruises I went on were all inside. No port hole... no window... I can remember waking up, thinking it was the middle of the night but when I looked at the clock it was 11:00 am!!! You can really get some sleep in those dark cabins!!

for someone like me who has to take 3 sleeping pills because there is so much running around between my two ears i love having a nice dark room.

P.S. - WHERE THE HECK IS NICK? CAN HE STILL HAVE THE FLU? GET BETTER NICK AND LEANNA AND GET BACK HERE.

We love balcony cabins too. I find I use it most while in port. They sometimes get very windy...or the weather cool on early winter sea days. I love to sit out there at night, and listen to the sea, and watch the stars. Bliss.

For the premium the cruise line charges in comparison to an inside cabin....it' s usually pretty steep for the added space. It really does enhance our cruise experience...so we usually bite the bullet and book one.

I'd be a lot better off if I just booked a balcony...and didn't look at the inside prices!

We tend to book cruises that are longer than a week. It just makes better sense...since we don't usually get to cruise that often...and there's always a long flight involved. Longer is better...in my book.

Princess' club, The Capt. Circle is nice...because each level has a number of cruises, or number of cruise days to the next level. In some clubs, you can go on a two day cruise and get the same credit as someone booking a 15 day cruise. That sux. At least...that's the way it used to be.

go for the balcony... its worth the extra bucks.

I had an inside on my first cruise and thought I was going to die.

when I went to europe we booked a balcony and it was worth every dime.

the sight to see when you go into Venice from your balcony is priceless.

dream2cruise wrote:

go for the balcony... its worth the extra bucks.

I had an inside on my first cruise and thought I was going to die.

when I went to europe we booked a balcony and it was worth every dime.

the sight to see when you go into Venice from your balcony is priceless.

I'm still waiting for my man-room......

I am still waiting for the RIGHT answers

dream2cruise wrote:

I am still waiting for the RIGHT answers

What was the question???

A balcony verses and inside cabin and "is a suite worth it" type questions are very subjective. It' s like the question, is early or late seating better. Everyone's life styles, financial situations and reasons for cruising is different so there is no one right answer.

Yes, you can have a great time on a cruise in the least expensive cabin, but I personally enjoy the sitting areas, views and FRESH air a balcony cabin offers. My personal opinion is to get the best cabin you can afford and you will enjoy it because it's in your budget!

Regarding Chops, yes, I like it, probably better than Portofino's but I doubt it will be added during the dry dock. Most of the dry dock activities tend to be major updates like new furniture and carpeting, unless they are doing a major overhaul, like the "stretch" of the Enchantment. But I hope I'm wrong and they do add a second specialty restaurant!

Well deployments start in March so hopefully we will have better knowledge if we're keeping Explorer or getting a new ship in Bayonne. Feels like the wait has been forever but, it's going to be a great cruise.

What makes me laugh is you have no idea how many times I tried to get approved for a group over on the other board for the holidays. Always got shot down. And, here we're around 70 or 80 people already...

Dumb question for anyone who has sailed out of Bayonne in the winter - like Pat

Will the lifeboat drill be held outside?

Don't feel bad Vinnie, I got shot down over there more than once myself. At least you finally got your group on here!!

Well that is Cruise Freeks. All about the people!

Not only that...but this group will be one of the MOST FUN of the group cruises...
Strength in numbers!

Now, can I get a "hell yea!"

"Will the lifeboat drill be held outside?"

I would love to know the answer to this...

I hope so. I'll be wearing shorts and flip-flops. NYC winter-weather is tropical to me...

NDJollyMon wrote:

Not only that...but this group will be one of the MOST FUN of the group cruises...
Strength in numbers!

Now, can I get a "hell yea!"

hell yea!

Hell yeah!

That's the spirit! I'm getting antsy here....

Antsy? You've got a really long time to wait, so not getting antsy yet. You can wait until Oct. 2010 to get antsy.

Hi guys, I might actually be coming with you on this one!!!! I'll know better in a few weeks!

Ajani wrote:

Hi guys, I might actually be coming with you on this one!!!! I'll know better in a few weeks!

Hope you do John!! Who better to have join us than our number one blogger!!