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Taking a cruise after a timeshare stay?

joestein

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[QUOTE="

RCCL Freedom of the Seas had the WORST entrees in the main dining room that we have ever had but yes, better entertainment, nice ship, etc.[/QUOTE]

I hope you just had a bad experience as that is the ship I am going on in August. We shall see regardless. Maybe I will buy that BOGO 2-night dining package.

Joe
 

Glynda

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[QUOTE="

RCCL Freedom of the Seas had the WORST entrees in the main dining room that we have ever had but yes, better entertainment, nice ship, etc.

I hope you just had a bad experience as that is the ship I am going on in August. We shall see regardless. Maybe I will buy that BOGO 2-night dining package.

Joe[/QUOTE]

Well, I hope it's improved for your sake but I've heard and read of others having the same experience on RCCL in general as well as on Freedom of the Seas. Carnival food wasn't very good but RCCL Freedom was worse.
 

joestein

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I hope you just had a bad experience as that is the ship I am going on in August. We shall see regardless. Maybe I will buy that BOGO 2-night dining package.

Joe

Well, I hope it's improved for your sake but I've heard and read of others having the same experience on RCCL in general as well as on Freedom of the Seas. Carnival food wasn't very good but RCCL Freedom was worse.[/QUOTE]

I would say that the food on the Anthem of the Seas in Nov was OK. Not Disney cruise line quality, but WAY better than Carnival. The pay restaurants were excellent. We ate lunch every seaday at Jamies because we like the food so much. It didn't hurt that they offered a 2-cource $15 lunch.

Joe
 

VacationForever

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When my travel agent enticed us to join him on Royal Caribbean cruise next year, with the ship being Serenade of the Seas (2K+ passengers), he said MDR food is terrible and wants to make sure that we buy specialty dining packages so that we can avoid MDR. This ship does not have Coastal Kitchen. He cruises regularly on Royal Caribbean and is Diamond Plus.
 

Glynda

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When my travel agent enticed us to join him on Royal Caribbean cruise next year, with the ship being Serenade of the Seas (2K+ passengers), he said MDR food is terrible and wants to make sure that we buy specialty dining packages so that we can avoid MDR. This ship does not have Coastal Kitchen. He cruises regularly on Royal Caribbean and is Diamond Plus.

I think it's a shame that we pay what we do for a cruise and then have to buy specialty packages to get a good dinner! The only specialty dining we did on RCCL Freedom of the Seas was Johnny Rockets for a burger and fries lunch. I don't recall it being anything special, but I do recall waiting outside on the deck in a long line of exhausted, fussy and hungry children and their parents and, once in, the staff being short-handed, moving about a bit frantically and probably on their last nerve! I know I was before we got out of there! It took forever to get service and when we did get our meal the fries were lukewarm. :(

That said, one of the top two meals I have ever had in my life was on Celebrity's Eclipse in the specialty restaurant Murano! They prepared a lobster dish at our table with a sauce and it was to die for. I live in a "foodie" city and have had some wonderful meals here and all over the world but that one, on my birthday, sailing out from St Petersburg, Russia, with my husband and granddaughter moved all but one other, an Australian Ribeye at 78 Prime Seafood & Steakhouse in the Intercontinental Hotel in Nanjing, China, down the list. The view from both was spectacular but the 78th floor in China takes the prize.

I have found that sea day brunches in cruise ship dining rooms are usually pretty good! Maybe a late brunch on RCCL and just appetizers for dinner would work for you on those days!
 

Glynda

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Well, I hope it's improved for your sake but I've heard and read of others having the same experience on RCCL in general as well as on Freedom of the Seas. Carnival food wasn't very good but RCCL Freedom was worse.

I would say that the food on the Anthem of the Seas in Nov was OK. Not Disney cruise line quality, but WAY better than Carnival. The pay restaurants were excellent. We ate lunch every seaday at Jamies because we like the food so much. It didn't hurt that they offered a 2-cource $15 lunch.

Joe[/QUOTE]

Right. But it's too bad that they have lowered the standards so much that one feels they must pay extra for good meals. That can add up, depending upon how many in your party and how many meals you eat at a specialty restaurant. Add all the rest of the extras and it can be a very expensive cruise when there are are other lines that have higher fares but no necessity to pay more for meals.
 

VacationForever

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That said, one of the top two meals I have ever had in my life was on Celebrity's Eclipse in the specialty restaurant Murano! They prepared a lobster dish at our table with a sauce and it was to die for. I live in a "foodie" city and have had some wonderful meals here and all over the world but that one, on my birthday, sailing out from St Petersburg, Russia, with my husband and granddaughter moved all but one other, an Australian Ribeye at 78 Prime Seafood & Steakhouse in the Intercontinental Hotel in Nanjing, China, down the list. The view from both was spectacular but the 78th floor in China takes the prize.

I have found that sea day brunches in cruise ship dining rooms are usually pretty good! Maybe a late brunch on RCCL and just appetizers for dinner would work for you on those days!

We love good food too. Unfortunately I have serious gastritis issues and need 3 square meals at the same time everyday, otherwise I live in pain for weeks.
 

Glynda

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We love good food too. Unfortunately I have serious gastritis issues and need 3 square meals at the same time everyday, otherwise I live in pain for weeks.

Oh dear! That does make being spontaneous tough, doesn't it?
 

Ken555

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I always find it amusing that any question about cruising almost immediately turns to the quality of food. FWIW, the best food I've had on a cruise was on Windstar (for comparison, in the last few years I've also been on RCL, NCL, and Princess).
 

joestein

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I would say that the food on the Anthem of the Seas in Nov was OK. Not Disney cruise line quality, but WAY better than Carnival. The pay restaurants were excellent. We ate lunch every seaday at Jamies because we like the food so much. It didn't hurt that they offered a 2-cource $15 lunch.

Joe

Right. But it's too bad that they have lowered the standards so much that one feels they must pay extra for good meals. That can add up, depending upon how many in your party and how many meals you eat at a specialty restaurant. Add all the rest of the extras and it can be a very expensive cruise when there are are other lines that have higher fares but no necessity to pay more for meals.

While I understand your point, once you look at the costs, you might look at it different:

I paid $2,250 total for 2 connecting promenade staterooms, which are 160sq ft each. This way my wife and I have our own room and our girls have theirs, the only way I will cruise. Even I go out on a limb and purchase the ultimate dining plan for each of us, that would $500 plus tax and gratuity ($625??) for the cruise. Which I am not doing. I will probably buy the $40PP BOGO dinner for the first two nights and pay for some lunches. We could have purchased connecting Junior Suites for $4000, but since their is no coastal kitchen on the Freedom and limited benefits to a JS, I decided it was not worth the money.

The Disney Fantasy for the same time and length (which had a good itinerary also) was $4,361 per CABIN. That would $8,722 total for the week. While the dining room food is good, we would still probably have brunch twice during the cruise (Hard to pass up Remy with the champagne pairing) at the pay restaurants. That is a difference of $6,472 without taking any extra dining into account.

The flights to San Juan and back to Orlando were about the same price as flying direct to Orlando, so that had no effect on the cost.

Joe
 

Glynda

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While I understand your point, once you look at the costs, you might look at it different:

I paid $2,250 total for 2 connecting promenade staterooms, which are 160sq ft each. This way my wife and I have our own room and our girls have theirs, the only way I will cruise. Even I go out on a limb and purchase the ultimate dining plan for each of us, that would $500 plus tax and gratuity ($625??) for the cruise. Which I am not doing. I will probably buy the $40PP BOGO dinner for the first two nights and pay for some lunches. We could have purchased connecting Junior Suites for $4000, but since their is no coastal kitchen on the Freedom and limited benefits to a JS, I decided it was not worth the money.

The Disney Fantasy for the same time and length (which had a good itinerary also) was $4,361 per CABIN. That would $8,722 total for the week. While the dining room food is good, we would still probably have brunch twice during the cruise (Hard to pass up Remy with the champagne pairing) at the pay restaurants. That is a difference of $6,472 without taking any extra dining into account.

The flights to San Juan and back to Orlando were about the same price as flying direct to Orlando, so that had no effect on the cost.

Joe

When 3 of us cruised for 7 nights on RCCL Freedom of the Seas out of Cape Canaveral over Spring Break 2016, we stayed together in one balcony stateroom. Our ports were Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The total before sailing was $5,192.19. (But who's counting? ;)) That probably includes the two excursions we took via RCCL, soda and wifi packages and pre-paid tips. Add gas & meals to Florida & back, 1 night's hotel room, dinner and shopping at Ron Jon's Surf Shop for pricey bathing suits for my granddaughter and it increases. I just wouldn't want to add any more to that cost by feeling forced to pay for speciality meals because to eat elsewhere onboard is to eat mediocre at best food. We shouldn't have to!

Sounds like you got a great deal and can add those specialty dinners! Next time, I'll pay a bit more for Celebrity. I haven't been on a Disney cruise since Premier's Big Red Boat, my first cruise, and that is no comparison to today's Disney Cruise Line I'm sure!
 

joestein

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Sounds like you got a great deal and can add those specialty dinners! Next time, I'll pay a bit more for Celebrity. I haven't been on a Disney cruise since Premier's Big Red Boat, my first cruise, and that is no comparison to today's Disney Cruise Line I'm sure!

I would have loved to try Celebrity. However, this cruise was not our original plan. We had an exchange to Cancun for the week we are cruising. With everything that is happening recently, my wife insisted on canceling the trip. Luckily, the airline made a big change to my flight, so I was able to get a full refund of the both my arriving and departing flight for Cancun.

But, we had to fit the cruise into the dates that work for the rest of the vacation. There were not many cruise itineraries that we were interested in that would be Sat - Sat. Most were Sun - Sun. Maybe next time we will look at a celebrity cruise. But that is next year.

I understand that points earned on celebrity count towards Crown and Anchor and vice-versa for Celebrities program.

Joe
 

VacationForever

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I would have loved to try Celebrity. However, this cruise was not our original plan. We had an exchange to Cancun for the week we are cruising. With everything that is happening recently, my wife insisted on canceling the trip. Luckily, the airline made a big change to my flight, so I was able to get a full refund of the both my arriving and departing flight for Cancun.

But, we had to fit the cruise into the dates that work for the rest of the vacation. There were not many cruise itineraries that we were interested in that would be Sat - Sat. Most were Sun - Sun. Maybe next time we will look at a celebrity cruise. But that is next year.

I understand that points earned on celebrity count towards Crown and Anchor and vice-versa for Celebrities program.

Joe
Points earned on RCL C&A and X Captain's Club do not go to directly to the other. They only do a status match for some levels.
 

Glynda

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I would have loved to try Celebrity. However, this cruise was not our original plan. We had an exchange to Cancun for the week we are cruising. With everything that is happening recently, my wife insisted on canceling the trip. Luckily, the airline made a big change to my flight, so I was able to get a full refund of the both my arriving and departing flight for Cancun.

But, we had to fit the cruise into the dates that work for the rest of the vacation. There were not many cruise itineraries that we were interested in that would be Sat - Sat. Most were Sun - Sun. Maybe next time we will look at a celebrity cruise. But that is next year.

I understand that points earned on celebrity count towards Crown and Anchor and vice-versa for Celebrities program.

Joe

Right! Same reason I had to chose the 2016 RCCL Freedom Western Spring Break and the 2018 Carnival Magic Eastern Spring Break cruises! Exact dates, embarkation port and all new excursion ports to us. I don't think that the points work quite like that.
 

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We combined a cruise (on RCCL -- the High Seas Rally, which was a full-ship charter benefiting kidney dialysis and comprised primarily of bikers and friends) with a timeshare stay afterwards -- it worked out super well. We stayed at Worldmark Ocean Walk in Daytona Beach. Got off the ship in Tampa about 8:30 am. Rode the shuttle out to the airport, and picked up our one-week minivan rental. Leisurely drive to Daytona, great week in Daytona, then drove the car back to TPA and flew back to Washington (state).
 

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We did a TS stay just outside Barcelona, followed by a Westbound transatlantic. When you can make 'em work, they're just about perfect. I prefer the TS first because at the end of the cruise, all your laundry is dirty and you've been out 2-3 weeks and are ready to get back to home,the pets, and whatever passes for life as you know it.

Jim
We actually found the opposite to be true (for us) -- after a week of cruising, it was nice to get to the timeshare and do a few loads of laundry, and be all set for the next week without paying $5/item on the ship . . . YMMV
 
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