rt1092

The Seattle take over will be done July 4th. You can take that to the bank.

I'm sure there will be some changes in the future. Regarding the Diamond lounge and it's capacity. Might be some changes to the Suite Lounges too. A lot of Pinnacles have been going to the Diamond lounge (myself included) Royal might refuse them entry to the Diamond Lounge. Which will cause the SL to be more crowded. I believe the days of a full (standing room only) lounge are over. The concierge will have to count those coming and going. 

We will find out Aug 2 on the Harmony. 

8 hours ago, AC Stew said:

rt1092: You mentioned that you'd heard of a Headliner being asked to return on August 01. If it isn't betraying a confidence, can you divulge that name? Or perhaps just the initials? Thanks.

No.

I just heard from a Headliner they want him back for Aug 1, 2020. I doubt Royal is paying him to entertain crew. 

There are some changes. You will have till March 31 2022 to use you prime free cruise. If you earn 2500 points from when they sail again till March 31 2021. You will get another free cruise. If you want you can use them for a B2B cruise.

Stop arguing on here, whether it's 100 or 120 days. That's not going to matter. As we type, the cruise ships are going in circles a few miles off the Florida coast. Most if not all have active Covid 19 cases. They have no passengers, just crew.

If they can't keep the crew members from getting and spreading the virus. How on earth do you think they can take on passengers. I keep as rosy an outlook as I can. But the only way these ships are going to take passengers. Is when instant tests become readily available at a reasonable price. It could take a month it could take 6 months.

The cruise lines will have to screen crew at least twice a week. And all passengers before boarding. When the anti-gen test becomes available that could lighten the load somewhat. Due to those that are immune won't have to be re screened.  

8 hours ago, molsonschooner said:

there are a lot of people(myself included) that don't have a doctor. There is a major shortage of doctors in Ontario, Canada

I guess free isn't always the best.

13 minutes ago, PTAngel said:

I have a question about this doctor note.  Does this mean you can't cruise if you have diabetes or serious complications from diabetes?  Can I cruise if I have diabetes but no heart, lung, liver or kidney disease or immunodeficiency chronic illness because of diabetes?

Do you have immunodeficiency due to the diabetes? I would think that if your blood sugar is under control, a doctor will sign off on it . But I'm not a doctor.

13 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Nope, and this after the fact requiring a last minute doctors note, not me.

 

Once this cruise is over I wouldnt be cruising again until its removed. Not worth it to me to have to get on terms with a doctor (which I dont have presently) to cruise, nope nope nope.

 

I'm with op, I'll be done until this note garbage goes away. 

 

Praying they dont cancel my cruise, and then I can walk away and not have to worry about rebooking.

 

I'm not cancelling if rcl does, refund time and bye bye for a while.

That is entirely up to you. But you must be super-human. To be over 70 and not have a doctor.

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

Good luck getting a Dr to sign the form they came up with.  

They are only asking the doctors to certify that you don't have the stated illnesses. Not that you will not get sick. There is no liability to the doctor (unless they lie). As for those of you that are "outraged" Did you ever apply for a life insurance policy?

3 hours ago, ticketsunlimited said:

Good Luck RT.  Your philosophy sounds spot on.  Get to prime, get your free cruise each and go into the casino to grab your drinks a needed.  I am sure you feel my pain being screwed and being only 8 points short on top of it. Its killing me.

I had one cruise about 6 months ago . That I earned 813 points on. They gave me one of those worthless certificates with no name, ship or sail date on it. My wife had a $400 off certificate. So I figured I'd combine them and take a 4 or a 5 night cruise. I called they told me I had only earned a $100 off certificate. That my total points for that cruise was 799. I complained and the person on the phone told me they would flag it for a "review", But it would take about 2 weeks. In 2 weeks I called back and was told there was no record of the call. And that they would submit it for a review, that would take up to 7 days. There were only 30 days to book the cruise using the certificate. On day 29 I called back settling on using the $100 certificate. I told the person on the phone what had gone on. She said she was going to put me on hold for about 5 minutes. When she came back she had the $200 certificate to apply. Not 2 weeks not 7 days. But 5 minutes.  

They have screwed us around this past year also. We cruise a lot 20-25 cruises a year. So we don't have to gamble a lot on any one cruise. After fighting with them numerous times about totals. I gave up the quest to make Signature for my wife. She has 19,000+ points with 3 weeks of cruises to go, before March 31. I have 9,000 points so far. I get 10 times the offers she gets. We both play mainly slots, plus a little lower stakes table games. 

    After April first we are going to do it right. We are on a 12 nighter in the spring. and a 12 nighter in the fall. This should be enough for both of us to get to prime. For the other 20 or so cruises. The casino is going to be off limits for us. We plan to end the year with 2600 points or so each. 

The $ off certificates are almost useless, because you can't use them on the cheaper group bookings. The Club Royale Offers are rarely a bargain. They give you $150 off but the cruise is double what you can book it for elsewhere.

Leaving Sunday for 2 weeks. Don't plan on playing except for the Blackjack tournament.

Do they offer luggage valet service in Cape Liberty?

Some ships used allow you to occasionally bring a guest into the Coastal Kitchen. But lately most do not.

1 hour ago, gaylemh said:

Hall & Oates are the highest selling duo's of all time - I would have thought it would be Simon & Garfunkel.  

They put on quite a show. To my wife and I, they were better than Patti LaBelle and Michael Boulton.

I wonder what front row stage right seats would have gone for at their concerts?

Just got home yesterday after 2 weeks on the Symphony. 

Had a great time. The extra events were handled quite well. We got in line for Hall and Oates before 5 pm and we got front row 3 seats from the center section (which was reserved for Michael Bayley and company. We did notice a few "privileged" people walking up front wondering why there were no seats reserved for them. And I thought to myself they should have waited in line with everyone else.  Royal had people going down the line telling everyone "seapasses" only. Even if you had your Pinnacle badge, you needed your seapass.  

The gifts they gave us were nice. And a special crystal block was given to those whom attended the Pinnacle lunch on the sea day. 

My wife caught the flu on the 3rd day (even though she had the flu shot) We went to the infirmary they tested her and told her not to leave our room, till they cleared her (she really wouldn't have wanted to go out anyway) .

We spent most of our "happy hours" on deck 4. And while crowded it could have been much worse. The bar in the hallway did a lot to alleviate the wait for drinks.  Went to Dazzles once (our cabin was on deck 8. ) It didn't seem crowded at all.

There were a few gaffs during the cruise. Seemed to me (just my opinion) that there were more than a few crew that were not fully trained. During the Pinnacle lunch the wait staff never offered wine to the captains table. And Captain Rick had to go get it and pour it himself. We were not at that table but close enough to see it unfold.

This was our 3 Presidents cruise. We would go on another but not when they are in Europe. 

One thing we learned was not to book cabin 8695. The first BW balcony cabin from the elevators. It is next to the pantry for Dazzles. So a lot of noise (banging etc.) till well after midnite. The first week we just thought we had noisy neighbors, but by the second week I did call guest services at 1am and found out what was next door to us. We normally never complain. We know you hear the music from Dazzles and the Aqua theater show. But this seemed like they were coming through the wall.

13 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Our Cabin

 

As I mentioned earlier, the prices at time of booking were crazy expensive. They have since come down considerably.😉

 

Plan A

I first tried to book through a group booking, but that was a bunch of BS. The TA was very sketchy, and I finally gave up.

 

Plan B was enacted.

 

Laura qualifies for a free annual cruise courtesy of Casino Royale. It's an inside cabin, but we're not picky. 

The downside is I had to wait until April to book it. Got lucky and found a great cabin available both weeks.

So we paid for week 1 and Casino Royale paid for week 2.  Hopefully, Laura doesn't give it all back in the Casino.

 

I had a Plan C as well. We earned a free balcony cabin when we passed 1050 C&A points. We ended up using that for Harmony on my birthday this summer.

 

Anyway, we got a great cabin on Deck 9. It's a CP view. Never had one, but it's similar to the Promenade View cabins on Freedom, so it should be fine. 

 

We are above CP150 and close to Dazzles, 9641. Not sure about the obstructed view symbol

 

 

I'll tell you why being close to Dazzles is fortuitous in a minute😁🍷

John. Quiet!!   LOL.

Those CP and Boardwalk views (insides) are a closely guarded secret.

See you tomorrow.

I while ago I tried to book into a group rate for a Dec 06, 2020 sailing on the Oasis. I was informed that they would not honor our balcony discount, because the price was cheap enough. I went to another vendor online and booked using our balcony discount. It was their loss. As to why they wouldn't They told me there would be a cocktail hour. I don't need or want a cocktail hour. I can use either of the lounges every night at zero cost.

  We always bring our own plastic straws. Metal ones can be dangerous, if you lose your balance and fall.

Royal just gave in to the mob mentality. Without researching much. They use single use plastic cups, single use plastic flatware wrapped in plastic, Single use lids. Single use water bottles, Etc. (I could go on and on).

   They recycle all plastics. If someone is caught throwing anything overboard. They risk being put off at the next port. Royal wouldn't go against the PC culture. I'm sure this will not stop at straws. 

16 hours ago, maria1122 said:

Sorry but I do not agree.  Becoming a pinnacle is A BIG DEAL.  And I will be very proud

 

 

Congratulations. It is a big thing. In the way you are treated by the crew and officers.

We have seen where someone turns Pinnacle, and they postpone their graduation celebration. For another ship. We were on the Oasis a while back and a couple were celebrated for attaining Pinnacle status. When talking to them later we found they had got to 700 points 2 cruises ago. But wanted to wait for the celebration till their family could be aboard. 

I wish I had know that a couple of years ago. I went through all kinds a maneuvers trying to make it on last years Presidents cruise. But Royal gave me 4 points they had disputed. So I had to book 2 more cruises to make it on the Rhapsody in April.

1 minute ago, Scotty G said:

We cruise to Nassau several times a year and visit friends developed over time in our favorite restaurant! We have never experienced unfriendliness - to the contrary folks are always friendly and courteous!

I was talking about the staff at Baha Mar. Not all of the people in Nassau. We don't get off the ship in a lot of ports in the Caribbean. Unless we have a specific reason. Having done almost 100 Caribbean cruises it's, been there done that. 

I hope they are changing the decking on the pool deck. People have gotten serious blisters from the hot deck in the summer.

I used to be a very friendly place. We've been there about 8 times and always liked it (we cruise a lot). The last time we went things had changed greatly. Equal in every way to Atlantis. Now we don't get off the ship at all in Nassau.

I have brought fishing gear in the past. I would make sure your rods are in a case. Also I've had them flag the hooks. And had to go to the naughty room. But they let me keep them once they knew what they were.