Mystaken

I'm not surprised they moved your party of 24 to a private area. Hope you tipped well!

Reminds me of Forrest Gump (life is like a box of chocolates)!

Seems like we can't do any research on our own now?

If John Blair is the Cruise Director, his wife, Katrina, is the Activities Manager. They were both onboard for Serenade's TA in November.

Jim, I am loving your review, especially the sunrise and sunset pictures!

But seriously, you have a great one there of Lyric and her new BFF! You should send it in to CNN or some other news source. It would make a great story about people of the world celebrating their joy of life! Accentuating likeness instead of differences!

Tell Lyric her shirt is awesome! And is that a turtle necklace? She is adorable!

We stayed at the Tampa Marriott Waterside the night before and the day we got off the ship. Was a nice hotel. It's a $25 flat rate ride from the airport. It also was only 2 minutes from the cruise port. Cabs to the port were $3 per person.

If you can't get a reservation at Marriott Waterside, Embassy Suites is right across from it and less expensive. Not as nice as Marriott, but less expensive and still in a great location.

Mystaken,

Are you talking about http://www.bravoitaliano.com

Another great place to eat is the Bimini Boatyard bar and grill

http://www.biminiboatyard.com

Hope you have a great cruise Jim & Judith

I am heading to Fort Lauderdale Monday for a 5 day on the Liberty

Cheers,

George, I was referring to Giuliano's Pizza and Pasta near Publix. I like Bimini Boatyard, too!

We stopped on the way down at a Waffle House for Breakfast. They whip up their eggs in a milk shake machine which makes their omelettes really light and fluffy.

 

I'm following. What a great time for a virtual cruise! I usually stay at Embassy Suites, too. There's a great little inexpensive Italian restaurant right down from the Publix behind the hotel.

Have a great cruise!

Grandeur always sail full. But according to RCCL they don't make the profit they would like to on it. Time will tell.

Good grief! It's usually less expensive to fly to Florida to get on a ship, airfare accounted for! So how much profit do they need?

Tapermann, where did you hear this?

Check out the schedule for the Teco Trolley. They don't always run till late on Sundays. Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City is fabulous!

Either Marriot Waterside or Embassy Suites. I have stayed at both. Embassy gives you free breakfast and happy hour. Marriot Waterside is a little more upscale and usually more costly.

Call C&A! Sometimes the double points are applied, sometimes you have to ask!

Usually a little before 2 hours after leaving port. Depends on tides and weather conditions, I have been told. It varies with each sailing.

We received a card with all the available options listed. You check off what you want and drop the card off at the LA desk .

 

On our last cruise, the meal was listed along with the other D+ tours (Galley, bridge, backstage at Studio B and the meal. We had no idea of when any of the events would be held so it can be challenging to accept. The next day or so we received the date/time of the items we selected. I was happy I went to the meal after I had checked it off as there were so few there. There were no extra tables set and no extra officers present to set another table.

 

And yes - each cruise even on the same ship is different. An earlier cruise, also on the Freedom, combined the "meal with an officer" with the top tier event and it was very crowded. The actual meal was not as nice and there were so many tables that the "officer" in same cases was a store clerk. This last breakfast was very nice. OK , not as nice as dinner would have been, but nice :)

 

 

RCCL keeps us guessing.

 

Side note - For the first time. a backstage at Studio B was offered. If it had been offered before we must have overlooked it. In any case, it was a great tour.

 

enjoy

M

Wouldn't be nice if the C&A information was printed on a different color of paper? Would make it easier to weed out the nonessentials.

then you should not have a problem. Enjoy your cruise. Vision is a wonderful ship.

tx!

I believe that on any other ship, that has the regular formal dining rooms, there would be no problem accommodating all that qualify.

 

Unfortunately, on Lady Q, each of the 4 complimentary dining venues is limited to the number of people it can accommodate and since the menu used was from American Icon which is directly across the street from Silk and is opened for lunch to the general public daily, they were only able to use one facility.

 

If memory serves me correctly there were 60 PC Members on board the 11/23 cruise and 900+ D+ Members.

I'm going on Vision, not Quantum!

Guess my thread was hijacked, but seems like a universal ship problem.

We received a card with all the available options listed. You check off what you want and drop the card off at the LA desk .

 

On our last cruise, the meal was listed along with the other D+ tours (Galley, bridge, backstage at Studio B and the meal. We had no idea of when any of the events would be held so it can be challenging to accept. The next day or so we received the date/time of the items we selected. I was happy I went to the meal after I had checked it off as there were so few there. There were no extra tables set and no extra officers present to set another table.

 

And yes - each cruise even on the same ship is different. An earlier cruise, also on the Freedom, combined the "meal with an officer" with the top tier event and it was very crowded. The actual meal was not as nice and there were so many tables that the "officer" in same cases was a store clerk. This last breakfast was very nice. OK , not as nice as dinner would have been, but nice :)

 

 

RCCL keeps us guessing.

 

Side note - For the first time. a backstage at Studio B was offered. If it had been offered before we must have overlooked it. In any case, it was a great tour.

 

enjoy

M

Thanks! You are right, for sure, about RCCL keeping us guessing!

Karen, I believe that due to the large number of D+ and PC Members on board the cruise and because it was held in Silk, a point total of more than 350 was used for qualifying. I don't remember Suite Guests being included in the invitation but I could be wrong.

So, depends on the cruise? Doesn't seem fair!

well on my Quantum inaugural cruise 11-23, I boarded with 347 points and never got invited to anything with an officer. And they did do a meal with an officer, it was combined with the Suite Guest perk and the perk for those with enough points. Our friends got invited but we didn't. Perhaps, it's a perk if you have 350 or more points???

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cas/benefits.do

Okay, another question. If one declines, do you send back a no thank you, or just not show up? I'm thinking you probably have to accept or not?

They will not have to "track" you down. If the benefit is offered and you are eligible, you will receive an invitation to your cabin. On a few recent cruises, on the freedom of the seas, the meal has been a 9 AM breakfast. There was an officer seated at each table.

 

in most cases, cabin companions, even family members who are not diamond plus are not eligible for specific benefits. If you are invited with a companion or guest, the invitation will state such.

 

Enjoy

 

M

Thanks!

All depends on the ship. I've had Dinner with the Captain, Hotel director, Lunch with an Officer and nothing. So who knows, it's usually better on the smaller ships like Vision class.

Thanks! I usually cruise by myself, but will have family with me on the next cruise. Just trying to figure out what to expect.

The perk is "Meal with an Officer for members with 340 or more cruise points" not necessarily dinner.

Yes, you are correct, it says "meal". So, do you think they will track me down for the "meal" I am entitled to? I hate to use the word entitled! I don't have a crown and never received a pin! And don't really care, just asking about what to expect.

You should ask on the ship, lots of things happen behind the scenes contrary to what is said on cc.

Thanks for your comment! Mostly cruisecritic is negative. This issue is not an emotional demand. Just wanted to know what to expect. Too much drama on cruisecritic!

Absolutely not.

Thanks! I'd rather dine with my family. Another useless benefit!

Had breakfast with an officer on Serenade TA in November. He chose a table with an empty seat. Enjoyed visiting with him!