MLB1828

I’m so sad that your trip over is ending! Although it does mean my trip is closer! Lol

i do hope you’ll be able to continue reporting through the next 20 days until the trip back, I have truly enjoyed following along on your adventures. I told my mom about your “mobile bar” and she immediately started searching for the water bottle she wants to bring 😂 You may have started a trend, we’ll have to see if half the ship back is similarly equipped 😉

9 minutes ago, wajowander2011 said:

Enjoying your review!  We are on the return transatlantic and was wondering what time is early and late dining?  Thank you for doing a review and answering questions.  Wanda

We are on the return as well and I am pretty sure it is 6:00 and 8:15. 

52 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

My mom's routine is even less exciting than mine. Gets up, has breakfast, reads around the ship until I get up. 

 

Once I'm up its back to the room to work on her goals on her games on her tablet. More reading, the daily sudoku. 

 

Some meals in-between and whatever shopping events are held throughout the day.

 

More reading and games to end her evening. 

 

Rinse and repeat.

I think your mama's routine sounds fantastic! Sounds like my ideal day, except the shopping parts (I abhor shopping). Maybe we will meet up on the return trip, because I would totally chill with your mama! Like now I am wondering if we play any of the same games. I guess that reflects the fact that I am in between her age and yours, Ha!

Looking forward to hearing about your HOHO experience in Malaga. I know what I want to do there, and I think we can walk it, but still considering the HOHO because while I believe I am 24 in my head, I am not actually 24 (and I am also dragging my mama around to do all the things, and even if I was 24, she wouldn't be!)

7 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I've been hearing both on board and on social media that libraries are being removed from the ships.

 

That's not what I remember reading anywhere so I went to JH for some clarification and this was his response.

 

 

Thank you for asking this. I saw this as well and wondered if this was a part of the plan for Freedom's dry dock. 

Having said that, have you heard anything about what else may be happening besides the obvious new tail?

20 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

When is your cruise?  We are out of Rome Oct 18, 2023.  Soooooo excited!!

Hi! I'll be joining jam19872016 on the return TA on Freedom from Barcelona at the end of the month. 

It is so exciting as we get closer to cruising!!!

6 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Just booked a hop on hop off tour for tomorrow so I'm not gonna stay out real late.

 

Have half my drink from last night, and my fun ship from brunch that I'm going to sit outside with and listen to the ocean

 

 

 

I brought a jacket it's getting chilly out but I didn't actually need it.

Ok, can you define “chilly” please? I ask because I am struggling to know if I should prioritize long clothes or short clothes, but chilly is so subjective! I can get the historical temp data for Spain, but not for the middle of the ocean. I spend a lot of time out on the deck, and I’ll bring layers, but will it be shorts during the day and joggers at night, or what?
 

The packing struggle is real over here because I am hoping to manage this trip carry on only with just a little laundry. So no judgment when y’all see me in the same thing for the 4th time 😂.

And thank you for all the detail you are including in this report, checking in on you and your mama everyday has become part of my routine, lol. 

That last menu looked like my favorite so far! 
 

I hope the weather behaves itself for your stop in the Azores. 

25 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

It's like they are saying pet me, love me ❤️. 

Don’t let them fool you. They’re monsters 😂

Trixter (aka Trixie, in the back w the white nose) thinks every thing is a cat tree, especially humans. Dixie Belle (on the left) is currently missing a huge chunk of her face because reasons? I still haven’t figured out if she did it to herself or if the other goblins helped 🤷🏻‍♀️. And Pixel (aka Pixie, on the right) is the baby and she’s meaner than she looks. She’s like a little dog that believes it’s a big dog, she even fetches! Lol. 
 

but clearly you’re surrounded by cats at home, so, you get it. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. I mean, you drunk texted for literal cat pics 😂😉

Ahhhhhh. Kitties!!!!! And tabby kitties at that! My triplets for the tax.

Thank you sooooooooooooooooooo much for all the details! You are giving me great ideas for what to make sure I don’t forget (I love that you noted that your “mobile cocktail device” can double as a water bottle. Lolololol).

I’m saving all the menu pics and what’s going on pics to reference once my brain goes into “cruise mode” and I can’t get any real work done! I love seeing all the activities that are unique to longer journeys cruises, as this is my first longer trip, I was wondering what  they’d fill up the sea days with exactly. 
 

super random question, and maybe you’ve addressed it and I missed it, but any idea what the crew is doing while she’s in dry dock? Is it the same folks (mostly) on the return trip? 

Wow! So much fun, and so much fantastic information so far!!! I just started at the beginning and have enjoyed every minute of it.

I will be joining you on the return TA next month, also traveling with my mom! We’ve never done a TA so I am anxiously awaiting all the details from this leg of your journey. If you can post the menus (which I assume will be very similar on the return) I would be super appreciative. I haven’t been able to find a lot of specific details and my anxiety wants to know it all, lol 😀 

I hate that y’all didn’t bring your costumes, but no doubt the space was filled with a trip this long.  I was wondering what most folks did for Halloween, still a few weeks away from packing here, but maybe I’ll have space to throw something fun in!

Link to my oasis review from last December for a rave review of private shore excursion, a taste of Jamaica with Falmouth culinary tours

We just did this tour the first week of September and it was excellent. Totally worth the cost and we never felt unsafe at all (even though 2 guys did come up to panhandle my 6'5" husband), the tour guides are excellent at running them off.

Does anyone know if they require the curtains to be closed at night in these cabins like the forward ov cabins below with portholes?

We were in 1856 on the 8/31 sailing, if there was a requirement for keeping them closed, no one told us. Also, you couldn't actually see anything out the windows at night, but people on the peekaboo bridge could see in, so we mostly kept them closed at night anyway ;)

I like to be in the aft part of the ship as well. Were there massive differences in motion being up that high in the front?

 

-RP27

There was A LOT of "shuddering" although to be fair, you could also feel this in the casino which is closer to the middle of the ship and on deck 4. We returned from dinner one night and our towel animal bunny had shaking ears from the shuddering. I didn't notice any increased swaying sensation.

Having said that, the room was awesome, and I would totally do it again if I could get another great deal on it. We had originally booked a promenade view and upgraded for very little to this room instead.

So I decided to test the system. I purchased the bottle of wine with the purchase of a specialty dining option. I'm sailing in 2 weeks on the Allure and we have already booked Chops and the CP150. Here's the confirmation email I got:

 

Redemption Instructions

Redeem Your Reward

Eligible for redemption beginning 8/25/14. Step 1: Visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com and shop for your cruise. Note: You cannot redeem this reward online. Step 2: Once you've selected your cruise, call 855-284-7463 and mention your myVEGAS Confirmation, full name, RCL promo code "myVEGASWINE", desired ship and sail date to the agent. Step 3: Get ready for the cruise experience of a lifetime!

 

Reward Terms and Conditions

Reward is applicable at Specialty Dining outlets only and is subject to verification. Reward is not transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion. Complimentary bottle of wine not to exceed $45 in value. Must be 21 years of age or older to redeem. Royal Caribbean International reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions at any time without prior notice.

 

I'm going to call them tomorrow and report back!

Thanks for checking, we sail next sunday so if I could use this I'd like to know now :) I have a feeling we can't, but let us know!

We recently got an email thanking us for selecting my time dining on our next cruise and encouraging us to make reservations, which would be fine, except that we didn't select my time dining. I've just started ignoring the RCI emails, hope they don't actually get their act together and email me something important ;)

I wonder if you can get three things of RCI, like the bottle of wine + OBC + freeplay if you have enough points for all of them, of course.

My understanding is that the fine print says one per cruise, but I haven't actually purchased one, so I could be wrong. I'd love to get some free play, but since you can't combine any of the Mlife tier benefits with C&A benefits, I bet that is the case here also.

I'll never get it, worrying about an extra 1.35 a day that goes into TIPS while spending thousands on a cruise. I take it the Ultimate package price went down with new 15% calculation and no one minds that one!

If RCI told me that the current online prices were correct, I'd have no problem paying that. But the consensus both on here and with the RCI reps seems to be that it is not the case.

So one could just call Royal and order the package over the phone? If the website is messed up...

No. I tried that today and the internal system is screwed up as well. The rep I spoke with called resolutions and advised that they are hoping to have it fixed at some unidentifiable point in the future, but that they also cannot override the error.

My cruise leaves a week from Sunday, so she advised that I could keep checking until the 27th and if they still didn't have it fixed I could purchase it onboard for the correct price.

I'm confused about the actual game.

 

Do you have to buy chips to play with real money???

 

I played a few rounds and now it keeps offering to sell me chips.

 

R

You don't have to buy chips, you can collect them from your Strip and from friends who play the game also. We go to Vegas twice a year and always have 3 rewards each and never buy chips. It wouldn't be a deal if I had to pay to buy chips, I'd just pay for what I wanted in Vegas instead :)

Following this, I have a cruise booked super soon, would love to add something, but clearly I've already booked the cruise. If anyone hears back from MyVegas, please post here. Thanks :)

On hold now with RCI. Not surprisingly I've gotten two different answers. The first guy told me that the Premium package was $55 per day, grat included. The woman in the actual "add something to your reservation" department is telling me its $49 + 15% per day. She is currently calling the resolutions department to figure out what the heck is going on (theoretically, because that assumes they can figure it out) ;)

interesting you say that...I was on hold for the shortest time in the longest time! Maybe 30 seconds after I go through the prompts LOL! That's the shortest hold I have experiencedin quite a while! LOL! I guess I got lucky.

 

And yes, I do care when there are discrepancies in the price. I can purchase it (premium) on the phone for $770 (two people) or online for $788.90. Guess which one I'm going to choose. I am someone who would tip extra too.

 

The rep couldn't explain the pricing either. But now that i'm reading other threads/posts on this it does seem as though they are working on it.

Thanks for that information. I was looking at getting that package, but then the price jumped online. Looks like I'll be calling to order it.

Hubby and I are doing this in a few weeks based on mitsugirly's reviews. He wants to snorkel and I just want to chill on the beach. I'm glad to hear that others agree this is the way to go :)

This thread has the menu order from April, post #13 I think: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2058081

And the Cruise Compasses should be available on this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43134102&posted=1#post43134102

This was the order in April:

 

 

 

Sunday – Mojo: Steak and Spinach Salad, Grilled Pork Chop, Prime Rib

 

*Monday – Saffron: Scallop Gratin, Lobster Bisque, Duck, Filet of Beef Tenderloin

 

Tuesday – Pimento: Caprese Salad, Arancini, Lasagna, Garlic Shrimp, Chicken Marsala

 

Wednesday – Basil: Cream of Mushroom, Pear Salad, Crab Cakes, Beef Duo, Chicken Cordon Bleu

 

Thursday – Sage:Cheese Souffle, Smoked Chicken Salad, Singapore Noodles, Potato Pie, Roasted Chicken, Mustard Crusted Roast Beef

 

*Friday – Jasmine:Wild Mushrooms, Corn/Pepper Soup, Lobster/Shrimp, Prime Rib

 

Saturday – Pomodoro: Scallops & Chorizo, Onion Soup, Roasted Turkey, Lamb Shanks

 

 

 

* = Formal Night 

 

Thanks so much Cindy!

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