peanutbutterjelly

First I will say I'm from USA, am a foodie and don't like smoking, therefore I stay away from the casino.  After reading highly mixed reviews on RCL Asian cruises I'm calling on those who've done it . 

For those of you who've done an Asian Cruise on RCL would love your opinion on how it went, food etc.   Do the staff on the ship speak English at all?  Is there a mix of food or mostly Asian?  Is there still free tea and lemonade?  Is there any "no miss" type things.   Is the internet package worth getting or not?  Thank you in advance for your responses.

Cabins on deck 8 and 9 that surround Dazzles was there a lot of noise coming from the club?

I've been Royal Loyal for over 15 years now.  Royal Caribbean was born the same year as myself so this year marks a big year for both of us, 50!  Fifty comes once in a lifetime.  I have so many favorite memories but if I had to choose just one it would be most recently on the Ovation of the Seas.  There were three people that went ABOVE and beyond to make our cruise fabulous!  Carleen our room steward fulfilled our request for nightly towel animals and honestly she is "the best" "most creative" towel creator I've ever seen!  The head waiter Clavian found us whether we were in the Windjammer or Main Dining Room and greeted us warmly.  He and my server Lala knew it was my "50th birthday" and made sure to have an extra special treat every single night just for me!  Lala made me a rose and a bird that flies out of paper and made sure I was taken care of for anything my heart desired.  On the last night "what a celebration it was" I came to dinner in the main dining room and was greeted by singing waiters/waitresses Lala/Clavian both sung not once but three times!!  I even got serenaded by Lala with the guitar.  It was so fun all the guests joined in.  What a special cruise this was.  What a fantastic year to be 50  Congratulations Royal Caribbean!  See you at your party!

Does Ovation have any priority tender line for Diamond, Diamond Plus or is it just one glob/line to get off the ship in Alaska?

I did this as instructed and started a roll call and it is still not showing up in the "find roll call section"  what did I do wrong?  Also its not bolded either

Spoke to RCCL, Anthem being dry docked after April 5th 2020 sailing. Unsure of replacement as of yet :o:o

And, even if no one gets upgraded, NCL gets data on how much more people are willing to pay for the next level.

This makes total sense. It is 2 days out and the offer to "bid for upgrade" is still there under my vacation summary. Interesting, as all new bookings were closed 4 days out online and everything they've offered me has showed "sold out" for over a month. I was just wondering for future bookings as I may go next year and will try that system.

Why offer to upgrade on a room that has showed sold out for at least a month. What is up with this bidding thing? I didn't bid but I'm curious.

Heard back from NCL yes its at District Brew House noon first sea day. They didn't respond if they would donate any items for raffle, nor free beer/wine :(

Slight preference for Delta on location - a wee bit closer to more places if you're walking, though there's not a significant distance difference so better price would be more relevant to me (have not stayed in either, but believe Delta's rooms are larger on average as it used to be a Delta Suites until Marriott took it over).

 

From your food comments I'm unable to narrow down reccos much except that as a general note Mexican food in Vancouver is weaksauce (a handful of decent places, but if you have good Mexican food near home frankly I would not recommend any at all here except maybe grabbing lunch tacos from La Taqueria, or if you appreciate more regional Mexican cuisines Fayuca is outstanding - but VERY different from what most folks think of as Mexican food).

 

We do have some very nice but-totally-not-Mexican tacos (Tacofino, now a successful small chain, has the only Michelin star-earning chef in Vancouver as exec!) scattered all around - if you enjoy fish tacos you'll be good to go as that seems to be the go-to dish, with several local pubs offering fish tacos even if they don't do any other kind.

 

Brekky - from what you like to eat I'll amend my usual recco of 'go to Medina' as they really don't do the kind of dishes you list. Catch122 do an excellent brekky, and it sounds much more up your alley (and an easy walk from Delta). Scoozi's is a similar distance the other way, convenient for embarkation morning if you are walking to the pier. Both are busy enough I'd be shocked if they aren't doing much the same menus by the time you cruise.

 

On the local front, while we do have steakhouses there's nothing particularly special about any of them (same chains as every other big urban centre, though you may not have a Keg near you as they are mostly in Canada - it's a midrange place, very few Prime beef options, but generally great customer service) - Alberta is much beefier than here on the coast. Seafood and seasonal produce is where it's at for us - right now Coquille is doing outstanding value especially in Happy Hour, but by next year I do expect pricing to be up (it's very common for new restos to underprice themselves here, build clientele, then start gradually bumping up the rates until they hit maximum profitability). Blue Water Cafe is still the pinnacle of seafood in the city - they aren't going anywhere or radically overhauling menus any time soon.

 

Since it sounds like you aren't visiting until a year away or more given lack of hotel availability mentioned, there could be quite a few changes on the resto scene - we have an absolutely brutal local industry, opening & closures happen all the time - so I'd suggest waiting until a few months before your trip to look for the current info on new restos, especially if you're trying to go for local spots the tourists won't have on their radar yet.

Sounds like a plan and thank you so much for the suggestions. Blue Water for seafood one night and the other night well perhaps steak or local fare. Breakfast as you said places come and go so I will write again next March/April and see whats good :)

I made reservations for both hotels and will cancel one based on reviews but leaning more toward Delta as I scored a corner room. I'm waiting for Pan Am to open reservations and will decide for sure at that time based on availability and prices. Everyone else is 90% full almost one year out!

I've emailed twice to both groupeventescape@ncl.com and specialeventescape@ncl.com to ask for assistance with organizing meet and greet and have gotten no response.

What is my next step for those that have organized a meet and greet.

I am currently organizing the Meet and Mingle on the Escape June 3rd sailing....currently about 73 signed up. I have been in contact with NCL Events and have been updating them on the numbers if it grow significantly (10+). They request a final head count two weeks prior to sailing. They also gave the thumbs up on sticky name tags versus the ones you can print out on the Meet and Mingle link. We have one attendee (RobinSie) who has graciously stepped up and will organize our groups Slot Pull, and after that, we are off to a Cabin Crawl. I just know we are going to have a good time....I get that vibe from those who are signing up:cool:

I'm trying to organize a meet and greet and have emailed groupeventgetaway@ncl.com twice and have gotten no response. Can someone help direct me what to do next?

Any opinions regarding Delta vs Marriott Pinnacle Hotels pre cruise? The Pan Pacific isn't yet open for reservations. The Fairmonts/*** and PR are both 700 usd +tax per night we need two nights.

Assuming this is in Vancouver due to your posting on Canada board...?

 

If so, you can meet all your criteria except the shuttle easily (there's no such thing as airport shuttles to downtown hotels, and downtown hotels are so close to the pier that while a few do have towncars or buses that will drop you in various places including the pier you're only looking at a ~$10 cab ride so it's frankly a pointless factor to even consider).

 

At the higher end of your budget - maybe halfway along it, depending on the timing and a bit of luck and whether you mean USD or CAD - you could stay right at the pier in the Pan Pacific or Fairmont Waterfront. You could also stay in the better-hotel-but-oh-dang-you-have-to-walk-two-blocks Fairmont Pacific Rim. High floor rooms in Blue Horizon are probably the cheapest ones that fit your needs - much closer to the bottom end of your range, esp if it was in USD.

 

There's no such thing as a downtown hotel that is not close to all three of the pier, multiple sightseeing spots, and a metric buttload of good restos no matter what your personal definition is of the last of these. The PP and pac Rim both have excellent restos onsite, and while the Waterfront is currently the crappiest dining experience of any Fairmont it still doesn't suck (and is across the road/2 blocks away from the others mentioned!) Give more detailed budget and food preferences and I'd be happy to recommend many excellent restos for you.

 

Good breakfasts though - any good hotel will feed you decently, but frankly at an obscene markup. There is literally not a single hotel breakfast in the city I would waste my dining dollars on, even the good ones deliver exceptionally poor value - except weekend brunch in Yew at the Four Seasons. Arguably Medina is inside a hotel building (L'Hermitage - another tall downtown very well reviewed hotel) but it's run entirely independently and used to be somewhere else, so it's still indy as far as I'm concerned (and also does the best breakfast in the city bar none, and has for a decade now - I could eat here seven days in a row without doubling up on anything but coffee!)

Yes Vancouver, I guess I was so excited forgot to mention that. Food is fair game, we are foodies so anything good/great is fantastic. Will definitely not do hotel breakfast based on your recommendation. For breakfast we are eggs, toast, oatmeal, bacon, omelette, pancake kind of people. Lunch a good burger/sandwich is great and dinner well just about anything Mexican, Italian, steakhouse anything with good food/locals love it type places. Desserts that are exceptional we love dessert. I would think the hotel choices you recommend are the ones to focus on. We are willing and able to jump in a cab/uber/train etc. Thanks for your response it is appreciated :)

Flying in 2 days prior to cruise. Need hotel that has good views, good breakfast (included in price even better), airport shuttle would be great but we can get a cab, transportation to cruise port or near/within walking distance a plus. Near some good restaurants would be fabulous. Price 200-(600 per night max)

Those packages, menus, and prices are not up-to-date.

 

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OK I hear you but scroll down and see what is offered as far as bottles etc. It at least gives you an idea of what is onboard. :) I couldn't find anything close on this forum that gave a list of the different types of wines offered.

Look what I found :) http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/718-carnival-cruise-wine-package-policy-list-prices

"PLEASE NOTE: The prices may not be up to date however, that said it gives you an idea of the wines offered, bottles of wines etc" scroll down on the webpage.

That said for any wine guru can you tell me the most sickeningly sweetest wine/smooth but very very sweet on this list, would prefer to buy bottle. (Yes we are bringing 2 bottles but that won't last too long)

Does anyone know if CCL offers a desert wine. I like "sickeningly sweet" wines. If it tastes like juice I will love it, LOL. I don't like the "alcohol" type taste

Also, do they offer sangria and is it sweet with fruit or poured from bottle and an alcohol taste?

Trying to find some type of wine I can drink. Thanks for your help.

Carnival is the worst for suite perks in my opinion. We usually travel in suites regardless of the cruise line but we do it for the space instead of the perks. I love NCL perks but we also pay more for NCL. It just depends on what matters to you.

Agree Carnival sucks with suites

Sweet thank you :) :)

I was told you had to do this once onboard. Do you register at the customer service or dining room, where? Thank you in advance as I don't want to miss this :)

This is great to hear!!!! Going at end of May on Horizon!!

I never understood the ignorance of people. You save for the vacation, you wait for the vacation and when it finally comes you ruin it? Makes no common sense. Vacation/relax/decompress/disconnect from the every day stressors and unwind not be a total tool.

My parents paid for three people in full and had to cancel two weeks prior to the cruise because my grandmother who lives with them fell ill and was falling. Mind you we had a total of 5 rooms booked. Royal Caribbean said "sorry your SOL" no future cruise not even a partial percentage off next booking, even though they begged for it, nothing. They lost over 4k just like that.

Ok so basically the mid plan is the way to go? The only real difference is the higher plan says "faster" but truly is it faster?