Powersboyee2

I'm not sure why anyone would pick this ship as their first cruise with Royal or even worse, first cruise ever?

It's just asking to be disappointed IMO.

It is very well known now, and has always been, that Empress is not really true representation of Royal. There are SO many great options out there on vastly better ships with better amenities. Proven amenities.

That's just my opinion, and I'm aware others have different views, but I definitely would not pull that trigger, even if I was a noob.

The new cups suck. They are not double insulated cups any longer. Just a single layer of plastic. Hold ice less than half as long. Glad I had my old one on a B2B from Oasis and then got on Indy. Used my old cup no problem, not on the freestyle machines obviously. Had the Premium Package on both. :cool:

There's no confusing casual with sloppy and unclean but apparently there's confusing Formal and Casual.

I don't know of any place where "shorts" would ever qualify as Formal.

Not saying you said that but I saw it somewhere lol.

Ha, just figured out who said it.

Supposedly, there are a great many empty seats after intermission.

Lol! Indeed

The new cast for CATS is amazing! The onboard show rivaled the ones I had seen on Broadway!

[emoji849]

Did RC notify you of the change before you left for the port or did you find out after getting on board? I have made all our reservations for our September sailing & I was curious as to when you find out about the change.

We found out of a change once we boarded in April.

Which sept sailing?? We will be onboard the 3rd!

First time I've ever heard anyone say CATS was good. We nearly fell asleep in our chairs but weren't rude and walked out mid-show as hundreds of other we're doing. We waited until intermission and then didn't return.

I had to make a change for a show reservation once we boarded and they had people on the promenade on boarding day to help. I believe it was at on-air. No questions asked moved our comedy reservation. Easy

Thanks, Gregg, nice to hear that!

We had mixed experiences dining in CK. We did only eat there twice in April on Oasis and 5 nights in specialty. Never ate MDR.

The first meal there we thought was amazing as well as the service. The second meal, which was the second formal night was just ok I thought. My fiancé had the lobster tho and liked it. Service was sub par and my steak was the same.

As others have said, royal is good with inconsistent. Food is subjective, agreed.

Best meal onboard IMO was the hibachi side of Izumi. Had it twice it was so good. Can't wait to go back in Sept!

Nope

Why do you want to sit in your room and try watch a parade. Kind of boring.

 

 

 

In promenade rooms you can only really look straight out and cannot see the stuff going on in the center where all the action is.

 

 

 

Plus you cannot hear anything.

 

 

 

It is much better to just go down the see everything...

 

 

 

As for the ice cream, they give you coupons which anyone can use....

 

 

 

The windows are bowed out with side windows so you can look forward as well as aft.

I agree id be down watching the action live myself but you can definitely look more than just straight out.

I've stayed in promenade rooms as well as this one. Never heard much noise at all from the shop below in response to the other comment. Guess if you stay out past 10 you might not be bothered.

Bring ear plugs if you are worried for some reason. General noise has never been an issue for us though.

Sad times :(

Has anyone been able to confirm whether or not the $59/day on board price for the premium package includes the 18% gratuity? I may just prefer to buy it on the ship a couple of days into the itinerary if there is in fact minimal savings from the advance purchase for the full length of the cruise.

I can't confirm anything as far as on board prices besides what I saw last month. 49$ plus 18% is what it was on Indy and Oasis.

I have purchased the premium ahead of time at that price as well as mid-cruise at the exact same price. Never any different onboard in my experiences.

I've never seen the premium package at 59$ anywhere. At least in the U.S.

I always just head to chops once onboard when I sail with the dining package.

I simply, at that time, just make all of my reservations for throughout the week. The only one that they can not reserve at any given restaurant is the hibachi side of Izumi. Otherwise they can book any restaurant available. Very easy.

I would HIGHLY recommend the hibachi side of Izumi on Oasis class. Best meal on the ship, hands down.

Yeah so the porters when you get off oasis, have no way of cutting the line unless you have "global entry" for customs, otherwise they go through the same line as everyone else with you and your bags in tow.

Agreed though, always tip about $10 for two bags. And that's just to outside the terminal by the shuttle.

The "headliner" will change sometimes week to week. (comedian or specialty show etc)

However, the ice show as well as the aqua theater show, and I think even Come fly with me, were the same this year when I was on the ship as they were Back in 2010 the last time I was on Oasis.

Oh and the only thing CATS was good for was if you need a nap. Not worth it IMO with so many other much better things to be doing.

is the bottled water a fairly new inclusiion?

Nope. Always sailed with the premium and it has been included. Great to bring back to the room before bed. Or off the ship on port days.

And it doesn't matter anyway. Unless you are driving there is no rule saying you can't be drunk.

Haha, exactly!!! We won't be steering the ship I hope. Lol

That is a "normal" day on vacation??

 

For you, maybe, but definitely not for me.

 

2, MAYBE 3 glasses of wine between pre-dinner through after dinner before bed (1 with dinner and MAYBE one before OR one after) is plenty for me.

 

I know everyone is different, but I like to remember my vacation and your description of "normal" would have me in alcohol poisoning super quick.

Alcohol poisoning??? Really? Wow. Time to get out more.

I've had success using HDMI on several ships now (Brilliance, Navigator) no universal remote necessary. There is a "blank" channel, 3 or something like that that, where it shows up. Played PS3 on those ships. Balcony and junior suite, respectively.

Pics or it never happened.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. :)

 

 

 

If I have learned anything during my short time here so far, I learned that there are a lot of "experts" and honorary Captains. Lots of people posting in threads that don't have a foggy clue. And to think the couple that told me about this site on my last cruise said it was a great resource for information. :D

Apparently you are unaware that Cheng is a chief naval engineer with VAST knowledge of all of this. Time to place that foot in the ol mouth. This is why I stick to RCCL even on the forums lol.

We need a like button for this!!!

If you used tapatalk there are like buttons [emoji6]

I just went on and booked the Premium package for DH and I for our upcoming Harmony Cruise, as it was 20% off. We are Cdn so priced in Cdn dollars. Not sure if it's a good deal, but noticed the service charge is 16.36% I know this isn't a big difference over all, but found it odd after everywhere else saying 18%.

 

 

 

One thing I did notice, when you look at the comparisons, it doesn't say that the Alcoholic packages also include the souvenir soda cup and unlimited soda. I was always under the impression that this was included.

Definitely included yes.

Yeah this must be brand new. My premium package just a few weeks ago was 49$ plus grats. Purchased onboard. So if they raised them it was just now as this "sale" came out. Agree. Scam.

Yeah what a cluster....

Just looked and saw the 20% off sale for my Sept 3rd Oasis sailing.

It says the price is 44$ as the 20% off sale price. I would LOVE to know where they come up with this amount from??

So anyways the total when you add it to your cart is 363.44$

I figured it out and thats 44x7 plus 18%.

Gotta love their consistent need to be inconsistent with this company.

P.S. Sorry I didn"t see Trevors post before I posted. whoops

I can say with 100% certainty that people removing gratuities is not the reason for a line at GS ever.

I would assume those people wait til the middle of the night so they don't have to whisper what they want to do to the guest services person to avoid everyone else hearing how lame they are. I'd be ashamed in doing such a thing that's for sure.