Cruising_Tiger

Question from a newbie - I've heard many ppl refer to enjoying progressive trivia. Can anyone explain what this is???

It is the list of little things that RCL doesn't do anymore. It is played everyday on each ship

Logistically would be a nightmare and secondly as was posted earlier if your that worried about it, go online, pay for the celebration, not that hard.

It's not that hard to do things like Princess does in an earlier post. Bottom line is that RCL really doesn't't care. Maybe another reason to switch to a different cruise line

There is a 1 category upgrade for Captains Club members. You don't move from an interior to a balcony cabin but you can move within a specific type of cabin. Or you can book a 1 cat lower cabin and then move up to the cabin you desire. This isn't a huge savings but perhaps enough to pay for dinner at a specialty restaurant or just to save a few dollars. Again this is only if cabins are available and you can do this at the time of booking.

A better question might be when does the sale start? RCL has been raising prices before the sales so many of us don't see any benefit to these "sales" compared to prices we have already booked. For me, when I see RCL playing these obvious pricing games, I am reluctant to book any new cruises during these "sales".

Me too!

 

Cats is slow to start and if you have no past exposure, it could be a little boring at first.

 

I had my 2 daughters read the book 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' before going to see Cats in London. They enjoyed the songs and knew them prior to show and that they were singing the poems written by TS Eliot other than Memory.

RCL please listen to the majority on this thread, CATS is boring and not what cruisers want on a ship. Pleas throw Cats overboard.

Hi,

 

We've never sailed Princess, For the last couple of years SWMBO and I have sailed on the Celebrity Eclipse (part of their Solstice class of ships). We are keen to do another Med Cruise of 14 night duration.

 

Celebrity seem to be focusing on shorter 7-10 day cruises so we are considering other cruise lines. SWMBO has made it clear she wants something like the Celebrity Eclipse - i.e. Reasonably Big and Modern Ship, a bit upmarket without being snobby. I don't mind wearing a suit a few nights but don't want Cunard's tight dress code (jackets every night).

 

We book Balcony cabins and whilst I enjoy sitting on the balcony my wife is happy to just pop out for 5 minutes now and then. Other considerations are smoking (my wife enjoys her cigarettes) where is smoking allowed?

 

We enjoy shows and different acts in the theatre in the evening and a modest flutter in the Casino. My wife doesn't drink and I don't drink much so good prices on drinks are more important than all you can drink packages. Neither of us are that bothered about belly flop contests. We're in our mid to late 40's, no kids. We enjoy the indoor pool area on The Eclipse.

 

How does Princess compare - main similarities / noticable differences? What ships would you suggest for something like The Eclipse.

 

Many thanks

I will be interested in the responses, but I am surprised that your partner likes Celebrity. Celebrity has one of the most strict set of anti-smoking policies.

Does Delta and American airlines have a curb side check-in at the ship when we disembark in Civitavecchia on Oct 23, 2015. We've seen this service at some ports.

 

We know that they are not offering "Luggage Valet" so we are hoping for the ship side service to speed the check-in at FCO.

 

ChoiceAir has most of us on 11:15am flights back home and I'm hoping we will make it.

 

Thanks for your responses!

There isn't any speedy check in Rome for international flights, there are multiple check ins at a remote terminal and then a bus ride to the departure terminal. The lines can get very long. My suggestion is to do early walk off with your luggage and arrange for a car to pick you up at the tent by the dock. You will be ahead of the crowd and you won't worry about the slow moving lines. 11:15 won't be a problem

I was led to believe from my previous enquiries on cruise critic that my son would retain diamond plus status once he turned 18 years( from my status) but would have to accumulate points to reach pinnacle from where he actually accrued points in his own right from sailings on Rccl. I think he has about 150 points accrued from actual cruises. Once he turns 18 years on board he can present to guest relations to change his cruise card from child to adult and I wondered if he would then get the benefits of D plus loaded on his sea pass or as he was two days off 18 years(adult status) on boarding he would not be permitted to do that ?? I find it a little confusing generally but hope it will be clear before our cruises in November. Sue

Here's how it is supposed to work. The child inherits the parents status if he/she sails with the parent after the parent attains the level. The child does not attain the level just because the parent attained a new level. So the question is: Has your son sailed with you since you became D+? If so then the child should be D+ for this cruise. The child will only have the actual number of points that he/she have actually sailed after they turn 18 but will still have the level from their last cruise. I'm not sure what RCL will do but since they are treating your son as being 17 for this cruise, then I think there is an argument that he should become D+ after this cruise (if isn't already D+).

I think we are also seeing the effect of the Allure being in Europe this summer. That reduces capacity by 6000 passengers every week.

Maybe all of the complaints about Indy result from the crew dealing with all of the moaning Brits everyday. That's enough to give anyone a bad attitude

The fact of the matter is that the ships are only certified for a certain capacity and the toddler is taking one of the spots. RCL could have sold that spot to someone else that could have resulted in additional revenue for RCL. Perhaps not a big deal if there was only one toddler on board, but if RCL didn't charge for them there would be a lot more and a definite impact to the bottom line.

You are pointing out my main reason for why I am happy to see the decision to drop DD from a fleet wide implementation.

 

DD gives me the choice of 3 menus each night, but also over the course of my usually at least 12-14 night cruise (never B2B so no repeat menus). So I´m stuck with 3 menus for 12 nights or more. BTW 3 menus I´m struggling to find many items I like on, just like your view of Pimento.

 

How would you view DD if those three menus would be in the same category for you as Pimento?

 

With the traditional Dining I will have only one menu to Chose from each night, but over the course of the cruise I will have 12 menus. So to me it´s 3 menus vs. 12 menus. I can far more easily avoid a certain menu I don´t particulary like for one night than avoiding 3 menus I don´t like for a whole cruise.

Bottom line to me is DD Limits my choices and not expands it.

 

In a perfect world they would probably Keep traditional and MTD as it is and ad a couple specialty Restaurants that are included in the cruise fare. I know unlikely to happen, just something that might make both sides happy. OK it probably would still have some People unhappy.

Paul, I agree 100%. The worst thing about DD is the reduced choice of menu selections. The MDR and select dining concept is a great balance and RCL finally realized they already had the concept optimized from the passenger perspective. I think RCL expected an increased use of the specialty restaurants with DD but it didn't happen.

Over the next couple of years, expect the CL's to be eliminated and replaced by Suite Lounges. D+ will be sent to small room without windows called the DL.

Exactly. RCL is moving to provide a more exclusive Suite package and this starts with moving the D+ out of the CL. The easiest way is to just rename the existing DLs into Suite only lounges.

Funny, Port Canaveral is our favorite port to cruise from. Reasonable hotel rates in the port area, several rental car agencies with free shuttles to the port, several shared shuttle companies to choose from, decent restaurants on the channel and in the Cocoa Beach area, much less traffic than the Ft. Lauderdale area.

I have to agree with Diamond on this question. Fort Lauderdale has the best arrangement of an airport and cruise terminal on the planet. How can you beat seeing your airplane from the balcony of the ship? It's a 5 min cab ride in traffic for about $10. Fort Lauderdale has plenty of hotels an restaurants for of tastes and budgets. Most of us fly in for a cruise and although FLL isn't my favorite airport it is very convientent. I really don't want to wait for a shuttle or rent a car for an hour trip to Orlando. I think RCCL made an excelent choice in selecting Port Everglades as their main Florida port.

I understand that there were never any guides that assembled the tour groups by the ship in Falmouth and there never any guides with "lollipops" leading passengers through the port. At best it was from a covered meeting area near the pier exit to a nearby bus. It's mis-leading to suggest anything else.

Hey Gut, Welcome to CC. You are correct, I think some of the others have either never been to Falmouth or are remembering the old days where the RCL staff leads you of the ship carrying a lollipop. I've only sailed on the Oasis or Allure the last few years, but there are too many passengers on Oasis/Allure to use the follow the lollipop of th e ship approach. I'm not sure what RCL does on the other ships, perhaps the follow the lolliopop has also been eliminated on those ships as well. Peraps RCL staff cuts also has an effect.

This would alienate an entire segment of cruisers who like to have a set dining time every night, with the same waiter, same table, etc. Ya know, about half of this thread.

 

Anybody who wants Select already has it. Anybody who wants Traditional already has it. Why the need for any change at all? This seems like one of those situations where the status quo doesn't need to change. You want to eat at a specific time, just choose Select. You want scheduled dining, stick with Traditional. You want to choose from the myriad of Specialty dining, go right ahead. They are called options for a reason, and it makes no sense to limit your customers.

This perspective seems a little narrow. The problem is that fewer people are choosing Traditional Dining and Celebrity has too much dining space and too many people serving a smaller segment. The result is that Select dining is becoming too crowded with many passenger experiencing longer waits for a table. Celebrity needs to do something to accommodate this change in preferences. Either eliminate Traditional, reduce the space allocated to traditional or perhaps only have a single dining time for Traditional. Eliminating Traditional is the easiest for Celebrity and allows Celebrity to be more flexible with new cruise markets that have never experienced Traditional dining.

We were on the expedition in February. Everything is well done and it is a great trip. Go down a day early and stay at the Marriott if you want more time in Quito, the extra day the the end would be anti-climatic. Celebrity does a great job in getting you back to the airport to leave on Saturday if you wish or you can overnight and leave on Sunday Morning. Save your money and go for the 10-day

For me on S class ships, cabins on the port side above the smoking areas would be poor cabins.

We were on voyager 15 mths ago and they had special permission to use the dart board.....great fun with a pub competition every night.

I have never heard about a dart board. Where is it located and who grants permission?

I'm happy that some of you were fortunate enough not to smell any smoke on the port side. However there are people who have had cabins on the port side that were as lucky. It's good for the OP to understand the risk and make his/her own decision.

In my case, the "WOW" sale was hundreds of dollars more expensive for balcony cabins on Oasis(Jan 2016) and Allure (March 2016). I made these bookings a while back before RCL started all of the "sales" and promotions.

Usually after the terms of the WOW sale are revealed, most people say: WOW, is this a sale? RCL has a history of raising prices for a sale so the net effect may not be much of a price reduction. Good Luck

Perhaps I'm in the minority but I'm not a fan of the slant balcony cabins. Although it is true that they are larger, I like to stand by the rail and I always feel like I'm looking balcony cabins that are recessed from the side and I always fell more exposed because surrounding cabins look into the slant balcony. On the S class ships I always stay away from any cabins on the port side because of the smoking areas on the open deck below. I find the balcony size on the S class ships to be more than adequate for 2 people. My balcony choice would either be on the hump or the most forward section on the starboard side. The forward C class cabins are C3 class and are the best value for me. Depending on the itinerary you may favor one side of the ship other vs the other. If you wanted the port side I would go with the most forward C3 class cabins, they are not affected by the smoking areas

They are the same mattresses on every RCL ship.

I'll bet that Pinnacle member was wearing his Pinnacle pin and the thief wanted it. Please remember not to flash the valuable RCL bling while in port.