TiiiSailor

On 9/13/2020 at 8:45 AM, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Perhaps they can use the same approach with emotional support animals.

Emotional support animals are no longer allowed onboard RCL ships.

Here's the reference:  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/are-emotional-support-animals-allowed-on-a-royal-caribbean-cruise

On 8/6/2020 at 8:01 PM, time4u2go said:

What about the possibility of someone picking it up in a port?  All it takes is one.

This is why MSC is requiring all passengers leaving the ship in ports be taking a ship sponsored excursion. The excursions are setup to minimize exposure to the local population.  There's another thread here that talks about a couple who left the ship on a ship sponsored excursion in Naples, IT, but got left the excursion while in port to explore on their own.  When they returned to the ship they were not allowed to board the ship.  

MSC is cruising in the European area and only allowing EU citizens cruise as another way of controlling exposure to COVID-19.  COVID-19 testing is done before boarding and temperatures are required to be taken by all onboard everyday.  

This could be a vision of many cruises when they start cruising again.  

17 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Sorry for my contribution to RCL losses last quarter.  I'm part of the 48% of people that want a refund when my cruise is cancelled.  I'm also not giving them any more money until sailing resumes.

If I'd had a cruise cancelled I would be right there in line with you wanting a refund instead of a FCC.

So RCL reports it's last quarterly earnings/losses and loses $7.80 per share and the stock goes up 10%.  Wonder if it's all the cruisers loyal to Royal spending money on the stock or professional investors buying up shares?  

On 7/26/2020 at 3:19 PM, peanut head said:

I am relatively new to CC and have only been cruising for a couple of years.  What I find disturbing on this site is that many times when someone asks a question or posts a comment regarding their higher level loyalty status or stateroom/suite others feel it necessary to post disparaging remarks.  If a cruiser has spent, or is spending, their hard earned money to enjoy their time at sea in whatever capacity they choose, and are not hurting anyone else, then why be snarky to that person?  It seems to me that many times the biggest "snobs and elitists" are not those in D/D+/Pinnacle categories and/or Star Class Suites, but those who are not.  As we have learned from an early age, if you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all.

Guess some people never learned when you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.  Hope I didn't just violate that lesson.

Say an article about Royal changing the parent company's name.

https://www.*****.com/2020/07/10/royal-caribbeans-parent-company-has-changed-its-name#:~:text=It seems that Royal Caribbean International's parent company,have been updated to reflect the new name.

One place to cruise with minimized smoking is Australia.  There is ZERO indoor smoking allowed.  The cruise we took from Sydney to New Zealand and back 0nly had three outdoor smoking areas that were out of the high traffic and crowded areas.  The ship had been doing Australian trips for five months. There was no residual smell from the smoking anywhere that occurred prior to arriving in Australia. 

19 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

Today we had beautiful weather for our visit to Hubbard Glacier. We could not asked for a better day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the Radiance was viewing distance of Hubbard Glacier, did the ship provide a naturalist narrative over the PA to point out the unique features of the bay?  If so was it also broadcast over the in room television? 

Unless it's changed since 2017, there's a steam room and sauna in the spa locker room.  That locker room, separate for male and female, is available to anyone without purchasing a spa pass.  It's located directly below the gym.  

On 5/4/2020 at 1:38 PM, loman said:

We wipe down the drawers and storage cabinets too .  Then leave them open to air out for a little while .

Dirty socks and underwear could have been residing in those drawers a few hours before we got there .

We do the same for the same reason.

10 hours ago, zonacruiser25 said:

Do you have a Rickover story?

 

I went for my interview with Admiral Rickover with 6 other prior enlisted sailors.  We'd done our research and asked a lot of questions before we selected the nuclear path.  Found out the Admiral asked questions, made wise crack comments, and according to some people threatening statements.  He wanted to see how you reacted under pressure, because if you couldn't keep your cool in an office setting and answer his questions there was a good chance you wouldn't be able to do so in a stressful situation onboard.   He also wanted you to answer the question he asked.  A standard question a married man got was, "How many children do you have?"  If you said "A girl and two boys."  He yell, "If I wanted to know what sex they were I'd have asked that."  I got that one correct, "Three."

There were also those that had done poorly in the technical interviews you had before you ever saw him.  The first question I was asked in my last technical interview was how the other two interviews had gone.  I said I'd totally blown one question and was given a chance to redeem myself.

Nothing unusual during my interview with the Admiral.  He did try to tell me I was just looking for another year of shore duty.  HAHA  What a year of shore duty.  Anyway, when he finally said that's all, as we'd been briefed, I just got up out of the chair, left the office, and stood at attention outside the door until told to go to room to await the decision. I'd left my lunch outside the office to the left side of the door as instructed before I went in to see the admiral.  When I was told to go I bent over to pickup my lunch and got about half way down and couldn't bend over any further, no matter how hard I tried.  A captain next to me asked me if I was okay.  I told him I was trying to get my lunch.  The captain and a commander started laughing, let me pick up my lunch, and said they thought I had blacked out.  Also told me the purpose of having us stand at attention for a short time was due to every now and then someone would leave the interview room and just kept on going to places unknown.  

Navy dependent until I joined the Navy in 68 as a CTM.  1975 went to the dark side, as a few friends called it, as a submarine officer.  Served on the Lapon 76 -80, LY Spear 80 - 83, Sculpin 85 - 89, Gato 89 - 91.

On 7/1/2018 at 7:24 AM, RSLeesburg said:

 

 

On Day 1, when we met with Julie, she handed out the list of optional tours and you mark down which ones you want to do. There were maybe 8-10 or so for Day 2 in Denali, but you only have time to do one. As you are driving up to Denali, the tour guide books and confirms your excursion. There were also 2 or so optional ones in Talkeetna, and I think you can request these while in Denali.

 

Here is a link that provides a wealth of information about the land tours and I thought they also have listings for the optional excursions:

 

http://www.royalcaribbeancruisetours.com/resources/

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thank you for putting the reference for the optional excursions during the land portion of a cruise tour.  I realize there may be different ones when we go in 2021, but it gives us an idea of what to look for.  I looked for around the internet for hours to find this information.  It's almost as if it was a big secret.  

On 4/3/2020 at 8:56 PM, DaKa2002 said:

We just renewed our passports because they were almost out of blank pages; however, i am waiting on a Global Entry interview and all interviews have been postponed indefinitely.  My wife got her Global Entry updated via internet application (mine didn't). 

My wife's new Global Entry card came in the mail also.  I need to go for an interview.  They'd already said before all this Coronavirus stuff came up, that current card holders were valid for a year after expiration if they've applied  to renew due to the backlog of renewals.  I think that backlog just got longer

We've been on both ships.  Well the Endeavor we were on has been replaced by a new one, but the same size as the original.  The staterooms on both ships are much smaller than a traditional cruise ship.  But we only were in them to sleep, clean up and change after a swim/excursion.  If I were to go again, I'd pick the Islander due to the almost family like atmosphere due to the limited number of people.  I go to a family picnic every June and there's twice the number of people there than on the Islander. 

Regardless of which ship you take, the excursions are the same.  The particular island you stop at determines what's offered.  Each excursion is limited to 16 people and a naturalist from the ship.  But they have enough naturalists on board the ship to allow everyone to take the excursions they desire.  

You had the opportunity to go on an excursion in the morning and another in the afternoon.  There was always a swimming and non-swimming one to choose from.  We had a pre-breakfast excursion on one stop.

Getting on and off the ship the ship is not the same as a cruise ship.  You use Zodiacs, which are hard bottomed with inflatable sides.  You sit on the sides of the Zodiac while going to and from shore.  Life jackets are mandatory during these rides. My wife, who is not very athletic did just fine stepping up off and down onto the Zodiacs.  You get plenty of help from the crew.

We were fortunate, between the two cruises, Feb and July 2015, to get to most of the islands.  Regardless of which trip you take, you'll get to swim with plenty of marine wild life, including white tip reef sharks. (We were told they were vegetarian.)

Both ships had a computer station where I transferred pictures from my camera memory chips, which I had one for each day, to a thumb drive as backup.  I purchased an underwater camera (works just as well in air :-)) before I went.  This allowed the obvious underwater pictures and those from the Zodiac.  Many people missed some good pictures while on the Zodiac due to protecting their cameras in waterproof bags. Be sure to get a float-able wrist strap to attach to the camera.  

But either way you go, Endeavor or Islander, and which route you take you'll have a great time.  The second time we went, which was only five months after the first was just as wonderful as the first. 

The pictures below:

1. Shows sitting on the side of a Zodiac.  Also shows me holding my camera with the float-able wrist strap.  Normally you're sitting right next to someone, not like this with some "social distance" between us.

2. A typical drive on the island of Santa Cruz on the way to the Darwin Research Center.

Now after writing this, I want to go back again.

Talked to a person familiar with the vacuum flush systems used on cruise ships.  He said just about all the issues with the system is caused by people attempting to flush something other than the provided toilet paper, including toilet paper brought on board by passengers.  

Although many of the car rental returns are only a couple minute drive from the terminal, due to the potential crowd of people returning cars and needing a ride back to the cruise terminals, give yourself plenty of time. 

We had seen of us in a minivan.  He dropped off everyone and the luggage, than drove to the rental car return.  Due to the multitudes of people, some with all their luggage and family the driver didn't return for over an hour.

That was our experience.

Thank you for the very good travel log of your trip.  During the period spent in Hubbard Glacier did the ship have a guide give a discussion of what you were seeing?  Thanks. 

This is the exact reason I don't purchase much stuff when I travel.  I've been fortunate to have traveled extensively since I was seven years old.  The stuff I wanted back then were mostly trinkets that would be left alone two weeks after I got back home.  As I got older and watched adults purchase some nice things, to later find out they were ripped off, just as you were.  I've even seen a "reputable" merchant in Naples place a nice piece of jewelry in a beautiful box and wrap it up for a friend.  We both were watching him.  When we returned to our hotel and he opened the package to show his wife what he'd purchased for his mother, the cameo necklace wasn't in the box.  There was a cheap, gumball piece of jewelry in its place.  Next morning back at the store the owner said he could do nothing as my friend had left the store with the package and could have made the change himself.

Too many stores, but not all, that cater to tourists know: you won't be coming back, they won't be held liable for their swindle, and you won't be able to get the word out to enough tourists (even in todays social media).  

All we can do is spread the word as much as we can and hope enough tourists do read about them.

On 6/28/2019 at 1:04 PM, MrMike45 said:

 

Isn't $29 + 20% = 34.80...not 46.80?  $12 difference

The 20% Mr Mike was illustrating was the added gratuity.

On 6/29/2019 at 5:21 PM, FLAHAM said:

Flemings, a steakhouse chain that is good, but not top tier, has a restaurant here in Dayton, OH.  Its minimum ribeye is $50 with each side at $10-$13. 

On a cruise ship you've already paid for the meal.  Specialty dining cost is above what you've already paid.  So it makes Flemings look inexpensive.

On 6/29/2019 at 3:15 PM, ColeThornton said:

 

 

No one likes price increases but do grocery stores warn you when prices go up?  Gas station?  Airlines?   Hotels?   Cable company?

When consumer item prices are increased by this large of a percentage its usually due to some uncontrollable factors.  This could be deep freezes in Florida destroying a significant percentage of the orange crops, excessive rains preventing the timely planting of crops, diseases causing large populations of chickens to be slaughtered, etc.  But these specialty restaurant prices are being raised just because NCL wants to raise profits.  They'll say the demand is high for these restaurants and that's the reason.  Why is the demand high?  Because NCL is "giving away (haha) specialty dining packages, thus driving up the demand for "free" stuff.  Those that don't get the perk now have to pay the increased price.  Those that do will now have to pay an increased gratuity, depending upon the date of receiving the perk.   

Remember, not every new profit raising concept is accepted by the customers.  Didn't NCL just start selling dinners in the Haven restaurant to the steerage class customers.  The uproar by the paying Haven cruisers was so quick and loud, NCL stopped selling the dinners to non-Haven customers.

Don,

Did you attempt to lean around the balcony divider and ask them to turn down the music and then file a compliant to guest services regarding the loud playing of music if they ignored you?

4 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

My frozen drinks have been plastic straws 

Thank you.  That was my concern.

I've not sailed on Bliss, but have sailed on other ships where they were used.  One problem had by those using them was there were people who appeared to purposely talk over others every time they tried to use them.  There was, what appeared to be, a couple kids who would attempt to imitate someone in a group and give out misinformation, sending people on wild goose chases.  A second issue was a couple families used the walkie talkies to keep in touch with their children.  Due to anyone else with a walkie talkie being able to intercept the communications, the families quickly became concerned with the safety of their children.  That never became an issue, but did stop them from using them after two days.

Need to also check the legality of using them in other countries.