Cruising-Snowbird

Discussion threads on this forum encourage D and D+ folks to tip the servers for free drinks. If I get one-off drinks using the vouchers, I tip $1. For the lounge I group tip the Bar Service team at the end of the cruise. Some of my friends tip as they go. In the end it's a personal decision.

 

I usually decide what bartender I want to deal with the first day of the cruise. Then tip him/her $10 or so the first or second day. They are very gracious and do remember you to give you extra large drinks for the rest of the cruise... :D

This is exactly what we do. DH takes his cocktail and I take my wine to dinner each evening. Although we've been diamond for 3 cruises, we've never seen the inside of the Diamond Lounge. All I've ever heard is how crowded it is.

 

We occasionally go into the DL for evening drinks. But several times a day we will go in for GREAT coffee. We rarely drink what they call coffee that they serve in the DR or WJ anymore.

 

BTW, if you go to the DL about 5-10 minutes before or during the early or late Dining Room times, it is much less crowded. Another big advantage of MTD..... :)

Can recent serenade cruisers tell me the procedure for using the diamond plus buy one get one (second) coupon. Are you allowed to purchase the second coupon meal on the first or second night and use it later in the cruise or were you required to use the coupons on the first night and the second night? Many of our recent cruises permitted to use the coupon later in the cruise as long as the meal was purchased on the first or second night. I read on other threads that some ships are strict with the procedure and are not allowing this practice.

 

Thanks.

M

 

Soon after we boarded the Serenade, we reserved a time for Chops that evening (1st night for D+ coupon on my SeaPass). We paid $30 for both of us. We were told that we could reserve any night of the cruise for my DW's D+ SeaPass coupon. But, we must pay for it by the 2nd night ($30). We went back to Chops on the 2nd night to reserve dinner on Night #5. We paid ($30) for Night #5 on the 2nd night when we reserved the time.

Izumi is per item pricing.

 

Giovanni's is $25.

 

Chops is $35, plus extra if you want the best quality steaks.

 

The "Chop's steak" in the MDR is between $15 and $20 extra.

 

We were on the Serenade for a B2B in Sept/Oct. We ate at Chops 4 times and the price was $30 at that time.

We are from Long Island and always drive in and park right at the pier. It's less expensive than taking transportation. We sometimes stop and the popular bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey in the morning. It's only 15 minutes from the pier and a nice beginning to cruise. Never a problem with parking at pier, just try to arrive around 10-11am

 

We drive to the Bayonne pier the morning of boarding. What bakery are you talking about and what is its address? :cool:

Even though we are diamond have not made it to the lounge ourselves, however have heard that frozen drinks are not included in the diamond drinks. Most of the lounges don't have a mixer so they are out. It is my understanding that the official list of drinks is pretty much an alcohol and a mixer (rum and coke, gin and tonic, etc) but some are able to get others.

 

You are correct. The basic rules state that you can have the alcohol that is listed on the Diamond List and a mixer of some type. "Sometimes" the bartender will make a more complex drink for you as a Diamond. Perhaps it depends on how much he has been tipped.... :)

On the Anthem, I had one bartender tell me that Margaritas where not included, but after I insisted that I'd been getting them for many nights, he gave in.

 

Another bartender used Patron without asking me, and then rang up a charge of $14 for it. When I informed him that it was a Diamond drink, he complained that I should have told him when I ordered. Since I had never mentioned it to any bartender previously, I didn't see the need to do it. He finally gave in and credited it back. After that incident, which was already on the 8th or 9th night, I always told the bartenders when I was ordering that it was a Diamond drink.

 

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When I order the drink at the bar, I always tell the bartender that it is a 'Diamond' drink. That short statement eliminates any confusion and/or hassle. If the drink ordered is not on the 'Diamond' list, it can be discussed before it is made.

I'm on Anthem and it won't let me print my set sail pass!! I spoke with 2 reps and it's unusual that they closed printing so early. So be warned: print your set sail passes EARLY! And make sure your printer has ink too (which caused the delay in my case) :(

 

It sounds like you are already on the Anthem. If are doing a B2B, you do not need a Set Sail Pass for the next cruise. You probably already got the notice of a meeting for the B2B people about the procedures for getting set up for the next cruise. That meeting usually the day before the ship docks. If by some screw-up, you did not get this notice, go talk to Guest Services about it NOW.

It is ridiculious that people get so worked up because there are cases of Noro on cruise ships. There are 19-21 MILLION cases of Noro in the US every year. The CDC documents this pretty well.

 

The number of Noro cases on cruise ships is close to a 'rounding error' compared to the total cases every year.

Sure, you can make the flight, MAYBE.... There are a LOT of things that have to go just right for you to do it.

- no delays with the ship getting to the dock

- no delays with getting off the ship

- no delays waiting for port customs

- no delays getting your transportation

- no traffic delays

- no delays with airport security

- no delays getting checked in

 

Now, if all that goes well, you will enjoy your early flight. If one or more of the above take longer than expected, you will get to the airport after the plane has left.

 

How lucky do you feel you are?

 

When flying, we ALWAYS book the flight for the day before the ship boards and a day after arriving in port. The extra hotel costs are nothing compared of the hassle of getting a new flight because you missed yours.

Bring the cash you need with you...why pay a "fee" to an ATM??? I do NOT get the attraction of ATM's! Bring the freaking cash.....jeez.

 

The OP is from Canada. I assume they want to get US dollars. If they convert in Canada, there is a very big loss due to the current currency exchange rate (about $0.74 US to $1.00 Canadian dollar). But some ATMs in the US give a much better exchange rate. He did not specify the reasons, but I assume that the exchange rate is a big factor.

Wow, you never know.

 

We will be on the Summit in May 2016 to Bermuda.

 

CaptDave

 

There is always a risk taking some of these excursions. The roads on some of these volcanic islands are narrow and steep in places. Even in Bermuda, the roads are so narrow. We take the excursions and buses, but close our eyes at times.

I just got off the Oasis and now anticipating my January 2016 cruise on Vision. After being on the Oasis and all of their wonderful entertainment, will I be bored in the evenings on the Vision?

 

If you ask a question like this, you probably will be bored.... Bring a book...

The easiest way to get to the port from a hotel is to book a hotel that offers FREE shuttle to the port and free pickup to where you left your car at the hotel. The second easiest way to to arrive at the port early; that is around 10:00am to 10:30am or so. That way you will have to wait around at the port to board, but you will beat the traffic jam on the port access road.

As long as people continue booking cabins on cruises to the Near East, the ships will go. That is assuming that the nuts over there do not start hijacking cruise ships.....

Is there an email by chance? I spent 30 minutes on hold the other day and don't want to waste time if I don't have to...

 

I was gong to try support@rccl.com

 

thanks.

 

If you want to get the problem resolved, CALL THEM UP!!!! E-Mail is so easily ignored. They probably get hundreds of e-mails a day. Besides, you would most likely spend more time writing an e-mail containing all the information to make your case that it would take less time to sit on the phone.

The last time I brought a jacket on a cruise was about 10 years ago. Over the whole formal thing.. I would say only about 50% of people participate in formal attire. In specialty restaurants its always business casual at best.

 

The only ships that enforce wearing a jacket is the Quantum class for the Grande restaurant. They won't let you in without at least a sport-coat. If you don't have one, they will lend you one for the meal.

So there will be water slapping the window? :eek:

Feeling a little claustrophobic now......

 

In a bad storm, you will likely see waves going higher than your 3rd deck windows...... The windows on the 2nd and 3rd deck are quite thick to be able to endure being underwater..... On the bright side, you may see some fish swimming by out your window.....

[quote name='DragonOfTheSeas']We want to book the Hawaii repo from Vancouver to Hawaii in September 2017. . . and we cruise April 27-May 7, 2016. We hope they are announced during [or before] our cruise.

We would like to have the lower deposit and OBC. Unfortunately we have used all of our old style next cruise certificates.[/quote]

This past Spring we booked two cruises while on-board the ship. We did this with the intent of changing them to the cruises that were to be announced a couple weeks later. After they announced the new schedule, we picked out the cruises we wanted along with the cabins and called RCL. They changed the cruises booked on the ship to the new ones we wanted. No problems...

I like booking maximum of 40 days before cruise...usually within a couple weeks...only because my mother has stage 4 breast cancer and things change fast so we book when we have time. Some people also can afford to have the money all at once so thats prob why they have to plan so far ahead...Oh...I price check after finally payment...only to see if I am able to upgrade hehe. only 35 more days till oasis!

 

If you had booked 18-24 months ago, you likely would have paid half or less than what is coming out of your pocket now.

 

The bottom line is that booking within a few weeks of the cruise schedule announcement will almost always get you the least expensive booking. I currently have 5 cruises booked out through March 2017. When I do a price check on those in 2016, the current selling price is more than double what I booked for. The 2017 prices have not gone up that much yet, but the current prices are still higher than I got.

 

BTW, apparently you do not realize that when one books 18-24 months in advance, there is only a relatively small amount of down payment due until the final payment date. You can change the cruise dates/ship at any time. If one has to cancel before final payment, you get that back....

Unless you're on a cruise that typically sells out, it makes no sense to book and pay early with RCCL. I gave them the entire fare 5 months before sailing and the day after the 75 day window for 100% cancellation refund, the price dropped 16% which equated to about $430 for us. After two calls and this email response, it was clear that they werent going to even try to ease the pain. BTW--the "upgrade offer was to a Boardwalk balcony from a superior ocean view balcony room on Allure...doesn't sound like an upgrade. Maybe if a majority of the people hold out till inside 75 days, everyone would get it for less..It seems to make no sense to be a good customer.

 

We usually book our cruises within a couple weeks of when the schedule is announced. I have found that it is rare that the prices ever drop lower than what we booked at that early date.

We were on the C&A Member Cruise a couple weeks ago. One of the 'freebies' was a choice of two FREE classes to attend. We chose the Beer Tasting and the Wine Tasting. Both were interesting, but I liked the beer tasting more.

 

The wine tasting had 4 glasses of wine and info about them. The beer tasting had 8 different styles of beer to try out. Of course, it might be run differently on different ships....

Can you stand by for a show BEFORE your scheduled viewing of it? Meaning, I have the show in 270 booked day 4 or 5 of my cruise for the late show. If the kiddos are interested, can we try stand by for one of the earlier shows earlier in the sailing but still keep the adult reservations a few days later for the later show? Or do they wipe you seapass and cancel out future reservations for the show? I am assuming the kids will enjoy the kids club and not be interested but if they are less thrilled with the clubs and want to stay with us, Id like them to see one of the shows that may interest them

 

I really doubt that going to a stand-by show before your reserved show would have any impact on your reservation. Basically, all the reservation does is let you into the theater before the stand-byes. If you really want to be sure though, stop by Guest Services before going and ask.

Interesting. We were on the July 17, 2015 on Radiance. I don't remember seeing anything about a Michael Jackson show on that cruise. Maybe the Cruise Director had changed and the new one selected the MJ show for the Centrum. I suspect that there are a group of activities/entertainment that all CD's run (Love-Marriage, Quest, etc) and they also each have their own favorites they put on.

Looking at what we booked for Anthem in November, Chops is now $39 pp, Wonderland is $49 pp, Jaime's is $30 pp for dinner, lunch may have gone up also and Chef's Table is still $85 pp. Brian's list above, which *destiny 217* posted was very helpful to us on Quantum.

 

I would have thought that the cost of the specialty restaurants would be the same across the fleet. Apparently that is not so... Two weeks ago we ate at Chops on Serenade and the cost was $30 p/p.