jaygee77

I was on a recent four night sailing and they did not offer this. I can't speak for longer cruises on the same ship.

used to be in the good old days people would not post about happenings on the Quest so it could be a big surprise but no more a surprise after the OP s posting!!!

Preach!

What happened to your socks???

Let's just say it had a hole in it... ;)

Just got off Indy on Monday. I didn't get the activity director's name, but she's the short girl with short hair, that wears an I'M NOT SHORT I'M FUN SIZED shirt to the Quest. Or at least, she wore it last week as well as when we sailed on the Navigator back in 2011. She mentioned that was her first contract.

So hopefully someone knows who I'm talking about, from those clues...

I don't bring extra stuff... But I've also learned not to ruin any of my socks anymore. I learned that lesson the hard way back on my very first cruise. :)

We were on Leigh's last cruise on IOS and I am guessing the Quest had something to do with his dismissal.i enjoyed it but it was edgy so I can see why the next CD would tone it down.

Sounds like you may have just nailed it. Thanks!

Its very strange you get off the ship and have to walk all along the side of the pier in a line, until you get to terminal then its a madhouse. We are thankful for Raj.

One of the porters was explaining to us that the reason for the long outside line is that the baggage claim and customs area is actually terminals 22 & 24. The ship docks at terminal 25, but that building itself is only used for departing guests. Essentially, the ship has grown too big for just one terminal, hence the expansion into multiple terminals to accommodate disembarking guests.

I just got off a four night cruise on the Independence, my seventh RCI sailing. I've seen the Quest every time, but this year it seemed like it wasn't as risqué or edgy as I've seen in years past. Is this a concerted change to tone things down, or could my experience just have been a one-time fluke?

Just off Independence this past week, and the Aquanauts club for ages 3-5 told us they could not bring in their own kiddie tablets. I got the sense that they made everyone participate in the same activity in that age group, since there were only two employees to supervise the entire group of 15 or so children.

Well, as promised, I'm reporting back on what happened after I tried again to get this resolved.

 

Called the "executive" number shared a couple of times in the middle of the day, and it just has a "sorry we're closed" message permanently on it. So that's no good.

 

Called AT&T and pleaded for a copy of the phone records to prove I had called Royal Caribbean on the day I did and show that it was a lengthy call. After a long and very frustrating discussion with the lady at the overseas call center, the answer was that AT&T would be happy to provide a list of the calls made that day - if I obtained a subpoena for the request. Ha.

 

Called the C&A desk (why didn't I do that sooner - got someone who sounds American for a change) who researched the whole situation in detail and consulted with supervisors above her. And because there's not a stitch of proof left by Lucas of my lengthy discussion with him or the changes he claimed he was making for me, they will not honor my claim to have cancelled on the 57th day. If I cancel between now and May 7, I lose 50% of the cruise price, or about $1600. We will be seriously considering whether we could make it work to go after all (have a wonderful junior suite going to some of our favorite ports, and this cruise will get us to diamond level, and wouldn't a week's cruise in the middle of a stressful summer of moving be therapeutic?!) or whether it's better not to go to save the extra $$ plus what we'll spend on getting there and enjoying excursions etc.

 

Lessons learned:

1. Cancel yourself online instead of calling

2. If you must call, get proof e-mailed while still on phone

3. Check online afterwards to verify

4. Never assume it will just take time to happen - make sure any change happens immediately

5. Use the phrase "transfer" instead of "cancel"

6. Ask the experts at Cruise Critic the right way to do something BEFORE you do it the wrong way, because they'll save you tons of frustration!

 

Thanks for all your wisdom and help, everyone. Greatly appreciate your kindness and hope my misfortune will save someone else from the same trouble.

I help manage an inbound call center, and while I know no two processes will be the same, you may be able to give the supervisors enough evidence to prove that some sort of extended call took place. My call center has the ability to identify the time and duration of every call. If you're able to give them the time and duration of the call, they may be able to verify that Lucas spoke to SOMEONE during that window. It'd then be extremely unlikely, I would imagine, that Lucas would have been on such a long call with no call notes. You're not definitively proving your claim, but you're casting enough reasonable doubt that clearly something wasn't done right on Lucas's end.

At the end of the day, if Lucas is a tenured rep with minimal performance concerns, they will likely take his side. But if he's the type of person that makes these errors frequently, he's either new to the call center, or enough of a quality concern that they'd be more apt to believe he could have screwed this one up. That's just one more thing you can potentially lean on in your dispute.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I just got back from a 4 nighter on Independence, and I did not get the package. I wouldn't have even come CLOSE to getting my money's worth on it, as it turns out. Chasing a three year old around here and there didn't allow for much daytime drinking as I am used to on prior cruises, and I couldn't make up the ground in the evening.

Sure, I probably passed on a few nighttime cocktails that I wouldn't have passed on if I bought the package, but all in all, my bar tab was roughly a hundred bucks less than the package price.

For what it's worth, Indy was still selling the package the day after we embarked, for the final three days of the voyage.

I've been on a handful of shorter cruises on small ships over the years, and craps has always been a $5 minimum for each ship.

For blackjack, I just returned from Indy this week. They did NOT have any $5 (or $6) blackjack tables. Lowest minimum was $10. Eight decks, dealer hits on soft 17, no resplitting aces, and natural blackjacks still pay a proper 3:2. Fortunately that 6:5 hot garbage hasn't made its way over yet.

On a side note, I've found some of the coolest RCI employees are the casino dealers. Jelena, Michael, Mattia, and Grace were just some of the awesome individuals I got to play with this past weekend. People - treat your dealers right!

Every time you make a bet, you can expect to lose, over the long run, a tiny fraction of that bet. The house edge may vary based on the game you are playing, but will typically run between 0.5% (blackjack using basic strategy) to upwards of 10% (penny slots, estimated). Of course, even with a higher house edge, you'd be betting less per spin on the penny slots than you would playing $6 per hand of blackjack. The longer you play, though, the more wagers you'll churn through - which means the house edge applies to every bet you make, which will total more than your original $100 stake.

With a relatively low budget of a hundred dollars, your best chance of winning would be to bet it all on one hand (or spin, or throw of the dice) and then walk away immediately. But that's no fun! So rather than trying to walk away a winner, worry about having a good time instead. That way, you'll get your money's worth in the entertainment value. And yes, you may still get lucky and walk away a winner! It happens, but you can't force it.

If I were to get the package, I would order more drinks. This doesn't mean I would actually *drink* more - at least, not every day - but I'd be more willing to try that weird green foaming thing if I knew I could put it down after one sip if I decide I dislike it.

 

Having done the math I'd have to up my normal daily alcohol intake by 300 to 600 percent in order to break even. I will up my normal daily drink intake when I'm on vacation and someone else is doing the driving, but not by that amount.

 

Therefore I can safely drink all I *want* without spending more than I would have spent on the drink package.

 

I know that's not exactly the question you were directly asking, but I thought I'd lend a little support since you're "feeling dirty" about not getting the package.

This actually is pretty helpful - a nice way of looking at the same thing from a different approach.

And since I don't know how to quote multiple posts in the same reply...

The drink strength is my biggest concern. If I'm in the casino or the Schooner Bar, I'm more apt to order more drinks if there's nothing to them. But if I catch a decent buzz after 2-3, I'd slow down.

(Dear Lord, 2-3 at night alone, and I'm not getting the package?!)

So as it stands now, I'm not planning on getting a drink package, and I feel dirty about it. But I did the math (because I'm prone to overanalyzing things like that) and I just didn't think I'd be able to get my money's worth. So I'm wondering if folks who get the package find they drink more or less than they originally planned.

Bonus points if you can relate to any of these mitigating factors:

• I am traveling with my wife and three year old son
  
• My wife certainly won't get the package and may only drink a couple drinks each day
  
• I understand the cocktails are incredibly weak
  
• We'll be bringing on two bottles of wine but I'd only drink that at dinner
  

Thanks for your perspectives!

I missed all these earlier responses because (and this is 100% true) I was buying Red Wings playoff tickets at 3pm EST on Saturday. Backed in? Nah, we had 'em right where we wanted them the whole time!

But on topic, a low key movie before "bedtime" would be fine with me. I love the $8/hour price on the 10pm-1am window, but would hope they'd have the youngest kids practically asleep towards the beginning of that window. We're anticipating taking our three year old to the kids club right after dinner each night (possibly using the My Family Dining option once or twice). If he's going to be up until midnight or later because of all the stimulation, that may not work though. Hopefully the mats and pajamas are to encourage the youngest ones to actually fall asleep!

 

The website makes it sound like a bigger deal than it is.

 

That probably explains why I've never seen or heard anything about it prior to digging around today. Thanks for the reality check!

It's on the Parties Parades & More tab, on this page:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/category.do?pagename=onboard_cat_shows_and_nightlife

I had to manually type that into this window since the page wasn't really accessible through the various mobile options.

I was looking at ship details on royal's website, and it mentions something about Club 20 being available on Freedom class ships. There's no indication of this venue on the Indy deck plans though.

Is this its own venue? Or is this something that takes over an existing venue like The Raven?

Also, there was a blurb about there being an up charge to it. Is that essentially a cover charge, or does it include drinks? We're not big club people, but enjoy stepping out of our comfort zone while on vacation. I just don't want to pay a big upfront cost to it if it's only going to keep our attention for a few minutes.

Thanks everyone (Bob :))

If they are going to the Kids program they will get some souvenirs there I think. Our kids got a bandana from the kids pirate parade, pillowcases and octopus keychain. These were all at the night program. This was also on FOS in 2014. They were happy with those things. Our kids were ages 3,5,7.

 

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At the risk of hijacking this thread, can you elaborate on the pillowcase take-homes at the night program? Did the kids sleep there until you came and picked them up at 10pm-1am?

Thanks, and sorry about your Canucks this year. You're welcome aboard the Red Wings bandwagon.

According to some of the CC members, those who share drinks on the package are partly responsible for the rise in drink prices across the board. Thus, by the same logic, those who buy the package for the all-inclusive feel yet order less than their money's worth are effectively keeping drink prices down for the rest of us.

I see no reason to talk them out of it. In fact, I raise my overpriced-no-matter-how-you-look-at-it glass to you, underdrinkers!

Cheers everyone!

I play MyVegas on Facebook and earn loyalty points just for playing. Royal Caribbean are a partner and release a limited number of complimentary cruises as well as discounts on cruises which you can "purchase" for loyalty points.

 

Normally I miss the complimentary cruises but I saw the title come up and bought it quickly before I even read where it was from. It was only after I had got it that I had to look up where Victoria B.C. was

 

 

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Wait, are RCI rewards back on My Vegas? This is news to me!

If they're chartering it for fans of that school in Ohio, then who's working the McDonald's drive-thrus that week??

Couldn't resist - Go Blue!

Boy does that sound like a bad idea . Hopefully they will offer these cards . Perhaps contact RC directly .

Eh, there's protections built in so that I wouldn't be charged for what's essentially counterfeit goods. But to Bob's point, it sounds like it's not worth pursuing without express confirmation from RCI.

Good news is, RCI is very consistent with what you hear from one person to the next. :D

Hi Jayson, it sounds like the 10 drink card us your best bet. The problem is there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason which ships they sell them on or at what point in the cruise. The good news is that they are 100% shareable and you can buy more than one.

Amen! If these are available, I'm buying a pair for my wife and me, and I don't have to sweat any of the BOGOs, drinks of the day, or morality conundrums. RCI gets $170 from me and everyone goes home happy.

I just don't get the sense they offer these cards on four night voyages. It begs the question though - do they ACCEPT the cards on all ships? Meaning if I were to buy one on eBay or something, would the ship honor the card even if they weren't for sale on board?