ILCTCRUISER

As @OCSC Mike noted: Book independently. We rarely book RCL excursions. RCL does not operate the excursions: it partner with vendors. So, in the end, you’re eating a mark on a mark. There was a time when we booked RCL excursions and only RCL excursions. The “guarantee” meant something then. But social media changed all that. A vendor fails to get customers back to the ship on time? Bye, bye vendor! There’d be so much bad press on social media if that were to happen only a fool would ever book with that company. Viator. Shore Excursions Group (a private co. not affiliated with RCL or any cruise line.). Direct with provider. Such companies know that their existence depends upon providing customers with a good, no-angst experience. We’re on an NCL B2B Alaska in September. Our 4th and 5th AK cruises. We wanted to book a Kenai Fjord cruises in Seward on disembark/embark day. We usually use Viator. However it was sold out—-that IS, Viator no longer had any inventory. We called the provider and booked it directly with that company.

I'll agree. Then it probably comes down to the system RCL has in place for reserving tables. It's simply not that dynamic. There was a time when MTD came really close to being MTD. It wasn't all that long ago that the 6:45 (I think that's the time) earliest MTD reservation time was put in place. We always do MTD. Do we necessarily reserve a time? Well, there are times when we do because we need to be somewhere. More often than not we just show up and, at times, we do that before 6:45. And we know we're not the only ones showing up early, and it usually seems that there is a table available. Early seating reservation for a two-top doesn't show? Another thing we do. Line for those WITH reservations and those WITHOUT reservations. I'm sure some will find fault but we tend to go to the shortest line and I'll hazard a guess that we're not the only ones doing that. MTD was rolled out and tested on X many years ago. X offered it for $2 per person AND it was a small area set up in the buffet.

What we’ve noticed with NCL is that a short line for MTD (Freestyle Dining) forms just before the dining room opens. Should qualify that by saying, On the NCL cruises we’ve taken. Once the people in that line are seated, we’ve never seen anything like the lines one encounters on RCL. Princess also handles it well. Must add one thing. NCL does have its Free at Sea package. (Is anything really FREE???) This package includes x number of specialty restaurant dinners based upon length of cruise. That, coupled with multiple options for complimentary dining, does spread people out and that may alleviate some of the stress in the system.

Back in the day, I believe we were, but, as you suggest, that may no longer be the case.

Back in 2015 we were on a NZ cruise out of Sydney. Met quite a few Aussies and thoroughly enjoyed their company in the Explorer DL. One couple told us that they got to D status by taking four 10N cruises in a JS. At that time cruises out of Sydney were rather reasonably priced. And many NZ and So Pacific cruises tend to be longer. If you have the money and the desire to cruise, getting to D status doesn’t take all that long. D status does provide some nice perks. Cruising for points isn’t our thing. We’re D+ with 400 some points but I know we weren’t booking RCL cruises simply to pile up points. We’ve cruised Princess (Elite status), X, NCL and Regent. What do you really get by moving from D to D+? Two Hershey bars and a Coke. Book for the itinerary, possibly for the ship, for warmer climates during the winter. But points? Nah. Back on topic. What would we enjoy if it were to happen with RCL? No Coco cay. No slides or other amusement park distractions. Less nickel and dime-ing. Less horrendous techno-beat music on deck (it had disappeared but seems to have crept back). Fewer ships on which you need to pack a lunch in order to walk bow to stern. And, finally, here’s a pipe dream, consistency when it comes to enforcing rules. Just edited to add one really important item: MTD THAT IS REALLY MTD! It’s done on other lines and handled very well without time restrictions or long, long lines.

Apologies for not being specific. @dsindallas had started thread about 11Jun Navigator out of Montreal. We also had GTY on that cruise.

We had our GTY stateroom assigned today.

Right you are! Interporting. Overlooked that possibility.

If you go to RCL website and search Rhapsody cruises for this June, you will currently find 7N Greek Island cruises with Haifa as home port as well as 7N Greek Island cruises with Limassol as home port. Sail dates are essentially the same. It will be interesting to see how RCL handles the change of port given that most who have booked the cruises also booked air to Haifa and possibly pre-cruise hotel.

In past, we’ve been on cruises for which the SB (all meals) was reserved for Pinnacles due to their numbers. Of course, those cruises were the typically Pinnacle heavy ones.

Great choice.

@Ourusualbeach, when removing a pax prior to sail date, does it matter if the person being dropped is the primary for the booking?

@twangster As always and again with this journey, thoroughly enjoy your reviews!

One would want to believe that senior management undertook and relied upon market research before giving the go on a world cruise of this scope. Bad research? Maybe. More likely, valid research and an unexpected, less than desirable outcome. Of course, one will never know how this situation evolved (or more likely unraveled). As an outsider following this thread, it’s apparent that something went “wrong” and some customers including long-time, loyal customers are unhappy. It appears that, now, some salt has been applied to the wounds as RCL management, in what is often typical behavior on its part, chooses not to take ownership of the problem and deal with it effectively. It seems that RCL management often prefers to ignore a problem, believing that, with time, customers will forget and all will be forgiven.

@twangster So I'm not sure if the new locks make for a faster overall transit. I'll try to remeber to ask. Just did a PC on NCL this Feb/March. Didn’t seem significantly faster.

@twangster The new locks are new but lack the charm of the old locks. Yes, most definitely….

Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems that you’re asking about HH drink menu for Elite members on Celebrity. If so, you may want to post on X site.

We have but booked more through Viator. Interesting about the reviews. TripAdvisor owns Viator.

I think the majority of the complaints have been for those rooms directly under WJ. Personal experience: Had JS beneath WJ. Very late evening, midnight or so, we had noise from rolling carts above. We checked it out and found our stateroom was roughly right under the galley doors toward the aft (just before you exit to the outdoor seating area). Our guess was that staff was rolling out carts to replenish plates, etc. Lasted for 20-30 minutes and then stopped.

Yes! We tend to order Indian in the main dining room and search for Indian in the WJ. NCL offers a better offering of Indian dishes in its buffet.

And…does anyone believe that the screener who’s probably underpaid by the company contracted by the port authority (low bid) really cares whether or not you have one or two bottles of wine? Does anyone believe that this screener, if he/she does see a bag with two bottles of wine in it, is going to hold back that bag (and passenger) until an RCL rep can be found to confiscate the contraband?

@twangster certainly knows how to hit the nail on the head! “We are all different. Some drink a little, some drink a lot. Some use internet, some use a lot of internet, some never do. Put it all in a spreadsheet and compare all the cruise lines for a specific ships and sail date. Find whatever works best for the way you cruise. Just don't be fooled by bundles.” There is NO “free” lunch. The fact that something doesn’t appear as a line item on your invoice doesn’t mean it’s free.

@twangster Thank you.

Thank you. I was unaware that you could do this. But how?

A month ago, we took an NCL Panama Canal cruise. When we dined in the MDR or the specialty restaurants, the very first thing the waiters asked after introduction was: Does anyone have any allergies? Off topic here: Food in NCL MDR was a bit better than RCL. Specialty dining was much better for the most part. Ocean Blue wasn’t that good and La Cucina was OK. Cagney’s was better than chops. Le Bistro was the highlight. Waiters even do a formal reveal of the entree and the food was exceptional.