Billy Baltic

If family ocean view = ultra spacious ocean view, then I don’t think they’re on Odyssey. There’s a handful of that category on Oasis class and independence class so it could be difficult bagging two of them. 
We’ve used them before and they’re a very good option for families although there are also the same room with a balcony on Oasis class which we love. 

I just want to make sure I got this right? People are willing to spend $1000 to sit on the rising tides bar for a few hours and watch a balloon drop? 

If so, I’m buying RC stock. Or building my own ship. 

What about B2Bs? Can you board with the allowance for both cruises?

I don’t know 14 people I’d like to share a stateroom with for the duration of a cruise. I’m probably the exception though 🤷‍♂️

Please don’t come back to RC. Prices are high enough without additional returning customers. 

On 5/11/2024 at 2:30 PM, Biker19 said:

This may affect future O class port calls in the Med:

 

Majorca Advances Plans to Further Limit Cruise Ship Entries (cruisehive.com)

Maybe it’ll force RC to be more imaginative. 

I’m far from an RC cheerleader but I don’t blame them. They don’t need people holding up rooms just in case they can travel. I recall some of the discussions on here before this and people would book multiple rooms and decide coming up to final payment which, if any, they would take. 
Refundable rates were never available for UK / Ireland bookings.  
 

I don’t cruise to watch TV but it is pretty bad. At a minimum, RC could show the same movies in the cabins as they show on the pool side screens. Families with young kids need to be back in their cabin earlier so some entertainment is needed. 

Bringing Netflix etc or buying the internet shouldn’t be required. It’s like buying food in port because RC don’t supply it 😂

7 hours ago, RobInMN said:

I don't necessarily love the smaller ships, in and of themselves. When it comes to the ship, I love the Oasis class and the amenities the newer ships have to offer.

However, I love where the smaller ships can go. We loved our Artic Circle, and Iceland & Ireland cruises. We loved doing the Panama Canal. Very excited that this new class will give us the best of both. Not to mention the fact that RCI is dropping the Norwegian fjords due to the new environmental restrictions that I believe they will solve with this new class (LNG?)

 

I think a lot of people would have a similar opinion as this. Smaller ships with modern features combined with access to interesting ports. With a bit of imagination on behalf of RC this could be a game changer. Families might be the core demographic but IMO a lot of families would pay more $ to escape the same 7 day loops that RC seem to be stuck in. 

We will be boarding Odyssey of the Seas in July and would like to bring wine onboard. Are there shops in the cruise terminal in civitavecchia to purchase wine and snacks? We plan on travelling straight from Rome to the port on the morning of departure and it would simplify things if we didn’t have to do elsewhere. 

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

SMH, stupid that it isn't a fleet wide policy.  My wife told me that the guy in front of her in the line was loading up on red bulls to take off the ship on that last morning.  He was using both his and his wife's D drinks.  

 

It's people like this who're going to ruin it for the rest of us.

A normal functioning company would have clear policies so people know what the position is. In that situation it would be easy to include in the policy that on the final morning of the cruise, D drinks can only be consumed onboard. If people like that want to abuse the benefit, let’s see how he gets on carrying 8 or 10 open cans of red bull. 

40 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Exactly!  USB-C to HDMI, like this one.   Purchased this cable from Amazon, but they might have one in the Photoshop or in Ponta Delgada if we're able to port.

 

 

 

That explains it. I have an older iPad which doesn’t have USB-C.  

2 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

I've also attached my iPad to the TV and it projected automatically.

May I ask how you did that? 

For a lot of people, increased movement helps with back pain. It may be that you did more walking, climbing stairs or swimming than you normally do. 

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

No, gratuities have increased for 2 reasons.

1. People keep paying them, so why not squeeze them a little more

2. The cruise-line is constantly increasing the pool of employees on salary assistance, ie. "other hotel services"

I’d add a third which is directly related to 1 and 2. It’s more money in the pocket of RC. 

8 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

 

Only way this will happen is if RC rolls all tips into the actual cruise cost, and not as an additional charge prior to boarding the shop or a daily charge during the cruise.  Until then it will be debated weekly, if not daily. 

I think you’re being optimistic. If it gets rolled into the initial cost, it will just become “I can’t believe you are only tipping what is included’. There is a group of gratuity police on CC who will be never be happy. 

44 minutes ago, gavvy said:

If you book direct in UK then for MTD you still have to pre-pay.

 

I’m in Ireland and I think we have the same terms and conditions. I thought that requirement had been removed. My bad. 

1 hour ago, DennysDad said:

I'm not real clear of her definition of pre paid. As in pre trip or pre paid each day. And she never mentioned MTD. 

Not mentioned but it’s the only way I can make sense of it. At one time you had to pay for your gratuities before the cruise if you wanted MTD. 

29 minutes ago, DennysDad said:

If 530 and 830 is too early and late for you, where will you be planning on eating. I'm a bit lost as to how that plays into your gratuity question?

I think prepaid gratuities was a condition of MTD at one time. I believe that’s no longer the case. Since the op appears to have been badly informed, they may have been given bad information here too. 

3 minutes ago, trevorcruise said:

i paid $20/day/pp for 4 of us on norwegian and felt the service was subpar.  disney is good but twice the money.  decisions decisions...thanks for the feedback.

Probably overly simplistic but move to a suite or a regular room which has bunk beds for the kids, that don’t take up floor space. 

7 minutes ago, trevorcruise said:

Not sure what you mean there Billy.  Can you elaborate?

Sorry. I was flippantly responding to your subject of how does it work. In my opinion it doesn’t. We were on Explorer last year and needed to use the sofa bed in our stateroom. The attendant and their supervisor were adamant that it was one visit to the cabin per day only. No exceptions. I put it away one day and nearly lost fingers in the process. But from an overall perspective, people go on vacation to get away from making beds. With RC, they increased the gratuity and decreased the service. 

It doesn’t work!

Personally, I don’t see the reason for posting that in CC. I hope the poor man is found safe. 

I haven’t been on Icon but I’d be surprised if there would be floor space for an air mattress. 

48 minutes ago, mo&fran said:

Problem is that the Oasis class , in the US , has had new terminals built to accommodate the number of passengers these ships carry. To get by this in the Med, they load half in one port and the other half in the other port. 

I don’t think this is the case. It maximises revenue for RC and choice for customers. The terminals at both can handle multiple ships on turnaround day.