CaribeDiver

I think the smoking sections on the pool deck tend to be in the windiest area aft, and are usually less then half the deck. We like the Explorer out of NJ with the cigar lounge, no problems in the first day or last day's when you just can't use the pool deck for a quick smoke.

With the Quantum not having a cigar lounge, I think the casino will be well utilized during the off hours for those few bad days.

It's making me cold just thinking about that wind as you leave New Jersey!

Looking at your signature, do you really want to be enjoying a $10-$20 cigar and a nice glass of ??? and have the place filled with people smoking their nasty cigarettes? I know my local cigar shop does not allow people to smoke cigs in their shop because it takes away from the aroma of a nice cigar. Was on Navigator not long ago enjoying a nice Dominican and a glass of Knob Creek when these 2 people came in and sat at the couch next to me and lit up some foul smelling cigs. I politely asked them to move to the other side of the room as it was just me in there when they arrived and they got all holier than thou and told me they had the right. I promptly told them that this was the connoisseur club not some cheap pool hall and that it was meant for cigar smokers. They quickly extinguished their cigs and left. I got a thumbs up from John crew member working the club.

I recently called C & A to advise that we would obtain our next level of 210 on our next cruise on the Freedom and wanted to know if they still presented them to us while we were on the cruise. I was told that they do not notify the LA ahead of time and they don't present them to you on the ship. I will have to call after we get back and they will mail one to us. I had to call them for our first one. So I guess you folks that receive them on the ship are lucky.

 

Marc

You would think that if they value your cruise business so much as to give you a crystal block to commemorate your sailing then they would take advantage of making a big deal about it by presenting it to you at sea on the cruise you earned it. Don't see how this would be too difficult especially if they aren't personalized. I would be impressed to see a group of high up cruise staff making a big deal about presenting the block at dinner with a bottle of champagne. Just think of all the other cruisers who would be asking their waiters what all the fuss was about. We should get ours in a couple of cruises.

The specialty restaurant bill at the end of the meal. You still get one even though its added to your seapass card. We always tip well.

But this is what you stated that was confusing: If we do go to the main dining room, like we did once on our last cruise, we will leave that days full gratuities on the bill.

I think the whole gratuity thing has been beat to death. I prefer, as many others have also stated, to pay the grats at the end of the cruise in person. I like to look the person in the eye and hand them the grat and let them know that I appreciate their service. Now, I haven't been on an RCI cruise since 12/12 so I'm not sure how long this policy of prepaid grats has been in place. Do they provide you with a voucher/card to give to your servers/stateroom attendants like they did in the past? I know I was just on Carnival last month and they do prepaids and don't give you anything to provide the servers. I do understand that RCI is trying to help ensure their people get tipped and that some cruisers are out of money at the end of a cruise and need to put tips on the seapass but, it's still taking away the time honored tradition of tipping in person. I have done MTD once and did ask them to remove the Head Waiter tip (No Flaming) because I never tip the head waiters if I don't see them and they don't do anything for my party directly. I remember 10 years ago the head waiters used to stop by every night and help with taking shrimp or lobster out of the shell or talk to you about the upcoming ports and ask what we had planned. Then as years went on I saw them less and less and eventually just on the final night at the end of dinner service you would see them making the rounds to all the tables in their section. So, I stopped tipping them.

Check this link it will give you a good idea of the balcony and room on corner aft.

cruiselinerooms dot com Go to FOS and select room 7408.

Book one of the corner cabins on deck 7 if you can get one. They are cheaper than most and the balcony is about the size of the cabin. There is no one on one side of you so noise is almost nonexistent. You do have some of the superstructure in your line of sight but you get used to it. There is about a 7 foot diameter port hole on the side of the balcony so you have an unobstructed view there. The balcony is one deck up from the roof of a lounge on deck 6 so it's not in the way. The balcony is the prize on this room. So, book it if you can get it.

Not what you want to see on the beach on vacation.

:eek:

Formal wear on cruise ships seems to change every year you can expect many versions. Here are a couple.

:D

Kiosk in the middle of the shopping courtyard. Van picks up where all other excursions pick up, inside the gates.:)

Fee was $18pp.

Red Stripe beer was $12 a 4pk.

Other blender drinks were reasonable.

Jerk chicken with festival bread was $8

Beef patties were $4

Lounge chairs were $5 ea

Quiet, clean, friendly, great place to pass the day in Falmouth, PRICELESS:D

Did you feel good about the tour company you booked through? What is the timeline for the shuttle back to the port, do they run on a schedule or do we have a certain amount of time at the beach then have to go back? It appears buying in port is about $6 cheaper than going through the ship.

I am interested in feedback about these 2 beach breaks as well. And YES, I know there is a destination section on CC but there is no good info there about this. And, when Googling Red Stripe Beach there is only very minimal pics or details. Thanks in advance.:)

From what I'm seeing you have to pay a 15% gratuity on top of the price for the package so, if you go by XX pkgs $44x7x2=616+15%=708. So, dont' forget to add the extra $92 for tip. I wish they would bring back the drink cards they had in the 90s. For $50 you got a 10 drink card which included domestic beer, house wine and well liquor, tip included. We always bought 2-3 of them per cruise. Or do the drink vouchers they have on CCL.

On the ships I've been on the E1 has the loveseat by the balcony and the D1 has the bed by the balcony. We cruise mostly out of Galveston since we live in Texas and therefore sail on Voyager class ships. I do everything I can to book one of the corner aft E1 cabins on deck 7 as they have huge balconies which makes the smaller room not an issue. Hope this helps.

I didn't see anything about only twice per cruise. Did I miss a post?

The last RCI cruise I was on about a year ago on the Voyager they only had the eggs benedict on Tues and Thurs morning even though I was sitting in the Diamond section (thought there was supposed to be special perks there). They said that it was too labor intensive and not going to be available every day from then on.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post the new menu. However, it seems that there is nothing too impressive on the new menu. It's kinda depressing that RCI isn't doing much to improve the dining experience unless you pay for the specialty restaurants. The last Voyager cruise I took about a year ago left me without a single favorable MDR dinner memory but the Carnival Magic cruise (1st ever) I took last Feb had good food in the MDR every night. And I could get Eggs Benedict for breakfast every day not only twice per cruise. Come on RCI, I've taken a lot of cruises with you but the food is going down, down, down. Let's amp it up. Please!!!

How large is beach and how many loungers do they have? How busy did it get/how many people? Thinking of going but don't want to be like it is at the ship pool on a sea day. Does lunch for $15 include a drink? Thanks.

Ja-Ja!!!

Thought this was a great pic from cruise last January to GC. Look how happy he is even though he had been really sick all week and we had just come from the doctor on the island to get him some antibiotics.

This DS in Grand Cayman Feb, 2011.

DS &DW in Cozumel Feb, 2011.

Organized a Poker Run/Cabin Crawl with M&M participants one cruise. We basically chose as many different cabins types as possible up to 7 cabins. Then we collected $5 from everyone and did a 7 card draw poker game. At the first cabin everyone was dealt a 7 card hand (one hand per participating cabin not person) and every cabin host served some kind of cocktail too. So, at each cabin you were dealt one card and one cocktail (nothing big just small cups). We saved the largest cabin for last and when we got there whoever had the best poker hand won the game and the pot that was collected. Of course by the last cabin and 7th cocktail we were all feeling no pain and had a good time partying. You can choose to forego the cocktail and do something else but, the poker run is a fun little touch.:D

How are you trying to post your pictures?

 

Are you trying to post a picture that is on your hard drive? If so, what you are posting is a link to the picture that is on your hard drive. Thus, while you are signed on the link works. Once you sign off, the link to your hard drive is gone, and nobody else can see the photo.

 

What you need to do is upload your photo to a photo hosting site. There are many. I use both Photobucket and Webshots. As far as posting to this forum, Photobucket is easier. Here are links to both ...

 

Webshots - http://www.webshots.com/

Photobucket - http://photobucket.com/

 

This photo is from Photobucket. I don't think I have posted this photo yet. It is a picture of the Freedom of the Seas anchored off the cost of Cozumel before the pier was rebuilt ...

 

 

This photo is from Webshots. It is a picture of the Royal Suite on the Freedom of the Seas - or a picture of cabin 2608 on the Monarch. I forget which ...

 

If that's a pic of the Royal Suite then I'm getting ripped off!!!:p

This thread seems to be moving really slow so I'm going to add something to get it moving. Does anyone have any GOOD comparison/contrasts of the Freedom class ship to the Voyager class ship? I'm sailing Sept 21, 2008, (deck 7 corner aft 7408, had same cabin on VOS in Feb) and am hoping there are some differences that will not make it feel as though we're on a bigger Voyager OTS. Keep in mind it's DW & I in our late 30's. Thanks.:)

Hey Cuizer2? You need to resize your pics before posting them.:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73708&stc=1&d=1206129444

Buy a 12 pack of Coke, carefully unseal the box, empty the Cokes, replace with favorite canned beer, reseal box. Voila you're just bringing some Cokes on to drink.;)