jcc1025

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

Last cruise I figured out that hubby and I together drink about the cost of one single DBP, so I purchased enough OBC to cover the cost of one drink package.  We ended up using about $50 less of the OBC, so we spent it on lunch at Jamies on the last day.  Given the ridiculous increase in price for the DBP in the past six months, I probably wouldn't even put in for that much OBC, but it will be nice getting a refund for what we don't use.

This is brilliant.

6 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Don’t you hate it when some business doesn’t price their product the way you think it should be priced. 

Exactly, then don't buy it, make the calculations on your use and make a business decision. 

5 hours ago, matj2000 said:

 

You should try the new Virgin Cruise line.

 

Beers are $5 - $6, mix drinks are $9, Wine under &10...

 

 

What is the cruise price compared to Royal?

After 24 cruises we have been on every class up to Oasis, even including one that doesn't exist anymore. The decision is hard as we have liked each for their own different reasons, and in some cases, it might have to do with the Interary. If we had to pick one, it would be Oasis. Before that we liked Radiance because of all the outside viewing. Oasis class has so many option from the peace of Central Park to the party on the promenade and shows at the aquatic center. The food options are the best and we love Central Park 150 so it gets the nod if we can only go on one. We just got off the Radiance test cruise and had sailed on her the first year she was in service and all the upgrades are amazing. So they are all great in our mind and we are looking forward to going on Navigator in August. 

I seem to remember they close at 10:30 or 11:00

We were on the Radiance shakeout cruise about a month ago in LA before they moved to Alaska. It was a great time, but we could sense that a number of the crew were new and learning on the job. Like always they were all wonderful, but you could tell a lot of training was going on. There were only about 450 passengers, and this cruise was designed to give them some experience before paying passengers came on board. I got into a discussion with a long-time crew bartender in the Schooner bar on day and he said that over 2000 crew members did not return from the pandemic break. That Royal was working at recruiting like all service industries. He said no passengers had been on the ship in two years and that most of the crew had only just got on board as they had come over from Malta. 

The ship was in great shape and the staff in the specialty restaurants were what we would expect, it was more the main dining room and some of the bars that we noticed the learning curve. 

We see the same thing on shore-based service businesses and is part of the move back from the break. We have a couple of cruises booked and know that it will return to past levels and after working in the customer service industry all my working life I don't complain as much as others on this site. 

I am always amazed at the number of people on these boards who complain and complain about anything and everything but continue to cruise. Happy sailing to everyone. 

22 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Where is it located?

Deck 5 where the old coffer shop was, I think it is close to the Next Cruise office. They told us we were the first passengers on board in two years, so they have done some changes to the ship. It really was nice. We highly recommend Vince in the Pub bar in the evening. 

22 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Where is it located?

11 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

Good news:  Radiance doesn't have a Starbucks, so you won't have restrictions on where you can get your free drinks!

We sailed the Radiance's CDC two-day test cruse three week ago out of LA before it went to Alaska. The ship has been retrofitted and now has a small Starbucks on board. Not exactly the Oasis class size but still is now available for the Starbuck fans out there. 

22 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

How does peer pressure help? Neither you nor I know who the culprits are. All it does is affect the masses of people who have complied.

But if I was at a bar somewhere and they said they were closing until all have attended, I would start asking around to make sure everyone had completed the drill. Of course they know the stateroom number of the offenders and can go there but if they are just out in the common areas others might start speaking up. 

I agree, they can't make it any easier and some people still can't follow directions. I have a somewhat tough in cheek idea for RCCL. Like before if everyone has not checked in at the stations within an hour of sailing close all the bars until they all do. Then you can let peer pressure take over. 

While not much positive came out of the last couple of years, the change in the muster drill program might be the one exception to the rule. That and they debarkation process of staying in the stateroom until your number is called on the TV. 

4 hours ago, yogimax said:

It's all about the money.  Having people serve themselves results in reduced staffing needs and costs.

They have to measure that with the amount of food loss they get when people serve themselves. I am sure they have worked up those calculations and I don't think they take on extra crew to serve food, just flex crew from other locations to cover the period of time the Windjammer is open. 

I totally agree with the 401K crowd. I was working when this program was established. Started with 5% and as I got promotions and raises added to the percentage every year. I am 73 and retired at 56. I also went through a number of financial advisers, watching what they did and how they managed my money. I would recommend what is now an old book "Where's my Yacht". I finally fired them and developed a spread sheet on what I would need in retirement. Set up a portfolio that balances a little risk with a good return with dividend stocks that provide about 4% return regardless of the market movement. I have seen these ups and downs come and go (2008 for example) and don't panic. Prices and the market will move and this one, like the others may last for a year or so but I don't listen to media financial experts or opinion people on either money or politics and things have worked out just fine over the past 15 years. Cruising is our favorite vacation and we have continued to take one or two each year, Covid excepted, since our retirement. Take a deep breath, come back off the ledges and things will be all right. 

I would guess that they are experiencing some of the same distribution issues we are when we go to the store and that the distributor could not provide it for a period of time. 

That is news to me, been on over 20 RCCL cruises all throughout the Caribbean they always stayed on the ship sailings time zone. 

6 hours ago, topnole said:

Ship will probably remain on Florida time.  

Ships always remain on the time zone that the ship sailed from. 

On 3/8/2022 at 2:32 PM, Lane Hog said:

We did ours at a CVS two days prior, and got a text with our results about two hours after leaving the store.  That text brought us to a website, and from there I had an option to download the results as a PDF, which we did. 

I've got an Android phone, so accessing files isn't a problem.  Can't speak to what you'd do on an iPhone... 

During boarding, I opened up each of the PDFs on my phone, and it was a breeze from there.

If you're home or at a hotel, you could presumably open up the URL in the text, get the webpage, and download the PDF or print the results directly from the web.  I wish we'd have had it in hardcopy just to speed things up a bit.

We did it at CVS in November and had the same experience and have iphone. Took a few hours but they sent us a text and it had a Q code we could use at the port. 

Understand the cost savings but you paid a lot more for the cruise and missing it would be hard. We have looked at this a lot but living on the west coast now and flying east doesn't work unless we do red eyes. After flying a lot during my business career and knowing the many issues that come up, and that was before the current issues with air travel we always go in the day before, have a nice dinner, great sleep now worried about the nerves the next day at the airport. If something happens you have lots of time to adjust. Always worth the potential air fare savings for us. 

We were on Navigator in Nov. and going back in May and the new specialty dining options were great by the way. 

22 hours ago, Eddie Wilson said:

Don’t brand limit yourself on the islands.  I love to stop at local or street bars on islands and ask for their most popular local beer, as long as it’s cold, cold cold.  Had many a great beer, only a few duds.

 

Problem is without digging out my camera I can’t name them. Caribe is a nice been down in the Caribbean, only name I remember off the top of my head.

 

Growing up in Cincy, a beer drinking town with deep German Heritage, 

 

Eddie, 

 

I agree, I always like to ask what the local beers are and thy them since you will never find them back home. 

On 2/14/2022 at 4:39 PM, scottca075 said:

 

I am not sure staying on the ship is an option? It was my understanding that everyone had to go through Customs & Immigration. My memory is that there are some special accommodations for people doing B2B, but in LA staying onboard wasn't one of them. But things may have changed.

 

If you want to do something, the USS Iowa is pretty good. We did it in Oct (I think) and it was just like it always was, DIY or a guided tour option.

We have done B2B's and the ship will have a lunch or meeting with those passengers a day or two prior to getting back into port to explain the procedures. On disembarking day, you will meet in one of the ballrooms and a ship officer takes us off the ship to go out and clear customs as a group. Then you get back on usually prior to the general boarding. If you're not changing staterooms, you will have access to your room after you come back on the ship. They provide you with new Sea Pass cards. 

Agree with others, we have done it several times and love it. If you don't care what day you go then taking what you can get on board would provide a discount. We always had special nights usually formal nights that we wanted to go and those are booked up fast. Either way we love the experience. 

Have fun. We live close as well and so happy that RCCL is back on the west coast. We were on the simulation cruise in November on Navigator, and you are going to love this ship. It has just come out of the remodel and so many new options. Nothing ventured nothing gained on the Royal Up options. We got one last August on a cruise out of Galveston but as the passenger numbers start to move up, they may be harder to get. Couple of recommendations, if you are into the specialty dinning both new ones are great, and the taco bar on the pool deck is outstanding. We are going back in May and can't wait. Happy sailing. 

• Congratulations. There are some nice perks with being Diamond. You will get a letter in your cabin with all the specials and discounts so enjoy. 

On 10/17/2021 at 3:59 PM, jlmarr said:

If it's an overnight stop I'd recommend Disneyland, but you'd need to buy tickets in advance and make a reservation.   Else maybe the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

Agree, Disneyland is quite a bit farther so you would need time. Aquarium of the Pacific is great and its close to both ports, would still need to get a ride but you can do that as a day trip and there are lots of lunch options in the area around the Aquarium.