rjrpar

Traffic is awful ANY time of day....allow for slow traffic and delays. Even at 2am, traffic can be god-awful.

 

Aim to arrive around 11am...that way, boarding will have begun, and you won't have to stand around, waiting.

We had no traffic issues at all, breezed thru the tunnel and in the port in 5 minutes. A little congested in the terminal but we were on the ship within an hour.

Agree with arriving at 11:00. Very easy process

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Visiting St Croix for the day while sailing Celebrity Summit. Early February of '19 In order to get the husbands to cruise we promise them they can golf. Are there any courses that would be available to cruisers and rent equipment?

Probably get a better answer with Google. We were there a few years ago and saw no golf courses but we weren’t looking

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Yes, but only if you remove the $200 instant discount part of the "sale" price.

According to their website, the “Flash Sale” discount is only $75.

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Are C&A balcony discounts combinable with the current flash sale? My TA is telling me no

Thanks in advance for any info

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Most meals will NOT be hot... disregard the cheerleaders having 200 years of hot food with RCI:rolleyes:

Pizza and Burgers and any fresh options in Carnival WAY better! (y)

 

Overall food is better on Carnival.... but you can argue over that...

 

Food temperature is another thing anybody telling you that more than 50% of the food is served hot on RCI is plainly lying... ��

RCI is a trademark for luke warm food! :D

We are Diamond on RCCL and lately have taken a few Carnival cruises. Without a doubt, Carnival has better food overall, especially the burgers, pizza, and tacos.

We pretty much only eat at specialities we find the "free" food to be terrible so if speciality has become just as bad this might signal the end of Royal for us. We have been cruising Crystal and the food has been wonderful, we are going to try Royal again because our "Member berries" is drawing us to Royal.

 

I will log on and see if I can find Enchantment or Majesty's menus I am sure they will be similar.

 

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We were on the Quantum in March. The MDR food is terrible, I think they have finally cut the quality (and service) too far. We actually skipped the MDR several times for the WJ.

The specialty restaurants are much better but unfortunately, they also continue to cut quality in those venues . We also do not believe that they warrant the extra charges that keep increasing. We have started to look at more land based vacations.

Pretty sure I've seen little plastic PB packs just like the jelly packs you'd use for toast in WJ for breakfast.

That is correct. Haven’t seen them at lunch but haven’t looked

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We were in St Thomas in March on Silhouette. Very disappointed in the lack of effort to recover from the hurricanes - as though they expect everything to be done for them. Contrast with St Maarten where the constant background noise was hammers and saws. Next time we're in St Thomas we'll stay on ship.

We did a private 3 hour tour of St Maarten in early March. I totally disagree with your statement that St. Maarten is recovering well from the hurricane. We walked Orient beach and absolutely nothing has been done. Most of the restaurants in Grand Case are closed. Phillipsburg still has many closed stores and restaurants. Very few hotels are open anywhere on the island. The only road into Anse Marcel is closed by the government. St. Maarten will not be ready for vacationers in 2019. Maybe a few cruise ship groups but visitors wanting to spend time on the island will have to look elsewhere. We already booked 2 weeks in Barbados to replace our time in St. M.

Getting off Allure, I know the port is not far from the airport but has anyone done a flight as early as 11am? Is it too stressful?

You can be at FLL easily by 8:00. Not stressful for most

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odds of spending no money onboard? We got the soda package, prepaid for the shore excursion and plan to only eat at free places. Are we being unrealistic to think we can spend little to nothing onboard? No drinking or gambling.

And we complain about RCCL being cheap with their cutbacks. Quite an objective, spending no money on vacation

Dear all,

 

 

 

First RCI cruise......so from my understanding....there is no fresh grilled burgers and fries (like Guy's joint).....cafeteria style burgers and hots probably in some big metal container of "juice" on the buffet and soggy fries......No Blue Iguana or anything comparable to that on RCI.....

 

 

 

What great "FREE" food items does RCI have?!?! What is there to eat for lunch?!?!!? What am I missing here?!?!

We are Diamond on Royal and have cruised Carnival 5 times and have been on both lines in the last 6 months. There is no doubt that Carnival provides more variety and higher quality lunch foods than RCCL; Guy’s, burritos, better pizza, good deli, etc

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Remember cruising when you paid your fare and taxes and gratuities and that was IT? Now cruise lines, especially RCCL, are charging for basically everything- better food, room service, fancy coffee, yoga classes. My question is: What will they charge for next? How far does their nickel and diming go? Here’s my guesses:

 

Theater and show tickets

All food and drink (except tap water)

Flowrider, zipline, rock climbing wall, carousel

Public bathrooms

Hot tubs

Meet ups with dreamworks characters

Kids programs

Gym usage

 

What do you think? Where’s your line in the proverbial sand?

 

 

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You’re wrong. Royal doesn’t charge for extras any more than other cruise lines. You need to look at the overall cost of the cruise before criticizing the “pay for what you want” pricing strategy used by mass market companies. In some cases, today’s cruise prices are so cheap that adding specialty dining every night is still cheaper than cruising 15 years ago

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I would not go to Orient unless you wish to see the devastation. It is not ready for a normal beach day

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I will say that after doing some on my own last time, the ones through the cruise line are way less stressful. There are some I will do on my own, but may also continue to book some through the cruise line in the future. When they have sales, it brings the costs close to or the same as most of the reputable third party for the ones I have seen.

The cost is not the major problem with ship tours. They herd everyone around in large groups and too much time is wasted waiting. Check out the long lines on the dock of people waiting to start their tour, and it doesn’t get better

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I would also check with travel agents, they could be holding group space.

Good point, check with some big ones. They will be cheaper if you find one. Good luck

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I'm sure Joël Robuchon – 31 stars since 2016 is not the boor and oaf that Ramsay is with his 6 stars since 2016.

 

It's called people skills and respect two things that are not in Gordon's makeup.

You do know that he is a tv actor in addition to a very well regarded chef. If you know him personally and he always acts as he does on tv then you are right. If not, wise up and remember it’s all about ratings

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Please be advised/warned......the Shops on Board do not belong to RC! This was the first time we ever purchased an expensive piece of Jewelry while on board...a Diamond Bracelet to be exact...we were never given our "Certificate of Authenticity". Now we are home and just realized it...Called RC and they basically can do nothing since this is an outside company. Well I had to call them-now I am the one jumping thru all the hoops to get what I should have been given when we paid for it. This I feel is the responsibility of RC to get this right-since the sales people in the shops all had RC name badges on....who would have known this? We've been cruising for 15 years with RC and never knew this. It also was the first time we have ever bought a piece of fine Jewelry while on the ship....never again! Buyer beware!

Why is it always another’s responsibility. Aren’t you the one that forgot to request the certificate.

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You will absolutely get in. There is no dress code. Just got off the Anthem and the guy next to us had on a t-shirt and and a Yankee cap, turned backwards. Yes, on formal night.

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That happened to me as well last cruise..didn't post till on board 2 days. I have 150 OBC I would like to see post to my acct. before our sailing next month. I redeemed the in January.

Why? It will show up in a day or two once onboard

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Just a warning-if you are not a good swimmer they do not watch! DH had a very bad experience. When I told the head office they did say they gave the crew their walking papers because it was unacceptable. But DH will no longer go on a cat. I told the crew he needed to be watched, and we have swim all over the world but this time the crew was not what we had hoped for. just saying.

Not to start an argument but it sounds like you and hubby share the blame.

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Calabaza is 1st class, great food and crew.

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We have just concluded our day with Calabaza and I must say, after many cruises and tour excursions over the years, Calabaza was the best we have ever experienced. The service, hospitality, friendship, information, care and concern, and attention to every detail was simply remarkable. Every good thing you read about this tour is spot on! We spent the day with Gina, Aaron and Chris and will gladly return to do it all again on a future visit. It was phenomenal!

 

Kris and Jim from Colorado

We just got off Calabaza II on Sunday and had a great time. Crew, food, drinks were all 1st class, what a nice day.

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Ultimate Dining Package. Lets you dine in specialty all week for one price. For ours it is $168. Much cheaper than the difference to switch to a suite or an expensive line. We don't do it because we are fine with the included options, but if better service and better food is the main gripe (not sure it is), then that might be a great way to get at least closer to what you were missing.

This is an excellent point. Cruise fares are pretty cheap nowadays and the cost to eat in specialty restaurants still makes the total cost a good value. And the food is better than the

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We were in Puerto Rico in Jan, and just in San Juan last weekend- Sprint has good service in San Juan and Ponce.

Thanks, we will be there next week

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Any of the licensed taxi drivers will do a good job as a tourist guide. If you head to the cruise port taxi stand you will see a sign that outlines various tour options. If you want something different just talk it over with the dispatcher.

Any idea of price. We have 4 people and would like a 2-3hr circle tour going from the cruise port to Orient, Grand Case, Marigot, and ending in Phillipsburg. Not interested in long stops, just want to see the progress of recovery. Thanks

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