The C

Another tip is to not only read the floor plans, but explore the ship early. On the day of departure, if you arrive early and get onboard early, you can grab lunch then while the masses are still upstairs chowing down on lunch you can explore the public areas.

The public indoor areas should be mostly empty at that time as in port the stores and casinos are closed. Furthermore, on day of departure, half of the normal bars are also closed indoors. With so little going on its easy to explore and find the quickest routes around before the crowds build and its too late.

uh-oh...the elevator discussion all over again. i'm staying out this time ;-)

If you want a souvenir from RCI, when you purchase one of those 'Drinks of the Day' you keep the cup.

I found this out a few cruises before and as a result have a cool Royal Caribbean glass sitting in my cupboard...COOL!

Also for embarkation:

Have all of your citizenship doc's set out in advance. If you're missing a document RCI will shed no tears for you at the port regardless of what your T/A or anyone over the phone told you.

T/A's and booking agent's are there to ensure you buy the ticket. The port agents and port supervisors are there to make sure the company and you are within US customs law.

I previously worked for RCI part time as a port agent. There were times people were denied boarding (usually 9/10 times for this) and the supervisors were very unforgiving about this. Down to a point that as a 'hospitality professional' for the last 10 years I would be uncomfortable. Port agents and supervisors are more CBP than RCI even though they work for RCI.

This is mainly because RCI is charged a fine (I believe around $2500 USD) per passenger who is mistakenly allowed to embark on the ship. Nearly all port agents are part time therefore if RCI embarks even 1 pax mistakenly most likely unless the agent has tenure they are getting canned. In this economy if its their job (and company $2500 fine) or your enjoyment after you made the error or didnt double check, well they are keeping their job and you'll watch the ship sail out of port!

Secondly, if you are unsure about your docs bring everything. Its better to have unneeded docs than too many. Unlike CBP officers at the border port agents arent taught to be suspicious from getting tons of stuff. They are trained to weed your trash from useable citizenship docs they wont care. In addition, if what you brought by itself is not enough to embark, its likely that what you brought while it cant be used for embarkation purposes can be used to get an emergency passport issued and fly to the next port. Its an expensive lesson, one I've watched people learn many times over, but one that can be avoided!

When describing something like the LAX situation, I'd say thats more unusual than not. And personally I would have said something to dumber and dumber who snuck under the ropes.

Where I'm from people tend to get worked up about jacka**es like this.

Unfortunately this thread has gone from helpful hints to lessons on manners.

One tip I might give, especially for new cruisers, is if you find a ship you enjoy but would like to try new routes, look for the same class of ship on another route. Having experienced a ship before puts you lightyears ahead of the newbies who stop to look at the ships maps, those who wander the ship, and those with applications.

I agree with several of the people who stated its a cultural difference. Most likely brought on by the fact that buffet style restaurants in most of the USA (I've lived in Miami and Cleveland, and visited places all over) you're seated first by the restaurant host/hostess or instructed to find your table, then either you are provided plates to start or pickup plates at the food stations. This naturally carries over to the ship especially since there are no 'given' rules other than the obvious don't fight.

Rule of thumb is simply, the departure port will determine 90% of the time what the overwhelming population of the pax on the ship will be. Be prepared to follow the traditions and culture for those people.

I know the original poster didn't mean to offend, however it's quite difficult to not come off as offensive (especially in our ridiculously PC world) when you make any comment that includes the words 'quite rude' and a specific nationality.