Richard

Rented at the airport and used prior to cruise, returned to hertz drop off and they took us to the ship! We even rented one post cruise and they picked us up at the ship and took us to their location!

 

 

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If you need to be dropped of at the port after a rental just ask for Joe. He is great.

This is just me. I would not like to be in one of these cabins. People looking at you at different times when your sitting out. To me there's just no privacy.

They may be great there just not for me.

Tony

If you are on the starboard side you are under a bar and people can not look down into your balcony, on port side it is a walkway.

Richard

I am also on the 10/27 Regal sailing. Ditto on the menu.

Richard

Don't blame the FAA, you were the problem. You should have taken steps to protect yourself in the event of a delay be it weather or whatever. If you had done the prudent thing you would have bought cruise insurance and left home a day early. I guess you didn't want to spend the extra few dollars for a night in Ft Lauderdale or the hundred or so for insurance. I guess you learned your lesson. I have NO SYMPHATY for anyone who does not use their head.

We sail the Anthem on 6 Feb. 2016. I did the online check in today. We are Diamond Plus C&A members with over 50 cruises, sailing out of Bayonne many times. We usually board around 11, lunch by 12, in the room around 1 PM. The online process gave me a boarding appointment time of 1-1:30 PM. I called C&A and was told that is the new faster smart check in procedure. It doesn't make sense to me. Pinnacle or Diamond Plus goes to the end of the line behind a first time cruiser that checked in a month ago when earlier times were available? What happens if we get to the terminal at 11 AM?

You check in with no problems

If so, we'll be doing a 10 nighter round trip (Bayonne-Basseterre) on 1/15-1/25. Just wondering if you've run into any unusually high seas/storms that customarily are found in the Atlantic in December and into January through late March.

The current weather in the Northeast has been unseasonably warm while the Southeast has been rainy and stormy.

It's good to read any feedback from anyone so as to know what we could expect. One thing for sure we'll be wearing jackets and long pants until we get at least east off the coast of the Carolinas with no poolside activities planned....

Four years ago we were coming back to Baltimore and docked with 3" of snow on the deck in January after leaving there in shirt sleeves !

 

Thank you to all who reply,

Don

Sailed the Anthem 12/12 to12/19 and had beautiful weather except for Friday 12/18. Rainy and windy but seas were OK. Nice trip, enjoy yours.

Richard

Same kind of change on the 12/12 Anthem sailing. Had everything worked out for dinner and shows and RCCL goes ahead and changes show time from 9:00PM to 7:30PM. Of course I had a dinner scheduled at 6:45PM. Doesn't work!!!. Called a number of times and am told no other availability for a workable dinner time even though I am willing to change days. No e mail or other notification. I just happened to look at my schedule and picked it up. Told them you, RCCL, made the change YOU fix it. I have been calling for over a month and all I get is there is no availability. You, meaning me, fix it on board. You can bet that's "lots of luck". RCCL causes a problem and they couldn't care less. Wonderful customer service....did you read this Mr. Bailey?

Richard

I seriously doubt that the RCCL card is about to end... If it did it would be an open window for all travel reward card to do what ever they want with rewards and no consequences.

I might see a change of Bank hosting the card, an BA is doing some strange things now days to max profits. I just got a message that I may see some fees on there services, I said what to my self, I have been with BA forever, and if they start charging me for services "HI HO it will be off to another bank I go. Pain in the but, but some times necessary into days world.

After 31 years in the Credit Card industry, with a large money center bank, I can tell you that B of A can drop their affiliation with RCCL with proper notification to the cardholder. They are under no obligation to continue to issue a card with the RCCL logo or continue to issue points. If B of A does not find the relationship profitable and their contract with RCCL permits it they can opt out. They can also issue their cardholders another card to replace the RCCL card. B of A owns the credit card accounts not RCCL.

On the other hand RCCL can join another card program, as provided for in their contract with B of A, which they very well may do.

Richard

When can I print my luggage tags for a December Cruise?

Just received an E Mail from RCCL telling me my Set Sail Pass is ready for printing. Logged in and went to print my pass but message said could not print pass, try later. I called and the rep. told me, "Oh that hasn't been working for weeks". How stupid to send me a message and the system does not work. She said IT has been working on it for weeks. RCCL strikes again. Management better get its act together, they are quick enough to take your money but it seems like that's where their service ends. I have a friend sailing with me and they are having the same problem. Anyone else having a problem?

Richard

Unless there are 2 Rowenas. We were in 13234, SGS on the hump. On embarkation day she said she was supposed to not work our sailing but her backup never came so she would be sailing with us and getting off at Port Canaveral. The new man who came on was awful.

Either there were 2 Rowena's or she worked very hard and fast as we were on Deck 9.

Was on the same cruise, sounds like we were neighbors (Rowena left when we docked at Port Canaveral, the new attendant was horrible).

Also in seaplex was the typical basketball, volleyball, soccer fare and dance parties. Second floor had foosball, air hockey, ping pong and Xbox. Spent a lot of time in the Music Hall (karaoke, bingo, pool tables, dancing).

We came back with Norovirus unfortunately.

What you say is strange. Rowena was with us till the end of the cruise. Maybe they were training a new attendant.

Thank you for your review!

 

It sounds like you had a cabin similar to mine on my upcoming cruise. Did you have good internet speed inside your cabin or on your balcony?

 

Thanks in advance.

Sorry, can't answer you as I used the ships computer which were Apple's.

Sailed the Quantum of the Seas from 3/13 to 3/21. To summarize, the cruise was very good not to say there were a few minor glitches. To list the few problems we had: The RCCL App that I added to my phone said you could check the status of luggage. When I checked it said no luggage found. Needless to say this was wrong, thankfully. The selection of TV stations was horrible. No American news station only a foreign CNN. No free movies except TCM . If you wanted a movie it would cost $12. No regular programing, mostly channels selling RCCL. This was the worst TV selection that I have found on 22 cruises. No note paper in the cabin. Problem with breakfast service in the American Icon Grill, other meals were fine there. All in all the problems were really minor. Other cruise lines provide a deck plan in the cabin, RCCL does not. Finally found one at Guest Services after asking.

Now for the good: The ship is beautiful and well laid out, after a day of orientation I could find my way around pretty well. Dynamic Dining although criticized by some was well handled and provided for a varied dining experience, I for one liked it. The food was about as good if not better than I have had on other cruise lines, such as Celebrity, Princess and Holland American. The steak house Chops, had food as good as a NY Steak House and the Grande was a good choice for a complementary restaurant. The other free and specialty restaurants also had very good food and service. The crew was always very cheerful and did their jobs with enthusiasm. I had the best cabin attendant I have ever had. Her name is Rowena Silang and she was just a pleasure, kept our cabin spotless, responded to all my requests quickly and did this always with a smile and a cheerful comment. The entertainment was excellent. Mamma Mia was truly a Broadway quality production and ran over 2 hours . The singer was very good as was Starwater and Sonic Odyssey. Of course there was a fairly large casino with pleasant dealers.

Our cabin was midship on the bump out near the elevators. It was very well appointed with an adequate bathroom and large rounded shower with a glass door and rainhead showerhead.The balcony was extra large, being an S1 cabin, and had 2 reclining chairs with foot stools and a very small table. Internet was much faster than previous cruises and was reasonably priced.

There were many unique options available North Star a boom with a gondola that flies over the ship, on deck movies, Sea Plex, a large area for bumper cars, roller skating and basketball. You could also climb a rock wall or simulate skydiving with RipCord.

The Captain and his Officers were very visible about the ship and the Captain gave two presentations about ship navigation and general ship operation. Very well done.

All in all I was very happy with the Quantum and would most likely consider sailing her or her sister ship the Anthem again.

Anyone have a suggestion as to where to eat lunch on embarkation day on the Quantum. Let's exclude the buffet.

Richard

What restaurants are open for lunch on the Quantum of the Seas?

Richard

I heard the same thing, and called them. They are now saying 60 days out. But that isn't the case for the 3/13 sailing. They are re-working the show times, so people will eat quickly and leave the restaurants and go to the shows, as opposed to hanging out until it gets closer to the show time and then leave. They are doing this from what I understand to alleviate wait times and delayed seating for those with reservations.

 

It is a work in progress, so keep checking I was told. Hope this helps!

Every time you speak to a RCL rep you get a different answer. Never heard the one about revamping show times. That would be a good answer as to why I can't make show reservations for 3/13 sailing but was never told that by a rep...all I am told is IT is "working on it" and it should be up 60 days out. Oops its 57 days out now and still not up. How can you believe anything they say. Really doesn't make a lot of sense since dining reservations range from 5:30 to 9:00 PM.

We're going on the Feb 20th cruise on Quantum but all shows are showing you need to book online. Are you still able to book shows once you board the ship, for example the Starwater show? Thanks.

Have been trying to make show reservations for the 3/13 sailing of the Quantum. No can do as I am being told the system is not up yet. After being assured that reservations can be made when 60 days out it still can't be done. All I hear is IT is working on it. Well, they have been working on it for over 30 days and they still can't get the system to work. Talk about a bunch of incompetents. Maybe they need a 10 year old to solve their problem.

Frustrated cruiser

That's about all the negatives I have on our 10/25 repositioning cruise on the Royal Princess from New York to Ft Lauderdale. The cabin towels were not very soft and the pressure in the shower was not very strong. That's about all I could find wrong with this cruise. The ship is beautiful and has large public rooms. Yes, there is no midship staircase but I really didn't miss it. Other's complained about the elevators and except for the first day they were just fine. All of the food, MDR included, was very good. Well prepared and tasty. We had the best serving team we have had in 21 cruises. Dell our waiter and Ronald our Asst. waiter were very professional and knew their jobs. They were efficient, remembered our likes and had a good sense of humor.

We were blessed with perfect weather, sunny skies and calm seas which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the Retreat pool in the front of the ship. I have never been a great fan of shipboard entertainment but what I did see was OK. The ship has a huge library of films and the usual news programs. There was enough to keep one busy if they wanted. The casino was large and had the usual games and slots and I came out ahead too.

With all the negatives posted about the Royal, many by people who have not even sailed her, I have no hesitancy to sailing her again.

Richard

Hi everyone! We are a group of 8 traveling on the Royal Princess Oct. 25. We want to book the Crown Grill for at least one night. Can we book this before we even board or do we need to wait till we get on board? I seem to think we can't book before sailing.

From LI and going on same cruise. What town are you from?

Richard

This is to compliment Princess in seeing the error of their ways. When Princess announced the $3.00 room service charge and the $10.00 Alfredo's charge on the Regal I was extremely annoyed. I am booked on the Royal in October and expected that these charges would be added to my cruise. It is not the extra few dollars that bothered me but the manner in which they announced or should I "not announced it". I have sailed over 20 times with 9 of the cruises on Princess. My last 3 cruises were on Celebrity who did a wonderful job but I thought I would give Princess a try again as the Royal was sailing from New York.

When I read about the new charges on Cruise Critic I e mailed Princess Customer Relations expressing my concerns and to their credit they responded in one day however what I got was a canned response that everyone else received and did not address my points. I again sent another e mail and this time I received a phone call from a representative named Dale who was most understanding and polite and spent a good deal of time with me going over my concerns point by point. She readily admitted that their actions were not especially well thought out. I told her that I had over 31 years in Marketing and in my experience whoever made this decision should be looking for a new job. Now that Princess has seen how customer reaction to a bad decision can cause so much ill will I hope that they use a little more thought when handling such matters. If you read their response, Princess never said they would not impose these charges in the future but only say they will give more notice. The door appears to still be wide open but at least they recognized how big a mistake they made.

Richard

I've sent my email also!

I sent an e mail about the new charges and said if it is true then I will consider another cruise line....and I really mean it. I am Platinum having sailed 9 Princess cruises and just sailed 3 Celebrity cruises in the past 3 years and certainly will consider going back to Celebrity or going on the Quantum of the Seas. It's not the few extra dollars it's how Princess is doing it and trying to nickel and dime us. Very Very Very poor marketing and customer relations. I guess they don't care if they loose their loyal cruisers. This will turn into a BIG mistake.

Richard

Can you make Anytime Dining reservations before you board and if you can, how do you do it? I know you can on Celebrity.

Richard

We will be sailing on the Equinox 1/31/14. Normally we do self debarkation but this time have a sprained wrist and there this is not an option on this cruise. I'm so used to doing self debarkation that I'm afraid I didn't pay attention on other cruises to the first options after that. We want to get off ASAP to get on the road for a long drive. What time is generally offered as the earliest non self debark time?

We asked for an early departure on 1/20 and was given number 2 which was for 8:00AM and is right after self debarkation. No problems and were called on time. Found luggage right away and were at FLL by 9:00AM. Use a porter if you really want to get out quickly.

Richard