Ray in NH
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Posts posted by Ray in NH
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Wife and I have been on one RCCL cruise, and we got the email about new sailings yesterday along with a note saying since we were valuable C&A, we got 24 hour advanced notice.
Lucky You.
We have been on over 100 cruises and well over 1,000 days at sea, and C&A doesn't consider us "Valuable".
Just about the only e-mails we receive from RCI, or C&A, are the post cruise survey. This is despite many attempts to "sign up" requesting promotional e-mails.
Last sailed with Princess years ago and they still keep sending us mailings.
N Ray H
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So far as I know, the only particular perk for Signature Suites is telephone concierge.
That is not to be confused with the concierge(s) in the Neptune Lounge to which Signature Suites do not have access.
Yes, and the "telephone concierge" button on the telephone merely connects you to Guest Services Desk, but it does sound impressive. :D Meanwhile, the actual Concierges are truly impressive. :cool:
N Ray H
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I think they will have trouble finding their roll call until they figure out what ship they are on...and cruise line. EM
I was thinking along the same vein, until I saw the Sail date, then I just figured "I've had". Not the first time.
N Ray H
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Yes, Michael's Club is where the Suites Concierge is located.
The "special events" I mentioned were either a piano player, an acoustic duo, one evening the future cruise manager was also there (a couple of times) to help folks. The "shopping person was in there for a bit one evening, not much demand that time. Also there were reps from the Spa, for about 10-15 minutes, (not a lot of interest there either).
The only time there seemed to be an increase in folks in attendance, was when there was musical entertainment, maybe 3-4 times over eleven nights, and even then it was maybe only 6-8 additional folks, for a short period of time.
It is still a very worthwhile benefit of staying in a suite, with or without the little snack type bites.
N Ray H
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It will be interesting to see how much more crowded it's become (from our two sailings last year) owing to them opening up Michael's Club to all levels of suites... earlier this year?
Tom
We were on Equinox (01-11 February) and usually there were less than 8-10 folks in Michael's, unless there was a "special event". Even then there were always seats available.
I heard that a few times just prior to the beginning of dinner time there were more folks there, but no one spoke of "crowding". We usually stopped prior to dinner (eight-ish) and sometimes for a night-cap, after dinner.
N Ray H
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Question: On our last Princess cruise, we received a complimentary corsage on the first formal night. Does Holland do something similar? We don't do formal/gala nights and don't want to waste the flowers. We would like to tell the steward to give it to someone else who would enjoy the corsage. If they don't provide a corsage, that's fine too.
It has been our experience that the Concierge will now ask if you wish to have the corsage/boutonniere for Gala Night.
N Ray H
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Question: On our last Princess cruise, we received a complimentary corsage on the first formal night. Does Holland do something similar? We don't do formal/gala nights and don't want to waste the flowers. We would like to tell the steward to give it to someone else who would enjoy the corsage. If they don't provide a corsage, that's fine too.
It has been our experience that the Concierge will ask if you wish to have the corsage/boutonniere for Gala Night.
N Ray H
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Isn't the Dec 22 cruise 12 days?
Yes it is. My bad :o The following cruise on my spreadsheet is a nine-night one. Sorry about that.
N Ray H
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Hey, someone moved Orlando. Oceanfront now. :eek::D
Someone must have accelerated the Global Warming cycle. :D
N Ray H
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Bon Voyage !!!
Looking forward to another of your excellent reviews. This one will have special import to us since we will be sailing on Grandeur (9 nights leaving 22 December), albeit with a different itinerary. Our last sailing on Grandeur was back in December of 2006. It will be interesting to hear about her more recent changes.
Thank you for making the time to do this.
N Ray H
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Thanks for pointing out that the renderings they have posted are for the Koningsdam and not all ships once the new suite enhancements have been added. Well, I guess that is yet another reason for me not to get too excited for the Koningsdam quite yet. (I do enjoy that dressing room.) As it is I am waiting to hear from others how she is; being the largest Holland America has ever had I wonder if service or quality will slip a bit just based on sheer volume.
Then again I was on St. Martin when the Oasis of the Seas docked beside our ship back when she was brand-spanking new and I swore I would never sail on that as well: far-far too large. The past September we sailed on her and to be honest we never noticed the fact that she had over 6,000 people onboard. Royal Caribbean handled it all very well. But please note we are back to Holland America on our very next cruise - less than a month away. The Oasis was fine and we can say we have 'been there, done that' but we weren't ready to book another one quite yet.
We feel the same way about RCI's Oasis Class and Quantum Class ships -- too large, for our tastes. We did feel like they were crowded -- they can carry the entire population of our town. We go on vacation to "get out of town", not take it with us.
N Ray H
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We just got back home, we were on the New Years cruise 12/27-1/3 onboard Eurodam. It was a great cruise and I really liked the upgrades. We were only in an outside HH.
The new pizza is much better than the old one. It's made to order and you get a buzzer when you order just like in the Dive-in. The pizza could have tasted a little more, but atleast it's fresh now and you can composer your own if you want to. Didn't try the salad but tried the Panna cotta, it was acceptable.
It's still the old logo on the smoke stacks.
I can post some more and larger photos of the new interiors if anyone is interested? I have a couple of photos from Lincoln center stage (not very good photo though), Lido restaurant (minor changes), Gallery bar and Billboard onboard.
I think they actually changed many things, but it's difficult to detect/ figure it out. Was onboard last summer for a ship tour, but it's difficult to remember the details. Should have taken more photos both the last time and now this time.
Laurino,
Welcome Back !!!
I, for one, would be interested in your photos of the changes. We will be on board in a couple weeks and then again in October.
N Ray H
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Gallery Bar
Thank you so much for the photos. Of course it will make the two weeks until we leave for our cruise (24 Jan) seem to go even slower. :) Then we will have to wait until October for our 22 day Med/Transatlantic cruises, all on Eurodam.
N Ray H
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Jacqui,
You may add another for us:
Ray in NH -- 01 Feb, 2016 --11 nights -- Celebrity Equinox -- Ultimate Caribbean
Thank you,
Ray
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Yeah, that looks like a cabin from the Vision Class.
Here's a rendering of a post-drydock JS on Empress:
That looks closer to the diagram that is currently on RCI's site, which appears to be different (other than bed placement) from the photo.
This diagram is more in line with my (sometimes fleeting) memory. :o
N Ray H
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What photo of a JS are you speaking of?
This one from the RCI Main web-site.
Junior Suite with Balcony
I hope this works.
N Ray H
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Only thing that concerns me is her capacity. Cruise Critic article lists it at 2020 passengers. Not sure if that is double occupancy or max. That is a lot for a 48000 GT ship. Is it going to be hard to get any breathing room? Any comments from former passengers of the Empress are welcome.
It has been some time since we cruised aboard Empress (2007, IIRC), from the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. We hit it just right and received one of our first crystal blocks on that cruise to Bermuda.
The only instance of "crowding" that I recall was a pinch point, near the elevator, when leaving the MDR. It wasn't horrendous, but we remember it. Other than that it was a very enjoyable cruise, and a nice ship.
Curiously, looking at present cabin descriptions, Junior Suites (which we had) are listed as being much smaller than we recall. The accompanying diagrams on RCI's website are more in tune with our recollection. The photo supposedly depicting a JS looks out of place. :confused: But as I said it was a while ago. :o
N Ray H
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Final payments are indeed confusing. You can schedule a final payment with a TA on any day you like right up to the last day, but need to TELL them when. Otherwise they will put the charge through - shows up as a cruiseline charge - about a week early to make sure the cruiseline does not make a mistake and there is no problem with the transaction. My TA always asks when I want to make final payment. One I used in the past had a clause in the fine print that said payment was due one week earlier than the cruise line final payment date.
If there was a problem - a pair of numbers transposed - and payment was made on the final day you would likely lose your cruise. It is not a problem with any IATA travel agent making the payment because of large bonds if in the USA, but I know of no agents who do it that way because the problems are client payments being turned down (about 5%) over all sorts of issues. The agency does not want to be out $$ paid to a cruise line.
Perhaps things are different in different locales or circumstances, however when my TA makes the payment (either via telephone, or on-line), he knows immediately whether, or not, the charge has been approved and accepted by the cruise-line. This is similar to most, if not all, on-line credit card transactions, in my experience.
N Ray H
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My statement will read Celebrity Cruises, but the numbers come from my TA. Additionally, my TA doesn't keep my credit card numbers on file, which is a good thing. That's probably what happened.
I have used the same travel Agent for a number of years (and many cruises). He always makes our Final Payment on the actual due date (from cruise line), usually with a reminder a few days ahead that the payment will be going out. Never have had any problem, doing it this way.
N Ray H
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Ahh so you were the person she asked me for ;)
You are in for fantastic cruises IMO.
oh, and by the way, don't believe everything you hear:p
I believe every morsel I hear, and have not been disappointed. :)
N Ray H
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I guess it all depends on how one defines "premium".
My philosophy is that when we see an itinerary that we really want to experience, and the price is reasonably within our budget, we book it. Others may feel that we are paying a premium -- so be it. We are not saying everyone should be willing to pay that amount, but to us it feels agreeable, no premium involved. Too many factors come into play to give a hard definition as to just what constitutes a "premium".
N Ray H
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How soon do i need to book for a 2016 Christmas cruise
We have booked ours and some categories are already showing "Not Available".
Waiting may not be to your advantage. But, that is just my opinion.
N Ray H
C & A exclusive membership news! New Sailings for 2017!
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
Explorer is also doing Alaska this year, at least according to our reservation for a B-2-B this September.
N Ray H