firefly333

25 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Any rope picture is a good rope picture, but I like your first picture the best.  A great picture for me shows the bollard in the immediate foreground with the mooring lines leading off into the distance (drawing your eye into the photo).  Bonus points if you have the ship name in the distance.  Double bonus points if you happen to be on the wrong side of the "do not cross" line on the pier. 😜

12 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Rat guards. 
 

Bob what's a bollard, that you say you see, so I can get it closer next time.

So those metal things up higher on the ropes on icon are to keep grats off the ship. Is this a common problem that rats try and get up the ropes? I just see those metal things on icon ropes, didnt see them on adventure. Each icon rope had a metal thing up a ways you can kinda see in my first 2 pictures. 

Well hot and muggy and sunny has returned. I was happy with cool and rainy and windy. 

Hi I always see pictures of the ropes holding the ships. Is there a rule of thumb what people want in the picture. Close up of the rope? I took some far away of icon so the ship name shows. Some close ups of adventure. What should I take in the shot that makes it a good rope picture. Icon had some kind of plastic things up higher toward the ship I took in one picture though it's not good of the ropes. But never saw the blue plastic things. I could use some pro pointers what it is people like in rope pics. Coco cay, 2 icon, 2 adventure to compare.

9 hours ago, Moon Orchid said:

Hello - It's buffet style and located in a small dining room on the first floor near the main lobby. The staff just ask for your room number upon entering. Plus it was never crowded when we ate at 7-8 am. For food choices, there's the standard scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, yogurt, croissants etc. There's also some pastries that you can munch on to go with the coffee / espresso offered. It's a light breakfast, but definitely fills you up enough to last until lunch. In case you want to relax after breakfast, before you head out for the day, or after a long day in Rome there's an additional large sitting room behind the reception desk that is very comfy too. Hope this helps!

Ham and bacon and scrambled eggs to me is a real breakfast, more than what I would have expected. I was thinking just bread or pastries when you all kept saying not a full breakfast. Juice? Or just coffee, though I'm good with coffee if there is cream. Cant drink it black. Sounds filling to me.

What is a big breakfast to you? Sounds great to me. Thanks so much.

I've done celebrity and it was different, a change. The bathroom seemed bigger, better amenities at the time. Furniture nicer and more wood. I'm still in the idk category. I'll do it again but wasnt so thrilled I said boy this is my vibe. Cant wait to do celebrity again. I'm still deciding if it's worth more money from me. Being solo i felt like I'm paying for amenities for 2. Royal at DP340 is better priced.

21 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

@Keksie. How's the weather where you are?

I read on another cc thread that Voyager changed their NE/Canada sailing to bahamas due to weather up your way. 

Bahamas is rainy. We did nassau today and it rained again. Some guy said this just isnt the cruise to see stuff. .. though if it's me I just go and do what I want. But not good beach days ok. Nice and cool for a lovely change.

Tomorrow is coco cay. I dont think the rain missed us even one day but I love storms. Just saying the Bahamas arent exactly where it's better perhaps weather wise. A bit rainy. 

On 9/10/2024 at 1:13 PM, JGmf said:

We just came back from 10-day med cruise with 4 days after in Mallorca.  We used two ATM's there, but the exchange rates stunk, even though I was careful to use proper bank cards and proper ATM's.  Next time, I'll go to AAA to get the funds.

 

That said, for about two weeks, we went through about 300 euros, between tipping excursion and tour guides, leaving a nominal 3+ euros as a tip at Italian restaurants, and buying fresh figs, fruit, and other awesome bites from the zillions of street stand, etc..  

I'm solo so I assume in 4 days less? You say we used 300 euros... how many is we. 

On 9/3/2024 at 4:26 AM, Moon Orchid said:

We stayed at this hotel for 3 nights and were very happy! Huge thanks to all the wonderful people of Cruise Critic for recommending this hotel. It’s a very nice hotel, quiet despite being directly behind the Pantheon, and great location that’s within a walkable distance to everything. We only used taxis to get to the Vatican and Colosseum, everything else was less than 10-15 minutes walking.

 

We had the superior double and our daughter had the superior single. Both rooms were clean and spacious. The staff were always pleasant and gave us free water bottles every day. The hotel breakfast was also good.

Nearby, we ate lunch at La Sagrestia, which was average pasta aimed more towards the local crowd. For dinner, we walked to Saltimboca which was only 8 minutes from the hotel. It was so good we ate there twice and enjoyed the patio seating. On the last night, we ate at Osteria da Fortunata, also close to the Pantheon. For dessert, we loved gelato at Frigidarium and Venchi. For great midday snacks, we had pastries from Roscioli’s and Bona pizzas.

Overall, lots to see and eat while staying at this hotel’s perfect location.

 

On 9/17/2024 at 7:25 PM, LEtue said:

Just stayed there in June with my family and it was wonderful!  The breakfast was great too before heading out for the day.  Highly recommend!!

Could one of you tell me what they offered for breakfast. Is it brought to your room, not a buffet.

Both of you say it was great, but neither says a word about what the food was. Coffee juice, bread... what else? Anything pastries? Give me a hint please. I am booked next may and have a excursion I meet at 9 am. Will I get enough to last me until a late lunch. 

Thanks. I've never been and so I really do not have any idea what to expect. 

On 9/18/2024 at 5:56 AM, babs135 said:

Giving serious consideration to a 8/9 night cruise on the Venezia out of New York in November (package includes a night in the Big Apple).  I know that Carnival has a reputation (rightly or wrongly) as being a fun-line, but what does this actually mean?  We are senior citizens and still like to have a good time, but neither of us able to get up and party anymore - the knees don't bend like they used to!!!  Will it be very noisy - can take the hearing aids out!!!!

Any other travellers about the same age as us are will it be mainly younger people - will I have to take DH's spectacles off!!!!

Value any genuine comments please.

I did a 14 day journey cruise and we had 11 kids onboard. More fast food and a awesome country band, we were out of texas. 

The longer not only fewer kids but imo more seniors. Market was cornered on scooters and walkers on my very senior cruise.  The 14 day journey cruises I think younger people cant take so much time off and in a hurry. Nice cruise but i didnt see the partying side but lots got up to dance when the favorite band played. We followed them from venue to venue, sorry for that younger band. People want good music not a girl in a short mini skirt at a certain age. Turned out the country band was from south africa, so funny to talk to them and hear them talk. They learned 800 country songs and sounded like the real thing then that almost British twang when they spoke. Hahahaha.

24 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

A nice pinnacle benefit. P's cruised lots, paid lots, or gambled lots to get  to Pinnacle.   Allow that group that benefit please😀  

M

Oh please. This whole thread is a joke imo. As I first posted everyone likes freebies. More more everyone in america says.

My wishes were joking and besides I'll be pinnacle myself by the end of next year so I was being smart alecky. 

Also ask if any obc different. I think I usually get a $50 obc for booking early. If you are within I think 6 months can lose this when repricing. When I hit 340 pts i couldn't reprice close in. Group rates were withdrawn about 4 months out. Cant reprice of course within final payment. Though they finally kicked in took longer than I hoped. Had to wait first for pts to add. So 4 months since I do group rates mostly plus the days for my pts to post. Got there in sept, couldnt reprice last week of January. 

On 9/15/2024 at 7:46 PM, bbstx said:

I have already bought a drinks package for a reduced rate.  When I bought it, there was a lot of advice in the forums to “buy now, but cancel and re-buy if it goes lower on Black Friday.”  How do I do that?  Every time I try to check the package price (ok, I know it isn’t Black Friday yet), it just shows me the current package I have bought.  If it goes lower, will I be able to see the new price?

On 9/16/2024 at 1:41 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

For what it’s worth, there wasn’t any significant discount on the deluxe drink package last Black Friday (at least not on the roughly dozen cruises I had booked at the time). 

I second this. They did have excursions on good sale 30% off last time 35% the year before. Lunches 40% off. 3 or 4 person wifi on sale ... but didnt see drinks on particular sale. People advising you maybe dont remember that drinks werent on sale last 2 years on black Friday in particular. Nothing special sale. Agree with philly fan on this .. dont expect everything to be on sale. 

25 minutes ago, Ken at the beach said:

Book now. Book as soon as you decide on the cruise you are going on.  It is pointless to wait wither for the extra discount or for those waiting to book on board.  The vast majority of times that you wait and extra savings will be lost as the price most likely will have gone up.  

I agree up to a point. Book when you see a price you can live with. But imo royals pricing power is eroding. There are signs the economy is softening and royal is running into a wall on ever increasing prices. You too have seen some better prices you posted as have i. 

If 6 other travel stocks all said bookings are slowing its naive to think royal is immune. ..though what will be popular to some degree is impossible to predict. So book ahead is good advice. But I believe there will be more good last minute deals too. I'm ready to pounce if only I had more free time. Prices are not going up like before from what I'm seeing though. Some like that Panama transit though if you wanted a balcony book asap. Or if you are picky about your cabin book sooner not later. 

You cannot prebook shows on those smaller ships like adventure.

I'm on adventure right now. The 2 tenors was a good show but who knows when you are on. I really enjoyed the finale of the adult karoke. Really good talent among the passengers onboard. Though the best imo didnt win. So I was glad I saw the top ten.

I'd sure love unlimited wifi at my level. I'd trade my drink vouchers if we are all sitting around wishing and hoping. 

1 hour ago, chrob said:

What are the 2 dining times (early & late sitting) on Oasis of the Seas when you do not want anytime dining?

Usually around 5 and 830 pm. One a tad too early, one way too late for me. 

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I think going from 4 drinks to a soda package is a bit of a stretch. Yes, they may get their favorite soda but some people can drink that stuff all day long.

People always want more free stuff, its life. Hahahaha. I grabbed a can of ginger beer to put in my refrigerator downstairs right now. Who wouldnt prefer free unlimited of their favorite beverage. I dont drink liquor so sign me up for more and more free. Just kidding. 5 a day is plenty for me and then some. 

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Sorry that you had some rain in Bermuda.  Hopefully you enjoyed your travels by bus and ferry.   Did you fall in love with the island and want to return?    

It's one of our favorites.

Like I said it only rained when I was on the bus, dry. So the rain didnt bother me, missed me. The next day was more rainy. I tried to get some pictures with lightening in the port but I cant click fast enough. Pulling into nassau now, tomorrow coco cay. I snapped a light house picture for ocean boy. 

Yes I loved nassau, too bad this is the last cruise out of florida listed going to Bermuda. I'd have to drive to NJ or Baltimore.  I just wish there were more scheduled on royal to Bermuda. That's why I jumped on this one so last minute. No more.

First is nassau coming in, other 2 port of bermuda with lighting kinda cool time. I love the rain and brought a poncho. 

Greetings from adventure ots. It has been cooler weather which to me was great but not so much for those wanting to swim. I did the ferry and the bus in Bermuda. It rained while I was on the bus but missed me. But a lot of excursions got cancelled so I was lucky the ferry and bus ran. I was told by some Brits if you get on the bus be sure to greet them and say hello. Boy howdy did I have a girl with a attitude toward us americans who dont know how to show respect. It's not just getting on the bus its walking into any building you greet people. And she and her friend were on about respect while she was driving, she wants to change the world. Her friend said dont take a picture without asking, so I said ok may I take your picture. All part of the adventure. Interesting island. She told me she had 60 seconds to take her picture. 

11 minutes ago, Justmekaren918 said:

Curious can your concierge call down to Muster G1 to say my handicap client knows where it is and she's shown her phone she completed everything else. Seriously Royal I have the only HC CLS and I have to walk to the Aqua Theater in the heat & humidity. Plain not cool Royal. Couldn't I, 1 person get a spot in 1of 3 dinning rooms🤔

Unfortunately all must complete it and show they know where it is by showing up. It's annoying on a b2b2b2b I have the same cabin but do it 4 times. Just one of those things. Genie or concierge cant give you a pass that I'm aware of 

7 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Why are you so adamant a fraudulent charge could not appear to be from Royal. That is exactly how many of these charges go undetected and the fraudsters get away with it. I have had fraudulent charges appear to be from Apple, a company I do business with, and from a couple other major businesses as well. They are wise to make it appear to be from someone you do business with so you are less likely to spot it.

 

OP called amex. The amex rep can see specific information relating to the merchant. Maybe the amex rep didnt want to get into it but they see a merchant # and address. It would be obvious if this were a fake similar name ..though I guess you are right, but I'd hope the amex rep looked and would say if it werent really royalcaribbean. More than just a name is on the charge the amex rep is seeing. 

But I get it possibly they had their fill of customers that day and didnt want to say. But if they looked at the charge to see it hadnt been billed yet, they could see the merchant info. Charges do get billed in error people. Or double billed. Lots of billing in error that is not fraud. It's a mistake. 

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Welcome to the world of credit card scams.  There are many ways for people to obtain your CC information without actually possessing the physical card.  Card skimmers at gas stations or other venues is a well known scam.  Online merchants getting hacked is another.  

Just to add to your information. If you put your card in a gas pump and there was a skimmer... the card was out of your possession,  you put it in the machine. So this probably is fraud. Or in a restaurant the waiter takes your card around the corner and later there were extra charges it was out if your possession.  

But the chances of the billing merchant being royalcaribbean is slim and none. Billed in error. The op said he changed from a connecting cabin. Who knows, but the merchant name says it was billed from royalcaribbean ... this is important. This is the merchant the dispute will contact. Let's say the merchant doesnt answer within the 3 weeks allowed, late or never answered. We charge back. .. whatever the charge was no one ever knows. Let's hope it doesnt affect his booking. 

Unless you can explain how this gas pump skimmer billed thru royal .. ..facts matter in a actual billing dispute. I'm explaining how a dispute works. We write the merchant who billed the charge. OP said first post was a royal charge .. then later says fraud. I'd bet you its not fraud. And I speak from experience. 

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

True, they don’t exactly hire Nobel Prize candidates😇

And I'd bet whomever they talked to wasnt working in accounting. I've had customer service agents tells me obviously wrong things... call back and escalate it to accounting. Finally a post that makes sense. Common sense. 

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Welcome to the world of credit card scams.  There are many ways for people to obtain your CC information without actually possessing the physical card.  Card skimmers at gas stations or other venues is a well known scam.  Online merchants getting hacked is another.  

I didnt say it wasnt possible. I was stating what amex considers fraud. And saying stick to facts. The OP doesnt recognize the charge...is a fact. Jumping to a conclusion without knowing where the charge came from is what is so tiring, people who think they know it all and insist they know when they dont. 

If the charge shows as being billed from royal it could be somehow they think op is making payments, any number of things. I cant tell you how many idiots there are out there who have no listening skills. They know it all. So we removed the charge. Then they call me back screaming the merchant still wants his money and we said they were right. No we very carefully worded it saying the credit will remain on your card. I did this for like 3 years and only college grads were hired. The rules are different than you assume. If I had a  nickle for every card member who threatened me daily with cancelling their card if I didnt remove a charge, I'd be rich. Daily loses its impact...just another person with no listening skills. Yawn. Some people only think that know stuff. .. I'm very cognizant of the laws governing disputes. 

Fact the OP says the charge reads it came from royal. If people like you want to assume some gas station embezzled their card in a scam and marked it royalcaribbean... lolol. Alert. ..look at the merchant name before making assumptions. And assuming this is fraud is a assumption not known at this time. I still agree with ken .. there is probably a reason or the merchant name wouldnt read royalcaribbean. Ken so far is the smart post here... honestly what are the odds a gas station skimmer is billing as royalcaribbean... think about it. All the OP knows is "he doesnt recognize the charge" is a dispute reason. Facts matter, not assumptions. OP asked a customer service agent, probably not accounting. Amex will not open a dispute based on assumptions. Only facts. I'm trying to tell you how a dispute works .. not how you are thinking. 

9 minutes ago, grouchomarx said:

I posted here after calling Royal and before calling Amex.  I figured they were not going to be helpful since it was still pending and wanted to find out if anyone had any ideas about what this could be to hopefully easy my mind because I am worried about this charge and if someone has my cc # and used it fraudulently.  Also it takes time on hold to get through and in that time I was able to post looking for help.

6 minutes ago, Ken at the beach said:

Call Royal.  Get the agent to reach out to accounting.  They can absolutely search for charges by credit card number and link it back to the purchase.  It is just getting the right person.  I have had to do this several times

I would make sure the charge wasnt from royal before disputing the charge. Amex has a different definition of fraud than most card members. How was the card out of your possession for someone to hack it? They have a dept for fraud but I doubt this is the def of fraud on a credit card if the card was never out of your possession. I would be careful throwing out the word fraud if you had possession of the card. It's a unknown charge. Period. Claiming to be hacked or lost card can be more bother for you. Just say you "dont recognize the charge". It will just waste time going to fraud, being rejected, kicked back etc. 

Take Ken's advice and get someone to ask accounting, escalate it yourself. Disputing should be a last resort, and can have consequences you didnt anticipate. 

1 minute ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Have you read the first post yet?  😄

Yes posted 1 hour ago. I would have called by now..or as I said before posting it here. Why post such a snarky response. ..turns out OP did call within the last hour.