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Be careful you do not ask them to "point out" directions !!!!

We will be on the August 2 sailing of the IOS....someone posted on our roll call about two different large groups on the cruise. One was a Star Wars group, the other had to do with "Back to the Future" movie group.........not sure how many but could effect availability...???

dreday3, For your first cruise, do it through the cruise line.....safe and easy, once you have done a few cruises you will know what to expect. Then go out on your own. As stated , your tickets should be in your stateroom, if not just ask the stateroom attendant first, then go to excursion desk second. The ticket will tell you where to meet, maybe it will say 800am in the theatre and you all go off the ship in a group.....or you may all meet dockside by the ship at a certain time. There may be signs held up or on a pole with your excursion name on it. Just have fun....an excursion booked through the ship means the ship will have to wait for you...in case of traffic!! Been there!

People who say food is subjective are the best answer.

However, the food this week, this month or the last six months may be good, the next six months, month, week, cruise, could be just the opposite.

 

I agree completely. For many people, not having to prepare, cook and clean (like at home) and have a variety of choices is great. Do not expect gourmet food every meal. Our last cruise , the watermelon and some of the other fruit was just awful, but great on other cruises ? Maybe hit or miss where some of their supplies come from.

We'll be on the Indy soon.......hope they have good suppliers in FFL.

The Indy also has a Connoisseur Club deck 5 which allows cigar smoking inside. Usually in the evening. Recent posts of cruise compasses mention a time to smoke cigars with the Hotel manager around 800-830pm.

Has anyone used this recently ?

I agree with Bob, 8:00 would be a better choice. You could make a 7:30 show IF you get there right at 600, your wait staff is on the ball, and the kids last! Our grandson will last just under an hour....then time to leave! Also, will a 3 or 4 year old stay up for a later show? If you go , sit in the upper deck of the theatre, in case you need to leave early. Been there, done that!

We are very happy that DD is gone from RCI ships that were not designed for it. We have done DD on the Quantum in April...it was ok but too much pre-planning. I called it a "working cruise". We missed the traditional dining with other guests. We did not want to plan out every night. A cruise is to enjoy, not get stressed out. It is nice that there is a choice, if you want to experience DD just book a Quantum class ship or what ever Royal will build next. Maybe Royal should have addressed dining options/menus/food in the MDR rather than waste a lot of $$$$ redesigning older ships.

We are on the Indy in August (Eastern-San Juan, St. Martin, St. Kitts) and the Formal days are Day 2 at sea and Day 6 at Sea...usually good menus to eat in MDR. Another post has some menus listed, but another post said some have changed?? Maybe someone will post or put a link to the most recent menus on the eastern cruise.

Great news for traditional cruisers.....you might like DD if that was your first cruise and you did not know any better! We cruise to relax and our Quantum cruise in April was a lot of "work" making reservations, planning, etc. We want to enjoy a cruise.

Also off the most recent sailing...Quantum was nice, high tech , good shows, did the North Star , I-Fly, bumper cars etc. We still prefer the Allure or Liberty. Realized we will never go out of Bayonne again...sorry New Yorker's ! We are used to warm ports and ones easier to get around. Getting to Bayonne is a bear with traffic and you run the risk of not enough workers at the dock. The porters refused to put on the RFD tags on the luggage. They were so busy ???? Checking in went very quickly and Disembarking was fast and easy.The weather on the cruise was not good, little sun, cloudy and windy most of the time....but that has nothing to do with the ship.

Just back from the 4-24 sailing. Using the Royal IQ app, the text messages were free on our cell phones. They were in airplane mode, connected to ships wi-fi...we did not get charged for texting through the Royal IQ app but did get two days free (24 Hours each time) of internet use . We are both Diamond members. Internet slow, or hit and miss in cabins, but better in other "public locations". Speed good if you were in a good location.

For those who have not done "rotational dining" like Disney has on their ships, it works very well. If the no fee restaurants are A-B-C-D, for a 7 day cruise your order may be ABCDABC, another passenger may be BCDABCD, or CDABCDA, etc. You will hit three venue's twice while the other just once. I know on Disney , there was one restaurant we wanted to do just once, so we called Disney to get the rotation that did exactly that. Hopefully RCI will have similar requests....but really, the vast majority will not care what their rotation is. Disney also has it set so you had the same table number, regardless the restaurant and the same wait staff rotated with you. Hope with Royal it will work out as well. I am not sure what ships will do this , but will be interesting to read the comments!

We will be onboard right after your cruise ( the 24th). Please leave the ship clean and do not drink up all the booze!! Have fun!

To those who used it on the Quantum.....was there any Emerald-Platinum-Diamond-etc. discounts on the $14.95 fee per device? And if you call home on the cell phone what is the per minute fee they are charging while going through the Royal IQ app? Thanks in advance!

Never have received any pins.....have been Diamond for awhile. Was on the Jewel last year and will be on Quantum, Adventure and Oasis this year! But we still have RCI items given out from years ago!

Birthday suits are usually turned away!!

Nic & Greg.......once you have cruised it is good to book while on the ship. This will usually give you some level of "onboard credit" . Say you book a balcony on the future cruise, you may get $100 onboard credit. We also like to book a few "open" bookings by paying the downpayments. You still receive the onboard credit but once home you can decide which cruise to take later and the date. Then just call RCI.

For now I would check the RCI website for deals (WOW sale)

138east....thank you for your help. We will do as you recommended. We will have two suitcases and two carryon's so we will take the taxi from the Candlewood suites to the port. How long a ride will that be and estimated cost? You listed some taxi companies and phone numbers. Should we use these companies only and call for our ride or allow the hotel to call ahead and use who they get?

Thank you Bobkat for the texting info....will do it once onboard!!

138east......You gave me some information last fall on hotels, etc. My wife and I are on the April 24 Quantum OTS. We fly into EWR about 10:00am on Thursday April 23rd. We are staying at the Candlewood Suites in Jersey City, NJ ( 21 Second Street). Best to take cab from airport to hotel? estimated time/cost? To the ship on Friday , we have arrival time of 11:15-11:45am. Is taxi best again? Estimated time and taxi cost? I was the guy whose wife has to go to Buddy's Cake shop in Hoboken! We will go there on Thursday after checking into the hotel. Any suggestions on the best way? Taxi? Train?
Thank you for your reply!!

Just got off the 3/13 Quantum cruise. (we had an 8 day bahamas cruise so prices relfect the 8 day package)

 

Unlimited (2 devices) was $160 ($10 per person per day) before your Crown and Anchor discount - We are Emerald and it was 15% off.

 

Unlimited (1 device) was $120 ($15 per day)

 

Daily (valid for 24 consecutive hours) was $29.95

 

Hourly (valid for 60 minutes throughout the cruise) $29.95

 

Using Royal IQ to text/call other cruisers on the ship was free.

 

Hope that helps!

 

BobKat 406 ....... Can you explain the "using Royal IQ to text /call other cruisers on the ship is free". With an Ipad or smartphone, do you download the app , then use it while onboard?? Does it work even if you do not purchase an internet package?

Thanks for any information.

I just booked IFly for the April 24 cruise.....seemed like many times available.

Thanks and I hope we can pre-book the I-fly. I was only repeating what was posted from someone who had sailed the Quantum a few times. Mavbe it is hit or miss on pre-booking or they are trying to figure out what works???

We are on the same 4-24-15 cruise on the Quantum. I asked the same question on our "Meet and Mingle" roll call. The reply was from "gaylemh", her cruise critic name. She had done a couple cruises on Quantum already and you can pre-book.......once on the ship!! Not before. From posts I had read, I assumed you could pre-book the I-fly online....but no, only book it once on the ship. So I will see you in line to "pre-book" on board!!

Wow, we just booked the Adventure and the same itinerary for the July 18th cruise. Are you going to do a review? Thanks for any information.