rudeney

3 hours ago, dada2199cc said:

I think the system is fair.  I grew up poor so a higher tip would reduce the number of people cruising.

 

I can afford to tip, and the service has always been shockingly good and I want to reward not just their service today, but encourage them to return and tell their friends to sign up.

 

It is a tough job and it is not for everyone.  Folks who hate the life leave after one contract.  Folks who commit longer end up building homes for their families and sending their kids to private schools, etc.

 

I am low maintenance aboard but I still like being taken care of.  I don’t suggest my routine for anyone else — tip as you want to, or don’t!  I don’t shame anyone who doesn’t feel a tip is needed, or can’t afford it, or whatever.

I am with you on all that!  I was just pointing out my observation that the effort for a stateroom with 1 person vs. 2 is really no different, but it is when there are more than 2 in the room. 

2 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

Royal has a pretty reliable lounge chair reservation system, it's called book a suite.  No other system needed.

Good point!  I've never had an issue getting a chair in the suite section.  

10 minutes ago, cynt said:

 

NO! I do not want to check out or reserve ANYTHING ELSE on a cruise! Let the chair hogs have their chairs by the pool. I don't want them anyway. I'm perfectly fine lounging in a chair with shade. We reserve enough things on Royal ships. HARD NO to reserving lounge chairs. 

I wasn't really saying you have to "reserve" a chair.  What I was trying to say is make it a monetary penalty, like the $25 they charge for failure to return a towel.  They can put up signs and threaten to remove belongings, but until chair-hogs get hit in the wallet, they will keep doing it.  So maybe instead of reserving a chair, you go to the towel stand and have your SeaPass card scanned where you get a card to place on a chair that you are using.  To get your deposit back, you have to return the card.  The crew can watch and whenever a card sits on a chair for more than 30 minutes, they collect them and the hog loses the deposit.  

21 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

30 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Is a DL staff member severing the CAS HH snacks in the DL or has it gone back to self serve? 

 I wish I could answer that but we are not Diamond yet and can’t go in. If I can find out the answer I’ll let you know.

I suspect is self-serve.  We aren't Diamond, either, but two weeks ago on Voyager, everything in the Suite Lounge (except bar drinks) was self-serve.

17 minutes ago, dada2199cc said:

Well they don’t pay them less — they get less tips.

 

A Jr suite with 1 guest paying $16.50 a night versus 4 guests each paying $16.50 x 4 is a massive difference when you’re limited to X staterooms no matter occupancy rate!

 

 

The thing is, a cabin with one person in it is really no easier to maintain that with two people.   But adding a 3rd and 4th passenger, the attendant has to deal with the extra bedding.  If they really wanted to be fair to the crew, (at least the stateroom staff) there would be a flat gratuity per room based on double-occupancy, then add to that per additional occupant. 

They make you check-out towels, surely they can come up with a system where you have to check-out a chair.  

This is what I usually carry:

Two of these:

These: 

And these:

I only used one of the 120v cubes and the two USB bricks.  I had plenty of outlets for two phones, a laptop, a Kindle, and our rechargeable night light.  

I also brought a 10-foot USB cord for a phone on the far side of the bed.  

5 hours ago, Tin can said:

 

The same on Anthem in May, I'm guessing therefore if its 100% now that no rooms are being held back anymore for quarantine.

This came up on the All-Access Tour on Voyager a few weeks ago.  The security officer made a comment about not having a COVID quarantine section anymore.  I assume that if you test positive on that ship, you are just quarantined to your own room. 

Every time I see a thread titles "Tips" I get my hopes up that it will tips about cruising and not just another thread about gratuities. 

Great choice on the shirt - that's the one I'd have picked!   I have several Tommy Bahama shirts like that and they do run long.  It's the style I guess. 

Unfortunately, they use a 3rd part "processing company" for lost and found:

https://www.chargerback.com/

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Best cruise accessory ever!

 

 

convert that European outlet at 230v to 120v plus have two usb ports.

 

Have a couple of those, too.  I ended up not using them on the last cruise because I brought a couple of 3-outlet USB fast chargers so I had plenty of plugs.

I am thinking about this two-room thing you do.  We always sail in suites for the extra room, but It'd be nice to get the extra points and have two bathrooms,  Hmm....

17 minutes ago, slyster said:

 

This is what I bought.  I put it in my suitcase.  Not a problem at all

 

Amazon.com: Anker USB C Charger, 735 Charger (Nano II 65W), PPS 3-Port Fast Compact Foldable Wall Charger for MacBook Pro/Air, iPad Pro, Galaxy S20/S10, Dell XPS 13, Note 20/10+, iPhone 13/Pro, Pixel, and More : Electronics

Yep, I brought two adapters just like this.  Everything we needed to plug in, except my laptop charger and my wife's curling iron are USB.

I also brought a USB-powered alarm clock that projects on the ceiling (much easier than rolling over the grab a phone) and one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08V1H1P7L

My wife likes to have a nightlight in the bathroom and this worked perfectly - only had to recharge once all week.

I can't help with reservations on Wonder, but you should probably try to get on as early as possible and then hit the closest specialty venue to make them.  I will say that on Voyager the week before last, we had the UDP and ate in specialty dining every night but one, and it was never more than half full.

I am pretty sure you don't have to buy UDP for everyone, but if anyone without it accompanies you to dinner, they will have to pay "cash" prices, and they charge based on age - not what you order, except in the a la carts restaurants.

2 hours ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Good luck and let us know if it drops that far.  I bought at $72 about a week after it had been $68 and I haven't seen it below $72.  Even if it went to $68 again I'm not sure it would be worth the hassle to cancel and rebook for $5 a day.  

To save $35 on the DBP, I'd cancel and rebuy.  I probably wouldn't do that with shorex, The Key or UDP for fear of it being sold-out when trying to re-purchase.

45 minutes ago, Twin Dad said:

We are on Harmony in February. Might be worth it for reserved seating for Grease. Am I correct in assuming the per-person price includes the zoom for each person that purchases key?  Wasn’t spelled out clear enough for me. Not that I’m untrusting of RCL!

That is correct - each person who buys The Key will have an individual Voom login.  Note that everyone in the room has to buy it, or no one can have it. 

7 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Yes, but you don't get one on in your cabin (like before) unless you ask and sometimes you miss the day 1 compass. I like using both the APP and the paper version.  Sometimes the paper version has more info and is more up-to-date. 

And that's a real issue.  Why is the paper, that was printed the night before, more up-to-date than dynamic web/app content that can be changed with a few keystrokes?  If RCCL is trying to push everyone into the app, they need to make sure it's properly updated.  

Besides shore excursions, I think the only things they "run out of" are The Key and the UDP.  

21 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

The people eating next to us had a service dog. It was a Cavapoo . Mix of Cavalier King Charles and a small poodle.

 

I think this is the same "service dog" on Voyager last week.  

On 10/15/2022 at 9:34 AM, Sea Dog said:

That’s what the ER doc said. He also said some Orthopedic surgeons want to do surgery to repair the tendon (I think) that keeps the bone down. He did not think I necessarily needed that even though I can feel a raised ridge there on my shoulder.  Will that reduce over time?  My pain is tolerable and I can still move my arm around a little bit. I forgot to ask how long should I wear the sling? He also said I could take it off from time to time if I wasn’t in too much pain. I wasn’t even going to report on it on my review because I feel stupid but in an effort to be open and transparent I felt all of you should know.

My advice is to avoid shoulder surgery unless there is no other option,  I wen tin Dec. 2019 for a simple bone spur and arthritis cleanup and came out with 4 pins and a 6-way rotator cuff repair that is just in the last year began to function normally.  Add to that a C5/C6 disk issue due to "surgical positioning" and I wish had had just put up with the pain. 

Just now, livingonthebeach said:

The only thing that irks me about the changes is you have to ask for a Cruise Compass - no more copies at Guest Services - you have to stand in line to ask for one and they look at you like you have ten heads and tell you to use the APP.  You can also ask your room steward to drop one off each evening - I don't mind asking but I liked the pre-covid method better. 

It does sound like they are phasing out the printed Cruise Compass, but a week ago, Voyager had them.  We got one every day, and I asked some others on the ship to make sure it wasn't because of our age or being in a suite - everyone got them.  I am guessing it's ship-specific, though.  I think it's just cost-cutting, and hopefully they will still print them for those of us who do want them.  If not, then they need to really beef up the app so we can flag things we want to do and create reminders and daily plans.  

With current onboard cocktail prices at $14, you only need to drink 5 a day to make $68 for the DBP a better value.  Of you are like me and drink mixed drinks, choose the top-shelf liquor, you're looking at around $12/drink, so 6 a day at this price.  And that doesn't count any soft drinks, bottled water, fresh juice, etc.  If those numbers meet your expected beverage consumption, then $68 is a good price.  

We booked our last cruise (which we return from a week ago) back in March.  I checked prices in Cruise Planner each day.  I didn't have the opportunity to get any Black Friday prices, but every holiday - Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day - had a "sale" that did offer the lowest prices. 

My advice: Check every day because sometimes they make mistakes, like when on some cruises, The Key was offered at less than the price of Voom by itself.  Even if not, you'll get an idea for the range of prices and be ready to jump when what you want bottoms out.  

2 hours ago, AtSeaAlways said:

It has been strange lately.  Years ago you all showed up at 1015 and sat in chairs and stood in lines for 45 minutes or an hour while they typed stuff in and dug in boxes for your card.  Now after all the cutbacks LOL you show up, they do a few tablet scans and you walk on. This week I took the 10:30 (vs 12)  hotel shuttle for an 11:30 appointment.  Got there at 11 - oops - walked on almost without stopping.  This was a small ship.  

There are a few things that COVID precautions have made better.  This boarding process is definitely one of them.  I definitely do not miss the days of waiting in a queue at the check-in desk to then spend time answering questions and filling in forms.  Doing all of this in the app so that all we have to do is show ID and a SetSail pass is a tremendous improvement.  The idea of reserved check-in times helps pace the crowds, but honestly, even when they don't enforce these arrival times, crowds are not that bad and things move much more quickly than they did when we had to visit the counters.  Unless passengers get held in waiting before boarding, it's almost a continually moving queue right onto the ship. 

Of course the other big thing that is now much better is the discontinuation of the ship-wide muster drill.  Being able to watch a video and then check-in with the crew after boarding is so much less stressful.  I always thought they should have somehow penalized those passengers who showed up late to the drills because the rest of us had to stand there waiting on them.  This new process means no one has to wait on those selfish people.  

56 minutes ago, motheroftwocats814 said:

Thanks. I will go to guest services I suppose.

Or just stop into Giovanni's when you board (that's the closest place) and they can help you there.