impatientlywaiting

We have been on many cruises with celebrity and have seen people checking in water and cokes by the case. We have never tried this, but are considering a case water for our next cruise. Has anyone tried this lately with RCI?

We have found that the water on the ship tastes fine so no need to bring water. We bring an empty water bottle and keep it filled with ice and water provided by the ship outside the Windjammer. We also ask our cabin steward to bring us ice every day and use that in our water bottles.

Part of your pre-paid tips also go to the crew behind the scenes that you don't see: the people who wash the towels you use every day and the sheets on the bed, the people who wash the dishes you eat off every day, etc. If you remove your tips and only tip your cabin steward and wait staff/bar tenders, those people behind the scenes get nothing. And yes, I have verified this fact with a friend who is a manager on the Royal ships.

Will Steve Davis be coming back to Radiance when Jamie Fentiman leaves or will somebody else be taking his place? BTW, wouldn't Jamie wait until the 20th to leave in Honolulu instead of halfway through the cruise on the 15th? :D

I also call Crown & Anchor to make any payments. Before we are off the phone, I've received a confirmation email. Never had any issues doing it this way and never had to wait on hold!

Definitely Pompeii. I'm not much on history, but it was very interesting and I'm so glad we went!

I always choose any itinerary that goes to Grand Cayman. They are the only place in the world to get Tortuga Rum - which is very delicious! We're going there for two weeks in January! :D

Serenade obviously didn't have the individual pizza station set up in the Windjammer otherwise you wouldn't have said their pizza was awful. The size is about 6 or 8 inches, you pick your toppings and they send it through the cooker while you wait (just like Mod Pizza). It's very good!

We have cruised twice with Topi as CD and love him!

No I would not switch. When we book cruises (and there is a group of us), we book the very first day the cruise opens up so we can get specific cabins all together in a row. We have researched the exact cabins we want on the ship and I definitely would not appreciate being contacted by RCI, or another passenger at my cabin door, asking me to change cabins. :)

Most cruises are usually for a week.

With all the foodw available, so many people want to eat the same junk from home.

Why not give it a rest for a while and try something new while your on the ship?

Did you bother to read all of the comments in this thread? If you had, you would know that in our particular case, we WON'T be on a week long cruise but a 29 day b2b and we will want some potato chips for a little salty snack so we'll be bringing some with us. Don't assume that everyone just takes week long cruises.

On our upcoming 29 day b2b we're going to bring along some potato chips. DH says that's one thing he misses the most while cruising. Granted sometimes there are some sort of chips in the Park Café but the last few times we've cruised they've been cheesy chips and I can't stand those.

Chocolate chips are a BAKING item, not an eat out of the bag as a snacking item.

My DH would definitely argue this point with you! He eats a small handful every night - calls them his chocolate pills! It's the only pills he takes!

Whatever you say. Thanks for your opinion, but I disagree.

 

And in case you were wondering, I have been to both and stayed multiple times in both cities. I prefer Fort Lauderdale. I do not find it to be generic, but maybe that's because I don't eat at Chili's. I have no desire to return to Miami.

Totally agree. DH had to spend 6 weeks in Miami working and a good many people who live there are very rude. We were crossing the street in the sidewalk - with the walk hand signal - and a Miami driver did not want to wait until we were across the street so he could make his turn so he just began honking the horn so we would get out of his way. Had we not ran back to the curb, who knows if he would have hit us or not. We have not gone back to Miami since and don't ever plan on it again. Give me Ft. Lauderdale any day!

I for one look for the least expensive room. I have stayed in many lower deck rooms and never have a problem. Other couples that usually go along with us have stayed on decks 11 and up in balcony's, and the movement is noticeable. I don't spend much time in the room..have had balcony's and found I didn't use them.....so why pay the extra $$

 

Mike

We've always been in a balcony cabin (a couple times in a JS) and when we decided to spontaneously do a cruise on Vision a year ago, we could only get on Deck 3 with a window. It was awful. We found out pretty quickly we didn't like being in a cabin that didn't have access to the outside. We didn't think we used our balcony that much either - as it turns out, we actually do use the balcony more than we thought! We'll gladly pay the extra money for a balcony!

As for taking food off the ship, we always bring the individual-size, pre-packaged Kirkland brand (Costco) trail mix with us for excursions or late night snacks after we're already in our cabin for the night and need a little salty/sweet treat! On our cruise(s) coming up, we're also going to bring potato chips - 5 days at sea crossing the ocean and DH dearly misses his chips. Of course we can get some more in the Hawaiian islands but will have to re-stock before leaving Honolulu and heading down to Australia!

I pack our clothes in packing cubes, typically fitting 8 folded shirts/tops/tees per large cube. I fold my husband's suit jacket in half with a clean unfolded large trash bag between the folds, and place it on the very top of the suitcase. Long pants are folded under the cubes, and almost never, in nearly 30 years of traveling have I had a problem with wrinkled clothes:)

 

http://www.ebags.com/category/travel-accessories/packing-aids/packing-cubes?lastsearchterm=packing+cubes

We use the packing cubes (eBags) as well and our clothes are never wrinkled. They are freshly washed and wrinkle free when packed, and look great when unpacked!

None on my end and I just posted on our Vancouver, B.C. to Honolulu CC forum!

Prepackaged / sealed foods yes.

 

Homemade / unsealed foods no.

 

I would contact RC's special needs department.

No problem whatsoever bringing homemade snacks onboard in your carry-on.

Ohhh....I was planning to use the laundry service since I didn't want to pack for 2 weeks. Considering some of the comments I don't think I will! Thanks for the warnings.

Go ahead and use the laundry service. I don't send my things that might shrink but everything else goes in the $30 bag (we stuff that bag full every week) and we've never had any issues. They don't iron anything but nothing comes back wrinkled (DH sends his t-shirts and they're always nicely folded and wrinkle free).

For my fingernails, I'm planning on pink & white on the first of our upcoming cruises. Then for the 2nd of the b2b I'm going with bright metallic pink whether it matches anything or not! My toes will probably be in either Seattle Seahawk blue or green or a combination of both! They definitely don't have to match! :D

Springfield is a suburb of Eugene.

And the people that work in that center will tell you that they work in Eugene! I'm not sure they think much of Springfield! I've driven by it many times and I might have to agree! LOL

The only time we would book with the cruise line is if the excursion were lengthy; like to the ruins in Cozumel. I wouldn't risk it. Or most recently, we were on a spring break cruise, and my daughter (21) and her friend wanted to do something in Jamaica. I booked them on a river rafting excursion in Ocho Rios through RC.

We're the same. For example, when we ported for Paris, it was an almost 3 hour bus ride into Paris so we booked the ship's bus - we weren't going to take any chances that we'd miss the ship. Once we were in the city we had our own plans - just used the ship's bus. Most times, we plan our own excursions. We hate the big crowded buses.

Put your freaking phone away. It's a week. don't you remember back in the day....no answering machines...no texting...for one lousy week you can "disconnect" and life will go on...just the same as always! No Facebook...no texts, no missed calls...none of it's important or will change your life in any way, shape or form.

 

Cut it off...lock it in the safe...and vacation. That's what a cruise is...a vacation! Jeez.

Did you even bother to read the OP's comment? They have ELDERLY family members they need to keep in contact with. It doesn't matter if they're on vacation or not. Have some respect. Jeez.

NO..the toiletries are nothing special for ships....bring your own stuff. DON'T bring your own toilet paper, tho!

 

And don't flush ANYTHING but the toilet paper....no tampons, no diapers, no KLEENEX....that WILL clog up the works!

 

The ship's water is so soft, that everything "suds" forever...just use a lesser amount than you would at home!

One of our cruises the container didn't show up at the pier to restock the ship with toilet paper and staff had to be sent to Costco to buy up all their toilet paper and we enjoyed Kirkland brand toilet paper that cruise! I loved it since that's what we use at home!

I always take mine and hang it on the inside of the bathroom door. DH thought I was crazy when I brought it the first time UNTIL he started putting his stuff in the slots, too. I hate clutter. I like thngs put away and nothing left on the counter tops both in the bathroom and on the desk.

You could easily handle your luggage in Rome. DH wouldn't help me with all mine and I did just fine! It's easy getting around the train station. You definitely DON'T WANT TO MISS THE AZORES! I would rate The Azores the 2nd best port of call in all the places we've stopped in our cruises! We loved it!

And we also loved Jewel of the Seas! We did Vancouver, B.C. to Los Angeles last fall on her and she was fabulous. I would definitely not hesitate to do a TA on her! The Diamond Lounge was fabulous as well and it was our first time in there as well!

So, you can tell what my vote would be! LOL Have fun whatever you decide to do!