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OP here. Sorry, fake new it seems. From what people onboard are reporting the code yellow is referring to the general level of sanitation precautions not a specific incident as someone was reporting on facepage. There does NOT appear to be any specific issues onboard. Sorry to raise concern. 

So I am seeing on facebook that the escape recently called a code yellow. We are supposed to board Saturday. Any information would be appreciated.  Hope for the best...

For all the "Naysayers" that said complaining would never amount to anything, it appears that it does not hurt to let our voices be heard.  I am not naive enough to think this will stick forever, but at least for the time being they appear to have changed course to a certain degree.  It never hurts to send an email with your thoughts.  I sent an email a few weeks ago recieved a response that basically said we are sorry you don't like the change; if you choose to sail with us in the future, let us know and we will have a plate of stawberries waiting in your room.  As delicious as the strawberries are, I would much have preferred an email saying they are reconsidering their terrible business decision. 

On 1/25/2019 at 6:54 PM, sueandtimj said:

Thank you!  We made reservations for the Million Dollar Quartet and Burn the Floor.  Once on board, can we reserve the comedy shows or the piano bar or are they just first come first serve at the door?  

I think justhappy hit the highlights I can think of.  They also have an escape room that you can make reservations for once on board.  It is kind of cheesy, but if you are into that type of thing, it is something to do on a sea day.  

In regards to Howl is is offered on Days 1, 4, and 7 from 8:30 - 12:30.  It is also offered on Day 5 from 10:45 -1:15.  Earlier in the cruise and night it is busier.  Later in the evening and in the cruise it is not very busy.  At 8:30 on Day 1 it will be standing room only.  If you want good seats on Day 1 I would get there 20-30 minutes early. On Day 7 it is pretty quiet as people are packing, etc. 

They have two different commedians that alternate.  The  comedy shows in Headliners are on Day 2 and 3 at 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 (18+ show).  The 7:00 and 11:00 show is the same commedian with somewhat different material.  The 9:00 show is the second commedian.  On Day 2 the 1st commedian does the 7:00 and 11:00 show while the second commedian does only the 9:00 show.  On day 3, the second commedian does the 7:00 and 11:00 show, while the fist commedian only does the 9:00 show. 

On day 4 they have both commedians in the main theater doing completely different material. They do two shows 7:30 and 9:30 (18+).

On days 5 and 6 they have commedy again in headliners at 7:00 and 9:00 with each commedian doing one show.  The 7:00 and 9:00 shows are repeats of the 7:00 and 9:00 shows on Days 2 and 3, so you probably only need to plan seeing each one once.  If you cannont get the reservation you want, they open the doors for walkins 10 or 15 minutes before the show. We had no problem waiting for 15 minutes in line and getting in that way.  Reservations are preferred if you know when you want to go and were easy to get on Day 1.   

5 hours ago, erdoran said:

Hey, I have a question.  One of the threads talked about a bar running out of the “included” vodka and just having the upcharge vodka.  All this upcharge talk is just for the shots, right?  So if I want a mixed drink on the menu for say $10.95, if I don’t specify a premium brand then it is $10.95 even if they run out of the house booze?

In my experience, none of the bars ran out of all "included" brands, but often were out of mulitple choices. If you are not particular to certain brand of Vodka, Rum, Tequilla, Gin, etc. you will have no problem.   If you order something on the menu that is under $15 you will have no issue. 

There are several cocktails listed, but many people call their own drink and acohol brand.  If you order a "call" drink, say Kettle One martini they will frequently tell you they are out of Kettle One and ask what your next choice is.  If you say Grey Goose, they will tell you the upcharge will be $5 or whatever.   If you just order a Vodka Matini, they will make it with their cheapest available Vodka and it will be included.  Same goes for Rum and Coke, Gin and tonic or anything else. 

You will not have to worry about them running out of the "rail" or "house" booze.  They will have plenty of that and are happy to pour that instead of something drinkable. The problem now, is that they have increased the price of certain "premium" brands so that any drink with those brands is over the limit, whereas before they were within the limit.  Nowhere else in the world does a single shot of Grey Goose cost $20.  It is all just a ploy to exlude certain brands from the package. In reality, the brands of vodka still included (Kettle One, Tito's, etc.) are not much cheaper to buy in the retail market. My guess is that over the next few months they will find out that people are going to the next most expensive brand and increase the prices on those brands also until the package only includes true "rail" booze. 

Right now instead of people ordering Grey Goose, they are all ordering Kettle One or Tito's.  This does not save NCL any money so eventually they will also be excluded.  The other possiblility is that they will only have a certain number of each brand available at the beginning of the cruise and they will run out mid cruise. 

I 

4 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

 

The cost would be $29.00 plus 20% gratuity ($5.80) which equals $34.80 per day or $243.60 per week.

I get that, but add to that the $20 per day service charge up front to get the total cost of the package when comparing to other lines. 

So the total cost would be $20 service charge plus $34.80 upgrade per day for a total of $54.80 per day.  What a nice free perk.  

Two other things I noticed.

I normally ordered Kettle One, but of course they would be out. Second choice, Tito's.  Several times I was told that Tito's was an upcharge.  I feel bad for the bar staff, but it did get a bit old.  

Second, when I ordered a drink, almost every bartender would ring up two drinks.  I could see the screen $34.xx.  I assume they get some benefit based on the number of drink they sell?  Their share of the service charges?  I can assure you the books are nowhere near accurate.  

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

So, if the OP has two concurrent threads, does he expect the results to be different by starting a third thread???

Thanks for the helpful insight.  I don't know about all the threads, but I'm sure the mods can figure that out.  I'm with the OP.  

2 minutes ago, You Remember Clackers said:

If you do not like the price that or anything else is being sold at, just do not buy it!

The problem is when you do not actually get what you bought.  The deal changed AFTER I bought it.  Had I known, I could have made the decision.  

I couldn't agree more with the OP.  I just got off the Getaway today.   This is not what I was "given" as a perk when I booked this past cruise and three future cruises all with 10 or more people.  It feels like a bit of a bait and switch.  The first day, I ordered a Grey Goose and was told it was no longer included.  I was told my Vodka choices were Kettle One, Tito's, Stoli, and Absolut.  While I was not pleased, I thought I could deal with it.  That was until throughout the cruise you would go to a bar and ask for Kettle One or Tito's and was told sorry we are out of that. 

The reality is that it is not a free perk to begin with.  At $20 per day service charge they are still making money.  I do not believe that all of the service charge actually goes to the bartenders.   Comparing the final prices of similar cabins on NCL with the "free" UBP  to the RCCL big ships and purchasing their beverage package ends up about the same.  Or for an even better value, similar cabins on Celebrity with their free beverage package and OBC seems to be a bit cheaper.  In addition, with Celebrity I can get decent coffee and a bottle of water if I want. 

I can't remember the last change on NCL that actually made the cruise experience better.  Every change made is to increase the bottom line.  I understand that is the purpose of a business, but I wonder at what point the bottom line will drop from people "jumping ship".  Maybe the masses don't care or don't know any better.  Time will tell. 

Unfortunately Royal Caribbean isn’t giving me any good deals [emoji20]

 

 

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Check out Norwegian Getaway. The older kids will love it with the slides, ropes course, mini golf, etc. Lots of other stuff for the kids and adults, plus lots of different entertainment options. They frequently offer 3 & 4th sail free along with one other perk like Celebrity. If it were just adults I would say Celebrity is great. If it is multi generational, I would look toward the newer Norwegian or Royal Caribbean ships. Just my 2 cents. Last year with the kids we did Getaway, this year without the kids we are on Equinox.

He definitely played stupid. After telling him we just past it he turned around and dropped us off at blue kay.

I meant to say we just passed it, not we just past it. Now I feel like I am playing stupid...

That's a little scary. Are you saying that you asked to be dropped off at Blue Kay but they refused (or played stupid) and dropped you off at another beach/resort? You still mention your time at Blue Kay so sounds like you could walk back to it? I would refuse to pay them if they didn't drop us off where we actually want to go.

He definitely played stupid. After telling him we just past it he turned around and dropped us off at blue kay.

We asked him to turn around to go back once we were about two blocks past it and I started to see all the other beach clubs. When we drove by it I saw the sign, but I figured maybe the driver knew a different entrance for day guests, so I waited to say something. I have no clue where he was planning to take us. It was not a huge deal, but if we did not know any better we would have ended up spending our day somewhere else.

Someone may have already mentioned this, but we went to Blue Kay in January 2017. We took a taxi from the location outside the main port gate. We made it very clear to the taxi driver where we wanted to go and he confirmed. He spoke good English. No surprise, he drove right past Blue Key further up the beach. I told him we just passed it and he pretended like he did not know where we wanted to go. I suggest you look on google earth to have a lay of the land prior to going. I suspect the taxi drivers get a cut from bringing people to other beach clubs. When he dropped us off he went in with us and was clearly trying to negotiate a tip for bringing people there, but they did not seem to play that game. Not a big deal as long as you know how the game works. Blue Kay was decent by Costa Maya standards. It was a nice quaint little place. Not busy, not fancy, but relaxing. Drinks left a bit to be desired, but the food was pretty decent.

Maybe if cruise lines had "Non Refundable Deposits" , it would keep folks from booking multi ships for the same date. ??????

Maybe if cruise lines did not have "Refundable Deposits", people would not book cruises two years in advance...

They are getting interest free loans with the deposits; I would not feel too bad for the cruise lines. In the end, most ships sail full at a price the market will support.

No harm in locking in two cruises and figuring out what fits best prior to final payment.

What ever you do though, never book anything but a RCCL cruise, because RCCL is the best and only line :).

Just my 2 cents...

We were on in January. The ship itself is in good/very good shape. FOS is still a beautiful ship. The rooms are a bit outdated, but more than acceptable. Some of the carpets in the rooms could use a refresh, but nothing too bad. We were in connecting promenade staterooms and they were the same as always. The food IMO is slightly worse than before, but mostly the same. A lot of that could be the day or the time. If you thought the food was acceptable before, I don't think you will have much issue there.

For us, the main issue was with the service and the crowds. Maybe this was just a bad week, but everything was always crowded (much more so than the same week last year) and the service was very hit or miss. The one exception to this was the room steward. She was just a fabulous as always. The dining room service was poor. Room service never showed up. Windjammer was much more crowded than before. There were several times where the 4 of us would walk the entire way around the windjammer twice without being able to find a seat. Maybe it was just an off week, but based on some of the things I have read since, it seems like a trend.

I personally would not be book a cruise on FOS. There are too many other options out there. Maybe one of the newer RCCL ships. NCL has some nice newer ships if you are going with a family. If you are not going with kids, take a look at Celebrity or Princess. Many of the weeks I have looked at, the prices between NCL, RCCL, and Celebrity are pretty close. In addition, NCL and Celebrity offer various "free" perks.

I know a lot of people disagree with me, but that was my experience. We will be back on in March (booked almost 2 years), so hopefully it will be all squared away by then:).

Last trip we were looking for something a little better than just being dropped off at a public beach. Do a search for Royal Palms, I thought it was worth it.

I concur with this. The area around Calico Jacks seemed really busy and a steep beach in the past. Venodrs were lined up one after another for chairs/umbrellas with not much shade around except the umbrellas.

At Royal Palms, it cost a couple bucks to get in, but the taxi fare is a couple bucks cheaper. We walked down past the loungers to the right and layed our towels out-not because of the money to rent the loungers, but because of the nice shade and less crowded.

It was still a quick walk to the bar to grab a drink. They also have an adults only pools, restrooms, and showers to rinse off.

We tried it on the last morning and it was just pastries/donuts (same ones as in the buffet). I have seen some pictures of a small buffet setup on other mornings like mentioned above, but have not tried it.

So because the Windjammer is packed I should just go somewhere else??? Maybe that is your idea of a quality vacation, but not mine.

Based on the prices, RCL is not a "value" cruise. I don't think being able to find a table in the windjammer is too much to ask. It never used to be a problem for us. It was always busy, but we could always find a table. They also used to have a few staff members assist with coordinating the madness. Now it is every person for themselves.

I don't know why it was so much worse in January, but this was the first time we sailed after they started filling the added cabins. Prior to that, we sailed in February 2015 just after drydock, but before they filled the new cabins. There are better options out there for the money.

Hi

Was the windjammer full right after breakfast/ lunch opening hours or closing time? I'm just trying to find out what is the busiest time[emoji20]

I really don't know when it was less busy. I would say the earlier the better for breakfast. We were on vacation so we took our time in the morning and got there between 8:00 and 9:00. I am sure if you went before 7:30 it would be fine, but I am on vacation and did not want to get up early just so I could find a table at the crappy windjammer. We did try room service one morning on an early Grand Cayman port. Unfortunately, it never arrived. We were not the only ones with this problem. Several of the people we were traveling with had the same issue. We did get a plate of treats later in the day with a sorry note, but it still put a wrench in our morning. I did not want to leave the cabin if they were just running late.

That is a week with less demand, however I doubt the price will go much lower and if it does you will not be getting the freebies. I think it is a good deal especially if you would purchase the drink package or several drinks anyway. Use the OBC to upgrade the drink package and have a great week.

We got off on 01/23/2016 and concur with much of what you wrote. We have sailed FOS several times prior and always enjoyed it. Ever since they added the extra cabins it seems to have gone downhill and everything is noticably more crowded. We could hardly ever find a table for 4 in the windjammer during breakfast or lunch. I will be back on March 13 for a cruise we booked 2 years ago. After that we are done with RCCL for a while. I am sure we will be back someday, but "free" drink packages and OBC with Celebrity and NCL has my attention.

I think you have done a good job narrowing it down. They all seem like decent options. I personally prefer 4 port days. Even you do not get off the ship everyone else does. To me that narrows it down to FOS and Getaway. We did Getaway over Christmas and FOS Mid January with a 4 and 6 year old. If I had the dining and drink package I would choose Getaway in a second (we had just the drink package which was nice).

For the kids, FOS has the H20 zone, but the water is cold even in the caribbean in January. The nice thing is that they have two "hot" tubs in the H20 zone which are not very hot and good for kids without any adults being bothered. One of the main pools is also heated which was nice. They also have flowrider, minigolf, climbing wall, etc. Our kids were too small for most of that stuff.

On Getaway the have a smaller H20 zone that the kids seemed to like equally as well, but no hot tubs near the kids area. They had a pool in the kids area but it was cold. The only hot tubs were in the main pool area and often busy. There are 4 hot tubs there, but two are adults only. In addition, they have several waterslides which the kids (and adults) had a great time on. They also had a spider web climbing structure, bungee trampoline, rock wall, and ropes course. As much if not more to do than on FOS.

On Getaway we had room 9186 which was great with an angled balcony. Inside the room we had one pull down and a sofa. On FOS for the same price were had connecting promenade rooms which was nice to have two of everything. For us both room arrangements were fine, but the angled balcony on Getaway was nice.

All in all I would pick what suits the adults better (drink/dining packages, ports, etc). I think the kids will enjoy either ship equally. They are both different experiences, but neither is bad. Alot of it will depend on the week you sail, who servers you, other guests on board, etc (alot of things you cannot control).