pam_1024

On 10/28/2022 at 4:17 PM, nasa1974 said:

I'm on the Oasis in March and mixed drinks are $14.00 + gratuity, beer is $7.49 to $9.50 + gratuity, wine is $9-$14/glass + gratuity. That's according to my app.

Where do you find drink prices on the app?  We sail in less than 30 days and I can't find prices

5 hours ago, ballarinamom said:

Thank you! That's what i figured. Jut wanted to make sure I wasnt missing anything

I did the midnight check in for our cruise in December and the website opened up before the app for check  in.  So I started the check in process on the website to get an early boarding time and finished the rest of the process later on the app.

Marc Walker posted on social media that Brian Leavitt will be taking over as CD on Mariner December 15th

9 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Our Allie just made a visit in spirit to us. We have Spotify on and “Somewhere over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole just came on.
 

For those that have not followed us before on reviews, Allie is our daughter who passed at 2 years of age from health issues she was born with.  This was one of three song played at her funeral.  
 

She often visits us in different ways, and she is with us today. ❤️

I lost my son in 2016.  Our first cruise was the following year.  I was sitting on the pool deck before we left port and a monarch butterfly hung around with me for several minutes.  🙂  Christopher was enjoying the ship too.  So glad Allie visited you.  ❤️   

On 9/20/2022 at 1:19 PM, Queenie&Dude said:

Hi all - I want to share with you the way to arrange a burial at sea with Royal.  I just did this for my husband, and the process was very smooth, and the guest services manager helped me when I boarded to set the date, time. etc.  I strongly recommend if you want to arrange a burial at sea to allow at least 1 month before the sailing to start the process.  This is a long post because I am being very detailed at every step.  I didn't know going into the planning what to expect and I'm glad I planned for everything ahead of time.  I hope this helps if you're planning a burial at sea and will help you feel more at ease.

 

Here is what you will need:

1- Death Certificate (a copy is ok)

2-Certification of cremation - this should be with the ashes/urn you have, or you can request it from the funeral home.  Mine emailed it to me upon asking.

3-Biodegradeable urn - I purchased mine on Amazon from Perfect Memorials.  It even allows for personalization, in the photo you can see how nicely this turned out.

-----here is a link to what I purchased: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B082DLR7SP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

4-Certification that your urn is biodegradable (this can be a receipt from the purchase as long as it shows "biodegradable urn" in the details.  Onboard they really didn't care about a 'certification' just something stating what you purchased is correct.

 

Here is what you need to do prior to cruise:

-Send an email to Royal Caribbean's desk for handling these requests, there are two email addresses - gfotravelservices@rccl.com and emergencytravelteam@rccl.com.  I sent emails to both, and got responses from the emergency travel team.

In the email you need to include:

-Ship Name, Sailing Date, Your Booking/Confirmation #, Your name and Decedent's name

-Attach copies of:

- death certificate,

-the certificate of cremation and

- the proof of biodegradable urn (I used my amazon receipt since I didn't have the actual urn when I sent the email and that was fine)

 

Once Royal Caribbean received my request it took about 1 week to get a response.  After that initial email I had a personal contact to work with, ask questions, etc.  It is up to the captain of the ship if they will allow for a burial at sea.  I asked the hotel manager onboard if there would be a reason why the captain would refuse, he couldn't think of anything, but again it is at the captain's discretion.

 

After you receive the response and confirmation that you can go ahead with the process, the next step happens on the day of boarding.

 

On the day of boarding your ship:

1-Go to guest services with a print out of everything, the email, the death cert, the cremation cert, the proof of biodegradable urn and anything else you want included (I wrote up a 3-5 minute eulogy that I requested an officer to read).  FYI-I requested the captain, which can happen, ours happened to be sick with covid in his cabin so it didn't work for me, but the hotel manager stepped in and did a very nice job.

2-Be prepared with several options for sea days for your service.  It can only be done at sea as it needs to be a certain distance from any shore (basically international waters).  I had a 14 day cruise so I picked a date early on in case there were weather issues we could reschedule.  Luckily that day had perfect weather.

3-If you want any music played bring a speaker for your phone or tablet as it is very noisy and my phone volume wasn't quite loud enough, but everyone got close and could hear it okay.

4-If you want flowers, they need to be plastic/silk.  At the current time no live flowers are being sold on ships, this may change back to that option in the future, but if you want to area to have flowers, you should bring them.

5-If you are creating a 'long' service (more than 10-15 minutes) you need to make sure guest services understands and plans for this.  More on day of service below.

 

On the day of the service:

1- I went to guest services about 2 hours ahead of time to double check everything was still on.  This would be very important if weather is questionable.

2-Make sure everyone that is attending (we had 8 people) all arrive at the pre-arranged meeting place on time.  You do not want to waste an officer's time.

3-Your entire party will be escorted to a low deck (ours was 4 on Voyager) as you will be tossing the entire urn, closed, not ashes, over the rail.

4-Royal Caribbean provided 2 security guards to stand about 20 yards away from the service area on both sides to prevent anyone wandering in during the service.  This was a very thoughtful and well executed plan on their part.

5-Make sure you designate someone to either take pictures or video of the service if you want.  I was not in any shape to take photos for my husband's service.  That's what friends and family are for.

6-When you toss the urn overboard mine floated away very quickly with the wake of the ship.  I didn't see it sink, but according to the seller it takes about 4-5 minutes.  The urn I chose worked perfectly for the tossing.

7-When the service is over you can go back inside and toast, or have a celebration, the officer will excuse him/herself at the end of the service.

 

After the service:

- Royal Caribbean will provide you will a certificate stating the longitude/latitude of the burial at sea.  Mine was given to me in a very nice photo folder and I will be placing an 8x10 of our group in the folder as well for display in my home. (see photo)  I stopped by guest services about 2 days later and it was waiting for me.

TIP - I wrote a letter to the hotel manager thanking him for the time and effort, no tip was accepted, but he was very thankful I thought of this.

 

All of the preparation and completion of the event was handled with respect and I was very impressed with how everything was done.  Royal Caribbean took time to make sure that everyone involved understood the process and I was very happy with how everything turned out.  If you are considering a burial at sea, Royal Caribbean will take good care of you.

 

Feel free to ask any questions that you may have that I haven't answered here, I'll try to answer anything I can to help you during what is a difficult time for anyone in this situation.

Queenie/Doreen deVillalvilla

 

Queenie, I'm so very sorry for the loss of your husband.  Sending you vibes of peace and light.  Thank you so much for sharing this.  My son is aware that I want part of my ashes buried at sea on a cruise and I'm going to print out your details to make it less stressful on him when the time arrives.  Also, we are neighbors.  🙂  I'm in Altamonte Springs.

On 8/30/2022 at 2:55 AM, DELTABLUE said:

ADVENTURE: Tanya Yates Tongue #116 , Marvin Wilson as of 9-29-22 #263

ALLURE: Corey Rogers > 9-3, then Chris Brown #237

ANTHEM: Joff Eaton #204

BRILLIANCE: Jamie Fentiman #177 , now on vacation #270

ENCHANTMENT: Eric Lopez #Me 

EXPLORER: Elvis Pinto #214

FREEDOM: Chris Turdo > mid August #196

GRANDEUR: Talita Leoni, from Brazil #Me

HARMONY: Dan Whitney #244

INDEPENDENCE: Rickey Matthews #35

JEWEL: SusanAdams #288

LIBERTY: Katy McCullagh #205

MARINER:  Mario Isla #229, Marc Walker returns 8-13/11-26  #95

NAVIGATOR: Eric Lopez, as of 8-29-22 #287

OASIS: Bobby Broughton, as of 8-26-22 #277

ODYSSEY: Ana Riberio from Portugal #170 >late summer then Mitch#155

OVATION: John Grantham, as of 8-26-22 #276/279

QUANTUM:  Mike Hunnerup #168, Steve Knisley 7/13 > 9/20 #187

RADIANCE: Mark Rous #260

RHAPSODY: Bill Brunkhorst, as of 6-16 #239

SERENADE: John Blair #52

SPECTRUM: Bonnie Bai #243

SYMPHONY: Brian Leavitt #190

VISION: Michelle Oliviera #126

VOYAGER: Rob McNally as of 8-28-22 #285

WONDER: Michele Scarpato as of 5-8-22, 

                              Mike Szwajkowsk returns Mid August #166

I asked in the Brilliance group on social media who replaced Jamie and was told "some American named Mike."  Maybe someone will know who that might be.  I'm really hoping Jamie is back in December.  He was Richard Spacey's activities director on Freedom years ago and I could tell he would be a great CD.  

On 8/27/2022 at 2:22 PM, md80fan said:

I never though a CD would make a difference as we never interacted with them. Then we had Marc Walker on Harmony a couple years ago. I actually liked watching his tv show in the morning and it added just a little something to the cruise. We had I think it was Bobby Brown on Symphony after that and you could tell the difference between the two and how much hearing Marc on the ship just added a little bit extra to the cruise overall. Just my 2 cents

Marc is awesome!  He was CD on our Enchantment cruise way back in 2009 🙂  He's currently on the Mariner and depending on whether he stays on there next year, I may book one on Mariner just to cruise with him again.  

Jamie F is on vacation, but not sure who is currently on Brilliance.

19 hours ago, luvinmesomecruzin said:

Which deck on the Liberty of the Seas is the most quiet? (Balcony)....I am  having such a hard time deciding on which deck to book.  UGH...THANKS for all the anticipated help with this matter...............

I always try to book on a deck that has a cabin above me and a cabin below.  

13 hours ago, motheroftwocats814 said:

I have been on quite a few cruises. I remember maybe three of the cruise directors.

Does the CD make a difference in your cruise experience?

I know some have quite a following but to us, it makes no impact on our experience.

Yes, definitely for me.  The ones with the most memorable and fun cruise directors (my favorites were Richard Spacey and Marc "bing bong" Walker)  definitely make a difference for me.

Does anyone know of any excursions that involve getting up close and personal with sharks? 😁.  TIA!

On 7/4/2022 at 9:37 PM, watcher_62 said:

We are headed back to Labadee and have always booked a cabana. This time, we're just looking for loungers on a nice section of beach close enough to the bar to avoid getting "dry" - 😆 On Cococay we head to Southbeach... Looking for something similar on Labadee...

 

Columbus Cove.  Close to bar, food and restrooms.  Beach sandy not rocky.  Plenty of loungers and lots of trees if you prefer shade.  

4 hours ago, BlueBayouAZ said:

Has anyone done this activity? It sounds interesting to me. I guess it is only offered on 7 day or longer cruises and is held in a specialty restaurant.  

We did a few years ago and had a blast!  It was in Giovanni's.  The storyline was cheesy but hilarious with audience interaction.  Food was outstanding as was the wine which the waiters refilled constantly.  We were barely able to walk straight by the time it was over.  🙂

2 hours ago, Levi is good said:

Thank you Biker19, pcur, smokeybandit, and Ourusualbeach.  Unfortunately it was a Royal agent who told me I had to contact the travel agency to get my FCC!   I am so confused... most of the trip was even paid for with credit card reward points that had nothing to do with the travel agent at all.

We had to do the same thing.  It wasn't a big deal though.  She was glad to give us the numbers, then we called RC and rescheduled 

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You dont even need to do that.  All you need is the reservation number the fcc was issued from and the agents at Royal can look it up.  Most actually prefer accessing it through the reservation number as opposed to the fcc number anyway. 

We had to have the FCC number when we reschuled through RC.

Loving your review and pictures!  We will be on Brilliance in December.  Did your Mom when big in the casino?  

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Not sure Rotation or Dates, Sorry. Hope someone on here can confirm

He posted on Instagram that he started on Brilliance April 27th.  They normally do 4 months on and 2 months off?  We are on Brilliance in December and I'm really hoping he will be CD then.  Had him as activities director a few years ago with Richard Spacey and they were fantastic.

Current cruise director on Brilliance is Jamie.  I assume Jamie Fentiman.  

4 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

How dare you!

 

More like a true Philadelphia suburbanite who moved here in 2000... hence the Wawa preference. 😁

Small town Kentucky girl here.  😊. Moved to Altamonte Springs 1 year ago and not one regret!  I love Publix but I'm quite obsessed with Wawa!  We didn't have either in Kentucky.  

On 5/7/2022 at 7:56 AM, OCSC Mike said:

Might as well go for a Pub Sub while you're down here.... unless you see a WaWa, in which case go there. 🙂

 

Safe travels and enjoy your cruise! Looking forward to your review!

Spoken like a true Floridian. 😊

On 4/25/2022 at 10:50 PM, Koalwd said:

Been trying to get ahold of FCC as they rejected my last one for some unknown reason. Been on hold for over two hrs on many occasions.  Ready to call C/A for help. Anybody else have this same problem? 

I called Crown and Anchor and it took awhile but he was very helpful and found our FCC.  And he answered the phone in just a couple of minutes

On 3/19/2022 at 9:58 PM, mjk62 said:

Need options for shore excursion companies in Grand Cayman.  Been to Stingray City so not interested in that.  4 persons.

 

Thanks.

Don't know if you would be interested in the Turtle Farm, but we booked our excursion directly through them.  Very nice air conditioned bus met us at the port and got us back in plenty of time for the shuttle boat back to the ship.

Yes, but I work in healthcare, so I'm getting one anyway.  

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us!  I can't believe how excited I am just to see a live cruise review again and the pictures are wonderful!

21 hours ago, mcchane1 said:

I have an option of 11am flight out of FLL. Seriously good idea or not.  On Indy March 7-12

We had a 10:45 out of FLL from Port Everglades a couple of weeks ago.  We carried our own luggage and were off the ship by 6:30 and at the airport by 6:45!  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.