LongTimeTvlr

I for one appreciate a welcome aboard call, especially since all you get after you book the cruise is a confirmation email that you paid your deposit. I'm used to getting a post card or a nice letter from other lines thanking me for booking etc.

 

As far as the upgrade fairy, I never even give that a thought. I'm happy with the room I booked and if I get an upgrade, thats fine, but if not, who cares.

I don't think it is you that needs to chill Irene. Hope I never get to the point that I object to people calling me with good wishes because they aren't giving me something free.

Does the cabin really make that much difference?

I recommend you evaluate whether the policy pays first for medical expenses. Several of those offered are second payment, which means you have to file with your primary medical insurance carrier first, get rejected and then file with the travel insurance company. A real hassle. The Insuremytrip comparison flags this but with subscripts, so you have to be careful and look closely.

As an earlier poster said - what about the speed?

From my on-board experience the free hour is great but only gives you enough time to look at one or two pages as you wait for the network to respond.

If everyone is on unlimited time I suspect this will only get worse.

Any have experience to share?

We popped into DI in one of our ports, and I found a ring almost identical to my wedding band (we were on our honeymoon). So just for giggles I asked for the price on it. I was astounded that they wanted to charge more than 3 times what we paid from my mother-in-laws respected jeweler back home. It stopped us from looking at anything else, knowing that we will get our best deals in good old NJ.

I have shopped for jewelry in most every major city and several foreign ports and the best prices in my experience where in NJ, just out side of Manhatten.

I worked there on contract for a year and found this jeweler with great prices. For years I bought my wifes diamnonds their over the phone as we live near Dallas. Had them appraised by a trusted local jeweler (who was not paid based on the value of the appraisal :-) )Great deals, better than anything we have seen on any of our cruises. Local jeweler offered to buy them for what I paid - They were sets, necklaces, bracelets, ear rings, etc. not raw jewels.

By the way I agree with the valley doll - anyone who buys jewelry is getting taken. More so than almost anything else. Good to know going in. I think it is an ego thing. Nobody has to buy jewelry. It's probalby near the top of Mavlov's pyramid.

Will they allow you to remove prepaid gratuities now that you are on traditional dining?

I would like to know the answer to that question. I did not ask. I intend to pay in any case, I just would have preferred to use the OBC for this purpose.

In my case it was only few weeks early. I am just annoyed that it appeared to me to be a game. Pay the gratuities and then we will give you your seating request.

Maybe it was just an accident it worked out that way, but the transactions, including making the reservation, my paying, then getting 1st seating, all happened in less than 2 hours. And I am not E, D or D+. I am just a P.

We commonly pick up the cruise line port brochures so we know where not to shop. It conveniently identifies the places that charge higher prices to cover their marketing costs to us cruisers.

If I am looking for good deals on jewelry, the Caribbean would be among the last places on my list. Way too many uninformed shoppers that raise the prices.

If I amon holiday and want to buy something because my wife loves it -then it is a wise thing to do, but if I thought I got a good deal - when I sobered up I would kick myself in the butt.

Even reputable insurance appraisers come in at a price at least two times real worth. It is a standard and well known practice. That is why items such as jewelry have multiple "prices" - re-sale value, wholesale value, retail value and finally and always much higher - insurance appraisal value. Don't ever pay appraisal value unless you know that it is well above "real" value. It is just the way the insurance markets work.

Hard to generalize but I am sympathetic with the OP.

Just booked our 7th RCCL cruise - May on the Serenade. Was told only dining option available was MTD which I dislike.

Paid the fees, including gratuities and was immediately told I was now confirmed at first seating.

Coincidence?

Maybe, but how often does this coincidence occur?

Now I have $550 in OBC that I would have preferred to use to pay gratuities and for our dinner wine.

So I am waiting to book excursions until we are on-board so I can use the OBC for that.

Just a Royal annoyance. Pun intended.

I like that Royal is trying something new. They now have to find almost a million more cruisers a year to fill up these big ships and to do that they have to find new ways to attract people who haven't cruised before. I hope this works for them.

We cruise about 3 times a year and on many different cruise lines. What I find most often is that if there is a seating option closed it is first seating traditional. This seems to happen across all cruise ines. Several times I have tried MTD or the equivalent not because I wanted to but because the traditional seating was full/closed. If this is the "way of the future" I wonder why this happens as often as it does. But in fairness there could have been times when MTD was full and I did not know because I never asked.

Each tiime I tried "MTD" I found the experience to be less enjoyable than the traditional dining, but that is just me. My wife and I prefer formal dining to casual dining and have picked cruise lines and ships (Cunard for example) that feature this.

I am glad they are expanding the options for those who don't like to do this. If I owned a large floating amusement park I wouldn't ask the customers to wear formal wear for even one night. I would want to go all casual, I think that sounds like a great idea. That will draw even more people to cruising and help spread the costs. The more the merrier.

Just keep us in separate dining rooms or even separate ships. Everyone will be happier. I think that may be the way of the future.

The way this tour worked, they had guests who were were staying on QM2 and guests changing ships.

The bus picked us up, went to the QE and picked up people and then went to Stonehenge.

Then on the return it dropped people off at QM2 and then at QE so it worked for all options on both ships. We had small carry on's but just what we wanted to take on the tour with us and what we didn't want to pack in our luggage.

Worked very well except there was road construction around the quay, and there was an accident when we were coming back so it took quite a while for the bus to get to the ships, but that was a unique situation, at least I hope it was.

We just did a back to back transatlantic trip in January. QM2 over and QE back.

We put special colored tabs on our bags the night before we arrived in Soton.

Our bags were collected and once we docked we left on a tour of StoneHenge. When we came back the tour bus let us off at the QE, we boarded and our bags were in our room.

Couldn't have been easier.

See how fasinating you are with balls here's a short joke:

What did explorer say after being pulled from the quicksand by the Balls?

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Ball.

We have sailed Cunard many times. Only once did we take second seating and it was very inconvenient. This is a valid issue.

We are ballroom dancers and often after second seating there were no seats available in the ballroom until late.

It was specially bad for the balls.

I would think they could alternate the timings of the balls so some are done at times more convenient for the people on the second seating.

Really felt like a third class passenger on that cruise.

We won't book on Cunard now unless we can get 1st seating for this reason.

Interesting the OP has only one post, I smell a rat or troll.

 

Anyway, I have recently returned from QE Adriatic cruise and had cabin 1074, it was very quiet except on the last night, when I think the crew had a little bash for a very successful cruise. The crew area backs onto the cabins, but it was no big deal, I slept through it, but it woke my wife who is a very light sleeper.

Glad to have your report. We are in 1074 for a 10 day cruise around your country in early September.

My wife is a light sleeper and much to her annoyance I could sleep through a hurricane.

Both of us will be thankful if she gets a good nights sleep.

I don't but Shutterbug is posting her awesome review on the Alaska thread. Check it out.....http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1438784

Here pictures are amazing!

She has colony club pics which I stole for you....shhhh don't tell ; )

Thanks for the quick response and for the extra effort. I wish my travel agent was half as responsive as you are!!

You truly are amazing Jen.

Great Review Jen.

Followed it all the way through.

We have sailed on the Radiance a couple of times and really enjoy the Colony Club and the dance floor.

Do you happen to have any pictures of this room from your cruise. We are curious if they changed anything in this area do to the new dining venue they added in this area.

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us.

I am a little late to this discussion.

I am a man and have been for quite some time.

I am 6' and my shoe size is 10.5 (American). Never had a problem fitting everything into suitcases. It does take a little planning, but is well worth the effort.

I enjoy wearing tuxes, suits, and ties.

Wore them for work for 30 years and liked it.

Haven't worn them for work now in 10 years and that is fine also.

I enjoy getting dressed up to look as nice as it is possible to make me look, and spend time with my beautiful wife doing the same. The effort is much more effective for her than for me.

I take a tux on every cruise. Also a sports jacked and several ties. I just learned how to tie a bow tie a few cruises ago and now have several that are not pre-tied. I think that is just fun. Always liked the way George Clooney looked when he has the un-tied bow tie around his neck. Unfortunately I am not as good looking in all other regards. At least my tie looks like his tie.

I don't get the logic of "I have to wear it for work so I won't wear it on a cruise". I always felt blessed that I worked at a place where it was possible to wear suits. Some are not so lucky.

I view the dinning room the same as I would a party. I like parties, even ones at work. If a friend was having a party and recommended I come wearing a tux, I cannot imagine showing up in a sports coat. On a cruise my fellow passengers I view as potential friends.

Deck - 8

Cabin # - 8300

Class – 10 - Inside

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Bed near? (balcony or bath) – No balcony, near closets, but not too near

Quiet Cabin (With comments on problems. Note if connecting. ) – Nonconnecting cabin & very quiet, also nice and dark.

Balcony View - could see balcony cabin across hall when we opened door.

Balcony Size? - couldn't tell, no way to get out to it, sucker kept his door locked.

Was wind a problem? No, only if wife slammed bathroom door

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? No, did not notice any issue with soot.

Any specific problems with this cabin? Perfect cabin for our needs, except closets too small and annoying - see below

Any other comments? The cabinets were two narrow by about 2 inches. The clothes hung outside the sliding doors, and we would have much prefered doors that swing open to cross closing sliding doors. Each time we got dressed it was open one door to get pants, close that door open other door to get shirt, etc. This was aggravated by the fact that one side only could be used for full length pants or dresses and the other side for shirts and blouses because of the safe.

Otherwise plenty of room in cabin and bathroom was outstanding.

We'll be in Le Havre on 30 Apr on Summit. I contacted the tourist office in Le Havre who told me the No 20 bus is the one to take and they sent me a link to the timetable. I can just about get by with French. It seems that the bus goes from Gare Routiere which I assume is the bus station. Not sure if I was mis-reading the timetable but the buses didn't appear to be very frequent. The one way fare is 8 euros. What do Celebrity usually charge for shuttle buses.

Love your Name 2irisheyes, is that to distinquish you from 1 and 3 irisheyes?

We are on the same cruise. We are traveling with another couple. He and I are going to Normandy with Celebrity, but she and my wife are going into HonFluers. She has already signed up for the excursion. But my wife was a French teacher and speaks French fluently. Maybe we can meet up at the sailaway affair. She much prefers exploring on her own rather than going the excursion route, but signed up in this case because the guys wouldn't be with them and she is concerned about getting back to the ship in time.

I just found this board on Sunday and already learned more about our trip and the ship than I had in 4 weeks of reading tour books.