wyldkarma

We did the Jewel from Amsterdam to Iceland, Ireland 14 days two weeks ago.  Jewel is of course smaller and had a juggler, a comedian, and 3 guys playing piano, the Royal Dancers could not perform as they said the sea was too choppy.  We only saw 1 show the whole cruise, it was pretty boring.  So, if entertainment is a top priority, this is NOT the ship.

As a Diamond plus, we get 5 daily drinks automatically.  But, I am taking my brother on his 1st cruise.  If he buys a drink package will I need to buy another package for me?  I can't even drink the 5 free ones I already drink, and I don't drink coffee or sodas at all. Wondering if my 5 drink package counts as a drink package or exempts me from having to buy another full drink package?

We debarked our August cruise 3 days early.  Our 2 week Iceland & Ireland cruise on the Jewel of the Seas out of Amsterdam had a last minute itinerary change and cancelled our stop in Cork, and instead added an extra day back in Amsterdam due to low water levels at the locks.  We went to the Diamond Lounge and asked our Diamond liaison about getting off early in Belfast.  No problem, she made a quick call to verify, we got a release notice and had to meet with immigration the day before we got off the ship so they could stamp our passports.  There was no fee, no extra charges, they gave us a form to present to security as we rolled our luggage off the ship.  They did collect our SeaPass card as we left the ship.  Upon departure we spent an extra day in Belfast, took a train to Dublin, spent a couple days there then flew out of Dublin back to the States and didn't have to mess with Amsterdam again.  We lost one sea day and two extra days in Amsterdam but gained extra days in Ireland.  No need to fake being sick just ask nicely and explain why you wish to get off.  If your passport and Covid shots are up to date, and immigration says it's okay, there is no real reason you can't get off.  RCL says you "Cannot ask prior to sailing to get off early."  But, once the ship sails you can ask to debark early.  There was some fine print about being charged $65 per person for immigration fees but they never charged us any fees.  

Per RCL FAQ sections it says:  "Royal Caribbean no longer allows cruise passengers to pre-plan early debark or late embarkation for any of our ships".  Note the word pre-plan!.  "Stuff happens", and some folks have to leave early.  We have an upcoming trip and have been trying to get more info also about getting off a day or 2 early in case of emergency.  Last word we got from RCL was check with the main desk once onboard and make your request in person.  My step dad is 90 and in poor health, we may need to debark if his health worsens and we need to return home early.  RCL says there may be a $65 fee per person to leave the ship early.  It would sure be nice to hear from someone on this forum that has actually experienced debarking early within the last year.  Lots of folks just like to just throw in their thoughts or opinions with no basis in actual experience. 

On European / non- USA ports does Royal still allow for guests to debark early at a different port. Or, have they stopped allowing it?  If so, why would they care if a guest departed the ship a day or two early on a two week cruise when the last days were just sea days?  We tried calling RCL customer service a couple times but did not get a straight answer.  One said they charge a $65 fee to debark early, the other said they didn't allow it anymore.  One said it was okay to leave early at a non-US port but not at a US port. ???  Several years ago this was not an issue, if you wanted off you just let them know, we did it twice with no issues, now it seems no one knows for sure. 🤔

We are on RCL Iceland & Ireland next week, all paid and planned.  Just found out my stepdad will have to go to hospice shortly.  In the off chance he passes while we are cruising can we just get off the ship at any port and fly home to the USA early?  Royal says there may or may not be a $65 fee to exit early from a different port like Cork or Liverpool? Curious the RCL folks don't know exactly or cant tell me more.  Anyone have this experience recently.  What reasons may someone debark early, is this only for emergencies?  What if someone just wanted to get off the ship early and not go to the final port would they still charge a fee?

Thanks, we would have to push to the next day if we cannot get the 11:15 flight.  That means another hotel stay.  We may have to just consider the extra day in Amsterdam, extra hotel fee, and extra fees for out pups in the kennel back home.  Drats.

We are sailing on the Jewel out of Amsterdam in August 2022.  The ship returns at 6:30am on a Friday.  Is it reasonable to catch a 11:15am flight home.  30 minutes to the AMS airport but we never went through customs and boarding at Amsterdam and have no time reference for getting luggage booked and through security and pass control to catch our 11:15 United flight.  Ship docks at 6:30, hopefully clears customs and we can get off ship by 7:30, 30 minutes taxi to airport so around 8 or 8:30am.  Time to get through all customs pass control to the gate for United is unknown.  Anyone done it recently?  Thanks.

We are currently on Liberty of the seas out of Galveston. We purchased the 7 day surf and stream package. We have NOT been able to stream a single program. VOOM is not fast enough for actual steaming like on Netflix. Email or browsing the web is fine but not streaming. We complained and they refunded our fee. It works okay when in port when most people are off the ship, but when everyone is on at the same time the bandwidth cannot handle it. Not sure if this is fleet wide or just the Liberty. Just ran a speed test. 9 pm, couple hours away from Cozumel out at sea. Ping: 1868 ms. Download: .31 mbps. Upload: 2.27 mbps. Good luck streaming much of anything. Why they advertise VOOM as being able to stream movies is beyond me. Flyers all over the ship says this is VOOM.

Just ran a speed test. 9 pm, couple hours away from Cozumel out at sea. Ping: 1868 ms. Download: .31 mbps. Upload: 2.27 mbps. Good luck streaming much of anything. Why they advertise VOOM as being able to stream movies is beyond me.

We are currently on Liberty of the seas out of Galveston. We purchased the 7 day surf and stream package. We have NOT been able to stream a single program. VOOM is not fast enough for actual steaming like on Netflix. Email or browsing the web is fine but not streaming. We complained and they refunded our fee. It works okay when in port when most people are off the ship, but when everyone is on at the same time the bandwidth cannot handle it. Not sure if this is fleet wide or just the Liberty.

We are currently on Liberty of the seas out of Galveston. We purchased the 7 day surf and stream package. We have NOT been able to stream a single program. VOOM is not fast enough for actual steaming like on Netflix. Email or browsing the web is fine but not streaming. We complained and they refunded our fee. It works okay when in port when most people are off the ship, but when everyone is on at the same time the bandwidth cannot handle it. Not sure if this is fleet wide or just the Liberty.

If you are lucky enough to get a Suite on royal caribbean, the suites do typically have a dvd player. You can unplug the dvd and plug in your hdmi cable to that port and connect whatever you like and it will work just fine. I have done this several times. But, all other rooms do not have a dvd player, only the full Suites have them. (junior suites also do NOT have dvd players.)

When do they typically assign the rooms on GTY bookings? The ship sold out several days ago, it sails in about 3 weeks, and still no room assignment. Seems a bit odd?

We are kinda excited, we have never sailed on the Liberty of the Seas. Just checked this evening, that cruise is now sold out. Interesting how that works. I don't have a room assignment yet and the ship is sold out. Spin that roulette wheel and lets see where I end up with a balcony guarantee. ;)

We have taken over a dozen or so cruises now and never booked a Guaranty X stateroom. We almost always get a balcony stateroom and have always carefully chosen our cabins. However, While checking out some prices of upcoming cruises out of Galveston (we live in TX 3hrs from the port), I noticed Royal Caribbean had a 7 nt sailing coming up in less than 30 days and they had a balcony guarantee X available for $605, the lowest price for any other balcony stateroom was $1167. I quickly grabbed that guaranteed rate since it was nearly 1/2 off all other balcony staterooms. We would never have booked that cruise, but for that cheap rate, what the heck. Usually the guar X rates are only a few bucks cheaper so this was a pleasant surprise. I will take my chances. Any day of cruising is better than sitting around the house. Will let you know how it turns out. :)

We have taken over 15 cruises now and never booked a Guaranty X stateroom. We almost always get a balcony stateroom and have always carefully chosen our cabins. However, While checking out some prices of upcoming cruises out of Galveston, I noticed Royal Caribbean had a 7 nt sailing coming up in less than 30 days and they had a guar X available for $605, the lowest price for any other balcony stateroom was $1167. I quickly grabbed that guaranteed rate since was nearly 1/2 off. We would never have booked that cruise, but for that cheap rate, what the heck. I will take my chances. Any day of cruising is better than sitting around the house. Will let you know how it turns out. :)

May be going out on a limb here ... One thing I've noticed in all the threads across CC is that people assume a cruise line is going to offer one product. Why can't the line offer more than one product to cater for the wider cruise audience? Ie go for both the NCL vs more traditional cruisers? If done well this could be an excellent strategy, admittedly I think there is definitely lessons to be learnt from it all ... But if executed correctly could be great.

 

I mean it's a harder commercial strategy to undertake competing in more than one market with one product but my own opinion is good on them. If they think they think they can create such a diversive product then let's see it

 

 

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I think you are absolutely correct. All ships are different in their own way. Using CC helps find out what those are. We have cruised many RCL ships and like the traditional dining. We heard how wonderful the new Quantum was to be, but alas, for us, did not live up to the hype. We found we really hated the DD concept and will not do it again. While we don't like it, it may be just the right thing for many others. My gut is that way too many folks dislike it enough to cause the ship not to fill all the staterooms. They may have to drastically cut prices to book all their staterooms.

The Quantum seems to have only a 34% favorable rating on Cruise Critic. On the main Cruise Critic page search bar just search for Quantum of the seas. Lots of negative reviews, very very few positive ones.

Then to the RCCL site and look at booking a room on the next Quantum sailing. All room categories are wide open. Seems they are having trouble booking this ship now after all the poor reviews. We did the Dec 1st 11 night sailing and hated this concept after we did try it. Comes as no surprise RCCL has put the brakes on converting the Oasis class ships for the time being. Give us MDR anytime.

Isn't that what this whole thread is about?

 

Just to throw in my 2c.....

 

I haven't been on Quantum yet, but I will be going in February. From what I understand there are delays due to servers being overtaxed and the technology being brand new. Both SHOULD be able to be corrected relatively easily/in a timely manner. Dynamic Dining is NOT a failed concept. It is new to Royal and with this announcement it is obvious that they still have a ton of work to get it to the point that they want it. I'm personally excited for Dynamic Dining. It is going to be like dining in an all inclusive resort or really like dining on land, where you make reservations if you want a guaranteed table.

 

-Ross

Let us all know how that works out. Maybe they can improve it who knows, In the meantime we'll be sailing other ships. Hopefully they will offer more showings of Mama Mia. It is fantastic. However, not everyone gets to see it because it only shows a few times during the sailing. Book all your reservations now if you still can. It is a beautiful ship, just a lousy dining experience in our opinion. By the way, the menu stays the same in each of the different restaurants, what you have on day 1 will be what you have on day 11. The only restaurant that seemed to change up a bit was the Windjammer.

Maybe RCL has heard the message. They have now postponed changing over the Oasis class ships to DD. More info available on royalcarribean blog or do a google seach for rcl delays dynamic dining.

We just sailed on the Quantum of the Seas Dec 1st 11 night voyage. Dynamic Dining is NOT for us, we hated it as did everyone we spoke to on the ship. We did not find one single person who liked it. We hope they decide to postpone it indefinitely on all ships. Whoever did the market survey to design this nonsense should be fired.

Dynamic Dining is now a deal breaker for us and we will NOT cruise on any ship that has it. We have cruised 9 other times on RCL ships and enjoyed all our Main Dining experiences. Dynamic Dining is like going on a scavenger hunt each evening trying to find where you can eat as most of the restaurants book out many months before the cruise even sails. So if you don’t get your reservations early you will be eating in the Windjammer the whole cruise.

The only decision we want to make on a cruise is whether we want early or late dining in the main dining room. Spending hours of our precious vacation time trying to wrangle reservations is most definitely a deal breaker for us.

How was the food at WindJammer for dinner? Were there lots of choices? Was ice cream available in WJ or just soft serve on the pool deck?

 

Thanks.

No Ice Cream in the Windjammer, (at least we did not see or find any) just soft serve near the pool deck. Only one machine and looooongggg lines. We never did get any as it seemed to be closed most times we were near there.

The Windjammer has a nice clean new look and you can sit out back on the balcony area and enjoy the open air while dining which is very nice. The Windjammer design has changed a bit. For one, they now have sinks and soap at all entryways or you can still do the antibacterial squirt like all the other ships...washy washy.

Overall food was good. Not better or worse than other RCL ships. Design flow has some flaws. Fresh baked bread / cookies right when you walk in, then you go to the numerous serving stations and fill up your plates now if you did not grab your bread on the way in you need to fight the flow of the crowd and go back. Also, they do not fill juice, tea, or water glasses. You get just the glass and have to stand in line at the juice, tea, or water / ice machine. Created a backlog every meal just waiting to get something to drink. (TIP: skip the juice / water bar and head toward the back of the ship after you fill your plates, there are machines there also and no wait time.)

There is also a separate desert bar that was very nice. We like it as well as the fresh baked cookies during lunch and dinner. Those were awesome cookies right out of ovens.

No cold soups on the Dec 1 - 12 sailing either.

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Dec 1st Cruise is now over. Well, we were only able to snag three reservations. American Icon, Chic, and Grand. We only got the Grand on day 10 due to a cancellation by someone else. It felt like a scavenger hunt just getting those 3. Several hrs spent running back and forth between restaurants trying to get in without a res. Didn't work for us. Most evening meals were in WJ. Also, Don't expect to dine at the same time each evening unless you use WJ. You can use American Icon for breakfast or lunch w/o reservations. But if you show for breakfast after 9 am expect to wait. Dynamic Dining is a deal breaker for us. Refils on Coffee, water, bread, etc is very slow to non-existent due to lack of assistant waiters. For us, the food selections were limited and not as good as other RCL ships we sailed on. The Chic had ribeye steak on the menu but instead they served a very dry prime rib. When I questioned the waitress she said the chef didn't know the difference between a ribeye and prime rib as many other guest also complained. Really? When I asked her how many tables she is waiting on she said 10. No wonder service is slow. No more DD for us, the only reservation we want to make from now on is early or late dining in a MAIN dining room.

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