YlangYlangF9PB3E

Wild mushroom and chicken pappardelle, served in the MDR at lunch. I look for it on every cruise. Very delicious!

Thank you all for the helpful replies! My husband uses a cane with a seat. He can't walk more than a hundred steps or so before needing to sit. That's why we look for cabins near elevators. When I booked the cruise with the TA, there were no balcony rooms showing on Royal's website other than "guarantee". Today, there are several! I should have called Royal before booking with the TA. Lesson learned! Also, I will check the Royal UK site in the future - thanks for that great tip! He can manage a regular room as long as there is a stool for the shower...not nearly as good as accessible, but he will make do. Thank you all. :*

Your TA should not be charging for this as Royal does not charge a fee to the TA. I would look for a new TA for your next cruise.

 

The chances are pretty slim unless there is a cancellation.

Oh, this is the last time I'll be using them. I usually book through Royal, and would have this time, too, except Royal had no balcony rooms to choose from, only Guarantee Balcony. The TA still had some balconies available in their block of rooms, so I was able to pick one close to the elevators.

We just booked Adventure of the Seas October 7, 2019, cruising from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale. Apparently it's is a very popular cruise, very few balcony rooms remaining and NO accessible rooms. We booked through a TA, only because we were able to choose our balcony cabin (need close elevator access for Hubby) versus booking through Royal for a "guarantee" balcony. We requested to be placed on a wait list for balcony accessible, but TA wants to charge us $50 for only the chance we may get one, non-refundable either way. Although $50 isn't that much, if the chances are slim to none I'd rather use that money for 2 sail-away drinks. I think I already know the answer, but was just wondering if anyone has been lucky to get one from a wait list.

Forgot to mention--- the Balcony Room we selected is 6B, the same as accessible rooms.

Great review. We are sailing on Adventure with a similar itinerary next year. Thank you for taking the time to give us your insight!

Personally I'd love labadee to be replaced with key west. Doubt I'll get my wish though.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Key West is one of our favorite ports that makes any itinerary more desirable. Unfortunately, these days it’s hard to find on Royal. We chose an Empress cruise to Cuba mainly because Key West is included. Wish Royal would bring back more cruises that stop there. :(

As for Labadee, I receive daily travel alerts from the US Government. Haiti is still listed as Level 4, and not just specifically Port Au Prince, Cap Haiti is mentioned as well.

:halo:

They were printed in the Cruise Compass each day (last month on Navigator).

Thank you! I wil remember to check the Compass.

We did that a couple times last cruise - depending on the theme night, we'd go check out WJ for their desserts. French night was a must - love those crepes!

Where do you find WJ’s theme for the night? Is it posted somewhere before dinner? We are sailing on Empress next month and I remember our last time on Empress, WJ had some great theme nights but we didn’t know about them until arriving. Would love to know before deciding where to dine for the night. On our last Empress cruise we ate dinner in WJ often ...the food was the best of any ship with a great variety.

The customer could just ignore the operator or not wait for the go signal and just launch - one of those stupid "watch this" moments.

And what do you suppose is the likelihood that happened here? I’d say slim to 0%. Come on.

Careful about complaining about "families" OP ..... We're all D+ including our toddler grandchildren ...and with their status they can certainly be in the lounge. ;)

Rather than shut down the Diamond Lounge, Royal should consider changing THAT perk — every generation becomes Diamond, Diamond +, or Pinnacle. No wonder it is becoming “unsustainable” for Royal. Maybe I’ve misunderstood. Are your children and grandchildren D+ only when traveling with you? Are my adult daughter and her children automatically lifetime D members, even though they’ve never stepped foot on a Royal ship? That makes no sense. (And now I’m going away for awhile to avoid the nasty onslaught headed my way, lol).

Thanks. Seems pricey. And a bit tacky walking into the dining room with a glass of wine?

 

Would love to hear from others if they have been chartor not...and what ship.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Not at all tacky. They suggest that you take a glass on your way out of the Diamond Lounge to bring to dinner.

Watch this link as the time gets closer, sometimes you can find decent deals a few weeks ahead of time:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

The PDF file attached to the link usually changes every Thursday afternoon.

Just to add a tip regarding this sale....Be sure you stay awake just past midnight on the first day you can book and call RCCL immediately, or your cabin may be completely GONE by daybreak. Happened to me.....

Can someone on a recent Empress cruise tell me what's in the Windjammer late at night? Maybe Cuban? Is pizza offered? Thanks :)

There is the Cafe Royal in the entrance to Boleros that might strike your fancy. Did not use it but they may have an espresso machine.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi38ZDdjvXbAhVSuFMKHd00BbMQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cruisecritic.com%2Fphotos%2Fships%2Fempress-of-the-seas-1103%2Fcafe-royal-284011%2F&psig=AOvVaw2IXYDjDr9coNiwwQOk-Smb&ust=1530232547803431

Thank you! I will take a look.:)

No coffee machine

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Forums mobile app

Thanks for your quick response. Recently I read that one of the ship's coffee machine was down and Diamonds had specialty coffee drinks loaded onto their card. I guess that's wishful thinking???

We will soon be sailing on the Empress. We're fine with no Diamond Lounge - 3 complimentary drinks per night are appreciated, but what about the specialty coffee machine that we've grown to love? Is it set up somewhere on the ship for Diamond members to enjoy?

Hi! We are booked on the RCCL Empress of the Seas for late August. Our cruise has an overnight in Havana, so basically two fulls days there. The first day, we are doing a 6 hour tour in a classic car of the main sights through I Love Cuba Photo Tours. However, I'm trying to figure out what we should do the second day in Havana.

 

My feeling is that we will see most of the main sights on the first day. What is something different that we can do the second day? If you've taken the I Love Cuba Photo Tours, was there anything that you didn't get to see? For the second day, should we just wander around and shop at the big flea market and have lunch? Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

We are on the Empress 8/27/18, overnights in Havana. The Royal agent told me that if you are in Cuba 2days, you have to do an official tour BOTH days. Can anyone verify? We wanted to do the classic car tour the first day and go to the market on our own on day 2. According to the agent, you cannot just walk off the boat and explore on your own if you don’t have a formal tour planned each day.

In a few weeks we will be traveling out of Galveston on Liberty of the Seas. This trip we will be bringing my in laws which will both need wheelchair assistance. They do not use a wheelchair at home but will need assistance with boarding.

 

My question is, do you tip the people assisting them, which I expect that you do. How much is normal? I have not had any experience at this so do not have a clue what guidelines to use.

$5.00 to the port assistant who gets us through the port and to the ship, then a few dollars to the Royal crew member who actually wheels us up the gangway and takes us to the Windjammer.

We just booked a cruise for August on Empress that overnights in Cuba. The agent told us that we had to book an excursion, but it did not have to be through the ship. Never heard of having to book a tour in any other port, but I’ve never visited a communist country and obviously Cuba has its own rules. Can anyone verify, and how do you prove you’ve been on a tour? Is there a minimum cost that must be met? Very vague rule..hope it is spelled out somewhere. What if you stay on the ship? Are you fined? Can’t imagine anyone doing that, but what if the weather is bad? Also, $75 visas for every passenger? Guess I should research a bit.

Virtually all recommend parking at the cruise terminal for safety reasons.

We have never, ever had a problem parking offsite in Fort Lauderdale. Is there a difference...is there a safety issue in Miami not found in FLL? I’d love to know because our next 2 cruises are out of Miami and judging from the good experience, money saved, and courteous, prompt shuttle service to the port in Fort Lauderdale, we were going to try the same in Miami. Thanks for your advice!

Even if ship and cabin's are listed there are limited cabin's available at that price. Once they are gone you are out of luck. Then if a cruise is listed wrong on any sale they reserve right not to honor it, All in the small print...Sorry for you but does happen's...

Thanks for your response! Yes, either I called too late or it was listed incorrectly. They never did tell me why. But I will call at midnight the next time!.

Yes I had that problem. The sale was gone by the time I called in the morning. The next time I wanted to book one of the sailings on the flyer I called right after midnight and got it.

Thanks! For some reason I didn't think I'd be able to get a Royal associate on the phone until after 8 this morning. I will certainly remember to call at midnight the next time.

First thing this morning I called to book a cruise listed on Royal’s Going, Going, Gone web page. I was told that the cruise I selected is unavailable, yet it is still listed on their web page. This was my first attempt to book one of these cruises....Has anyone had a similar experience? The sale is open to C&A members starting on Monday, then everyone else can book on Tuesday and Wednesday. The cruises change every week when a new list is published. Has anyone had a similar experience? I was very disappointed...thought I called early enough to get a cabin.

They will usually allow you to bring water onboard, but remember the rooms are not ready until 1:30 or so you will be schlepping it around until that time.

We put 2 6-packs of 16 oz. bottles of Pepsi in a hard side carryon and checked it at the curb with our other suitcases. Arrived at our cabin door with all bottles intact. But we live close and drive to the port...no flights involved, so it’s easy for us to bring an extra carryon.

I recently got off my very first cruise and loved it as it exceeded my expectations. My only complaint was the merchants in Labadee. Walking through the area was not very pleasant based on how pushy, aggressive, and should I say obnoxious some of the vendors were. I realize every port will have pushy or aggressive people trying to make their money and the cruise lines have no control over that. However, in Labadee Royal has complete control and I am curious why they would allow that to continue.

 

My question is this what has been your experience or response from Royal if you have complained about the merchant area. I was thinking of sending an email but just curious if other people have made complaints and what the response back from Royal has been. I am interested in any email response or if anybody talked with a guess representative on the ship. I know I cannot be the only person who was disappointed with being hassled to buy something (which I can say I did not buy anything) while walking through the merchant area.

Thanks so much for this post. We will be visiting Labadee next November for the first time. I thought it was very simllar to Coco Cay, completely controlled by Royal with a small market off to the side. I now know what to expect. We have compassion for people who are far less fortunate, and donate generously to many different charities and through our church. Without guilt we will steer clear of the village to avoid being aggressively hassled by vendors in Labadee.