blondie from arizona

I have a few ideas. First, if you are Diamond or staying in a suite, check with your concierge. Second, contact the ship and see if they are going to be doing mass or have any other denomination on board that week. That reverend/father might be willing to help. Third (and probably a better idea), post this on your roll call!!! There may be someone there who will be willing to help you. You might suddenly find many new friends on your roll call who would love to plan a ceremony for you.

 

Good luck!

From what I have read in recent reviews, the nightly Diamond event has turned into the same drinks you get in the Diamond lounge. Form what I hear, the only thing really missing is the coffee machine, but they have specialty coffee if you go to the main dining room (since they have the Diamond breakfast).

 

We are going on the Jewel in Sept and that is why I have been looking for this information. :D

 

If I am wrong, we still have the 3 drink coupons each night.

I think the Costco denial must be a group booking or something. I have had the OBC applied for a Costco booking before. However, you never know with Royal. Things change all the time. I would definitely do a follow up e-mail and find out why.

 

I love my stockholder OBC, but it is certainly hit or miss.

Tell her that you were reading the web boards and several times lately the OBC has fallen off of reservations and you NEED a confirmation from her showing that she indeed is giving you the OBC.

 

I asked my TA to f/up and make sure mine was posted last time and she told me that the OBC is falling off and gladly sent it to me. Sometimes it won't show up on your on board account for a couple days, but life will be easier for you if you have paperwork to show it is owed to you.

 

Plus, I am sure it will alleviate some stress.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

I use the same techniques every week as I travel- pack in zip lock bags. Toiletries are separated by liquids for TSA inspection and make- up. Easy to unpack as underclothes, pajamas and exercise clothes stay in the bag so they lay easily in the closet shelf. Dirty clothes go into one suitcase as the week progresses. All of this in the 22" roller board that we pack in (one each). I need my room to always be tidy so keeping everything out of sight is important to me.

 

Also, use one (or two) zip lock bags marked for dirty clothes. And, if you use the zip lock bags, it keeps your clothes fresher and cleaner. No worries about packing your shoes next to your nice clothes. We always use grocery store bags to put our shoes in. Keeps the sand out of the bag too. And the zip locks are great since sometimes your shampoo etc may pop open while in flight due to the pressure change. Then you don't have to worry about liquids going everywhere.

I am Diamond on Royal and just took my first NCL cruise. It was only a 4 night cruise and the itinerary and dates matched for a quick getaway on the West coast. We are inside cabin people and found them to be comparable. We are also stairs people and found the stairs on NCL to be narrow and short (like Carnival). Since all the people on NCL are really old and only take the elevator, the stairwells are open, so it wasn't a huge problem except when I was in my heals. The burgers on NCL (Dive In Cafe) are better and they had waffle cones, which DH really loved. They serve you your food in the buffet, so be prepared for it to be a more difficult process, but the food appears fresher and more edible. The entertainment is much better on Royal. The shows are better. The other acts are better too because the audience participates more. Most people didn't even show up on NCL and didn't laugh or clap. The audience was really a downer. However, if you are on a ship with the Culinary Studio, that was nice and the BB King night club was wonderful. NCL also gives you chocolate on your bed at night and daily towel animal (only every other day on Royal). NCL has fresh flowers everywhere, but the ship is kinda dark. Royal has a cleaner, open look with more art. This is probably our most important factor for always choosing Royal --> Since we are now Diamond, we get a FREE evening cocktail time for a few hours around dinner. It is in a nice bar and they serve hot appies. Really makes our cruises nicer. We will always choose Royal, but if we happen to find a NCL cruise that meets our needs, we would go on them again.

 

Oh, and I hate NCL open seating dining. It really hurt our experience on the NCL cruise. We like to have the same waiter every night. Your wait staff can really help make you have a really nice cruise!

I'm in this camp - I do hang mine up and i don't mind if it's a little damp (I only ever travel with my wife and it's way too late to bother protecting myself from her cooties) but I do always get the impression that the towels are changed whether they are hanging or not.

 

OMG! You are hilarious! :D:D

Diamond is really where you want to be. But really the best Diamond benefits are some internet time (which seems to be changing) and the Diamond lounge. You get free drinks and hot appies in the lounge every evening. So, if you are extremely conservative (like my DH) then having the free drinks changed everything for us.

We actually went on a short cruise around Christmas just to get to Diamond, so that when we took our next long cruise we would have the benefit. It was the right decision for us.

You need to weigh out the $$ and your comfort level in spending it. That short Christmas cruise turned out to be one of my favorites.

We put a read file on the SD card that is in our camera. If says "If lost please return" and then the inside of the file has our contact information in it. I also try to take a picture of both of us as the first picture of our trip.

We just got back from a cruise on another line and they did NOT have the room attendant's carts in the hallways. It was so nice not to have to go around them. It sure made the hallways a lot tidier.

 

As far as the trays, your little, tiny cabin starts to smell after a very short time, if you leave the tray and scraps in there.

We were just on a ship when the prices changed. I complained. I actually got a call from the IT guy who said there were so many complaints that they were sending one big complaint to corporate. Plus the WIFI didn't work very well for the premium charges.

 

As long as people continue to pay for crappy stuff, the cruise lines will continue to raise the prices and give less and less service.

I don't know the answer, but I am sure everyone's first question is going to be, "What ports does the cruise go to?"

The gratuity adjustment forms I have seen allow you to modify the gratuities for each crewmember. I don't believe you can enter a percentage, I believe you have to enter some set amount of money (including zero) to give the crewmembers.

 

 

Thank you for answering my question. That is what I wanted to know. I will not be back to this thread. Sorry if it got negative. That was not my intent.

Sorry. but can anyone actually answer this question? If you have your tips removed is it all or nothing? a percentage? by department?

 

I might remove the tips on the next cruise just to find out the answer. And the example I gave was not anything that has happened, it was just an example.

 

Thanks again for the help. I was not meaning to cause the same problems that always seem to come up when a tipping question is asked.

Part of the answer is that YES I can change the tips. I want to know specifically if I can adjust the tips down, but not to zero?

 

And, if I can leave one department with full tips and lower the tip for another department?

 

Does anyone have a copy of the form or a description of the form?

 

Thanks for your help.

No flaming please. This is a serious ? So, if you go to guest services to remove or lower the tips, is it an all or nothing proposition? A percentage? A certain $ amount? Or by department?

 

Example: Your wait staff was wonderful, but your room attendant was horrible. Can you leave the tips on for the wait staff and lower it for the room attendant? And, can you lower it by 20% or would I need to remove them completely and have enough cash to give to everyone else?

 

Thanks in advance for all the helpful information. Again, no flaming please.

Awesome. Thanks for the quick responses.

Does the PVSA apply if you are changing cruise ships? We would like to take the Noordam-Holland doing San Diego, Victoria, Vancouver. Then getting off that ship and getting on the Golden Princess and doing Vancouver, Victoria, San Francisco.

 

Any help would be appreciated. I read thru other threads and there was too much info and conflicting info.

 

Thanks,

This may be a strange question, but..... What if your facebook page has a different name on it? Are you still able to redeem the points?

 

To simplify the question, if my maiden name is on facebook, can I book the cruise (To redeem my points) in my married name?

The number of times it is available depends on the motion in the ocean as well as how much time the ice skaters need to practice for their show. They have priority on the ice. Also, don't forget to take your long pants. Can't skate without them! ;)

Sorry, more thoughts than answers for you. First, you may want to check on the NOLA board, or they may just move this question over there. Second, you may want to ask the question on your roll call. They may have a better idea about what is available the specific date you are there. Third, when are you going to be there? We are leaving on the 4/11/15 sailing and there is a festival there that weekend, so it is VERY expensive downtown. Good luck!

B2B on Navigator worked just fine. No issues. We were going to just get off and get back on, but that morning we decided we needed some emergency cold medicine. So, we disembarked with the long line. However, we found one of the C/S people who was at the discussion the day before and she took us to the front of the line. Easy! Upon returning, we just pushed our way in like we owned the place, and didn't have to wait in line at all. To clarify, we NICELY told each one of the R/C reps that we were on the B2B and that we already had all of our documents and our new seapass. Went right thru, minimal lines. Waited until they opened the gate and I was literally the first person back on the ship. The key was to be nice, but assertive. The R/C ground support at Galveston were a little clueless about B2B people.

 

On the plus side, doing a B2B is wonderful. I think all cruises should be that long.:D

Sounds like a great deal to me and if the price goes down before final payment, you can still get the lower price. It is definitely a win for you! You will have a great time on your vacation.

Here is an interesting point.... From reading this entire post, it appears RC does this frequently. If they are having MDT, they should have that marked on the schedule MONTHS in advance, then they wouldn't inconvenience anyone. I love RC but some of the issues that they have are easily solved and yet they continue.

I agree. The door should be closed. They could easily send those folks up to MTD. The late comers really mess up the flow of everyone's meal in that section. It is just RUDE!