Gingerbint

Very odd that there are no prices on the menu. Thanks for the info!

It was not on the menu posted by the door as you enter but it was on the menu we were given when seated. That's where I remember seeing it.

Got off Solstice on Friday - I think they were $12 each.

Didn't have one so unsure if that includes tip or not.

Wonder why Royal keeps sending the new Quantum class ships to Asia! :mad:

I love the Quantum and Anthem especially ifly!

Why can't we have one in UK/Europe again?

We cruised on the Allure last month.

It was the most 'casual' attired ship we have ever been on.

We dressed on formal night as directed and could count on barely two hands how many people were in tuxes and dresses. We changed right after dinner as we felt very overdressed.

On other nights I usually wore smart trousers and nice top and husband wore trousers and a shirt.

We were very smart compared to most.

Shorts everywhere seemed to be the norm at all locations and meal times.

Further to my last post - to stop the stress in the morning, I went back in and cancelled one of the trips and then went back in and rebooked it, found the blue dot sliding thing mentioned helpfully by Jayander and applied all the credit needed to cover the cost.

I'll now have to stomach the first payment until Celebrity refunds it back to my credit card!

Does anyone know how long that will actually take in Celebrity world?

Thanks for the help on here to do this, shame the website doesn't offer the same assistance! :confused:

I tried all means of applying our OBC before purchasing but it would not do it. As the sale ends shortly and Celebrity are closed I had to make payment in full.

Plan on calling tomorrow to get the OBC applied and difference refunded to my credit card.

Prepared to argue the toss if they won't do it!

Their IT and website are rubbish for such a large company!

Would I be better ringing CC direct or Celebrity main number?

Anyone have the UK direct dial for CC?

:)

Was on the Eclipse last weekend. I am not gluten intolerant so cannot answer anything re speciality or MDR but remember seeing a section in the buffet area that was separate and marked up Gluten free, there was some breads and other bits on it.

I always prebook 8.30pm on the cruise planner for every night for when the Diamond lounge drinks stop plus i have filled up with the snacks there first lol.

That's how we've always done it and did for our cruise on the Allure last week. However on boarding found the Diamond lounge was open 430 - 8pm, not the usual 5-830pm.:o

Wasn't an issue though we dawdled down to the MDR along the promenade.

I will add MTD is not new but still seems to be a surprise to Royal when you turn up with or without a reservation.

Although we reserved a time every night we still had a wait for a table and it seemed to be busy busy at 830pm which it is not usually. The person at the desk said it was because everyone wanted a 2 top and there was not enough.

On some days there were still people waiting to dine after the MDR should have finished service with people being bought in to be seated at 940pm.

Got off the Allure last Sunday, there was the tour.

As someone posted - No need to book you just turned up.

Can check my compass when I get home later but I think it was on the morning of the last sea day about 10am.

So, the ship greatly exceeded its worst cast 2000 arrival time, so it was well with in the "on time". The passengers seem to be well informed on when the ship was to arrive with continual communications throughout the cruise. The OP really had no basis for complaints.

No sure where you got 'worst cast 2000 arrival time' from?

It's planned arrival was 0800am to remain in port for 12 hrs to depart at 2000. So plenty of time to see and do things.

It was then delayed arrival till 1030, then delayed further to 1230 arrival.

With the delay and then fiasco of customs the first passengers not getting off till well after that, mid afternoon time leaving very little of the 'day' left to do anything before things closed for the day.

Hardly 'on time' IMO.

But then it seems you are happy to disregard the OP anyway having an opinion on being unhappy with weather, delayed arrival, customs issues and missed ports. As others have said, 1 or 2 would be a frustration, but with all the other bits as well, much more so.

If you book a cruise for the itinerary, miss three ports and the ship itself is not offering a great time then I know I'd not be happy either.

I wish my expectations for a cruise were as low as you seem to be happy to accept.

Just my 5c worth.

This is a TA so NCL are not 'turning the ship' today.

It was due in port originally from 08-2000 hrs.

We have friends on board whom we were meeting in Southampton and had a day out with them planned.

We were aware due to not docking in the Azores the ship would have to clear customs at Southampton.

They then messaged us yesterday afternoon to say they have just been told due propulsion issues the ship would now not dock till 1030. They then messaged last night saying now not docking till 1230.

We headed down to Southampton to meet them for the afternoon for about 230/3pm and then spent the afternoon in Ikea waiting for them to be allowed off.

They finally got off the ship at just before 6pm!!

Is that really acceptable? I think not, poorly handled by NCL and UK customs.

So we grabbed a bite to eat, then had to leave them back at the ship as we had a 2 hour drive home.

So a nice day out crammed into 2 hours.

Our friends have said they have been several niggles on the trip and with missing Azores and now Bruges tomorrow and no time to do anything in Southampton this is really three missed ports.

Passengers have been given OBC for the missed Azores port. Be interesting to see what's offered now for today's and tomorrow's?

Aware weather is out of their control but it sounds like they should have had better planning in place.

What was the price at 150 with the 30% discount?

Was this discount taken after the FNDR taken off or the whole amount before?

Thanks, we board Allure on Sunday and we are not really wanting CHOPS, Sabor or Giovanni's.

We eat later so hoping we may be able to get 150, or at least try!

I'd suggest you check out the Dolphin Academy which is at the Curacao Sea Aquarium.

They offer several different options on interacting with Dolphins which include swimming, free diving and scuba encounter experiences.

If the RCCL one at $150 does not include swimming with them it is a definite saving to book direct as they do and are cheaper.

It includes admission to the Aquarium which is small but interesting.

You can also swim/feed sharks and turtles there too - checkout Oceanencountersdotcom website - I did this and it was great fun.

I would have done the Dolphin Scuba but the timings did not fit with our docked times.

We got a taxi from the port to take us there and same to come back as there is a taxi rank by the Aquarium. I think it was no more than $20 each way approx. inc tip.

Navigator is a great ship too. Have a fun cruise!

Anthem gets my vote - even though we are on Allure a week today we have done Oasis but I loved the iFly on Anthem/Quantum.

Also enjoyed the venues, shows, North Star and bumper cars. Two 70 is a great space too.

Itinerary is also better, longer cruise and no flying

I will add when we were on both Anthem and Quantum there were persons who had disabilities who were able to fly.

It will depend on how you are disabled and if its back or shoulder related then you would not be able to but they do have wheelchair lifts up to the flight area and the staff are there with you in the tunnel all the time.

I would suggest going up there and speaking to them, they need a bit of notice to get you suited up and in the lift as it has a couple of levels, same if you just want to watch your child fly give them a heads up.

Your little one can fly and will love it! Book and reserve on your planner ahead of time, easier to cancel then it is to get a spot once on board

We have a cruise upcoming (2 weeks tomorrow) and I have been on my first ever diet (LL) and I've done really well (lost 3st:D )so don't want to mess it up by overeating.

My plan is to avoid the bread basket (which will be tough as I love the cheese topped bread rolls Royal do!).

Have fish, chicken, meat and veg and less/no pasta and potatoes with my evening meal, Sauce on the side.

We also are savoury people and therefore don't have the desserts too often in the buffet or MDR.

I'm also going to try to have either breakfast or lunch and then dinner rather than 3 meals plus snacks and again have salads and proteins, luckily I'm not a chip fan either.

I'm going with a good mind set, a plan to manage and my new smaller sized clothes and body to keep me on track.

I know I'll pop on a few pounds as expected and I am a fan of the snacks in the evening in the DL ;p

We've sailed Caribbean, Alaska, New England, and we tip $1-$2 per drink plus a tip at the end. My question now is what is the custom for Western Med? We will be doing that in October. Tip in Euros? How much/frequent?

We tip the same in Europe as we do in the US, as the staff are the same.

Usually $1-2 per drink and extra at the end if we have the same servers all week.

We also tip in dollars rather than Euro's but have used Euro's when run out of dollars.

It's my opinion staff prefer paper dollar bills over jangling of 1 Euro coins in their pockets.

I found using the steamed milk option from the coffee machines made the drink too sweet for me.

A trick I have found useful and it does depend on the staff working but I get some milk in a 'to go cup' and pop along to Café Promenade (and on the odd occasions the Starbucks counter) and ask them to heat the milk up using the steamer thing on their coffee machine, I then mix in the sachet.

As I said depends on the staff as some are more than happy to help, while others will not even consider it. Have also got this done at the bar as you go in to the Windjammer.

Welcome! I think you will enjoy your cruise. Every Celebrity ship has a fancy coffee shop called Cafe al Bacio. Although the coffees and teas cost extra, most of the premium pastries and sweets are included in the cost of your cruise. Yummy!

Mmm mini Lemon tarts! September cannot come soon enough for me to have them again!

I concur with Bob as I called Royal on Tuesday as we are in the same boat (pardon the pun) as we got the select package when we originally booked.

They said it is $10 per person per day total. Nothing extra added for tax or anything.

Can only be bought on board and not able to do prior to the cruise.

Your options to dine will be either the Set dining times with two sitting. First seating usually at 530pm or 6pm (can vary on ship/country) and second seating at 830pm. This uses 2 of the 3 floors in the MTD

You will be assigned a table with the persons in your booking and you can request table size as well 4/6/8/10/12. If there is enough in your party you can have your own table or you can choose to share with other travellers.

You keep the same dining time each day, at the same table with the same wait staff.

Then there is MTD when you can chose to go and eat at any time during the opening times of the MDR. This uses the other floor in the MDR.

You can make a reservation for a time or just turn up. You can pre book dining times before you board on your cruise planner or tell them when you leave each night what time you would like to dine the next night.

If not booked there maybe a short wait for a table. (At times there is a wait even if you do have a reservation!)

In MTD you can vary your table location, dining time and wait staff depending on when you go to eat.

All serve the same menu

It's so nice to read what Cruisers from the US are allowed to do...........:rolleyes:

We in the UK are not furnished the same courtesy. Once we've paid our deposit it is non refundable.

Sadly we do not get the luxury of booking several cruises/cabins early and then deciding which we fancy and cancelling the others.

We have to pick one and stick with it or lose our deposits which unless you get a deal is usually £300.

They have recently changed one ruling that we can now transfer a cruise booking, once without charge, if you booked on board.

We wait with bated breath to see if they ever give us the cancel/full deposit refund option!

Thanks for that, I've just saved us nearly £20 off the internet on our upcoming Allure cruise, Very happy :)

Wow, thanks for your comprehensive list of things to do.

We are in Vancouver in Sept after a cruise and starting to plan and this will be very helpful. I've already messaged hubby about the foodie tours!

We have yet to book our hotel and were wondering if are able to offer any advice on best place to base ourselves. I have been looking at hotels sited near to the Space Needle or Pike Market areas?

Any hotels to consider or avoid? Thanks in advance :)

We were on the Navigator in June and CHOPS for breakfast was only for Suite Guests and Pinnacle's.

You could get your food from the Windjammer and bring it in or they did a table service with choice of food, similar to MDR, cooked to order.

They also had a set up within CHOPS for continental breakfast, cereals and fruit/fruit juices.

We are D+ but were also in a Suite so were able to use it.

I did see Giovanni's was open at breakfast time but do not know if that was for D+ only or for general guest overflow use.