jules71

Overtipping the bartender can be effective! But to be honest, these days the stewards have so many cabins to take care of I am not sure what extras they could do for you. (Beyond cleaning the cabin, providing towels, ice, etc.)

Have done this on several cruises--only with beer at the pool bar. At first I thought there is no way they are going to remember they owe me a free beer, but they always do!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1177296&highlight=tipping+cabin+steward+upfront

I should I have read this before I responded. This topic has been done to death! Somewhat amusing how snarky some people get on this subject!

We usually give the steward a ten (on a 5 or 6 day cruise) when he brings the first bucket of ice and let him know we like to have ice everyday. (And, of course, more at the end of the cruise.) They probably would do it anyway without anything upfront. Most have been just wonderful and part of the enjoyment of a cruise vacation.

I am sorry your cruise was cancelled. I had a group cruise planned January 2013 with 10 couples that Royal canceled because of a charter. Believe me, I was upset!!

We took another cruise and had a great time, though. Things will work out for you.

FYI: Royal gave each cabin a $200 credit which was nice, but they wouldn't give us the same price on the same itinerary so we ended up with a different (shorter) one. I was mad enough to write a letter to Adam Goldstein (I think that is his name!), but it didn't change anything.

Not always true. If the OP used a nextcruise to book the cruise, the original deposit of $100, or $200 could be forfeited. If this is the case, the cruise should be changed to one further out for next year. Deposit will not be lost this way, just be sure to keep the same booking number.

I always learn something new here--thanks!

I think a lot of current cruisers have cruised for less than 5 years and don't remember or never experienced the truly lavish food and service on cruises, not just Royal Caribbean, but pretty much all the cruises. The food and service were worth dressing up for. Now that the food is average, the service/presentation nothing special, and the dining rooms larger and more chaotic and noisy than ever before it just doesn't feel special enough to dress up. The varnish has worn off on formal night and I now recognize it for what it is; a photo opportunity.

 

I remember when Lobster night for formal night was NOT just a small tail. I remember flaming desserts. I remember sorbet between courses. I remember silver platters with side dishes served by the waitstaff. Some of the Gala Captains dinners you would be presented with a keepsake menu.

We started cruising on the tale-end of the "glory days," and I am glad I got to experience it. Cruising is still a great vacation--a good value, convenient, fun, but I totally agree that the MDR food/ no longer fits a formal dressing experience. Fine if others want to dress formally, but resort casual shouldn't be looked down upon.

I do think the formal dining room is a good thing for RCI to try. Could be a good solution.

So that's why I am getting the same prices? And I won't be able to see the discounted prices if I don't delete the cookies? Hmm -- doesn't seem very user friendly! (Thanks, Bob!)

If you go to the C&A area and log in, you can see a link under NEW! C&A Society Exclusive Rates. The link takes you to cruises that have a Special Deal.

However, on the couple I tried the deal seems to be the same as the one you can get on their web site without logging in as a C&A Member!?? Maybe it is just not working right yet?

Thank you for the quick answer!

Seeing this mentioned in a few threads, I did a search to try and find out more, but nothing I found really explains it. No more MDR? Will this be on all ships?

Just echoing that many did not dress formally on the designated formal nights when we were on a 6 day IOS cruise January 2013. Very few tuxes or ties on the men. People dressed nicely, just not formally.

Great review. I don't often read every word of long reviews, but I really enjoyed yours. Thanks for taking the time to share your wonderful trip!

Have had both E's and D's. D's have a little more room which may be noticeable if you are really paying attention. Definitely not worth an extra $500! Location on the ship is much more important to me.

Depends on the entertainer in Schooner. If you get someone like Matt Yee, you will be singing along. Others have different styles.

Totally agree. Some are really great--others just okay. Matt Yee is the best, but Kieran ? on the Radiance a few years ago was also really good.

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You will always have an older crowd on longer cruises. . . they are the ones that do not have to worry about missing time from work.

Have to agree. Although our longest cruise was only a 10 day Panama Canal, it was full of seniors with scooters!

We did MTD for the first time On our January Liberty cruise. Although we really enjoyed it and especially liked the flexibility, we were a little confused by some aspects. Although, we asked for a large table (we like meeting others this way, too) we were seated at a table for 2 every night except one. On that night we were seated in an entirely different area with a large group. At our table for two, we also always had the same wait staff (we like this). We also were told by fellow cruisers that if we had an 8:00pm reservation, we could go anytime after 8. This didn't seem right to us, so we went at our reservation time every night!??

My review from the Liberty: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1982921

We really enjoyed the Money Bar beach in Cozumel. Food and drink was good. Snorkeling very good. Short taxi ride from pier. We got there around 10:30 and had no trouble getting a couple of loungers (no charge).

My stateroom ceiling usually spins late at night once I lie down.

LOL

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I feel like the Viking Crown dance floor rotated on one ship I have been on... Monarch, Empress, maybe? Anyone else remember this?

We were on the Indy 6 day in January 2012. This past January 2013 we did the Liberty 5 day. I really like this size ship. We were with a large group on Indy and loved that they opened the partition between balconies and we had one huge long balcony! I thought the food and entertainment was a lot better on Liberty, though. (We were on Indy before the new menus, so maybe the food is better now.) I also thought service seemed better on the Liberty, but we loved both cruises so I think if you liked Liberty, you will like Indy.

Maybe because it was around Spring Break time, but rum runners didn't work for us. We put 3 rum runners in 2 different bags (1 very small one, 2 larger). We put them in between shoes, snorkel equipment, etc. We didn't get our luggage until very late that evening and when we did, all the rum runners were gone. Our steward told us they had been trying to find us (I presume to tell us to come to the naughty room), but we were out all day.

We were very surprised that they were taken out of both bags --did they target us? Seemed strange to us.

Lesson learned! Now we just bring the legal wine and don't sweat it.

Renewed ours recently -- took less than 3 weeks.

Booked this cruise right after Christmas. This was my 11th cruise on RCI--the first on Liberty. Just my DH and I, we had a D2 balcony: 6670. There was plenty of room for the two of us and I like being on deck 6--makes the Promenade and dining much more accessible. We had an amazing cabin attendant, Romel, who took very good care of us.

Drove to the port and dropped off our luggage, then parked our car at Park n Go. Great service and price there. We took the shuttle back to the terminal and got in line around 10:45. We were checked in immediately and got our Sea Pass cards. We had sat down for about 2 minutes when they called us to get on the ship.

Went to the Windjammer for lunch. Had to try the Honey Stung chicken for the first time since it is talked about so much on these boards! It was good. We were some of the first on so it wasn't crowded yet. Explored the ship for a while --we were surprised when our cabin was ready around 12:30pm.

This was our first cruise as Diamond and we really enjoyed all the little perks that come with it. Appreciated the juice and cookies that were in the room, plate of goodies later in the week, and of course, The Diamond Lounge was awesome. Met some great people there. Loved hearing about all the cruises they have been on. And our Diamond waiter, David Livingston, was a sweetheart.

The past few cruises I have not been too happy with the food, but thought the MDR on Liberty was really good. All of my entrees but one were excellent. The exception, a fried seafood entree was okay, nothing special. I tend to order the seafood entrees, i.e., the crab was great, the lobster excellent, and shrimp ravioli was very good as well. And the warm chocolate cake is back! Loved it.The staff that served us, Samiran, and Clarence were excellent as well.

We went to the MDR a couple of mornings for breakfast, ate pizza at Sorrentos, sandwiches and salad at the Promenade Cafe. Liked having coffee here in the morning.

There are some very talented performers on the Liberty--much more so than on the Independence. Loved the Up in the Air show--the male lead was mesmerizing. The Motown show was awesome as well. Saturday Night Fever was good, a little too long, but the performances were top notch.

As to activities on the ship: Took the salsa lessons! Checked out the flow riders. Laid in the sun and watched the ocean. Piano bar was fun.And the Pub looked fun--just never got a chance to go in.

In Belize, we did the Altun Ha and river cruise through the ship. Tour guides were very knowledgable. Tour was very interesting--nice to see a bit of the country and learn a little about it. In Cozumel we went to the Money Bar to snorkel on the advice of posters on the port boards. We had a very enjoyable day.

I had heard that the Liberty had a good vibe because of a great captain. (Captain Kristofferson) We found that to be true. All in all, a great cruise.

Happy to answer any questions.

I believe you can. You would have to pay their deposits, of course.