Davebhoy

21 hours ago, suesnake2002 said:

Dave bhoy. You musta had quiet fellow cruisers. We had a lively bunch in april. We rocked the viking crown lounge, closed down the schooner bar in the evening. 

Could've been - but we only saw the usual 10/15 folk in the VCL any evening (barring 1).  

They were vacuuming the Centrum by midnight...

You can get a direct train from Tarragona to Barcelona easily and cheaply. Well worth heading up to Barcelona - so much to see !

Think the earliest tenders are often unreserved, so it may be possible if you're ready to rock before the NCL trips are due to leave.

Sailed Grandeur last year.

Its a great ship, as long as you realise its smaller than others you might have been on, and won't have all the bells and whistles.

Only slight downside was how quiet the ship was by about 2330 most nights - very little signs of life after the last show chucks out, and the Crown Lounge was pretty deserted.

13 hours ago, dodgestang said:

 

Tipping a Genie is like tipping a concierge.  You tip as you feel it is warranted.

 

As for 'the whole idea does not appeal"....I agree.  I thought it would be intrusive....I want to go on my trip and have a nice time, relax and not feel like I am being 'managed' around the ship ;).  But it was really really nice.  She met us at the pier, walked us on board, gave us a tour.  Made all our reservations before hand, changed it up without a second thought when we asked.  Got us seats at any show we wanted.  When we said the kids were staying in to watch a movie while we went out Chef's table, she took popcorn to the room for the kids.  When we wanted room service, we called her.  And it showed up at the exact time we asked for it ;).  When we needed to get through customs in Boston while still on ship.....she asked what time we wanted to do it...and then walked us to the front of the line at the time.  when we left the ship, she asked what time we wanted to leave....came to room with a porter and walked us to our car.  It only added to our trip without any negatives.

Thanks, dodgestang - does sound a lot less intrusive than I thought it might be. 

We've occasionally used Johnny Rockets on board, and always find it decent enough - it hit the spot when we got back on board exhausted in St Petersburg and couldn't face dressing for dinner. Could've used the Windjammer, but kinda still wanted table service.  Food wasn't brilliant, but definitely better than any McD's I've used.

 

Need to remember too that we don't have many (any ?) JRs in the UK, so for a lot of their cruisers, it might remind them of trips to the US...

1 minute ago, ownedbypets said:

 

The Genie is not included

Thanks!

Having never cruised Star Class, and being incredibly unlikely to ever do so, this might be a daft question, but are the genie services not covered by the auto-grats?

 

The whole idea of the genie really does not appeal to me, but just wondered...

14 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Not sure why the phrase you quoted, "it is considered good manners to learn and adhere to the customs wherever you travel", is something to correct. He suggested to tip where tipping is the norm, and don't where it isn't. You corrected him on something he wrote that agreed with you. You are arguing against your own point. 

Nope.

See Post #74.

 

29 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Isn't that what goldfish65 suggested? Why are you confused? 

Don't remember saying I was confused.

Goldfish65 seemed to be suggesting that tipping should be expected when cruising - i pointed out that local custom in Europe doesn't match the cruise lines.

Why are you confused ?

25 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

As a life-long tipped employee in the USA, my perspective...it is considered good manners to learn and adhere to the customs wherever you travel. 

 

If we're talking about cruising in Europe, then the customs where you're travelling are very different to the States - so shouldn't it still follow the local approach and not have a reliance on tipping ?

The cruises on offer next summer (July/August that make up the school hols) offer nothing exciting on the itinerary - one cruise to the Canaries, and other than that it's the usual Med stops.

 

We've already booked our cruise for next year, and for the first time in a good while, is not going to be on Royal.

We had a great time on Grandeur last year.

 

It became a bit of a ghost ship after midnight (think there were maybe 10 folk in the disco) and the Centrum was empty earlier than that, but that was OK by us.

 

Bands weren't as great as other RC cruises (could've done with a guitarist to cover livelier songs than the pianist) but again, it probably suited the crowd on board.

Not sure how RCI will deal with this, but given there could be a significant number of folk booked on the cruise that are not affected by the change in policy (myself, for example, as a non-US citizen) why should the ship not still stop there, and simply deny those who ARE affected the option of going ashore ?

 

Don't see why we should suffer for a US political decision.

If you were to accidentally return late to the ship, and it had sailed without you, would that have the same result ? Don't know what happens with luggage when folk miss the ship...

21 hours ago, SRF said:

Grandeur is HORRIBLE for kids.

 

Do not bring anyone under 21 on Grandeur.

 

HORRIBLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe that will reduce the number of kids on Grandeur.  😄 😄 😄 😄

 

Nice try !

We took our daughter on Grandeur last year, having previously been on Navigator twice from the UK.

Not as much in ways of facilities for them, but still plenty to keep her entertained, and we rarely saw her as she was keen to go to WJ to eat with her friends rather than be stuck in the MDR with her parents.

 

27 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

You obviously do not live in New England.

While I'm not from New England, I absolutely agree that their way of serving lobster with just the clarified butter is FAR better than slobbering it with mayo !

Its a personal taste, thing - I quite like the coffee served on board. Not absolutely top quality, but perfectly drinkable.

At least the two days - if I went back, I'd look at the option of doing three...

 

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Enjoy !

 

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Not really necessary - WiFi widely available in all the ports

 

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Sea Day: Starbucks in the morning, a beer and a soft drink pre-lunch, soft drink/beer with food, 2 cocktails in the afternoon, glass of wine with dinner, two or three beers at the evening entertainment and possibly a malt before bed -- drinks package is easily worth it.

 

Port Day: Starbucks in the morning, bottle of water getting off, cocktail on boarding, glass of wine with dinner, two or three beers at the evening entertainment and possibly a malt before bed, package is still worth it.

Have to put a word in for the Scottish breakfast - which differs from the English one mainly by having potato scones instead of hash browns, and sometimes haggis too. Tend not to get mushrooms, but almost always black pudding. Really wish potato scones were available on sailings from Southampton - fantastic with a fried egg.

We never rush off. Last time on Navigator they had to practically chase us out after one last coffee ! We plan our travel in case we're delayed, so have that bit of breathing space.

 

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Right, all recent reports point to a real price of $9.38 for room service.

Am sure the staff will love that - would never have dreamed of getting room service without tipping less than $2 per tray, but if Royal reckon that's too much...

 

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