MrsKC08

Thank you so much for doing this. We are in 6291 in February! This took a lot of work and I am so glad that I found this today.

Love Love LOVE Richard Spacey...There is no other CD that can compare in our opinion! I hope that we get lucky to have him on Freedom in Feb 2014, but I am not holding my breath.

Great review, but I am missing the pictures? Is it just me?

This is making me want to be an Arizona cruiser! I love when groups come together like this!

I was on your second leg and I too am doing a review. It was the best cruise we have ever done!

I have subscribed to your review and look forward to more!

We are sailing in two weeks, so you can bet I am subscribing!

We too are praying for the young boy who was sent to Arnold Palmer Hospital. Praying that he makes a quick and full recovery!

Just FYI, I have heard that when you pay in cash, the recipient is still required to give some of that to line for others that are not directly tipped. If there is not an automatic charge, the line assumes the full amount was paid to the staff member and asks for their portion. So, by tipping in cash you are not eliminating what the line gets.

 

I am not saying you shouldn't be tipping that way, just want you to be aware it may not serve the purpose you are expecting it does.

This is actually not true.

Bevomom,

What guarantee do you have that when you tip in full with cash, (not sure if you do or not as you only mentioned your waiter), that your tips all went to the people who served you rather than having them turn in the amount tipped or at least tell whomever necessary that a cash tip was received? I don't see that there is any guarantee that what you are saying is any better or more guaranteed than when I pay the tips on my card, not in cash.

 

 

 

 

Because if it is removed the first night the tip remover might worry about getting poor service, whereas if removed at the end, the excellent service will have been given all week and for naught perhaps. I also believe that most people who give the song and dance about wanting to tip personally, do not tip the requested amount. Lots of excuses, ie, I have 5 people traveling and I am not paying that amount, we ate dessert in the windjammer so I don't have to pay a tip for dinner that night. The list goes on and on ad nauseum. Cheap people find lots of excuses to make themselves feel better.

I am actually quite offended that you would call me cheap when you dont even know me. We actually give much more than what they would charge to our account. We just prefer to give it ourselves. I consider it completely impersonal when done through the ship, and very unfair as to what they consider the percentage should be to certain staff.

As to the person who asked why we wait until the last night, simply because that has always been the night to clear up your final bill, and not because of concern from lack of service, period.

We are sailing on the Freedom in just a couple weeks and we, as we always do, will be removing the gratuities on the last night. We are the one's who like to hand out our own cash tips to the service personell who actually care for us during our trip (Steward, wait staff, etc). When you have this other system in place, most of the gratuity is absorbed by the cruise line and only pennies on the dollar are actually "tips" to the staff. Frankly, I feel that we have paid the cruise line for our trip and our excursions...but the gratuities are for the staff...PERIOD. And in our travels and conversations with these staffers, they prefer to get their tips the old fashion way...in cold hard cash!

I have heard from others who have sailed who have had no problem removing their tips, but should have have a problem with this, I will come back and report after May 12th when I return home!

Just as a guideline, the Princess Unlimited Soda & More drink package which includes the mocktails, milkshakes, juices, etc is $8.05/day per person (which includes the 15% gratuity).

WAKE UP ROYAL AND JUMP ON THIS BAND WAGON THAT OTHER LINES ARE DOING!!!

They need one like princess offers....premium Unlimited Soda & more Package, unlimited soda plus any mocktails, juices, shakes, floats and complimentary hot chocolate.....

COMPLETELY AGREE! That is one of the selling points for us to cruise Princess more than other lines. We are not huge drinkers and LOVE this non alcoholic package. I think everyone needs to send letters/emails/phone calls to RCCL to bring this into place. I can tell you that we as a couple have sent several emails to different contacts at Royal hoping for a change. It seems odd to me that they did this only for Spring Break cruises and not roll it out fleet wide year round.

I am considering purchasing this package. How exactly do they know which photos are of you again? Someone mentioned facial recognition, but where do they find the reference photo of you in the first place? Is the facial recognition software pretty accurate?

When you have your photos taken, they scan your seapass card. That way they know how to link your photos to your account. You PRE-PAY for this, however it is associated with your account, therefore linked to your seapass card.

The good thing with the unlimited photo package that you buy ahead of time is that you get the digitial copy rights, so you can make multiple prints once you get home at different sizes.

We are considering this package as well when we sail on Freedom in May!

Don't mind me... I am just subscribing so I get to see this thread when the crying starts!

 

/me pulls up a seat and a bag of popcorn

I'm sorry...crying? Really? Not sure what you are expecting.

Ok, so I know this topic has been discussed a lot all throughout the boards here on cruise critic, but I wanted to get some new information.

I have sailed a few times but NEVER decorated our cabin door. This time though, I'm seriously considering it after reading and seeing all the photos of decorated cabin doors. I personally love seeing them on the cruises I have been on. I'm just curious....what are some of your cabin door decorating theme's and ideas. Where do you get your decorations? Are they magnets or do you tape/stick them on by other means?

Feel free to share your cabin door pictures!

Loving your review! Looks like I'm going to have to fill my time while you are working with your past reviews.

 

Question: You mentioned something about negotiating a price you are comfortable with (in the jewelry store purchasing your tanzanite necklace). Should I take this as the prices not being firm? On my previous cruises I never thought to try and negotiate a lower price. I've only been on 3 cruises but there was a Tanzanite ring on each of those cruises that I absolutely fell in love with. I just couldn't bring myself to purchase the ring though because I didn't feel good about the price. It just didn't even cross my mind to try and get the price reduced. If this is the case I have a feeling I'll be getting myself a new ring on my next cruise!

Hate to barge in here, but I wanted to answer your question for you.

Prices on ANYTHING while in port is usually negotiable, especially jewelry. We have a jeweler that we deal with solely in St. Thomas (have been customers of theirs for 10+ years) and he has always told us that prices in the Caribbean are always negotiable. Many people don't know this and will pay the listed full price of jewelry. Don't be afraid to negotiate...you will be surprised how good of a deal you can get on pieces. OH, also know that many jewelers will take your old jewelry has credit/trade for new pieces. On our last trip to St. Thomas my husband took an old gold and diamond bracelet that he only wore a couple of times and was given such an awesome trade value. In exchange he got a Citizen's watch for himself, a diamond and tanzanite ring and a diamond and blue diamond ring for me along with a couple pairs of nice earrings.

By the way...although I am not sailing on Allure OR Oasis anytime soon, I am absolutely loving your review and look forward to each and every new entry! Thank you for taking the time out to do this. :)

our cruise this sat on the dream i was told is sold out wow i hav never been on a cruise that was soldout

Uh oh. I kinda am glad I'm not on your cruise. We were on the Dream in March of 2011 and they actually OVER BOOKED the cruise by several hundred people and it was a nightmare. Crowds everywhere and not enough going on to entertain that many people. BUT...I do hope that you have a wonderful time. We are sailing on her again in May!

I have a question. I have 5 people in my family. I would love to try a balcony room.Can you book a balcony with a roll away bed or would you have to do two rooms?

I think that with 5 people I would do connecting rooms unless 3 of them were children, then you could do the deluxe family ocean view cabin with the bunks.

I just subscribed to this thread. I have not sailed Celebrity yet, although my hubby has (pre-me), but I'm so enjoying your review. Looking forward to more, so don't leave us hanging! :)

What deck(s) is the secret door on?

Deck 9 all the way forward! :)