rolloman

11 hours ago, MommaBear55 said:

Leaving anything blocking a corridor is against SOLAS (safety of life at sea) maritime law. If it really impedes your ability to get through a passageway, it's worth a call to guest services. 

Well...I wonder how Carnival gets away with it? They actually tell you to put dishes outside your door for pickup. Fact of the matter is, it is has NOT been uncommon to see dishes littered up and down the passageways on any line I have cruised. 

2 minutes ago, soremekun said:

Let me know your thoughts:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2945819-proof-royal-caribbean-owns-the-island-called-cococay/

Looks like speculative evidence. Whatever the legalese turns out to be, I am sure if the Bahamas ever wants it back they will take it. 

13 hours ago, soremekun said:

Reasons why I think Labadee is not developed like Coco Cay:

-Government instability

-Land is leased, not owned

Wait...you are saying Coco Cay was purchased from the Bahamian Government and is owned by Royal Caribbean? I am not so sure about that. From what I have been told the cruise lines have been awarded 99 year leases. 

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which owns Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, assumed the lease of the island upon acquisition of Admiral Cruises in 1988. In 2019, the island was extensively renovated by Royal Caribbean at the cost of $250 million and renamed Perfect Day at CocoCay.

44 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Labadee is not a country. It is part of Haiti.

LOL...sometimes just an accidental omit  of one small word makes a difference. "in"

If I remember correctly is wife passed away and then he started cruising and posting with another lady friend?

This is old news/not news at all. I have been to Labadee going back to the days of no pier. Labadee is a country located on the huge shared (DR) island of Hispaniola, so there is no "taking an excursion into the mainland". It is all mainland which consists of a beach area which is fenced in, guarded and you may not leave the compound unless it is a near shore water activity such as the wave runner. I also have never had internet. 

A nicer area to sit is to the left of the entry doors of Royal's terminal 1.  There are several benches in a park like setting. Easiest way is for your Spouse to take a left on Flounder street and drop you off there versus going into the congested terminal itself. There is a little cut out on this road for passenger drop off and a nice bench area steps from the road, walk a few feet towards the terminal and you will find another bench area. It typically is a quiet area with light foot traffic from crew and others walking to the Grills restaurant. 

22 hours ago, Retired LEO said:

With more larger ships coming to Port Canaveral they're in the process of building 2 more parking garages. 

And a new Terminal.

On 9/18/2023 at 5:00 PM, john91498 said:

9:15. We had a suite and even went to have breakfast. It was a short 4 day cruise, so we did carry on instead of checked baggage.

9:14 AM

10 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

One odd thing about Port Canveral:  you pay for parking when you enter the parking deck, not when you leave.  They have no attendants, so have your credit card ready.  

Not true for every terminal. 

Thanks, for the info. I have a family member onboard Sunshine with a large group of 20 or so. 

Looks a little bumpy with at minimum 9-10 foot waves not sure of the interval between. The only time I have ever felt like getting sick was following behind a hurricane on my way to Bermuda.

14 minutes ago, birdofsong said:

Wow.  Just...wow.  So everyone who likes any of the meals in the MDR is just ignorant?  Sorry -- I disagree.  I haven't been on as many cruises as you, but enough, I think, to be able to have an informed opinion.  I agree that the quality has gone down on some selections, but not all. Perhaps my palate is not as refined as yours, but I'm also not cruising for the food. Oh, and I just spent two weeks on the Allure in August, and the staff in the MDR was fantastic.  Every. Single. Time. 

 

As I said above, I don't cruise for the food.  While cruising with Royal, I have had so much fun on the ships with the people I love.  I have visited Rome and Florence, Italy, St. Petersburg, Russia, Barcelona and Valencia, Spain, Estonia, Sweden, France, Finland, and more.  In the spring, I'm going to Australia and New Zealand.  In relaying all of the special moments I had in these amazing places, I not once stopped to complain about the food. Maybe that makes me simple and pedestrian (and no, I don't like bologna sandwiches). I cruise for adventures and experiences. The rest is gravy.  

 

Glad you have enjoyed cruising. But to clarify, I never said anyone was ignorant and I also did not say staff was subpar. I did say service is lacking due to being overwhelmed. Back in the day, the server had a few tables, you had a sommelier and attention to detail...today, nothing more than a chop shop, get them in, get them out.

59 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Ease up and take a breathe. I do partake in a piece of pizza once or twice during the cruise and it is not gourmet but is a nice "snackeral."

 

The food is not comparable to the times of 2018.

 

I want it to be better. I will do my best to review MDR in November this year exclusively on a nine day cruise.

 

Just saying the food is horrible does nothing to describe why it is horrible or good.

 

Take some pictures of the presentation, describe what you think are the shortcomings or good things about it and enjoy your cruise.

 

Despite my criticisms or accolades, I always seem to put on at least one or two pounds of personal body weight per cruise.

 

🤣

I am confident our food onboard ship in the Navy was better and by the way I was a snipe as well.

Not sure how long you have been cruising but in the 90's, 2000's up to around 2015 I never had a bad meal onboard a cruise ship. With the variety, service back then if you walked away and said it was horrible chances are you are a hard to please individual. Fast forward to today. It is a condensed, boring flavorless menu with small portions and the service is non-existent because the staff has way too much to do. I don't need to waste time with specifics because anyone with a cruising history knows what I just stated is dead on.

I have said this before, and I will say it again...we are being groomed for the removal of the main dining room. In the near future, you will pay for specialty, or you will go to the buffet. The main dining room removal will create more space for specialty dining venues. We can only blame ourselves from years ago when everyone fell for the nominal charge for specialty dining. Ten to 15 bucks, tip included.  Now look what happened! For example, what is Chops now? I believe 70+bucks each?...ridiculous and the food in there has actually has gone downhill.

Sure, you will still hear a few say "we had a great time, no complaints with the food". These are the folks who have a limited cruising history or people who will eat anything. I have family who love baloney sandwiches. Sorry, I am not too keen on paying resort prices for low grade food and rushed service and neither should you. The cruise experience has been tainted. 

Oh and you gain two pounds each cruise because of the sodium level in the food and water. 

The menu is horrible and the food on the menu is horrible. The pizza is horrible and the weak selection in the promenade cafe is horrible. I literally have been eating in the buffet more frequently. This is something I said I would never do because it is horrible as well. 

1 hour ago, 2wheelin said:

They tell you tip included because you are not charged the auto tip. Whether the bar staff get that credit or not  is another question. If I get a free drink the least I can do is tip the person making it.

Tip issue has been resolved thanks to evidence from H18furball.  Like I said in the beginning they have told me in the past because tips are included for vouchers. My drinks are made from the manufacturer and served in a can or bottle. If I ordered some 10 ingredient mix drink with accessories during rush hour I would for sure tip extra. 

20 minutes ago, h18furball said:

Maybe this will clear things up.  At the bottom of a free drink voucher it clearly states a service charge (tip) is included for the server,  Fell free to leave an additional tip on the additional tip line.

Perfect, thank you...I know I wasn't going crazy, I had seen this before just couldn't remember. 

8 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

If you read all of the above posts, you will see that the comment is based on one's experiences on the ships, not actual facts. So, it's anyone's guess and we will probably never know for sure. I'll just continue to do what I always do. Cheers!

Perfect...now all you have to do is quit telling people to tip. 

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I am curious as to why you see those two programs differently and tip one but not the other.  They are both "earned" benefits one is just limited to a set number per day but they are both perks of achieving a certain loyalty status.

Not that I owe you (and your history of snarky responses) an explanation, but as a courtesy I will answer your question. Typically, while playing in the casino I order from a waiter who brings me a drink therefore I am tipping for the delivery. The vouchers, I walk up to a bar or a beverage cart and receive my "free" drink. Secondly as another poster mentioned, I have been told by staff the tip is included. The casino drinks are a different story.

1 hour ago, SilkySal said:

I'm not trying to stir the pot either but would like to know where you got that info. I was always told that the free vouchers did not include gratuities. Sorry for erupting a sore subject. Please tell us where you got that info.

Actually, you started by pleading for folks to "tip".  For myself, I tip, often generously. However, I don't like others telling me what to do with my money. Tipping is getting out of control with sneaky additions on receipts or extra screens to shame you into tipping at check out. Almost as bad as that, I find people encouraging me to tip beyond annoying. Now as far as vouchers go, you get a zero balance on your voucher receipt and that is if they decide to give it to you. It is clearly stated on the Crown and Anchor perks page (footnote) In addition. on a couple of occasions, I have specifically asked, out of general curiosity, and was told the tip was included in the "free" voucher. Could be false, I don't know and I don't care. The voucher is an earned credit, typically I quickly grab my voucher drink and off I go. As for the Casino free drinks, I always tip cash...every drink, period. 

Typically they have the wine and beer on a table prior to walking into the theater. I was told, you have two hands so take two drinks. Secondly there was no one stopping you if you wanted to go back to the table and grab another round. I witnessed multiple folks doing just that. Keep in mind they do remove the table of drinks rather quickly once they feel everyone has shown up. 

5 hours ago, RFerrington said:

We cruise between 2-4 times per month.  Haven’t had an offer since March.  Luckily we booked a bunch back when we were getting offers so we’re nearly booked solid through the end of the year.  After that though….not much.

That is interesting... maybe, similar to the other poster lovelife, you are cruising too much and that shuts off the flow of offers? Be nice someday if an ex-employee would come clean and explain all the parameters involved to get offers. 

16 minutes ago, Driftwoodgal said:

I have not seen a gratuity on my free drinks on my sailings. Are you saying that Royal is paying my server a tip on my free drinks? 

You get a zero balance receipt. If you want to tip on a perk you have earned...have at it. Oh and FYI, before the tip police start attacking...I am an above average tipper. 

Just now, smokeybandit said:

They certainly do not.

whatever you say...

On 7/31/2023 at 4:31 PM, RFerrington said:

I can understand your frustration.  If I had worked hard and achieved Signature and still not getting any offers, I would be very unhappy.  We are both Prime and we're getting no offers but being Signature would be worse.

How often do you cruise? You will get more offers if you cruise more often. Cruising once or twice a year probably puts you outside the algorithm. FYI, the offers show up on the Club royal page several days before the mailings. So hopefully you are checking the website and not relying on mailings.