rolloman

6 hours ago, SilkySal said:

You can give anyone of legal drinking age a drink with your vouchers but I would ask them to be sure to tip the waiter/bartender since the vouchers do not add gratuity. Just my opinion on tips. Cheers!

The vouchers include gratuity. If you want to give extra that is up to you. Even though they are not supposed to, over half the time the crew hands you the drink without a receipt. 

You will each get a bag of shrink wrapped clothing. For example a T-Shirt will be folded and compressed into a wallet sized cube and an obnoxious skin irritating tag will be placed on it as well. Needless to say, I never use the service anymore. 

14 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Sure it is great news for some Florida residents who live nearby PC but that is a provincial way to look at it.. What is good news for those who live close to PC is bad news for the Celebrity brand and those who have booked Celebrity for years. Dumbing down the brand to a cheap segment and Caribbean cruises, I don't want to cruise with the demographic that that  cruises out of PC  will appeal to. I don't want to cruise on a Royal Caribbean clone that is branded as Celebrity. Celebrity is a mainstream cruise line but had an niche that was adult and upscale of Royal that appealed to a loyal demographic. Now it seems to be moving downline. Celebrity was a good value because it offered more than Royal Caribbean and Carnival at reasonable fares. If it is going to offer the same as Royal  I will be moving on. 

All unfounded speculation on your part. The idea the Celebrity brand will now be tarnished because it cruises out of Port Canaveral is ridiculous. It certainly has not "dumbed down" the Disney brand. As far as your "demographic" comment...wow...

On 8/17/2023 at 3:07 PM, phoenix_dream said:

Are there really that many people who are so concerned about driving that they would rather not sail (or would sail their non-preferred line) because they won't drive 4 hours rather than 2 or less?  Geez. Considering how far many of us travel to cruise I am just flabbergasted if that is the case.

To answer your question...yes there are quite a few. So many that they will fill any Celebrity ship that comes to Port Canaveral. I live about 14 miles from the Port...now you tell me, with all the cruises that leave from my backyard from one of, if not the largest port in the world...why would I drive 3 hours down a super speedway to go on a ship? I am sorry that you have to fly...but that has nothing to do with my situation. I moved where I am for a reason and I am taking advantage of it. Celebrity is my favorite cruiseline and I couldn't be happier I can now take an uber to sail them. 

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Agreed. IMO it’s more likely to be an executive deciding to take a look here and then close the webpage when they discover the “outrage”. 

 

 

If they are monitoring because they care they would not have increased tips, when cutting daily service.
 

If they are monitoring this forum because they are curious of our opinions, this and other threads about reduced MDR food quality/options, milk VS creamer, charging for pizza etc… would have brought them to their senses and they would have undone their cuts/actions. 

I’m more of the thought that if in the past they paid someone to monitor CC, that individual was fired to save the payroll. 

The CC community is relatively small so there is no one singular RCCL person who is tasked with monitoring this particular board. Social Media offers great Insite to the pulse of what the general feel is toward the marketing of a product. (In this example RCCL). To blindly say RCCL Marketing/Finance/Compliance is not intrigued with what social media has to say about their product is extremely naive. Right now the cruise industry is looking for ways to make up for Covid losses. They currently are in a "bend but do not break" strategy. 

3 minutes ago, Falling_down said:

I can only imagine the amount of people who would get sick doing this since the coolers in the room barely keep the drinks cold. I KNOW there would be someone out there who would grab a perishable food item, attempt to stuff it in the cooler (which is the equivalent of leaving it on the counter as far as temps go), then try to eat it in its bacteria laden state 5-6 hours later 🤮. The part of my brain that had food safety training pounded into it over the years is totally freaking out right now.

I was thinking the same thing. Taking some fruit, cookies or packaged items might be a good idea but a plate full of dinner (which would not fit in the small fridge to begin with) is a recipe for a gastrointestinal disaster. 

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

That RCI monitors this forum/thread.

Just a suggestion, if you work for/with RCCL you can check with their Social Media team and report back. There is a high interest in these boards and other/similar social media sites. I am not going to divulge how I know this.  

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I wouldn't assume that.

Which part? I am not assuming they monitor the boards. A for it being good people voicing their opinion...probably true as you never know what you get in cracker jacks. 

These boards are monitored by Royal Caribbean so it is good people voice their opinion on the subject. I can assure you if they are floating the idea out there via survey, they are leaning towards making this come to fruition. My opinion is the pizza on Royal ships is absolutely low grade and one of the worst at sea. I love pizza and I rarely go near it unless it is late night with no other options and even then it is a bad idea to go to bed with that heartburn laden garbage in your stomach.  Similar to the Dinasaur, the once all-inclusive nature of cruising is rapidly going away.  Oh, and for the record, there is no @#!*!! way I would pay for their pizza. 

8 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 Despite what they want that Royal continues to call at Labadee without incident and never has had an incident. If the situation ever warrants it Royal will divert. They are not going to dock billion dollar ships and unload thousands of passengers if it is unsafe. 

Slow your roll...there have been incidents in the Labadee cruise port...just google it or read one of the other multiple threads on this issue that have popped up over the years. 

It is called a redemption machine. No skill involved. To win is all about timing...as in being at the right time at the right place.

3 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

I remember total per Day was less then $7 for both of us

Yeah...well I remember when the last night of a cruise you got a stack of envelopes and you put in what you wanted. There was no auto-grats. 

2 hours ago, gonole1972 said:

I see a lot of people complaining about an increase in gratuities so I went back and looked. In May of 2019 on Symphony, I paid $29/day for both of us.  In January 2024 on Symphony, I will be paying $36.50/day for both of us.  I can live with that -- compared to the price of gas, eggs, airfares, etc.  And we are glad to see the great hardworking staff who make our lives and vacations wonderful get more money.  (FYI - we also give a lot of cash out to the waiters, bartenders, room stewards too.)

How long have you been employed by RCCL Corporate?

On 8/5/2023 at 1:47 PM, SilkySal said:

Have to share my story here. Back in the day when I was much much younger and dumber, I worked for a drive-in type fast food place (Dog N Suds). I was a "car hop" (outside waitress serving parked vehicles). All of the inside employees, cooks, fryers, etc., were also young people. One of our patrons got "smart" and obnoxious with one of our cooks, who I later observed to spit in the guy's sandwich!😲 Hoping things like that don't happen these days but, hey, ya never know!🤔 Enjoy your meal! Cheers!

Wow...Hello fellow Hoosier...Dog and Suds...have not heard that name for awhile...my sisters worked there way back in the day... it was walking distance from the house. 

I recently took my daughter on a Royal cruise with the same itinerary. My daughter had 4 months remaining on her passport. Upon filling out the required online documentation, Royal gave a little pop-up note stating they "suggest" the passport have 6 months or more. I disregarded the suggestion and went on the cruise with zero problems. 

Library on the ship.

1 hour ago, RedIguana said:

Great. It worked for you. Not all of us have that luxury. My wife was divorced and remarried (me). Her daughters birth certificate no longer met the qualifications to show parental relationship, as she took my name when we were married, hence her name is different from the mother's name on the birth certificate. Her divorce decree, as most if not all do, lists the children from the marriage by name and hence shows parental relationship. Her marriage license/name change completes it.

 

 

4. Show Parental Relationship

You must submit documentation that lists the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of the child applying for a passport.  

The following may be used to show parental relationship:

U.S. birth certificate (also evidence of U.S. citizenship)

Foreign birth certificate

Adoption decree

Divorce/Custody decree

Please note: Some documents, like a U.S. birth certificate, show both U.S. citizenship and parental relationship. These documents must be originals or certified copies (not photocopies).

 

 

 

My sister has 2 kids from international adoption. For professional reasons, my sister and her husband kept their individual names, so they have different last names. Her kids have a hyphenated combo of both their names, so their last names are not the same as the parents. My sister and her husband are pretty obviously not their natural parents, and a birth certificate is also useless for them. I'll have to ask her exactly what she has to use, but I would guess naturalization papers and adoption papers.

 

You do not have to supply a birth certificate for a child renewal under 16. Original expired/expiring passport (shows citizenship), and what ever documents you have to convince the passport officer you have proper parental authority is what is required. In your case, a BC worked fine as the names matched. For others, it is not even acceptable.

And great for you...but again...I was responding to someone else with a specific scenario and you chimed in and convoluted my response to the poster. I was right, you were right...please move on...there are plenty of other half-truth crazy posts on here you can practice your debating skills with. 

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Don't  you have duplicate birth certificates for you and your kids? We always did. They were all "original" copies from the state. 

Please provide, where I said I didn't have a spare copy...

7 hours ago, RedIguana said:

Actually I can tell you it is not required, just the easiest. The expired passport proved citizenship, you used the birth certificate to prove family status. Other documents that may have been used include divorce decrees, medical or school records, adoption papers, guardianship, etc. 

A child under 16 probably does not have a divorce decree. Listen...I responded to someone else who said a person would never need to give up a birth cert and an expired passport. I simply gave an example showing there is a circumstance where that statement is not true...however, for some reason you are all in trying to prove me wrong when in fact, I just went through the aforementioned scenario. The clerk said give up the passport and birth certificate and that is what we did. 

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

I supplied birth certificates for my kids’ 2nd kiddie passport, I probably told them I lost the first ones. It killed me to get another one for one for my son who was weeks away from his 16th birthday for a choir trip to Canada, they bused. 

Same here, I contemplated letting it completely expire and applying later for the adult version but we have too many trips planned and with the obvious backlog we went ahead and submitted it. 

3 hours ago, RedIguana said:

 

 

 

Should not require a Birth certificate for a child renewal under 16

Bolding is from me, not website.

Well you can go tell that to the court house in Florida where I renewed for my daughter. Children under 16 must submit the original passport and certified birth certificate. They demanded and collected both. Period. End of Statement. 

1 hour ago, Dan83 said:

My family also taking a TA October 27. My kids passports expire in February, leaving 95 days of validity after scheduled departure from schengen country. State department website says we need 90 days validity for Schengen travel. It seems most people are recommending 6 months validity. We are traveling now and can’t send off for renewal until we get back to the United States second week of August. That leaves maybe 9 weeks to renew before the TA. Which is the bigger risk? Trying to renew in a 9 week window, or traveling to a Schengen country with 95 days validity on my kids passport.

I vote trying to renew in a 9 week window...The passport agency received our passport renewal on May 23...today marks the 10th week and it still shows in process. Site says expect 10-13 weeks.

If any of the pieces are unique in description, you could always call the pawn shops in the local area to see if they may have it?

15 hours ago, Tink55 said:

Yes, my luggage was opened and looked at, I noticed that things had been rearranged a bit when I immediately unpacked when I got to my room.   I have no reason to lie about this and the last thing I wanted to believe was that my items were stolen!

Sorry, I was not doubting your story. I am trying to figure out why your bag was searched by a thief. High end luggage would equate to high end contents which in turn would make it a target. 

I doubt the baggage handlers have time to rifle through every checked bag. Was your luggage Louis Vuittone, Coach or something name brand similar?