gingerpeaches

This is the deal that we got for our August 2023 sailing on Symphony. It works out to $52 USD pppd for the DBP and $24 USD pppd for the RP. We had to ring our travel agent to purchase. It was not available online through Royal Caribbean. If you booked through a travel agent it might be worth ringing them to see if they have access to any offers that aren't showing on the website/app.

On 9/6/2022 at 4:07 PM, loman said:

Up here most of them dont extend themselves during the summer break .

I do know of some teachers though that do make themselves available before and after regular hours . And one bought school supplies for her young students to make it easier for her students to learn.

For most of them though , as Alice Cooper would say ... School is out for summer ! 

Hey , its a good gig if you can tolerate the parents .

If you get a job right after Uni, you can retire around 55 with a pension.

Then you have lots of free time for cruising .🙂

Tell me you have no experience of working in education without telling me that you have no experience of working in education. 🙄

Hello!

I'm back at work after the summer off and I haven't had any time or energy for the internet. I don't think I've been here since the end of August. I've lost 2 lbs since then. It's less than I was hoping for, but it's still a loss so I'll take it! I just need to remind myself that if I continue to lose at this rate, by the time I board the ship in August next year, I'll be the size I want to be. 

I'm going to have a day off from dieting on Monday. It's the queen's funeral, everyone is home from school and work, so we're going to have afternoon tea and a wee dram (or two) of whisky while we watch the events of the day. Have a good week everyone. 

2 hours ago, little britain said:

The Refreshment is only £20pppd and covers a lot more than soda: such as coffees, fresh juices, Virgin cocktails etc- if he wants alcohol he can just buy the shot to put in the non alcoholic drink? 

Yes, I know. I bought the Refreshment package for my 16 year old son at that price, and my husband and I bought the Deluxe package. My SIL and her husband are Diamond+, not big drinkers, they get x free drinks per day, so he's not bothered about buying the package.  The only reason she wants it is that there is a large group of us travelling together, and so she'll want mocktails to drink while the rest of us are boozing it up, which she wouldn't normally have if it were just the two of them. 

15 hours ago, icsys said:

 

Only alcohol packages are required to be purchased by all guests in the same cabin, refreshment and soda can be purchaesd independently.

(Or one alcohol and one refreshment by request)

 

Not so. My SIL, who is travelling with her husband in the cabin next to ours, wanted to buy the refreshment package. She was told by her TA that she couldn't unless her husband bought it too. 

6 hours ago, barb in ga said:

I agree with the poster who said there is an advantage to having the same waitstaff every night. DH is celiac and has found the headwaiter and maitre'd to be very helpful. If your son likes pasta, they will make it to order in the Windjammer at lunch or dinner; since the GF pasta isn't precooked, there will be a 15 minute or so wait. The maitre'd also pre-ordered some selections for him on request each night after looking at the menu for the next day.

 

Some GF items may not be on the buffet lines, but he can ask for the bread/roll of the day. There are always some GF desserts in the Windjammer in a refrigerated case. He should not feel shy about asking for these things even if he doesn't see them. Dessert in the MDR is usually ice cream with berries or creme brulee.

 

DH's favorite breakfast item from the buffet Asian section is congee, a rice porridge  in which he puts a freshly cooked egg. This may not always be on offer but grits are available daily(corn) and they are also great with an egg on top.

 

Pizza is a great option from Sorrentos. They make it to order, with whatever toppings you like. It takes a few minutes, but it is available all day. Park cafe makes great salads, with his choice of toppings, also available in the buffet.

 

Have a great cruise, Barb

I make congee at home. One of our favourite breakfasts. The grits, I'm sorry to say, are nasty. I've had good grits and Royal Caribbean's grits are nothing like good grits.

He's excited about the pizza! He misses his favourite take out pizza. 

17 hours ago, Izena said:

 

I’m  1 lb down this week.  

Me too. While it wasn't the biggest loss in the world, I'm trying to focus on non-scale victories. My clothes are starting to fit better or not fit because they're too big. I can swim longer and further - the other day I swam laps for 30 minutes without stopping. When I started in January I couldn't even do one length of the pool. 

Well done this week everyone!

I emailed Royal Caribbean and they replied, saying they would send a form to my TA which I will need to fill in and submit to Special Requests. Thanks for your input and advice everyone. Much appreciated. 

1 hour ago, nycfa said:

 I did switch from MTD to Traditional Dining in order to have the same staff nighty which I “hear” is supposed to be more helpful when dealing w dietary restrictions. 

We're currently on MTD and we are part of a larger group of 8. If we have to switch, we'll switch, if that's easier for gf options. I look forward to reading about your experience and then we can move forward from there. 

19 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

There are gluten free pizzas in Sorrento's, so no problem there. You should go to the Special needs section and register him as vegetarian and celiac. In the Windjammer, request a chef to walk around with him to find the dishes he will eat. If there is concern about cross contamination, they can get him a fresh serving. They make several different kinds of gf bread, there are cookies behind the counter that he can request  If you are on a ship with a cupcake shop, one or two kinds each day are gf. There is gf pasta easily available. Each night in the MDR, he will be given a menu for the next night so he can choose his food. My daughter takes a cup and spoon out of the WJ so she can get the soft serve ice cream. He can request gf pancakes in the MDR in the morning. Has he seen the vegetarian specific menus? He may eat the same food over and over if he is picky, but he should never go hungry. 

All this information is amazing! Thank you so much. He's trying really hard to educate himself about what is and isn't suitable for him to eat, and having all this knowledge will make his holiday so much better. I knew about the gf breads but I had no idea about all the other gf options on board. Absolutely brilliant. 

My 16 year old son who is a very fussy vegetarian has recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease. We are on Symphony next August. I know this is well in advance, but I'm a bit of a control freak and I like to be organised, so here's my question:

Would an email to customer service to make them aware be enough, or is this more of a special request due to the (possible) need for special dishes?

I have had a look at menus, which I realise may change between now and August 2023, but one thing that I noticed is that dishes are either gluten free or vegetarian, but rarely both. Factor into the equation that he's really picky. He won't eat mushrooms, for example, so a mushroom risotto or soup would be out. He loves pasta, but of course at home we are now having rice or konjac pasta rather than durum pasta. He's gutted that he won't be able to indulge in Sorrento's. 

We are very new to this condition so if any coeliac-vegetarians out there have any advice for navigating cruise ship menus, I would be very grateful. 

On 8/26/2022 at 6:11 PM, Izena said:

Ginger welcome  amazing loss. Is the beginning journey?  

I'm on Week 5. 🙂

I'm not cruising! My weigh day is on Monday and when I weighed I lost 5 lbs. I'm aiming for 3 this week which may not be possible but I'll have a go.

Good luck on your surgery. I hope it all goes smoothly for you. 

15 minutes ago, baelor said:

More days coming tomorrow!  Again, if anyone has questions, please ask!

Would you mind sharing some photos of the ship please? 

10 hours ago, jp2746 said:

I'm trying to plan our next cruise and having a hard time finding a ship as good at the Symphony.  Next summer it looks like she is in Europe.  

 

She is. We're sailing out of Barcelona on Symphony next August. ☺️

Good morning everyone. 👋

I'm not new to CC but I'm new to this forum. Once again I am trying to drop this weight that I've been fighting with all my life (I swear I've gained and lost the same 50lbs about 10 times). We have booked a cruise for next August, so in addition to just feeling better in my own skin, I now have another goal to work toward. I weighed this morning and I've lost 9 lbs in the last three weeks. I'm doing three 200 calorie meal replacements per day and a 600 calorie meal, or a 400 calorie meal and 200 calories in snacks, for a total of 1200 calories per day. I've always been a disordered eater, and removing food from the equation has really helped me to focus on me and not stress about what I'm eating. By still having that one meal per day I have learned to think about portion sizes and choosing the right foods. I'm doing mostly low carb, high protein meals. My husband is losing weight with me, although he eats food three times a day, instead of meal replacements. 

Good luck with your weigh-ins this week! 🙂

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Are you saying there should be an extra fee for laundry services on the ship? That clean linens aren’t included in the base fare?

No. This was in response to the person who said "... I do see very little of them but I also see their direct work in my room." You see the direct work of laundry staff in your room, in the form of clean sheets and towels, and therefore they deserve to receive a gratuity as much as the person who put the clean sheets on the bed. That's why I pay the gratuities, because I believe in paying people for the work that they do, and whether the cruise line choose to call it "gratuities" or "resort fee" or "privileged persons fee" then I'll pay it, because I am privileged to be on a cruise ship and have everyone who works there do everything they can to meet my needs.

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

Your choice. But a question. The auto tips are split between those you see (cabin steward, waiter etc) and those you don't (laundry for example) 

32 minutes ago, Bird82 said:

How do I know what kind of job they are doing or how good of a job they are doing if I never even see them?  How do I know how much to tip them if I never see them?  They can literally be doing  an amazing job or standing around scratching their butts doing nothing and I would never know the difference because I never see them. Tell me one other person in this world that you are supposed to tip that you either never see or never see their direct work. Hotel housekeepers I tip and I do see very little of them but I also see their direct work in my room. I

Guess you won't mind sleeping on unwashed sheets or using someone else's dirty towels then.

34 minutes ago, Bird82 said:

Are you hearing yourself?  Do you realize how stupid that sounds? 

Harsh.

What you describe is not "high tea", but "afternoon tea" High tea is like supper . Term originated with working class people who ate around 5pm or so...things like shepherd's pie, stews, casseroles, etc.. :)

Yes. "High" refers to the height of the table. Working class people had "high tea" at suppertime because they ate it as a meal at a high table. The aristocracy had "low tea", eaten off a low table mid-afternoon, more as a snack to hold you over until dinner, which was later in the evening. Here in the north of England, the evening meal is still called "tea".

Hi we will be docked in Stavenger(Norway) and going to Pulpit

Is this a ship's excursion? Is your cruise spending the night in Stavanger? You need a minimum of 7 hours to get from Stavanger to Preikestolen. I can't recall the ship being in port long enough to do the hike. We researched it and decided against it due to the very real concern that we would miss the ship's departure.

Edited to add: Just looked at Serenade's itinerary and I can see that you're in Stavanger from 09:00 to 19:00. You might just make it.

Honfleur is lovely, and I wouldn't be put off by the rain. If you've never been there, it's worth a visit, rain or shine.

The solarium is partially covered. There are parts that are under cover so you won't get wet if you can snag a seat in that area. The hot tubs in the solarium are also covered. Well, they have roofs, but the sides are open so you might still get wet. You're already wet though, because you're in a hot tub.

There are lots of activities on sea days, but on port days not so much, because they expect that people will be off the ship. You could have some fun in the arcade, go to the gym, read, sleep. There are usually specials in the spa on port days, so maybe you could have a discount facial or couple's massage.

Seth Rogen testified at a Congressional hearing about Alzheimer's.

Royal Caribbean didn't write the movie

No, but I'll bet they funded it. It was a cute little movie, but it also seemed a 2 hour Royal Caribbean advert.

It’s like an inspirational RCI promotional piece. I like it! Well done!

 

 

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This. I think he should send it to RCI's marketing department. They might want to hire this talented young man.

I understand some of the paper straws will disintegrate--wondering what the heck are they made of. It would have been so much easier to mandatory recycle.

There's really no point recycling:

https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/01/31/what-happens-to-all-that-plastic/