dst

im not a heavy drinker but i to think its pretty easy to spend $50 a day on drinks, coffees, etc.

 

but at the end of the day Royal is a business and wouldn't be offering this if there not making money on it. so somewhere along the lines people aren't drinking more than what the package costs otherwise id assume they'd eliminate the packages...

I think it averages out some do well others not so much - remember they make money even on your purchase of one beverage ........

We like knowing that we had the package and didn't worry about a thing. Having coffee in the am, a bottle of water as we walked off the ship and a glass of wine with dinner were a nice addition to the pool beverages ;)

We did this on our recent trip - loved it. I would go down to the coffee shop and get a latte very morning have fresh juice and all beverages were included

What a great review - I'm hooked and we leave on Saturday :D

Appreciate all the photos, I am even more excited now to board IOS

thanks

We are at sea, but a new post is up from yesterday. Today's will include some pictures from the ship.

Love following the blog - one week from today we'll be enjoying it first hand

Good thing that you booked the airfare through RCI but I would still be upset that you are missing a good portion of the cruise - lesson for all, fly in the day before a cruise; anyone that does it the day of is just asking fro trouble....

Look forward to hearing how you enjoyed your few nights on the Island and finally seeing the ship

It's a HAPPY day for you today! Emabarkation Day!

 

DH and I will be boarding IOS in exactly 2 weeks! Same itinerary. So I am looking forward to your blog.

we'll be joining you :D

That's great - I will be following along as we are sailing IOS soon......

Look forward to following the blog

OP or anyone recently on the Independence. Did you notice if they allowed dressy shorts in the MDR on casual evenings?

FYI - I was just looking at some of the daily compasses and it states shorts, caps etc. are "not recommended" that is a far cry from prohibited - so wear what you are comfortable in and enjoy your vacation

Thinking to myself "maybe no more cruises after this one and sticking with our relaxed Hawaiian vacations. No dress codes and only need to pack swimsuits, tops and shorts." ;)

Cruising is still an enjoyable way to vacation; you just need to realize that there are some people who will judge you regardless - wear what is comfortable to you, let them wear what they want - no ones cruise is going to be affected by you attire

Happy cruising

Do any of you know if Raj should still be on Indy Jan. 11? He is one of the best!

He sure is - he is also on it for our trip the 17th ....... please keep the ship in good shape for us ;)

We didn't make it to Barefoot, our cabana's were on Nellies Beach. Tell Matica in Olive or Twist Jesse and Tessa say HI!!

 

The first cruise i did get the UP(Ultimate package) but I opted for the PP(preferred package) the next cruise because to PP doesn't include specialty coffee. You can get specialty coffee on the promenade, they were ok but not good enough to sway me to get a UP again.

 

As far as parades go, they are fun and not too long. A lot of people with Promenade rooms watch from their windows.

Thanks for the reply

Dst, oops sorry, I see you already have a cabana? Excuse my useless info :) It was a great review of the cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

It was helpful - thank you so much

the cabana you had #5 - did you like it, was it private, over the water?

Did you leave us anything in the cabana ;)

Our experience on both the Oasis and Allure was that if you asked the person checking the cards they nearly always allowed a few non-suite passengers to sit with us in gold card sections of shows. The crew does have some discretion and would have likely said no if it had been an exceptionally popular show time. (Just so happens that less popular times worked best for us)

 

We don't sit around the pools so I have no experience with that.

Thanks - appreciate the information

I don't think the point is valid at all. She's been told that it also states "prohibited" on signs outside the MDR, and it also states "prohibited" in the Cruise Compass every single day (on the ship she's sailing on, as recently as last month) but that's obviously not the answer she wants, so she ignores all that - as well as numerous posters who had already told her what you did - that it is prohibited, but unevenly enforced, and they may or may not be turned away at the door.

If I haven't been on the ship, how would I know what is posted outside the dining room; what I wanted to hear is ones experience - not banter....RCI is a business, a darn good one at that; I would assume one of their many legal eagles could figure a way to have "prohibitted" added to their contract, which is what I go by.....not opinions here!

I'm done - happy sailing

Yes people do.

Can you be turned away, yes.

Will you be turned away, no way to answer with certainty but I doubt it.

Thanks - I appreciate the response.........

Dst makes a perfectly valid point though. What one person may take as assumed another may not, after all it is not specified in the policy. RCI are the ones solely in power to clarify this. So what can be reasonably assumed from the fact that they have not? Honest question.

Thank you - it really is an honest question, do people wear shorts in the dining room on casual evenings......can we or will we be turned away

Most anyone with a basic understanding of the language, and who isn't TRYING to argue just to argue, agrees about what is written - when it says shorts are allowed FOR LUNCH that's what it means - if they meant to say they were also allowed FOR DINNER, they'd have said so - they did not say so.

I believe I stated earlier - not trying to argue - we are experienced cruisers......not all on RCI, so this was an honest question - my basic understanding of the English language as well as the legal terms is very good - thank you! English language would say if it is prohibited - which unless you have another version of the contracts......it is NOT prohibited, yup my English is just fine!

Bottom line is we were wondering is if we would get turned away or feel out of sorts- other lines do NOT turn away unless it is formal night - and sometimes not then....

So thank you for your input - and good night

Those sections are for gold card only. The staff does check the cards.

Thanks - we don't want to break any rules, we weren't sure since the cabins are linked together.......appreciate the response

Are you TRYING to be obtuse, or what? The rest of what you repeated above - which you posted earlier, is:

 

Note: Swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurants or specialty restaurants. T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops are acceptable for lunch.

 

Now, if you think that when they take pains to explicitly state that shorts, etc. are acceptable FOR LUNCH that doesn't imply that they're NOT acceptable FOR DINNER, then you're going to ignore all the information anyway, so go for it - you may or may not be turned away at the door...

Don't be RUDE - what I am stating is what is written......simple, easy - they "take pains to explicitly state" the items that are not allowed what more would it be to add shorts (six additional letters)

For breakfast you wear your robe.

 

Sorry, wrong topic. :D

Now I'm sitting here laughing out loud and my husband is wondering what is so funny - it really was a serious question - would we be outcast in the dining room on casual evenings in shorts and a collared shirt - now robes in the dining room.......well, I never ;)

Prohibited.......

adjective forbidden, barred, banned, illegal, not allowed

Understood - so its not prohibited........ :rolleyes:

So, what do you deduce for breakfast then?:eek:

 

I really wish they would just spell it out clearly.

Ok this made me chuckle......... :eek:

I'll try to phrase it differently. It says allowed at lunch, so if you go at a time that is not lunch what would you deduce? I would deduce it is not lunch so not allowed.

 

Polo tops are fine. I have never seen shorts being worn in the MDR for evening, but others have reported seeing it. Some have reported seeing people being turned away, to go and change or eat elsewhere. Royal is pretty inconsistent with this!

Perhaps......my logic tells me if it doesn't say prohibited then it is allowed, maybe not encouraged but allowed - I think its fair to say that it really depends on the staff.

I know this is silly but I'm on vacation and really want to be comfortable; not sloppy but comfortable.....why would anyone wear long pants in the Caribbean;)

Unfortunately I have to dress up for work everyday, the last thing I want to do on vacation is dress up - formal night it the exception, which is why we have a GS, we can have dinner on our balcony without having to worry about it; if we choose to not dress up.

Those items are prohibited all the time. Shorts are given an exception at lunch, but only at lunch. It's really not difficult to understand.

I'm not trying to argue - but - if its an exception at lunch it would state that .......its not difficult to understand, the way it is written it is not prohibited........this sounds more of an opinion than an understanding

What I was wondering is if you do see people wearing shorts and a polo on casual evenings -

Thanks so much for the great input. Very helpful:)

We are looking forward to our first RCCL cruise experience. It is actually sort of a dry run because we want to take our 14 year old grandson on the Oasis this July.

Again thanks for the help, gotta luv cruise critic folks.

Catherine

Please come back and let us know the dress code and a quick review - we are sailing on IOS 1/17 and really wondering the same - Thanks