xxHadleyxx

Barcelona is one of the fastest ports to disembark we sail.  As stated, if all ports are EU there will not even be customs or immigration.

In our experience, it is nearly always faster to jump in the taxi queue than to find a pre  arranged car...and pricing is generally fairly close if you are going into teh city or to the airport.  For the 10 euro or so price difference, we prefer to not stress about the time and just grab a taxi.  This is the ONLY port for which we prfer to use taxis, because it is the only one where there are always lots of them and the queue moves super fast.  

Yes, you just take checked bags up to the porters at the curb and drop it at any time from about 10:00 a.m..  It is a bit of a walk nack over teh bridge into town...with limited time you would probably be best to grab a taxi after you drop your bag, if you are able to do so.

3 hours ago, SuperPlanner said:

You obviously missed my previous message. If we only ate where my daughter would eat something, we would have to eat room service for every single meal except breakfast based on the offerings at each location. We feed her before we go if she will not eat what we are eating or bring something with us, etc. It is the way we have learned to cope with her feeding issues so there is not an argument at every meal. I have no problem paying for her IF she would even be willing to try something....she simply won't/can't. I don't make my kids sit with us and watch us eat like we are depriving them! I would order and pay happily for a lobster for her if she would even just taste it. But I also cannot force them to eat and choose to make the best of a problem my daughter is dealing with.
And by the way, I didn't ask for opinions on bringing them there....just how does it work if you bring a child to a restaurant they wouldn't eat at. And they aren't kids who won't play with other kids or don't like other kids, but they are shy at first and have told us they prefer to stay with us. I'm not going to force them to go to AO if they don't want to and prefer to stay together as a family.

My youngest, now 24, was super picky as a child.  One trans atlantic he ate only pasta with butter, pears and grilled cheese the entire two week cruise.

He was never willing to eat typical kid foods like chicken nuggets, hot dobs, burgers, or even fries.

(I am happy to report he is much less picky now).

We paid for him at Chops and similar places several times (back when there was no lower price for children).  He was taking up a space at the table, meaning we needed a larger table and someone else could not sit there.  AND, he did take some attention from the waitstaff who refilled his drink, chatted with him, still had to set a place and napkin for him, etc.  If we did not want to pay the listed price for him, we would have eitehr skipped dining there, had him go to Adventure Ocean, or allowed him to hang out in the stateroom watching movies.  

FWIW: your child might be different, but mine would sometimes at least nibble on a roll or some bread and eventually, most of what he did try new in his younger years he tried on ships: when he was relaxed and in a good mood and not stressed about being pressured to eat or not having food available then he was more likely to want to try something new; but we never went in pressuring him to eat OR assuming he would not.  In fact, the fisr time he would eat salad was at Chop's. 

7 points each for you, your wife ech of the  kids.  You would only get an extra point per night if one of you were the only person (not only adult) in a cabin and booked it as a single with the supplement.

10 hours ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

I’m really looking forward to the Odyssey. It’s being used for our 9 night-fall 2024 Greek Isles cruise. First junior suite. Hope we like the ship as much as Wonder which set the bar pretty high. 

We sailed Odyssesy in October and loved her.  She and Wonder are both brilliant IMO.  

20 hours ago, vjmatty said:

 

That is it.... and new cruisers, with everything new cruisers buy like RC excursions, photographs, art auction pieces and overpriced jewelry.

Hmmm. When we were new cruisers, we wer younger, had less income and with kids had more expenses.  We figured getting to cruise was THE excitement and we spent VERY little beyond gratuities.  We did not buy photos or drinks, we did not do specialty dining.  We didn't go to the spa, etc.

Around about when we hit Diamond on RCI, as the kids were hitting their late teens and our income got better, plus we were getting a little "bored" with the smiliarity from cruise to cruise, we started buying speicalty dining or packages on about half our trips.  I usually go to the spa once or twice. We pay for virtual reality or cupcake decorating or sushi making, etc.  We buy drinks as we ant them once the vouchers run out, or wine for dinner, or the refreshment package, etc.  AND we nearly always bring along friends who are not cruisers, friends who would not quite be up for trying it on their own....most all of whome them continue to cruise after that.

We have cruises this year into January of next booked, things booked from before the prices jumped.  We'll keep those, but based on recent experiences, paired with continued cutbacks, soaring prices and lack of flexibility in booking, we are shifting to more land based trips with some Princess or Disney cruises thrown in for 2024 and beyond at this point.  It's not a threat or a tantrum, etc...just a shift based on RCI slowly but steadily eroding the value and joy we find on their offerings to a point at which it is no longer among our top choices.

That said, on our January cruise on Anthem we had a mix of old and new menus.  Our food was good and we particularly liked the new menus.  We thought they were very good, lots of good choices, well prepared, and the best desserts we have had on RCI....not so pretty but actually tasty.  

15 hours ago, little britain said:

That’s how I read it too. How much does a tin of Diet Coke cost at the quantity RCI buy it?? Ten cents? 

I assume it is more about the cost in employee hours to check lists and stock to our individual preferences versus having a standardized item all D+ and higher gets.  Probably cuts the time down by 80 percent or so.  

I'm still disapointed though.  Ah well.

I finally got my Wonder block from its April TA last week.  I had pretty much lost hope (and earned another block in the meantime)

2 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

When did they make this announcement? And when does it start? It seems like everyone who has done trip reviews in the last couple weeks has been able to use their dining package more than once a day. 

We got off of Odyssey on Sunday and the announcement was a day or two later, so it is very recent.  

Anywhere which has a set price for a whioe meal and considered a normal specialty dining venue (including Mason Jar, even at brunch, unless things have chaned since we were on Wonder in April) is always included with no daily limits.  The one exception is Izumi Teppanyaki which has an upchage on top of the UDP ($15 per person for one protien, more for two...this price went up at the same time the limited snacking announcemnt was made).  You can still have lunch and dinner if the resturants are open (brunch is the same as lunch).  

Izumi also counts the same, but it is a set menu or 35$ credit for the meal.

Special things only offered occasionally (like Chef's table, special brunches with tours, sushi making classes, etc) are not included.

Places with a la cart dining that are more "snack" like such as playmakers and vintages now get ONE time per day up to $20.  Apparently people would just sit in Playmakers all day and open one $20 tab after another so this is the solution.  It is not yet clear to me where Johnny Rockets fall into these categories. (snack or meal?  Hopefully meal as it is a set price)

Stinks that such people ruined it for the rest of us.  On our recent sailing we would often stop at Playmekers for a starter in the late afternoon (poppers, onion rings, etc), head down to dinner and then skip dessert at the dinner location and go back to playmakers after the show for a cookie.  I am hoping that might still be possible by only billing ONE of the two of us with the UDP for the first visit and the other for the second.  We were defeintly not unfairly holding tables nor abusing the system or over eating...it would stink to be restricted out of what we enjoy.

I have had the refreshment or soda package several times since the voucher system started and have never had them auto apply a voucher to a drink that was covered by my package, and I don't say anything about the vouchers when ordering unless I am ordering something NOT on my package.

I like the comfort/familiarity of being on a cruise and even on the same brand but aso the variety of different activities and feelings that comes with sailing on several different ship classes.  Smaller ships often feel more intimate and have really fun and more personal crew led acvtivites..plus, as most have said often go to much more interesting places and/or are more resonably priced.

Big and new ships are fun too...but it is a very different experience.  I am not after the same thing trip after trip.

8 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

Received our Wonder of the Seas block from our August cruise yesterday.

Interesting.  I still haven't gotten my Wonder block from the April TA.  

Looks like it's time to call again 

On 9/6/2022 at 11:27 AM, Maria63 said:

I don't know about the seating in WJ, but summer school holidays continue into the second week in September in Italy and also some regions in Spain.

and schools in Baden Wurtemburg and Bavaria didn't go back until this past week either (they are still in school all through June and July though).  I guess the answer to Op's "why aren't kids back in school here" is that Europe is not the USA and our schedules to not all line up with Florida 🤷‍♀️

It depends so much on the kid and how responsible and how comfrotable they are.  It also depends some on the ship (how big is it, how crowded is that sailing, etc).

My kids are grown now, but the first time we were comfortable with them regularly off on their own was a smaller ship (Disney Magic) on a TA that was only 60% occupised.  By day 2 we knew many of the fellow passengers and even before boarding we knew a lot of the crew from past cruises.  The kids knew the layout of the ship well and were comfortable approaching crew for help, etc if needed.  I think they were 8 and 10 on the trip.  I would probaly not have felt comfortable with them being on a sold out oasis class sailing on their own at that age. 

By age 11 or 12 we were comfortable with our kids on their own but checking in, on pretty much any ship we sailled, and usually booked gty staterooms and ended up putting the kids in one and adults in another, (so not always right near by).  The kids had been sailing their whole lives, were used to a lot of freedom going on their own with public transit in Europe, etc.

10 minutes ago, Lottie1974 said:

Yes I absolutely see your point - but how many people would see a holiday without their spouse and father as being what they envisaged when booking, whether we used the facilities or not. If there was ever a case for the ‘spirit of the law ‘ rather than the letter this may be it …… 

On the other hand, if your husband had a normal flu with fever, or threw his back out and was in too much pain to walk around on the ship, etc...no one would get any refund.  It is a risk we take when we travel (on ships or on land).  I personally think RCI is doing a good job walking the fine line of offering something, and enough of something that people feel up for trying a cruise, but not so much that they are losing gobs of money on it or being taken advantage of.  It would help if the letter told us to call for that refund if that is what they want us to do, but .. ...

It stinks for you though, and I am truly sorry.  That is not the vacation you wanted and it is very dissapointing. 

It was awfully disapointing for us to have to cut our holiday short, and drive home for a looooong day in the car while my husband was ill (and I knew being confined to the car with him for 14 hours was going to make me ill eventually, which it did).  

3 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Thinking "negative"... according to what you posted, members of the travelling party are entitled to "a pro-rated refund for the UNUSED portion of your cruise fare." (emphasis mine).  

 

I can see RCI make the argument that those who weren't quarantined DID use the facilities (even if you had to take food back to the cabin).  

 

To me, that's not a slam dunk, but I can see it as an "out" for RCI. 

I agree...that is how I read it and how it was repeatedly explained to us when my husband had covid onboard.

13 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

We were on Jewel in June when my husband contracted covid.  For pro rated refunds we had three options:

 

1. Husband go to a quarantine cabin alone and I can continue the cruise (masked any time outside the stateroom, and having to dine/drinki  in my stateroom only).  Husband would get his fare as a prorated refund, I would not get anything back.

 

2. I choose to stay with my husband and go into a quarintine cabin with him.  we would both be isolated for the remainder of the sailing and both get a pro rated refund.

 

3. We both disembark in the port we were at (on day 6 of ten) and we would both get a prorated refund.  

 

We choose option three.  I also waited 30 days before calling as the letter said we did not need to.  It took another 12 after that before we saw the refund.  Our letter was the boiler plate, BUT it had BOTH of our names on the top for the refund.  I made sure we were BOTH listed before leaving the ship.  What names are on the heading of your letter?  It sounds to me like you had option number 2 (with port imposed limitations as well) which would not allow you or your kids to get a refund based on what we were clearly and repeatedly told.  Sorry. 

 

I am not surprised to hear there was confusion...we had confusion in other ways (like being told when to go off the ship, excorted down and then the gangway personelle said we could not disembark, even though 2 GS managers were there saying we had to....calls had to be made.  

 

 

We were on Voyager actually.  Going on Jewel this month.  Sorry for that mix up.

I should add that there is no refund at all for the unused days for money spent on a successful Royal Up bid (so that suite ended up costing us quite a bit more per night).

We also had a dining package we had ony used 2 of 5 nights from.  They subtracted the FULL price for the two meals we had (not even letting those be BOGO, since we had dined on night one and are Dplus so would have used that coupon had we not bought a package) and then only refunded the 19$ per peron leftover...I think the fair way to do it would be to divide the price by 5 meals and refund 3/5 of it.  BUT all in all, given that they do not actually have to offer any compensation/refunds  we were ok with it.  Slightly frustrated, but ok.

We were on Jewel in June when my husband contracted covid.  For pro rated refunds we had three options:

1. Husband go to a quarantine cabin alone and I can continue the cruise (masked any time outside the stateroom, and having to dine/drinki  in my stateroom only).  Husband would get his fare as a prorated refund, I would not get anything back.

2. I choose to stay with my husband and go into a quarintine cabin with him.  we would both be isolated for the remainder of the sailing and both get a pro rated refund.

3. We both disembark in the port we were at (on day 6 of ten) and we would both get a prorated refund.  

We choose option three.  I also waited 30 days before calling as the letter said we did not need to.  It took another 12 after that before we saw the refund.  Our letter was the boiler plate, BUT it had BOTH of our names on the top for the refund.  I made sure we were BOTH listed before leaving the ship.  What names are on the heading of your letter?  It sounds to me like you had option number 2 (with port imposed limitations as well) which would not allow you or your kids to get a refund based on what we were clearly and repeatedly told.  Sorry. 

I am not surprised to hear there was confusion...we had confusion in other ways (like being told when to go off the ship, excorted down and then the gangway personelle said we could not disembark, even though 2 GS managers were there saying we had to....calls had to be made.  

On 7/22/2022 at 5:35 PM, LMaxwell said:

 Some may post "family time" later in the day after prime time, especially on ships with enclosed solariums if there is poor weather by the main pool. Usually after 4pm.  Rare though. 

Yep, we have seen this a few times in cold weather sailings in Europe.  I don't mind it all if it is just a couple of hours and the age restriction (16 plus) is otherwise enforced.

I really wonder if the test cruises were handled in a way to give eralistic results?  Were all passengers clearly informed that the casino would be non msoking, both in advance of the cruise and again onboard?  

Celebrity, cruses in Australia, etc non smokers know in advance that the casino will be a smoke free venue and they do not need to avoid it...and I think that is one reason there are still plenty of people in it.    If these test cruises only told people at the caison, or in caisno themed marketing to staterooms or emails (which I toss without reading on RCI because I assume the caison will be too msokey to bother) the word probably never got out to most smoking adverse perspective gamblers.

We have a suite for our cruise on Sunday....the email from the concierge says we can board up to one hour before or after our arrival time, so log as the terminal is open.  That's out of Copenhagen though, not sure if it is across the board.

Yes, you can.

We tested on Germany before boarding our flight to the USA and then used that test for boarding.  Just make sure the certificate includes English, and all the required data (especially name, birthdate, date of test and "negative")

Just now, rennyn said:

 

They only cover up to $400 for flight changes - a very insignificant amount given prices these days, especially if you snagged a good business class deal. Changing the dates could cost thousands.

I guess that would vary with the airline....we fly Lufthansa which is allowing fee free changes even for economy since covid (still is, as of yesterday at least)

If they are offering that (I really do not think they are this year, they defeintely did not offer after cruises ending in Barcelona, though last year they did) they are not advertising it at all, not including it in the pre cruise info, etc.

We sail from Copenhagen 5 June and our friend who needs to fly back to the USA right after is planning to use the testifly app.  It costs about 10 euro plus the cost of a test from the extensive list of options (some are sold in the USA).  We'll pick up some tests which work from our local German Aldi and take them to our friend, since they sell for under 2 euro...so all in about 12 euro and having the certificate the night before disembarking/flying.