Peachy59

No, Laura, they do not. That goes to your regular waiters. They get a cut of the Chops cover charge.

Does anyone know how much they actually get?

Not to hijack but I also am looking for info about this particular OS, specifically, is there noise from the pool deck above?

Do you really have to participate in that animal cruelty?

Stay away from these entities that make money by cripeling the dolphins?:mad:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cove_(film)

http://www.blackfishmovie.com/

Totally agree. I think if people actually knew what these poor animals are subjected to, this would end.

Getting a chair in the afternoon is not gonna happen.

Right. Because of the chair hogs.

Royal isn't terribly concerned because it's a problem that really doesn't exist. There is always chairs. It may not be a prime location, but still in the pool area.

 

I always found a decent chair in the solarium, even on sea days. You may not be right next to the pool, but who cares? I've never once not been able to find a lounger or two somewhere decent.

Sorry, but it is a problem that DOES exist. On every cruise we've been on my husband and I have had a very hard time finding 2 chairs to just lay out in the sun any where on deck. We usually go out in the afternoon and it is ridiculous trying to find just 2 chairs, sometimes even ONE chair in the sun, and I'm not just talking by the pool. Many chairs are empty but being saved. If people would just use them when they need them, it wouldn't be a problem.

So, if someone comes out at 8AM and stays in the lounger until say 1PM, are they a chair hog? :confused:

No. If someone comes out at 8 am, places a towel or personal belongings on a chair and doesn't come back until 1 pm, THEY ARE a chair hog. :D

Secrets is pricey sometimes, but I'm a huge fan. I'm going to Akumal in November (my second trip to the same resort) and I can't wait. I am sure other AI's deliver a great product, but haven't ventured into too many other brands.

Oooohhh, love Akumal! We've stayed in that area twice, but not at Secrets.

Op, for those prices, I would do the AI.

I use both my Capital One Venture card and Chase Sapphire Preferred card and just use the points to just pay off the charge for the cruise. They are both significantly better cards than the RC Visa.

I agree. We use Capital One Venture, 2% on everything. It does have a yearly fee, $59 I think. First year fee was waived but we put everything on that card, and pay the balance monthly. You have to calculate if your spending outweighs the fee. Very easy to redeem points. Love it!

If you don't make it back to the ship before it departs, RCI will leave your passport with the port authority. Do carry your Cruise Compass with the Port Authority contact information on it.

Do you know this for a fact? I've heard it before, but find it hard to believe they will actually go into your safe to get it before the ship sails. Would really like to know if this is true as I've never heard a first hand account of them doing this.

:eek:

Yeah, I've noticed this as well. A lot of people saying their vacations were "ruined" by what clothes other people wore in the MDR, or because they saw somebody using a fork to stir their coffee.

 

The closest we ever got to having our vacation "ruined" was when we got a call from my mother-in-law as we were getting on the ship letting us know that she was flying down and would be at our house while we were on the cruise and for a week after. No notice, we were both angry, and it caused a fight when my husband refused to say anything to her about not just inviting herself to our house when we gone.

 

Even with all that, by the time the ship sailed away we managed to get into full vacation mode and still enjoyed the cruise.

:eek::eek::eek:

That could do it for me!

I am not sure why you would choose a lunch, without looking at a menu and having some idea of what you were going to get, and how much you were going to pay, but perhaps that is just me.

Are there set drinks which are included with the chair fee? Did your husband not have anything to drink the whole time he was there - soft drink, water? I am just asking so that I am prepared. We have not been to Blue Kay yet but are considering it for next time we are in Costa Maya. I understand the rationale for charging a chair fee to stop people just using facilities although it is not a common practice in many Mexican beach bars. However it's usage is widespread throughout many of the Caribbean islands and the fee is often much higher than that.

I would be interested to know if new menus have been produced because these charges seem much higher than the ones posted by Mitsugirly?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44910650&postcount=485

There are not set drinks included with the chair fee. I have been to other places where you pay for a chair and get a free drink. I always take the free drinks and my husband usually buys a water or soda. It has never been a problem anywhere else. We sat in those chairs on the beach and swam and just hung out on the beach for quite a while before we moved to a table to eat. The margaritas were brought out to us one at a time, it really shouldn't matter who drank them. Those were the only 2 drinks we had out by the water.

When we were ready to eat, we moved up to a table a little ways off the water. We did look at a menu, but the waiter suggested what was supposed to be a lunch special to my husband. It was not on the menu. It was some kind of fried fish with rice and beans. Normally we would ask the price, and I'm not sure why we didn't that day. That is totally our fault. But, we never dreamed they would charge $25 for that so called lunch special. I mean, we are at a little fishing village in Mexico, not the Ritz. It's not like it was lobster or something. At that time, my husband ordered a bottled water and that is what they wanted to give as his free drink. We just thought it was ridiculous and petty, since we had already had what we thought were the 2 drinks included with the chair rental. Bottom line, we felt gouged because we were tourists.

Between that and the wooden chairs with no padding, we will be going somewhere else on our next stop there as we'll be going back to Mahahual next year.

Those prices sound crazy to me for food. No way would I expect to pay that much for chips and quac, 2 sodas and a sandwich. We definitely didn't pay that much back in Dec when we were there! Must have been an increase in food prices since then. I don't recall anything we ate that day to be exceptionally good, just average at best. Can't blame anyone for eating elsewhere along the boardwalk at those prices. It's Mexico after all

Yes, if you see my post above, they tried to charge us some crazy prices too. Partly our fault for just taking the waiters suggestion for my husband's lunch without asking the cost. They did lower the bill when we complained. Also, we paid the $5 per chair and since my husband doesn't drink, I got a second margarita and they tried to charge us for that too! I told them the $5 should cover that drink that my husband then gave to me. I feel like they're really trying to take advantage of the tourists. Between that and those wooden chairs, we will not be going back. Plenty of other places to go.

You will need to call Royal and ask them to update it for you as you can't do it yourself online. It will probably take a day or two.

When we were in Belize in April, we did the Shark/Ray snorkeling by air. We went to Hol Chan and then Shark/Ray Alley. Hol Chan was the best snorkeling we have done anywhere. We booked through through ecotours, but I don't think I would use them again.

We were given bracelets then driven to the airport. They told us when we got there someone would be waiting for us and would recognize us by the bracelets. We flew on a Cessna over to San Pedro which was quite interesting. After waiting about 10 minutes inside the terminal, no one had approached us. We then started asking questions and found no one was there to meet us. One of the workers at the airstrip called Aqua Scuba who was supposed to be meeting us only to find they had no idea we were booked! They sent someone over and we walked with them to the dock where we were told they had never received an email booking our excursion. The owner did find someone to take us out and it was just the 2 of us. Our excursion was cut short due to the mix up, but the snorkeling at Hol Chan was amazing. When we got to shark ray alley, our guide had nothing to feed the sharks, so he had a hard time keeping any by our boat. He did manage to wrangle one and we got to touch it. Another glitch was my camera's memory was full (totally my fault) and I didn't realize it until we were in the water, so I got no pictures of the sharks.

We were kind of nervous to book this since since it involved flying, but everything turned out okay and we plan to do it again, just won't be using ecotours. Turns out, they just send an email to Aqua Scuba and don't even require a confirmation. They did tell me they will be requiring confirmation in the future, and they also refunded our money, but I wouldn't trust them again. Also, before I booked I sent several emails asking a lot of questions and even when we got there to check in, asked about our arrangements to make sure everything went smoothly, and was assured there would be no problems. When we called from the airstrip at San Pedro, she (Patricia), tried to blame everything on Aqua Scuba, which really ticked me off. Oh, and the worker at the airstrip told us this was not the first time this had happened.

I would definitely do this again, but I will either book everything myself or use shorexcursioneer.

Thanks for those replies. It's not a big deal, just thought it was strange. It seems even stranger they didn't charge the higher taxes! :eek:

Maybe we'll get a credit on board. :)

I was checking prices for a cruise we have coming up in November and noticed our cabin price had gone down. Called the TA and went through it with her on the phone. She said she would make the adjustment then I got an email and the price was almost $20 higher. Okay, so it's only $20, but still.

She said the taxes were higher when we first booked and if we wanted the lower tax rate, she would have to cancel the first reservation and re book, taking a chance on losing our carefully selected stateroom.

Has anybody else ever had this happen? :confused:

This is all BS.

The only reason the cruise lines can control this and make us feel like children is because they scan us and our luggage. If this were a land based vacation in any resort you could bring whatever beverage you want into your room.

I can't believe anyone thinks the cruise line are justified having these rules.

Totally agree.

Normally cruises that dock there for a matter of hours on a day go into OSJ.

 

Normally the only ships at PanAmerican are the ones embarking/disembarking there.

Thanks, I am aware of this. This lady says her ship was docking at the Pam Am pier for a day visit, not embarkation/disembarkation.

Well, now this has me wondering where we will dock in November on Freedom! How do you find this out? I hope I don't have to rely on calling RC as they will possibly (and by possibly, I mean probably) give the wrong info.:eek:

Any time we've had OBC from a TA it has been refundable, but they won't give it to you until the last day. Last time, when I went to GS to ask for it, I was told it was not refundable, but I knew better and insisted that it was. The lady had to ask someone else and then was told to refund it to us. Apparently she was new and didn't know better. It is my understanding, only OBC from Royal is not refundable.

Oh I am definitely going to find a way to let her know that she has to pay me back. She didn't pay for anything I wish she did. I paid for everything. She doesn't know I have travel insurance I can't tell her things like that because she will find a way to have a reason to say she can't go. So I keep details at a minimum.

At this point though I am so excited for my trip that I will worry about it once i come back if she doesn't go.

Unfortunately, unless you have cancel for any reason insurance, I don't think it will pay for this. She would need to have a valid reason not to go. :eek:

Does anyone know if Rhapsody has reserved loungers near the pool for suites?

I haven't experienced this on any of the ships I've been on yet...and I hope I don't. Even those steel drum bands get obnoxious after a while. :eek:

You do realize that Cruise Critic members are a tiny tiny tiny portion of overall cruisers... and the vast majority of passengers have no idea when a ship is going into dry dock (or what a dry dock is), what is planned for the dry dock, and which sailing is first after dry dock... Right?

 

Royal Caribbean needs to have their "ship" together by the time the first passengers hit the gangway. There is no excuse for people have to be "mentally prepared" and "realistic" for things to go wrong on their vacation.

For the 500th time, none of us booked an inaugural cruise!!! There should have been 2 months of cruises before ours. This should have allowed plenty of time to iron out issues. When we learned we would be first, it was after final payment and we would have been assessed a penalty for canceling. The Empress was not ready to sail and she should not have. We should have been cancelled and been given a refund or price protection on another sailing. Period.

Totally agree with all of this!

For anyone on since the drydock, have they fixed up the Solarium at all... meaning did they replace the blueish green sun faded shrubbery. It made it look very old and uninviting.

Would love to know about this. Also, no Park Cafe? :eek: