pcur

I don't believe at all that it needs to be awkward, as 15-ish years ago I would ask nicely, very nicely, with no expectations. I got "no problem", "let's see how many are in the lounge already when you come", to "we have too many eligible for the lounge on this sailing, so no". Any of those answers were fine with me. Now, however, the ships are very crowded and I don't ask anymore. I'm Pinnacle going with my Gold Member sister on the Freedom, and I just share my drink coupons with her wherever we decide to have our evening drinks. (Well, she also gets my amenity bottle of white wine, too.)

I have a question about the entrances. I remember a long drive in the middle between the two buildings of Terminal A, with luggage drop-off points. But, I get Port Everglades and Port of Miami mixed up about where the Suite and Pinnacle entrance is. Is it at the beginning of that drive through, or at the end? We are leaving on the 18th, and it's going to be very hot, so I want to avoid a lot of walking. Plus, I have found that most Uber drivers have a hard time navigating in cruise ports generally. So, knowing ahead of time where we want to be dropped off is important. Thanks!

I've been sailing in and out of Jamaica since the 1970's. It's always been a little dicey. I've never had a problem, but I always stayed with ship excursions. They have vetted the tour operators, and you don't have to worry about getting reviews from possible "shills" for the tour operator. In my mind, if they aren't associated with RCCL, then I'm not sure of their reliability. However, I do love Tripadvisor reviews, because you can use their search function. I always go for the most recent reviews, up to about 6 months. I search the entire body of reviews for my specifics, like "shore excursion" or "drop off point" would work in this case. My main point is if people are STILL not feeling good about Jamaica ports after 50 years, then err on the side of caution. I would advise against picking up a tour off the dock, unless you like to play craps in casinos......😁

All I can think of after reading this is I'm glad I carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer on my tote bag. I can't stop these people, but thank you for the reminder that I need to sanitize my hands after I return to my table in the Windjammer. That is, if I even go to the Windjammer at all. The OP's description is what I experienced on the Vision right after the menu changes and cutbacks started in mid-January this year.

That is one winding road to get to Ocho:

My thoughts exactly: I've never had an issue with switching on board and getting a refund (of some kind).

I said "IF" it's becoming a trend, "THEREFORE" (implied) yada, yada, yada...............

Not trying to argue, however it's the looooong lines of people I'm referring to here. I don't remove tips, but I avoid Customer Service on embarkation day and the last day on all cruises.

If it's causing a significant increase in the traffic at the CS counter, then I think it's putting a strain on the staff and the passengers both with long lines. I usually go very early in the morning when there's no line, and avoid the first day and last day of cruises.

Makes sense. I feel bad for the Customer Svc staff on board these ships, if removing them is getting to be a trend.

I think this is coming. Passengers might also be deleting tips because the price of cruises are going up so much. To me, the price of the cruise already includes the tips when I make my decision about booking. I always add the tips automatically (in my head). Some times I pay all the tips, sometimes an obc pays them, sometimes it's a mix.

Yes, it's always looked crowded and hard to get to IMO. I love the suite and pinnacle round sun deck on the Allure and Oasis. It's got it's own bar, which is very nice. No crowds up there.

It's always a big deal to me to have priority boarding. I appreciate it!! I was dismayed when they eliminated priority boarding for D and D+, because it's one of C&A perks that is very meaningful. But, at least they are letting the C&A upper level members board first according to their level.

Well, if I decided to not go to any other restaurant because I suddenly became wildly happy with the MDR menus and the Windjammer, I would have paid over $200 for that Day 1 lunch. So, there are lots of ways to look at this situation. If they gave me a way to NOT skew their bookings, I would GLADLY, HAPPILY follow that booking path.

I have never been shown the rule about this by RCCL. I've never been refused my booking on Day 1. And, I've had the overcharge (and yes, it's an overcharge to me for the second booking because their system doesn't recognize UDP purchasers in the booking system) refunded promptly.

THANK YOU! I continue to be puzzled about why the passenger is penalized because RCCL cannot allow Day 1 lunch reservations for UDP purchases. I've always thought the concept of customers is to accommodate their needs in order to generate more business and revenue. A temporary duplicate hold on a table at noon on Day 1 (when there are few passengers on board, and Chops is pretty much empty) should not be considered a penalty to the buyer. Plus, if enough passengers have to do this, then RCCL needs to adjust their booking policies.

I'm failing to see why? I'm still there to eat my lunch and fulfill my reservation, I've just paid for it twice. It's not like I'm a no-show.

Couldn't resist, and in all good humor: You are not the boss of my tummy....................

By any chance did you take an Uber back to the airport after the cruise? Could you give me general directions to the Uber pick up area, please? I want to see my sis off to the airport before I get the ship's transportation for a b2b out of Ft Lauderdale. Thanks!

When my husband passed in 2021, both Princess and RCCL were incredible about refunding all our money paid for upcoming cruises. Like within 48 hours. My sincerest condolences to the OP: it's very, very tough to deal with an immediate family member passing. Insurance policies refer to the "traveler", but that is synonymous with "insured". In the case of a family member's death who is not on the travel policy, the benefit that would be paid out is under trip interruption in the OP's case to the covered traveler on the policy.

According to an online article from about 10 minutes ago: "Hurricane Idalia is causing some shifts in cargo operations at Port Canaveral, but thus far is not impacting the cruise ship schedule there."

I checked out the menus again for my upcoming cruises. Out of 7 nights, I can put together 4 dinners, and one will be all appetizers. So, for short cruises I don't mind paying extra for the UDP, and last year my sis and I got a $20 / day / pp, including tip, on a 10-night Vision. Our 4 night on the Freedom is costing $49 / day / pp, but my sis will be happy. Now, a "day" could include both lunch and dinner, so that lowers the cost per meal even more. Plus, my wonderful TA's obc gifts help, too. (Hi, there Wonderful TA!!) 👋 If they get the MDR menus upgraded a little, then I'll skip the UDP. Until then, I'll keep looking at the UDP.

My sister and I spent 10 nights on the Vision last March 2022, and had the UDP. I had been on several cruises since the MDR menu changes in mid-Jan, and was NOT happy with them. I'm actually easy to please and will just about everything, but my sis is fussy. So, I insisted we get the UDP. I also ate breakfast every day in Chops as a Pinnacle perk (she doesn't eat breakfast), so we ate quite a bit in Chops: lunch, several dinners, and me for breakfast. As I've said in other threads here on CC: I love me my Chops. It's got great food! The staff are wonderful, too, and I hope they are still there when I'm on the Vision again next year. Giovanni's was my sister's favorite. Their food was excellent, too.

It really depends on the ship, but the standards: Chops, Giovanni's, Izumi, Hooked all are included. Izumi and Hooked are an "allowance" for your meal. On the Navi it was pick one from column A, two from Column B, and a dessert last year in Izumi. Hooked was a $$ allowance. On my next cruise on the Freedom, I understand Vintages is included with the "allowance" toward food. UDP is good for any specialty restaurant lunch open on sea days. It's best to pre-plan your reservations and do them all at once on Day 1. In the Cruise Planner for your cruise, you can see which restaurant(s) are open on Day 1 and sea days for lunch. Day 1 I always reserve and pay in advance for lunch, then have them credit it back to my account when they see I have the UDP. Sea Days you can reserve on Day 1 on the ship with your UDP. Our plan on the Freedom next month: Day 1 reserved lunch at Giovanni’s: get credit back, and make ressies for other dinners/lunch Day 1 - reserved Giovanni's for dinner at 5:30pm. BOOK: Day 2 - Chops for dinner Day 3 - Izumi for dinner Day 4 - Chops for lunch Day 4 - Giovanni's for dinner Day 5 - Izumi or Chops for dinner? Snacks or lunch substitute: Vintages tapas, Check hours. Use drink e-coupons for wine

My mother grew up on a small chicken farm in Hayward, CA during the Depression. No one had money for doctors, and she and her brother were exposed to just about every ugly thing you could get: ringworm, hookworm, impetigo, getting sprayed by skunks, my Mom eating rat poison as a crawling infant. My grandmother was born in 1883 on a farm in the Salinas Valley, Ca. She knew every home remedy there was. Kerosene was used to kill any kind of worm external infection. I think she had some concoction for intestinal worms, too. She force fed my mother a quart of mayonnaise to get her to barf up the rat poison, and also coat her esophagus and stomach. She washed my uncle with kerosene when he was sprayed by a skunk, and shaved his head for a kerosene "shampoo". They were lucky to survive the cures!!