Thoie

I missed normal muster once (a sequence of unlucky delays, snowballed). They knew in advance I wasn't on board, so hopefully didn't delay others waiting for me. As I checked in I was handed a slip telling me to attend a later "remedial" drill. I assumed at the time the others there were also latecomers, but perhaps they had tried to skip the normal muster?

I've found that it's not unusual to be able to get a taxi and negotiate a price for the day or half the day and get a pretty great tour for not too much.

That's the one thing I'm very wary of. I do a mix of private/ship tours, or just wander around on my own (by foot or on public transport), but I've never just jumped in a taxi at the port on my own. Particularly in the Caribbean I hear a lot of people say "just get in a taxi at the port and tour the island that way", but it's not something I'm terribly comfortable with on my own, though I sometimes feel like I'm missing out! Sometimes I meet up with one or more people who have no specific plans, and I'll do that with them, but have never taken the leap to doing it alone.

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] I was wondering the same , waiting patiently on the end[emoji41][emoji41]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

He flew home on the 28th, and is still alive and kicking, for those concerned!

We had a few cocktails and made some friends from Ireland.

You have other friends? You have other Irish friends?!?!? *flounces off in a huff*

Glad you're having fun!

Bon voyage! Hope you love Freedom.

I kind of agree with the OP. I've found RCI is becoming less "solo friendly" as time goes on.

Take a hypothetical cabin that's priced at $500 per person. If I'm travelling alone in that cabin, I can understand that they might charge me $1,000, and I can live with that. Realistically speaking, I'll cost them less in laundry, food, wear and tear, so $900 might be a bit fairer, but $1,000 is OK.

What annoys me is when the cabin is $1,000 for 2 people, but suddenly $1,300 if you're travelling alone. Some will say they're losing out on the on board spending of the second person. Anecdotally, my general on board spending seems to be higher than most couples, and other solos I've met say the same. As someone else pointed out, solos are more likely to book excursions through the ship, and spend around the ship. I run in to a large number of couples who drink in their cabins together (not having purchased the drink on board), whereas I'm more likely to buy a drink at a bar instead.

There's also the situation where you look at a sailing as a solo (paying as much as two people), to see it's sold out. If you search the same sailing for 2 people, you see plenty of availability - presumably they like to limit the percentage of solos on board.

I'm assuming, being a business, they have facts and figures to back up the assumption that couples spend more than solos, but it doesn't seem like it to me.

I've had a situation onboard where there was a problem with my cabin, and asked if I could move, and was told there were no other cabins available. The next day I ran into a couple who had a similar issue, reported the day after mine, and they were being moved. I enquired about this at guest services, and was told there had been a cabin available, but essentially it was more important to keep 2 people happy than 1. They weren't as blunt as that, but that was the general feeling. I've encountered that attitude more than once in a variety of situations. Another time, I was at the front of the queue for something. There were 2 spaces left, and I was asked to let a couple behind me go instead "so they wouldn't have to be alone". I agreed, but it left a bad taste.

I've also been told they "buy one get one half price" doesn't apply to solos. In my original hypothetical cabin, that would be $500 for the first person, $250 for the second, meaning $750 for the cabin. But a solo would still have to pay $1,000 (or more). I haven't gone down the "alternative" route of booking a phantom second person yet, but might in future.

Having said all that, I generally have a great time once I'm on board, which is why I keep going back. The majority of staff and crew are great, and I've met some fantastic people. Obviously one of the joys of travelling alone is having your own cabin, being able to do what you want, when you want. The double C&A points are nice (even though they invariably do it wrong initially, and then you have to contact them afterwards to have them adjusted). One advantage (for other people) is that the 2 bottles of wine is per cabin, so a solo can bring two bottles of wine, whereas a couple only get 1 each. As I don't sit around my cabin drinking wine, this benefits my dining companions more than me ;)

I think the corporate attitude to solo cruisers needs to adjust a bit, but it's not all doom and gloom.

As a parent, I cannot imagine ever agreeing to taking a perfect stranger's kid off the ship with me. .

In my very first cruise (solo) I met a woman travelling with her 11yo granddaughter. In one port, granny was feeling very tired and didn't want to go ashore, but the kid wanted to do some souvenir shopping, so I took her into town with me. Never even crossed my mind to say no.

I may not have taken her on a "dangerous" excursion, but people can surprise you.

The port people want the photo ID at Nassau for sure.

Usually when getting off the ship there are notices to tell you if you need photo ID at this port. I was on a B2B earlier in the year, visiting Nassau 3 days apart. On the first visit I was briefly "detained" because I had no photo ID going back to the ship, as there'd been no notice given. A few days later there was plenty of notice to bring ID (which I did anyway), and no-one asked for it :)

Hi all

Going on FOS eastern I carribean from PC, we have our ESTA for th states but we are suddenly panicking that we need visas for either st Thomas or st Maarten, any advise?? Also we have never cruised from the USA before so will the ship take our passports on boarding? Thanks

I'm Irish, so not quite the same, but close. I've never needed anything for St Maarten or St Thomas (or anywhere else in the Caribbean when cruising).

Your sea pass card usually suffices. Some of the islands want you to bring your passport ashore, others are happy with just the sea pass (your hotel card essentially), which you'll always need to get off or on the ship. The daily newsletter will tell you if you need to bring your passport.

The ship won't take your passport on boarding - you can put it in your safe.

Have fun!

I had added the ultimate package to my basket last week, but not paid for it. Using the Irish site, so the drink prices are usually inclusive of gratuities/taxes etc.

Last week it was showing as $67 per day (coming to $1,005 for 15 days).

Today there's a warning saying price updated - it's now $59 per day, + 18%, coming out as $1,044.30 for the 15 days.

I have no idea what they're doing with the pricing.

Are tips included in the price of bar and pool drinks? I read RCI adds 18% to bar and beverages. is this correct? If so, No tipping is required right?

Thanks, John

You'll see a drink listed on the menu as $10 (for ease of calculations).

The payment slip you'll sign will say something like

Drink $10.00

Gratuity $1.80

Total $11.80

So the tip is auto calculated and included on the slip for you - there's no requirement to add anything extra, though there is a blank space on the slip you sign if you wish to do so.

My surname never matches, because Royal doesn't realise it's 2016, and we've known how to avoid SQL injections for decades :rolleyes:

It's not quite the same situation, but let's say my surname is O'Flynn, it's on their records as Oflynn. PITA when you're trying to pay for something on the site and it insists "enter your name as it appears on your credit card", but then doesn't accept that!

Calling to Vigo last year I did a ship's excursion "Typical Galicia Cellar Tour" which I quite enjoyed - bus tour along the coast, visited a vineyard, sampled the local wine, then stopped in a town called Cambados where you were free to get your own lunch.

In general kids in continental europe are taught from a very young age how to behave in restaurants so you might want to keep that in mind.

The New Forest outside Southampton is lovely if you had a few extra days and tired of London.

I remember Deauville (about 45 minutes from Le Havre by car) being beautiful, but that was about 30 years ago. Similarly Lisieux was very nice too, but again, I may be misremembering :)

I generally round up to the nearest big number, depending on how much the change would be. For example, a taxi ride of €17 I'd probably round to €20.

In a restaurant if service charge is not included, I'll add on 10% roughly, again with some rounding up or down.

Don't normally tip in a bar, unless we've been there all day with complicated orders, but certainly in Ireland it would be more usual to tell the barman to get one for himself, rather than giving him money. If there's table service, leaving the change (or some of it) is standard.

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. Has anyone ever ordered your drink and paid for someone else's while on a drink package?

Yes. Last month I had bought myself the ultimate package. There was a woman I'd met on my roll-call who had done me a favour, for which I'd said I'd buy her a drink.

We went to the bar and I ordered two cocktails. I just told the barman that it was one on the package and one to be charged. He had no difficulties processing it and the charge duly appeared on my bill.

Was looking at the Rhapsody current whereabouts - she's en route from Kusadasi to Piraeus, but noticed that she's turned around a while back and looks like she's heading to Mikonos now.

Anyone know what's happening?

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:372100/zoom:10

Edit: Never mind. There's a strike in Piraeus:

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2016/05/23/piraeus-port-workers-prepare-for-continuous-strike-over-privatization/

Oh! Perhaps because they were getting stolen, I don't know. I saw a passenger put a handful of Splenda packets in her purse once. Sad. :(

I took a handful of sugar sachets back to my cabin on this TA, maybe it was me you saw :) I knew we'd have kettles, so brought my own coffee, but my cabin steward obviously thought I needed artificial sweetening, as that's all he'd ever leave. In the end I just took some from the cafe promenade and left them in the sugar bowl by my kettle.

I didn't consider it as stealing, but maybe in future I'll bring my own sugar too. I'm sure airport security won't mind a ziploc bag of white powder ;)

I'm on the Independence right now, with drink package. Was never asked to sign a waiver, and there is no limit on the drinks.

I'm so sorry that I've opened a can of worms everyone.

I'm Pete ...... and I'm a smoker 😕

I still enjoy the social aspect of it and I don't want to give up yet.

But I'm enjoying all this "off piste" chat too x

I don't blame you, but wish I'd never replied. These threads are always the same.

A: Where are the smoking sections?

B: Factual answer

C: Repeats or clarifies factual amswer

D: *comes barrelling in, arms windmilling * HEY GUYS, DID YOU KNOW SMOKING IS STINKY AND BAD FOR YOU? I DON'T LIKE IT AND MY MOMMY SAYS I'M SPECIAL SO MY OPINION COUNTS THE MOSTEST.

A: er, right, thanks

B: So, um, grown up topics

A: Yeah, thanks for information

D: SMELLY! EVERYONE SHOULD DO WHAT I LIKE BEST AND HAVE ONLY THE VICES I ENJOY.

I paid $9.99/day/1 device for my upcoming Liberty cruise. Do you know if that is actually 30% off?

The normal price for Voom is $15 a day, so that looks about right.

Many of you have said you tip the porter because you want your bags to get to your room in one piece. What happens if you don't tip? Are the bags chalk marked so everyone knows you didn't tip? Do the porters sent your luggage to the "gorilla" room where luggage is tossed and banged around until the zipper breaks and the tags are gone? Is it put in the I-FLY for the crew's entertainment?

 

Seriously, what happens?

You tip the shuttle driver. You bribe the porter.

I've turned up in Fort Lauderdale a few times with no US dollars, or else nothing smaller than a $50, and therefore not tipped the porters, and my suitcases have always turned up OK at my cabin. The first time I didn't even realise that I'd be expected to tip. The second time I intended tipping, but didn't manage to get any small notes. I apologised to the porter as I was handing over my bags, and he didn't seem phased at all - we had a chat for a while, then I headed in, and my suitcase turned up pretty quickly.

None of them are going to refuse a tip, but neither have I experienced them deliberately damaging or delaying luggage if you don't.

I never get the package. I simply tell work that I'm on a cruise and won't have voice mail or email access. Never had any issues or problems

 

Will sometimes check into email when I'm on shore and have free wifi access. Otherwise I'm

Incommunicado

I do the same, though as I'll be away a bit longer than usual, I may buy a day here or there, but not a whole package.

I do carry my phone around with me, as I photograph things like port agent info and other useful details. Instead of highlighting events I'm interested in, I add them to my calendar the night before, and then check the calendar on my phone if I'm at a loose end.

Thank you for that information sir 😊

(or madam!) ;)

Yes, the casino has clearly marked smoking and non-smoking sections. Other than that, smoking is allowed in designated places outdoors on the port side of the Oasis class ships. Smoking is not allowed in Central Park or the Boardwalk.

First, thank you all for providing information on my previous questions. I have a few others.

 

Towels for excursions are you allowed to bring them off the ship to use (of course bringing them back). We are in a full suite on Athem if that matters at all.

 

Beverage packages - is the 20% off available onboard or only by pre-purchasing? We are only Gold crown and anchor members

 

What are everyone's thoughts about going to the Rainforest in San Juan with the Zika virus issue currently out there. Normally this wouldn't worry me and we would take precautions of having bug spray, etc. However the rainforest is one thing that causes concern. We, the parents, are not going however, our young adult children and two friends want to.

 

Thank you in advance

You can take towels from the ship. Sometimes they swipe your card, so if you don't return them, they'll charge you for it (approx $25 per towel).

No guarantee that any discount offered in advance will be available on board. Personally, I've never seen any drink packages discounts on board, but other people have.

If I was pregnant or trying to get pregnant soon, I'd avoid the rainforest. Other than that, I'd go, using a good bug spray.