SeaBaby

I use the one week pill boxes too when I travel and never had anyone question it. I do have my pharmacy print out a list of my meds, so I have something “official” in lieu of the pill bottles.

35 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Should have actually been at 350, not 340, since it is at 140 and every 70 points after. 🙂 

Thank you for pointing out my typo. It was 350! 😊

I recently realized we should have received our 340 block on the Navigator transatlantic cruise May 2018. We reached it on the very last day. I contacted Crown & Anchor last week, who verified the sailing, ship etc. They said they will ship it to our home in Canada and we should receive it in about 6 weeks. Happy to say we received it only 5 days later! The Navigator of the Seas crystal block is now proudly displayed on the mantle.  

Gross! I bet it is not exclusive to your cabin. We just got off Navigator and that would explain why my allergies were terrible in our cabin. Never thought about the air filter. I did reflect my feelings about this ship’s poor maintenance when I filled out the guest survey. I hope the standards are not declining fleet wide.

While I love the flexibility of MTD, it is my belief that this concept is what killed the MDR experience. I saw the difference on NCL when they went Freestyle and I've seen it on the other lines when they created their versions. With traditional dining, everyone was on the same pace, including the kitchen, and the waiters weren't all running around in different directions. Now, the MDR has become so loud and chaotic. I'm sure there are several reasons, but I think MTD is the biggest factor.

True. Quite chaotic with too many dining options.

On Navigator now. Had My Time Dining and went only once. Greatly streamlined menu, lacking choice. Specialty restaurants are outstanding. Windjammer is amazing, lots of choices, food is hot and staff there are great. It is getting more crowded every night. Several guests have told us they abandoned their traditional dining because service has been dreadful (slow, orders wrong, food cold, poor attitude). Disappointing to hear. Has me wondering if it is just this ship or if it is happening across the cruise line.

Enjoyed reading your review. We are sailing on Navigator April 22 transatlantic cruise, first time on this ship. Really looking forward to it.

What are your views on this? It doesn't get you extra brownie points to cut in front of line unless you have a life threatening emergency and flaunt your status. I am sure the front desk agents talk durirng their breaks about these kind of entitled guests.

I totally agree with you. We appreciate and enjoy the perks of our C&A status, but it does not occur to us to volunteer the information to strangers on the ship, or emphasize it to staff. We try to offer positive feedback often, and have rarely needed to provide negative feedback in all the cruises we've sailed. Also agree with you re flying in first class. I find that positive people in general are more fun to be around and their pleasant attitude seems to rub off. I try to tune out the negative ones!

What a wonderful surprise for you! We cruised on the Radiance out of Sydney a couple of years ago. It was a fantastic cruise, great itinerary. Would love to do it again one day. Enjoy!

Suzanne

We found the scenery of the Norwegian fjords and New Zealand absolutely stunning. Agree with Kernow, sailing into Stockholm was truly memorable.

SeaBaby

I think the OP may be a one-post-wonder and not coming back. Started a thread knowing it would cause a stir. Now OP is sitting back and laughing at the reaction here. Has nothing better to do I guess.

Morning, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. This morning while checking my credit card statement online I notice last week I had two credits on my credit card stated Cruise Refund. So seeing the amounts of $95.50 Canadian each I though that sounds like what I paid for my Turtle Snorkel Excursion Barbados for my cruise next month which I booked a few months ago. So I checked my Royal profile this morning and what do you know the excursion is no longer on my list of excursions. So they cancelled it without telling me. Has this happened to anyone else ? I notice there is another one online there at the same price ? I am waiting to call C&A line to see what happened and why they couldn't send me a message and let me know before rebooking one

Royal Caribbean did send us an e-mail when they cancelled our St. Thomas tour, and it also confirmed the refund was put back on our credit card.

We've had the good (most), the bad (some) and the ugly (rare)! So lately, we request a table for 2. I e-mail Royal Caribbean Dining about 2 weeks ahead of the cruise, and they confirm back. In fact, I received an e-mail confirmation today for our back to back on Jewel later this month which included the table number, the floor plan and where our exact table is located for both cruises! There are so many other venues where you can chat with folks on the ship, I don't feel we are missing anything. The last thing I want is to stress over dinner!

Missed a few ports over the years. The first time we had Roseau, Dominica on our itinerary, we missed that stop due to rough seas. As the sky was blue and weather warm, the captain took the ship as near to the dock as he could to show the passengers the huge waves crashing over the road in case we didn't believe it! Another time we missed St. Thomas due to bad weather, and captain was happy to advise us that he substituted St. Martin, until that port was closed too.

It doesn't bother us really, we'd rather be safe. If we miss a port that we really wanted to visit, we figure we'll see it on a future cruise.

I found your post interesting and amusing, and reminds me of the odd things that seem to happen to us on some of our trips. Sometimes there are so many unexpected things that occur, and when you add them all together, it is quite funny. They are not complaints, but anecdotes, something to laugh about. Thank you for sharing.

I don't feel badly for the OP, simply because she put herself in the situation that could lead to her own embarrassment....she knew from the get-go what the rules were.

 

Now, you on the other hand planned nicely and handled it properly and were given a with a very nice gesture from the concierge, in return. Will that always happen, no. But doing the right thing more often than not, pays off in the end.

Yes I think it's all about expectations. If you don't expect it, then you won't be disappointed or 'steamed'.

We never recommend anything to anyone, as what appeals to us may not appeal to someone else. Our friends are more fussy and particular whereas we are more laid back and flexible. We do always say that we love to cruise with Royal Caribbean. Some cruises are better than others for many reasons. We will continue to be loyal to Royal until they do us wrong.

Whether right or wrong, I feel badly for the OP, as it must have been a bit embarrassing. I am D+ and travelled to Australia/NZ last year on the Radiance for 17 days with a friend who is not D+. I knew the rules and discussed it with her in advance. We arranged that I would shower and then go to the CL for a couple of pre dinner drinks and she would use that time to shower and get herself ready for dinner. We always met up at the Schooner Bar before going off to the dining room. She was absolutely fine with me going to the CL and encouraged it. It also gave us each some space. However, I did talk to the concierge the first evening I went into the CL and just let him know that I was travelling with a non D+ friend and I assumed she would not be able to join me there. He very nicely explained that there were too many D+ on that sailing to allow her to come in, which I expected and was fine with. Then one evening the concierge came over to me and said they were having a Karaoke evening in the concierge lounge the next night, the captain would be dropping in, and to bring my friend with me. I asked if she would be able to have a glass of wine too and he said of course. She was pleased to be invited, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. The concierge made a point of coming over and talking to her so she felt welcome. He certainly went above and beyond in my opinion.

Wow, am I glad I wasn't on that cruise. We were on Allure 2 weeks earlier, and saw only a few babies and toddlers on board who were no trouble at all.

We were on board Feb. 1st and were given a notice when we checked in saying that due to a contuing problem with their speed, that we would arrive in St. thomas at 11 am instead of 10 am. But in the end we arrived at 10, captain said due to favorable currents.

We were booked on a back to back cruise out of San Juan a couple of years ago, and had booked and paid for airfare. We were notified by Royal Caribbean a few months prior to sailing, that the ship was now being chartered for our second week, and they gave us some options. We decided to change that week for the one preceding our original first week. They gave us $200 on board credit and price protection. I can't remember if they gave us anything for the change fee for the flight.

St. Kitts - we have done the train excursion twice, old fashioned train and very enjoyable. We have done zip lining - fantastic, and we're doing it again in April.

St. Maarten - the island tour is nice; if you like the beach, then the Beach Rendezvous excursion includes a nice lunch and drink plus your beach chairs. You also see a good part of the island getting there.

The duration shown for RCI's excursions includes the transportation to get there and back. A long boat, ferry or bus ride can really cut into the time you have when you get there. It would be helpful if they indicated the approximate transportation time, e.g. 6-1/2 hour tour sounds great but if 3 hours is spent getting there and back, it changes the appeal of the tour. I try to do a lot of research beforehand to get an idea of how long it takes to get there before booking an excursion.

Looks like Tortola has been replaced with St. Thomas on our sailing too on April 25th on Jewel of the Seas. The odd thing is I could still see Tortola excursions on the shore excursion page when putting in the ship and sail date. So we will see St. Thomas twice as we are there on the previous week's sailing.

Sky Safari is excellent. My husband and I did our first zip lining here last year and we are over age 60! Very well run and maintained. The guides were very knowledgable. Safety seems to be paramount with them. Once we had the gear on, we were led to a short practice line where they showed us how to brake etc. Once we felt comfortable with the system, then they took us all up the mountain in a truck where we started the actual zip lining. It was amazing, and we hope to do it again on our upcoming April cruise.