aubreyc1988

I think as long as you don't have a huge list of requests, they will make it happen. I think the problem people are having is asking for the room steward to continually empty their trash can and replenish their towels and such throughout the day and stuff like that. Yeah, that sort of thing is probably not going to happen, but you can ask for extra trash bags (and wait a day to have extra trash removed) and ask for extra towels (and wait a day to have those dirty towels removed). Being flexible and understanding is key. I mean, most hotels I've been to now only have housekeeping come in once per stay, if at all and everything has to be done by calling housekeeping (which is fine) On my last cruise, my room steward overheard me tell my friend that the beds were hard, and after turndown service, she told me she put a comforter under the fitted sheets to make it softer for us since she didn't have access to foam padding. How nice is that?!?! I mean, it didn't help a ton but it was SO thoughtful. I've never had a bad room steward though, maybe I am just lucky. I think most of them do whatever they can within their very limited resources to make us all have a comfortable vacation.

Yes, I asked my steward twice (on two different sailings) if it would be possible to have my room cleaned around 5pm when we were at dinner and she was like "Of course!" I also told her if too many people were requesting that time, we could just work out another agreed-upon time that I would know to be out of my room so she could clean but she was like "oh over dinnertime is perfect" It was always done whenever we came back after dinner. I just try to think about what I would like if I were a room steward and they have a lot of juggling to do, cleaning rooms whenever someone happens to be out of the room...so I feel like they would welcome sort of having a set time agreed upon to clean the room every day when they know you will most likely be out of the room.

I think you are confused, I was referencing someone needing access to their personal cellphone at work, not on the ship. Anyhow, back to the topic of 2x a day...I have done 3-4 cruises so far since it has been just once a day and my room stewards have been great! Perhaps even better than they were before. I just tell them what I would like at the beginning of the week and they make it happen. And while I normally tip a little extra at the end of the cruise, I don't tip them right away for these little requests, so I don't feel like it is a bribe, just good service (You can tip extra if and however you want, I feel like they will do simple requests for you without a tip though) For example, I never have enough washcloths and prefer to have my room cleaned in the evening if possible, and whenever I communicate this at the beginning of the cruise, I always have AT LEAST 10 washcloths in my room daily (which is a bit overkill but it is super nice to have them on hand) and the steward always cleans in the evening. I think going forward, especially people with kids, will need to communicate what their daily needs are at the beginning so the room steward can try to do that within the confines of 1x day cleaning.

Honestly, this response is exactly what I was expecting from you and really proving my comment about how you passive-aggressively insult people. And if I am wrong about that, at the very least you are unkind and not very thoughtful to other people's feelings. Thank you for calling me ignorant AND me and my husband liars. Why would I LIE about my husband not being allowed a CD player? And I never said people couldn't be happy in certain jobs, just that my husband wasn't happy and that is no way to live life. NOR did I say that his past job wasn't important. Being entertained and not being happy are two different things. So now he has a job that is working from home and he IS happy, but people constantly think he's lazy or something because he works from home. Anyhow, waste of my time posting here. Have a good day.

Is Bong the bartender on Prima now?

Disappointed to hear that about the slide. I did the abyss one on royal and it was snoozefest as well. If these things are going to block our view, they should at least be thrilling

Fantastic review, doing Norway in 12 days with Royal on Anthem. In Geiranger, we are doing Mt. Dalsnibba via a private tesla tour and I hope we have such amazing weather and views as you had!

thank you for the review, doing Norway in 2 weeks but different ports and cruiseline/ship.

According to your profile, you live in NY. Not sure how it is there, but I would assume to see a doctor at most places in the US, 150.00 is cheap, even with good insurance. Honestly, a steal for a cruise ship, if you ask me. I had a rash that I needed to see a doctor for, but couldn't get in for months so I did a telehealth appointment and that was over 200.00 just for the visit. Good to know that your trip insurance covered it, although I am curious was there a deductible, and if so, how much

the last three slot pulls I have witnessed (didn't attend but was in casino when they went down) were 50.00pp buy ins, one had 100 people in the slot pull, plus there were two separate pulls per sailing. points aside from this, the organizer would walk around the casino throughout the cruise yelling "Slot pull, day 2, 50.00 buy in" 🥴 Also, because there were so many participants, the casino was a nightmare when they were doing it. All the participants were sitting on slot chairs waiting to spin, blocking walking spaces and people couldn't play the slots around the slot machine they were playing. my 2 cents, they are just annoying

I've been satisfied with the quality (I mean, it could be better but way better than what I cook at home) but I do find the menus repetitive compared to NCL, esp for those of us who cruise often. The lowest point for me (NCL included in this) is the desserts. I feel like the desserts are SO bad and idk how some of them can taste SO bad. Most nights I just forgo anything on the menu for dessert and get icecream.

the best ones are on NCL, because their casino program doesn't really operate the same as Royals and points aren't as important. So usually the organizer has someone who is Canadian or something put in their card so that if a handpay is hit, they don't have to take taxes out of it, or no card is used.

I actually was on a sailing in April that was also a "Celiac" cruise, and that might be something you would want to look into! I am sure you can google it and find the company that organizes it. It was on the Harmony in April. They separated the main dining room so half of it was Celiac only, and the Solarium Bistro was for Celiac (a replacement for Windjammer) and I think there was a few other venues. They also had Celiac events on the ship, but I wasn't with their group so idk what went on inside. I did talk to some people in the group and they said it was WONDERFUL for them

Yes, I am sure they do. but just an FYI, most of the bartenders pool their tips so you better double check to make sure they stick those dollar bills in their pockets instead of in the tip jar because god forbid some of that money go to someone else on the bartender staff, like the dishwasher.

oh ok, given the option, you'd stiff everyone, got it. You sound like a great person to be around.

yes, make it mandatory. Correct me if I am wrong, but whenever purchasing specialty dining and the drink package, are those tips removable? I have thought not in the past but I never remove my tips so I am unsure. I feel like if the tips cannot be removed from specialty dining/drinks, they shouldn't be able to be removed from the room.

I'm saying that for people who don't have two incomes, 50k/year is not a fortune, esp if you live in the city. And one of the reasons we work from home is because of the high cost and time commitment to commute. When I mean high cost, I mean it was probably 300+ for us to commute to work, not even factoring in the time and hassle. We both make well over 50k and I can understand why people turn down jobs that don't pay enough for them to have a decent standard of living. And I don't have kids, because I don't want them and certainly it would be difficult at our current salary to support them

wrong, it's an economic problem. My mortgage is 2k, which is low for my area. My utilities are around 400.00/month, so right there that is already 2,400. I don't live in a super fancy neighborhood, my house was built in the 90s and is not in an HOA, so I don't pay dues. We have one car, which is paid off, but assuming most people don't have that, it's at least 200-300/month for a car payment. Plus gas to get to and from work. Plus car insurance. I haven't even gotten to food yet, we spend 100/week on food and we don't get fancy stuff and that is only for two of us. And all of this doesn't include other things, like tv streaming bills, my cell phone, clothing, health insurance, dental insurance, saving for retirement, and misc stuff. But I am sure you are going to say I should stop getting Starbucks once a week and that will solve my financial problems and I'll be able to retire early if I do that 😂

I am doing the Sept 3rd sailing this year. I am arriving in London on Sept 1st, spending two nights in London to sightsee, then we are using London Cruise Transfers (https://londoncruise-transfers.com) for a private Mercedes sprinter to take our party of four to Stonehenge and then to the cruise port. I would have taken the train but wanted to visit Stonehenge and was worried about all of our bags on the train. We are leaving at 8am, having two full hours at Stonehenge (Although I doubt we will take the full two hours) and will be dropped off at the port at 1:30pm the cost for 4 of us was £445.00, plus the tickets for Stonehenge, which were like £15-20 each. Technically the sprinter van had enough room for 6 people, depending on luggage situation

what if your kid has an emergency and they don't know your work phone? There are countless other situations like this, but honestly just because we used to live without cellphones doesn't mean that they aren't a necessity today. Times change.

exactly. I think people are getting smarter about what jobs to accept, because we are worth making a living wage, getting time off, and having health insurance that is worth something. People act like 30/hr is a fortune too, with the inflation. I can tell you I couldn't afford to do a single vacation of ANY sort if I was making 30/hr, and would struggle financially with my day to day costs.

My husband has had a job in the past with security clearance and sometimes money isn't everything. He was miserable doing that type of work, no phone or any electronics, couldn't even have a CD player, very joyless environment. His new job is way better, pays more, AND allows him to have his phone, etc on him. Also, I think our reading comprehension is fine, you just love to do the passive-aggressive insulting.

both my husband and I both work from home and would never accept a job that didn't have work from home. However, some people really don't like working from home and that is fine too. To say that people who are sitting at home working have very poor work ethic is just wild. Also, I work almost every day in whatever I want, and I work just as hard if not harder than those wearing suits in offices every day. Also, what employee doesn't want their phone with them at work? When I was in HS, I ALWAYS had my phone with me at work and that was 20 years ago. Some of it is just a safety thing. Just remember that your experience + your family's experiences with people working is a tiny percent of what is actually going on. 🙄 But you've already made up your mind with the "younger people" and "no one wants to work anymore" narrative.

This was on deck 7 of navigator, can't remember room number. Was noisy, but after 11pm it was quiet. Keep the curtains closed for privacy. It is bigger than an inside room.

I like the once-a-day. It's much more manageable for everyone involved. And for those who have more than two people in the room, YES you will have to pick up after yourself and communicate what your daily needs will be.