DirtyDawg

5 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Well, you are talking about a Teamsters Union job in Miami …

 

I doubt RCI wants to touch it.

I've never had an issue with those teamsters at the Port of Miami but I've had lots of issues over the years with those non-unionized Girl Guide parents strong arming me into buying those darn cookies! 🍪= 😱

So how much did this shakedown cost you? 

Mrs. Dawg takes naps on cruises, I never do.

I join her at her nap time which really seams to help her get to sleep incredibly fast.

I'm her human melatonin! 😁

2 minutes ago, dliteu said:

I just paid $64 with the tax for a 24 pack. On Harmony for next year

So are you 🙂 or are you 😒 about that?

5 minutes ago, whitecap said:

That is a very good question.  To answer it, one would have to know the actual cost to RCCL, per bottle or per case or per thousands of cases.  If twelve 1 liter bottles cost RCCL $5.00, maybe charging passengers $31.00 is a little excessive.  My point was only that RCCL, or any cruise line, shouldn't "take advantage".  Provide a service at a reasonable price.  To double your price, all at once, to me is excessive.  

It's excessive for you, that's OK. But why not let the market determine if it's excessive for a majority of cruisers? Thanks for starting this thread and providing this information about the price increase but I'll let the market decide if this is an excessive increase.  I won't be buying their bottled water at $31 because I don't get enough utility from the stuff. But others may get enough utility to pay $31. If there are enough of them, the price will stick, if not Royal will reduce their price. 

6 minutes ago, whitecap said:

And I don't begrudge any business trying to make money for its shareholders and investors but it is like I've told business owners who have prepared "estimates" for work I needed done, "I don't mind you making a profit and I applaud you wanting to put your child through college, but I'm not going to pay for their degree."  I am always looking for a fair price for the service I need and that applies to cruise lines as well.  

So what's a fair price Royal should charge for the bottled water?

22 minutes ago, whitecap said:

I surely do hope that RCCL would not stoop to doing that, just to make a few extra bucks.  If they do, well, that will tell you something about RCCL.

It will tell us that RCCL is looking out for the people they should be looking out for ...

Their bankers and bondholders. 😁

1 hour ago, bajathree said:

Guests may also bring non-alcoholic beverages as carry-on items on boarding day. Non-alcoholic beverages may not exceed 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/food-drink-onboard-policy

WOW, that's low for some people.

Are we now going to have hundreds of water smuggling threads around here?

Where do I find these oversold cruises? 😁

15 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I tend to doubt that because the guy was doing a carving demonstration in front of me .Either he or an associate of his likely carved it.

Lenny, it was a  😁  joke. 😉

27 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Wish I could... but when I win Lotto Max, I will let you know..... then we can start the telecom company.

Great. I'll kick in some bucks to be your minority investor. I'd love to kick the teeth in of Bell, Rogers and the lot.  🦷 🦷

7 minutes ago, Gwendy said:

Didn’t beat her down, walked away, she realised I wasn’t an American and sold me the hat for what it was worth.

No worries. "Beat her down" was a better set up phase for the joke. 😉

8 hours ago, Longford said:

 

That depends ... on customers customizing the orders.

 

" ... it’s largely up to the customer to customize smart choices, like ordering vegetarian or vegan options, or calorie-cutting with their ‘Fresco’ option to remove cheese, rice, sour cream, and add in pico de gallo."

 

Read the article in its entirety:

 

Taco Bell Is Officially One of the Healthiest Fast Food Chains (tasteofhome.com)

I find that the best way to get a good healthy meal at Taco Bell is to not open the front door of a Taco Bell. 😉 😁

On 3/2/2023 at 9:25 PM, lenquixote66 said:

I normally only buy tee shirts .On my last cruise I bought a supposedly hand carved wooden turtle from the guy who supposedly made it.

That wooden turtle was probably handmade ... by a kid in China. 😁

On 3/3/2023 at 5:01 AM, Gwendy said:

In Copenhagen on a very hot day, my hat was in the hotel room so I decided to buy one from vendor near canal.  €25  was asking price, thanks but no thanks, she then decided €10 would be ok.

Happens everywhere.

How could you????

You you beat that poor vender in Copenhagen down by over 50% just to save yourself 15 measly euros! That poor women's family probably went without  their smørrebrød that night.😭

😉

9 hours ago, Greener123 said:

Haven’t come across an entire cuisine I don’t like, so can’t comment. 
 

Blanket statements are nonsense if you don’t explain in more detail. 
 

You need to get out more and try more types of foods. 😁

And I agree that blanket statements like; "Everyone loves the Indian food" are nonsense. 😉

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Also true.  

If you don't pay off your credit card bill each month (which if you can't do, then you shouldn't be charging that much. Rant over) , then uplift most certainly is cheaper the way credit card interest rates are.

🤐Shhh!

I have lots of bank stocks in my retirement portfolio. Double 🤐🤐

4 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It's in essence taking out a loan to pay for your cruise.

Anybody who paid for a cruise on a credit card and didn't pay is off within the first billing period also took out a loan to pay for a cruise. I bet there are lots of people who do that based on what the banks make off their credit card operations. Maybe uplift is cheaper. 

9 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

How do you get to the ship when flying in a day early?    RCI transfers? Car rental? 

 

I know RCI is offering hotel partners now, with priceline, do they have any ground transportation partners besides their bus transfers?

 

We live in Dallas and when we sail out of South Florida we always fly into MIA.    

 

I have elite status with American Airlines, so no baggage fees and upgrades and all that.   They run a hub in Dallas and Miami so there are more an better flights there than to FLL.

 

We fly in the day before, stay the day, and head to the ship the next day.

 

If we're sailing out of FLL it begs the question how do you get to the ship?

 

I'd often do Larry's Limo, but they've been pushing $200 for the trip lately. 

 

I am also elite with Hertz so I can rent an small SUV for under $40 for the day. 

 

I love having a car for my day before in Miami, and then for the drive to FLL.   But dropping off the car is always a pain.

 

Last time I dropped my wife and kids off at the pier, then went back, returned the car and ordered an uber. It took an hour.   Leaving the rental car center, walking to the ground transport, ordering the uber, the first two uber drivers not being able to find me.   And my family back at the terminal waiting outside for me so they could check in.

 

They and I were all miserable.

 

There's gotta be a better way.   Should I stick with Larry's?  Can I get RCI transfers from FLL airport  even though I'm not flying in?

 

I'd love  to hear your preferred ways of getting to the ship,  especially those of you who rent cars.

We used to take a balloon from Miami to FLL but ......😁

On 3/3/2023 at 5:44 AM, CDNPolar said:

The Americans that I know and travel with have NO extra charges for their international roaming, they just have a slower speed to their data and connection.  NO extra charges.

 

We have friends that we travel with all the time - about to go to Egypt with them - and they land, turn on their phone and the bill is the same when they get home.

 

For us, with Rogers at $12 per day in USA and $15 per day elsewhere, we end up with $300-$400 on our next bill for roaming.  

 

Outrageous.

 

We want our phones ON especially in an international location because we could get separated - anything can happen.  We want to have maps and search ability.  We also want to be able to receive a phone call from a family member at home if an emergency.

 

I know that you can get ESims but that does not make you accessible from home to everyone in your contact list.

 

Canada has to get with the program and find a way to reduce these charges.

Canada? Why don't you cash in your RRSP and TSFA and start another cell phone company to compete with Bell, Telus, and Rogers and charge us lower roaming rates. I'll sign up as your first customer! 😉

30 minutes ago, jjunge81 said:

I'm in Canada - I want to know if anyone has found a travel company (Royal doesn't offer financing in Canada) that I can book my cruise with and use Uplift Financing? Have any fellow Canadians had any luck with this? Please let me know 🙂

You might get some more responses if you post this in the Canadian Cruisers section.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2510-canadian-cruisers/

14 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

Bit of a sweeping generalization in the title.

 

And the type of cooking lends itself to not being as well suited to being upcharged.

Agreed. But it did get me to open this thread. I read the title and said to myself ; "Well I don't love Indian food!" Mrs. Dawg likes Indian food but I don't. She also likes Moroccan food but I don't. Not everyone has to like or dislike the same things. How boring would that be?

If Royal opened an Indian specialty restaurant good for them. Mrs. Dawg would go, I would not unless they served something else, other than Indian food. This would be just like when we go to a seafood restaurant. I love seafood and shellfish, Mrs. Dawg will only go if they also serve chicken or something else that's not seafood.  I just hope my fellow restaurant patrons don't think badly of me by my ordering something non Indian in the Indian restaurant. (and, of course whine incessantly about my affront here on CC) 😉 😁

16 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I'm sure we've read some on the tipping threads:  "I tipped the soft serve guy $50 for the great cones he made for my kids!"  (Made up example ... sarcasm.)  

 

But those are not reviews. I need a wonderfully dishonest review of a cruise or a dishonest review of MDR dining or a Port visit. "My DISHONEST Review of my Oasis sailing". 🥳

Tipping threads and Casino threads are just like internet dating sites where everyone looks like Brad Pitt or Sofia Vergara, when in fact, they look like Elmer Fudd or Cruella de Vil! 😁

1 hour ago, kruzerci said:

Is the title insinuating that the negative reviews are NOT honest? 🤨

"An HONEST review of the NEW Royal MDR Menu"

For once I'd like to read a DISHONEST review around here!

Not a negative review - lots of those -  but a really DISHONEST one. 😉

On 2/11/2023 at 2:46 PM, davekathy said:

We always ask for the drawn butter to be put in a small bowl. We prefer to dip the lobster instead of having it swim in the butter. 

Jeepers, that's cruel! That poor lobster gave it's life for you so now it can't crawl anymore, and then to add to its misery, you deny it one last swim before departing this earth! Shame on you! 🦞 😭

😁