Zou Bisou Bisou

Lerin is going to be sorry she did this review. The Royal faithful are going to kill her for weeks. Mark my words on that.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Too bad, because we want all reviews, not just the glowing ones.

From the RCI website

Q:How is the automatic daily gratuity shared between members of the staff and crew?

 

A:

The automatic gratuity is $13.50 USD, or $16.50 USD for suite guests, applied to each guest's SeaPass® account on a daily basis. Here's how it is shared between your onboard service team:

Dining & Culinary Services: $8.30 USD

Stateroom Attendant: $3.85 USD OR Suite Attendant: $6.85 USD

Other Housekeeping Services: $1.35 USD OR Housekeeping and Suite Services: $1.35 USD

 

Room service isn't specifically mentioned but it's customary and appropriate to tip the delivery person a dollar or two - consistent with what you order.

You don't HAVE to do anything but it's typical to provide a direct specific gratuity for the room service delivery.

This^

Is anyone surprised by this? The perks get lessened by the year, or more often. Even the Suites and Pinnacles are feeling it. STOP being so loyal. Try something new. Royal will still be there if you want to come back to them.

Seems to me, that there can never be an ending to this subject or conversation until there is silence, or, we are no longer on the face of the earth.

 

As I said before, we are not huge drinkers. Yes, the CL lounge is nice, but, we were fine when it wasn't an option for us in our early cruise days.

 

One question I will bring up because friends of ours have discussed it with us many times. Again, I don't think there is a good answer to the following because everyone will probably have a different opinion, and, we don't know the answer to part of:

 

Our friends have told us, that they are approaching 40 cruises. They have paid close to $120,000 total for those cruises, in addition to spending even more between ship tours, shops, etc.

 

They are D+. They mentioned with this new policy a Suite guest could get more benefits than they do as D+. However, if a person buys a suite, say, even for $8,000, but is only a casual, or one time cruiser, and, spends far less in total dollars than a D, D+ and Pinnacle member who has already spent over 6 figures, how is that fair??

 

Obviously if a couple gets a suite every time and cruises a lot, all of this is a mute point. Maybe it should by dollars spent on the cruise portion itself since many people with the old system moved up the ladder by getting $400 inside cabins, while a balcony person got the same amount of points paying double or more for a sane cruise. Even more descrepency if you had a suite.

I have always wished it would be for dollars spent. We have definitely spent well over a $150,000 with Royal Caribbean over the past 13 years. We get the drink packages now and only sporadically enter the lounges. Give me a nice discount on my drink package and my balcony and above and I will be happy. I don't need a lounge. On our airline of choice we have lifetime benefits of free baggage and other perks but we know that can change at a moments notice. Same with the cruise lines.

We will see how this plays out, but it might be time for us to consider Celebrity from now on. With this new RCI news (if it is true) X's non-smoking casino and great food and service tip the scales. *just musing*

After over 25 Royal Caribbean cruises in balcony cabins, JS cabins and full suites we tried Celebrity last year. We had the drink package as did almost everyone on the cruise. I expected the food to be better than Royal but it was about the same. So for the extra money to cruise celebrity I hope you won't be as disappointed as we were. We will probably give them another try at some point but not in a big rush.

I gotta laugh, if this is true it will be the second time I have been kicked out of the CL. Once as Diamond and now as Diamond + ....

Hahaha! Yes, you and me both. Although I must say, this time around I don't really care. We get the drink package and rarely go into the lounges anymore.

We just booked our first Princess Cruise (30 cruises under our belt, 26 wuth Royal Caribbean). We booked a 12 night cruise in Europe for my 60th Birthday. Splurged on a Vista Suite. Just booked Business class with Ameican Airline RT from Dallas to London for a good $2,000 less using EZ Air through Princess. Don't have to pay until final so sweet deal there. Also since we are flying in day of the cruise the protection there is worth it. I am excited!!!

We spend the day at the British Colonial Hilton. Great beach, fabulous food, and walking distance from the ship.. It has the "Caribbean" feel we like from a port. As others have said. Make your own opinions.. Most of all: HAVE FUN

We have also done the Colonial Hilton day pass several times. Very enjoyable. A nice short walk to the hotel and very nice. Book online and the cost isn't bad as it includes voucher for lunch and drinks.

We also did Blue Lagoon when we were there this past January, we did the beach break. It was nice. Granted it's during a slower time but it was a very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. Lots of activities there or you can just wade/splash around in the water. And the boat ride to and from was nice too. We were told it was for only 4 hours, but found out there were a couple of later boats going back so we extended it to 6 hours. Can't speak to other Nassau activities but this was a good one.

I agree, we did this one as well. Very enjoyable and a good lunch included.

I was bored tonight and logged into my reservation even though I'm cruising until the end of August.

 

I checked drink package prices. They've dropped! Significantly! Last time I looked at the Premium package, it was over 80 per day plus 18% CAD.

 

Tonight- 67$ CAD plus 18%!!!

I have two cruises coming up in the next couple months. I am in the U.S. and the premium prices have not changed. If I was you I would book at that lower price while you see it. You can always cancel if you decide you don't want the drink package.

OK. I live in Texas. I have been on many RCL sailings. Since Sabor was introduced on Navigator, I sailed Navigator 3 times. Sabor was excellent all 3 times. Now that they have expanded to other ships I worried that they would not be able to replicate it. We are now booked on Liberty. So we hope it will be as great as we have two nights booked at Sabor on Liberty.

Chops USED TO BE the best steak house on the seas. They have declined in service and value. Unfortunate.

If you only book one specialty resatuarant, book Sabor in my opinion. Or book Izumi if they offer it. Unfortunately Liberty doesn't offer Izumi as Navigator did. So big loss for us sailing out of Galveston.

thanks..

i was just trying to price out the round trip rome..

and it's so weird...

i'll need 3 staterooms...

so i had no problem with the first two - two people in each one..

but then i got to the family with two kids (infant and toddler)..

and the cost was astronomical...

so i tried putting one baby in with two couples (splitting up the kids between two rooms of adults)..

and then the system tells me that there are no rooms for two guests..

when clearly there are, as i'm able to reserve 3 of them as long as i deep-six the infants...

so strange..

 

well...i'll just have to keep crunching the numbers...

 

as for airfare - probably about the same for us....we're on the european side of the atlantic....so barcelona/rome isn't much of a difference..

 

there are pros and cons to each city.....i don't recall ever being in barcelona so that might be interesting......

on the other hand, having the sea day on day 3 vs the last day seems better to me.....dunno,......decisions decisions....

You would remember Barcelona, hahaha. Spend a couple of nights in Barcelona, you won't regret it.

Considering they have their own smoking lounge (cigar or otherwise), I sure wish they would make the casino smoke free. Luckily the British pub is smoke free and Derek Lewis and his adult day care are back.

Looking forward to the day when the casino is smoke free. Shouldn't be too long.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Yes, if you are in a suite and the kids are connected in a balcony they will be treated as if they are in the suite as well. Enjoy your cruise and try not to get too addicted like the rest of us here are.

The Planner... is an excellent tool to plan your evening activities and dinner times as well. Hope this helps those that are attempting to set your your dinner times!

Thank you.

Sabor is excellent. We went every time we sailed Navigator out ouf Galveston. Now we have our reservations all set on Liberty. We have never been disappointed. I love their shrimp. Tacos are excellent. Enjoy!

Because there's no people in a corporation right? Does that mean there are no people in a union either? Nice straw man argument. :rolleyes:

The ENTITY of a corporation is not a person. People have different laws/rules than corporations, including tax and bankruptcy laws. Also, corporations may openly spy on you personally online, with your every keystroke. Perfectly legal. If an individual was doing that to another individual they would probably be arrested.

For those of you who put the interests of the corporations above those of the rights of individuals, by all means continue to do so. You have that right. As for me and others, we cherish the individual rights of people over those of a corporate entity. To each their own.

It might be the Business model today, but the big question is why is it like this? Why has it as you seem to think changed from the past?

 

IMO the reason for any Change is us the Society. Today we live in a greedy me, me, me Society where everybody screams for compensation for almost everything and easily threatens to sue.

 

So what will this do to the businesses? They will be much more careful in what they do as they might Need to have any of their Actions being tested in front of a judge. So they Play By the contract and not do anything else.

 

You say a drink Coupon would have gone a Long way, maybe it would, but others would still have complained and stated it was not good enough. I.e. OP didn´t ask for a free drink, but 24-hours free Internet. Quite a difference already.

If they always gave away a free drink with every missed port, would it still be a matter of "doing it right By their customers"? Or would it be the expected Thing, still causing dissapointment and asking for the next Thing to make it right?

 

Next you say it would cost them next to nothing. I don´t agree here. Costs do add up if given to thousands and they´d have to do it for every missed port, which is not a rare occurance unlike stated By the OP.

 

We all have to accept there is nothing like a freeby in this world. Every extra cost for "give-aways" Needs to be factored into the cruise fare. We will pay for it one way or the other. If having a choice I´d rather have that freeby not built into my cruise fare, but pay for it individually at the time I want it.

 

Cruising used to be a a luxury vacation with only few wealthy People being able to afford it.

These days it is still a luxury to some, but it´s affordable to a much wider Population. This could only happen with lower Prices, but of course it can´t be the same luxury product anymore either.

 

It´s not about greedy companies, it´s about a greedy Society.

Right, right and Corporations are people too. Capitalism good, people bad.

On our cruise to Nassau on the Majesty of Seas food and service was good, but the company's unwelcoming policy in an unusual situation was surprising and unpleasant. Due to the hard wind the ship did not visit Nassau at all. The company could have been able to soften the disappointment in many ways, which would have cost practically nothing, but nothing was offered. No compensation was given, not even internet time at a reduced price, not to mention free. (The connection would have been free in Nassau at Starbucks.) When I asked for it, the replay was: "We owe you nothing." Perhaps this is true legally, but it does not tell good about the company's policy and shows its greedy attitude. Charge of the internet connection was $ 20 / day / device. Price is high, like all the other prices onboard: glass of wine $ 10 and bottle of water $ 3. The tendency to charge for everything possible created a very bad atmosphere.

Welcome to the United Corporations of America. Unless forced to, Corporations do not do right by their customers anymore. A free drink coupon for everyone would have gone a long way. But why do it if you don't have to? That is the business model today sadly. Many of us long time cruisers (I have 30 under my belt) have had our expectations lowered pretty much every year. If you don't expect much, you won't be disappointed. Sad state of affairs in this country. It could change but people would actually have to join together to do it. Some of us are trying this time around.:)

Looks like diamond plus are welcome to use the suite lounge. Our welcome letter told us we are welcome to both.

That is an interesting bit of information.

I guess, if true, the policy will affect some ships more than others. There has been little or no consistency throughout the fleet. Rubrrick mentioned the Navigator and what he said was true up until the time of Robert Taggart's abrupt departure. Then there was nothing. Before then the Captain, HD and F & B manager all hosted a Captains table (on different nights) and typically every pinnacle was invited to at least one of the tables. Several other ships have been equally pinnacle friendly. Often a senior officer would invite all the pinnacles to Chops or Giovanni's for a meal.

 

 

RCCL is changing. Some Captains no longer host a Captain's table and are practically invisible to passengers. Miami needs to impose some minimums and if some ships want to exceed them that is fine. If the pinnacles don't get a little massaging there is no reason for them not to explore other cruise lines. Most of them are RCCL's best ambassadors.[/QUOTE]

 

There are not that many Pinnacles yet. They may be great ambassadors for Royal Carribbean but so are the D+ of which there are many, many, more members. They are doing D+ benefit cuts and now the Pins are feeling it too. Might want to get used to it. Started back in '08/'09 with the Diamond demotion out of the CL. Now they are phasing out the CL's altogether. Pins have Gold cards (for now). Don't be too shocked if that changes as well. Suites bring in the money as do new cruisers. The vast majority of people have never cruised. That is the target audience and if they can get them to book a suite, well all the better.

http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/pi/mp/20571/prod_6762153317?src=http%3A%2F%2Fak1.ostkcdn.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2F10013946%2FAmerileather-Rolling-12-Bottle-Wine-Bag-51ebf53a-cbfa-40b5-a6ac-5ad885878f4d.jpg&d=4f8579df8e049467e9ba9a0060c0ff7adea35ab9&hei=333&wid=333&op_sharpen=1

 

Not sure this link will work, but it's a rolling wine suitcase. Each person will still need to hand carry the 2 bottles per cabin, but after boarding you could all pur them in this bag.

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

Love that, thanks!!!!

Not an abuse of the rules at all. The rule is two bottles per cabin. That's it. People are free to do with the wine what they wish. We often leave a bottle or two for the cabin steward as we get the drink package and don't always drink the wine we bring onboard. Cheers and have a great cruise!

That is really a new low. Hope not to see that on the Indy this weekend.

 

We have found the food and service in MDR has sunk in recent years but it is still much, much better than the terrible food and even worse service we received on our one and only Celebrity cruise in March 2014. On that cruise, for the first time ever (30+cruises) we wished we could get off the ship and go home. We were Aqua class and thought Blu would be wonderful -- NOT except for Breakfast. One day the card outside Blu advertised "Airplane Chicken" -- I am not kidding. I spoke to the Maitre'd and he started to disagree with me so I turned the sign around so he could see it. It was quickly changed to some other chicken dish title.

I think you mean "Airline Chicken". It is a food term. Airline chicken is a food dish comprising a boneless chicken breast with the drumette attached. Skin on breast with 1st wing joint and tenderloin attached, otherwise boneless. The cut is also known as a frenched breast.

There seems to be a LOT of misinformation floating around on here. The Premium package does include Bombay Sapphire as well as Hendricks Gin which is even more expensive. As far as Grey Goose Martinis they ARE included in the Premium package. Whether or not they are charginging $18 for one (hard to believe) I wouldn't know as I have been purchasing the Premium drink package since it has been available.