Woody14

definitely none when I was on in August.

That was my default way of doing things, I would give my favs extra at the end. But according to the tip every drink or give big tip at the beginning crowd it seems I was missing out.

I asked my original question in the linked thread which got a lot of interesting (and expected) responses. My follow up question on this is if I am going to take the advise of some and try it out and give a good tip on day 1 how do I decide on which bar to do this and which bar tender? I am sailing on the Voyager next week and have never been on the ship, only my second RCL cruise being on the Serenade previously.

I am on this cruise with you, I won't have internet so I won't be posting as we go but I will chime in when we return and I make it back to Canada where I can post again. We are departing from Vancouver on Thursday night getting in to Boston of Friday, never been there so looking forward to exploring a bit before boarding on Sunday.

Latest I have ever gotten it is 7 days out but I have heard of people not getting it until the day before and even at the pier.

Why not Dominican?

In August when we went to Alaska it was self-serve

that is the way it works, they will credit you for the classic package amount and you will pay the difference plus gratuity on the difference.

Busted!!!!

That is fair I did ask a very similar question on a different line's discussion board. Admittedly there were a lot more people on that board trashing people who don't tip $2 per drink on a regular basis.

The one difference on the ship is that there is already a gratuity charged (or built in to the package) as part of the drink cost.

That is a great question

It is not that I have anything against tipping and I seek out my favourite bartenders at the end and give them an extra tip but reading on the boards all the conversation about tipping in advance I am curious what I would actually see as far as a benefit. I can't see them giving me a much different experience is i slip them a dollar or 2. maybe if I dropped a 20 or 50 maybe but still I have a deluxe drink package so why should I tip to start?

great youtube video on it here.

On our august sailing we were provided 2 paper type masks in dark blue

As the OP I am appreciating every ones opinions on this. I didn't get the hype but I am glad others still are. I am kind of disappointed I didn't try carnival when I could have gotten a filet.

when I was on the panorama I was ordering the same drink from the pool bar, bar on deck 3 and blue iguana all were quite different. Pool bar was by far the weakest defininatley more premixed.

Heading out on Voyager in a couple of weeks. Question of the day is are they doing paper menus in the MDR or is it mainly via the app?

Totally agree that Venice is one of the best - it is too bad we can't sail from it any longer and that the replacement Ravenna is one of the worst!

I took my first Carnival cruise recently and in my researching of the things not to miss and other tips there was lots of references to sea day brunch as something not to miss. So I took it in and I don't get it. It seemed like it was basically breakfast menu with the addition of steak frits and burger to the menu. Did I totally miss this or ???

sorry should have stated we have traditional dining

I am totally with you. My default is if the price I am looking at is the same or less than the category below I will take it as a win. I have the attitude that the worst balcony is better than an ocean view. (the worst ocean view is better than an inside) once in a while it does bite me but rarely, mostly I have appreciated my obstructed view balcony for the price of an ocean view (or less).

So it has been a while since cruising Royal, being on a couple others since covid and my experience has been that most of the big tables are gone and they really try to keep groups together and not seat you at a table with strangers like the old days. True the tables have been really close together so it is almost like being at the same table but technically they are separate. How does royal do it currently? We are a party of 2 and just trying to figure out what to expect. I know I can always get a change by talking to the Maitre D.

One note if you are not seeing an assigned muster station it probably won't work and it still is not assigned yet and even the barcode trick will come up with -GTY

frozen daiquiris and regular bottle water will be included in the classic no problems there.