montlee

I guess I confused some people.  Yes, there were 9 of us, but that only applied to dinner and the escape room.  We did offer to sit at two different tables for dinner as long as they were beside each other, but that didn’t work either.

4 were teenagers who did their own thing, which was sleeping till noon, roaming the ship and eating pizza.  It was only the 5 adults that would have wanted to see the shows.  
 

yes there were places for handicapped, but they were all full too.

Another FYI for you with teens, you need tied shoes to do the zip lining.  3/4 of the kids on that ship wore CROCS 😃

FYI - there were 9 of us on the week of Thanksgiving.  We tried 3 months out, 1 month out and daily until cruise time to book show and restaurants.  Each time it stated ‘can only reserve once on board ship’.  Because of traffic and parking conditions we were not able to get on board until 1:00.  I sat down immediately to book things.  Everything was totally booked.  Hairspray, aqua show and ice shows.  Every specialty restaurant, every time for the escape room.  There was nothing available.

I’ve defended large ships, having sailed Thanksgiving for three years on the biggest ship at that time, stating there was so much to do that it was never crowded.  COVID did keep me from sailing the last two years.  Well, this ship was crowded!  Because there was nothing to do.  Hairspray only showed 3 times, the aqua show 3 times, but on only 2 days.  The lines for those waiting in case reserved guests didn’t show up were enormous and took up a lot of space.

There were 2 or 3 trivia games per day that attracted, maybe 25 people.  The Promenade was packed with people wandering around.

We had my time dining and could only get 9:15 PM.  No amount of coaxing or waiting in line helped.  We were one of the last served in the main dining room and the food was cold.  Using the WindJammer wasn’t a help because it was a zoo.

There were only 12 seats in the smoking section on deck 15.  6000 passengers and only 12 Adirondack chairs?!

This was my 13th cruise with RCI and I got no welcome snack, no animal towels and the napkins in the dining room were just folded basically and laid on the plate.

They always put the tree up overnight on Thanksgiving.  Not this year.  When we left Saturday, it wasn’t up.

The final straw came when another passenger threw up on me and my scooter.  RCI did come quickly and cleaned the floor, my scooter and gave a very nice lady a cloth to clean my back.  After I showered and ‘Clorox wiped the heck out of my scooter’, I called for someone to launder my clothes.  They refused, stating it would contaminate the machines.  They stated they ‘take vomit very seriously’.  When I asked about all the other body fluids that are on the sheets regularly, they hung up on me.

This review is just to warn you about the reservation issue.  The rest is just my venting.  Thanks for listening.

20 hours ago, blueslily said:

 

When is your cruise? 

We leave this Saturday, Nov 19th

While looking at the scheduled entertainment for the Symphony on the daily planner app, I don’t see a ‘broadway type’ show.  The ice and aqua shows appear to be only shown once.

Has anybody been on the Symphony recently?  Please tell me if this is true?

Thank you

My cruise isn’t until Nov, so I cannot reserve shows yet.  But I would like to know some things about the various shows in order to, at least, reserve our dining time.

Is Mamma Mia more than one day during the week and what time does it start?

Do you still need reservations for the ice show?  Is there more than one ice show?

Do you need reservations for the water show (at the end of the boardwalk)?

ibrealize this info can change, but it will be a big help to me for now, anyway.  Thanks!

I wasn't stressing no ice as much as stressing there was only water available to drink with hot dogs and pizza. The water had ice in it, but there was no ice machine. It looked to me like it was RCIs push for you to buy the soda package.

The Royal IQ is awesome; it has your compass and scheduled events on it. $7.95 gives each unit an ID number and you can text anytime or place without using the Internet. You need to download it at home first. The

only drawback is there is no sound alert to let you know you're getting a text.

You need a card to turn your lights on in the cabin. Instead of using your seapass, I'd suggest taking an expired credit card or similar card and leaving it in the slot all the time.

There is no clock in the cabin.

Holes cannot be punched in seapasses. If using a lanyard, you need one with a clear plastic holder. You can get on/off the ship, purchase items and open your doors while in the plastic sleeve. Lanyards are $7.95 on the ship; I'd suggest a trip to the dollar store before you go.

A lot of people were getting brush burns on the Abyss, especially when the mat slid out from under you. Plan on long pants and keep your elbows away from the edge.

Sorentos, Promenade Cafe and the hot dog place only served water, no ice. Park Cafe had lemonade, flavored water, but also no ice. The only place to get iced tea was main dining room and Windjammer.

All 3 dining rooms had same menu. 3rd floor one had 6 and 8:30 regular dining. 4th and 5th floors were MTD. I booked 120 days out for 6 people and could only get 8:45 - no regular dining available. When I got on the ship, all they had left was 5:15 MTD. We wanted same table, same waiters, so we took it. It was early, but allowed us time to snack later in the evening.

Hope this answers some of your questions if you're going on the Harmony soon.

I just would like to trade my bottle of wine for one coke pkg. I don't drink and my roommate is a 7 year old.

I understood the advantage to Royal IQ was you do not need wifi. Yes or no? I am not interested in wifi, only texting my family on board (who will also have IQ).

Im planning on using Royal IQ on the Harmony for 3 of us to keep in touch via texting . I know it's 8.95 per phone - no problem. But I'm concerned when we get home, we'll have huge phone bills for roaming.

Has anyone had experience either way on this? Does your provider make a difference?

I'm not condemning, I'm just curious why anyone cares whether the bed is closer to the closet or the balcony door. I've been on many cruises, some inside cabins and various balcony ones - water view, Boardwalk and Central Park views. I cannot tell you where my bed was in any of them.

What am I missing here?

When I printed my sea pass, I didn't see anything about printing luggage tags. What am I missing?

Good luck making reservations. I wanted 6:30 and could only get 5:45 90 days out. There are 6 in our group, but I could only get for the two of us. The only time available for 6 people was 8:30.

My TA tried twice since then and still had no luck. I'm just going to take my chances when I get on the ship 11/19.

If wonder that too. Will someone who has been in one of those rooms let us know.

Are there three?

Is the Icon one of them?

Does it have the standard 6:00 & 8:30 seatings?

Or are all three My Time Dining?

The Elf on the Shelf even visited our boys on the cruise. With a little bit of planning, anything can be done to make them believe.

I have an account with Parking Panda. Have used them in various places, including my hometown for baseball games. I've already reserved for my 11/19 cruise on Harmony. Really reasonable.

Has anyone ever been just an observer on RCIs Dolphin Swim & Ride excursion in Cozumel? It mentions it briefly, but gives no details. How much is it and what are the restrictions - does it include the lunch?

I thought the Stand Up Comedy show was a family one, because it was in the theater. But it would not allow me to book our under-age children. I could not find the one in the smaller venue - hence the phone call to the 24/7 line with the "we're closed" answer.

I just booked my entertainment for our Nov. 19th cruise. I had no trouble with the other shows, but could only book the Stand Up Comedy show. It is in the theater and would not allow me to add our kids to the reservation.

I understand that, but could not find how to book the Stand Up Live show in the Attic. I tried calling the 24/7 number, but was told they were closed and to call back during office hours.

How did any of you book yours?

I stayed in this cabin on the Allure. I never heard any above normal noise. These cabins are next to the wall of plants and when we took the 'gardening tour' we were told that was the area where they tended to the plants...watering and replacing etc.

Having been on over 30 cruises, I learned early on to take my own salted snacks. There's peanuts at the bars, but I missed potato chips. As for magazines and books, I don't remember seeing them other than in the library.

I'm going Thanksgiving week on Harmony and am getting a free bottle of wine with my Central Park cabin. I don't drink and am hoping they will give me the soda pkg instead. Guess not.

Been wondering the same thing!