shofer

We've only done Chops on Royal when, on boarding day (Vision OTS) a hapless employee was rather strong-armed by me for a 25% discount. We saved it for the last day and loved everything we ate. I was in a food coma all evening.

When we did the Med/Baltic cruises, we often came back to the ship hot, sweaty, hungry & tired after long shore excursions. A shower and a nap were the perfect set up for an evening of fun. I did learn to set a wakeup time otherwise we were awakened by the cabin attendant wanting to make up the room!

I always like this topic and find new fruity drinks to try. My favorite is a BBC (Baileys Banana Colada). On our last cruise on Symphony we were new Diamond members and loved the free drinks, even prime brands for DH. However, as many times as I asked for a BBC in one of the bars, they would always tell me that they didn't have any bananas. (I didn't try by the pool, didn't think of it). We were joking about this and I wondered how strange it would look to pull a banana out of my purse?

Our last X cruise, the bar staff hounded us for 13 of the 15 day itinerary to buy a drink package. Now we are Elite and get a few free drinks.

My dad went into the Army and didn't know what lunch was as he never had it when he was growing up. I made SOS one time when he was visiting using home made biscuits and corned beef and he loved it.

We were on Silhouette 5 years ago for a TA and Hubby wore a dress shirt/no tie for "dress up" night and there was no problem. We saw some suits but no tuxes.

My thoughts exactly.

Our TA said that the insurance is 3% of the cost of the cruise.

We did this for our 25th Anniversary. For our 50th, we sailed on Celebrity Silhouette for a 15 day Trans-Atlantic which started in England and was billed as "Boston, Broadway and Bermuda". This one has to be our all-time favorite.

I think someone posted it was in Tuscan Grill. Haven't had a chance to try it yet.

What are the hours for the Elite breakfast?

DH & I are one couple who like to sleep late and have a late, long and leisurely breakfast. We get a big kick out of seeing the "early" (noon) lunch crowd lining up for their noon repast while we linger over our coffee and treats.

5-8 PM

I will wear fancy slacks with glittery tops for "Formal" night and a fancy pair of flip flops I bought for my son's wedding after the heels came off. No one has ever noticed or mentioned it.

I went on a Princess cruise with a friend right after the Costa Concordia disaster. I have never seen, before or since, the quiet attention being paid to what was being said/explained. They even removed a crying baby and her parents from our area.

Haven't seen a tray in the buffet for the last 8-10 years.

From 5-8PM. Nice variety too.

We are leaving out of LA on a Panama Canal cruise in November. Since my mother lives with my brother in Huntington Beach, we will arrive 2 days early to spend some time with them and rent a car @ LAX. Can we return the car at the Port? We don't have Smart Phones so Uber/Lyft is not an option. Looking at the Crowne Plaza for the hotel. Staying with my brother is a no-go as he has in-laws living with them also.

This is not new. We cruised on Grandeur in 2006 and they had different "nights". And lobster was free.

So glad you survived this close call.

We did this on Symphony and 2 times was our table still in use by the previous diners. First time we just took a different table. Second time, we went and got a drink and came back 1/2 hour later. After that, we just arrived a little later. It was just us this time so we didn't have to accommodate another couple's plans. We booked all our shows for the later time and this worked very well.

As a new Diamond member on our last cruise on Symphony, we did enjoy the all the perks!

As a nurse, I would always pass on those shared bowls for all the same reason. Covid put and end to that completely.

We were on the Vision OTS back in 2015 for a 12 day Mediterranean cruise. The first cruise I had ever been on where the food in the buffet and the MDR was worse than just average. In some cases, inedible. Needless to say, when the survey arrived I rated the food a zero. Two years later, we booked Vision again for a Baltic cruise and discussed eating dinner in the specialty restaurants in lieu of the MDR. On embarkation we headed to the WJ and were prepared for mediocre fare. Big surprise for us as soon as we walked in spotting a huge selection in the dessert area was first. (Previously, dessert was small squares of jello and sheet cake, period.) The MDR menu was updated and the food so good. Don't know if our comments and rating were part of the change but it sure felt and tasted pretty good.

This is a good thread for Port info/hotels. We are looking at a coast to coast Panama Canal cruise starting in LA and finishing in FL. My mother is living with my brother in Huntington Beach and we would go a few days early to spend some time with them. We would rent a car at the airport but wondering if we could drop it at the Port? Uber/Lyft is out of the question as we don't use Smart Phones.