Sumisid

On the Solstice from Vancouver to Hawaii we had the classic package included. We upgraded after two days because we wanted better wine and Vitamin Water. It was worth it!

Normally, you will be able to make dining-reservations about 90 days prior to departure.

It happened only once on a cruise that someone smoked on the balcony next to us. I was very surprised when I heard a lighter click and smelled the smoke seconds later, because our cabin was the last before the officers cabins next to the bridge. I could not resist and poked my head around the divider and there an officer was sitting together with his spouse, both happily smoking away. I just said: "So the guests are not allowed to smoke on the balcony but YOU are? Very strange rules here!" They stopped immediately.

I did not report him and he never did it again for the whole 12 days of the cruise. But I can still hardly believe it. It was on Quantum in March 2015.

I couldn't let this pass without saying that I really like the new internet plans and packages and hope that they continue.

Thank you, exactly my thoughts. A few years ago unlimited internet was REALLY expensive on RCCL-ships. It's quite a bargain now, I'm more than satisfied with it.

When we were on the Oasis, the only way we could get a RCL towel by the pool was to check them out with our key card. The attendant explained that we could trade a wet towel for a clean dry towel anytime without the card.

 

She also explained that if the used towels were not returned by the last evening (again checking it back in with same key card that checked them out) the cost of the towel would be applied to our room. At that point, you have just paid for the towel.

 

It sounds like the folks who the OP saw at the community pool, "bought" themselves used towels. Had they checked their final bill of cabin charges, they would have seen just how much they paid for 5 used towels. I would rather buy a new one in the gift shop.;)

No, they probably had nothing re towels on their final bill. RCCL changed the policy and on my last two cruises (Oasis and Quantum) nobody needed to show their seapasses anymore to get a towel. Makes it easy to steal and it's also a mess around the pool as most people just leave their towels on the chairs when they leave.

I sure do not want this to come across as being mean or difficult....

 

 

but when I grew up, the answer was : "If you do not want what is on the table, then you don't eat."

 

And we did not have a dozen choices either.

Exactly my thoughts!

Thank you very much for your live-report. Appreciate it a lot as we will sail on March 1.

About Ken Rush: Awful guy! Had him as a CD on Allure and he was the worst ever, arrogant, rude and very full of himself. Fits exactly what you are telling about him, discussing such things on the phone in front of guests. Not looking forward to see this guy again :(.

I'm a diving instructor and I've been to many divespots all over the world. I was not impressed at all with Bonaire or Curaçao. St Lucia was pretty good, and I heard a lot of good things about Barbados and St. Kitts, I will try both islands on my Quantum cruise in March.

I know people who absolutely love Turks and Caicos, Belize and the Cayman Islands.

Definitely Amsterdam! Avoid CDG, it's a horrible airport. Air France is about the same as KLM, no good food, no good service, but at least KLM employees usually don't strike.

Can't believe the "Used-Car-Salesman" will be CD during our March cruise on Quantum. Please not! Ken Rush was the worst ever! :mad:

Unfortunately, he's always having bad weeks ;). Worst cruise director ever, arrogant, full of himself, unfriendly to passengers. Maybe he actually SHOULD look for a job as a used-car-salesman! :D

Great, thank you so much! Alwys enjoying your live reviews but this one is especially of interest to me because I will be on Quantum on the March 1 cruise.

RCCL are driving me crazy! :mad:

Still no certificate in my snail-mail. Why can't they send these things by email?? :confused:

Final payment for my Quantum cruise is next week. I really want to redeem this 20% off my TA cruise certificate with that cruise, otherwise I can not use it at all. I have two more cruises booked in 2016, but the certificate can only be used for cruises up to December 2015. My TA is trying to resolve this problem since more than a month, but RCCL in Frankfurt seems not to be interested at all to find a solution. It's really unnerving! :rolleyes:

Switzerland here, nothing received so far!

In my opinion, it totally depends on the bar and the bartenders. On three cruises we had the Select-Package (wine and beer, twice Oasis, once Allure). There was good and bad bar-service on all three cruises. Our last cruise was the TA westbound on Oasis and the absolutely worst bar-service of all our cruises we've ever been on was at the Schooner Bar. Ignorance, slow service, no smiles, never asked for a second round and so on. After the third night, we never went back. Boleros was good, Champagne Bar was a bit slow but friendly, Casino-Bar was excellent, Pool-Bar was excellent, Solarium-Bar was ok.

Honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with the packages. If there is a nice and friendly bartender, we always give additional tips (cash) and they usually like that a lot. Some appreciate it, some not. Some did get more visits from our group, some not :D.

That is really unusual, especially in the Caribbean. The first time I felt some rock'n roll on an Oasis class ship was in the Bay of Biscay from Southampton to Spain on our transatlantic. I was on the jogging-track and it actually felt like running up and down hills :D.

I seem to recall they had a similar rule (might have been 7pm) for all specialty restaurants, but that went by the wayside.

Exactly, we had a screaming toddler in 150 Central Park at 8 pm and even DH was unnerved and he's usually the more patient one...

The problem with booking cabins double does not only happen on Quantum. It happened also on Oasis during our westbound TA in October. One of our roll-call-members booked a Sky Loft Suite (from Rotterdam) and in Southampton, another family was booked in the same suite. All hell broke loose and they were negotiating with Guest Services about a solution. I do not exactly know how this ended, but there was no other suite available and one family had to move to a balcony room.

We did the Chefs Table on Oasis in February 2014. There was a family with a 7 year old girl. The girl was better behaved than the mother who did not talk to anyone and was staring at her cellphone the whole evening. The girl was bored to death, though!

I'm grateful there were other people who were really nice talking to. We would never do it again if even babies could be part of this exceptional experience now, no way.

The food on Oasis in the MDR is really good. No need to book specialty restaurants. In case you want to try one, I would recommend Giovanni's Table. The price is reasonable and their Ossobucco is to die for! If the weather is good, you can even sit outside and enjoy the lovely atmosphere in the Central Park.

First of all, I will never say something is bad before I even tried it.

The concept of Dynamic Dining appeals to us. I studied all the menues and it sounds great. So many choices, I'm looking forward to our Quantum-Cruise in March 2015. After five cruises with the same menues in the MDR, I'm really ready for a change! Doing reservations online took me about 10 minutes, no problem at all!

I agree, Drew Devine was not divine at all on this westbound TA. In his morning show he regularly made fun of the guests who wrote him about the glitches on this cruise. The cruise compass was a complete disaster on some days and the disembarkation information for Fort Lauderdale said: Upon our arrival in Rotterdam... :confused:

And about cats: Not for me. I fell asleep once I watched it on Broadway, I don't want to try it again :o.

We were a group of five on this cruise and enjoyed it very much. Still, the boarding-process in Rotterdam and Southampton was unacceptable as well as disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale. It was our 5th cruise with RCCL, our 3rd on Oasis and we know they can do a lot better.

Is the 20% off next cruise offer good? Yes, it is, but honestly, I booked already my next 3 cruises and I would have preferred an OBC on one of those instead of spending more money before getting something.

For me, I can say I had a good time on this cruise because our roll-call arranged a lot of great activities, the people on this roll-call were fantastic and the food was better than on any other cruise with RCCL before!

Thank you so much for this fabulous blog! Love it! As I'm also glutensensitive, can you tell me which GF-meal you liked most? I can already see that the bread must be terrible... I was only diagnosed a few months ago, that's why I never tried GF things on my previous cruises on Oasis.

There are a lot of announcements over the PA system -- all repeated in 5 or 6 languages!

This is exactly one of the reasons I would never sail with them. On the Western Med Cruise with Liberty of the Seas I thought it already a bit annoying to have all the announcemnts in English AND Spanish, so only two ;). You also have to keep in mind that Italians are nice people, but very loud and sometimes a bit pushy. And they tend to travel in large family groups with lots of children.