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4 hours ago, janetmojo said:

I’m starting to think they aren’t ever going to release full transit Panama canals for 2021.

That is what I am waiting for.

17 minutes ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

I KNOW. Is that stuff even beef?

Last two cruises they had the regular "processed" burgers as well as "Hand made Beef Burgers" in the WJ. The Beef Burgers seemed similar to what you would make at home.

I just can't bring myself to pay for a burger at JR. Will get the Royal Burger in the MDR on sea days or build my own in the WJ.

Thanks for the information. Heading up in a few weeks.

Just a quick question. Is I-78 E exit to Chosin Few Way to Port Liberty completed or is it still detoured on Ave E - Center Street?

Google maps shows it as driveable, but satellite view shows it still under construction.

Last inside guarantee I got, I was assigned Deck-2 in the very front of the bow. I then un-guaranteed it and picked my room.

We just got off Serenade yesterday. Last day of cruise I confirmed that I had no towels that were not returned. Checked my invoice on the app before I went to bed, all was well. On the door in the morning is the paper invoice with a towel charge of $50 added overnight. I went to GS and they "apologize  for the charge and will credited me back immediately". Fortunately I caught it before I got off the ship so that it was easily resolved. Seems like they are substituting "towel charges" for the old "mini-bar charges" that you used to get.

1 hour ago, All-ready2cruise said:

OP, I hope you really enjoy your cruise on NCL and if you go with an open mind I'm pretty sure you have a great time. 

Enjoy your cruise,

Cheers

I am sure we will enjoy our cruise. There is no such thing as a bad cruise as long as you are not in a life boat or the sea. One of my most memorable cruises was in Hermine in Sept. 2016.

1 hour ago, CozGurl said:

What may I ask has changed on Royal that has pushed you over the edge?

We are Diamond Plus in their loyalty tier system. Over the last couple of years, they cut down the benefits of booking on board, obc and reduced deposits. They are now catering to the Suite people. D+ used to have reserved seating for shows, priority tendering, access to Concierge Lounge - now being converted to Suite Lounge, D+ excluded. The lounges that they are converting are locations that we always enjoyed because of the view. They just came out with the "Key" program which can be purchased and you get the benefits that they are taking away from D+.

We understand that it is a business and they can change the rules anytime they want. That is okay with us. We still even have some great perks, at least for now. Royal is still a good choice for cruising and we will cruise with them again. We're not anti-Royal, we're just now "broadening our horizon" and considering other lines due to the diminishing perks that kept us loyal to Royal.

On 3/13/2019 at 5:03 PM, frank808 said:

Had a very "nice" run in with a D member going into the D lounge this past Oct.  It was mind blowing to experience this sense of "entitlement".  I did and still laugh about it with my son 😂.

We had a similar experience on the Anthem.They block off part of the Music Hall for overflow for D Lounge. The bar was full with D, D+ and some Pinnacles. This lady comes in  pushes her way to the bar, slaps down her Diamond SeaPass card and declares I am Diamond get me such and such cocktail. Everyone just looks in astonishment as  everyone is D or higher. Ran into her in the MDR and she was just as rude there.

After 32 cruises on RCL we will be taking our first NCL cruise. We have been on every class of RCL, so ship size/age is not much of a factor. Due to all the changes Royal continues to make, they have watered down the incentives to remain loyal. Now for some NCL newbie questions.

We are booking the Gem for 12N out of NY which seems similar in size to Vision/Radiance Class. Are they a good comparison? How is the night life, as my wife likes to dance 70's --> current? What would you recommend for peaceful sitting areas for reading or watching the sea?  Any must trys for this ship, dining or activities? Is Hilton Garden Inn still the recommend hotel with park and shuttle, as we live in NJ?

Thanks.

Has anybody seen anything on "Caribbean (Phase II)" yet that is due out this week?

We have been considering Celebrity. My wife loves to dance and looks forward to that almost every evening on Royal. Do they have regular club like dancing like they have in the lounges or Centrum on Royal? We do not do ballroom style dancing.

5 minutes ago, kilili said:

Hi all,

 

Are RC deposits non refundable?  If so, do they ever do any promotions where deposits are refundable?  We are looking into a trip some eighteen months out and are a bit unsure about putting over 1000K down so early.  On the other hand, if we wait, the price of the cruise will probably skyrocket.  Any advice on when is the best time to book?  We are looking into combining with a land tour and those itiniraries will not be available until September, by which time I imagine the cruise price will be super high.

 

TIA

 

Deposits are still refundable for staterooms inside and up to and including JR Suites. You just have to go through thebooking process to the end until you get a box to check for refundable deposit at an increase in the rate.

14 hours ago, KarateLois said:

We are about to book an interior cabin on RCCL Anthem of the Seas. Our agent offered us a 4U cabin. We looked at the photos and it look like there is barely any room between the bed and the wall. We were researching whether there are larger interior cabins and found levels 1U, 2U, 3U, but all are the exact same square footage and are described exactly the same though 1, 2, and 3 are slightly ( about $25) more expensive. Does anybody know the difference?

We have stayed in interior cabins front, mid-ship and aft. We have also stayed in D7 balconies front and aft. There was no real noticeable differences in the actual room sizes between any of those interiors and D7 balconies. The main difference for interior price in my experience is the locations with mid-ship being the highest, followed by those closest to the stairwells and elevators.

There also is a quiet sitting area with several chairs on deck-5 by the rear elevators, port side as you head towards the lifeboats. It is inside, with doors separating the outside deck area.

We are using the Royal App for the 1st time. When taking your picture with the Royal App for Check In, are you supposed to take your glasses off or leave them on.

We were on Grandeur in April and had MTD. We had exceptional service making it the the best service in the MDR out of our 25 cruises on RCL.

We also were on this most recent Dec. 1-12 sailing on Grandeur. We had very good MTD service in the MDR overall, although not at the exceptional level we had in April - which would be hard to match. There was a section next to our normal seating that we were seated in one night whose service was only fair.

I leave on Grandeur in 3 days. Still says $35 allowance for a-la-cart restaurants on my 3N Dining Package.

You have to proceed to the end of the booking where after you put in your name(s), you can check a box for the refundable price. It is on the same page for the add insurance and gratuities. It is a pain to have to do it that way.

6 minutes ago, kernow said:

We ate there on Jewel last week as part of the 3 night package. We were given a $30 pp allowance although I was sure when I booked in the planner the small print said $35 pp but I had not kept a copy.  We both had hot rocks and shared a sushi and a tempura which came to $59 total. It was nice but wouldn't be worth $50 pp to us. We noticed that although the restaurant was quite busy at least half the tables were taken by ship officers and crew.

 

Julie

I print out and bring a copy of the small print. We were on the Anthem one time and they tried to tell us that it was a total of $30 for the both of us. We had to get the manager involved, who eventually gave us the proper amount. Trying to get them to understand that we each had a package, so we each get an allowance.

I just saw this as well as I was looking for Black Friday deals.  We leave next week and have previously purchased the 3-Night package. I just doubled checked and it still says $35 at a-la-cart restaurants on the 3N.

We have an Insignia Tablet that runs on an Android OS. We have never been able to connect it to any RCL ships. It refuses to load the login/register page due to certificate security issues if I remember correctly. Does not matter whether we use Chrome or FireFox. (No issues with our android phones or WIndows tablet.) 

Does anybody else have this issue on an Android tablet? If so is there a work around? We will be on-board next week to give it one last go. If I can't get it to work, DW wants a new tablet. We are not Apple fans, so if you can connect your non-Apple tablet, what brand/model do you use? Thanks.

5 hours ago, retiredgram said:

Having cruised on the Grandeur many, many times, our best cabin is mid ship, deck 4. Maybe that is because we are so familiar with getting to everything from that particular deck.

 

 

This is our experience and choice as well.

We still cruise every September, even after being on Anthem in 2016 during Hermine with 100mph+ winds on the way to Bermuda. Still had a blast. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day is our peak work season - so no vacation time then. As long as I am on the ship I really don't mind where we end up or the seas along the way. Also less kids and lower prices are a plus.