RCCL's response to my question in regards to bringing soda aboard.

[Mark_K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by FantaSea:
I'm sailing the Grandeur in November. Will there be towels by the pool? If not, are they in the cabins?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>You will get pool towels, at least one per person, in your room. Your cabin attendant will replace them every day if they appear to have been used. Additionally, at some times during the day there will probably be someone by the pool where you can exchange a used towel for a clean one.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits" Mark Twain

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K

[karen_cpa]

Just stepped off the VOS this morning and would like to throw my two cents in:

Yes - there are towels by the pool
Yes - there is turn-down service the first night
Yes - there is a charge for Johnny Rocket's [B]only if[/B] you consume a beverage while there. There is no charge for burgers, fries, hot dogs, etc. The $3.95 charge that people talk about is for the milkshakes. Don't want to pay it - drink a soda for $1.75 or water for free.

Voyager of the Seas - 05/04
Tahitian Princess - 10/03 (Our Honeymoon)
Carnival Paradise - 08/02

[FantaSea]

Thanks for the towel information.

[img]http://www.gifs.net/animate/mermaidswim.gif[/img]

[beachchick]

karen_cpa,

I don't doubt at all that JR on Voyager charges only for beverages, but please be aware that it is different on Mariner and, oh shoot I can't remember the other ship they are "testing" the surcharge on right now.

Anyway, there IS a per person charge of $3.95 in JR on Mariner, PLUS the charge for any beverages you order. The $3.95 people are talking about is indeed new and is charged for everyone, no matter what food or drink is ordered. I know because we were just on the Mariner May 2 cruise. We did go to JR, but we used our C&A coupons so did not pay the surcharge.

Also, towels were not available at the pool. We had to bring our pool/beach towels from our room and return them to our room in order to not be charged for them. Turn-down service for the first night was basically optional. That is that if your attendant had the time and inclination you got turn-down that night.

In any case, we had a fantastic cruise and loved Mariner!

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]beachchick

[karen_cpa]

beachchick - thanks for the clarification! why is RCCL so inconsistent across their fleet with certain things? i could definitely see that getting very annoying!!

Voyager of the Seas - 05/04
Tahitian Princess - 10/03 (Our Honeymoon)
Carnival Paradise - 08/02

[pinkrosesdeb]

We were on Mariner in Dec. before they started charging for JR's. Loved the malts and fries. They did have some rather long waits for tables and RCCL explained that the charge is for trying to cut back on the wait times and for lots of waste going on with the free food. We did, however, find towels available by the pools. There was always someone there to have you sign for them and then sign out when you brought them back.

[TomCat32174]

Are you going on acruise vacation or going on a picnic? Coolers, snacks, sodas.. where are the sandwiches and cookies for the kids and all.... I now that the prices sometimes seem outrageous for what you can pay for back on land, but it is all about the vacation and enjoying yourself. So what if you have to pay for fries and burgers at JR? If you wnet to one on land, would you not have to pay there? Cruises are not considered ALL inclusive. If you are looking for something all inclusive, then go to Sandals or something like that and be stuck only on one beach with the same scenery all day long and no wonderful days at sea.

 

 

Until Mariner of the Seas

 

 

Navigator of the Seas 11/03

Explorer of the Seas 11/02

Royal Majesty 12/95

Costa Riviera 8/89 & 12/89

<marquee direction="right" scrolldelay="0">

GET OUT THERE!

[TomCat32174]

On the towel issue.. on both the Exporer and Navigator there were towles available at the pool. Our cabin steward at one time ended up leaving us near 4 towles each!! If we didn't want to lug them up to the pool deck, as they way so much right, we just got them from the pool attendant. They asked for our cabin number and when we returned them, and one time we didn't return them, they took the cabin number off the list. The time we didn't return them, no charges for the towels.

 

Now the mini bar is another situation. Just to throw another topic for someone to complain about.

 

 

Until Mariner of the Seas

 

 

Navigator of the Seas 11/03

Explorer of the Seas 11/02

Royal Majesty 12/95

Costa Riviera 8/89 & 12/89

<marquee direction="right" scrolldelay="0">

GET OUT THERE!

[Mark_K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by karen_cpa:

beachchick - thanks for the clarification! why is RCCL so inconsistent across their fleet with certain things? i could definitely see that getting very annoying!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>There are two reasons RCI appears so inconsistent. One is that there are actual differences between the ships, often (but not always) for good reason.

 

The other is that quite often a poster posts that they did (or didn't) experience something and posts that it is true (or untrue) that RCI has/offers it. Quite often the truth is that had they asked someone, or been there at a different hour, they would have had a different experience.

 

One of the worst failings of this message board is that people continually believe the experience of one person on one sailing of one ship is RCI policy fleetwide forever.

 

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits" Mark Twain

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K

[beachchick]

Mark_K, That's exactly why I specified my most recent cruise (Mariner 5/2) when giving that information. That is what happened on that particular cruise with that crew.

 

beachchick