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A few questions before I leave!

gapearl

By gapearl,
in Royal Caribbean International

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gapearl

gapearl

Posted
Posted

Hello all! I'm taking my second Royal Caribbean cruise next week on the Mariner, yay! :D So here's what I need to know.

 

Is there an ATM on the ship and can I assume it dispenses US dollars (cruising from Singapore)?

 

Ladies, how are the hair dryers in the room? Should I bring my own?

 

I have late seating for dinner. Is Royal pretty good about seating solo cruisers together?

 

I don't remember there being a self service laundry facility on the Navigator like Carnival has on all their ships. Might there be one on the Mariner? Is there a place to iron my clothes without having to send them to laundry?

 

Are bathrobes still not automatically placed in the room? We didn't have any last time. If not, can I request one from my cabin steward?

 

Does RC still give out the coupon books for past guests with things like free internet minutes, discounts/freebies around the ship, etc?

 

How does Royal's tender process work? Tickets? How soon can I get one? The night before or the morning of?

 

To anyone that has stopped in Phuket, Thailand- does Royal come into Patong?

 

Ok I think that's it for now. lol Any other tips or advice would be appreciated as well. :)

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Ashland

Ashland

Posted
Posted
Hello all! I'm taking my second Royal Caribbean cruise next week on the Mariner, yay! :D So here's what I need to know.

 

Is there an ATM on the ship and can I assume it dispenses US dollars (cruising from Singapore)?

 

Ladies, how are the hair dryers in the room? Should I bring my own?

 

I have late seating for dinner. Is Royal pretty good about seating solo cruisers together?

 

I don't remember there being a self service laundry facility on the Navigator like Carnival has on all their ships. Might there be one on the Mariner? Is there a place to iron my clothes without having to send them to laundry?

 

Are bathrobes still not automatically placed in the room? We didn't have any last time. If not, can I request one from my cabin steward?

 

Does RC still give out the coupon books for past guests with things like free internet minutes, discounts/freebies around the ship, etc?

 

How does Royal's tender process work? Tickets? How soon can I get one? The night before or the morning of?

 

To anyone that has stopped in Phuket, Thailand- does Royal come into Patong?

 

Ok I think that's it for now. lol Any other tips or advice would be appreciated as well. :)

Sailed on Mariner March (Singapore-Shanghai).

 

ATM and everything onboard is based on US$'s

 

I brought my own hairdryer...much more reliable and a stronger air flow.

 

We did MTD so not sure.

 

No self serve laundry on any RCI ships fleetwide...and no..no place to iron your clothes..you'll have to send them to the laundry.

 

No paper coupon books...everything is electronically on your SeaPass account...but there should be a paper list of these that apply to your C&A level left in your cabin..if not ask you steward.

 

Bathrobe's will be in your cabin (based on catagory and or C&A level) if not just ask your steward if one is available for you.

 

Tender's are usually given (when needed) in the dining room at a certain appointed time...check once onboard for details.

 

Enjoy.

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cb at sea

cb at sea

Posted
Posted

I bring my own hairdryer, too...their's suck. Can't help with ATM's...don't use em. Neither RCI or Celebrity has laundry's for passengers.

 

I don't know how they seat folks at dinner, but we've NEVER had "bad" tablemates...enjoy the company!

 

Tendering...if you don't need to be 1st off...just take your time at breakfast and head to the tenders...get on the next one. Rarely is there a reason to rush! If you're on a ship's excursion, they will take you when you need to go.

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gapearl

gapearl

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Thanks for the replies. Ugh that sucks about the laundry rooms. :( I'm debating over bringing my hairdryer now. My suitcases are full enough already. Because we'll have two full days in Phuket, I'm HOPING that there will not be a mad rush to get off the ship early. I have a driver meeting me at 8:30 am and we get in at 8, so I want to be sure I can be one of the first ones off.

 

Ashland- since you were on the Mariner recently, did you attend any of the shows at night? Any worth seeing? Do the sailings from Singapore have a nightly comedian? Any good live music at night? I really enjoyed the Latin band at Bolero's every night on Navigator.

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polymedia

polymedia

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Can only speak to being solo in the dining room.

 

Out of 15 cruises solo, I've only been seated with other solo cruisers once, but I think that was a coincidence.

 

It's never been a problem though, as I always get seated with wonderfully interesting people.

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LisaAtlCruiser

LisaAtlCruiser

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the replies. Ugh that sucks about the laundry rooms. :( I'm debating over bringing my hairdryer now. My suitcases are full enough already. Because we'll have two full days in Phuket, I'm HOPING that there will not be a mad rush to get off the ship early. I have a driver meeting me at 8:30 am and we get in at 8, so I want to be sure I can be one of the first ones off.

 

Ashland- since you were on the Mariner recently, did you attend any of the shows at night? Any worth seeing? Do the sailings from Singapore have a nightly comedian? Any good live music at night? I really enjoyed the Latin band at Bolero's every night on Navigator.

 

I was just in Singapore - but not on RCCL ship. I cannot say how immigration will work for you, but for me coming to Singapore from Japan -> China -> Vietnam, they collected our passports after leaving China and did not return them until 7am when we go to port in Singapore. And 7am was our docking time! They (Princess) said it was the Singapore immigration officials onboard. So....make sure your driver has patient and make sure you have a way of contacting him should you be running late.

 

As for seating in the MDR. I travel solo and one of my RCCL cruises they actually put me at a table with ONE couple. Talk about awkward! So I switched to MyTimeDining.

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JoyMouse

JoyMouse

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I've had pretty good luck with spraying clothes with Downy Wrinkle Release and hanging them on the back of the door during showers.

 

Royal seems to have a mixed approach to tendering. I've never had tickets handed out for any of my (4) tender ports, but I read reviews where tickets are involved for the same ship on a different cruise.

 

They don't have a comedian every night but over all I've found their headline shows excellent. The production shows are solid, but don't lose sleep if you miss one.

 

Are you going to be writing a review? I've really enjoyed reading your Carnival reviews.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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bosfann

bosfann

Posted
Posted

Cruise solo and have never had a problem meeting great tablemates. However Alaska cruise on RCCL they put me with a honeymoon couple. They were so nice about it and tried to make me stay at there table the entire cruise. One of the few times I thought RCCL dropped the ball. It seems to me in the old days when I first started cruising, the ship and T/A were more responsive to that issue. Now I don't think either care, so I just go with the flow.

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gapearl

gapearl

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Thanks for the tips everyone! I decided to leave my hairdryer at home. I wouldn't need it more than twice on the ship so I'm going to take my chances on the one in the room. Carnival is great about seating solo cruisers together, or at the very least seating you with other people close to your age range. On my previous Royal Caribbean cruise, my friend and I had good table mates. I'm shocked that they would seat a solo with a honeymooning couple! I suppose I could always see the maitre'd after the first night if I'm not happy.

 

I was just in Singapore - but not on RCCL ship. I cannot say how immigration will work for you, but for me coming to Singapore from Japan -> China -> Vietnam, they collected our passports after leaving China and did not return them until 7am when we go to port in Singapore. And 7am was our docking time! They (Princess) said it was the Singapore immigration officials onboard. So....make sure your driver has patient and make sure you have a way of contacting him should you be running late.

 

As for seating in the MDR. I travel solo and one of my RCCL cruises they actually put me at a table with ONE couple. Talk about awkward! So I switched to MyTimeDining.

 

Waving to another Atlanta girl! :D Ok so you didn't get your passport back until the last day of the cruise? Is that what you're saying? That's not a big deal as I'll be taking a taxi to the airport. I wonder why they keep them for so long? I'm a little paranoid of them losing it! :eek:

 

I've had pretty good luck with spraying clothes with Downy Wrinkle Release and hanging them on the back of the door during showers.

 

Royal seems to have a mixed approach to tendering. I've never had tickets handed out for any of my (4) tender ports, but I read reviews where tickets are involved for the same ship on a different cruise.

 

They don't have a comedian every night but over all I've found their headline shows excellent. The production shows are solid, but don't lose sleep if you miss one.

 

Are you going to be writing a review? I've really enjoyed reading your Carnival reviews.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I think I'm going to do a load of laundry before leaving my apartment for the ship. I don't really need to iron my clothes for the day, but I like to iron my dresses for dinner at night. We didn't have a comedian on the Navigator. Since that was a Mediterranean sailing, I was thinking maybe they were only on Caribbean sailings. I will absolutely be writing a review, especially since there are only a couple short reviews of cruises from Singapore. I searched and didn't find one as thorough as my reviews are. I actually made it to Singapore a few hours ago and already about to start jotting down my first few notes, as well as playing with my new DSLR camera that I have no idea how to use. lol :)

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ZoeyVictoria

ZoeyVictoria

Posted
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Re: the ship hairdryer...

 

If the hairdryer is so pathetic that sections of your hair dry in an ugly shape and you have to dampen it to style it again, and...

 

If your significant other is in the bathroom at that time but you see his Solo cup of ice water on the desk...

 

DO NOT use the ice water to dampen your hair because it just might be...

 

Lemonade :eek:

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