What is/was your line in the sand?

[Tulsacoker]

I'm done with Royal as soon as they make Sorrentos pizza good 😉 

[ZiggaZagga17]

19 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We won’t stop cruising Royal, but when we become D+ in a few months we do plan to try some Celebrity ships. We will never get any higher than that in loyalty status, so we can start trying out the other line in the family with the same perks 😉

Are you waiting to get to D+ to get an equivalent status on Celebrity? I think that 'Elite' is gained by Diamond and/or Diamond +, or is it the 'finality' of getting there and then moving on?

[ryano]

Just now, Tulsacoker said:

I'm done with Royal as soon as they make Sorrentos pizza good 😉 

 

You dont have to worry about going anywhere else then 😎

[Biker19]

21 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Gone is the grand dining room of the other ships. 

Odyssey will change that.

[boscobeans]

12 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

Rehashing old discussions...  but the problem is the Quantum class was designed around this dynamic dining idea and now there are multiple rather small, boring, low ceiling main dining rooms.  Gone is the grand dining room of this other ships.  This is one thing that is keeping us off Quantum class (Anthem in particular).

Dan

 

We have been on the Anthem since the demise of Dynamic Dining after cancelling our cruise on her back in the beginning.

 

Of the other venues the GRANDE is extremely nice and above the other three.  Same menu but much nicer in all aspects.

 

Yes the dining rooms are different however we have found the GRANDE to be as comfortable and pleasing as many specialty restaurants on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America and NCL.

 

The size of the GRANDE and the others is small but in the GRANDE that just makes it more of an intimate dining experience.

 

I don't know about boring, but a dining venue with nice décor and good service with good food is okay with us.

 

bosco

 

[frito58]

26 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

Just curious, what does Platinum get you on Carnival and how many nights to reach that level?

Dan

Used to be 10 cruises then they changed it to 75 nights . Its similar to Diamond special lines , They do give you a nice Chocolate strawberry plate each cruise and free laundry . The biggest difference is no free drinks like a diamond lounge but they do have a reception for platinum guest that serves free drinks , no discounts on cruises . But they do offer loyalty discounts  for past cruisers. I personally like the way they do their ships with the comedy clubs and alchemy bars which are awesome . People slam Carnival which doesn't bother me . I know how they are we have a great time on their ships. The newest ones coming out look fantastic. 

[reallyitsmema]

1 hour ago, doones2 said:

RCI is where I’ve cruised the most but I also like Celebrity and NCL.  NCL mainly because it cruises to Bermuda out of Boston which is 1/2 hour drive to the port. I love Bermuda 💙💙.  With me it’s where and how much.

 

Serenade from Boston does Bermuda too, along with the NE/Canada cruises.  There was a 5 night, it is on a 7 night now and we leave on 10/13 on a 7 night Bermuda with two nights docked.  We get three long days in port. 🙂 

[Tree_skier]

I can't imagine a line in the sand.  I'm not in conflict or at war with any corporation.  When the relationship is no longer mutually beneficial I'll move on.  I like Royal... I'm sure I'd like other lines too but right now the price/value ratio works for us.  We tried MSC and wasn't our cup of tea. If the value we receive no longer exceeds price I guess that would be our line in the sand.  But it is not an individual benefit/perk/aspect of RCi. 

 

 I have had the privilege of traveling to all kinds of place around the world. I have done tonnes of land vacations but have had my fill. I fell in love with cruising and will not likely go back to the old ways anytime soon. I love being at sea. I love the "all in one" aspect of cruise vacations.  I love cruises because I get to go to new and different places and there is limited effort required on my part. I travel extensively for work and am constantly planning and arranging my itinerary. Most of my land vacations required a tremendous amount of effort and planning on my part.  Car rentals, hotel bookings, multiple flights. I'm tired of doing all that all of the time.  With a cruise you can limit all that effort.  Once you are onboard your vacation has begun and there is little for you to schedule and do.  It is the best way for me to relax.  If you have only done cruises and not much in the way of land vacations I can see that you might think that the grass is greener over there though.

 

I don't have a line in the sand. As long as the ability to relax and decompress is my principle interest cruising will be my way to vacation and RCi meets my price point and needs the best.

[The Fun Researcher]

42 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

I don't know about boring, but a dining venue with nice décor and good service with good food is okay with us.

 

bosco

 

 

A nice looking venue, I agree, especially if I wasn't used to the three story dining rooms on other Royal ships...  but still nowhere near what we've come to love about the MDR.  It wouldn't ruin our cruise, but a significant drawback for us. (everyone has their quirks right.  🙂 )  Is it available for My Time dining? 

 

In all our cruising we've never done specialty dining, with the exception of Murano on the Celebrity Equinox.  It was a unique experience, but we didn't feel it was worth the up charge (good thing we were using OBC).  We can generally find something on each nightly menu that we really enjoy, especially the appetizers, so no need to pay more.

Dan

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Is it available for My Time dining? 

Not usually.

[ReneeFLL]

6 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I enjoyed the food on our NCL cruise but it could just be that it was different than the typical Royal Caribbean menus.  We really enjoyed Dynamic Dining on Anthem and was sad to see it go.  There are a few dishes that they have put on the current menus that came from Dynamic Dining, but I wish there was more variety.

I was never on a ship that had DD. What dishes have they kept from DD?

[reallyhooked]

20 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We won’t stop cruising Royal, but when we become D+ in a few months we do plan to try some Celebrity ships. We will never get any higher than that in loyalty status, so we can start trying out the other line in the family with the same perks 😉

We felt the same way. Started cruising Celebrity  this  year ( 2 cruises). Booked again for next year. Closing the year with Royal. Don't miss the perks that have been discontinued. It's the people we meet that make our cruises memorable. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

2 hours ago, Sobro said:

At the risk of getting this thread locked, I would quit Royal if they went smoke free.

Would you quit sailing Royal if they eliminated smoking indoors?

[Yorkvillain]

21 hours ago, rimmit said:

For us it was the 7.95 room service charge.

21 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

We loved the food on NCL.  The complimentary food was great.  Especially O’ Sheehans.  That put RCI 24 hour options to shame.  Shanghai has some amazing potstickers.   And they were free!!  RCI has a very poor selection of free food options sadly.  

 

 

 

I’m not sure if it was mentioned yet but NCL has the same $7.95 room service charge. 

[ReneeFLL]

7 hours ago, rimmit said:

......I am actually grateful we tried out other lines.  Allowed us to appreciate what RCI does well and what they can improve on.  Life is short.  Play hard.

It shows you what RC can improve on, but I doubt they ever will.

 

6 hours ago, rimmit said:

The Philippines is truly an untapped treasure and ripe for tourism.  Pretty much everyone speaks English and it’s dirt cheap.  

 

The terrorists were a problem for a while especially in the south.  They have thankfully stopped beheading the tourists which has helped tourism immensely.

Was this in the 1987 time frame?

[grapau27]

26 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Would you quit sailing Royal if they eliminated smoking indoors?

Smoking is banned indoors on all Royal UK sailings thankfully.

[grapau27]

14 minutes ago, Yorkvillain said:

 

I’m not sure if it was mentioned yet but NCL has the same $7.95 room service charge. 

It is $8.40 for UK sailings.

[rimmit]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

I can't imagine a line in the sand.  I'm not in conflict or at war with any corporation.  When the relationship is no longer mutually beneficial I'll move on.  I like Royal... I'm sure I'd like other lines too but right now the price/value ratio works for us.  We tried MSC and wasn't our cup of tea. If the value we receive no longer exceeds price I guess that would be our line in the sand.  But it is not an individual benefit/perk/aspect of RCi. 

 

 I have had the privilege of traveling to all kinds of place around the world. I have done tonnes of land vacations but have had my fill. I fell in love with cruising and will not likely go back to the old ways anytime soon. I love being at sea. I love the "all in one" aspect of cruise vacations.  I love cruises because I get to go to new and different places and there is limited effort required on my part. I travel extensively for work and am constantly planning and arranging my itinerary. Most of my land vacations required a tremendous amount of effort and planning on my part.  Car rentals, hotel bookings, multiple flights. I'm tired of doing all that all of the time.  With a cruise you can limit all that effort.  Once you are onboard your vacation has begun and there is little for you to schedule and do.  It is the best way for me to relax.  If you have only done cruises and not much in the way of land vacations I can see that you might think that the grass is greener over there though.

 

I don't have a line in the sand. As long as the ability to relax and decompress is my principle interest cruising will be my way to vacation and RCi meets my price point and needs the best.

 

There pros and cons to all vacations.  We have recently started doing more and more independent land vacations.   While the stress is higher , especially when you don’t know the languages,  we just got tired of only having 8 hours or so in port.  I also do a lot of photography and it’s  and it’s nice to be able to be able to plan visits around the sunsets and sunrises.  It’s also nice to plan visits to tourist attractions when there aren’t cruise ship tours taking over the locations.   

 

We do do still love cruising and do it when it’s less about the sites and more about getting a break on a ship.

[rimmit]

27 minutes ago, Yorkvillain said:

 

I’m not sure if it was mentioned yet but NCL has the same $7.95 room service charge. 

 

Yes we were well aware when we went on them.  But that’s my point.  If all the lines have a 7.95 charge, then what makes one more special than the other?  Might as well try other lines out if some of the things that are important to us like room service all incur a fee.  Now doing a little more X as there is no charge except from 12am-5am.

[rimmit]

27 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

It shows you what RC can improve on, but I doubt they ever will.

 

Was this in the 1987 time frame?

 

The kidnappings I was referring to were the Dos Palmos kidnappings in 2001.  I actually visited the resort they were kidnapped from shortly after it happened.  We definitely did not stay there.

Edited September 27, 2019 by rimmit

[Melissa_A]

2 hours ago, Tom47 said:

I purchased full drink package for myself and "refreshment" ( no alcohol) package for DW with a phone call.

 

yes, that's easy enough.  what doesn't work is when you have an 8 drinks a day person in the room with a 2 drinks every few days person.  

[molsonschooner]

17 hours ago, boscobeans said:

DD is Dynamic Dining, which is a total change from the traditional Main Dining Room system that most people are familiar with.

 

LLP or Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is the President and CEO pf Celebrity Cruise Lines.

 

Previously, she was executive vice president of operations for Royal Caribbean International and was instrumental in having two new ships (Anthem and Quantum of the Seas) designed with 4 separate dining rooms instead of one main dining room. Initially each of the four new DRs would have their own NON CHANGING menus and décor, this went through various changes before it was done away with. Now there are still 4 different venues but they all have the same menu which changes from night to night during the cruise.

thanks, I had forgotten all about Dynamic Dining

[molsonschooner]

2 hours ago, Tulsacoker said:

I'm done with Royal as soon as they make Sorrentos pizza good 😉 

I have never had pizza on a cruise but my family tells me that Sorrentos is greatly improved

[boscobeans]

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

A nice looking venue, I agree, especially if I wasn't used to the three story dining rooms on other Royal ships...  but still nowhere near what we've come to love about the MDR.  It wouldn't ruin our cruise, but a significant drawback for us. (everyone has their quirks right.  🙂 )  Is it available for My Time dining? 

 

In all our cruising we've never done specialty dining, with the exception of Murano on the Celebrity Equinox.  It was a unique experience, but we didn't feel it was worth the up charge (good thing we were using OBC).  We can generally find something on each nightly menu that we really enjoy, especially the appetizers, so no need to pay more.

Dan

 

We have done specialty dining enough to be perfectly satisfied with dining in the MDR unless iut might be a perk.

 

If I understand correctly you like the two or three story dining venues better that what is in my photo and all I can say is to each his own and YES the Anthem and Quantum lack those in favor of the smaller and more intimate style left over from DD.

 

Traditional early and late dining times are available on deck 3 where the GRANDE and CHIC restaurants are located.

My Time Dining is in either SILK or AMERICAN Icon Grill and is located on Deck 4.

Changes can be made however and on the last cruise we had traditional EARLY in the Grande and were seated near two women who had MTD and wanted the dine in the GRANDE. They decided to stay there for the rest of the cruise and were great company.

 

We do prefer the smaller venues but have no problem with the good old two or three story MDRs.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by boscobeans

[Sobro]

58 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Would you quit sailing Royal if they eliminated smoking indoors?

 

I wouldn't sail to any cold weather ports. I do enjoy blackjack while drinking and smoking, but not enough to quit sailing in warm seas if it were banned. The casino wouldn't miss my small losses.