Say Goodbye to Ranch Steak, Hello to Fresh Water Pools (and other enhancements!)

[Rustynail]

[b][size=3][color=red][/color][/size][/b][b][color=red]Personally I don't prefer Celebrity's policy on towels. The main reason I don't like this method was that so many people took 2-3 towels only to lay their stake on a deck chair and then disappear for the afternoon. [/color][/b]
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[b][color=#ff0000]It was either that or when they were finished with the chair they didn't feel the need to toss the towels in the hamper thus making it seem that the chair was still occupied.[/color][/b]
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[b][color=#ff0000]I've cruised both ways and have no problem being accountable for my towel at the end of each day.[/color][/b]
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[FinelyCruising]

The towels are ugly. The only thing I would take them home for is to cut up into rags to wash the car. :p

[Bandit236]

I'm not at all happy about "fresh water" pools. I actually loved the salt water because I felt I was at the beach. It also kept alot of people out of the water and more time for me. Hey, just my opinion.

[spiritkat090909]

[quote name='xpcdoojk']The idea is I am sure to make people take responsibility for the towels they take off the ship on shore excursions. Nothing more. In other words I am sure they were losing a hundred of more towels a week in the ports of call, and they are trying to stop that. People are much more likely to be a good steward of a towel if they think it will cost them if it gets lost.


jc[/QUOTE]
[color=darkorchid][b]That brought up another thought! On shore excursions, NCL had fresh, clean towels that you 'checked out' by signing for them as you left for the day. At the gangway when you came back on, there was a hamper for the dirties with an attendent checking them back in. If you didn't return a towel, your room was charged $25 for a big, ugly, blue towel. [/b][/color]
[color=darkorchid][/color]
[color=darkorchid][b]So, I guess I DO need to bring a beach towel.[/b][/color]

[PAGA]

I believe we experienced the new lunchtime "bistro" menu on the Mariner in May -- we did not consider this an enhancement as the lunch menu was exactly the same every day (with the exception of 1 sandwich of the day adn 1 soup of the day). Previously, we always enjoyed going to the dining room for lunch to experience variety. Fortunately, we did find the Windjammer buffet better than previous experiences.

Also, the food at dinner (main dining room) was disappointing. Our ass't maitre'd described the new dinner menu (new since our Oct '03 cruise on Explorer) not as an enhancement but as a way to "simplify the food preparation" and "minimize customer confusion over selections". As for improved beef quality we were very disappointed in all beef entrees -- we assumed the decreased quality of beef in the dining room was a ploy to have us spend additional $$ to go to Chops.

We also experienced the "team" cabin attendants. I never knew who to ask when we needed something and our mini-bar was not replenished the entire trip. The room was clean and taken care of in a timely fashion, so no real complaints. The one thing I hadn't experienced previously was that we had to dissassemble our towel animals in order to have baths...whatever pieces went into the towel animal were not provided in the bathroom...

- PAGA

4 Celebrity
4 Royal Caribbean (and 2 more scheduled)

[mikeblum]

i'm very much puzzled by all of the up's and down's that people are going thru since rccl has decieded to switch it's outside pools from the traditional cruising salt water pool to the fresh water option...just when ya think they've done a good thing people find a way to get wacked out...it's a cruise let's all try to enjoy and have a GREAT time...i think the change is super...to the management team at rccl thanks for taking the ranch steak off the menu...it was horrid...i guess i'll try out all of the changes on the vos in march of 2005...can't wait...football can't be that far away...

[peteinsonj]

I don't dislike freshwater chorline pools -- but much prefer salt water pools.

 

To me, the saltwater pools are drained and fresh regularly -- while the freshwater pools will be recycled and filtered.

 

Oh well -- either way its ok

 

Pete

[blyle]

Lunch menu on7/18 Rhapsody had the ships art in it and it was the same everyday except for the soup and one pasta dish cooked to order. It did get a little old having the same things everyday. The Reuben was given good reviews by those that ordered it.

[Fredrik]

I live near the Ocean and a swim there is where I want to be, freshwater is like a tubthing to me. I really love the pools on RCCL and would hate to have them changed into some chlorine dumps...

 

Fredrik

[mariapd719]

Dont get rid of the saltwater pools - they are awesome!!!!! saltwater is so good for you

[princessb]

Any word on the "Mega" Voyager coming out?

[mojo4trav]

Still 2006 I believe, no renderings or details have been confirmed although I did post some renderings (speculative as to which line/ship they belong) which were (until recently) hosted on the Kvaerner Masa website.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=55427

(Scroll down to my post and you'll see the image files, you can click on them to view.)

[brent1865]

What is the time frame they are looking at for switching over to freshwater pools? When i first crusied i thought that was a little weird to have saltwater pools, but came to love them. Your right they can clean themeasier and cycle the water out everynight if they really wanted to. We are on AOS for our honeymoon Sept 26th 04, and hope that they dont switch anything before then

 

thanks for any help on this,

 

Brent1865

[PGcruiser]

The room attendants probably do twice the rooms, just work together, so tipping should be the same as before.

 

Is it possible for the ship to remove salt from ocean water with a generator of some kind? If not those 5 or more sea days cruises are going to have very dirty water from lotions etc.

[wblynch]

Is it possible for the ship to remove salt from ocean water with a generator of some kind?

 

Actually all the fresh water on the ships is desalinated by shipboard systems that produce very pure water.

 

The cooking, drinking water and shower/bath water all comes from the ocean and through these desalinization plants.

 

Unfortunately, these systems have limited capacity and if they wanted to refresh the pools daily they would have to add additional plants. It may be their intention to do this very thing.

[hcat]

Thumbs down for freshwater pools (we always swim as early as possible anyhow) Everything else seems nice-upgrading the product is always welcome. Wonder if the team will be pooling their tips or are we now tipping for two? Can't wait to see it all in place when we are on Briliance next spring &

[PGcruiser]

Thanks Lynch. I have never swam in an on ship pool. We've only been on one cruise to Tahiti and you were tendered everyday and we swam in the ocean for 5 or 6 hours per day...love to snorkle.

[negc]

Frankly, the fresh water vs salt water pool controversy has always amused me. I keep wondering what those fresh water enthusiasts swim in when they are on the Caribbean islands that they visit on their "fresh water" pool cruise ships. Salt water pools have never bothered me and when I have sailed on Princess' ships, I didn't notice any big advantage with fresh water pools.

As far as the team cleaning concept, we experienced it last March on the Brilliance (hi Yarlenna) and realized that the team had more rooms to clean and it took them longer to finish the job. Our stewards were very good, but often it was after lunch before our rooms had been cleaned and the beds made. Suggested tipping was the same as previously since, as SuperJerryW has indicated, the team has more than twice as many rooms to clean as when they were cleaning rooms individually. Therefore, even splitting their tips equally, would result in increased income. Of course by increasing the number of rooms each team covered, RCI is able to reduce staff and expenses.

The improvements in the Windjammer lunch menus have been such that we rarely have bothered to go to the dining room for lunch in the past few years. It remains to be seen how much the new offerings in the dining room will attract passengers back to the dining room, so I will withhold judgement until I have a chance to check it out.

I think that basically whoever said this was more about RCI reducing cost than improving the cruise experience is probably correct. As the cruise lines experience increased revenues and are better able to fill their ships further out and with a minimum of discounted fares, it will be interesting to see if they restore some of the amenities that have been eliminated, or will just wallow in their increased profits.

With all the changes that have taken place, we still find cruising our best vacation option, and RCI is still number one in our hearts. :)

[flamingosun]

Changes sound great, EXCEPT for the fresh water pools.

The salt water pools are one of my favorite things on the ship.

I can find a fresh water pool at the YMCA, Motel 6, and a measurable percentage of the back yards in the US.

Don't find a saltwater pool that often... such a refreshing change!

LOVE how my skin feels (soft and smooth) after swimming in that wonderful salt water.

[SusieCruiser]

Also with the Enchantment being Stretched Philadelphia will get its first ship!!!

[teach01]

Could you elaborate on "Philadelphia getting it;s own ship"

[joyceyw]

I know a lot of you are saying salt water is better, it wasn't for me. On our last cruise on the Radiance, I broke out with a terrible rash. The two days I didn't go into the water, the rash started to clear up. The last 2 days of the cruise, I went back into the water, and the rash reappeared. I saw a dermotologist the day I returned home, he determined it was the salt water. There were also others on this trip that complained about a "rash" we all used the pools/hot tubs, and we all felt we hadn't done/used anything different than regular our regular routine, except using the pools/hot tubs.

[PGcruiser]

Hot Tubs commonly cause rashes

[cei3]

Teach01,

They didn't say Philly's "own" ship. I believe they think Philly is the first cruise after the stretching of the Enchantment. The first trip after a dry docking, re-build, stretching, etc. is often questionable, as the work can take longer then anticipated (ie: NCL Pride of America). Anyway, the first cruise may be all ready be scheduled outta Port Liberty NJ. Ok, Philly, you still have the Liberty Bell, cheese steaks and Betsy Ross. And, do you have a ferry to Camden?

[sherry7]

So....the Enchantment is not going to sail out of Philly at all after the initial "stretching" cruise?