CarpeCerevisi

The officer in charge of the ship is most often called Captain. He or she is also known as the Master of the Ship and must have a Masters License. The Captain has ultimate responsibilty for the ship, its crew and passengers. The various heads of each division of the ship, e.g. the Staff Captain, the Chief Engineer, the Hotel Director, etc., report to the Captain.

The Staff Captain is second in command and must also hold a Masters License as he or she must be able to take full command of the ship if need be. The Staff Captain is in charge of the crew and most of the day to day activities involved in operating the ship, including navigation, bridge operations, budgeting, crew relations, just to name a small number of his or her duties.

I'll always have fond memories of the Empress. I remember back in the early 2000s how big I thought she was, especially as I looked down on the original Love Boat that was docked next to us in New York. She was the perfect ship for Bermuda as she could get into St. George's and Hamilton harbors. Few cruisers to Bermuda know what it is like to cruise into those harbors with their narrow cuts.

I think you will be fine. You are far enough forward to be away from the main pool areas above you and I wouldn't worry about the elevators. Also, you are close to the outside deck above the bridge. Just go all the way forward on the side of the ship your cabin is and you can get out onto a large sun deck.

Oops, I'm sorry bout that.

 

BTW, looks like we'll be seeing you in September on the Explorer. You are still booked for September 11th aren't you?

 

I'll make sure that the lurker gets your message.:D

Sure am, can't wait to see you, and as always, I'm up for some trivia if you can use me.

Since they made the policy of double points for those paying a single supplement I have twice received the double points automatically and twice have had to email C&A to request them. In all cases I have received the double points and in all cases I did not pay 200% as I am eligible for the 150% maximum. The last time was in early June so if the policy has changed it is after then. I'm sailing again next month so I will see if they have modified their policy. If they have, it offers no added incentive to me to continue to be loyal to Royal Caribbean.

 

I guess for those that wear panties, that might create a very uncomfortable situation.:p

Patti, you almost made my spit up my beer, and you know how hard to do that is. Say hi to Jim the lurker for me.

As far as I understand the points policy, one gets double points as long as any amount of single supplement has been paid. I did have to email C&A after two cruises to get the double points after they originally only gave me single points. They did get it right after a couple of others, so keep an eye on those points.

I've been in systems development for over 30 years, when I hear stories like this I can only shake my head. None of this is "rocket science".

Port Royal is probably the best course they could get on in Bermuda. If they plan on bringing their own clubs they will need to take a taxi since they are not allowed on the buses (at least that was the case when last I was there). Taxi fare will probably be around $25 each way.

Royal's IT dept really needs to hire some 12 year olds.....

Or some 40+ year olds, i.e. people who actually know how to test their code.

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Just did the train up and bicycle down last week. The bicycle group gets their own train car so there's usually plenty of seats for switching sides and the ride down is 15 miles almost all downhill. You must be comfortable riding around 20 mph downhill, but the road and bikes were good and traffic was not a problem. There were a few scenic stops on the way down.

While on either ship, as you travel about, keep an eye out for the "Small Wonders" art pieces. If you see a waist high pedestal or what looks like binocular viewers, look into them and you will be surprised. The best number I could find was 42 of them on Oasis and I would assume a like number on Allure. They may be found anywhere in the public spaces, outside and in.

You'll need to first login on one of the internet terminals on the ship to set up your userid and password. After that you will be able to login with that id from your iPad when in wifi range. After logging in from your iPad the first time you'll be given internet package options to choose and as the previous poster stated, save the logoff url, but if you don't, shutting wifi off on the iPad will disconnect you.

To paraphrase the New York Daily News, "Goldstein to city: Drop dead."

Let's pull the Quantum after a short stay and then replace it with the Liberty at twice the price of other cruise lines, and then we'll tease them with the Anthem.

The times I've gotten upgrades they sent me a fax of the new invoice showing the new cabin number and $0 balance. I've never seen it just change on the "My Cruises" page. It could have been a data error in your reservation that someone caught and fixed.

The Port of Vancouver web site has the Radiance of the Seas sailing from Ballantyne Pier and the Rhapsody of the Seas sailing from Canada Place on May 16th.

Because they burn the cheapest diesel fuel with the most pollutants in it when outside of the United States waters, it will result in more soot, etc.

 

I would love to see where the soot ended up though.

I think the worst soot is probably from the burning of solid waste, That produces the really dark smoke as opposed to the normal white-grey smoke.

The worst soot I ever saw was on the old Empress of the Seas. I had an aft balcony any there would be days where I would find large flecks of soot. I just had to make sure I wiped the chairs down before sitting on them. The aft balcony was still worth it.

While I have found that similar tours on Celebrity have been more expensive than on Royal Caribbean, this seems a bit extreme. One must surely hope that this is simply a typo on Celebrity's part. Either that, or the tour operator must wonder why nobody ever books the tour from a Celebrity ship.:confused:

Thank you:) I was hoping there were! It would be a great way to get to the Boardwalk if you booked a room that far aft:)

Unfortunately, no, and I have a feeling the staff would probably frown upon someone repelling down. Hey, that gives me a thought, how about a whole zip line course, balcony to balcony, until you get down to the Aquatheater?

The PVSA places restrictions on the transport of passengers by non-US flagged vessels. The scenarios are as such:

US port to the same US port (closed loop) - this is allowed as long as at least one port of call is a foreign port.

US port to a foreign port and vice versa - allowed without restrictions.

US port to a different US port - allowed only if at least one port of call is a distant foreign port. In this hemisphere, that consists of South America (the ABC islands are considered to be part of South America.)

In the case of a B2B, both cruises combined are considered as a whole. Thus, even though they are two separate bookings, the law still considers it to be one voyage. The San Diego to Vancouver and Vancouver to Seattle B2B is therefore considered to be a voyage from San Diego to Seattle, and since it does not stop in South America, is not legal.

As far as the repeal of the PVSA is concerned, the foreign based cruise lines and the ports would love it, the seaman's union opposes repeal. There are also those that want to retain the law to protect US shipping concerns both for economic reasons as well as national security reasons.

I think someone at Royal has wanted something like this for some time. Anyone else remember when they tested an aerostat during the Oasis sea trials in the Baltic? That didn't end well as its tether broke. At least Northstar is firmly attached to the ship.

Could be structural since it's part of the superstructure that also supports the bridge wings. It could also act as a wave deflector in case of very high seas. I guess we need a naval architect.

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Quantum/14037847_QN_Class_Culinary_FAQs.pdf

 

Q: What if I want the same waiter every night?

A: The wait staff is dedicated to a specific restaurant – “venue experts”. Guests can request the same waiter when they dine in the same restaurant and will be accommodated based on availability. However, we recommend guests to experience a different restaurant each night.

 

Q: What if I want to dine in the same restaurant every night?

A: Dynamic Dining allows guests to make reservations in the same restaurant every night of their cruise if they wish, based on availability, but we recommend guests to experience a different restaurant each night.

Notice that both replies stress their desire that guests eat in a different restaurant each night. The last thing they want is 3000 passengers wanting to eat in one restaurant on a particular night. They also want guests to not limit themselves to the free venues so as to generate more revenue. It will be very interesting to see how this works out and whether they get the spread of restaurant usage they are looking for.

Besides the pool deck, the walkways in Central Park are also very slippery when they are wet. This can especially be a problem in the evening when people may be wearing dressier shoes that don't provide much traction even on dry surfaces. While I understand the desire to design beautiful looking environments on the ship, it is still a ship, on a moving ocean.

The way I look at this whole thing is it could be great or it could end up as the world's biggest cluster you know what. My worry is how 4500 people are going to be accommodated. Yes, there are numerous dining venues but it's hard to say how the guests are going to spread amongst them. There are five complimentary restaurants serving dinner (not counting the buffet styles). Of those one is exclusive to suite guests who I'm sure are also going to want to try the other restaurants, and another is formal every night. I''m worried that on any given night there may be 2000 to 3000 people wanting to dine in one of the three remaining complimentary restaurants. Will they be able to handle such a demand or will people find themselves having to find other options that are not their primary choice? Time will certainly tell with this one, and I certainly hope it works out well.