docd

Don't get to excited about the pizza, it taste like the kind you would buy in the frozen food section of your local grocery store.

I'd agree with that. The pizza is best when it's fresh, but definitely subpar. IIRC they also have antipasto. Also, it's not 24/7, it closes a few hours here and there. I forgot why.

I found the sandwiches at the Cafe decent enough.

Two people sick at almost the exact same time? Almost certainly from consuming something.

Just because nobody else was affected, doesn't make it untrue. It could be from one piece of meat/fish, which not everyone would consume.

Also, the vomiting/diarrhea appearing within a couple of hours is usually because of toxins in the food produced by bacteria, likely Staph. Otherwise, I believe the symptoms wouldn't appear until much later. Norovirus would take 12 to 48 hours to show, and it would be very unlikely to happen to both of them at the same time.

I've been on the Fantasy and the Freedom. So, my opinion is only based on that.

I think the younger kids will most likely prefer the Disney ships. These cruises are completely geared for the family and younger kids. The staterooms, all the entertainment and even the dining reflect that. Can you say "unlimited Mickey Ice Cream bars" ??

However, that doesn't mean they won't have a great time on other ships. There are a lot of things to see and do on the Freedom class. I can't imagine they would not enjoy it. I think the biggest difference will be with the entertainment. There are still plenty of family centric activities though.

The only way to have a real bad time on a cruise is if you let yourself do so.

Go on Disney and you won't feel so bad about the price differences. With kids aged 2 and 7, that makes the most sense IMO.

Otherwise, I'd find it hard to believe that any comparable RCI cruise is worth 2x the cost of a Carnival cruise.

I thought that Vintages would honor the drink packages, but only up to the specified $12/drink price?!?!

There are definitely cases where it was included. Unfortunately, RCI are completely incompetent at communicating with their staff, so there is inconsistency with everything that is going on. Ask one question and you'll get a different answer from everyone you speak to. I don't even know how they manage to operate. I honestly can't imagine if there was an actual emergency on one of their ships. Luckily the ships are spectacular.

My drink of choice is Whisky (preferably Johnnie Walker) and club soda. I also drink red wine with dinner. My understanding is that prices will be in the $10-$12 per drink range (plus 18% gratuity). So, if I buy the Premium Package ($49/day, plus 18% gratuity) and drink 5 per day, then I'm above break even. Honestly, it sounds like a lot, but on vacation, I might do that. Then again, being in a suite, some of that will be consumed in the CL, so it might not be quite the deal. Really, I am inclined to just go ahead and do the package so I don't worry about my bill at the end of the cruise.

Five+ drinks a day seems just fine to me while on vacation =).

Look up the Royal Connect phones.

Soap is soap. Trust me. You can wash your bottles in the bathroom or your stateroom with the liquid hand soap. Using dish detergent isn't going to make much difference besides the scents and skin softening agents. It will clean them just as well.

I've only cruised on RCI once on the Freedom last December. I bought the Premium drink package figuring I would at least break even , so no financial loss and a lot of freedom to drink almost whatever I wanted. Unfortunately, one of my motivators to purchasing the package was trying some wines at Vintages where they wouldn't honor the package. So, that was a disappointment.

I am a moderate drinker so I figured a package would work out reasonably well for me. The reality was though, I felt like I struggled to drink enough to make sure I at least broke even. I think it was all the food!! I didn't stress over it, but it made me question my decision on whether the package was worth it for me.

Now, on my upcoming cruise things have changed. With the dramatic price increase I think it will be much easier to break even. I think the freedom to drink almost whatever you want and not worry about anything is very much worth it as long as you get close to the minimum number of drinks, which shouldn't be difficult for me with the current prices.

So, I might regret not buying it this time around. I also plan on purchasing it mid cruise, which should work out even more in my favor financially.

Interesting! According to RCL's website it certainly appears wine in Vintages should be included:

 

Q: In which venues will the all-inclusive beverage packages be honored? A: The beverage packages are honored at any of our bars or lounges, Windjammer Café, Main Dining Room, and our private destinations during normal business hours. Room service and minibar are not included.

Yes indeed. It also states "Package does not include ...super premium category beverages...". So, what exactly is considered a super premium beverage? Once again, probably a subjective decision.

I will be cruising again in December on the Allure and will likely have a package for part of that cruise. So, we'll see what happens this time.

It should have been included if they had glasses of wine priced at $12 or less.

The key words being "should have". There were definitely glasses of wine listed at $12 or less. I know some people reported here on CC they were able to get wines from Vintages under the drink package and those reports were one of the reasons I decided to purchase the package in the first place. However, they would not serve me under the package. Sure, I could have made a big stink about it, especially considering I was also told by a cruise agent at RCI that it was included, but when I am on vacation it's really the last thing I want to do.

I guarantee, given the complete disconnect between the staff at RCI, your experience will vary.

I was on a sailing of the Freedom last year and had the Premium package and the Vintages wine was not included. Not sure if that's changed or varies depending on the bartender. I could never get a straight answer on it.

Thanks for the reply.

The only invoice I have states what I wrote in my post. It doesn't break down the cruise fare component.

This was brought up on the Roll Call thread, but I figured most people have moved on from that.

I was curious who has/hasn't received their future cruise discount? I have not received anything yet and was actually wondering how they determined the 25%.

I recently received a call from RCCL regarding the 25% "rebate".

He told me it's 25% of the fare before taxes.

This is what's on my statement per person (in CAD$):

Cruise Fare: $422.00

Weekend Special: 0.00

Gratuities: $82.79

Taxes, fees and port expenses: $101

Total Charge: $605.79

The person who called told me I am getting a "rebate" of $63 because my cruise fare was $252. He tried to explain that the $422 was including taxes.

Does that make sense? What am I missing?

Thanks!

Docd, I'm sorry to hear that was your experience! I'm wondering if you spoke to someone directly either before or upon boarding. Did they just kind of blow you off? Or did you ask while sitting in the MDR or Windjammer? I'm hoping that by going to dining services as soon as we get on the ship, we'll hopefully be given the attention we need.

 

 

 

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I spoke with special needs via email which basically told me to talk to the staff on board. Once on the ship I talked to the Maitre 'd, who was great. Nobody really blew me off, although I would say that special needs wasn't very helpful at all. So, one could perhaps say they passed the buck if anything. Almost all the staff on the ship were great. My issue was that I just wasn't overly confident that the staff knew how to handle food allergies properly. It wasn't just about the ingredients in the food, that is an easy thing to deal with and they are supposedly trained for it, but cross contamination from shared baking trays or other contaminated surfaces/objects. It's an issue I deal with all the time.

I never tried to get anything special order from the Windjammer because we were told not to eat there. Not really that big of a deal as we typically stick to the dining room. It would have been nice to have that option for a breakfast or lunch though. However, why some passengers are treated one way and others differently boggles my mind. Maybe it's the specific ship, I have no idea.

Also, I noticed you asked about MTD. We were on MTD and I had reservations for the same time each night. The staff worked very hard to get us the same table each night. I admit, they were really amazing and I was impressed at the level of service we received. We had the same servers every night, but were seated a two different tables. It definitely was helpful with respect to my DD's food allergy.

My son has multiple food allergies and they were extremely accommodating. There are some things that we learned would help keep him safe. The first, always talk to Your Head Waiter at dinner the first night. The waiters do not know all of the ingredients in the food and the Head Waiters are the most effective in finding out if food is safe. Also, one of the top tier chefs met us at dinner the first night and reviewed my son's allergies with us. He oversaw my son's meals each day and touched base with us on several occasions.

We preordered his meals each night, our Head Waiter gave us his personal phone number and each time we were to go to eat, we would call him and he would tell us which Head Waiter was on duty who would get the safe food for us.

I would not recommend eating in the WindJammer, on the one occasion when we had to, my son's food was preordered and cooked elsewhere. There is too much risk for cross contamination and waiters not knowing what is in food. On Labidee, our Head Waiter told us which dining area we should eat in, when we arrived, we talked with the Head Waiter that was on duty, and he brought my son's preordered meal out if the hot box which had been prepared on the ship.

We brought several factory sealed items on board for my son to eat on board and to bring to ports, this way we didn't have to worry about finding safe food for him in foreign countries. Our Head Waiter arranged for a complimentary fruit basket to be delivered to our room so that he would have food to snack on during the day.

We always bring extra Epi pens/Auvi Q, I try to plan for worst case scenario for how long it would take to get to a hospital. Also, don't forget that the medication can't get too hot or too cold.

 

 

 

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I wish we received that level of treatment. We never talked to a single chef and most of the staff gave me blank stares when I asked about the food. Nobody at the main office offered any information regarding eating at the buffet or elsewhere, like Sorrento's or the Cafe. We were simply told to stick to the main dining room and ask the staff on the ship. That was about as much communication as we ever received. I wasn't impressed at all.

At least you didn't get a complete switch of ports like we did. I had no desire to go to Nassau or Cozumel AT ALL. We did go to Coco Cay and it was pretty meh if you ask me. You're not missing out on much.

I expect all itineraries to change until they fix the propeller in dry dock. When we were in Nassau, they simply took it off. They didn't fix anything. It was removed so it wouldn't cause further damage.

My daughter has a peanut allergy and we just got back from our cruise last week. I never got the impression that the food my daughter received was specially prepared for her. It sounded more like they just made sure it was OK for her to eat. We ate in the MDR for all meals, with the exception of Sorrento's for lunch a few times and at Coco Cay.

The wait staff were really great and quite nice, but I never felt confident they actually knew about the food they were serving. For example, they suggested not to order anything with chocolate. Which makes sense, but every dessert that came out had a decorative piece of chocolate on it. So, I am fairly certain the desserts weren't specially prepared for her.

I never heard of an AVO, nor did anyone at RCCL ever mention such a thing. We did order my daughters dinner the night before, so I suppose that would be considered an AVO. When I contacted RCCL about food allergies they told me to ask the staff on the ship. When I did ask half of the time I received blank stares. I really did not have a lot of confidence in their answers.

We were on that sail as well.

Our first RCI cruise. Beautiful well maintained ship, most of the staff were amazing and food was pretty good in the dining room. Overall, we had a good trip. Itinerary was horrible though. I had no interest in those ports. Our shore excursions weren't very good either. I probably lost half of the account credit by doing the RCI shore excursions as well since they were more expensive than my originally planned private excursions.

Booking a room should be the simplest of procedures. It's nothing new for a cruise company, regardless of how old the ship is. Granted the ships probably don't have contract workers staying on them often, but no guests should ever be double booked!

I'd imagine that getting an external company to pre-make the cards could be cheaper and would save time at the desk, since they no longer have to print them. How much does it save though? Only they know. Maybe the saved time just transfers over to the handful of soon-to-be frustrated customers. So, in the end, those couple of minutes saved per room simply transfer over to hours of waiting for a few unlucky guests. Maybe RCI considers that acceptable collateral damage :P

What a fiasco....

It really seems like a terribly flawed system. Although, I suppose it's not much different than getting assigned seats in a theater. Unless someone else decides to steal your room.

So, I wonder if your room was taken accidentally by that couple? Of course, your names would be on the keys, so maybe they decided to upgrade themselves? LOL!

I think it's difficult to find a cuisine with mass appeal. Especially if you're talking about fine dining.

Besides your standard French, Italian and American, I think the following could work:

Indian

Spanish

Chinese (FINE dining or more traditional, not fast food take out/buffet style). The food differs quite a bit within China as well, Northern and Southern; Taiwanese or Hong Kongese(?)

Korean

Vietnamese

Latin - food from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador etc..

Japanese - although, it might hard to get good raw fish for real sushi

Middle Eastern - Turkish, Israeli, Iranian

I like them all.

If I was running this company, the CTO, or whoever is in charge, would be fired. There is no excuse for these ongoing web problems.

This will be our first RCI cruise. Our daughter is anaphylactic to peanuts.

Our plan is to eat in the MDR as much as possible. I don't like taking my daughter to buffets, especially if they are self serve. It's far too risky. However, I believe I read on these forums that the chefs at the buffet will prepare something fresh for you if you have allergies.

Basically, you have to discuss your options with the Maitre D and head waiter. That includes for Coco Cay (or Labadee in your case) and the specialty restaurants. That's where RCI specials needs has redirected all of my questions.

We also bring some pre-packaged snack foods, like crackers and granola bars, for our port excursions. Not the best lunch for our daughter, but that's the unfortunate reality of having a food allergy.

Those are called wine flights and they are not included in any package.

The menu I saw showed the wine flights, but they also had many wines listed that are sold outside of that by the glass (2oz. and/or 5oz.). I'll just assume they aren't included as the RCI drink package fine print states that "super premium category beverages" are excluded.

I am a bit disappointed now. I probably shouldn't have bothered with the drink package [and read the fine print more carefully!!].

On a related not, I read on here or saw a video (don't remember) that you can get a 2oz. glass of a variety of nice wines at Vintages for $12.50.

That was the selling point for me to get a drink package. It will cost me 50 cents more per glass, but that's fine.

However, I am concerned they may have changed Vintages and the menu etc...

I will be on FoS.

Does anyone know?