ksmcdonald

Just off the Indy and we got the same speech. Funny thing is, I don't remember every hearing that speech form any Carnival wait staff. This was our first time back to Royal in a number of years. Maybe this is just a "Royal" thing as far as the cruise lines goes?

I see that you can look at it as if they only paid 50%. However, Royal has been consistent (I know this is a surprise, but maybe it's because it's C&A) in giving points based on the original cruise booked.

I agree they have been consistent, therefore, they should award OP their points based on the original cruise booked, which is 5 days. I guess they might judge each case on an individual basis. Just my thoughts!

They were given the points based on the length of cruise that they paid for.

But was it actually paid for when the reimbursed them for the cruise? Then gave them 50% off the next cruise? Then still awarded the full points for the free cruise?

I think I read somewhere on these boards that Royal gave points that would of been earned when the Anthem had to come back early (full 7 day points) for the inconvenience of cutting short their trip. I don't see why Anthem passengers could be awarded points they didn't "earn", and then tell the OP they can't be awarded points that were not earned? In both of these situations, the cruise was cut short no fault of the passengers, in one case it was Royal cancelling a cruise and the other case it was mother nature shorting a cruise.

I think they should give you the benefits without actually awarding you the two points.

Personally, I don't think the benefits are worth all the trouble.

So the best way to handle tipping would be to tip after the person takes care of you with no expectation of a tip. I do like the idea of carrying ones and fives (granted get a little soggy in the pool).

 

If I find a bartender/staff who provides great service then I do plan to tip them something extra.

 

I highly doubt that any of the staff will complain for some extra cash for a job well done. It will also help in the future for a good pour and them knowing I appreciate a job well done.

 

The reason this came up was there was a cruise a week ago with a lot of spring breakers (college) and apparently service was very pour.

Yes, I was on that spring break cruise last week and yes, my husband tipped to roving waiter well in the casino and when that same waiter was working the pool area and saw us, he would immediately come over and take our order. Everytime he walked by he would give us a "thumbs up" to see if we were OK or wanted another. If it wasn't for him, we would of never got our money's worth from the drink package!

That's interesting, I've not seen food at the Squeeze Bar. Nice addition.:)

We just got off Indy on Sat. Squeeze bar had these only for 2-3 hours in the afternoon. Nice hard rolls with sausages and all the fixings! We went on a sea day, not sure about port days.

I thought you just lined up for the flowrider? Or is the sign up for the lessons? Can you pre-book a lesson before getting on the ship?

 

Is there a Dog House on the IOS and if so where is it located?

No Dog House, but I think they served big hot dogs and sausages at the Squeeze bar in the H2O Zone for kids. They also had a BBQ on the pool deck the last day and had great hot dogs then.

NOT COOL! I feel this should of been a chartered cruise. There were definitely more of them than us!

Yikes. We're sailing on Indy 3/31. Hoping most college spring breakers are gone by then!

 

 

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You should be good by then. Most high schools are on break the week of March 26th.

I feel for you. We got off the Indy on March 3rd. We had hundreds of U of Florida kids on our cruise. They were absolutely horrible. Way to represent your school kids[emoji849] the girls dressed in rompers with their butt cheeks hanging out and the v neck cut down to their belly button. No need for an imagination. They were all drunk. Throwing up in the hot tub causing it to be closed down. Trying to get one over on the bartenders and Royal by sharing drink packages and using fake ID's. Girls doing sexual favors to get free drinks ( great to hear this conversation on the elevator). Rude kids. No manners at all. Bartenders were very fed up with them. I do not understand why any ship would want this on a sailing. It did not ruin our trip at all. We had a fabulous cruise!! Everyday I appreciated how great my own kids are. Our cruise next year is an eight night!!

Disembarking was a breeze by the way. Went down to studio B around 9:30. Waited 10 minutes. And got in a fast moving line. We were at the pool at the Hilton on the beach by 11:00.

The excursions we took were both the best we have ever done. Met a lot of great people.

I agree about the way the girls dressed! What really bothered me was the thongs! They would sit on the bar stools in the Schooner Lounge and Champagne Lounge and I would think that is the same as sitting bare butt on that stool! They were required to wear a cover up but when they sat, there was nothing between that stool and they behind! Grossed me out to sit on any of the seats after seeing so many in thongs!

I saw one girl try to use anther's drink package card and the bartender took the card and put it in his pocket. He said when the owner of the card shows up, he will have a talk with her. She looked at me and said "that is definitely my card". She didn't realize a picture of the owner of the card came up on his register. I told her she didn't match the picture and she said, "I didn't know they had pictures"! By giving a couple $20 tips to one bartender in the Schooner lounge, as soon as he saw us come up, he would get our drinks immediately, much to the chagrin of 20-30 kids clambering to get their drinks. You are right, the bartenders were very fed up with them. The kids would yell out, "Hey! I need a drink over here!" very loudly. The bartenders would just ignore them and not even make eye contact. I don't think those kind got served or at least got over looked. They really didn't have a good system for so many people at the bar. They would just ask, "Who's next" and of course all 10 - 15 kids would yell "ME"! I guess that normally isn't a problem, except for these situations, and to the bartenders credit, nobody could keep track what order these guys showed up. The worse part was, they wouldn't leave the bar after getting their drink, cuz they didn't want to wait in line again. They would drink right there then order another!

All that being said, we still did have a decent cruise. If I had it to do over again, I would not of picked that week.

This is disheartening! I'm booked on the Indy next March 11, for a four-night cruise. I'll be going to an onboard convention, while my husband was hoping for some quiet time so he can relax out of reach of work emails.

 

Were the kids mostly clustered at the bars? We don't drink, so we might be okay. Is there anywhere quiet to relax and read or just enjoy the scenery?

Ironically, the quietest place on the boat was the kiddy "H2O Zone"! That is where we went to get a chair and lay on the deck. Only about 4 or 5 little kids wading around. It was mostly the bars that spring breaker's invaded. Most did not bother to get changed out of their bathing suits to come to the Main Dining Room. In the Solarium they only invaded the bar, then took their drink back to the main pool. Still noisy with 50 or so kids trying to get drinks, so not very peaceful in Solarium.

Also, Oliver & Twist lounge up on deck 13 was very peaceful. They did come up there to get drinks because of the long wait by the pool, but they had to put a cover up or shirt on to get served. That deterred a few from making the trip up the elevator!

I noted the booking as of the Fall of 2015. I am sorry you had that experience. If a group is so big that it basically 'overtakes' the ship it should become a charter. Cruiselines really need to make that adjustment. In all fairness, individual bookings should not have to take on that responsibility to identify such sailings.

Just so I know in the future, where did you note the booking being advertised as a group event? I would like to know different places to check this in the future. I work for a school and usually I can only go in March or April.

I totally agree they should of given us some type of warning for this many kids on the ship. It was easily over a 1000 if not more! In Labadee, we stood for over an hour trying to get a drink, then just gave up and boarded the ship. It was the only time we could enjoy the pool without the crowds!

We've cruised spring break last three years. But two were out of San Juan and the last one Celebrity Reflection. Didn't notice any difference from January cruises. I assume 4-5 nighters from Florida are much more likely to attract the college crowd.

Probably because of the air fare to San Juan. Oh well, live and learn! Lol

Sorry you had such a bad experience...We have cruised out of FLL a few times for the eastern caribbean during spring break but always doing the 8 nighters and never had a bad experience....The length of your cruise may have made a difference. Glad you enjoyed the INDY (all things aside) she's a favorite of ours.

I learned a valuable lesson about 4-5 day cruises out of Florida. In the past, we took 7 days cruises over Easter with our kids and never encountered this. First cruise without our kids (26, 23 and 20 years old) and ironically we end up with more than a 1000 20 year olds!

Sorry you had such a bad experience...We have cruised out of FLL a few times for the eastern caribbean during spring break but always doing the 8 nighters and never had a bad experience....The length of your cruise may have made a difference. Glad you enjoyed the INDY (all things aside) she's a favorite of ours.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes we did enjoy the ship, and the cruise for that matter. There were also a lot of polite respectful young people on the ship too. More of the drunk and obnoxious, but it did make for good "people watching"!

They had a large spring break group booked on there through a vendor. They were promoting just such a type of vacation. Always check for groups, especially during spring break!!!!

We booked way out, and there were not any groups booked for this cruise then. Never thought to keep checking if any groups did book. Not sure I could of arranged a different cruise at that point. I think they advertised near the end to fill the ship. I was checking for price drops and the price soared about a month before sail date.

Sorry to hear that. It's hard to avoid spring break since there are so many different weeks when school and colleges take their spring break, it's not one set time like Thanksgiving or New Year's. How did you like Independence otherwise? We just booked a 4 night cruise on her in early December, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so hopefully we're avoiding the holiday rush.

Loved the Indy! Such a beautiful ship!

How was debarkation? What method did you use?

We did self debarkation. Got in line at 7:15, left boat by 7:30, cleared customers and taxied to airport and through Security by 8:45. 11:00 flight.

Just off the Indy, ship loaded with "spring breakers" made it impossible to purchase a drink without a long wait. Especially by the pool, there were always 7-8 people deep all around the bar. Hardly any waiters walking around pool area. Spring breakers took over every bar on the ship! They also set 30 or so off in Jamaica for breaking rules and misbehaving. Unfortunately, that was the first port they could remove them (day 4 of our 5 day cruise)!

Just got off Indy this morning. From the time we left the ship using the self assist, we got through Customs, got taxi to FLL and got through airport security in 1 hour 45minutes. Now just waiting for 11:24 flight! We left ship at 7:30 and waiting at our gate in airport at 8:45, easy peasy!

Ahhh ok .... Paulette3028 said this in the other thread:

 

 

"I heard directly from Leigh. He said both he and Frankie are doing fine. He admitted it was a 'school boy error in judgement' but both of them will land on their feet. He was surprised by the outcome."

 

 

 

 

Ok ... we know what that means. Fools. I guess we'll see Leigh working behind the front desk at the Holiday Inn now.

I was thinking the same thing! For someone who commented that it was nobody business, she sure had a lot to say on the other thread! What happened to this being between him and his employer. Take some of your own advice!

Solved my problem of flimsy paper tags!

Yes, an additional $21 over and above the specialty dining fee.

Really? I thought once you paid the "cover charge" for a specialty dining, you could order anything on the menu with no additional charge. When did they change this policy? Very disappointing. We were going to order lobster at Chops this upcoming cruise. I'm glad I read this before going and being very upset at this charge!

Port Everglades has excellent signage. Just tell the taxi driver the name of the ship.

Thanks! Appreciate your help! You always seem to know the answers to my questions.:)

Correct, Allure and Oasis use terminal 18. If it's Saturday or Sunday (when Oasis and Allure are in port), then Indy will probably use 29, but it can also use 24/25.

We leave on the Indy March 7th. How are we to know which terminal the taxi driver should take us to? Are there signs as you come into the port, or do we have to know before we get in the taxi?