bob@karen

No food available in Bamboo Room now. Just drinks. 

On 3/20/2023 at 11:59 AM, scatmanjack said:

 

Got a bottle of Vigne Dei Conti Espumoso Vino Spumante Extra Dry last week (03/13/2023) on Adventure for booking a 4 night in 2024...

 

Also won another bottle at Shore Excursion/Travel Trivia... (gave it away to young couple...)

So did you try it? That’s what we got from Next Cruise on Navigator of the Seas this week. I’m afraid to try it because it’s Extra Dry, not the Brut which we prefer. I’m encouraged that it’s an Italian made wine but I think we’re going to give it away, too. 

On 11/19/2022 at 9:11 AM, garrymorere said:

Clo has taken over on Symphony 

Do you know how long she’ll be there? We sail in March for 6days then b2b on transatlantic. We really enjoyed Clo on Serenade transatlantic a few years ago. 
Karen

On 8/24/2022 at 7:07 AM, law chick said:

I’m on this sailing with my spouse and our two teenage boys and can comment on the non-suite staffing portion of this question. 
 

We are cc elite despite only taking a handful of cruises, due to our love of the M class penthouse suite. We’ve also sailed in aqua class and this is our third time in a corner FV with an inside across the hall. We’re in the select MDR on this sailing. All this as background of what we’ve experienced in the past. My partner actually prefers not sailing in a suite if we can’t book a PH, because then we can just blend into the crowd and no one is overly concerned that we’re enjoying ourselves (we always are!). Likewise I enjoy not dealing with a butler as we prefer our privacy to all the attention. 
 

The select MDR this sailing is a complete cluster f. It’s shockingly understaffed. There aren’t even enough staff for them to write on the table cards that identify your servers. Instead of names they just write 0 because they don’t have anyone. 
 

Then there’s the issue of an unusually large number of passengers who wish to eat at 5pm. Like soooo many people need to eat early and it completely messes up the dining staff. We waited an hour to be seated for dinner the second night, after arriving at 5:45pm. 
 

Don’t expect a sommelier, we’ve only dealt with bar servers, and they don’t have the bandwidth to be topping off glasses, but they are happy to do a heavy pour. They aren’t even handing out the wine menu. We’ve asked, but never seen one this trip. If you’re easygoing like us, carry a drink in with you, and are okay with whatever red or white wine they suggest after you tell them what you’re generally are looking for, you’ll be fine. If you must have a certain wine or you’ll be disappointed…well, you might be disappointed.

 

Also I don’t believe there’s a waiter and an assistant waiter. More like one person doing their best.

 

In other parts of the ship, there’s zero bar servers wandering around taking orders in the solarium pool, at the Oceanview cafe or in the bars themselves. Someone did take my order while I was sitting near the martini bar.

 

We’ve seen quite a few staff in training, where they don’t seem to know what to do. Usually a more senior staff member will help them out.  

 

We’re grateful just to be here and are so thankful for all the hard work the staff performs. None of the above issues bothers us despite us knowing how attentive service can be in other circumstances. There’s so many places to eat and drink, we’re very satisfied. If we don’t get enough wine at dinner, we’ll grab a drink after, that sort of thing. Everyone is clearly doing their best and we’re not into making their hard job any more difficult. Every staff member has been truly excellent to deal with despite their obvious levels of overwork. 
 

We’re here for the scenery and to spend time together, so we’re very happy. But lots of people aren’t. Like there’s so much complaining happening over minor issues. Really letting the overworked staff member have it when something isn’t just right. Other passenger’s behavior is the only real disappointment we’ve experienced on this cruise.  

On 8/24/2022 at 7:07 AM, law chick said:

Other passenger’s behavior is the only real disappointment we’ve experienced on this cruise.  

I completely agree! One couple made such a scene in the dining room one night that we left early. I can’t handle seeing the hard working staff being so disrespected. 

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Relaxing day.   A big shout out to Karen and Bob who brought us a Fitbit Charger from LA.    What a sweet couple and so fun to get to know.    We ended up chatting at Al Bacio for 1 1/2 hours.   

 

Thank's again and again. 

 

My Fitbit is plugged in and already up to 25%.   

 

It's incredible how much we depend on our watches to see things like how well we slept.... duhhhhh...   If your tired you didn't get a good night sleep. 

 

 

You’re welcome! Were we really in Al Baccio for 1 1/2 hours? You are as entertaining in person as you are online so the time flew by and we forgot about CC meet up, too. 

Glad to hear that the charger is bringing your Fitbit back to life! We are just as dependent on our Apple watches. 

Hope to see you (and meet Iain) before the end of this cruise. We are enjoying your posts and photos here. 

Karen

Onboard our first flight. Really looking forward to Iceland and cooler temps!

On 8/24/2021 at 7:57 AM, davekathy said:

Thanks. I stand corrected. You are correct. I should know better as we aren't at the 340 point mark yet.  Wishful thinking. 😉

 

https://dlxffu6hwewxp.cloudfront.net/cas/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Welcome-Drink-Bonus-Gift-1.pdf
 

Thanks so much for this link! When we sailed on Serenade last month we couldn’t find the current list and wanted to change our gifts since we were at 340. We got our old gifts of bottled water and 2 beers. They also brought 2 beach towels later in the cruise. We want to have 2 bottles of wine on our next 7 day cruise on Navigator so we will try calling again to request the change. 

Aah, and we barely had two minutes to visit this cruise.

 

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But at least we had 2 minutes to catch up a bit. I’m sure our paths will cross again someday.

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Great photos, Bill. Thanks for this review. Unfortunately, we’ll only be crossing paths as we disembark Vision of the Seas on the day of your embarkation for the Panama Canal. We will be sailing all the way to Los Angeles, near home, after two previous cruises from Venice and Barcelona before our Canal sailing.

We agree about the uncomfortable beds onboard Explorer. Can’t understand why they replaced the beds with the curved ends in rooms that aren’t large enough to accommodate the rectangular mattresses.

Oh well, we are ON A SHIP!

[emoji4]

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Mmmmm! Rack of lamb and warm chocolate cake. Back to Chops for us tomorrow or the next night [emoji4]

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We are practically neighbors, too, in 9383 which means we’ll be passing by both of your cabins on our way to Concierge Lounge for our morning coffee. Enjoying your review(s) so far. We arrived from So California this afternoon and can’t wait to board bright and early tomorrow. Our hotel is near the Space Needle and a Whole Foods market where we got a very good pizza and bottle of wine for dinner and a bouquet of flowers to brighten our little cabin. It’s been a while since we’ve been in an inside but the price was right and we won’t have to move on the B2B. See you all tomorrow!

Karen

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Won’t affect us as we always fly in the day before and leave after noon when we return. Wish the entire country would adopt staying on standard or daylight time year round.

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The magnet hooks hold more weight when attached to the ceiling instead of the wall. We got ours from Amazon and use them for bulky jackets, robes and hanging things to dry.

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Yes. We carried two on as usual and put the other 2 in check on with a note. Got called to naughty room but our wine was onboard and given to us before the 2nd cruise. We were afraid that it would be confiscated from carry on since RCI contracts with the port for security. We brought all 4 bottles on the plane from California.

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On our last b2b we put 2 extra bottles in our checked luggage with a copy of our itinerary and letter of explanation. We got called to the “naughty room” first night because of it but they understood and gave it to us on the last night of the first leg.

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Ricky Matthews was one of my least favorites. His Love & Marriage was embarrassing, in that he didn't conduct it the same way as other CDs, where the panelists are brought off-stage. He had them face back to back and made the entire show about himself, rather than the guests. I've never seen such a steady stream of people leaving a RCL show (except for the second half of CATS).

Yet Graham Seymour conducted the L&M exactly the same way on the Explorer Transpacific this past Spring and he is seemingly very popular.

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It was dark/closed and all signs for it removed on our 12/3 cruise. Maybe photo studio space?

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You can tip Uber drivers on the app, anyway. No need for cash.

Most Uber drivers prefer to load and unload bags from their cars to prevent scratches or other damage. We still tip them with cash though I understand that many don’t want to have a lot of cash with them so being able to tip on the app is helpful.

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Disappointed in Abe after all we heard. B2B on Freedom and all of his jokes were tired and old by the 2nd week. No variety or spontaneity. On an itinerary as varied as the 6 day Western Caribbean and 8 day Eastern Caribbean, there were a lot of people doing B2B so he should account for that. Nice enough guy, though.

Karen

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We unroll it, stack the sheets like pages, put it inside an old book cover. Then I just put the "books" inside our carry on bags. Works everytime.

 

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Tears are rolling down my face as I read this! 🤣

Karen

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I️ agree that the wash & fold bag items come back gray. I️ have a synthetic white top that I️ wear to exercise and it needed hours of soaking in OxiClean once we were home but it was saved. My experience with individual laundry (jeans) and dry cleaning was good.

 

 

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I’m really annoyed that the newest iOS update changes upper case i

Karen

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I️ agree that the wash & fold bag items come back gray. I️ have a synthetic white top that I️ wear to exercise and it needed hours of soaking in OxiClean once we were home but it was saved. My experience with individual laundry (jeans) and dry cleaning was good.

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I love Carly Boileau. Sweet, personable, friendly, helpful, caring.

 

 

 

Abe Hughes is my baby, though. :):):):):):)

We will be sailing with Abe Hughes on Freedom in December for the first time. Looking forward to it! Michele was a good cd for the Mediterranean President's Cruise on Freedom last week as his ease with many languages was a real asset.

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We take a photo that includes the person who took it of anything we are forced to surrender. That and a receipt should be helpful. I agree that it would leave a bad taste if the scenario unfolded as you described and I absolutely agree with the pool towel comparison!

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Marion Mom is right about the clips helping. I didn't know this about Rhapsody showers. Makes me feel a little better that we had to cancel the transatlantic we had booked on her. One week will be enough of that shower if it's anything like we had in a jr suite on Empress. [emoji6]

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