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rimmit

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About Me

  • Location
    Kentucky
  • Interests
    Travel, Photography, Science Fiction
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    The One I Am Currently On
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Snow Hill Island, Antartica
  • If you have a personal or hobby CRUISE or TRAVEL BLOG, include the url here:
    Http://www.thesmallworldfamily.com

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  1. I searched the topic for 4 night formal night in the DCL forum but found only one more recent post in July so curious as to what those more recently have experienced. For those on a more recent 4 night cruise (we’ll be on the Wish) what percentage of people would you say dressed up? The wife and I enjoy getting dressed up, but if it’s minimal not sure if it’s worth the effort to find space in the luggage for a jacket and dress. Not trying to start a debate as I know this is a popcorn topic on here. Just want an estimate of how many are dressing up.
  2. We cruised extensively with our kids from the time they were old enough to board at 6 months. We loved it. Where else can you have a nursery or kids club on hand they can go to every day and all the entertainment on board. All Inclusives have some but a cruise is definitely better and we’ve done both. If you need and tips or suggestions just ask. Our kids made Diamond before they were 5 years old on their own points. Our son hit D+ around 9 IIRC. Our daughter who is 8 now is 20 some points from D+
  3. I just wish they’d pull the Filipino crew food. They’ve made it for me in the past as a special favor. I didn’t ask, they just see that I’m Filipino and back in the days of the 5 star service they’d really bend over backwards to impress you with what they could do.
  4. The lack of pizza in the Windjammer was mind boggling. I know it’s down in Sorrento’s but it’s a staple cheap comfort food and sometimes if I can’t find something to eat I default to pizza. Plus for kids it’s an easy option. The increasing number of Indian meals is the definition of a cost cutting measure. They just can pull the crew mess hall Indian food and throw it on the buffet. No extra effort required.
  5. I agree. Although that was more on the whole system than the food quality and service I felt. I really liked Dynamic Dining but that’s just me. They had a great teriyaki steak that I loved. Dynamic dining was definitely a bigger controversy for sure. This time around its food quality and service versus upending and going to a more NCL style dining experience. That was one instance where there was enough complaining RCI did do something. We’ll see what happens here.
  6. IIRC, as with any change there was some complaining but nothing on this level. The number of “I am not a foodie posts, and I’m not picky, but this is just bad.” Is notably higher. And really what was not an issue at all before, which was getting your food hot, has become common place. Service has never been the issue and now it’s front and center. The food and MDR was a big enough issue on our cruise in late February that it was one of the main topics of conversation every time we sat down with new table mates in the MDR and with just random people at the bar With the previous change, we never had random conversations with table mates about the service and food. It was standard dinner conversation or small talk. This is all anecdotal, but where there’s smoke…
  7. Yes, crime crosses all demographics, but obviously skews into lower socioeconomics for a variety of reasons. RCI demographic has changed drastically since the 80s without a doubt as has cruising in general as it is now accessible to the masses whereas before you had to be making a 5 percenter salary at minimum to truly afford a cruise without massive strain to a budget or going into debt for a vacation. While a large portion of that demographic still cruises on the main stream lines, many have also moved onto smaller ships and more bespoke vacations and expeditions. You just can’t fill all these boats that fit 4,000-6,000 people with people in the 5th percentile. There just aren’t enough them interested in cruising out there.
  8. Looks like the name is Jeremy Froias. Cruises used to be relatively low drama places except for an occasional man overboard or missing passenger.
  9. I’d say very good that he will board. Near 100 percent based on my friends experience in the port of Miami last April using a pic of an expired DL.
  10. Yes. This was my friend. In all honesty, everyone in our party (except my friends wife and his kids) were somewhat disappointed this wasn’t a bigger deal. Mainly because we emphasized to him before we left that a passport or some other ID would not be a bad thing but he didn’t want to pay more money. He totally dodged a bullet. I was totally in shock how fast he got through security and was on the ship. Minimal delay. I’d been delayed boarding the ship because they couldn’t get their camera to work to take a picture than my friend got delayed by having no ID.
  11. The use of “revenue team” is what made me believe the story, as who uses the term “revenue team” in regular speech. They have also never bothered to post in a cruise forum before so it me not like they are trying to stir up a hornet’s nest. Also they had a long post history, none of which was trolling and standard conversation in a forum and respectful and has a pretty high rating. Could it be BS definitely, but they did not seem overtly irate, just very understandably upset at losing the upgrade and then being put in an obstructed balcony. I am normally not one to pass on “hearsay” but on review of the posters account and history and ratings, I could find nothing to indicate they would just go off the rails to create some crazy story. I was mainly asking to see if this has happened to anyone else before and if so what compensation they were offered so I could offer some advice.
  12. On another forum I saw a post of someone getting a Royal Up for an Owners Suite 2.5 weeks out. They made payment, got an email from the concierge and everything. 36 hours prior to departure which they get a call that there was an error and they’ll be rebooked for their original stateroom class. They did not in fact get the original JS they originally booked and instead were rebooked in an obstructed Balcony. They state and this is a direct quote from the call they got from RCI that “Someone on the revenue team found a higher paying customer.” After spending 3 hours on the phone, they state all they were offered aside from their Royal Up money back was $25 dollar OBC and a bottle of wine which is useless as they have the beverage package. They state they will call again tomorrow to see what else they could maybe be compensated. This is for the April 19th sailing on the Navigator. I was wondering if anyone has had this happen to them and could weigh in on what compensation they have maybe gotten in the past so I can relay it to the OP and give them some expectations regarding if they can get any compensation at all. RCI obviously owes nothing back aside from their Royal Up money and the original room they booked, but this would obviously be a huge blow to anyone if you were lead to believe you won an owner’s suite for over 2 weeks and packed accordingly and then had it reneged because RC’s “ revenue team found a higher paying customer.” After you were told you already won the OS. Especially as they had already left for the embarkation port and packed as if they would have the extra space of an owners suite than a JS which was then reduced to an obstructed balcony.
  13. It doesn’t work out in favor at all, but the itinerary is more varied and gets voted on by the pax. Also get more overnights. It’s definitely way more cost effective to do the world cruises for sure, but even then those itineraries while having some overnights still don’t have the number of overnights I’d like. TBH, it’s unlikely to ever happen as I prefer a wide variety of vacations and wouldn’t want to lock up that level of cash into a ship. I love the exploration and adventure of expeditions, safaris and just city hopping but really love the convenience of cruising as well.
  14. Yeah. It is scaled per apartment I believe. That is still crazy low in my mind to maintain a cruise ship, have free laundry, and all the other extras they include. If the first ship is successful, I’d be onboard for the second offering. Just need to see this model succeed first.
  15. Gotcha. I mean, the monthly fee structure was very concerning to me. I talked to Alister, the president for a while, and he assured me that the all inclusive pricing was more than ample to cover the operating costs of such a ship, and that given the number of passengers I did not understand how a spa being included in the all inclusive pricing was feasible. They would be booked 24/7 for an eternity. I just went to the website, and it has undergone an EXTENSIVE revamping since 2020, and I no longer see spa services listed. The website is CONSIDERABLY fancier now. I also do not see what the fee structure is on the website either, and I am almost certain it was there initially. I see that a child is 15,000 PER YEAR and a teenager is 20,000 per YEAR. That seems incredibly low for laundry service, food, etc. I remember it came out to between 4000-5000 per month for a couple, which to me given everything they included seemed insanely low, and I just couldn't buy into the snake oil. The price was super reasonable at 850k, for the smallest inside, but I just could not wrap my head around how they would sustain a ship with such low fees. Like any Condo association they do list the one time assessments, but even with one time assessments, I just can't get over how little the monthly fees were, given the amount they were offering in return. They even offer doctor's visits. If I'm wrong, than that's great, in that there is a very "cheap" reasonable option for living on a cruise ship in luxury, but it was too huge a risk I felt to buy in.
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