Paulxyz2004

3 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

We used this one years ago:  special_needs@rccl.com

I doubt the Special Needs Department will arrange dinner parties.

Grand Suite Yes - Owners Suite No.

On ‎3‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 3:47 AM, bradenj21 said:

What extras do you request from your room attendant (etc)?

Nothing.

I haven´t seen it in a while but then this could be due to the fact I´m mostly in MTD now and usually come in past the time it would have happened for first seating and I´m gone before it would happen for second seating.

1 hour ago, Germancruiser said:

Well I found it to be a nice touch! Liked that very much! The waiters seems to have liked it, too, they can´t have been all extremly good actors...!

What I don´t need is the captain playing waterball in the pool along with his senior officers with the passengers. THAT is no is job- therefore they have the Entertainment staff! That might be a little contradictory, waiters - yes- captain - no- but thats just opinion!

My Experience is a different one in regards to the waiters. Yes they are good at making it look like if they have fun. Not surprising I think as they are forced into it By their bosses and if they´d not perform to their liking they could face negative effects from them. Over the years I´ve seen many waiters trying to get out of participating. Many also acted embarassed and apologetic About Service being interrupted By this. 

The same you say About the Captain and Senior officers goes for the waitstaff. It is not their Job and therefore they have Entertainment staff. The difference is the waiters work is interrupted By this and they Need to run faster Prior and after this to get Service completed, but they have no choice.

The Captain and officers however most likely do this because they have fun doing it. They certainly have a choice and not every Captain does it. For them it´s voluntairily and probably done in their spare time not pushing more workload into their shifts.

It´s also just an opinion but I feel more for the waitteam than the Captain and officers.

1 hour ago, MichaelinME said:

What some on here don't understand is that this policy affects many. Yes, it does affect Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacles. When I was on the Freedom of the Seas, the changes were mentioned by the Concierge crew and Loyalty Ambassador. 

Changes were coming, but was told on the ship and Royal Caribbean has yet to announce these changes. But staff know! 

 

Eventually, Diamonds will not be allowed in the Diamond Lounges! That will be a significant change for them. Only have 3 Drink coupons, if they are lucky.

All Concierge Lounges will be converted to Suite Lounges, with Diamond Plus being restricted as soon as all conversions occur to the ships. 

 

Pinnacles eventually will be affected also, Royal is just keeping it on the down low for now. 

Pinnacles and Diamond Plus will eventually be the only ones allowed into the Diamond Lounges, and Pinnacles soon will be restricted from the Suite lounges as soon as all the conversions occur. Too many Pinnacles affecting  the "exclusive Suite Lounge" experience per the loyalty ambassador and Concierges. 

 

These are huge changes!. Also, some "dilution" of Diamond Member benefits will be occurring, to reduce expenses?? I'm scared as to what that might be!

 

What bothers me is that Royal and its staff are aware of what's happening and what's coming down the line and do not make some kind of press release to their members so that no surprises and let downs occur once your on the ship!

Give your loyal cruisers a heads up Royal. Not surprise us when we expect a certain level of benefits and experience, for our significant loyalty.

11 minutes ago, MichaelinME said:

With all do respect, they are not rumors anymore. The CL are being converted to Suite Lounges and Diamond + are out. 

As for the rest of the cuts, it is a rumor on these boards, but confirmed when I was on freedom by the staff. 

 

It´s groundhog day again. Every year around this time of year the same discussion starts and the same rumors are spread. 

So you are saying after many years These rumors having been spread around CC this is the year it finally will happen?

I guess if you just wait for a Long enough time something will Change and People can finally say I told you so years ago.

Honestly the biggest News and Change from your post would be if it would actually be true some People on the ship knew About any changes actually Happening.

Oh and D+ never been in for the SL´s.

I will just sit back, relax and wait for summer time to come and most likely not much has changed again. Then we´ll see the whole discussion start over again at the beginning of next year. With changes to come on Feb. 1, then March 1, then April 1....

However thanks for being in the know and sharing your Knowledge.

1 hour ago, Grandma Petania said:

I was not aware that this was a possibility on such a large ship.  I guess I can understand that the Oasis Class ship could be used as a docked “hotel” if the super bowl is held in that city, but it is kind of worrying that the cruise I booked a year and a half in advance could possibly boot us in favor of a large group charter.

 

My son and his husband are planning a cruise for four of us to celebrate my 80th birthday.  We’re booked on Symphony for third week in March 2020.  The date we picked seemed to avoid Easter, spring break, etc.  They are already negotiating vacation leave, and will be flying in from California.  My daughter and I will fly from Virginia to meet them in Miami the day before we sail.  All of us would be extremely disappointed if our reservations were cancelled — especially if we have already booked a hotel and plane fare.

 

Does anyone think I need to be worried about that happening?  Is there anything in RCL contract that states how much notice they have to give?  If it gets to be six months before sailing date, should I be able to relax?

Nobody can predict if something like this will happe to your sailing or not. IMO you only have to worry About it if you Chose to worry About it.

I never worry About it. It never happened to me, but I kow it could. However worrying will not Change a single Thing. It won´t increase any Chances of my sailing being chartered or not. Deal with it if and when it happens, but don´t drive yourself crazy with worries.

The majority of sailings go just as planned and only very few get chartered. This won´t help you once it happens though. 

They can cancel anytime, but the chances of a charter decrease with getting Closer to your sailing time. The Closer to sail date a ship is chartered the more expensive it gets for all. RCI Needs to deal with more passengers booked on the ship and those who charter the ship Need to either sell those cabins in a short time or if not selling the cabins make at least travel Arrangements for the folks going on the ship.

Besides charters they could cancel for other reasons though and These could be on much Shorter notice for stuff like weather or mechanical issues.

13 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

One sailing in 2001 and I’m starting to realize why I haven’t been back. The OP booked 12 rooms and the best they could do is $100 OBC which basically goes back to the cruise line. That’s an insult. Don’t confuse my New York don’t put up with B.S. attitude as being cranky.  I will say if people aren’t willing to take there money elsewhere then they don’t have a right to complain.

11 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

The OP booked 12 rooms.  12 x$100 is $1200.  $1200 divided by 12 is $100 per room. Any way you spin it, it's still $100 per room. Now if there are 2 people per room it's $50 each.  Sorry but I would not take this deal especially if they have to pay a higher price because the sailing they had to settle for is more money.

While your later math is correct, it´s not what you posted originally. You said 12 Rooms = $100 OBC. That actually implies $8,33 per room and not $100 per room. You are the only one trying to spin anything here, but as others said I can see the Habit.

They´ve been empty anyway lately, but before that it was kinda hit or miss, as the cabin attendant was not the one responsible for the Minibar. But you could Always take the stuff out and place it onthe counter to make room for your own stuff.

BTW at the time they were filled a can of Soda from the Minibar was the same Price as from any bar, so really no Need to get them at a bar and put in your fridge unless you got them on your drink package from the bar.

Oh those fridges more often than not just Keep thinks on a slightly cool side, but not really Cold. Though I have had luck with them and actually freezing my water bottles into blocks of ice.

If you reach the Point to get to Diamond on the first leg of a B2B go to the LA and let them know so you would be D on the second leg.

If you turn Diamond during the second leg of your B2B you will be D after that second cruise. 

If it´s the second...Can you ask - sure. Be prepared for a no, as that should be the answer. That´s the rules. 

13 hours ago, TTraub1250 said:

Not all of the sales and service people on board a RCCL ship are employees of the cruise lines.  It is hard to tell at times who is a RCCL employee and who is not.  RCCL has outsourced / rented space on their ships to other companies.  I am not sure of the agreement between these other companies and RCCL, but watch yourself in some of the transactions.  The sale of paintings is reported on several forums to be a scam.  As you can guess once you bought the painting it comes from a warehouse on shore and gets shipped to your house.  Who knows how the pricing is set and of course try to contact someone after you receive your goods.  Based on my past experiences, few of the outside vendors on board the ship are topshelf. I understand a person maybe charged a little more for the convenience of having it close, and at the same time I ask myself if the service providers can not be employed on shore and have to live in the crowed conditions of a ship, then what service level should I expect vs what they are charging.  Your experience ? 

12 hours ago, TTraub1250 said:

Time4u: Point is all about quality, and if the product or service is not what you paid for, then who do you go to, to correct it?  Had an RCCL employee pad my bill at Chops by adding a $10 tip, after I put a line through that part of the receipt.  Now even though I was still on the ship, it took 2 days for RCCL to correct the problem and about 2 hours of my time.  When they are not employees, I am suggesting you will have harder time correcting things if it gets corrected at all.  

I don´t get your Point at all. Why are People contracted By outside Vendors vs. RCI automatically inferior? Why the he.. are you suggesting a Job opportunity on a ship would be the last Resort when they can´t get a Job ashore? But then I could probably say the same Thing About you. Weren´t you able to get a Job ashore and had to Resort to sail on ships as an engineer, to live in crowded conditions of a ship?

I´m sorry but this is just ridiculous and who´s to say an issue like yours wouldn´t have been resolved easier with an outside Vendor than like in your case with RCI.

Oh BTW, everybody can put anything in their signature. I could state I´m the Pope, wouldn´t make me the Pope though and doubtfully anyone would believe it.

It´s hard to believe how many People on here live in a world of denial.

The Points About how harmless vaping is are just far too similar to those About Smoking cigarettes 50 or 60 years ago.

Nobody thought About the Long term effects back then and as history repeats, it´s now Happening again with vaping.

I don´t like second Hand smoke, but to be honest I find second Hand vapor much more offensive. Even if you just inhale water vapor without anything else in there - I do not want to inhale your second Hand water vapor - period!

I do have a very addict to Smoking guy in the Office next to mine. He has to leave the Office to smoke and thought he could have quick vape on the balcony of his Office to stretch the time between trips outside. If he´d smoke outside there I´d probably not know, but I can smell when he vapes out there and I told him to stop it! 

For those trying to tell us how sometimes People get dr. orders to inhale some of the same substances, well it´s one Thing to get a certain Treatment controlled in dose and time By a physician vs. doing the same without Controlling, without Setting a certain dose and for no reason. 

Depending on the dose and the Duration of intake any substance can be a Poison. 

Don´t try to tell People just because some People get the same substances on a dr.´s order it´s healthy for everyone.

20 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Just returned for a lovely 2 night cruise on Mariner.   Survey was delivered by the time  I  log on to the internet.  I thought it was weird  that one question was...

 

"Did you order dessert in the Main Dining Room?"  The next question asked me to rate it.   Not sure if that question  goes  out to everyone.  A few cruises ago, the survey asked me to rate the weather.  

 

Anyone else get random strange questions?

M

 

 

Why do you think it´s a strange or weird Question?

I consider Rating the Food when Rating a restaurant Experience as something completely Logical and normal.

Anytime between booking and Boarding. There´s no fixed schedule for this.

18 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

And they still continue to put all kinds of BS inserts in the Cruise Compass delivered to the stateroom.  Save the waves, except when they need to advertise spa, casino, etc.

Totally agree with this!!! It´s something that irks me for quite while already. What an unbelievable waste of paper. RCI is not alone with this, it happens on other lines as well, wich of Course just makes it worse.

20 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

The complaint seems to be the packaging rather than the sandwich.  There is plenty of other fine unpackaged food available at the Park Cafe.

Maybe, but the title doesn´t say Gas Station packaging, it say Gas Station Food. 

As I said above the packaging is wisely Chosen.

I actually prefer them being packaged and sealed like this. This is way more hygenic than having them on an open tray and they will be much fresher this way too.I see Nothing anyone would Need to be ashamed About. I actually applaud to them for doing it. 

Now if we are Talking "green" we could discuss About the plastic used, but certainly this is not a discussion About inferior Food Quality.

14 hours ago, bostonfred said:

Cheerleader for Royal....why do people think their line of choice is above it all...you are one of tens of millions of crown and anchor members, if it is in their financial interests they will screw you too.....

It´s funny how some People Always come out with the term Cheerleader, just because some/most don´t agree with the Statements like the one made By the OP. Well thinking About it it´s actually sad to see People so incapable of adding to a discussion with valid Points instad of some Name calling.

What´s wrong with the post quoted? If someone has a preferred product and found out he wasn´t happy with another product, I think it´s more than reasonable to tell him it might be better to stick with his preferred product.

I certainly would prefer the true B2B as you had originally planned, as it would save me from packing, debarking, re-packing and embarking again, but I also don´t have the luxury of Living lose to a port, so flying is Always involved.

Putting aside what I said above if this is your Option, I see Nothing wrong with it. While not my first choice, I´d probably go for it in your Situation. 

Would be interesting to ask your friend for their reasoning. Certainly wouldn´t say it´s a terrible idea.

12 minutes ago, steevo L said:

I am still dissapointed that the customer service guy from royals escalation team hasnt contacted me with reason why my entire reservation was canceled. They acknowledged that she had canceled it but wont give me a reason why........

That´s one thing I really don´t understand. Why are you so hung up About the reason why it was cancelled? They admitted they had cancelled it and it seems it was resolved to your satisfaction (besides not knowing the reason). 

The reason IMO is internal RCI information that doesn´t Need to be shared with the public. 

If I´d run the Company I wouldn´t share that bit of information either. It would be a matter of internal Investigation, Training, consequences.

48 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

CC, where rants are mostly for entertainment value, 

Totally agree!!! Though they are not mostly for Entertainment value, their only value is Entertainment. 

So the OP booked a European cruise for two. Cruise got cancelled. Alternatives were offered, but they didn´t work because a minor child was in School, so they rescheduled to a cruise out of PR again for two…..

I´m Pretty sure RCI A2S had not only waived the Change fee, but also any cancellation fee of Airfare. I don´t read it as RCI blaming AA, they were just stating that´s what AA charges them. It´s not unusual to find the same flight for 350pp or 700pp. Different fare buckets even in the same class on the same flight can vary By much more than that. Most likely the fare buckets A2S had in stock were more expensive than the lowest one the OP was Looking for online. Nobody to blame there other than the OP for not cancelling the A2S part and book the flights on their own. Sometimes A2S is a good deal, other times not so much. That´s not Theft or robbery.

10 minutes ago, TravelerThom said:

 

 

OP through no fault of his own loses time, money (his OBC “almost covered the beverage package price difference” meaning he is still losing) and gains nothing but aggravation. This is not “great” in the universe I live in. 

 Bummer for you Living in such a sad and negative universe. Find a better one next time.

Theft and Robbery… yeah sure. 

If you think they robbed you, I´m sure you´ve called the Police. What did they say? Have they investigated?

BBB did Nothing? Hmmmm, I guess you don´t have much to support your accusation. 

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

 

 

I'm not sure which ship you are referring as the CL.  I do remember some 20 years ago the DL on the Radiance being in the VCL and only serving water, soda & wine.  Beer and anything else was for pay.  Also, instead of the nice hor's douvres, only peanuts and pretzels were available.

 

IMHO, I'll take the present amenities any day over what was offered in the past.  Granted the quality & quantity of food was much better in those days.

Your Memory isn´t very good then.

There was no DL on Radiance class ships when they came out between 2000 - 2004. Actually there were no DL´s on any ships, as they were not invented at the time.

Radiance class ships had CL´s back then. It was located on deck 10 in the Centrum. If needed the Overflow was the Yacht club. 

They definitely served more than just water, Soda & wine and they had the same nibbles they have today, certainly not only Peanuts and pretzels.

What you might have in mind is the Diamond Event, but that´s not been around some 20 years ago. The Radiance of the Seas as oldest of the Sisters is hardly 20 years around and the Diamond Events were much later.

20 hours ago, barbiecruiser27 said:

 She is so so so upset! Any ideas? 

 

Also, I know she could have booked a refundable deposit, but at the end of the day, for the money it costs...she'd still only be ahead $50 or so.... so not worth the lecture on that one 😉 

If that´s the case, it can´t be such a big deal she has to be "so so so upset" About.