Goodtime Cruizin

It was Andrys, from Ukraine. He was especially happy the first night he served us as is wife got on the ship that day. She was to work in the Adventure Ocean program.

This is Royal propaganda. Add to this 18% on every purchase you make. Can you imagine Hilton doing this?

I do not believe this for even a minute. Demand is too strong w/ or w/o the Icon.

Yes, per person! .... for a balcony cabin.

The ports were over the top beautiful stops. We only did one of the four ports w/ RCL. We had private guided tours for Kotor and Athens. Small group tour for Mykonos, and then RCL for Argostolli. Kotor - Viator Private Walking Tour (Rick Steve's Recommended) Miro & Sons actually handled the tour and the tour guide was actually from Kotor. He knew his stuff and was extremely proud of his small but independent country. After the tour he recommended a family owned restaurant which we enjoyed a nice lunch. Corfu - RCL's Glyfada Beach Transfer. Was good. Not great but good. Water & Beach was fabulous. Accomodations so-so. Kitchen was opened... but the bartend literally walked me over a small store around the corner and pointed out some freshly made 'pies'. Think turnovers. Spinach. Cheese, and Fruit. I bought one of each for 1eu each. Athens. Viator Private Guide. I wanted to learn, hear as much as possible at a place I wanted to see since I was watching Hercules cartoons. Peggy was our guide and she was absolutely incredible. Occasionally I got lost in her broken English but this woman is a walking google machine in regards to the Parthenon & Acropolis. Our driver took us as far as possible and then the climb began. It was hot but not as hot as Texas is right now. We thoroughly enjoyed the museum. Incfedible stuff. Mykonos - Viator - Small Group Tour up and all around Mykonos from the mountains, to the old lighthouse, to the only public beach left in Mykonos, to the beautiful small street shops of Mykonos. Good time. Would do again. We docked at the 'new' port. Odyssey was tendering her passengers at the old port of Mykonos. We shared an incredible greek gyro sandwich. We had to take a water bus back to new port. 2eu. Heads up, the guide told us that the average beach entrance fee is around 80eu these days. We saw the new resorts and villas being built all over the sides of the mountains. Mykonos is hot property these days. Argostolli - Paid for a RCL excrsion but did not get of the ship. Ravenna - So many options to get there from Venice & Bologna. We did Venice & booked the RCL transfer. a 2 1/2 bus ride there and 2 1/2 hrs back to Venice. It sounds ok when you're making plans, but it's taxing on travel day. Especially on the way home. Our cost was $90 for the two of us, eacg direction. But I can clearly see why Venice moved the ships out. Saturday in Venice was like crazy w/ people. Unreal. But wow is Venice special. We loved Venice. Venice - We stayed at the Canal Grande, a very nice boutique hotel. We water taxi'd from airport to the hotel. No dragging our bags over any walking bridges for us! The hotel has a dock. Worked out great. We then set our phone gps to the Rialto Bridge and took off exploring. It's a beautiful city. Amazing shopping, and near the Rialto Bridge, it's lined with resturant after restaurant for excellent food, and drinks. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Met a few B2B couples. But don't have any details.

It was a total fiasco on the Explorer. Cruisers were talking about it throughout the ship. I asked what the issue was and the person at the desk w/ the walkie talkie told me that the busiest time frame on that cruise was 7:30pm. "Everybody wants a table at 7:30." So I don't know really. but it isn't going well for Royal. I expect we'll see some sort of changes soon. Perhaps placing a maximum limit of MTD placements.

what cruise if I may ask?

"I want to wash my ha, ha, hands, I want to wash my hands"

Yes. Aug 6th. Wonderful cruise. So beautiful. We enjoyed some great guides and took advantage of the trip and took in Venice while over there. Thanks for your concern. We both are like zombied out looking around gong, "what happened?" But we'll be fine given the time.

so I thought I'd share some thoughts. It was our first cruise since the pandemic hit so this will be a bit of comparison of what I liked and didn't like. And perhaps a comment or two on the different cruise eras. This is not a review on Royal overall but just my cruise and the Explorer. What I didn't like. 1. I'll start w/ MTD. At one time it was really a great concept. Offering tables for hungry passengers that didn't want to eat early and didn't want to eat late. Well guess what ? It appears few want to eat early or late nowadays and most everyone wants to eat between 7:30-8:30pm. Try as they might, the staff, the kitchen, and the dining rooms just can't handle it any longer. Perhaps it's all by design to move some passengers who grow frustrated to the specialty places. Who knows? But it was bad pretty much all week. Night 3, as walked out of the Sapphire the MTD line w/ reservations had a line of 150+ at 9:05pm. Crazy man crazy. But I know, there will be a ton of comments on how things went perfect w/ them & MTD. Not so on this cruise. 2. Turn down service at night was greatly missed. Paying $16/day/person for room service is crap. That's another $112 to one's total cruise fare. Royal should adjust the rate properly at the sales point. Our cabin attendant had 14 cabins. She was golden. We gave her a nice tip. I'll get toasted for this but paying more for less is not good. Going forward and given the option, I'm removing my gratuities. I'll pay out the $32 daily to those that serve me directly. Those that don't need to be paid better by Royal via the cruise fares, not w/ a forced gratuity by me. Or they need to improve their skill sets and find ship jobs that gain them tips. Royal is already getting more money for the cruise fares these days and have less staff. 3. Men's restrooms were not as clean as the past. In fact, I never saw an attendant once cleaning a men's room. And believe me at my age, it is frequently visited. Pool deck and Promenade decks are the most frequent used decks and I never once saw an attendant. 4. Bread. This is one area that is obvious in the MDR. And the same selections are not offered either. What I did like. 1.I loved the two dudes singing and playing the guitar at the entrance of the Windjammer. They actually enforced people to wash their hands. Each side offer 5 cleaning stations, w/ soap, sink and paper towels is good stuff. Singing "I'm leaving on a jet plane" on the last day was creative & entertaining. 2. As always, I enjoy the spirit of the bartenders and servers. In fact, we had our very best server at a Chops on this cruise that actually restored our confidence in Chops. 3. Speaking of bartenders.... I've read that some believe that the drinks are weaker for DBP holders and that is far from the reality. In fact, the drinks are open poured. They were good. 4. The shower heads in those Beam Me Up Scotty shower tubes...they're actually pretty damn good. I'm amazed at how good the showers feel. The flow of hot water is strong and I'm puzzled on how the ship keeps it going for so many people. 5. Lastly, not once was I handed a slip to sign to pursuade a tip. Not once. That was nice. Everything is subjective from the food, menus, to the looks of the ship. By the way, despite washy washy before yummy yummy singing guys, we both got pretty sick day 7 and while traveling back to stateside. The covid tests came back as negagive but we're not so sure. We're staying away from all for awhile to be safe. Goodimes I tell ya, Goodtimes!

Go get a vax & wear a mask. It'll work.

If you track it, it most likely will not be an accurate reflection of the purchase as it will probably 'sway' a decision to either drink more to make the math come out to your favor.... or.... it'll slow you down when you realize how much you're drinking. My calculations are always based on the number of sea days vs port days. Or how often I plan to be away from the ship.

As always, commentary is all over the map! Which is always entertaining.

I think like shortage of staff, there's a shortage of lobsters.

We've always enjoyed Lobster on our past cruises. Typically on the 2nd formal night as part of the menu offering in the MDR. We're heading out in a few days for the Explorer in the Greek Isles and I'm hearing this is no longer offered on European cruises. Can anyone confirm this? Is lobster night a thing past the past these days as well?

While this is so so very true, I do bet you discuss w/ your children what you think they do is wrong in an effort to bring to their attention ways to improve. Unlike the OP on the LIE thread that failed to communicate to the powers to be so but decided the best way to fix the problem was to tell us. I can't imagine you telling your butcher, hair stylist, or complete strangers the issues of your children thinking this would help them. Something tells me that the 'H&H' container still has milk in it and few if any employees know to care.

I do believe there is a difference of offering a critique of something vs an endless post of sniveling & complaining. But that's just me.

You'd be shocked to see and hear how people order their coffee at Starbucks. Very fattening indeed.

Wow 24th since the re-start! I don't know that I've been to a grocery store 24 times since the re-start! LOL But it's very nice to hear. We sure hope we have the same thoughts. But to be honest, I so disliked the seperation of the passengers during the re-start. It really sent a message to everyone of us. And now, reading this board, the negativity can really mess w/ you.

In less than two weeks we'll be on on 12th cruise w/ Royal and our first since Sept 2019. We're very excited of course but also a bit concerned about the cutbacks. We'll experience firsthand these changes and if the 'wow' factor has left RCL, we'll be right behind it. I'm not sure what to expect. Reading these boards helps. one educate themselves some but it also can make one a bit jaded as well. It's a balance for sure.

Of course she is! She's even entitled to 'hate' on other's opinions as well. Such as it is.

"I agree they are a dishonest company. I put no faith in their honesty." But he continues to put money into Royal's checking account and hates on others. For the record, I drink my coffee black or occasionally w/ whiskey.

Give it a rest will you? You're the one that has been extremely judgmental about Royal. And when you get called out for it for continuing to drop your $$$ on this company that you claim lies to you about multiple things, you then get all 'hateful' to others. Move on already.

MILKGATE. I make a motion as a duly bought & paid for Diamond and member of the Royal Caribbean Loyalty program, I formerly request sub-committee nominations to oversee a formal hearing. Do I have a second to my motion?

not really. I mean today on Freedom that were discouraging passengers from arriving early. but that doesn't mean it's across the entire fleet. In fact, it could very well change tomorrow on the Freedom. I'm done. Enjoy your cruise!