Wanna Be Retired

I am allergic to seafood.  We had a birthday dinner and the birthday boy insisted on Izumi.  I explained to the waiter that I was very allergic to shellfish.  They were very careful with my food, telling me what I could and could not order, how they brought the food out, how it was arranged on the table, and made sure no knives, forks or spoons touched mine.  I get swollen lips from the seafood in the air but they were very cautious about the plate location.  My dinner was incredible!  I did not get sick and I had a wonderful time.  I went in expecting to have to leave quickly but instead I had a fantastic birthday celebration.

1 hour ago, Jetdriver787 said:

Ignore them or change your marketing preferences.

I just delete them, but I can see how someone can think they have a really good shot at getting a Royal Up.  I just find it kind of funny.

I find it funny that I have a cruise booked with the cabin I want.  I get the Royal Up offer that I don’t want to participate in because I want to stay in my cabin.  The number of emails I get trying to get me to bid is ridiculous!  I delete them but after several hours I get the email again!

15 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Now we are at Columbus.

We were on there for the March 24 sailing and they were not able to do Columbus.  That is my favorite show of all time!  I could see it a million times and still love it!  I know all the lines but it still makes me laugh!

7 hours ago, mets07 said:

We had this exact situation on another cruise (only one slot available in advance of cruise but two people). We did take the slot and hoped for the best, but they were never able to accommodate the second person. 

 

I hope you have better results! Enjoy your cruise. 

My worst case scenario is my money gets refunded and neither one of us go.  If we can’t we will enjoy the day doing something else!  

I found a tour I wanted for a future cruise while I was on a cruise.  I asked the lady at the Excursion Desk what to do because there was two of us and only one slot left.  She told me to grab it and when I got on the ship come to the Excursion Desk and they would work it out.  The worst case scenario was they would refund my money, but they normally had ways of working everything out.  I did just that.  She said they usually have cancellations when people get on board.  She could not promise me but I will go there and see what happens.  I would definitely give it a shot!

I’ve checked in and got a 1:00 pm check in time with a 12:00 pm reservation for lunch in a specialty restaurant.  Got there when boarding began and was on the ship waiting for my reservation.  Nobody looked at the boarding time.  I have done a back to back when there were a few people who had not exited the ship that they were frantically looking for.  They said it was delaying the new people getting on board.

I’ve been on her multiple times in the past year.  We loved every experience.  The crew is outstanding!  The food is great.  I ask for a baked potato instead of rice on Mexican Night and they don’t even bat an eye!  Every person I talk to says the same thing.  When they are having their last voyage before leaving Galveston and they go around to say goodbye to the crew they have weepy eyes.

Kat Falcon is the Cruise Director on Voyager.  I got off March 4th so I have no idea when she came aboard.  Rob McNally was there Christmas.

1 hour ago, bucfan2 said:

We've seen it as well, and simply acquired a couple unused chairs ('saving seats' is discouraged). Found a couple looking to use the lounge, gave them our seats, and re-acquired a couple more. Staff is hesitant to help (somewhat understandable), so we'll gladly do our part. 

I totally get that they are upset.  It never feels good to be told you can’t come in here.  I had one Pinnacle ask me how I felt being kicked out of my lounge by him.  I wasn’t kicked out.  I’m Diamond Plus.  It’s probably coming since I’m not at 340.  He said he was kicked out because of the high number of kids in the suites.  I’m sure when the time comes I get a letter saying I’m not welcome during certain times even if I don’t use it, it doesn’t mean it won’t hurt a little just being told I can’t come in.  At the same time, I’m not going to hog space to make others feel bad because I’ve been hurt.

17 hours ago, firefly333 said:

We had over 100 pinnacles onboard, minus the 30 allowed in the suite lounge. 

 

I'd say the circle was at least 25 chairs. Didnt leave much seating for others. I didnt really care, just laughed to myself. Some friends made pinnacle and it takes 6 months to mail and they were worried about being accepted as a pinnacle before they got their pins. It was obvious.. and funny to me. I'm not sure how I'd feel sitting in a circle anyway, I'm  a non joiner.

I’ve seen that on Harmony, too.  I was kind of surprised the first time I saw it.

Not in Galveston.

Didn’t Voyager get hit by a gust of wind or something that made it list several months ago?  Sometime at the later part of 2023?

I quit taking mine.  They always tell me mine are unacceptable.  I let them take them since I am such a bad photographer.

I’ve sailed multiple times this year.  Yes, you get the same cup you would get if there was a freestyle machine.  You can get it filled at any bar with soda.  

I’ve done Voyager five times and Allure three.   I’m going to go on my second Harmony,  The ice show is the same but the skaters have changed.  Every ice show on Voyager someone has fallen in the same spot.  Not always the same person, but someone hits the ground in the same spot.  That said, we never miss the ice show.  We never miss the same parade.  We go to the same itinerary and we have the best time!  Galveston does have some Harmony sailings going to CocoCay this year.

1 hour ago, shellunderwater said:

We had them create a separate card that duplicates one of them.  But we've also had them combine them for us.  The table game folks didn't like to duplicate card, made me use my original seapass.

Talk to the host, see whats best.

 

Check "Chris Wong Vlogs" on youtube.  He is a casino host.  He has a video about this.

Well, the worst thing that can happen is that they don't do it, but they certainly won't if I don't ask!  Thank you for at least giving me the idea to ask them!  We have several cruises at the first of the year so maybe we can move up if this works!  I appreciate you tell me to give it a try!

18 minutes ago, shellunderwater said:

yes, get the casino host to combine points on the cards for you.  They can do that.  Cabin offers are generally for two people so combining is good for cabin offers.

Really?  I’m going in a few days so I will ask!  That is the best news ever!  Thank you!

Royal has its own terminal.  It is not where the old terminal used to be.  It is in the hospital district and it is usually an easy embarkation disembarkation.  There have been times when I have had to wait but not often.  Getting off is facial recognition where you don’t need your passport unless the facial recognition system is down.  The terminal is really nice and there is a parking lot where you can park and just walk to the terminal.  My husband drops me and the bags off, parks the car, walks back to me and we go in, up the escalators, check in and usually walk to the metal detectors and keep walking to the doors where we are scanned and walk to the bridge and on the ship.  Occasionally there might be a hiccup but not often.  I just keep my phone in my hand with my set sail pass for me and my husband and we are good.  I also never take our photos when I check in.  They are never accepted.  I let them take them at check in.  Takes a few seconds.

I have a passport card.  I cruise often so I have a passport card that I can use while I am renewing my passport.  They don’t expire at the same time so I’m covered.  I don’t plan to use my passport card often but I have it if I need it.

I'm new to the Casino so I am making a ton of mistakes.  My husband plays on his card and I play on mine and I think we should just play on one card.  He has over 600 points and I have 799.  We also have spent very little of our own money.  We put in $20 and when we win over we cash out, put the winnings in our pocket and put the $20 back in the machine.  We keep our casino money separate, and we have more than we started out with but I don't know what I am doing so I haven't tried to do anything else other than what we are doing.  We stay on low bets and just spin the slots.  We do have a really good time though.

Just now, Tlbecker1 said:

This is still how it is done on the smaller, older ships.  

Really?  Voyager is the smallest oldest I have been on and they don’t do it there.  It’s still kind of neat to remember those days!

Remember when they used to print all those photos out and put them in those shelves?  You would stand there and go through them looking for yours but you would see everybody else’s too.  That was a very long time ago!

We just got off Voyager.  When we got on we went immediately to My Time Dining and told them my reservations were way too late for us.  He asked if either of us had allergies and I do.  Seafood.  He asked if we wanted to sit with others or a table by ourselves.  My husband said the last two cruises we sat with others there were fights at the table between others and we would prefer not to do that again!  We were given a table for two when MYD opened with the same waiters.  They were great.

I always try to hold the door for the person in the wheelchair and their family to get in the elevator comfortably.  If there is no room for me then I back out and wait for the next or take the stairs.  Next cruise I may be the one in the wheelchair or the scooter.  Those elevator doors do not wait for anyone.