ColoradoGurl

I'm guessing it's just poor cruise employees. I was brought up that it is extremely rude to ask what something costs let alone to question someone on how much and how they are paid. In some countries it's even considered to personal to ask a random person what they do for a living. So I'm not sure where the people who are asking the people that are there in a position where it would be tricky and possibly get them a bad rating to not answer questions on how much they are paid.

I can see where you're coming from, as I would be offended if someone asked me how much money I make as well. However in my case, the information was offered to us after we asked the waiters how we could give them their tips because we assumed we could hand deliver them in an envelope (our prior cruise in 2004 did it this way, but in 2013 they had switched to charging them to your account and we were confused). We had become very friendly with the waiters as they tended to hang out at our table for a good portion of the meal every night because we liked talking to them and asking them where they were from and for recommendations for port day excursions etc. When we told them that we hadn't gotten envelopes to tip them towards the end of our trip they explained how it worked, we didn't come right out and ask. I wish the cruise line would be more forthcoming in this regard though, because I think many people assume they are getting paid a salary and don't like being forced to tip. As a previous poster said, we should call it a supplemental fee instead of a tip, because that's really what it is. On one hand it's nice because it's spreading the cost of employee salaries to those who utilize them the most (say at the bar for instance- the heavy drinkers pay the most because tney use them the most), but in other cases, that's not true since a lot of people just simply don't like to share their money.

PS- the waiters also offered that the automatic tipping was done to help them out since prior to automatic tipping, when people had the option to hand over envelopes with the "recommended" tips...people simply walked off the ship and didn't tip. This is when he explained that the tips were their sole source of salary (besides free room and board) and that they made more money when people were required to tip. However it sounds like lots of people have taken a stance that they don't like the cruise line's policy of forcing tips and just remove them anyway. While I'm sure it sounds nice to protest on behalf of the employees in hopes that the cruise line will start paying them a wage, all those people are really doing is excusing their cheapness and making the employees suffer. Taking this stance against the cruise line does not help the employees and it likely never will. You're better off paying additional cash funds on top of auto tips in order to ensure the person helping you all week gets their share and the cruise line isn't skimming off the top (I don't know if they do this...just saying), and then maybe write a letter expressing your discontent. But don't justify your cheapness by pretending it's some great stance against policy.

I think the increase is a good thing. I've always been a 20% tipper, at minimum for average service and have always added an additional tip whenever the "included" tip is less than 20%. What I do wish is that the bartenders were actually receiving the tips.

My guess is that they increased the amount because bartenders have complained about low wages since the packages have come out. And from reading this board, I've been pretty disgusted to see how many people not only don't tip extra, but actually REMOVE their onboard tips entirely. I get it that in theory tips should be given for good service, but in the cruise industry they are used differently...because they can be. Cruise operators offer free room and board for the employees, but they don't pay them a salary (I asked several of our waiters on our last cruise). They rely 100% on tips. I don't mind adding an additional $300 or $400 to my spending money in order to cover this. Sure, I'd rather just pay it as part of my cruise fee and know the employees were getting a salary, but they aren't. So I include that additional cost myself. In fact after reading how cheap so many cruisers are in this dept. (Especially the ones from the UK), I am sorry that I didn't tip MORE last time. I gave all 3 waiters and my room attendant an additional $40, but after thinking how much I'd have paid on an equitable dinner if I'd gotten a bill and calculated my tip, especially with the great service I received, I would have tipped far more than that in "real life" and plan to make sure I bring an extra $100 bucks for all of them on my next cruise to make up for all the cheap tippers complaining about an extra $1.50 a day. Give me a break. If you think that's too much, then downgrade your room category to give you the extra money for tips. I even make sure my daughter has a pocket full of dollar bills and have taught her from a young age to give a couple bucks to bartenders for her sodas, and I have her hand her own money to bus and taxi drivers and porters and room service people when we're on vacation.

I had applied for a passport name change and supplied all of the documents needed, not realizing my divorce certificate was notarized and not certified, it was rejected. I had paid extra for expedited mail and I overnighted a certified copy of my papers stating name change. Still no passport. On a closed loop cruise. My direct question is this: Can I get off the ship and go to Grand Cayman and do the same in Cozumel with my certified copy birth certificate and Drivers license? The name on BC and DL and cruise tickets all match.

 

 

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You'll be fine without a passport. The only time you need documents is when you check in, they don't check them at the ports, which I was bummed about because I was hoping to add stamps to my passport :) Last time I cruised in 2013, a birth certificate and state ID were sufficient.

Hi,

Called recycling 2 months ago as interested in a cruise for us and our 5 year old daughter.

Lady was nice on the phone, and reserved a cabin for me, and I left the call with the impression it had a sofabed.

Paid for, and recently found out that it has a Pullman bed from the roof, not a sofabed, and they aren't recommended for under 6 yr olds, certainly not mentioned.

 

My query is has anyone had a young child sleep in these beds, and is it completely safe?

 

I'm not happy with rccl for this confusion and have complained, but they only seem able to offer me an upgrade at a higher price difference than advertised on the website currently. I don't mind paying extra if necessary, but I expect a little movement on their part as I feel it was missold.

 

Thanks,

Dalcross

I don't think they should be required to upgrade you for free, because whose to say the Pullman is only for children? Why not let the kids sleep in the regular bed and the adult in the Pullman? As far as Royal Caribbean is concerned, there are enough beds in the room for the people booked and it's not their concern that the parents (adults) don't want to give up the regular bed. Just a technicality and I don't think legally or morally they're going to feel the need to upgrade you just because you don't want to put yourself in the Pullman instead.

Thanks everyone for the advise. My husband isn't very excited by the 7 hours traveling.

You may have already gone on your cruise, but if not (or if anyone else is browsing and curious), I think this would be much longer day than 7 hours. I just went in October 2014 to Chichen Itza from Cancun on an organized tour and it was an extremely long day (10 hours!!! Most of which was driving to and from, of course we did have to pick up and drop off other guests at their hotels which you wouldn't be doing). If they are offering to do Chichen Itza from a tour out of Cozumel, my guess is you will be really rushed on your tour, given that 6 of those 7 hours are for driving :/ If this is all the time you get to spend touring the grounds, it will likely feel like a wasted day. I will say though, it was a really neat experience, I took my daughter (12) who also thought it was awesome and didn't complain about the time it took. You absolutely cannot touch or climb on any structures though, they are all roped off.

Thank you for taking responsibility and understanding the health risks.

 

gc

Life lessons learned :) Thankfully that one wasn't learned the hard way. Funny how just 10 years later I can look back and realize what a kid I was myself. Yikes.

Knowing the serious hazard of ecoli, especially in a children's pool, and knowing the rules, I'm shocked you tried to sneak her in. Not very responsible.

Honestly at the time, I don't know how aware of stuff like that I was; I was only 24 and just mad that I spent so much money on a cruise where they wouldn't offer any ammenities for the person I paid that money for. I was at my wits end having hit roadblocks at every corner for activities for her and she was crying because I wouldn't let her swim. She spent a lot of time in the pool at home and so I gave in because I was stressed out at the crying child and the cruise company who charged me almost 2 grand for a 3 year old who couldn't do anything. She was well potty trained but I knew enough not to test the water without a swim diaper just in case. But as a "real" adult, I'm far more aware of why those rules are in place and I would never do that now.

Will they not allow a small child in the pool with even a swim diaper on?

Nope. They don't allow it. I tried that with my 3 year old and was quickly caught and made to get out. She was potty trained for the most part but I didn't trust her in the pool as sometimes she wasn't as quick to tell me she had to #2. I could have risked taking the swim diaper off and letting her swim, but if she ruined the pool, we wouldn't have been able to show our face on the ship for the rest of the week. Swim diapers aren't even allowed in the kids' pools.

We were all set to book our family cruise on Serenade, until we realized there is no Splash pool for kids.

 

We'll have a 1 year old at the time.

 

No way she'll be potty trained.

 

But definitely too old to just sit around.

 

My wife asked me, "What is she supposed to do all day on that ship? She's too little for Adventure Ocean, she can't use the kids pool, There are no Dreamworks characters. I just don't want her having to sit with us and watch her sister and older cousins play."

 

Parents of little ones not potty trained, what did you do with your little one all day?

 

We've taken our older daughter on cruises at that age but it was on Oasis & Allure.

I think the newer/bigger ships have more options for small kids, but in my experience on Voyager class ships...you're just gonna have to adapt your vacation like you do your regular life :( You're not going to be able to enjoy the same ammenities and freedoms as you did before you had kids or that you have with older children. I believe you can pay a babysitter on board, but 10 years ago the option required the babysitter to be in your stateroom, plus an additional fee. Kids in swim diapers are not allowed in ANY pools, even the kids pools (at least 10 years ago this was the case). I had to separate myself from the rest of our group and spent a lot of time in our stateroom during nap times watching tv and reading by myself, and had to go back to the ship instead of exploring islands because there's only so much small kids can take without naps and quiet time. I brought an umbrella stroller and was able to shop and stroll around the ports while everyone else was off having fun, but there was nothing on the ship offered for small kids at the time. I paid $1800 for her to go with us (including airfare) and there was absolutely nothing for her to do. It soured me on cruises for the next 10 years. I've since then been able to go with her as an older child and have a blast, but would never ever go with a kid under 3 again! The sacrifices of motherhood are no fair :)

Was your child in Adventure Ocean at the time or was she in the Teen Club? You mention the arcade being left open, the arcade is available to all passengers so it is open all the time. The "disco room" you refer to would be Fuel and that is available only to the Teen groups, not Adventure Ocean. During the day, Fuel typically is not used and the teen groups are in The Living Room.

 

Just trying to understand what you are referring to because if she was in the teen group, kids come and go as they want and there aren't always a lot of kids there.

Gotcha- I'm not super familiar with the differences because she's never been able to use the facilities in any age group. She was 10 going on 11 at the time and there was no Adventure Ocean activities for her because there weren't enough kids on board, at least in her age group anyway, which is what we were told by a staff member when we went looking for someone to tell us when it would open, then we also got an official note in our room saying all activities were cancelled. The rooms that we were told she could use to hang out in were open, but nobody was ever in there. We only saw a couple kids on board throughout the ship in her age group and honestly I dont recall if there were younger ones because I wasn't looking for those. But after several days of checking in the rooms for others dropping in and nobody ever did, we gave up and my daughter was really bummed. She was never able to find a friend her age at the pool either. Maybe because it was so close to spring break that most families waited for the break to take their cruise rather than take the kids out of school. We met one girl her age in the buffet and she was homeschooled in canada. Unfortunately we met her on the last day.

I have never ever heard of the kids club closing.

They do cancel activities if there are not enough kids but the kids club /room itself is always open and staffed during the posted hours. Bizarre..

They did leave the disco room open and we went several times on different days in hopes of finding kids there, but there never were any and there was never any staff in there when we went to check it out. It never occurred to me that it would be closed either, but I can tell you for a fact that it was. We also got an official note while on board that all activities were cancelled for adventure ocean because of low numbers of kids. I don't think it's bizarre, it would be a waste of money on their end for them to staff it for one child.

That's a shame. I think the Mariner is one of the smaller / shorter destination ships? We had the same issues with Disney cruise when my DD was 2.5 years...wasn't allowed in the pools or the kids club except during open hours. Not a huge deal, but I agree that it's better to cruise when your kids are at least toilet trained. Hopefully you'll actually get to experience kids club in the future.

At the time, Mariner was a 7 night cruise. But there were too few kids on board to open it up. We went several times because they did leave the doors open for the disco or some room for older kids, and we were hoping that maybe some other kids on board would show up to hang out, but there was never anyone in there. There may have been something open for the very young kids, but not for her age group. And we were told it was because there were too few kids on board.

This is the first I've heard of this happening. Can I ask what ship and what month you went in?

We were on the Mariner during the last week of February of 2013 out of Galveston. They left the arcade open, but she was unimpressed with it. We were also on the Explorer in 2004 out of Miami, that time during spring break and it was packed with kids. Unfortunately my daughter was only 3 and while she was mostly potty trained, she still needed swim diapers and help going #2, so she was not able to use Adventure Ocean then either. She also couldn't use the pools. I paid $1800 for her during that cruise and she couldn't do ANYTHING. It was not a fun trip for me, with a toddler having to sit through 3 hour dinners and napping during port days. From what others say though, if you have the right age child and go during a time that there are enough kids, kids seem to really enjoy it. I have never experienced anything good with Adventure Ocean myself though.

We are cruising on the Adventure of the Seas on March 29

we are from newfoundland and they do not sell bonine or anything similar in our pharmacies.... Due to Air Canada flights we can not fly in the day before, we have to fly in the day of the cruise. Just wondering where can I purchase Bonine prior to boarding the ship or if it will be available on board. I cruised last year for the first time and I am sure I am going to require it. We do not land until around 2 pm that day so we will not have a lot of time for exploring San Juan sadly. Thanks in advance :)

Have you ever tried the seasickness patch? I have extreme motion sickness and even using Dramamine doesn't work for me, I still throw up. But my last cruise I got a prescription for the patch from my doctor and it worked perfectly! I didn't feel even remotely seasick. The only side effects from it came towards the end of the 7 days cruise (around day 5) when my vision got blurry and my throat started hurting. I took it off and my vision came back very quickly and my sore throat went away. I later learned that it's ok (and recommended) to remove them after 3 days because the medicine is still in your body and your body has also had time to acclimate to the motion of the boat. If for some reason you start to feel seasick after removing it you can put another one on.

We are to be in San Juan before long. Is it more of a sight/seeing place, or what would you recommend that we see/do?

 

Any FREE beach there?

If you'll be there overnight, there's a cool nighttime experience called the bio bay. I've never done it but it's on my list to try when we go. I found this tour operator highly recommended. You can also do a rainforest tour with them. http://www.kayakingpuertorico.com/pages/biobay.html

There's also a restaurant called Barrachina that is the birth place of the original piña colada. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147320-d779529-Reviews-Barrachina-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html

That's all I've found so far :)

My husband and I just booked our first cruise!! Alone :) Not really!! We have now decided to take our 10 year old daughter with us because we would miss her. Need any advice on cruising with kids. We will be on the Oasis of the Seas. We have a cabin on 12. Should we move up to 14 to be closer to the pools, kids club?? Will we ever have ANY time alone?

I always travel with my daughter (single child). She was 10 going on 11 during out last cruise and ended up completely attached to my hip. If I had been traveling with a significant other and wanted alone time, it would not have happened....ever. Adventure ocean was closed because there weren't enough kids on board and she had absolutely nobody to hang out with. There was a lot for her to do on the ship, but nothing that she wanted to do alone. I don't know how your daughter is, but while mine is independent and sometimes left to get ice cream or something by herself, she was never gone long enough for any "adult time" to happen. My first suggestion to you would be to make sure you are sailing during a school break to ensure other kids are on board. This will allow her to meet friends who she will enjoy hanging with at the pool or movie theater. If not, you can always book her a facial at the spa, and you would at least have a guaranteed hour :)

I have three in my "Compare Cruises"

 

Here is the link: Help me decide!

 

Hope that link works!

 

I've been on Adventure and Navigator - Navigator right out of dry dock last year. Adventure has been updated since we went on it last. I'm not sure about Jewel since we've sailed FOS and upcoming Allure. Would Jewel be too small? I do like the ships I've been on so far.

 

I love all the options, the Navigator has only one new stop for us. Adventure and Jewel would have 4 new stops, but fewer sea days and nights on board. Also I think I can get to Ft. Lauderdale cheaper, and faster from Texas. So many factors!

 

 

Any input? Thanks in advance!

I would add up the total price of Hotel, Airfare, Transportation to the dock and the cruise fare. I had been researching cruises out of Florida assuming it would be more expensive to leave from Puerto Rico, which turned out not to be true (for the month I'm sailing anyway, in August). Airfare to Puerto Rico (through Texas) was $200 cheaper per person than flying to Florida. Also the Embassy suites in Puerto Rico was $150/night cheaper than the Embassy Suites in Florida as well. A 7 day cruise out of Florida was going to cost me at least a thousand extra dollars than spending 7 days on the cruise from Puerto Rico plus an extra 3 days in Puerto Rico. Also I mention the transportation because 2 years ago we took a cruise out of Galveston and ended up paying an additional $300 just to get from the airport and back. I didn't realize how far away it was and how expensive it would be to get to the port once we flew in to Houston. I would never travel out of Texas again for that reason alone. I don't know how much it costs to take a taxi or bus to the Florida Dock, but I do know it costs only $20 to get there in Puerto Rico.

Police and Fire Dept ... OH yes .. no question ... and they should ...

 

but I'm just curious ... EMTs qualify for a discount but not hospital staff? Why ?

My guess is because they want extra emergency personnel on board in case they need them. But other people's idea that it's a public relations stunt on ROyal Caribbean's part is probably true, it sounds good to offer first responders a special discount, but it sounds like they don't really offer it anyway. I tried to get a couple firefighter/EMT friends to join me for a cruise and told them there was a discount and it turned out to be non-existent. They were quoted the same price I paid.