Threedrones

Hi michuck,

my wife and I were on Freedom last week. Shampoo, body wash and conditioner all in one in the shower. I recently had an injury, so walking was difficult. They will pick you up right by the gangplank, no waiting if you mention your problem. 
 

Not exactly “just off”, but sailed 9/18-9/22. Just thought I would jot down some points that it seems people ask about frequently. Departure was a breeze at Port of Miami. Our check in time was supposed to be 11:30, but we arrived at 10:40. Checked in with birth certificates ( long story there) with no problem. No sooner than being seated in the waiting area, our group was boarding. Went directly to muster station for info and proceeded to Windjammer. Windjammer opens at 11:15 and it was only 11:00. They opened early (11:05) so we enjoyed a nice lunch. In short, we checked in, did our muster drill and ate lunch prior to our assigned arrival time. The process was extremely easy and organized.

A small hiccup occurred after we ate. Thinking our soda cups would be in our cabin, we went to the bar to order a soda. The bartender scanned our set sail passes and gave us glasses of soda. When we later found that the cups were no longer placed in the cabin, we went to claim ours. However, when our set sail passes were scanned, it indicated that we received our cups. It took a while to explain, but we finally got our cups though I still think they didn’t believe us.

Cabin 9340 was nice and convenient. A hump cabin near the elevators, it was still quiet inside. Our steward, Serjav, was great. There is no longer a turn down service in the evening, but that is fine in our opinion. The stewards are really overworked as it is.

Food in the Windjammer was not really hot, but not cold either. Carving stations aren’t prevalent as they were in the past. We had omelets made to order at breakfast (these were hot) and remarkably the fellow taking our order knew it on the second day before we would order.

Main dining room was satisfactory. The service was terrific, but portions are definitely smaller  and far less variety is available. Taste, of course, is too subjective to comment on, but we were happy with our selections. And, if you want more to eat, you can always get more, no problem.

Since this was a cruise to just relax, we didn’t attend any shows. We would have gone to the ice show, but it began at 10:30 pm, too late for us. We really lucked out on the weather with the storms coming at night and daylight hours being warm and sunny.

Finally, with embarkation so organized, we found the opposite for disembarking. Everyone is assigned a number if you are not walking off with your bags. Cabins need to be vacated before 8:00 am and your number is assigned a place to wait. Everything fine so far, but there were no announcements to announce the numbers being called. We were in the Royal Theater, with many other numbers, and there was a small screen displaying the process and who had already been called, but the average person would need binoculars to make out the numbers. We did not care, because we were in no hurry to leave, but I can see how it would be a burden to some.

Overall, a great cruise and am looking forward to our next.

22 hours ago, resordanis said:

Hi all,

Once again, I seem to have misplaced the email address for contacting dining at RCCL.Want to contact them re a table for 2.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I followed advice on cruisecritic and emailed Mona at mgutierrez@rccl.com. We, too, were requesting a table for two. She got back to me in three days with great news, our request granted. She also sent my dining room and table number. We sent our request two weeks prior to sale date along with our ship, sailing and booking number. Good luck.

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Had you already e-mailed rcldining@rccl.com and then followed up with Mona or did you just start with Mona?

We did not try the rcldining@rccl.com address. I thought I read in a previous comment that it was no longer in use. ( not sure ). I actually saw Mona’s email on one of your posts first that referenced BecciBoo, so thank you. In short, we emailed Mona, who forwarded our request to Freedom. Very quick and very easy.

Thanks again to all.

On 2/20/2023 at 2:53 PM, BecciBoo said:

Here is my go to email addies, they have never failed to reply but 2 weeks out seems to be a good time:

 

 

Team Lead Dining AffairWhere Administration

Mona Gutierrez <mgutierrez@rccl.com>  

or

 

Marlene Prieto

Administrator, Restaurant Operation
Food & Beverage Operation
(305)539-6000  | mprieto1@rccl.com

We took your advice and emailed Mona two weeks out. She answered the following day saying our request had been forwarded to our ship. We received another email today ( 2 days later ) that out request was granted. This email included our dining room and table number. A big thank you to BecciBoo for the info and Mona (and RCCL) for their prompt replies. Also, a shout out to Cruisecritic.com. This site is a great source of information.

We started using Celebrity pre-pandemic. MANY similar sailings were already cheaper than Royal Caribbean. If you don’t participate in all the bells and whistles, I think Celebrity offers a better experience. Of course, that is all subjective. I enjoy not lugging around a cup and getting cans of coke instead of a glass. I enjoy going to a casino and not holding my breath because of the smoke..on the other hand, if I’m taking young ones along, it’s Royal without a doubt.

We renewed ours mid April and received 9 weeks later. We tracked them online and received them while they were still “ in process”.

1 hour ago, Nacho.Daddy said:

Since we have earned it, as you correctly put it, why can we not use what we have earned as we see fit. If I want to give away my 4 Diamond drinks every day, so be it, I've earned them. If I want to give my free pic away, since I've earned that pic, why not? No one is trying to beat the system. We are simply taking what we have earned and doing what we want with it.

While I think it is a great idea to give a pic away when you don’t want that particular benefit, RCL clearly states on their benefits page that is not their intent. “ Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle club members receive a free any size photo of your choice from your existing photograph selection.” Someone else’s pic would not be in your photograph selection. But, like many other things on board, I’m sure it is done on occasion.

I was told it would show up a couple of weeks before sale date. We sale on 9/18 and it’s already there ( cruise planner, like others have said ).

10 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

Just be sure to tell them which plan you want the drink applied to.  I am pretty sure they will apply the sodas to the soda package first but it doesn't hurt to mention it.

 

That’s what I was thinking. Thanks.

This will be our first cruise using the 4 drinks as Diamond. We are thinking of getting the soda package, too. Has anyone run into a problem having a soda taken off as one of your Diamond drinks rather than off of your soda package?

20 minutes ago, Bocker3 said:

Actually, the second call, in this case, in nonsensical.  She KNOWS she is sailing on Celebrity, so once she's told that this number is a Royal Caribbean number, there is no reason to call back.  None!

This had nothing to do with possibly getting the wrong information from the rep.  Unless you are saying that a call rep actually could have given the wrong name of the company they are working for??  

FWIW - I have worked in call centers (not as a phone rep), so I know how things work and I know what can go wrong,

This was nothing but high drama and lashing out(or trying to lash out) at the wrong person.

I have had dealings where The parent company will take the calls for others. Don’t forget, the op said this was a call back number.

3 hours ago, Bocker3 said:

Once you learned that you were left the incorrect phone number, why did you call a second time??

I would have said, "Thanks, must have been given a wrong number", then hung up and called Celebrity. 

Why all the drama over a simple mistake - complaining about a call rep can cost them their job - or at least hurt their compensation.  The call rep didn't make the mistake - the original caller to you did.  Then YOU made the mistake of calling a second time, rather than calling the correct company.

SMH

Just curious…haven’t you ever gotten different information on the same question when you called a company more than once? If you haven’t, then you obviously have never dealt with a utility company. I agree it’s not a big issue, but neither is a second call.

2 hours ago, PWP-001 said:

Actually, it's the people creating it and making comments such as your response.  Some of us come on the board seeking information and sharing information.  We don't come for time-wasting posts.

 

 

Signing off….can’t reason with hate. Goodbye.

3 minutes ago, PWP-001 said:

So is this what the thread is about?  RCI not being so crystal clear that passengers trying to chisel another set of free drinks think they've found a loophole?

 

Let me print out this entire four pages so I can include it in my file of other Cruise Critic postings which support how trivial and insignificant these forums have become.

 

Step back, reread this drivel and ask yourself if you worked for RCI and were struggling with keeping the cruise line solvent, if you'd waste anytime clearing the confusion for Royal's "highly valued Cruise Critic customers"  (Heavy sarcasm intended.)

What’s more mind boggling…the drivel or the person reading the drivel and then calling it drivel?

8 minutes ago, PWP-001 said:

Is it RCL's poor language or it it RCL's greedy guests asking for too much?

 

 

REMEMBER, those vouchers are in lieu of the Happy Hour Guzzlefest which were held each evening.  There's NEVER  been Happy Hour with free drinks the day of your disembarkation.

 

 

 

 

I think most of us on this topic don’t think debarkation vouchers are necessary. But I’ll ask again….how hard would it be for RCL to simply say “ Drink vouchers will not renew on debarkation day”. See, I was able to clarify it in eight words.

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

 

I guess no latte's on day one since things being different is a precondition to things being disallowed.

Please clarify. This statement is about as clear as RCL’s policy. 

8 hours ago, topnole said:

I did state it that way.  What do you mean?   The other points are in reference to their being a day 8 on a seven night cruise.  

8 hours ago, topnole said:

I did state it that way.  What do you mean?   The other points are in reference to their being a day 8 on a seven night cruise.  

“So why not simply state it that way?” was not directed towards your comment. It was directed towards RCL. As for the difference on debarkation day…that is true. However, things are also different on day one.

5 hours ago, topnole said:

Lots of things (C&A and in general) aren’t provided the last morning. Can you get your free diamond picture at 9am as your about to walk off?   Where does it say you can’t in Royals policy?  
 

Can you get room service like the other days?   Are the restaurants open the same hours for breakfast like they are on days 2-7?   Nope.   Can you go enjoy a nice breakfast and then come back at 9 to grab your stuff?   Nope.  Things are very different on disembarkation day and it has always been that way.  They want you out of your cabin and off the ship as quickly as possible.  
 

Of course Royal will sell you a post cruise tour.  That doesn’t mean you get to come back on the ship after. 

I recognize that in practice things seem to vary. But I still doubt Royal ever intended for the diamond drinks to extend to disembarkation day.  It was great that they extended them to all day almost anywhere, but somehow that has turned into folks expecting them the last morning too or they are so upset they decide not to tip the employee they otherwise would have tipped (as described in the prior post).  I guess

Royal is better off just allowing the drinks from 5-8pm like before and then no one expects anything or is upset.  And many more will start buying the drinks package again if they did that.  Win win for them.  
 

Again, can’t we just leave well enough alone and be happy to get the free drinks on day 1-7.  

Your examples aren’t apples to apples. You can’t get your photo because they are only available when photo is open. No one has claimed they should be able to get a drink from a venue that is not open. I, too, doubt RCL wants the drinks to be available on debarkation day. So why not simply state it that way?

4 hours ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

Received Dec 2022 from C&A Dear Loyal Members, One of the great benefits of being a Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle Club members is the daily complimentary drink vouchers you receive on every sailing. Currently, the active window for voucher redemption each day is from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM, which means that any vouchers you redeem after midnight count towards your balance for the next day. We know how much you love these drink vouchers, and we want to make sure you’re getting the most out of this benefit! We’re excited to share that we’re changing the daily schedule so that these vouchers are now redeemable from 5:00 AM to 4:59 AM the next day. What does this mean? It means that your daily complimentary vouchers will now reset at 5:00 AM every morning allowing you to get more out of this benefit during prime hours of each day, including your after-midnight drinks. On top of the schedule change, we want to help you better keep track of the usage of your complimentary drink vouchers, so we’ve added a tracker to the printed receipt that is given upon receiving your complimentary drink. At the bottom of the receipt, there will now be a line of text which indicates how many vouchers you have used towards your daily balance, e.g., “C&A Beverage Voucher [# Used] of [# Total].” You’ll never lose track of your complimentary drink vouchers ever again! We will be rolling out these changes beginning on all sailings departing on or after December 16th, 2022. As always, we thank you for your loyalty and for being a valued part of our Royal Caribbean family. Sincerely, Crown & Anchor Society

Unfortunately, this doesn’t settle anything.

7 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

They don't. Experience tells us that debarkation day is included.  Some have experienced problem,s being told they don't work on debarkation day.  That is the exception rather than the rule.

Thank you. Many agree with you and many do not. That is why RCL should make it clear.

4 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

You were denied complementary coffee on the last morning because the vouchers are not applicable that morning.   Vouchers now cut off at 5AM.    I don't understand why you were annoyed with a staff person following the rules they were provided. 

 

Those who received a voucher beverage on debarkation morning were lucky as they are no longer applicable after 5AM.

M

Where do I find this on RCL’s website? C&A states that vouchers expire at 4:59am and reset at 5:00am each DAY, not each cruise day. The entire discussion on this topic is where does RCL tell us what constitutes a cruise day.

10 hours ago, Anton said:

The email they sent out last December.  It doesn't help this discussion.

Thank you. I didn’t think it addressed the issue, but had already deleted my email. Again, it’s RCL’s poor (intentional?) language that is causing the problem.

11 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

An email went out to all C&A members when the change was made.  It is also listed in the C&A section of the Royal Caribbean website.

Where on the C&A section of the website? The wording I gave in my comment was from the C&A section of the website. I received an email about the new benefits, but have not received (or seen) anything about what defines a cruise day. 
 

58 minutes ago, Anton said:

Correct.  And the last day of the cruise began at 5am the morning prior to debarkation, so when 4:49am happens on debarkation morning the cruise is over as far as drink vouchers are concerned.

Exactly where would I find the information you cite on any RCL statement? I’m not lobbying for drinks, just pointing out the ambiguity in the language.