nimbex1970

is there a pickle ball for kids?

This is unfortunately common with RCL, customer service says one thing, the website another, then real life experiences are a crazy train in between the ship and servers. It's frustrating.

There will be fewer kids, especially on the Radiance of the seas, as she is smaller with less offerings. This is a different type of cruise where you are out all day exploring, tired from the physical activities that, well aren't in OUR normal cruising. So the ship tends to be like a river cruise, where there is less to do at night, or the folks tend to hit the bed earlier than caribbean cruises. Just be aware that the excursions are very expensive, well worth it.. but expensive. It's a fabulous cruise no matter what ship, as Alaska is the true destination, not the ship. Doing the land/sea is a must if you are flying to get your money's worth. The train is amazing.

I tip $5 per bag at the port, well everywhere basically. My bags are heavy and roughly 70 to 75 pounds each. I live both in florida and Alaska. I drive to the port with the heaviest bags, hopefully only 3 and when we fly from Alaska, Alaskan air lets us do 75 lb bags. So those babies are a toll on a persons back. 3 bags, I round up to $20 bucks.. I'm NOT lifting those suckers, lol. That's me and my tipping practice, to each their own.

Chef table CAN sell out before you sail. What the genie can do then, I don't know. You will get refunded the cost on the cruise if you go this way. While I love chef table, it is the same menu and they will accommodate allergies and preferences through the genie. I don't know if I would do this twice in one cruise. We did it on both legs of a B2B and while the service and familiarity with the staff were great, it just wasn't for us to repeat the second time. Food for thought.

yes, aussie still requires testing, not the european TA's.

I agree with this, we brought many friends of my children through our past 19 cruises. Some we paid for, some they did, it all worked out and they managed to find a group of folks to hang out with. Our oldest with social anxiety really benefited from this, and they had their own room, which was a perk for them. See if this is an option.

I understand the frustration. Traveling with the grandkids in May on the WOS and no way 645 would work for them. That puts us in the Windjammer every night for dinner. We enjoy the dining room and would be frustrated to miss it. Plus we would need the earlier shows, which would be a no go, if we just sat down at 645. The specialty dining is no different, I pay extra for 7 people and we still can't get the times we want. It really affects the entire cruise planning. I have two NCL booked for transatlantic as I didn't want to mess with RCL dining mess for 20 days. Still love RCL, but I hope they figure this out soon. Me, I think it's staffing, because this worked pre covid, but that is me guessing.

we did NCL for Hawaii, no sea days. Just an option

join the meet and greet on this site for sailing and have your "kid" make an intro. likely same age folks on there to "meet" up with prior to sail.

we have a 19 day coming up. The laundry service on board is boil and toast. seriously, so I won't consider using it as I have with B2b. So we are just taking 3 suitcases and paying for the extra bag each. You are going to need walking shoes, a jacket that is lined with a water breaker layer to not take more than one jacket.. a sweater to layer... all with bathing suit, dinner wear... bring three slacks of the same color and 5 shirts... wash them in your tub. Hang dry.

we rented a jeep to explore. The beaches to the west and desert to the east. google jeep rental near the port, for 4 people its a bargain compared to anything royal offers in excursions. Mind you gas prices are like 6 to 7 a gallon, it's still worth it. The driving is on the same side as the US and it's failry well marked. We stayed in Aruba for a week and never got lost. Best way to have control over your day here... motto is one happy island.. and it's true.

NAILED it! I would be satisfied not enthralled, but satisfied with a 3. I want better, I pay for specialty dining... which I could debate to the nth degree with the price point of the cruise.. keep it low and now provide mediocre food. So for a lower cost of cruising (which seems crazy to say, If I wish for a better meal quality, I am paying for specialty dining), I have to be at the whim of getting the time I want for specialty dining. As the ships are moving more to this, I would happily pay for it, provided I wasn't eating at 8 pm at night, vying for an open reservation. There has to be a better solution as folks are obviously flocking to pay more for specialty dinning that want it, and they can't handle the sheer numbers.

I missed the alternatives. I know they are trying to speed up time, which is MUCH needed. Not all of us want 2 hours for dinner and asking for a quick dinner is still 75 minutes. Food is subjective and I found better luck with the appetizers, ordering two of them, then if I didn't care for dinner, I picked at it enough to be full. I don't eat dessert since the cheese platter was tossed. I don't like sweets. So dinner was quicker.. but the mains? meh! Thats me and my pallet I hate, hate buffet, but went twice and it was barely luke warm. Would have happily microwaved it myself if it was available. So meh for me on it.. I miss the alternative menu.. but alas it's gone.

I live in Florida and cruise out of Miami, FLL, and port canaveral... rarely jacksonville. The port of Miami is the worst with the baggage handlers at the port. They are sometimes assertive, and sometimes aggressive. I pack VERY heavy bags as I don't fly, like 75 pounds each, and tip $5 a bag, They still balk sometimes. It's a racket and I agree with the OP that this could happen. This is reported to the port authority I believe, although unless folks complain in droves, I don't see things changing.

THis is the most true statement of the port of miami.

As long as we pay, the prices will raise. There is a huge surge back to cruising post covid, I don't blame any business in maximizing their profit after 2 plus years of losses. The ships are FULL, so folks are paying. How much I am willing to spend, led me to NCL for two planned cruises. Of course I will fill in some dates with RCL, but the big 19 day ones are on another line. So in the end, there is a point where RCL price points itself out. Then they will adapt with lower fees when lower booking happens.. no different than hotels and all-inclusives.. So I just buy at a price point that is satisfactory, I don't control the process and never did.

yes, we have done this, if you are not in a suite, they put the charge on your card, had the food waiting for us in the room. you just have to call them before you leave the ship. IF you are leaving early and they are busy with breakfast, it can take a few minutes.. so plan for that.

on my 20th cruise this May. On my back to back Allure, I can agree that there were signs of being short staffed, although everyone was kind and smiling. We had no one running drinks to us on lounge chairs and the bars were crowded. I miss the excellent alcohol service. Food is subjective, but it is certainly NOT increasing in quality. I know that for us a 4 night cruise is not what we prefer, it's a different demographic, we do 7 nights minimum and it works for us. Why the OP is complaining about pricing is beyond me.. you knew what the fee was and paid it. So that confuses me. I had to book two inside and one balcony room this May as that's all that the budget provided, I'm not going to complain about the inside room that I picked... I would just ask the room steward to touch up a few places or leave a kind sticky note. About the shows, well I like in Orlando, no cruise ship is going to provide the same quality entertainment that I get in Disney or Universal, so my expectations are adjusted. I don't know. Instead of a go-with-the-flow attitude that could have been passed on the finance, it appears that finding fault was the choice made. The OP will find these same faults on any inclusive or land-based vacation and that's just sad. One RCCL in May and 2 on NCL booked, I don't see myself ever NOT cruising.

You don't have to bring your OWN ducks to participate... keep or hide/you decide. If you wanted to buy some, there are a pleathora on Amazon and etsy as well as cards to fill out. Just note the size, some are too small for young kids (swallowing size).

we sailed this and we stayed beforehand for three days. check in is at 8pm, but there was a long line. Are people flying in the same day? Don't know, but it was a solid 40 minutes, so I wouldn't push it too far.

sorry, was using your example that tipping was not required, I should have been clearer. My apologies.

makes me wonder if this is a set up to pay extra gratuities, cruisers choice for a second servicing...

Am I the only one that puts morning room service trays outside the door in the hallway? This sounds sucky, with the towel situation as there is generally morning and afternoon showering after a pool or beach day. Also seems like more work for the cabin stewards with folks asking for more towels, handing over wet ones. At some point, trying to keep prices competitive, folks are going to move to other lines.. which are owned by the same corporation anyway.. or swallow higher fees for satisfaction. I don't see how this is sustainable.

I prepay and bring cash for extra tips. I see this as part of the cost of cruising and I am not going to remove $20 bucks a day. Well, I have never had such a low service level to consider it in almost 20 cruises. I use OBC for "splurges" like a bottle of wine at dinner. It's just easier for me to start with a zero account or one with cash waiting. It's really an individual choice. I have no idea if you can remove the tip once it's prepaid.