LobsterStalker

The first 2 were resolved pretty quickly as I was onboard ship early enough and the mass of other unhappies hadn't reached them yet . Last sailing , we boarded later so there were many , many ahead of me with the same problem , and she wasn't willing to promise me any resolution other than come to MTD tonight and I'll get you in ASAP, and I'll see if there is anything I can do past that". I followed up the complaint later that evening at guest services and she messaged someone about it. I did receive an Early Dining for the remainder . .... I did learn that if I was willing to cry...' literally' to the manager that I would have gotten a table that night. It was embarassing what I witnessed right ahead of us in line . A family of four (2 kids in the 8-10 range) , being told the exact same thing as I was , but the wife kept looking at her husband like he shouldn't give in , until finally Mom starts crying , with 10 year old girl coming to console her saying "it's OK mommy ". Before you know it they were given a table. I was gonna walk up and say " I'll have what she got ....or I'll cry too !! " Dining ,and at a proper hour is a big part of our cruise experience too but that was disgraceful ! Cheers

I take offense to that ... 50 is just gettin started ! Cheers

Problem is that it seems early is far and above peoples first preference . If they cannot offer enough early dining slots (which clearly never used to be a concern) , then they need to consider how to fix the issue .To make this much much worse they are also overpromising and confirming way too many people for early than they can accomodate. I did consecutive in the fall (Symphony/Explorer) and Wonder last month , and all 3 I had confirmed Early dining ( 2 of the 3 I had Email confirmations from RCL dining , with table numbers) .All 3 I showed up , headed straight to dining room to check my table only to find out I had none..... .... Embarassing the way things are being run at present . Hope they get their act together soon 1 way or another ! Cheers

Early at 5:45 just about right Early at 5:00 as on wonder last month , Definitely too early

You made it sound simple at least ... I believe the problem is trying to compete with Norwegian but not commiting to an all out freestyle dining is not as easy as it sounded . I have only been on 1 Norwegian sailing (11 night in 2018) and thought I was really going to miss the traditional style , but after all was said and done we probably preferred it over all.When we returned for our first post Covid cruise for b2b last fall I originally booked MTD for both sailings . After hearing many horror stories about what a disaster it seemed like we decided to change back to TD. Most foolish thing about MTD is that on our 2 sailings the earliest possible options were 6:45 and 7 PM...Might as well rename to midtime dining Cheers

So I'm sure after this conversation your son and there son met and hung out the rest of the cruise >>>>Right ?

I generally spend some time in hot tubs , usually after getting out of the pools just to boil for a bit to take off the chill , but on our sailing last month on Wonder one of the pools was soooo warm there was no chill to be had . Soo never dipped a toe in the tub all week It was awesome ! Cheers

I don't believe you can dispense anything from machine without cup But Again ... any bar or restaurant all over the ship provide water

That's an interesting question. On my only Norwegian cruise I was 'solicited' by a bartender after ordering several double rum and cokes ,.. several evenings in a row, and it was suggested to me that I would be much better off buying a large bottle ( which I was free to carry around the ship). The hassle was not worth what would have been quite a savings for me .Aside from the fact that walking around the ship looking like a drunk carrying around my 40 ouncer was also not appealing. However , never thought to ask at a bar onboard any royal ship if this were possible Cheers

Per bag or per dropoff ?

You took pictures?... should have taken video for sure !

There are ...in the MDR... join the common folk ! Cheers

Precisely

Water is readily accessible throughout the ship at all bars and is perfectly safe and good to drink No need to purchase ... Cheers

When I responded to this earlier with "Valid Point " I meant to highlight this point... Soooo Valid point !

Ok, I got it now . I was putting to separate posts together and misread the context. I was thinking the forst to mention meant RCI should accomodate because they would be able to resell the cabin . After rereading the original , makes perfect sense Thx Cheers

Hmmm ... just realized that is a false statement aswith the autograts I am ALWAYS tipping before and regardless of service . Edit to say the cash I hand out

Author #89 Posted 8 minutes ago The difference in tips for the Steward vs. MDR staff is that the steward we see on the first day is always the same for the entire cruise. I like to tip him on the first day since I know I will probably be asking for additional towels, etc. at some time during the week and I want to be sure that he will take care of us. Also, my wife likes the towel animals in the room and that is something that seems to be optional for them to do. (I could care less, LOL). In the MDR, we have seen where either the staff gets changed during the week or we decide to eat more meals in the specialty dining rooms and therefore, not spending the entire cruise in the MDR Understood Thx for the clarification I have never tipped before any service , as in tipping Steward on Day 1 , but have talked to a lot who choose to do this

Interesting

Exactly , and with cutbacks in services followed by rising daily Grats .... Maybe I should reword my question a bit .... Edit >>>> I would be VERY interested to hear from long time crew members (Room steward and Dining staff) on whether they were better off then or in the near future as this shakes out

I am not understanding If it is considered a new booking and sold at the current price has it not just been 'Resold' ?

Here's an idea I haven't seen anyone throw out yet ... You stated you are a group of 24 . If everyone in your group formed your own type of insurance pool of sorts , you could all chip in $100 bucks to your friends to help recoup !! I feel this type of option is always overlooked when people just look for and expect someone else to 'help' . I'm only on page 2 of this thread so apologies if someone has thrown this out there

>>and why is that ?

Valid point

Enjoy !! That's all I got