BayAreaCruisers

9 minutes ago, kernow said:

Did you enjoy Quantum, we're still a bit gutted that we missed it but maybe next year if things have calmed down.

It's funny, I know there are quite a few people on here who should have been on Quantum but we haven't actually met any of them. We've spoken to lots of people about it and they say 'oh yes we were talking to someone else who should have been on Quantum ' but we never bump into them.😀

Quantum was a fine ship and we had a great time, but there were only 1500 passengers out of over 4500 capacity.  Most of the venues were very quiet so I feel like we missed out on the excitement of a more crowded ship.  I would definitely cruise on it again - but after things quiet down a bit.

I'm following this with great interest!  Like you, we were scheduled on Quantum Feb 15.  In fact, we were B2B on the previous cruise when we got the cancellation notice.  We opted to go home, but we know at least one family from the cruise (John and family) that decided to join your cruise in Dubai.  I'm glad it is working out so well - enjoy the rest of the cruise!

This thread is bringing back great memories!  We were on Majesty in April.  It was by far the smallest ship we've been on in 15 years of cruising, but we chose it for the destination (Cuba) and didn't care what the ship was like.  We were pleasantly surprised!  The service was great, the entertainment was great, and the food was great.  It helped that we found videos of the cabins so we knew ahead of time how small they were (deck 2 inside cabin - basically a big closet), but it was quiet, comfortable, and our steward was awesome, so no complaints there.  Now that someone up-thread mentioned New Orleans, we're seriously thinking about another visit to Majesty.

We sailed Majesty in April and didn't find the Compass Deli until the second day - it's hidden behind Sorrento's, but for us that meant we never had a crowd, and they had great sandwiches!  As for dinner in the MDR, we usually try to get a table for 2 but that's impossible on this ship, but we enjoyed our time with our table mates, and the food was very good.  Definitely a different experience than the bigger ships, but we loved it.

We cruised on Legend OTS from Yokohama to Tianjin (Beijing) back in 2012 with 15 and 17 year olds.  It was a "Culturally Enriching" cruise with the vast majority being Chinese passengers.  We did find them to be pushy around buffets and elevators, but we also learned that the way to deal with it is to hold your ground and otherwise ignore it.  We had the pool and bars to ourselves which was a nice bonus.  But, our attitude was that we were there to see a part of the world we had never been to.  In our mind, that included dealing with the local cultures for better or worse, including entertainment and food which may not be familiar to us.  In the end, it was a great trip, and the kids loved it in spite of the lack of other teens to hang out with.  If my goal was to see a part of the world we haven't been to, with the added bonus of a cruise to get me there, I wouldn't hesitate to do that again.

Back in March we decided on a 2020 cruise, but decided to wait until April to book it while onboard Majesty.  We did receive a $50 OBC, but unfortunately the 2020 cruise price increased from March to April by more than that $50.  So we lost money by waiting.  In hindsight, I should have booked it earlier!  Maybe that was just bad luck on my part.....but just another thing to consider.

We were B2B in November. On both cruises we tried to use BOGO drinks on the first day, but the cards did not seem to be loaded with the coupons yet. They worked fine starting the second day. Yes, we did have to specifically ask for the 'coupon' when ordering.

The only thing I know about Daniel was the writeup on him in the 'Officers and Staff Onboard' handout.

He's been with Royal Caribbean since 2009, and became an Activities Manager in 2011.

Maybe he was a fill-in as you suggest. Simona stayed with the second cruise (Venice-Barcelona) until the Naples stop. I can't comment on who was CD from Barcelona to Brazil.

I'm surprised at Splendour's CD.

We cruised B2B in November.

November 8 was Simona Ferraiuolo.

November 15 Daniel Dornas took over as CD.

I thought Daniel was set for the Brazilian season.

I vote for Med as well.

After many years of cruising with our children, we finally cruised just the two of us in the Med last fall when they both went off to college.

While we had no problem with the kids in Europe, we just didn't get to see as much as we would have liked.

Without the kids, we got to see everything we wanted to.....or at least as much as we could fit in while in port.

As far as the Caribbean......IMO you can find beaches anywhere.

Grab a copy of Rick Steeves Med Ports (or similar), and do it yourself.....you'll save a ton of money, and get to see so much more than a ship's cruise.

I hope you have better luck finding the games than we did on the Legend in Asia in 2012.

I was traveling with my parents, Kings fans from the 1970s. As an 8th seed, we felt pretty safe being thousands of miles from home during the Finals - wrong!! We did get a free bottle of wine as consolation from the staff for not being able to show the games. And imagine being on an all-day bus tour from Tianjin to the Great Wall to our hotel in Beijing, with no way to find out that the Kings had finally won the Cup. Well, I guess hiking the Wall was a nice alternative :D.