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We had a tail wind on a recent cruise on another ship we had a tail wind and two tecks above the outdoor smoking area my wife was sick until we moved to a cabin on the other side of the ship. She immediately recovered.

3 hours ago, vozzie said:

Where is the "bus stop" located on Quantum of the Seas?

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Deck 5 - starboard side - there is an outside door near the next cruise area 

 

But also, and this is the stupid part, on the Port side of the LIDO deck! 

19 hours ago, Tuttsy said:

About to book a balcony room, but want to avoid being above the deck 5 smoking areas.

Has anyone been on board recently to advise of where they are located. the deck plan does not list smoking areas.

My wife is allergic to smoke, so I understand your plight. On two cruises we had to change cabins due to smoke making her sick. On quantum class ships, the outdoor smoking are supposed to be deck 5, starboard and on the lido deck (14) port side. Also, unless you are on a cruise out of Southampton (where the ban on indoor smoking extends to cruises departing from the UK), Deck 2 aft is contaminated by smoke from the Casino, so avoid The Grand and Chic MDRs if you can or ask to be seated in the outside aft areas. The music hall is not to bad, but if you are spending a lot of time there (eg. a performance) you might consider sitting in the upper deck.
Check out this video of 6682: 

Does anyone know where to find the check-in time? The web site seems a bit disorganized.

On 1/2/2023 at 8:27 AM, Sheila G said:

Hi All,

My husband and I are excited about this cruise out of Athens. Please respond if you are planning to participate. 
Blessings,

Sheila

We are on the first half 7-14

5 hours ago, Aulanis said:

 

Return?    There was a m&G being organised with the help of Princess last October.

 

If you want to run one I think the contact is   grouponboardservices@princesscruises.com. 

EDIT

Ah ha    - I see now you are not a Princess cruiser.

 

Only Royal until next year. Need to make Diamond first 🙂

No category for "I am waiting for Meet & Mingle to return" 🙃! But hey, I couldn't wait. 3 cruises this year starting in 28 days, 3 hours, 17 minutes. But who's counting?

13 minutes ago, rbell said:

They don't make as much money leaving from the UK.Because people from the UK are not known to gamble like Americans🙄

Australia has the same non-smoking rules and they are number 2 in the world at per capita gambling revenue and 80% of the population gambles (Source: casino dot org). 32% of the UK population gambles. That's actual sourced data, not just blowing smoke. (US statistics are much more complex due to the wide range of restrictions from Nevada, New Jersey and New York to Hawai'i and Utah).
 

This is such sad news. At least I am going on a cruise this summer out of Southampton. No smoking in casinos on cruises leaving from the UK!

Just now, Computer Nerd said:

If I were to conclude as such I would be making an incorrect assumption as well. As I stated, there and many smokers and non-smokers who don't go to a casino simply because they don't gamble. So you have no evidence at all to conclude that removing smoking from a casino on a ship will produce 2 to 3 times the revenue. It might increase, it might decrease, it might stay roughly the same. Until it's done you won't find out how many non-smokers care about gambling to begin with.

I am sorry I gave the impression that I was coming to a conclusion. I was merely presenting math to support a hypothesis, ignoring self-selecting data and replacing it with general population statistics. 

I do have observational evidence, since I live in BC, Canada where smoking in casinos and bars has been banned for decades. There was much crying and gnashing that the industry would be destroyed if they banned smoking, but they became busier. 

6 hours ago, Computer Nerd said:

You're making the assumption that all smokers gamble and all non-smokers stay away only because of the smokers. That assumption would be incorrect.

I am not making that assumption. I am noting that anecdotal observations on the percentage of smokers in the casino is self selecting and can be discounted. This borne out by the evidence from countries like Canada, Australia, UK, France, and many other countries where smoking in casinos has been banned for years.

If you were to go into a casino in Canada, UK, etc., you could equally conclude that nobody who goes to a casino smokes.

2 hours ago, aberdeener said:

I see a lot of comments about the changes to the smoking rules. How about the change to the Covid testing prior to the end of our cruise. This will put cruisers at the mercy of the Airport testing sites which are the most expensive. This decision by RCCL will mean that at the end of their cruise passengers from other than the USA will be worried about whether or not they can get tested in time to make their scheduled flight. It also means they could face a cost of up to $250. each to get the tests done. This is a significant change and should not apply to cruisers who have already booked under terms that included testing prior to leaving the ship. 

We need to let RCCL know that they should not be changing this policy for cruises already booked.

What will they change next , no food, no shows, no ports. Obviously not but , if you book an all inclusive and they contract to include food and/or drinks etc and then they decide to discontinue those services wouldn't you be upset. 

 

 

I agree, big problem for people from other countries, especially those who have a habit of booking tight departure flights. Hopefully they will see a rash of cancellations under cruise with confidence and change their mind. I added a day after our first cruise to deal with issues like this.

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

And other lines under the RCG umbrella group operate smoke free casinos quite profitably. RCL sails smoke free when embarking from European and Australian ports and do just fine.

 

This will be a permanent policy shift, the number of smokers is steadily dropping, and the number of non smokers calling for the change is growing exponentially.  You are right, it IS all about the money, smokers do not have that pull any longer.

I am SO looking forward to our summer cruise out of Southampton so I will be able to go to the casino. It would be great if the smoking ban extends to our April cruise, but the downside is I will drop more money in the casino.

I enjoy blackjack but I if I do I need to strip in the hallway when returning to the cabin and put my clothes in a plastic bag then go straight into the shower because my wife is allergic to smoke.

On Rhapsody we had to change cabins because she was sick for days until we realized that we were near the stairs and one floor down from the casino. We also had to limit time in the centrum because of the smoke leaking down from the casino.

2 hours ago, rbell said:

This has started on ships now,This is because 54 casino worker on Odyssey tested positive,I can guarantee smoking will be back in the casino.It's all about the money sorry to say.

I doubt it. The smokers are vocal but in the vast majority. Claiming that the vast majority of people in the casino smoke, does not take into account the number of people who don't (or can't) go to the casino because of the smoke.
 

A strange thing happened in our Casinos and bars when they banned smoking: they got BUSIER... by a LOT!

Do the math, only 29% of Americans smoke (19% of American women), 17.5 % of Canadians (12% of women).

That means that at least two and a half times more people will go to the casino because it is non-smoking (than because smoking is allowed). Add to that the fact (depending on the source of the statistics) 72%-80% of slot players are women and that slots are the most profitable games (since the house can set the payout ratio to whatever they want) the casino that feared banning smoking will see their profits soar (5x more women are non-smokers). Profits are more addictive than either smoking or gambling. 

Once they find out how much more they make by having non-smoking casinos, they will never go back.

I always bring my two bottles and have never been charged corkage. If ever I was I would march straight down to Guest services and have my gratuities removed. That waiter will have cost the entire crew. 

7 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

If masks work so well....why do case numbers keep going up?  🙄 NO, I will not wear a useless mask.  😡

If you need to ask, you are the reason.

I just realized that I was off of the OP's question. But my answer is not yes or no. It is:

Yes I will sail if masks are required. I will NOT sail if masks are NOT required (while there is still a pandemic).

I just don't get the people who believe they have the "right" to put others (and themselves) at unnecessary risk because they don't want to limit themselves.

You do not have the "right" to drive 100 km/h (60 MPH) on a residential street because you think that usually nobody will get hurt either. It's the same thing.

We are booked on the Explorer TA Rome to Miami in November, leaving Oct 31 for Venice to visit Venice and Rome. The math does not look good for it to happen as planned or at all. We took advantage of the price drops to move to a balcony (just in case we get trapped).

Although I love to plan, I try to hold onto the philosophy that when things don't go as planned it's the universe presenting you with opportunities you had never imagined.

If our cruise gets cancelled, and they make an exception and credit back our Air Miles to a new flight, it would make this cruise the best performing investment in my portfolio this year. If our cruise ends up being completely different and they offer FCC to stay on the alternate cruise, that's a bonus.

For us, on the spectrum of "how good it could be" to "how bad it could be", some random cruise to somewhere I hadn't planned on doesn't really move the needle. Your mileage may vary. My heart goes out to all of those around the world who lives have been truly devastated by this.

11 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

We were on the Zuiderdam last April (northbound transAtlantic) with one Premium subscription and a travel router. Despite exhaustive notes from @TechPotato, we were never able to get the router to work. We needed two connections for my husband to get verification/validation#s on his phone to log in to his physician's prescribing program (on the computer) concurrently! He has one minute to enter the number sequence so it's not like he could log on and off the computer...

 

So this was very strange -- despite the router not connecting and in fact being unplugged and off -- he was still able to get the verification numbers on the phone repeatedly! It was of course sitting right next to the computer. We are not tech-savvy enough to know if is possible that the computer was acting as its own hotspot? It worked and that was all that mattered!

 

He was also able to make a VOIP conference call from north of France! Hoohah. 

 

I would use the same pre-purchased plan when he was not working. Logging in was never a problem; I think it just used the room number. Coverage was available in the room or the Crows Nest (or anywhere I tried it). Big step up from the old days!

Different ships have different compatibility issues. That's why I travel with a bag of travel routers to find one that works. It is unlikely that your computer can share a wifi connection (a rare few can have two simultaneous connections), but is is possible for some computers to share the network to a phone via bluetooth. 

I prefer to get the 3-device plan and use one for my cell and one for Helen's cell and one for the router. On Rhapsody I used the 2-device plan with one for my phone and one for the pocket router and Helen connected to the pocket router when she was near me.

The Internet package is a business expense anyway and the difference between 2 device and 3 device is only about $3-4/day when they have a promo. 

18 hours ago, RW_MI said:

 

So are you saying they're going to cancel some cruises for which they've already announced a changed itinerary? 

2) they're waiting to get a better idea when the recently damaged dry dock will be repaired and available and hope to be able to cancel a single November or early Dec cruise for repairs (I think I read that it might be able to be fixed in one week, but I'm not sure and anything but an expert on azipod repairs!)

3) they already know that they're taking it out of commission sometime in Nov or early Dec but haven't announced it yet

 

We are on the Nov 17th sailing, which seems the most likely victim, along with the 10th and the 3rd (the next one is US Thanksgiving). 

A few weeks ago I would have said you were being cynical. Until THEY cancel  our cruise there is no way to make alternate arrangements.

23 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Well, her statutory drydock isn't until Dec 2020, which would be a long time to run without bearing replacement, since they seem to want to do them maybe every 2 years, so they may just wait and see what the outlook is for the Grand Bahamas drydock repair, and cancel one cruise for an azipod repair.  When the dock will be repaired, if ever, is a good question.

That's the main reason that I am following this.

I personally am not bothered by changes, I try to live by the motto that when things don't go as planned it's just the universe with presenting you with opportunities you haven't imagined.

I just know from experience that RCCL does not communicate changes to anyone who books through a travel agent. On our last cruise they changed Cococay to Nassau and I only found out through the CC forum. Our cruise is one of the three most likely to be cancelled in November if the Bahamas dry dock is available. It would be nice to know before we show up in FL and have nothing to do for a week waiting for our flight.  Right now i am afraid to book excursions.

1 hour ago, akcruz said:

I see it more like your flight still gets to Atlanta but instead of a stopover in NYC your stopover is in Poughkeepsie.  The flight still starts and ends in the same place but takes a different route to get there.

I understand. Since the cruise starts and ends in the same place, in the air analogy, if you book a round trip to Atlanta, any city is ok as long as you return home.

On 5/5/2019 at 6:08 AM, brillohead said:

But the cruise isn't cancelled.  The itinerary is altered, but they're still leaving on the same date and they're still returning on the same date.  You're still receiving a 7-day cruise. 

When a flight is delayed but still takes off, there isn't any compensation owed by the airline. 

Technically, it's more like:

If you are flying to Atlanta and because of engine troubles they drop you in Poughkeepsie.

Then, they keep flying the plane for a year with the same engine troubles, and redirect EVERY flight booked to Atlanta to Poughkeepsie, but don't let people who have booked the flight previously change to a different flight that will actually GO to Atlanta. 
If people have booked their flight more than 90 days in advance, they will let you change to a different flight on a different aircraft, but they will charge you a $100pp change fee. If THEY have no other flights on the same date, they will not refund any of the deposit.

47 minutes ago, Ep010835 said:

 

I Googled this device and found the following:

 

I'm definitely not a techie (wish I were). Are you able to provide a brief tutorial about how such a device works? It sounds like you are buying just a single unlimited wifi access but sharing it simultaneously with multiple devices while on board. Am I understanding this correctly?

Yes, but I usually buy a two device or two single device plans so my wife and I can be independent and be in separate places on the ship. For me the internet is tax deductible since I need it for work, but I am not paying for internet for my phone, laptop, tablet etc. 

If my wife is not using the internet, I connect my phone directly and all other devices to the other, that way Rogers WiFi Calling works a little more reliably. 

On our last cruise, I had a lot of trouble getting the HooToo one you noted to work. The screens I posted are from the RavPower one. BTW: watch out posting amazon links, the forum's spam filter has a nasty habit of deleting posts with them. Search Amazon for "RAVPower FileHub Plus". The Hootoo TripMate Titan is a better router and power pack but it is lacking the feature I showed and doesn't work for Royal Caribbean Voom if you have the 2-device plan.