goldfish65

If there wasn't a penalty, a lot of people would book a date they weren't sure of, knowing they could change it. What does your travel agent advise?

One bag Dum-dum lolly pops, save the sticks, after about two weeks all the sticks will be soggy and gross, and you've beat the craving for cigarettes.

IMO your daughter will be bored. Windjammer always had pre-made mini-smoothies at breakfast. Others cruising out of San Juan mention lively passengers who stay up late.

A particular online cruise travel agent displays prices so you can compare. You also get some incentives that make it attractive to use them vs. booking directly.

When we set sail 1/8, I was in the spa which is aft and there was so much steady vibration that that panels were rattling continuously, quite a racket, not tranquil at all, and I noticed it at other times throughout the cruise. Definitely added to the feeling that the ship is old. Fortunately my cabin was forward so I didn't feel vibration there. Did y'all feel the vibration?

Seems like early January is a safe bet.

Simple: there's a rule. You break it and get caught, you risk consequences. The human population does many things that aren't healthy, but no one appointed me to decide what is best for them. I'm sure the e-cig makers like the mentality, oh, it would be so much better for the poor tobacco addicts to use vape pens so they can stop. Give me a break. Just follow the rules. I don't want anyone concerning themselves with my habits. And I don't consider it my business to call security on anyone who is vaping, as to me it is far less objectionable than smoking, which I tolerate because I know that smoking is allowed in designated areas.

Duly noted. If I have any dietary concerns, I'll be prepared to inquire about my options ahead of time.

That's a wonderful feeling to know your Mom is excited for her first cruise at 82! Just started cruising last year, I researched all the lines and settled on Royal, glad I did because I like them. I'll never be tempted to try MSC, ruthless as they may be with their wealth from shipping trying to take over the cruising market.

Covid still affecting, as on land. I missed a week of work myself last month when it spread through my workplace. A lot of the experience workforce retired or changed jobs. Imagine any international company being shut down for two years. Costs have increased sharply. Everyone is working their butts off. I don't find the cruising experience to be bad at all, and am just glad Royal is back up and running as strongly as they are. If we keep our daily gratuity in place and tip extra it will help retain crew.

If you can, I want to know the name of the artist who did the paintings of sailboats at the entrance to the Windjammer. Thank you.

One thing I admit I had not thought about, while some passengers including me enjoy the motion, the crew's jobs are more difficult and less safe.

Enjoyed Jewel back in October. I sensed they were short-staffed and many crew were inexperienced. In general I feel that if we as cruisers politely inform someone in charge of our concerns, steps will be taken. There was a line at the toast station in Windjammer, people were griping and the lone “toast girl” was struggling, I found someone who looked senior and he jumped in and helped her. There may also be crew that are sick. That has been happening at my workplace.

Enjoyed Grandeur for five nights this January. Very nice mix of cruisers and the number of schoolchildren was manageable. Considering doing B2B or longer next January out of FL on Vision or Radiance class. I am assuming that the school holiday groups are not drawn to older ships, is this true? TIA.

Very good last October, 12 nts, very little to complain about. Giovanni's was just okay, cooking techniques were off. Otherwise, food was very good. Trivia/games host was unbearable. Did her best I'm sure but not proficient. Shows varied but musicians were amazing. Would not hesitate to book again.

Thank you and at least for me it looks great.

Hotel Nouvel

“Not for everyone,” that’s why it is appealing to me. Jan. 8-13 stopping at Key West and Labadee, a nice mix of cruisers, not too many kids. I am new to cruising, first time was an OS, this time I wanted to see if I could enjoy the cheapest cabin. 7049. It was handy to take the stairs everywhere, and as a solo traveler, I loved it. Everything put away and neat. I liked the body/hair shower gel just fine! Steward 10/10, I tipped upon meeting him and received twice a day service and ice. Food/Dining 9/10 Early seating, some dishes were real standouts; all the food was good. Still the “old” menu. Waiters were happy to bring anything you wanted. Breakfast 10/10 Eggs Benedict freshly toasted muffin. Activities 10/10 Options were as expected…Egg Drop was very entertaining, Rock Wall staff gave great coaching, really fun to do! I skipped anything with the cruise director; her voice was so irritating. The art “auctioneer”’was even more grating. Royal, please give these ladies speech lessons. I did not see any shows, but heard good comments. Bars 6/10 Long waits even for gin on the rocks. The absolute highlight was a guitarist and violinist called Entourage Duo. The ship vibrates considerably! It was very bad in the spa, aft area, sounding like percussion. Key West had great history and galleries, and Labadee was uncrowded, zip line and coaster a lot of fun. I can’t understand why a little rust /paint imperfections is such a big deal to people! I loved the teak promenade, sitting next to the railing reading a great book, and it is CLEAN, I walked all the way around it once with bare feet and they didn’t get dirty. Any questions, ask away!

Absolutely worth it IMO to see how the ship operates, plus, each part you visit, the staff is very passionate and kind and gracious to answer questions.

Grandeur 1/8-13 served the old menu, day-by-day seemed identical to Jewel last October. Everything was very, very good. On the last night I asked for a heap of coconut shrimp.

Boarding Grandeur today; menus were not showing in the app until last night…they’ll be serving the old menu, exactly the same as Jewel back in October. “One last chance” to have the old menu, though I am not worried about the changes to come.

I was surprised how many people on a transatlantic had grim faces, and I even got snapped at for not getting out of a lady's way walking towards the stairs. Always something to be unhappy about.

Bottom line to me, the company doesn't think it's important enough to do what it takes to have a more efficient system, and the front-line employees are the ones who have to go through so many extra steps and try to do it quickly so they can serve the next guest who's waiting, so people won't complain about slow service.

No, I am the lowly person who uses the pos systems, same as the bartenders and waiters on the ship. Why then are the systems set up so poorly for the users?

The labor costs aren’t that much, often less than min wage, often the users are tipped employees. I am sure in some industries, technology that’s efficient to use is a priority, but not so in restaurants/hospitality.