PWP-001

Thank you.

I ordered a sandwich and Coke. My folio read: Stateroom Service $13.51 My understanding was the delivery fee is $7.95. Can you explain the difference?

I was denied using a voucher for a soda when ordering room service on Harmony.

As long as your "OK" to the overcooked steak was relative, I'll agree. Personally I've given up on Chops. I remember dinners in Crown Grill on Princess where you couldn't hold a conversation over the sizzle of steaks on the grill or see your dinner guests through the haze of smoke across the table. THOSE were delicious steaks grilled precisely to order! In Chops, I'm pretty sure the steaks are seared downstairs hours before service. I've been seated my very last two visits facing the show kitchen, and I watched the "cook" use tongs to place a pre-cooked steak on a half sheet pan, brush it with liquid and place it under the broiler to warm up. I could not observe anything red in the broil that would possibly be a heating element hot enough to cook a steak. YES, in the WJ Food Trough guest may pile on as much as they want. But there's plenty of inexpensive starches that dominate with very few high ticket items. UPD is the price you pay for the privilege of eating mostly decent food, albeit in smaller quantities. An how you open your post, with the YES's if funny.

From our friends at Wiki.... "Half and half" or "Half-and-half" is a mixture of milk and cream, which is often used in coffee and with breakfast cereals. In the United States, half and half is a common liquid product produced by dairy companies in premixed form. It was invented by William A. Boutwell of Boutwell Dairy in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, which distributed the blend regionally between 1927 and 1956.[16][17][18] In the United States, half-and-half must contain between 10.5 and 18 percent milkfat.[19] It is pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized, and may be homogenized.[19] ********************************************************************************************************************* As a heavy morning coffee drinker, I can tell you that there is a great difference in taste. Personally I do NOT enjoy coffee with half & half. My preference is skim milk, and most Café Promenades don't offer it. Thankfully I can get an individual serving carton somewhere onboard and bring it with me. I'm on Harmony now and I can report that they have half gallon jugs readily available that they use for the pitchers labeled cream.

I would NEVER call you nor your baby ugly... ... just your comments. I don't know you personally, however your words are received in a way that implies nothing was right and your cruise was an overwhelmingly unpleasant experience. You did touch on some issues that have been discussed here and that I am in agreement with you-- such as the housekeeping service cuts without a cut to the gratuity, even if it was small gesture of good will. While I am no cheerleader for Royal, to use your analogy, for some, you just called their baby HIDEOUS. It reminds me of the time a few years ago at a community breakfast table, sitting across from a woman and her husband. Two staff members had to come take her precise order for how she wanted her hot tea. Every comment she added to our conversation was some negative element about her cruise experiences, which were many. I happened to be walking behind the couple as we left the dining room and heard her punctuate the whole experience by stating: "Watch! The steward probably won't have cleaned our room yet." I really wanted to catch her attention: "Excuse me, can I just ask... WHY do you put yourself through the repeated dissatisfaction of cruising that I learned all about with your complaints for the past hour? Why not stay home?" I didn't. And she's probably living in her misery. As for your experience and dissatisfaction... I am not going to argue against it, because it has merit. I do believe we are approaching that "Tipping Point" were customers will revolt and find alternative vacation holidays as they realize there's better value elsewhere.

OP, I've read your post in its entirety. After I take a good hot shower to wash off all the BITTERNESS, I will book therapy sessions for the entire Royal Corporate Staff to help them overcome the suicidal tendencies they may possess from working as such a worthless cruise line. Then I'll send you cruise brochures for the other major lines, so you can work your magic there. Oh, and I'll include a copy of the bestseller "Fair & Balanced Reporting," since you seemed to have misplaced your copy.

So when this actually happens, please come back and tell us what you did and how it worked out.

I was young too, but still remember...."Attention K-Mart shoppers..." as they announced their "blue light special" which would only be available for a short period of time (say 15 minutes or so). In the USA we'd refer to them as a discount department store, and those specials drew customers with an urgency, since the sale price was over when the light went out. At their peak, they had close to 2,500 stores world wide while today there are only 9 left, of which 3 are in the USA. In their struggle to remain viable, they tried many things, but I don't remember them ever selling Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Well said! A few years ago my mother at 86 was adamant about renewing her passport; she wouldn't ever think of being without a valid passport.

But according to a number of studies, it won't benefit Royal's coffers. Read the studies as to why smokers are a deeper and more profitable gambler for the casino. Your analogy to restaurants and clubs is off and in no way compares to what happens in the casino. At a restaurant or club, many times there's now an outdoor patio to sit where smoking is permitted. Or smokers will walk outside during their visit to take a cigarette break. Casinos do NOT want their smokers to venture away from a machine for a cigarette break. Even more important is the trance inducing state that cigarette smoking (nicotine) helps create and maintain. Slots on there own are intended to do that for everyone, non-smokers included. But add nicotine, and the smoker generally spends a far greater time gambling. I will share that I am a non-smoker and a gambler.

I've visited the N/S mini casinos on two Oasis class ships that are located in the former Jazz on 4. They just don't have a good look and feel of a casino. Nice thought, but poor execution. Seems like a closet. I'm a N/S and HATE cigarette smoke, but I'd rather endure it in the big casino than play in the small, lifeless room.

I appreciate knowing this, as I would have never imagined. I'm still going to chance it and howl. Please don't turn me in!

That actually was a scene in a movie. It involved a phone that was connected to a bluetooth speaker on a table out by the pool, set at high volume for listening to music outside. Then when the boyfriend snuck out of bed while everyone was asleep, to "view" something on his phone privately in the bathroom, his phone reconnected to the blaringly loud bluetooth, waking everyone. The only "howling" will be from me, as I watch Newhart. Never watched it, and just discovered all seasons and episodes are available on APV. Thank you.

Here's a vote for NO-SHOW: Ten days out from the cruise, wouldn't a call to re-assign and move around result in a repricing of the cabins involved? Doesn't that get expensive? Do you have all the passengers linked and do they show up in your app so you can swipe and see all the boarding passes? If so, checking in as your group of three with all the passports in hand is a good smoke screen: they're focused on getting the people in front of them properly checked in, meaning health questions, picture, and passport scan. After that, it's MOVE ALONG. Lastly, "across the hall" or adjoining seems to be acceptable as the current volume of families with children is higher than the number of connecting rooms to accommodate. I'm pretty sure they've relaxed their policy because they LOVE the occupancy rates as high as 118% which results from triple and quad occ rooms. Let the sleeping dog rest. Hope it all works out!

Indeed an interesting thread that confirms what I was told. Specifically, I was told you can't even book a second room/have a second booking number for yourself on the same cruise. Initially reservations are duped by name, address, C&A number, but so it seems if you circumvent that, you'll be blocked at the port. While the two passports may fool the system, ultimately remember that each BODY is accounted for as we embark and disembark: so only one of you (your staterooms) can be on the ship. Years ago I remember that for security reasons, when a pax scans their boarding pass and walks on an international flight, they CANNOT leave the plane for any reason to go back into the terminal, whereas you could domestically. On a ship, I once was able to disembark on embarkation day without issue, to get something forgotten in the car. However to scan on the ship, scan off the ship, then never scan back on during embarkation I would expect to cause a red flag. That could draw attention to the dupe. I, too, have a reason to be listed twice, so I wish there was a way.

You attributed someone else's quote to me. . When I started cruising fairly often it was with Princess (2014-2017) and I was amazed at how every single morning there was a different menu insert for breakfast, featuring a unique breakfast-- even on 15 day cruises. Both lunch and dinner always featured a new pasta dish. Nothing ever seemed to repeat, except for Prime Rib or Tenderloin, and then only on a cruise >7 days. In 2018 when I tried NCL, I remember thinking: "Wait... that was just on today or yesterday's lunch menu." And now that I'm sailing with Royal since August 2022, having taken 17 cruises so far, I can say that Royal just doesn't know how to do a good dessert, and they have a number of "truth in menu" issues. Even in CK, which is supposed to be an elevated dining experience, menu items repeat-- even the same day between lunch and dinner. I've given up on Chop's. In Crown Grill, I can remember the restaurant sometimes filling with smoke as you could hear their sizzle on the grill. Those are two things you'll have to look hard to find in Chop's. Recently I had dinner two nights in a row in Chop's when sailing on Freedom. Both nights I faced the window of the show kitchen. I specifically had to request "HOT FOOD" and explain that while my request seemed obvious and redundant, that in my many other meals in Chop's the food was NOT HOT. Their solution: heat my dinner plate to an extremely high temperature. The steak? Just warm. And here's why: I watched a person who worked at the broiler to finish the steaks before they were plated. She had a half sheet pan that she would place a pre-cooked steak, meaning seared and marked from a grill, upon and then brush with a liquid, which was probably butter or an oil. Then she would place the the half sheet pan under the broiler to warm the steak before it was plated. That's the Chop's experience. Ugh! I'm sure COVID-Debt, as I'll call it, has infected Princess, diminishing quality and service there, too. But they seem to have much farther to fall.

I've downloaded episodes from Amazon Prime Video to my laptop (Win11Pro) and my iPhone (iOS 15.4.1). I will travel with an HDMI cable and Apple adapter with M:Lightening to F: HDMI & Lightening. Will I be able to connect to the TV? Could I do so by casting instead of cable? If you can give specific help, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

A ship that sails full may not be profitable. Specialty restaurants can add to profitability-- after subtracting for food and labor costs. Debt service has risen even more sharply than prices. Your observations overlook the importance of the casino as a revenue center for the cruise line. Yes, people will point out that Disney does just fine, and they've never relied upon casinos; it's not part of their business model. But anyone who's priced a Disney cruise pre-COVID knows that their fares --in general-- were substantially higher than other brands with casinos. The Royal business model depends upon substantial revenues being generated in the casino, and that's why their loyalty program treats their top tier players like VIP's.

Better choices and better food on Princess. Enjoy!

...YET

I wasn't even aware that one could apply for a passport card without the passport. But the application does allow for this situation. This is the language on the back of my valid passport card: Valid for domestic air travel, international land and sea travel between U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Not valid for international air travel. Just last month I realized as I was entering Port of Miami that I forgot my passport. Thankfully I carry my passport card as my primary identification in my wallet, and I had no issues during check-in. Note that my experience has been that if the ship's itinerary plans to call on just one port that isn't listed on the back of the card, then the passport card is not valid for the cruise. This was the case on a full crossing of the Panama Canal on another line where we stopped in several other countries: my passport was required to board. Another clarification: whether or not the passenger plans to leave the ship during a port of call outside the countries listed on the back of the card is immaterial. The fact that the ship calls on a port not listed is what triggers the need for the passport book.

Liberty’s cafe is open 24 hours serving coffee and should have snacks appropriate for time of day. You may find no food available during a portion of the overnight hours: a cheat several ships try to take despite the website and compass stating snacks 24 hours

Have you reviewed financial performance in the casinos? How are you defining "hasn't hurt?"

Here's why there's no more Half & Half for your coffee! From the Financials, Form 10-Q released 05/04/23 presenting quarterly results through 03/31/23. Quote #1-Page 30 Our future capital commitments consist primarily of new ship orders. As of March 31, 2023, the aggregate expected cost of our ships on order presented in the table above, excluding any ships on order by our Partner Brands, was $10.2 billion, of which we had deposited $0.9 billion. Quote #2-Page 32 As of March 31, 2023, we had $7.8 billion of committed financing for our ships on order. Quote #3-Page 30 As of March 31, 2023, we anticipate overall full year capital expenditures, based on our existing ships on order, will be approximately $4.2 billion for 2023. Quote #4-Page 32 As of March 31, 2023, our obligations due through March 31, 2024 primarily consisted of $2.1 billion related to debt maturities, $1.3 billion related to interest on debt and $2.7 billion related to progress payments on our ship orders and, based on the expected delivery date, the final installment payable due upon the delivery of Silver Nova, Icon of the Seas, and Celebrity Ascent. Quote #5-Page 32 As of March 31, 2023, we had liquidity of $3.9 billion, including cash and cash equivalents of $1.2 billion, and $2.6 billion of undrawn revolving credit facility capacity. -New ship orders represent a capital commitment of $10.2 billion (Quote#1) while secured financing is $7.8 billion (Quote #2). -As of 3/31/23 obligations (bills to pay, if you will) over the next 12 months are expected to be $6.1 billion (Quote#4) while there's only $1.2 billion in cash (or like-cash) with another $2.6 billion available through borrowing, leaving a difference of $2.2 billion to be presumably acquired through operating income. (In simple terms that's what's left over from what passengers spend after paying all the bills associated with getting those passengers to spend their money.) I probably shouldn't have singled out Icon, but not that the financials indicate that they do not have financing in place for all of their ship orders. Keeping this on topic, the financials point to an ongoing need to increase operating income. With first quarter ship occupancy listed at 102.1% (triple/quad occ. in a cabin helps raise it above 100%) cutting costs and services to reduce expenses seems to be the route they are taking to drive higher operating income.