firsttimer57

We are going to be cruising shortly with our grandchildren. Our 15 year old wants to dine in the Japanese restaurant but we don’t like Japanese. I am fairly sure she won’t be be permitted to dine alone as a minor. Is this correct?

Our TA has just told us that booking has put back to April 30. But DCL are being very tight lipped. Sounds like it won’t go ahead. 

We are on the Magic in two weeks. 

Does anyone know what films are currently being shown.

Is Aladdin on?

Many thanks

What is the cost of this please? We are on an eight nighter on the Equinox in October.

I find some of the venom spat on this subject quite bizarre.

Tipping is a strange culture to people in many countries, particularly here in the UK, because ALL workers get paid a minimum Government set minimum living wage. In dollars this amounts to about $15 per hour.

So when we dine out and decide to tip good service, it truly is a tip / gratuity as this is on top of their earnings.

When we first visited the States about 20 years ago, we found the culture strange that people would work purely for tips,

The one person I really object to paying any tip for is the Head Waiter - he should be paid accordingly as a senior staff member by RCI.

The only time we have ever had an issue with gratuities on board was last year on a Med cruise.

We had taken our granddaughter with us (5 years old at the time) and was booked for My Time dining for a table of three for us. For three nights we endured simply the worst service ever. We then chose to dine in the buffet. Again the service was terrible, I have never seen so many dirty tables and plates not cleared away. In the end we spoke to the duty manager who explained they were experiencing quality issues as they had just had an influx of new staff and this was causing them issues. By the end of the cruise it hadn't improved (in fact it went down further) so we did reluctantly decide to ask for the refund of the grats for the Dining Service element as they had not earned the tip.

The reverse to this was our Cabin attendant who was the best we have ever had in nearly 20 cruises. He couldn't do enough for us and our little grand-daughter. We had already decided to give him something extra.

However when RCI removed the tips they removed them ALL. I asked them to ensure the Cabin Attendant still got his, but was told it was all or nothing.

Luckily we were able to put maters right with him on the last morning and paid him with cash.

For what it is worth, making it a Service Charge and including it in the cruise fare would sort out all this mess. If you wanted to treat a member of staff separately to this then it truly becomes a tip and not a SERVICE CHARGE.

Luckliyl we

Expensive of the Seas

Initially I was more concerned that they had charged us the cancellation fee for changing the flights - this should have been down to them. It appears to have been an error on their part.

I was pointing this out so others could check their invoice to ensure this hadn't happened to them.

However my other concern was that it was advertised as DIRECT flights. We took the option as the deal offered was better than e could get ourselves. The flights and transfers worked out cheaper.

In the end all is well and it really doesn't matter whether we fly Manchester of Liverpool.

The final point is regarding the Manchester flights RCI were offereing. They were proposing to fly KLM via Amsterdam, arriving at 2pm. It was just not enough time to board the ship. RCI have realised this now.

I hope others who have the same package get theirs sorted okay

Hi all

If any of you have booked a package with RCI including flights from Manchester, RCI have just issued out new invoices. CHECK THEM. The original package included flights with Monarch. They have been changed to INDIRECT FLIGHTS with KLM via Amsterdam getting in at 2pm in Barcelona.

But RCI's airline department charged us the full cost of flights with Monarch so our cost went up by £364.

I pointed out that this cost wasn't ours as it was advertised as a "Package" and they agreed to revise it.

The following day another new invoice arrived - this time they booked the same journey but departing Manchester at 5.55am arriving 12.30pm. But the "cancellation charge" was still on the invoice.

Eventually and after 4 hours on the phone they agreed to drop this charge and re-booked us to fly direct from Liverpool.

I am just warning anyone booked same package as us (or perhaps anyone who is booked on a UK package from any other regional airport to check your paperwork.

We are booked on the original inaugural date 21st April with a package including flights. We booked these back in March on the first day of Sales and got a pretty good deal.. Our chosen room on the new date of 7th April has now gone already and the flights RCI are offering don't get us in Barcelona until 2pm and don't include transfers. Worse still they are indirect. 6 hours for a flight that is normally 2.5 hours.

The final whammy is the cost - it will cost us arund £700 extra to the new cruise date.

As an aside, I have only done a per-inaugural. What extras if any do you get on the normal inaugural?

Many thanks for the info.

We are based in the UK. I have already bought the drinks package, and it cost £42.00 per day

As we are diamond my wife was happy to have the drinks we get, but while she is normally a beer drinker (Miller Light), she is thinking of having cocktails on here instead, which aren't part of the diamond drinks.

I was wanting to know as we fly into the States on Wednesday so if it was a better deal we could wait and order then.

It looks like the pricing is about the same, so w may as well buy it now.

Thanks again

Does anyone know what the current drink package price is on the US website please? I can see the price on the UK Site, but not the US

Just curious

Thanks

It is definitely St Kitts now - this is the RC email from earlier this afternoon

About your upcoming travels

Royal Caribbean Update: Due to the impact of Hurricane Irma on St. Maarten, we have altered your September 24th Oasis of the Seas itinerary. We will now be visiting Basseterre, St. Kitts on September 27st instead of St. Maarten. Any pre-paid shore excursions will be refunded to the original form of payment, and you will have an opportunity to book shore excursions for St. Kitts online via our Pre Cruise Planner and once you board.

We are booked on the inaugural voyage next April and was wondering just what to expect in terms of on board parties, give-away's etc?

We went on the per-inaugural on the Ovation last year, and there seems to be lots of activities ready for the main event

Just curious as we have never done one before

Many thanks

On our cruise (24th Sept) the Bistro option has just come up - it wasn't there at weekend.

We enjoy the Bistro for breakfast, so have now booked each evening for dinner.

I wear suits all year for work, so enjoy smart casual on holiday so this restaurant suits us real fine.

The times we were able to book suited much better around the shows and other events we have planned. We have cancelled our MTD reservations now,

Many thanks to all for their advice.

We too have just got off and the standards have dropped dramatically. This was our third time on her staring with her maiden season, a further trip about 4 years ago and now this one.

I am writing a review, but at the moment I am holding back on it as I want to be objective

We did have a really good time and for some special reasons, but it is definitely not the ship it was.

This is welcome news.

We have just got off the Indy this weekend and sadly she is definitely looking jaded.

It is inevitable though, as these ships do take a lot of hammer

Just off the Indy this weekend.

The only problem I found was the smell in around Boleros bar as the doors frequently open near the bar.

My big issue externally was that the coffee station on the pool deck (11) was situated on the smoking side, when really it should be on the opposite site around the towel station

We have just returned off the Indy.

As the cruise departs the UK it is British VAT of 20% that is levied to your bills. There are large signs up advising this.

We had a drinks package included, but we were told by another cruiser that they were told the price shown for the package they bought was subject to 18% gratuity plus UK VAT.

Clarky - It is £52.86 not $$

I presume it was way over priced originally as £23 is $32

Just been looking at my reseratyion and the Royal Replenish price has neo nbeen reduced - down from £23 per day to £15

Out of interest, how much are beers and wines on RCI currently?

As we are emerald we will get a few free drinks (Buy one, get one free) and with a couple of bottles of wine to carry on for our room, I just don't think it will be worth having a package on this one.

We are cruising on the mini cruise 14th April.

RCL have finally allowed guests to book dining and packages.

I have noticed quite a lot of posts about drink package increases, discounts, etc. but this is mad - take a look at this screenshot from my cruise planner.

I was amazed at how expensive these packages are (albeit they include the gratuity). The Premium package is £53 ($74.20) and the Ultimate is £57 ($79.80) per day

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=380544&d=1458741994

It took about 2 hours 10 mins with a 15minute interval.

Cracking show and very professional - singers are brilliant

We saw the show three times as our little granddaughter loved it.

She is walking round singing Mamma Mia to anyone who will listen!