OldCaver

Some cruises in my vast experience had a coffee package, but I don't know if that's still a thing at all.
The coffee you can get in the Cafe Promenade is free, and pretty good quality, but my complaint was that the milk they provide for it is colder than a politician's heart, and cools the coffee down too much. But this next cruise, on the Voyager in a couple weeks, my daughter is bringing a box of those little creamers that don't need to be kept cool. That may well solve the problem. Just bring a few with us when we stumble out of the cabin, tear their little lids off, and presto! Cream in your coffee without turning it into an iced beverage.

18 minutes ago, cruisingjandb said:

Would the Crown Lounge have some snacks on embarkation day? We would like to avoid the WJ for a light lunch.

Oooooh. Good question.

What caused this is that back many years ago, during the Crimean wars, your status depended on the number of cruises, not the number of nights you were on the ship. This means that somebody (looking at you, Florida residents) could take short little weekend cruises and shoot up in the ranks in short time. I resented that because I was taking Trans-Atlantics, and my 14 nights on the ship was worth the same as a 3 night cruise, as far as status. Didn't seem fair.
So they made the adjustments, but grandfathered in your status, which is fair as far as I'm concerned, even though there could (theoretically) be Pinnacles on board who had spent less time than me on the ships. Relax, Pinnacles, I don't think it likely.
But that means that now, theoretically, you could have half the ship filled with Diamond Pluses.
So they wisely renamed the lounge so they wouldn't have to argue with angry Diamonds when they had to be turned away due to a full lounge.
Even though I earned my D+ status the hard way, I'm OK with the drinks being loaded on my sea-pass card any time of day. I wouldn't be interested in squeezing into a crowded room just to get a snack or a coffee, but I do love stopping by in the wee hours to score a latte.
I think given the situation, they did the best they could.

I do kind of wish they'd establish something between D+ and pinnacle. But I don't cruise for the status, I just enjoy whatever perks they'd like to issue.

16 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We almost always book Inside Guarantees, and we've always been satisfied.  Specifics: 

- We don't really care where we are, and the savings are real. 

- We seem to land on Deck 6 most of the time.  It's not a particularly popular deck, but it's become our favorite.  We also seem to land mid-ship most of the time.  

- Several times we've scored a small bump up:  Paid for an Inside /got an Obstructed Ocean View.  Paid for an Inside /got a Promenade Room.  Paid for an Inside /got a Handicapped Room.  

- What drives me nuts is waiting to know my room number!  As the date draws nearer, I start checking multiple times each day.  It's worth it for the savings.  

I could have posted this except for the one about bump ups. We've never gotten that, ever. We just this morning found out we're on deck 6, and we have no room number yet. Most of us who like GTYs think of the cabin as a place to sleep or shower, and that's it. And the savings will pay for more important extras.

My wife says it's when she looks down just before boarding, steps over the water, and onto the actual deck. This makes sense, of course.
But for me the moment is when they took my seapass card, scanned it and I heard the ding.
I guess the difference is between physically boarding, and being officially recognized as a passenger. Very little difference, I know.

On 3/7/2024 at 5:22 PM, logan25 said:

Maybe hoping to hear unfiltered feedback of his daily service.

"Yeah, that's the ticket. I wanted to make sure I was doing the cabin to their satisfaction. Yeah." 🙂

On 2/25/2024 at 7:39 PM, Another_Critic said:

It's best to bring $1000 and post your ship, sail date, and cabin number.  Also post your daily schedule.  😉

 

P.S.  Remember to write down your safe combination and leave it on the desk.

Great advice. What if you forget any of those things? Especially the safe combo. And leave it on the desk in case you forget where you left it.

(we have to have a little fun.) 🙂

2 hours ago, savva0122000 said:

Thanks that is useful - I definitely want a paper Compass.

You can also go to Guest Services and get one, in case Stewart forgets to bring one.

On 2/20/2024 at 10:12 AM, spunks said:

We have done 26 TA's and one TP. It is the best of cruising in our opinion. We prefer the Westbound TA's because we have no jet lag when we get home. We have learned that when you fly into Europe, we simply stay awake that first day as long as we can stand it till maybe 8PM and then sleep like we were dead till the next morning. When we wake up we are fine....no jet lag. However, sailing to Europe and flying home takes days to get over.

 

What we like about the sea days is easy....the whole ship is open. There is so much to do that we have to tightly schedule to avoid conflicts. I agree that we have to choose between bridge and trivia.

Same experiences for me. I find that taking a four hour nap on arrival in Europe gets you all synced up right away.
Love those sea days, no shortage of things to do. Sometimes after six sea days or so, I would get up in the monring, look out and see land, and it seemed weird, somehow.

On 2/19/2024 at 7:00 PM, DandDM said:

 

 

Also, after I get to know the bar staff, will usually wait until I’m done for the evening and tip $5 or $10 instead of dollars with each drink. 

Good strategy.

Things to consider:

1) If your cruise has a lot of port days, you won't drink as many back on the ship, which would make your package worth a little less to you.

2) If you are D+, you might want to tell your server not to count a soda or cheap drink against your 5 free drinks. (or 4 if you're just a lowly peasant D). Your mileage (or drinkage) may vary.

3) Often, your server will simply not bother with the extra price of your premium diamond drinks. This will be somewhat more likely if you (ahem) fold a buck next to your seapass card when he takes your order. But if he does charge your card with the extra buck or two, it's worth it to you for the premium liquor, or you wouldn't order it - am I right?

4) I once calculated that the package wouldn't be worth it for just the alcohol, but when I realized it also included coffee or orange juice, it became a good deal for me.

Just things to consider when you're banging on your calculator.

We like to buy key chains from each port. They then become Christmas tree ornaments.

1 hour ago, UnclePaco said:

Was it it shiny and new?  No, but neither am I any more.  I like to say I have more character as I get older, and liken the Radiance to the same philosophy.  

Now see, that is the attitude that virtually guarantees a great, enjoyable cruise. We, the passengers, are the single most important factor in whether a cruise is good or bad.

If there is a line of people waiting to board, they likely won't let you on.
If there's no crowd or line, they'll let you on. The point of scheduled boarding is to avoid the long lines. It's one of the best changes they've made.

We loved trans-Atlantic/Pacific. Plenty of time to relax. I loved the lectures, but I hear they don't do that anymore. Saving some bucks for the cruise line, I suppose.
Definitely prefer Europe to USA, because of the extra hour on many days. Going east I was tired most days. A 25 hour day is much better than a 23 hour day.
We made a point of arriving in Europe 3 days early, so we could enjoy things before the cruise.
As long as you have to fly, might as well make the most of it!

Agree with Cruisegirl1 - fewer kiddies underfoot. If you just skimmed her post, go back and read it.

So far, we're just now slowly getting back into cruising. It's more expensive than before Covid, but boarding is far easier than then, and there are other improvements. For now, we'll settle for 3-7 night Caribe cruises.We've been to all the ports, and we skip many of them and pretend that it's a sea day. This works for us.

I just asked Mrs. Caver (la esposa) about this. We generally bring around $500 for all expenses, including stuff on the way to the port and back. We never use it all.
We tip maybe $20 per person in the cabin to Stewart (in addition to the pre-pay money), and a buck each time we order a drink or drinks.We don't ask much of Stewart, keeping our room more or less neat and orderly, so all he or she has to do is empty the trash and make the beds and maybe replace the towels once during the cruise.

You do not need to bring a huge stack of ones, since it's way easy to break a ten or twenty at guest services, but you should still estimate what you need for tipping so you can avoid the long complaint lines. If you do exceed your estimates, it's not a problem, just a slight inconvenience while you wait for twenty people to complain about it raining too much.

If you take an excursion (whether it's managed by the cruise line or not), you should be prepared to tip your guide or driver, but that's easy math.

We bring along photos taken on other cruises, or of us doing things other cruisers might conceivably find interesting - such as caving. We change the photo each day, and some in our hallway remark that they look forward to the new photo each day.
Other's decorations come in handy to alert us to the fact that we took a wrong turn and are on the wrong side of the ship! 😉

Ginger anything is helpful for seasickness.
I have had the best results with ginger chews, ginger capsules, and ginger beer (not ale). You can get ginger beer at any of the bars. It is not alcoholic, it's just a major ingredient of Moscow Mules.
All three have high ginger content, in the order I listed.

If the ship is rocking side to side it's far worse for seasickness than front to back. When it's side to side, I take some ginger and go to bed.

On 11/5/2023 at 4:42 PM, mkmaj said:

Yes. I don't see any reason to penalize staff for Royal's crappy decisions. 

 

I always tip our room steward $20 on the first day with requests and then the amount at the end depends on service throughout the week. That end of week tip has been anywhere from $20-$150. 

 

Dinner is usually $10/night and more at the end for great service.

 

Bars, typically a buck or two a drink.

That's pretty much what we do, except we don't do MDR anymore. The Food Jammer is our preference now.  They have new hires roaming to offer to get you a drink or something between clearing tables, while they practice their English skills, and if you tip them, you really make a friend!
We don't tip additional at the bar until a waiter is friendly to us - and then we hand them a buck along with the sea pass card. This continues for the rest of the cruise. This results in somewhat stronger drinks, and also in some very lovely conversations about the waiter's home port, which to me is as nice as the stronger drinks.

We honestly don't care. So the first time we bump into Stewart we tell him to get it whenever works best for him. He seems to be happy to have that flexibility. Other than the bed not being made, or the trash can having stuff in it, we barely know the difference anyway. We put things where they belong at all times. We only use the cabin for sleeping, showering or changing clothes - which is why guarantee cabins work so well for us.

On 4/21/2023 at 6:06 AM, sydney dog said:

I went on a large family trip to Grand Cayman.  My husband and I did independent for the stingray excursion.  We were on a boat with about 10-15 other people and away from all the other boats.  Had plenty of time in the water with the stingrays and had free rum punch and snacks as well. Got some great pictures to at a reasonable rate.

My cousin and his daughter did a similar excursion through the ship.  They were on a boat with about 50 other people, in the middle of a bunch of other boats and spent about 5 minutes in the water.  They did NOT have free anything on the excursion and barely saw any stingrays.

They also paid more than twice as much as we did.  

I always go on these boards to find reputable excursions and have never gone wrong 🤞.

That was our experience as well. While we were in the water with the stingrays, petting them and feeding them multiple times, we could see the ship's excursion about 100 meters away, sharing maybe two stingrays among them, having paid twice the fee. And in this case, there was virtually no chance of missing the ship when it left.

I would NEVER
Be disrespectful to any staff person.
Pressure bar staff to violate the rules about sharing my drink package.
Go to the buffet and put more food on my plate than I am likely to eat.
Sit outside near the pool.

I would NEVER AGAIN (see the difference?)
Attend an art auction. Once was more than enough.

Put money into a slot machine.
Stay dressed up after formal night. In fact, I'd rather just hit the buffet and stay away from the promenade, or wherever they've stationed the photographers.
Participate in the "Karaoke Super Star" thing. I can entertain a crowd, but competing takes all the fun out of it.
Think of a ship's excursion as the highlight of the cruise. That will only triple the odds of it getting canceled just before we get to the meeting place. 😜
 

My first cruise was on the Splendour of the Seas, a transAtlantic cruise. We sailed on the Splendour several times after that when we could arrange it. I don't think it's part of the fleet anymore. I thought it was the perfect size ship. They don't have ships that size anymore, so we've gone with the next size up. I still have no interest in sailing on one of those monster ships. The smaller the better.

35 minutes ago, davekathy said:

When we use to cruise inside cabins we always had the beds separated. In our opinion it gave us more room to move around. 

I agree about the beds. Reminds me of a cruise we took when we booked the last cabin available. The room was so small that with the beds together, you had to climb over the bed to get into it - either that or walk sideways like a crab. By separating, the two walking areas were combined so that you could easily walk between the beds.

In about a week, we're going to take our first cruise since the pandemic ruined it for us. (I cannot wear a mask for reasons I won't go into.) Main reason is to find out what it's like now, whether it's still worth it. I can tell by reading these forums that RCI is cutting corners and pinching pennies as hard as it can, and I don't blame them. They lost a LOT of money.
For me, I'll generally take an interior because it's cheaper (and yeah, that matters to me), which means if we decide to resume our cruising habit, that means more cruising.
I'll address several things on this thread:

I have a form of night blindness, which you would think would make an interior cabin out of the question. But my smart wife always sends me to bed first, and after I fall asleep, she places two rows of those battery operated little candles from the bed to the bathroom. It looks like a runway, but it works. I can find my way easily when I get up to answer nature's call, and for her it makes a sort of night light.

I've enjoyed balconies, and all things being equal I'd prefer one, but the price is anything BUT equal. Saving bucks means more excursions, more drinks, more generous tipping, and the possibility of turning a short cruise into a B2B. In other words, I postpone the agony of getting kicked off the ship!

Bottom line, even though I like balconies, how much time do I really spend on one? So with an inside, I can choose which side of the ship has the shade I want, while on a balcony the sun gonna shine if it wants to, and if I don't like it I have to go back inside.

With an inside cabin, yeah, I spend almost no time in the cabin, and with a balcony, I spend more time there. Oh, and my experience is that a balcony usually allows more noise into your cabin when you try to sleep. People partying too loud either up a deck or two, or to the left or right. I remember one cruise where a drunk couple started a loud argument up one deck and over two cabins. (I ignored the noise until I heard him start throwing stuff at her. Then I picked up the phone.)

I'm pretty flexible when it comes to features and amenities, since the important thing for me is watching the sea go by and smelling the salt air, and you can do that on that wide deck where they used to have the mustard drills. Balconies are good, but if inside cabins save me enough clams that I can convert to a B2B, or buy specialty coffee, and maybe hit J.Rockets once or twice for a BLT, and assuming I can still enjoy things with the cost-saving efforts they've necessarily had to implement.

It's a beautiful thing that a ship can offer so many options for all of us. This thread explains all the pros and cons nicely. Now I need to find a thread that will help me figure out if I should try that royal up thing they do.Not this trip, but for future cruises, should this one pan out as I hope it will.