Trainman52

When we first started cruising in 1976, every night's menu was unique.  They had the date printed on them with a lavishly designed graphic for the front.  As has been mentioned, those days are long gone.  The quality of the main dining room (and many of the specialty restaurants) is on a par with The Texas Roadhouse IMHO.  You won't rave about it, but you won't complain either.  The cruise lines have to make their money somewhere.  It's like the old joke, "I lose $5.00 per unit but make it up in volume".

All sorts of offers on our 4 cards, but nothing for RCL. 

Here's something that is a little "outside the box".  You can stay at a hotel along the LIRR Babylon Branch.  My favorite town is Rockville Centre.  You can speak with the hotel about leaving your car in their lot and then take the LIRR to Penn Station.  It is a relatively fast cab ride to the port.  If you have a lot of luggage, this may not work. 

We're on the May 28th 8 night Caribbean out of NYC. Waiting for the roll call to come up. Still no Carnival Horizon in the pick list.

They also weigh for North Star. 300lb limit as that is all the emergency escape harness can support.

WiFi does work in cabins. I'm using my LG G4 with Miracast to stream from my phone to the tv. You need to get into the tv's menuing system to turn on screen mirroring. A phone with an ir emitter and remote control program can do it.

There is really no registering devices to an account. You can use any device on any account, as long as you don't log in more devices on an account than is permitted.

Never tried it. Other device is a Kindle Fire.

Theoretically you could share the 2 device package. You would need to register both devices to the same account.

Make that "write home about". Tonight's baked Alaska in the Grande was quite good. We were close enough to the shore to see the Miami skyline.

We have been to both. They are different to be sure. Depends what you are looking for. We were in Chic last night. I had the chicken marsala. Okay, night great. Desserts are nothing to right home about. Grande is the best. If you want to spend extra, Chops is outstanding.

My wife and I each got a free 24 hour credit. One day is $30.00. Multi- day packages are $15.00/day. Second device is 50% off. I didn't need WiFi on shore. Service is extremely quick. No problems with connectivity.

Everything has been outstanding. Great food, great shows, friendly crew. The captain has a wonderful sense of humor. The weather and seas have been picture perfect.

I'm wondering if one of the benefits to taking the "classic option" with your dining is that the waitstaff has a vested interest in keeping you happy. I've always tipped beyond what was put on the cruise account. After one or two nights of you not being happy, they will know what it takes to satisfy your palate and will see to it. They always had iced tea at the table waiting for my wife. They know how you like your coffee, etc.

The head of food and beverage from corporate has visited the Anthem a few times. They are under a microscope. Things should get better.

We are going out in June and I am not cancelling. We got Norovirus at Disney World back in 2009 and still went back. We also got it when we went home for Christmas one year, assuming we picked it up at a highway rest stop. It happens every where all the time and not really a reason to cancel a trip IMHO.

 

Can't speak for the weather, its been weird this year. We live in NY and we have no snow left on the ground and it was 47 yesterday.. but its supposed to snow on Wednesday. :eek:

Where in NY is it supposed to snow?? I heard rain.

Noro can happen on any ship. Despite people self-certifying that they are "illness free", many do in fact sail.

I know many people who sailed on the Quantum who came down with respiratory illnesses.

People should take the hand washing and hand sanitizing seriously. Unfortunately, this falls under the category of "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink".

They would not do away with it ... but I could easily see them charging extra for it.

My thought exactly.

Never miss an opportunity to make a dollar.

We were on Explorer for Christmas 2008. They had egg nog with and without rum. The rum version was an extra charge even though they were walking around the promenade with trays of it.

For iOS devices, go to Apple's App Store. I'm not an Android user, but I assume there's something similar.

 

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/royal-iq/id916865548?mt=8

Yes, there is an Android version as well. It is called the Royal IQ

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.royalcaribbean.iq&hl=en

Ahhh. Didn't see this before I responded. It will be free for me as we already got an international package that includes texting on our phones for the duration of the cruise.

I signed up for an international package through Verizon Wireless.

For $40.00 for a month, I get 100 minutes of voice, 100 outgoing texts, unlimited incoming texts, 100mb of data. I can cancel before the end of my billing cycle which is a little over a week after the cruise and get a pro-rated refund. I was told that the package will apply both on the ship and in port.

I have a transcript of the chat should any of the information prove to be incorrect.

This is a job for Adrian Monk.

When you get on the ship, there should be somewhere where they are helping people book or change show and restaurant times walking around deck 4 and 5. I hoping they will be doing something for St Pat's, but from what I've been reading, it doesn't look too promising. Maybe some Irish songs in Schooner Lounge of Michaels Pub.

We can have our own extemporaneous St. Paddy's Day celebration. Hey, we can even organize our own parade. Hope that RCCL doesn't have a permit fee. :D

I'm glad that you came up to the .25 cents. LOL. Gladly pay that price for the quality of the service and food.

Absolutely. It was so different then. The menu selections were different each night and the food was top quality. The CD staff actually knew most of the passengers on board, although we never got to meet Doc or Gopher.

Oceanic 40 long years ago.

 

The retracting dome over the pool. That was quite the "deal" back then. We were also young, but not the youngest.

Yes, you had to pay for the deck chairs and you picked your spot. Every day the chairs were set up for you. If you wanted anything to drink, your deck steward was always at the ready. Dinner was REAL lobster. Don't remember "Rock The Boat", but there were many Italian bands on board playing. We still have some souvenirs that we bought on board.

We should have the Oceanic cruisers group meeting on board. I still have the menus too.

Wow - green for St. Paddy's Day. I forgot all about it. I'll have to remind Ellen. Unfortunately, my selection of green attire is somewhat limited. Green tends to go with my complexion - just kidding.

Gaylemh - we have to discuss memories of the Oceanic. What a great ship that was in its day.

Someone on another site that I am not allowed to mention posted the entertainment.

You can email me the link please.

Trainman.......52 at Ay Owl El dot com (remove the dots and you can figure out the phonetics.

Thanks