north29

I'm legally deaf. but do not need a cabin unit. However, I do not understand or very little any announcement, or most entertainment on the ship. I really feel that the cruise lines need to step up and install hearing improvement systems like some of the airport do now. My hearing aids are bluetooth, and some have others built in hearing enhancers. Unfortunately my aids do not improve the foreign language barrier, but my onboard wife is my second pair of ears.

filled the app info out PP and other info. LOL my flight home from Venice arrives in Philadelphia, not on the list that has Mobile pass port entry.

Ever had your foot run over by a person in a wheelchair/scooter & have them say "if you weren't in my way, it wouldn't have happened to you!" I have, so try to understand other peoples feelings as well!

Maybe you have never experienced being in a wheel chair. OR you were not giving the wheel chair enough room.

Since this is her first cruise......Warn her that there will be(some) people who will be rude to wheel chairs, just like Walmart, Macy's or many other places.

Last New Years and it was OK, the pool deck was not exciting but some younger people seemed to have fun. We did not do any other places. The best(for us) NY events/celebrations have been on RC, on the ships like the Freedom with the indoor promenade.

Go to the bank and untie your debit card from all other accounts(over draft I think it is called), so that if it is skimmed or stolen the only money they can get will be what is in the account. Debit card fraud is harder to get reimbursed for with many Banks.

It is fabulous, much better than the traditional formal night. MOST dress VERY NICE to actually formal(it has been this way for years). You will be happy, if you ignore what many post. Just dress like you prefer to and you will be happy and not alone.

And can, as we ALL KNOW, can have bad days, week, or moths for a variety of reason, and as mentioned above dealing with all the TOURIST who think their **** docent stink get old after a while, especial if they have had some negative experiences.

Bacongate

I hope I can express this.

Regardless, there are classes or a cast system on any cruise ship, from bilge workers to management, and yes cruisers. Since the mass marketing, which has made cruising available to everyone like it or not, some families/cruisers have different life styles and YES, has offended many cruisers as you can see on the CC boards.

So what is cruise line to do, but to create space, some common, some public, so that they can offer big spenders a place to hide, go back to the lost era of cruising or what ever expectations of what a cruise should be.

Also, suites etc. will be attractive to people who have vacations once a year and want to have the best experience for their money, and money will be not be a problem.

Having said that and should have said more, I hope the new ships will have built in class level, perks, and do not take away from existing recreational and dining space which is becoming, more and more a PITA to enjoy a cruise.

I cannot speak for the ship you questioned but most are basically the same except for size.

RC ships are geared to many activities, x's ships have activities but more geared to mature adults of any age, unfortunately not many physically active activities, and yes not enough regular type of activities. Standard thing to do, like the movie theater are too crowded some people stay all day. As I said RC seems to be geared more to activities, but sometimes lacks service and this IMHO is the "main" difference. FOOD again IMHO about the same some better and some not so good. Types of food, like Miso soup and other unique dishes RC seems to win, but this varies from ship to ship and it's management. For example, on a recent cruise with RC, we had the best Miso soup every, well on a cruise ship, the Captain every morning, was in the WJ and guess what he was eating. The scrambles eggs on X are great LOL.

All in all it is a truly different experience and we enjoy X and are long time RC cruisers

With modern technology, but it can be time consuming. I have done many private tours ALL OVER THIS PLANET, "most" were superior in different ways to what the cruise lines offer. The issues if any, are the same as tours from the cruise lines.

Having said that, I would not take the time dealing with tour companies/wishy washy, at times, people who say they will and then say they won't, fortunately not many, real travelers do this.

I will praise those who are willing to do this work and hope to book some more private tours in the future.

Normally I don't respond to threads like this, especially when it appears that the rest of the gang has somehow decided that it is your fault that RCCL canceled the cruise. This is clearly something they did to you and just because you don't fit into the tight parameters of what they deem to be "policy" that you are just supposed to give up. This was RCCLs fault and I think they need to fix it. So, either write ( I don't have the address handy) or e-mail to the executive offices ( I have used these in the past)

rfain@rccl.com; mbayley@rccl.com; agoldstein@rccl.com and see if they are more reasonable. If these are not current e-mails for the executive team, then post another thread on here and get the proper e-mail and send them your issue. This seems like a no-brainer to me. RCCL should give you the $$$. Or, you could just call customer service back and see if you get a different answer. Or, you could call a C&A number (sorry, don't have that either) and see if they can help. I am a little surprised the Cruise Critic gang isn't being more helpful. Let us know how it goes.

Good post RCCL cause your issue and the amount of money is NOTHING to them, perhaps it is a over site and not adjusting to booking methods that needs to be corrected.

My favorites are the prime rib, Duck, and lamb dishes, However, this dishes can be cooked Fantastic, GOOD and even bad, which is especially true for lobster and duck. If you get poor prepared one or not to your liking ask for another, it is amazing how fast the new dish will come out. I have found no deserts worth the calories, other than just plain vanilla ice scream with chocolate syrup, yes we seem to irritate the wait staff, some ask why.

I should mention the turkey and escargot is good, I liked it better with the scallops when there was a snail shortage. Also we are fish eaters and the fish can be iffy at best.

But it's good to see that RC obviously thought there was a problem and actually take action at a cost to themselves. But why the management just couldn't acknowledge this in the first place is beyond me.

 

Management by the Objectives(MBO) is most cruise lines method of operation. The management at that level had no authority to go beyond their level other than MAYBE reporting it to a higher level of management who cold make the decision.

Also in my carry on, I have enough light weight clothes to last at least a week if necessary, even with the must have items. I still have too much stuff that i can easily be purchased on the ship or port. Neve seem to remember what is NOT NECESSARY LOL

I have been out of that terminal with the FREDOM and no real problem with a 11:30 flight, but the Oasis, with, I guess, about 2K more pax, I wonder how quickly debarkation will go If you can wait booking air, I would wait and see what happens. Also it might depend on the speed on immigration.

All new stuff is Tropical Storm proof "right" Some of it might make good flotsam to to fish under in the gulf stream.

I will have to admit it will be a great improvement.

With 99% of your review. We are D+ with RCI and have decided that X is more our cruising style(now days). We will cruise both, depending on itinerary and yes, price. We have found that many times if booked at the right time X has been the same price as RCI and sometimes less. Example, Christmas cruise this year on X for 14 days was much cheaper than a back to back cruise on RCI. This was at the time of the booking, as we all know prices can change.

Freedom is our favorite ship, I will be sad when she is replaced by the Oasis.

Just ask for one, you might wait a while, much like a restaurant getting a table you like. Be prepared, some times the tables for two are so close that you might hears the other diners saying things you do not want to hear. :D

At $5.50 and $8.00 at the time, I almost paid for them through OBC LOL. I still own them and if/when they go up again, I will sell them.

PS should have sold them when the stock was in the $90 range.

They are all good.........., What you like in a cruise ship is more your cruising style. We really like the ships with a true promenade i.e. Freedom or Navigator, or with easy access to sea views. In other words any ship is great. In recent years, we have been booking more and more X cruises, they fitting our changing Cruising style.

You can start boarding at the same time as everyone else, but status may let you get through the line faster. (There are different lines for the different status levels which may or may not move faster than the "everyone else" line.)

It also depends on the embarkation port, whether the "status" will help.

[Q

UOTE=JimAOk1945;50605929]The lobster tail is good. I always enjoy it and ask for a second.

It is hard for me to believe and yes it is most likely true, that a cruise ship can have up to 10K lobsters cooked once a week. The number of lobsters are staggering.

Some times they are edible and some time not.