north29

Are using the ships wifi, not roaming data

My wife was OCD in planning, to get the most out of her holidays LOL

Good luck

and in great shape, play racquet ball with young guys and win once in a while. However no matter I am 73, not ever one is like me and unfortunately many believe they are still in there 40's or deny that they are older and more frail. We have been on toooooo many excursions where some just could not do the exercise needed and held the group back.

Having said that, I do not know how anyone can realistically judge how fit a person is regardless of age, so they just set a arbitrary , unfair or not, of a age limit, for legal reasons.

But I heard that after 75 I will not be able to rent a car!!!!!!!

I always have some Euros or any currency in any country I travel to. Some more or less depending on time there, mode of travel, and just out of making travel simple when arriving or departing a city country. I always buy some at my bank, yes cost is kinda high, but nothing like telling a cabbie you do not have their currency and you will be back shortly and need to find a ATM LOL. We travel a lot, and it is fun to get ready for a trip and see how many left over"euros" you might have forgotten about.

Relate to my signature LOL. RIGHT

All the options to do this, ie iPad etc. however with the price of SD cards, we prefer to use multiple cards. You can get 8 gig. Class 10 cards

for around $10 many places, just watch the sales. We have not found much differences in quality in any brand, at least for our needs.

Come from the TAs office/company or X, you do know that if X it might not be combinable.

IMHO

I like the way it is now, MDR/Buffet even if the buffet was the only free dining option, which I doubt will happen in my life time I would still cruise.

I have no problem paying an up charge for specialty restaurants, if they are truly specialty restaurants, and the service is up to par/better than land base equivalent restaurant. Our experiences with specialty restaurants have been hit or miss mostly miss, some food has been great, but the fish has been ugly/bad, yes you can send it back but but, takes took long, and service is lacking and sometimes takes tooooooooo long to ask if everything is ok. Quite frankly I have had just as good service in the MDR.

Hello All...May I just jump in and try to point out a couple of things that many might, or, might not know.

 

Most of the watches that we all think we're getting so cheap on an RCCL ship are actually cheaper in most cases elsewhere, even if you have to pay sales tax.

 

I have over 125 Invicta watches, I can tell you without any hesitation, that almost every Invicta watch on the ship is more than what I've paid for the exact same watch on one of the shopping channels. On our most recent cruise, I brought 8 different Invicta watches with me, and, checked to see if the ship were selling the exact same models. Out of the 8 I brought, the ship had 5 of the same watches, and, all 5 were more than what I paid on the shopping channel. One in particular was $200 more on the ship.

 

I've seen other watch brands that are also less money on the this one shopping channel than on the ship. There is no way I would purchase a watch on the ship cause the ship shows the the exact Retail Price that is sky high, then, takes a percentage off, while the shopping channel already has these watches reduced, the, takes the about the same percentage off as the ship...thus, the shopping channel is cheaper almost all the time.

 

Whatever anyone decides, the rule of thumb is just be careful, and check out as many options for the same item as possible.

On some brands, I bought a Invicta Grand mariner Look alike at Sams club, for !09 plus tax, the exact same model on RCI ships is around $150. However certain models of Citizens seem to be cheaper on the ships, however cannot speak for port prices. I have bargained a deal on a Citizen, on one of the Islands, St Thomas I think, at a small dealer, not DI or any of the RC approved shops.

We are cruise travelers, and light weight is our middle name LOL. We are off on a transatlantic this spring with 10 days in Spain, and then 14 days in our, favorite country/area to date, the country side of France. I made my wife long ago agree that she must be able to handle her own luggage when necessary. You are traveling with a 6 year old and someone will have to help her with her heavy luggage, the others well more than likely they can handle there own luggage or make them realize that. We travel in a carry on with a mid size suit case and a purse/bag(on board stuff electronics PP etc. Yes this is too much but luggage but manageable/necessary with this many days out.

On the cruise do not worry about formal wear, not necessary, now days. We have belief that no one cares or will see what is on the bottom, so tops/shirts/etc are important to look, well different, some days, my lady throws in some "light weight" bling to look well elegant. Usually two pair of shoes for me, depending on time of year, yes light weight versions, my wife takes some old shoes, for dressing up a bit, and yes dumps them, remember they are old LOL. Please do forget the flip flops

Underwear i buy quick dry stuff and have at least 8 pair, women's are always quick dry, we do agree to do some laundry on occasion in the sink, a little original Blue Dawn concentrated will do all you need, I have a small bottle that is packed away. We take a basic bag called our pharmacy, yes you can buy the same stuff in Europe, but it might be a PITA when you might really need it.

Some stuff like mouth wash/etc that take pounds, buy small ones here, and this stuff is readily available in Europe, more expensive, but saves pound on the flight over.

I could go on but my rant must stop.

One last thing the old story of layering, is really necessary, I do not know when your cruise is but the first Items I pack is a hoodie and a good rain coat, note good, yes can be expensive, layered they can stand some really cold/cool weather.

Depending on time of year, you will be surprised at how little clothes you will use/need in Europe and yes even underwear LOL. Sorry one last note, we buy a lot of "Travel" easy wash pants/clothes, again they can be washed in the sink and dry over night, even some of our tops are easy wash/dry.

Dark colors are your friend, black/grey/dark blue/brown/ please no white sneakers.

Save some room for must buy items, I have a rule for my wife that every thing must fit into the main suitcase with expansion zipped, and it must be under 40 pounds,

Sorry I got carried away, but we have tried many way and means for packing to travel, and still fail to have the right thing some times LOL

have been on all classes, of ships, but the Oasis class, but that will change this fall(maybe) I love different ships for many reasons, not just size. If I had to pick a overall favorite right now it would be the Freedom class.

NO to all, having said that, the servers/MDR people,might have slightly better outfits on, but not like a restaurant that Oprah would dine at. Sometimes they do add a lobster dish/escargot to the menu if you consider that an upgrade.

and I am not a doctor or lawyer, or carpenter.

However I do feel for the OP.

But the cruises line did what was best for all parties concerned........... right or wrong in the final diagnosis of the situation.

In no way can any cruise line define what is formal or not, especially for women, men it is easy. I agree that the dress for the MDR should be a little more strict, but deciding what that dress attire would be in a PITA for many reason. Also, some one mentioned Celebrity as a more classy ship, NOT, we were on the Eclipse for Christmas cruise and dress was not a whole lot better, if any, than RC.

Here is my suggestion to RC for a real change, and I have said this before.

Have a section in the MDR for an up charge, that formal dressers or black suit and tie people could book to be seated in. Maybe even a little better food for formal nights or even better service. The special dress section could be flexible according to the demand, by moveable screens.

I'm not a formal dresser, but I/we always look good/better on formal nights, but never formal, that is and has never been our life style and we are retired professionals.

The cheap gold plated has a place, if you want the look of gold. The gold plated stuff is about the same price as good bling.

But why buy it on a cruise ship, gold plated stuff is probably sold locally, e specially at local permanent flea markets, at much cheaper piroces. SAMs club has some gold over slicer, I guess costco does too.

I would not worry, I would not start any child on drugs, or most anything, unless she actually gets sea sick. If she does not get car sick, I doubt that she will get sea sick.

With the OP, airlines are not so clean, last year on our Peru tour, my wife after 3 days got violently sick with a gi track isuev, ended up to a tourist hospital in Cusco for a night. Their test sad it never came frolm Peru, back home her doctor's test said the same thing. With the timing it was either at the Orlando airport where we had lunch or from the Airlines. I got it a day later, but not nearly as severe, but missed much of Machu Pichu, and was ready to go the next day, well almost.

We always travel with a mini pharmacy of any thing I can get my docs will give me and many OTC stuff, one never knows.

To put a little vodka or scotch in it to keep is safe LOL.

Having said that, I too have a issue with water, I still drink some of the ships water, but bring a Brita water bottle with a filter in it to take , the sometimes taste, away. Better than lugging a case of water on board.

Other than that the ships water is fine for most people.

We did the three specialty dining package on the Eclipse. IOHO, in which experience is limited, mainly to RC. Morano, we did the Chateaubriand and found it good but not as good as other, we have enjoyed. Service was lacking and eventually had to flag the sommelier down to pay for wine, after approximately 2.5 hours I was tired of setting. Tuscan, service was not special, good at first then fell apart we actually skipped desert flagged some one down to pay for wine. This was after sitting 15 minutes without water, wine or coffee.with menus in hand. My wife's fish was waaaaaayyyyyy over cooked no one came back to check until too late to wait for another preparation. My lobster, fettuccine, I expected chunks of lobster, after several people raved about it,NOT, just tiny pieces.

As mentioned above, the staff looked over taxed with work.

Now Qzine, was spectacular in food and especially service. However one must be careful not to eat/order too much they were helpful with this. We really enjoyed the variety of cultural dining samples( for lack of a better word) of course we love exotic dining experiences.

To pay the up charge, foe specially dining,

one thing X should at least include a complimentary non alcoholic coffee with the dinner. I guess that might be a pet peeve of mine, but to charge 2-3 for a espresso is tacky, but I guess all cruise lines do this.

Since we are iOS users! and very knowledgeable about them. I had to go to the I lounge and get some help. On a IOS device you have to download a local app called Internet cafe, and establish a PW and user name. You use this app to log on and OFF, note off, if you do not the minutes do not shut off.

If using elite free minutes, each person must establish their account. And you must take a piece of paper to the I lounge and they will activate your minutes. Also ther were some problems for me, that I did not set up my user name correctly. Many had issues with it, as well.

This was embarrising for me a, Mac guy LOL

All this was recalled from a fuzzy memoriy, so maybe a little off.

They probably refer to iPhone or IOS devices! because they are a official dealer.

We are late sixties, and early seventies LOL, still keeping up with the young cruisers and never hold up tour groups LOL.

Unfortunately our Hotel will not be known until about 30 days from the beginning of the trip. Also what tours this agency will offer. So at the last minute, as usual, we will have to make decisions on their tours or private companies or do it on our own(actually prefer on our own) but not speaking much Spanish, French yes(Wife) and at our age, some times pre arranged tours are better, especially with exotic type, and I consider Morocco some what exotic and have heard some strange stuff from people on their own.

Depending on time of year for lobster to caught commercially. On formal night, at least in recent years. to be any better than regular nights, for many cruisers, lobster might be an up grade if it is the complimentary type. If available we, usually order what we want and request a tail apiece to try it.

Please understand we are different form most cruisers and we have always had all the fish and lobster we could eat, caught, processed and cooked by ourselves.

The Jelly fish and Man of war. If stung you will probably smell like a salad for a day LOL. That is the antidote they will give you.

in Torremolinos after our cruise as part of a tour but we are mostly on our own.

How hard is it to get to Malaga?

Do you have any suggestions for a tours/tour companies to Morocco, Seville, Cordoba, Grenada, Ronda.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Terry and Nancy

But on our Christmas X cruise last year, our first on X and we are D+ on RC and in our late 60's and early 70's.

I will agree with some. However, every one has a different view and has a cruising style that fits them better. We have never been on a Oasis class ship.

So this is OUR OPINION

Entreatment on RC is overall better.

The ship was super well maintained. The ship is designed mainly for adults. We missed the promenade. The ship never seemed crowded, except at certain times, never had to wait to talk to some one in guest relations(unlike RC)

Food in the MDR to us was hit or miss as with RC, should mention service was ok after we changed to(requested) a different waitress. She was excellent but the service from OUR VIEW was not any better than RC.

Sea View Cafe(Windjammer) Food on first day was super great, after that it got kinda redundant and a slight edge to X for quality. Breakfast, the scramble eggs were never dead, the rest was good.

We did the specialty restaurant package, Tuscan was just OK service well not so good, Morano food OK, service was not so good, Qsine was simply OUT STANDING.

Activities were basic cruise ship stuff, except the Apple IOS classes for the iPhone and iPad, learned some stuff. No organizes sports like Free Throw shooting contest or any other organized active sport activities, well if you are into ping pong they did have a I guess,a contest. LOL the waking path was sometimes blocked by walkers(not the moving kind)

Not many kids on board, and this ship was not designed for KIDS, not enough actives.

We prefer the D+ lounges on RC, not that the big room on the Eclipse was bad, but if you sat at a table it was kinda hard to get a drink and you were kinda by your self, if you sat at the bar, is was fun and people talkative. I guess there were so many D+(elites) on board, it was the only place big enough.

I was writing a review, but since, we are booked on the Equinox this spring, I will wait until then to a real review and sorry I got carried away did not mean to steal the OP's thread.

NO Cruise is a bad cruise