leaveitallbehind

8 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The only time we have been on a ship on the 4th we were in Boston.  Ship backed in so we could see the fireworks and hear the music, big pool party, decorations, amazing cakes & stuff in the OV.

The 4th could be the theme for a pool party that night or some red, white and blue desserts in the buffet but probably not much more.

That was because, as you indicate, coincidentally you were in a US port of call on the 4th. We have been on a cruise over the 4th out of the US and nothing was done. Maybe some red, white, and blue cupcakes.....

32 minutes ago, cincymel said:

We'll be on Beyond for the 4th of July.  Does X usually do anything to celebrate holidays?  And this one being particularly American with plenty of non-Americans on board, I'm not assuming anything.  The 4th is also a port day -- would that affect it?

In our experience the 4th of July is just another day on board, at sea or otherwise. And as most ports of call are in foreign countries, there certainly would be nothing done there. Since it is purely an American holiday and there typically are many nationalities on board, I don't think it would be something that would be celebrated.  Certainly I wouldn't expect any type of fireworks due to the fire hazard and potential of littering the sea.  I heard at one time Disney did some sort of fireworks display but not sure how accurate or current that would be.

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I would hope one would have enough couth not to wear sneakers that looked like you just finished mowing the lawn or went hiking through a muddy rainforest.

....even if as a result they are the most comfortable - LOL.

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I believe someone else already implied this, but I doubt the poster in question has ever used laundry on a ship. 

My point exactly.  It sems as though they are forming an opinion based on what they have heard anecdotally, not from ever having done it themselves.  But it's no longer worth the effort.  The service has worked well for us in the past and for us, that's all that matters.

54 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Totally love your sense of humor!🤣 Bless you!😝

I would like the answer asked for by @PhillyFan33579 as well as that essentially is what I was asking. Not sure why you have avoided to answer that.  What experience have you had directly with on board laundry to arrive at your opinion? Anecdotal references from another social media site is not direct experience.  We, too, have used their services in the past without any issues. That is an example of direct experience.

8 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

Because your response that I quoted seemed convoluted and confusing, that's all.

Again, that may be so because you only quoted part of the conversation in my response.  Naturally without the full context of the conversation it may seem "convoluted and confusing".  You need to go back and read the whole thread to see the rest of the relevant comments which would then make the single part that you quoted be clear and make conversational sense.

Your current response implies to me that you have not yet done that, or you would see that your questioning of my comment is what is confusing.  I don't mind being quoted and commented on if it is done so accurately with the full context of the conversation.

9 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

Huh? 🤔

If you read through the thread the response you reference was already addressed with the poster who quoted me and to whom I questioned being quoted. He answered and it was resolved.  It also did not involve you or any of your responses.

Not sure now why you have quoted just my original response to that with your vague question. You quoted my comments without the context of the full conversation.

15 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Actually twice I've done izumi sushi side. There is a ala carte, but there is also a set price sit down dinner. The sit down dinner is 39.99, I've done as bogo on both allure and harmony.  but for sure there is a sit down "set price". 

 

I took a screen shot. The 39.99 I circled is full price for their sit down dinner. 1 small, 2 large and dessert for 39.99.  ... and it's been allowed for me on 2 different oasis class ships.

 

 

 

Yes, aware of the set price that is either on the planner or with the dining packages and have had the fixed price option at the restaurant before.  We just have never done that as the BOGO and wasn't sure what base they used for calculating the BOGO value.  Thanks for the update.

We also usually eat there during our cruises as well but prefer the value of the other restaurants over Izumi's credit and schedule our BOGO and dining packages at other restaurants instead, opting for Izumi a la carte. For us that is typcially the better value.

4 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Hooked was excluded for BOGO on Symphony for us in Feb 2024.

I most likely am incorrect as my rapidly aging memory is failing and it probably wasn't included in 2019 either!  Good restaurant, however.

6 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

"Purchase a specialty restaurant dinner cover charge during the first or second night of your cruise and enjoy complimentary dining for the second guest. Valid for dinner reservations on the first or second night only. (Excludes Celebration Table, Chef’s Table, Empire Supper Club, Hooked, Izumi: Hibachi/Teppanyaki, Omakase, Izumi in the Park, Johnny Rockets, Playmakers, Portside BBQ, and Royal Railway)"

Thanks for that expanded list.  I would never have thought of some of the others, and some of the others are on new ships.  I also thought in 2019 on Symphony we included Hooked, but I could definitely be wrong or that certainly could have changed.  Again, thanks for the updated list!

7 minutes ago, WVU-79 said:

There may be exclusions for the BOGO, depending upon the ship you are on at the time.  We were denied using this perk on Explorer of the Seas for Izumi Sushi for day one or day two.  We were not given a reason, just a big NO.  The Diamond Lounge Concierge tried unsuccessfully also.  

Chef's Table and I believe Empire Supper Club on Icon are excluded.  You may have had an issue with Izumi as that is priced a la carte and, other than with a dining package credit, not sure how they would apportion the BOGO value.  We have never tried to include Izumi because of that.

I can only respond with our experience over many cruises with the D+ BOGO.  The Concierge has never reached out to us in advance regarding booking this, but we also don't typically stay in suites, so I can't answer to that.  It has been done on board in person on day one with any of the specialty restaurant's maître d's. 

The first night is typically scheduled for day one or two, with the second night able to be booked on any subsequent night. We have never had an issue with any subsequent night requests. (In this manner you can also book dining packages with a commencement on day one or two without conflict to the D+ BOGO).

To do this you make both nights' reservations at the same time and your SeaPass cards are charged in full based on the on board rate of the specialty restaurants involved when you make both reservations. 

I don't know if this is a reciprocal benefit with Elite+ now that the tier reciprocity as been realigned.  I think that is a good question.

On a side noter, you can also "share" the benefit with other non D+ cruisers.  One several occasions we have booked the reservations as indicated but shared the dining with friends of ours who are Diamond.  Typically we would book one for myself and my friend, and my wife would book the other for herself and his wife.  We booked them, charged the cost to our SeaPass cards, and they paid us separately for the shared cost. Their names appeared on the booked reservations with us and we split two meals at shared discount together.

4 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Guess our clothing is not basic enough - we like nice and soft clothing!

We also take nice clothing and have not had a bad experience.  My question was not with regards to blindly judging one's on board attire but as to whether or not you are forming your opinion of the risk of using the ships' laundry services based on actual experience or just speculation.

4 hours ago, awhfy said:

 

Not sure why you have quoted me with this response. My comment was not needing a confirmation of the dress code, but was in response to a comment indicating that one has seen a dress code enforced.  To which I was asking what they saw enforced.  To which they subsequently responded.

7 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Would never use laundry on any of the ships - way too much risk and not worth it at all!

Are you speaking from experience or just assuming? We have used the on board laundry as well as the dry cleaning service without any issues a number of times, in particular with longer cruises. Not sure what the risk is. 

5 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

She may not have the option to wait until we are on land. I think the IV hydration that she would require would n not be a spa treatment, but rather an iv drip administered by the ship’s medical personnel. I agree that if she needs to get medical services like IV hydration by the medical team, her credit card will immediately be charged and she will need to work out any possible reimbursement later. She is just trying to figure out how hard her card will be hit. 

My comment was not about only getting the treatments on land, but specifically about not getting an IV treatment by the spa personnel.  Obviously if a medical situation were to occur on board where they would need a medical IV treatment that would be done by the ship's medical staff.  That then leads to the comments about by how that would be paid. I agree with other's comments about consulting with a physician at home before considering a cruise to be sure that would be a wise decision.  Required medical IV treatments at sea would not be an option on which I would feel comfortable relying.

2 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I feel like someone posted that the spa offered iv hydration as a spa treatment.  While it’s not “medical” a saline drip is a saline drip and might be worth exploring (unless I dreamed that post which is entirely possible.) Might be an interesting preventative option to avoid high medical costs. Btw, I know nothing about on board medical services/insurance/etc. 🙂

With US travelers, in most cases any medical treatments required on board would be paid in full on board by credit card.  One would then have to seek reimbursement by way of insurance once back home. Not sure if that is different with separately purchased third party travel insurers, but I'm sure they have their own process.  Either way, typically your home primary insurers do not directly cover medical expenses incurred out of the country.

BTW I personally would never entrust a ship spa person to provide an IV treatment of any kind to me while on board. I would leave that exclusively up to a licensed land based physician. JMO.

Just because there are a number of staterooms showing on the website as available does not mean the cruise is not selling well.  With 11 months to the sailing date there is plenty of time for the available staterooms to be booked.  And with cruising demand as strong as it is it is not likely they will start discounting stateroom fares, at least not anytime soon.  If that would take place at all it likely would not be until a few months before sailing. So I would not count on any upgrade deals. My guess is, as with most ships, by your departure you will be sailing on a full ship.

13 minutes ago, bruce85 said:

Just booked my time for our Nov. Cruise. Couldn't do it in that app, but could on the website. Now that we have times, will there be any issue getting a table for 2 or does the my time DR have plenty?

You can email rcldining@rccl.com about 2 weeks or so prior to your sailing date to request a 2 top.  Just include your ship name, sailing date, and booking number with the request.  They will read the email and review your request, but may or may not respond back.  Just go to the maître d after you board to follow up if you don't hear back.

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Another issue as I'm in the process of  moving into the cape Canaveral area and I dont believe celebrity has any ships I've noticed out of that port. That was the whole point of  ocing to a cruise port, to go out of that port mostly... celebrity seems to go out of fewer ports. Didnt go out of Galveston either. 

That is because they have fewer ships in their fleet compared, as example, to RCCL, and in FL they primarily sail from FLL. But they do have ships out of Miami and Tampa, and as mentioned, are bringing Equinox to Port Canaveral.

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

Also, sail out of Bayonne and X has no comparable ships. 

Not sure I understand what you mean.  Eclipse is sailing out of Bayonne currently.  

5 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

Used from FLL last November. 

So much for the RCCL FAQ's - LOL.  I have heard that it was only available at select airports and airlines and flight times, with FLL making sense.  But clearly that contradicts the "published" information.  That is good to hear as we will be cruising out of FLL in November and, in the past, used the service frequently and would plan to do so again.

In our experience there has often been some bed things (blankets mainly) under the bed, but they were not in the way of our two large suitcases and smaller carryon's being able to fit underneath with them.  We have always stored our luggage there and never had an issue.  Most recent experience was NYE Oasis.

From the RCCL website FAQ's:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/does-royal-caribbean-offer-luggage-valet

It looks like Seattle is the only port offering it at this time.

9 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

I did not question them on the change of times. We went with another couple and they said not to worry about it. So we just went with it.

I was only curious as, when we would eat in the MDR, we have booked MTD since it was introduced and although we have had times when getting the desired reservation times was difficult, we have never had them changed by the cruise line once set. Just seems very unusual.