Groucho

John,

I met you and Laura a few years ago in the suite lounge on either Oasis or Allure.  Very nice people.

We were in Star Class on Anthem two years ago on a 12 day S. Caribbean cruise and I completely agree with your Star Class review.  We are frequent cruisers and I think Star Class is set for larger families who are not frequent cruisers.  We were booked in a G Owners Suite and were assigned the Star Class cabin so it was not the typical cost hit.

Bob

Hi, All!

Question:  Can Pinnacle members get the main dinning room menu for room service? We are in a Junior Suite on Anthem.

Thanks for your help!

11 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

Same with the crew members but I'm sure Royal is addressing this.

 

No need to add to the drama

Plus, new embarking passengers on the next sailing may already be infected with noro.  There is no escaping it particularly in the winter.

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 12:54 PM, nelblu said:

I remember, when:

 

Streamers when departing on cruise.

Family members allowed and seeing you off.

Horse racing on pool deck, but replaced by casinos.

No Broadway or other shows, but staff provided the entertainment.

No diamond lounges.  When DL introduced, only wine, soda & water available.  Plus some minor chips/pretzels instead of the hors d'ovres.

Not necessarily on RCL, but on "Oceanic" had to pay for the loungers, but it made up for the wonderful quantity and quality of food..

No stabilizers and no promenades.

 

Just a few, but overall, I take what is being offered today.

 

 

I remember the Oceanic!  Your right about paying for the deck chairs.  A crew member would take the small payment and write your name on a small card.  You picked the location of the chair and the crew member would place your name card in a slot on the top of the chair and that chair and location was yours for the entire cruise.  Maybe that prevented chair hogs? 

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 11:49 AM, voyager70 said:

Not being nickled and dimed to death

 

Totally agree.

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 12:54 PM, DarthGrady said:

I've got to second the Viking Crown comment, it is sad that Royal is abandoning their signature feature. All in all though, I'm pretty happy with the current state of cruising. Yes, the ships get more and more gimmicky as the years go by, but at least the Radiance class and (most of) the Vision class ships are still in service. They still provide a fairly traditional cruise experience.  

In my opinion, the Viking Crown was dead on the Oasis Class because of all the other options the ships offered.  Converting that space to Costal Kitchen and the Suite Lounge was a very good move and a better use of that space.

23 hours ago, island lady said:

 

John, we had no problems at all making and receiving our 6:30 reservations on Oasis last month.  Was contacted one week before and replied with that request, which was quickly granted.  We never had to wait, and were seated right at 6:30 every night.  Also never had a problem getting a seat in the SL (at the bar was our favorite spot) for cocktails before dinner.  There were 61 Pinnies on board.  

In our experience over many cruises, we have never had any problems with Costal reservations or seating in the suite lounge; even on the Allure west bound transatlantic when we were in an owner's suite and diamond plus at the time.  We met many very nice Pinnacles.

Congratulations!!

47 minutes ago, Andy C said:

To be clear I could care less if you’re a nice pinnacle or a nasty one; if you don’t have a suite you shouldn’t be in the Suite Lounge or Coastal Kitchen.  If you’re a pinnacle not paying for or staying in a suite you are taking space in a limited area that is billed by RCI as exclusive and for Royal Suite Class.  This is obviously RCI’s fault and not an individual pinnacle’s fault. 

 

And those of you who haven’t encountered this well known and documented issue, be glad you were on in a sailing with few pinnacles. 

It is Royal's right to say who gets in the Suite Lounge and Costal Kitchen.  It's your opinion and that's OK, but Royal allows Pinnacles in the Suite Lounge and Costal Kitchen because it's good for their bottom line; if that ever changes, then they will make adjustments.  We've never had a problem getting a seat and using Costal Kitchen before we were Pinnacles; I'm sorry you did.

I don't get the hate either.  I'm the same person now as a Pinnacle as I was before.  Most people are very nice.  A very few, in all parts of society, are jerks.  In my opinion it's no different on a cruise ship.

Just my two cents:

My wife and I are Pinnacles (within the last year).  We're both retired and really increased our cruising since then.

A couple of comments:

Last December we were booked in a Grand Suite Guarantee on Anthem.  About two weeks before the cruise we were notified that we were assigned to a Star Class suite with all of the perks.  We did not step foot in the concierge lounge during happy hour.  We spent happy hour in various venues on the ship as we had a drink package as part of Star Class.  Also, on sea days, Star Class cabins have a rolling bar comes to your door for happy hour, which is another reason not to go to the lounge.

My guess is between Star Class perks, and the fact that many Pinnacles purchase drink packages (we get a 40% off perk for on board purchases), a lot of those guests don't need to go into the lounge very often.  Yes, certain cruises are crowed with Pinnacles such as transatlantic, Presidents cruise, holidays, etc.  Royal keeps a close eye on capacity and opens overflow venues when necessary.  Before we were Pinnacle, we were on the Allure transatlantic westbound and there were many Pinnacles in the suite lounge and Costal Kitchen; we were in a Grand Suite and never had a problem with seating in the lounge or Costal Kitchen. 

Most, but not all Pinnacles are retired and it is likely retirees are the ones who have the greatest opportunity to cruise frequently enough to reach Pinnacle level. Royal controls the show and I'm sure the perks they give to Pinnacles is a business decision that is made with an eye on their bottom line.

Bob

Thanks to everyone for the help!

I know this topic has been discussed many times, but I'm hopeful someone with more knowledge than me can help.

We may have a need to be reached on our cell phone for medical updates for a loved one.  We have used internet calling with some success but at times, we had a bad signal and poor reception.  Verizon is our cell carrier and we read on their web site that the ships have a cell tower and we will be charged about $3.00 per minute to use it.  We have used their $10.00 per day for their Travel Pass while on the islands with success.  The concern is being able to communicate quickly and clearly while at sea.

Can anyone advised how well the cellular at see works?  We are aware we can use the ship to shore on our cabin phone for $2.00 per minute (Pinnacle benefit) for outgoing calls and when someone is calling us on our cabin phone they will be charged $8.00 per minute, but we are trying to avoid having the person calling us pay for that charge.

Thanks for your help.

3 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Not even close - FLL has 1/4 the immediate surrounding commercial stuff adjacent to the Terminal that MIA has.

 

Only Fred and Lamont Sanford would enjoy the view around the new Miami Terminal. No one we know would ever consider that port until it gets significantly improved - with these 2 things leading the pack:

 

1) Surrounding sight of all the commercial junk shielded by tall vegetation or other technique

2) Better road access to the Terminal

 

For those of us who pay a lot of money for cruises that don't want to start them off by leaving from a port so visually disgusting...we easily can vote our wallet or else choose another port. Rest assured, there will be tons of folks in that category, and it won't disappear as an issue for years to come. Royal Caribbean made a monstrous mistake here. They easily could have demanded infrastructure improvements when agreeing to the location. The contrast between the inside of the new Terminal and the surroundings of the facility is profound. Denial and excuses won't fix this major problem.

 

If this debacle doesn't mean much to some folks...great...enjoy.  The rest of us will sail from a cleaner and more appealing port.

Cruisefan,

If you want to see an industrial area to sail from try Bayonne.  The thing about Miami is--its a port and it looks like a port.  I don't see any problem with the location.

Walls are only on Harmony and Symphony.

Wall is also on Quantum class ships.

I checked-in on line by using the "already booked" icon and was able to log in and complete my check-in.

It typically shows in the cruise planner for Symphony, Harmony and Quantum class ships. In my experience it never has been listed for Oasis and Allure.

Classless? How about fans throwing beer bottles at Vikings fan, shouting profanity?But of course it's Philadelphia fans. Worst fans in sports. They are classless.

Those individual fans were classless, and dangerous. We went to see the Eagles last Super Bowl Jacksonville and saw in person very few classless Eagles fans throwing full cans of beer at Patriot fans. We were told that most of those individuals did not have game tickets and were only there to drink and cause trouble. However, the vast majority of Philly fans, as a whole, have class and are very passionate, and very knowledgeable. They are not the worst fans in sports. I have been to other stadiums for pro football, pro baseball and pro hockey, and have seen worse behavior.

We tipped our genie $700

Thanks very much. Was that for a 7 night cruise?

Thanks. I did a search and found your links prior to my post. Very thin information. Appreciate your suggestion!

We're going to be sailing in a Star Class cabin (our first time) in a few weeks. Can anyone give me an idea what an appropriate range is for tipping the Genie? We know that tipping is personal and based on service provided by the Genie.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bob

We just returned from Oasis and the hard core (and rude) upselling was in full swing. The topper was during the day on formal night we received a call on our cabin phone from someone from Picture This asking if we wanted formal pictures for formal night. When the call came in, my wife and I were taking a nap. The crew member on the phone took about a minute to get to his point. We felt it was an invasion of our privacy and very rude.

We don't blame the crew member because he is just doing what he was told to do. I wonder if management forces a quota on the crew with consequences if they don't reach it, which may be the reason behind the aggressive selling.

We need to find out if we can force calls to go direct into voice mail so we aren't bother by such a call again.

Thanks all for your quick responses.

The reason I asked the question is after boarding Royal Wi-Fi is listed on my phone as an available Wi-Fi.

Is it better to send and receive texts through the ships cell tower or through a Wi-Fi connection. We have Verizon.

Again, I'm from the black rotary phone era.

Thanks, again!

Good thread.

I too came from the black rotary phone age.

A quick question about Wi-Fi calling on Royal: Do I have to be logged into Voom or will the ships "base Wi-Fi single allow a call to be made on it?

Thanks!

Bob

Thanks, Bob--Much appreciated!