travelberlin

11 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

What's in there besides the pin? Anything? I think I've seen a luggage tag mentioned in the past.

A luggage tag.

I have got mine today after requesting it from the loyalty ambassador. 
 

5 hours ago, rdemn said:

I get it you’re on a cruise you don’t need to be watching TV.
but my last cruise, me and my wife got the Noro virus

We were in bed for 24 hours actually longer than that we missed a day

we just laid in bed watching their TV, which basically they have two channels. If you don’t like sports or news, if you go, call Fox MSN, BC news I don’t know who picks  what you’re going to watch, but they need to rethink. It seems like every episode was part of a series where you had to be paying attention to the last episode like 24, now 24 is a good show, but I don’t know what the hell was going on put some standalone shows on where you don’t need to know what’s going on.   And  don’t even say they have pay-per-view movies at 12 bucks apiece there choices suck not that I would pay $12 to watch a movie step up the game royal

I agree. This is definitely an area to

improve. 

I did not get mine automatically so I went to the loyalty ambassador. She did not give it to me either for reasons I do not understand.  But she said she has requested it and it will delivered to my room. We will see…

On 5/3/2024 at 10:26 PM, Williamsburgcruiser said:

Anytime I am not cooking, the food will be just fine for me.  I am more disappointed with the clientele who want 5 star, but don't want to pay for it.  I'm cruising for $135 per person,  per night, I will not complain when I wake up in a different place every day.  

How much did you pay before at Royal Caribbean when the food was much better than what is it now? No one is comparing with five stars experience. You did not notice that you are paying more for less? 

5 hours ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

 Wow. We were there April 5 - 14,  2024 .  I guess we ate it all???  Sure had the chicken and the short ribs then.   The soups were really good as well.  I don't always eat dessert so can't comment on those.  I am not a fan of the steak in the MDR no matter the cruise line. 

They had the fried chicken on the menu on the welcome dinner but after I have ordered the waiters apologized and produced a different menu indicating there was no fried chicken on the evening. 😃

6 hours ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

Sailed on the Explorer of the Seas in April.  Second Royal cruise as we cruise another line often. MDR was hit and miss with the strip steak being ...well...not really good.  BUT, overall the food was just fine and sometimes exceptional.  I still can't believe they make fried chicken so good. Did not expect that to be honest and wish I had ordered it instead of DH ordering it.  The short ribs are to die for.  The Jerk Chicken was incredible.  If you want a good steak, go to Giovannis.  It is excellent.  The staff on Royal is outstanding.  Windjammer is dang good and allowed me to try a lot of Indian food I was not so sure about ( and ended up loving ).  We were so impressed with Royal that we booked another cruise while onboard.  I sit here thinking that even my fav land restaurants are not as good as they once were, but this is part of being in recovery mode. Everyone is trying their best to provide good food without doubling the cost.  I don't feel I can have the same expections I had prior to 2020.  That is unrealistic.  Yet, Royal did a good job in meeting most of them.  

On my cruise with the Explorer, no fried chicken, no short ribs… menus repeating. Food at MDR nothing to crave for.

Food at the Windjammer is fine. I remember I used to avoid buffets but for this cruise it seems to be the best option. 
 

One question: didn’t Windjammer used to have an Asian corner with Miso soup for breakfast? Wasn’t also a whole grain bread somewhere?

The cabins are ready at around 13.00. The Key includes a lunch on embarkation day. For me it was worth it. Boarding was a breeze and I could have a nice lunch on a relaxed atmosphere. The internet that comes with it is also quite good. I am not sure if for a family it makes sense though. 

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

No worries. You can go to walmart and get a lobster tail for $7-8 when you get home.

Why should I do that? It used to be part of the cruising experience on a formal night. Of course every one could go to their supermarket of their preference to buy their food. But this is not the point. We are talking about changes on the cruising experience which are diminishing in quality despite increasing prices 

I can confirm that food has definitely gone down hill. Formal night was a joke. No lobster tail, meat which has seen better days. Nothing really worth mentioning. The best food is the Indian food, but it is quite spicy and not really to eat it every night.  

4 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

 

 

When you ship luggage or check in luggage there is some risk IMHO.  But if we want to travel we don't have a choice.

 

Keith

I am trying hard to find a choice 😃. I have bought packing cubes and watched tutorials on how to travel just with a carry on. I will put it into practice for my next trip. 
 

Ivi

If your hotel is the Hampton in Brickell, you can take the shuttle from hotel to the port for Us 8.

I have paid US 38 from the airport to Brickell by taxi.. This did not include gratuities. You can also take the Metrorail orange line until Brickell for US 2.25. in order to take the metrorail, you have to take the mover from the terminal first. This is free. If your hotel is the Hampton inn, then the station Brickell is very convenient. You can search in internet, there are videos that describe how to take the Metrorail from the airport.

19 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

Plus there are plenty of GI things that aren't noro that people can get on board (and that may not even be contagious)

Like which ones? And if those GI things are not contagious, how do people get it on board?

7 minutes ago, teddie said:

We paid $700 total to upgrade from a JS to a GS with Large Balcony, and it was absolutely worth it, but it's definitely a gamble.  If you are satisfied with your cabin, then stick with it.  Happy sailing!

 

Teddie

Thanks. I would also be happy if my US 700 would give me a GS. Unfortunately my bid was just for a regular balcony cabin. Not really that exciting if besides that, the available cabins are connecting cabins. Yes I am satisfied with my currently booked cabin. 

3 hours ago, Roland4 said:

We did the V-E-R-Y L-O-N-G all day Legacy of The Ottomans yesterday that went to the Sulieman Mosque (Blue Mosque was closed), Top Kapi Palace, lunch at a Michelin Star restaurant, and the  Grand Bazaar. Today was Asian Istanbul and Bosphorous Cruise, which had us back on board by 1:30.

 

There is new cruise port facility in Istanbul that makes getting in and out for tours very easy! We depart Istanbul at 8:00 this evening.

Would you recommend those excursions? 

I was looking at those companies mentioned here like LuggageForward. I have never used them but it looks convenient. How far in advance do you have to send the luggage? What happens if there are flight cancellations? Could it happen that your luggage does not arrive at the port in time for your embarkation? Do you have it delivered to you at the ship or where?

Ivi

Few days before my cruise there are only 2 cabins left in the category I would like to be upgraded. None of those cabins where to my liking. To upgrade to that category I would have to pay more than US 700. I have decided to cancel my bid. Too much to pay for an upgrade in which the ods where high of becoming a cabin I do not like.  

Have you ever been upgraded to a cabin that you did not like? For example because of the location? Would you bid for an upgrade if there are only few cabins available in the upgraded category and the location of those cabins are not necessarily the best locations?

For my cruise, I am happy that all nights with exception of the formal nights, the suggested attire is “casual”. For the formal nights it says “black tie (optional”. This is a trend in almost all cruiselines we are using now. Since we always have to fly to the port, it makes it easier for us not to take too many clothes. It is somehow modern this way. We like this trend. 
 

There might be others who would like to dress up more on the so called “casual” nights. I think that would not be a problem either. 😉

After check in online, I realized that there is still a health form, which has to be filled from 24 hours before embarkation. We will not have internet connection on those 24 hours, since we are traveling. It is possible to fill this health form at the port the day of embarkation?

Does anybody have the menús for lunch on sea days? 

16 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Anything can go wrong with any flight at any time. Just like the time JetBlue cancelled my 2 PM flight home at 1:30 PM. I should have booked a 10 AM flight.

Maybe that flight would have been also cancelled 😁. Flying is not pleasant anymore. Cancellations, delays, lost luggage…This is why we prefer not to make it more stressful trying to catch our plane early in the morning.

Once on a Celebrity ship, we arrived late at the port of debarkation because of bad weather and we could only debark at 10.00. We have a cruise booked this year to arrive in Bayonne and the cruise line strongly discourages to book flights in the morning because apparently it takes a long time to clear the ship.  

18 hours ago, Pepperoni0120 said:

Thanks!  I changed to a 2:30 flight so how long can you stay on ship before they kick you off?  Traveling with a baby and 7 yo so don't know what is walkable to do near port!

Good decision. Anything can go wrong with a flight at 10.00. Specially since you are traveling with kids, it would be good for you to have a relaxed disembarkation. I never take a flight before noon.

You would have to leave the ship at around 10.00. I understand there is the possibility of a late checkout if you pay some additional amount. Not sure if that is worth it since you have to be at the airport at 12.30.