ccotting

I would have done this but no such offer was made for me when completing the form.

OK, it's on the print out. So selection at check in. Rather odd but there we are. Guess they want paperwork!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply!

"On one of the sea days mid-cruise, "American Sniper" was scheduled to play at 3:00 pm. We thought that an odd choice but decided to stay at the pool and watch since we had not seen the movie before and it had received good reviews. 22 minutes into the movie it stopped playing with no explanation. We spoke with one of the officers several minutes later when we went to the pool bar to get a drink and the officer told us the movie was pulled due to a complaint about cursing. "

I'm enjoying this review, we are due to go on Explorer in September. I was a bit shocked by the choice of film as you mentioned. It is an excellent film but not for young children such as you might find by the pool on a summer daytime cruise. There are vivid scenes of violence which are (horrifyingly) based on actual events. The member of the activity team who planned that should be well and truly given a formal chat. The best you can say is someone was thoughtless....

Just did my online check-in a couple of days ago and when I loaded my credit card I had to choose being billed in GBP£ (at Bloomberg wholesale rate) or US$

 

I chose US$ and will take my cc rate which is normally good.

 

It did state once the choice was made it was not possible to change this

I would have done this but no such offer was made for me when completing the form.

Hello all

Just entering the cruise document information and have encountered something in the set sail entry that concerns me.

In the section for the credit card, there is a segment titled: Approval for currency exchange. It then simply asks if your card is in certain currencies: canadian dollar, euro, british pounds.

You answer yes or no. But there is nothing about currency exchange per se in this segment or, in the small print of the documentation.

We have always kept our on board billing in US dollars as the exchange rate with our credit card company is better than RCI.

I called RCI and there was no option to change, the agent was not familiar with practice here and suggested I mention this at check in.

Has anyone else been through this? Is RCI now automatically billing in the dollar of your credit card and taking the exchange fee? Anyone have any information?

I can't see any reason to head this section "Approval" if not. But the wording does not really give approval, it just asks for what currency your card is denominated.

For any travel I bring an empty (cloth) laundry bag. Then we all throw our dirty stuff in it and we easily know what is clean and what is dirty.

Us too. In addition, our extra suitcase is an LLBean big duffle bag. Sailing out we pack that smushed flat in the outside pocket of one of our regular suitcases. Going home, all the laundry goes in that and there is room in a regular suitcase for all the souvenirs.

I sit on those chairs and the sofa, I don't want to sit on dirty laundry. We often just park the laundry bag behind a chair or in the corner of the closet space depending but it keeps things generally orderly without fuss and takes no real space when you pack it.

I think too that when you go for a longer time as we do you need to have a system because you bring more, have larger sizes of personal care products etc. We go for a month at a time generally. For a quick Caribbean cruise, you wouldn't feel the need to bring much in the way of organizers I think.

On one cruise we were not allowed back into our stateroom until all were opened up. We were told there was a safety issue because attendants were hurrying along the hallways with cleaning items etc. We thought that it was just an excuse to keep us out of the way, and it's only occurred on one b2b. Sometimes you can be off and back on the ship by about ten and other times later. You are at the mercy of customs, and all of the departing passengers adherence to disembarkation times and rules.

Yes, this happened to us one cruise where we all waited and waited in the terminal to be allowed back on the ship by customs. It turned out that one of the entertainment guests (not a regular staff entertainer) had overslept and the turnaround could not be completed until he was rousted out of bed and brought to customs. Then we had some challenge getting back into the cabin too. I think they do try their best to make this smooth but sometimes, you just go with the flow.

If you are not disembarking be prepared to have some waits and glitches. Another time/cruise I booked a spa treatment and they were happy to book me only to find that they had been called to a safety drill for the appointment time. My appointment time changed 3 times before we all gave up!

Best advice: Take it as a lazy day and don't set yourself too many expectations.

I logged in on the left hand side it gives you your name/information

Under that I hit crown and anchor and it list everything under there

This poster is in the UK. The web sites would have different hosting and some differences due to differential legislation. So guessing the empty space is coming to you sometime soon Dover but in the mean time, enjoy being able to choose without having to deal with the call centre!!!

Thanks everyone for posting that this challenge is there for you too. Some things it's nice not to feel too specially singled out for!

Has anyone looked at their gift preferences lately? There are no options for selection for either DH or myself. It says 'save changes' but we have no options to save.

Has anyone else seen this or have any information?

Hi all:

We have had no significant problems with aft on Radiance class ships but we did have on Legend. I would note though that it only occurred in the second part of our cruise. We had the same aft junior suite so top level aft and centre and we did 2 cruises back to back. The first in the Caribbean, no soot ever. The second half we had soot but it was on 2 occasions, first in port, the ship "blew" the engines on turnover day. After that it was mostly on the first section of the follow-on Panama canal cruise. Our cabin attendant worked like a dog to ensure the deck was cleaned daily, the carpets vacuumed, and he shampooed the carpets twice.

My DH (ex navy) noted that the issue occurred with the extra power required for the ship to move quickly for certain port moves, most notably Ft. Lauderdale to Cartegena.

Once you knew, you just were careful and you kept an extra towel to wipe down the balcony and chairs.

I should note that on Radiance we have done Hawaii with an aft cabin and the ship 'boots' along and we haven't had any soot issues. We had a little bit with Brilliance but very very little when we did the fall colours cruise up the St. Lawrence. In that situation it was lovely to have the wind protection of the sheltered aft cabins and we could sit out on crisp sunny days and still feel quite warm.

Another issue that sometimes occurs with aft cabins is that they overlook the crew deck and sometimes there is noise. Usually at least 1 staff party. But I find they are careful about it and ensure that the music and dancing stop at a reasonable hour.

Like many frequent cruisers we love these aft cabins and choose them often.

I've never noticed any issues with fumes.

Enjoy!

We take almost everything that folks have mentioned. Sadly, I can say it means we aren't necessarily light travellers.

Duct tape is also very handy if you hit some rough seas. After a storm tossed night when all the drawers in your console keep sliding open you will find yourself desperate for something to stop the banging.

We take a mini portable speaker so we can have music of our choice in the cabin (love my Bose) and, we take a pack of cards, a travel scrabble and a small crib board. Yes, the ship provides but sometimes things are not well kept up or quickly raided and our struggle with the spanish scrabble board on one cruise decided us to manage our own (the points are quite different!).

These suggestions from all the posters are long and detail oriented. I now have a cruise packing spreadsheet in Excel. My clothes, DH clothes, a stuff list and, the medicine chest list. I totally echo the poster who pointed out that the gift shop is not open always and besides, they don't stock a lot. We always take a full range of cold medications in travel size. We usually go for a month when we go and it's pretty common for one of us to get a cold at least once. Some folks take their own coffee if you have a junior suite or above and have an in suite coffee maker.

I think how you approach the packing list is a bit different if you are a longer journey, B to B, cruiser than if you are a quick short caribbean journeyer.

I used to travel a lot on business and DH used to joke I 'camped out' in hotel rooms. I think I now 'camp out' in cruise ships! But when you have the things that make life easier, the journey is so much smoother. Don't forget a small family pic to warm the heart too.

Fair winds and fair seas!!!

Knowing the concierge may have helped. I'm sure the free pay per view movies are (were?) a suite perk on Radiance.

We did the Australia circumnavigation on Radiance and had the 2 free movies a day for the second cruise but we were told it was because they had booked the exact same entertainment acts for both cruises. And there was a huge group of us doing the B2B...

Most times it's just the walk off/walk on to take you through the embarkation process, after that you usually get a glass of the sparkling wine and a nice lunch. Anything after that is at the discretion of the ship and varies with the circumstances.

It's a bit hard if you don't go off the ship I think. I parked by the pool the last time on changeover day only to find they set up the marketing for drinks packages and speciality restaurants there and it was like being at a Carnival with all the loudspeaker announcements. I didn't get the happy swim time I'd hoped.

In open ocean aim for a midship cabin for smoothest sail.

Thanks Spurschick, your comment about phoning in is interesting and helpful. On the occasion we didn't receive our amenity though, it was the same for everyone. The drinks attendant said no one was getting one, the small bottles were what they had been given to provide. Perhaps we could have complained but we didn't fuss.

I will now put phoning for the amenity on my pre cruise checklist!

I doubt if you had selected the exact bottle of wine you wanted and had selected deliver to dining room they would have delivered the mini bottle! They don't do the mini bottles in every option that is available for the stateroom gift.

 

The wine that comes with the basket is either standard house white or standard house red and they deliver whatever brand they have. The d+ bottle is from a detailed list that you preorder a couple of weeks before sailing. If you do b2b you need to make sure they order two bottles.

We have sailed with RCI before and do know how it works.... The same selection of stateroom option has produced varied results with varied ships. Life would be easier if everything were certain.

The OP is D+ and therefore might have requested the mini bottle of wine with their Welcome Aboard Bag. The wine that is available as a D+ amenity is the larger size.

 

We also got 4 small bottles of water on our b2b on Legend last month, but we thought that was because we were in a GS.

We received a mini bottle for one cruise when the previous cruise to ours had received a full bottle for the stateroom amenity. The Attendant told us it was because of the large number of D+ and above pax.

So I would say, it varies with the ship and circumstances. It's a business, they have a budget for these amenities. So the benefit might say a 'bottle' of wine. Size not specified.... It's only frustrating when you made a plan based on that. In the circumstance we got the mini, we hadn't carried wine aboard thinking we would have one bottle for the cabin. So now I just buy what I want and take anything else as a happy surprise.

It's pretty clear the program is "under renovation" and for those of us who cruise often, the frustration is just knowing so you can plan for what you want or need. I found the previous comments on the new internet changes most helpful for our upcoming cruise.

I want to add a big "thank you" to all the helpful posters. Being tired of RCL, I have been searching out different cruises and I an going to book a West Indies on Dec 2017.... This now has me searching for 2016....:D

We're heading round the UK back to back in July 2016. I like RCI but they are 'betting the farm' on big ships with big noise to keep us on board. We are destination focused and we are interested in the ports and opportunities for places to see. Azamara has a lot to offer with that.

Thanks everyone for such helpful responses to my original post. We are looking forward to our visit with Azamara in 2016. Meanwhile, in other news, we are on Explorer of the Seas in September. Maybe we'll meet a few of you there!

Fair winds and fair seas!

It is interesting that so many people refer to use of Purell as hand washing. It isn't. Wash with soap and water and do it thoroughly, between the fingers and on the backs of your hands. Sometimes we only do the palms and don't realize what we have missed.

Try not to touch your face. You inadvertently pass germs to your mouth that way. That's actually really hard.

I think a lot of folks think purell is an acceptable substitute for actual washing. Studies show it is most effective after hand washing. Which is to say the actual washing is what makes the difference. And, it is heavily fragranced which many people are allergic to or very uncomfortable with. So it is most unfair to be angry if folks choose not to use it. The ship message is 'wash your hands' and that's what you need to do and do often.

Watch for the ship practice. If they have noro on board you should see staff washing the railings more often and, washing cabin doors and the hall railings. Since the recent problems RCI had with some major outbreaks in the past few years, you should see stepped up cleaning practice if a case of noro is reported. They have received new guidelines for cleaning practice in this circumstance.

It's a miserable health problem and I'm so sorry to hear you had it.

I haven't sailed that itinerary but have lived in Portland and (near) Bar Harbor. If you're cruising to see foliage, 2nd week in October would be closest to "peak" most years. If you're cruising for warm weather it's a roll of the dice. New England summer weather is highly variable and anything earlier than July could be cool by most people's standards.

I agree with this poster. Lived in Nova Scotia for 16 years. Best fall colours are around Canadian Thanksgiving which is generally the second week in October. Bear in mind too that it starts to get pretty 'crispy' weather out in the east by later in October. We have done the fall colours cruise at the early October time frame and had a lovely time. But! Pack your woolies. Quebec city is on a high prominence and there are cold north winds that do blow. And it can be stormy on occasion out by Newfoundland way. It can be sunny and in the 60's too and, quite nice. So pack layers to be prepared for whatever comes. If you can, get an aft cabin. We did and you can see the whole expanse of the St. Lawrence as you cruise. Lovely. Have fun!

We've had Becky and Bobbie, both Scots, on the Radiance for more than one cruise and they were lovely.

Cruise Directors plan the entertainment and activities as well as MCing functions. Bobbie was always on top of things. He and Becky play off of each other and do a great comedic mix. Lastly, both are very tactful. It's an essential skill especially for the Love and Marriage game. I have seen Bobbie finesse a very difficult situation with someone for whom English was not a first language and I really admired his skill in handling the situation.

The ones I dislike, I honestly work hard to forget.

I think this is one of those things it can be hard to capture. Certain cruises attract certain nationalities and crowds.

Our experience is that if the cruise has a large population of 'Brits' it can be dressier. We had one cruise with a very large group of Brits and their idea of 'smart casual' was sport jacket and tie and dressy short dress for the ladies (not quite cocktail but not the summer breeze casual dress either). And I actually had a discussion with one lady from the UK about this, that was her understanding of 'smart casual' and she was not alone.

That said, there are other advantages. Most European cruises have a Beatles cover group show and the Brits all sang along with the show. It was such fun! Same type of performance on another cruise, all American crowd, everyone sat like stones. Good group, well done, but not half the fun.

I'd say, take more dressy stuff than you would for a Caribbean but don't let the outfit hold you back. Expect a busier second seating and more folks doing the late night shows and bars. I like it myself!

Took the Rhapsody last fall to Hawaii. Staff were wonderful and we really appreciated the entertainment, it was very well done. The smaller ships are missing some of the 'hi faultin' things but those aren't what we cruise for. I think you need to just consider what is important to you. We found the service great, the food well done and on a par with other RCI ships. The Med is warm so the solarium is less of a concern re crowding on sea days. They don't have a water slide, flow rider or stuff like that but for 2 days at sea, you'll enjoy the basic pool, the poolside entertainment and the warm and friendly service. We were so sad to leave her in Honolulu and wished we were one of the 40 or so lucky souls sailing her all the way to OZ!

Well, we're not on Board yet but we have had confirmed that we will receive reciprocity for our RCI level on Board. So I have faith.

The confusion arose over the Azamara points. I think that is what the person who handled the reservation for Azamara might have been thinking. While we will receive equivalent level benefits on our first cruise, we don't start to accumulate Azamara loyalty points until our second. I'm good with that.

I've got the dining and drinks more or less sorted too.

Now. Thermal suite? Costs to go? Single day or cruise package for that? Booking speciality restaurants? Give us the scoop team!

You want to put your decorations up higher on the door. If you watch the corporate decorations that folks buy through gifts and gear, you will see those are all placed high on the door.

Doors around the handles, above, below and around, are washed periodically to minimize transfer of germs. You will especially notice this if there is an outbreak of Norovirus on your ship. We had a small outbreak on one trip and the railing and door wash schedule upped quite a bit.

Believe I said it correctly and yes, it is on your first Azamara cruise assuming of course that you have cruised RCL and/or Celebrity in the past but, let me try again. Here is what Nicole wrote:

 

Since you have sailed with Celebrity you will receive the Le Club Voyage

benefits onboard that are reciprocal to your tier level. You are a Classic

member with Celebrity which places you as an Adventurer member with

Azamara.

 

This is in my specific case. They take your level with the other cruise lines and convert that level to the equivalent Azamara level and then get those Azamara benefits at that tier level.

 

Hope this clarifies the policy.

Yep, there was an ending missing on the first sentence of your earlier post... :) Well done you for getting the clarification!

What timing, just got a message from Nicole that she had to correct what I posted above and that all of the people stating that they would receive reciprocal benefits based on the equivalent Azamara club level on their first as well as future cruises on Azamara. Sorry to provide incorrect information but, was simply providing what AZ provided to me in writing.

 

Have to thank Nicole for making the correction so I can post the correct information. I find it extremely gratifying that Azamara provided a correction that I can pass on to others. Errors occur and it is great when people and companies own up to an error and provide the correct information.

 

Kudos to Azamara!!

Firstly, thank you to all who posted, you have been most helpful! Now, I am having trouble understanding what you have written rallydave. Are you saying that reciprocal benefits are offered on the first cruise? I have a sense you typed quickly and missed a few connectors! Thanks again