ptf2009

We did not receive expedited boarding, but were able to choose the time of arrival. Can we, as in the past, show up as early as we want (10:30-11:00a.m.), or do we have to arrive at the designated time?

On 2/13/2020 at 6:14 AM, hannibal54 said:

We use SAS, the web site uses ridesas. It is $15.00 per person.

We've used SAS several times.  When you reserve with them through their website, if you walk off with your luggage before 7:30, when you clear customs, call SAS and they will be there to pick you up by 8:00. We've made 10:50a.m. flights out of FLL.

1 hour ago, Zach1213 said:

 

Not to pick nits, but Puerto Ricans are Americans 😉

Yes and even speak English:)

2 hours ago, Bradison said:

We did this cruise in December of '18.  The two things I would change is to stay in or near Old San Juan as we really enjoy that part of the city.  Secondly, I would brush up on my Spanish. 

 

If you are an American then you probably are used to having the world cater to your preferred language of English.  You will be greatly outnumbered on board by the native cruisers from PR so the ship will rightly balance out the messaging for both languages.  Some in our party seemed to be very put off by this as well as the very extroverted behavior of the PR folks (generalizing, I know).  I found myself in that camp at first and realized that I am just a spoiled American.  Maybe this is why the world calls us arrogant.

OMG...another lib apologizing for being an American!!!!:(:(:(  FYI: The world right now respects us more than ever:)

I have found the people from Puerto Rico and many other countries as very kind and very entertaining. I've been on many cruises out of PR and have not found any language problem.

One more thing...if we won't be allowed to take our unfinished drink out of the DL, there will be a lot of wasted drinks. We aren't ones to hang around the DL because it's just too crowded.

I may have missed this, but can you get a frozen drink with alcohol with your diamond coupons or in the DL OR do they HAVE to be virgin? Can they make a virign mudslide?

11 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

Oh, not that part.  The other part.

 

Bob, like me, now prefers to spend more time with the grandchildren, and not babysitting the children on this website.  😉  

 

(my words, not his  😄 )

 

Totally understand....I guess I was never able to understand how anyone could post over 150,000 times!! Hopefully he'll enjoy his grandchildren and his future cruises:)

11 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

I am speechless.

Why are you speechless?

Also, I was wondering why Clarea" was no longer a host 

On 2/1/2020 at 12:10 PM, katiel53 said:

I know I am in the minority, but we did not enjoy Wonderland.  Part of our dislike may have been that we told our waiter we didn't want any seafood.

 

We had the smoked eggs.  I felt they tasted like burned grass would taste with deviled eggs on top.  It took a long time to get the smoked taste out of my mouth.  It wasn't a pleasant smoked taste like that of smoked meat.

 

The tomato water with the bread foam was good.  The veggies served in avocado smash was ok to me, but not to my sister who doesn't like avocado at all.

 

The chicken with an "egg" that we were told was pureed cauliflower was beautiful looking, but dry as a bone.  The cauliflower was like paste that had hardened.

 

The world dessert was the best part of the meal.  For us, it was a one and done and I think we would have been upset had we paid full price, but we had the UDP, so it wasn't expensive, but I'm not sure it was worth what we did pay.

Totally agree with your review of Wonderland.  We were grateful (and would have been mad if we had paid full price) that we hadn't paid full price as it was part of a dining package. As you said...one and done:)!

On 2/1/2020 at 11:15 AM, luv2sailAgain said:

I am not an "out of the box" kind of person.  I am definitely "in the box." I like tried and true favorites when it comes to food.   Any restaurant I visit, I order my favorite. That's just me. DD is more adventurous.  She likes surprises. I want to get my money's worth when making any kind of purchase. 

 

The MDR is fine with me.  I've paid my cruise fare.  So instead of spending money on specialty restaurants at sea, I'll just save my money for a special meal when I am at home. The cruise is special. Just the way I roll. . .

 

BUT 

On our Symphony cruise in May, we have a stop in San Juan.  We are going on the Rainforest excursion (late return) and will miss our early seating time.  So, I am wondering if we should try a specialty restaurant.

 

DD will probably enjoy Wonderland's food and fun.  I would enjoy the fun, but the food does not seem to be what I would like AT ALL (with the exception of dessert).

 

Chops seems more of the kind of place I would enjoy.  DD would like it, but she would probably enjoy Wonderland more.  HOWEVER,  after looking at the menu, it seems that the only thing more "up scale" is the meat.  Everything else seems to be available in the MDR.

 

$53 for a filet or $55 for an dining experience where I may not eat much??

 

Are there any "squares" like me that feel you got your money's worth at Wonderland??

 

TIA

You asked for an opinion.....Wonderland is NOT worth it. The food is awful, except the chocolate dessert. The ambiance is very nice...but the food and presentation were just not good. WE ended up going to the Windjammer (which we rarely go to for dinner) when we left Wonderland. Everyone has different tastes so you may like it...we did NOT!

Happy cruising!

Clarea, are you no longer a "host" of CC?

Whenever I see or read anything about this case, all I can think of is:  the grandfather has been punished enough...or how can you punish him more? He has lost is precious granddaughter and has to live with this every second of every day! One would think that through his constant grief and shock, he may not be thinking straight. One would also wonder if the family is regretting their legal action. Perhaps it's just being human to want to blame someone or something else. It was a TERRIBLE accident and my heart goes out to their family.

On 1/1/2020 at 12:49 PM, retired dude said:

so sad to see so many negative reviews of this ship, we sail on her in three weeks and although we make the best of everything and love cruising i know that with this many bad reviews on many aspects of the cruise that there is a serious problem with this ship..We are diamond members and usually have good experiences on the rccl fleet, but if i could i would be tempted to cancel this cruise and switch back to celebrity after our two upcoming rccl cruises this spring on the brilliance....I dont expect gourmet food for every meal, but it sounds like the product is lacking....One thing i do know from past sailings that if you complain nothing is done and corporate could care less as long as the ships stay full...Wish i could have run my business that way....Oh well, we will enjoy the cruise no matter what..Far better than working every day....Happy new years to all.

We sailed on her 11/29----12/8 and were very disappointed in the condition of the ship. Also most of the employees were new and the activities were poorly planned and timed. Terrible idea that you were assigned a time to go to the ice show:(  However, we made the most of our vacation and were determined to have a good time. We love the ABC islands, but have learned a lesson to only go on the most recently refurbed and/or newer ships in the future.

3 hours ago, kruzerci said:

No just suggested

Keep in mind the ones with the correct muster station were allowed in studio B first, the others had to wait until 10 min. before the show to choose their seats. Like I said, in all the cruises we've been on, this is a new set up. IMHO...not a good idea.

2 hours ago, sisocialworker said:

Yes there is music every night... we liked the acoustic guitar and piano player in schooner bar.... not into loud crowded dance music, but it is available 

The piano player was really good. One night he played Christmas songs and passed out song books for everyone to join. AND, best of all, most of the songs were the religious ones! And it was standing room only:)

14 hours ago, kruzerci said:

We are on the sailing and having a great time. I think the activities and schedule has been fine with the exception of the ice shows all being during the day. There’s plenty of sunshine and sun loungers for the daytime hours! Shows could be better but I expected such on an older ship. 

 
I will say the food is absolutely horrific. The MDR is mediocre at best and the Windjammer is by far the worst I have seen. It is essentially like a combination of frozen meals and kids food (soggy pizza, pasta, little burgers, hotdogs, sorry salad bars, and the grilled poor cuts of chicken or beef). I’m really embarrassed that this is our friends first Royal Caribbean cruise. It’s worse than the food at a mediocre all inclusive or casual chain restaurant. 
 

That said, the drinks are flowing, we have great ports and weather, and we have had excellent dinners at Chops and Giovannis multiple nights. 

We've never been on a ship where you were assigned a time to attend the ice show based on your muster drill. We were fortunate that ours was scheduled for the evening, but what about those cruisers who were assigned the daytime hours? NOT good. 

18 hours ago, Biker19 said:

@Thorben-Hendrik would agree with you.

Yes, when I read Thorben's negative post about Explorer before we went I was hoping he was just exaggerating. Unfortunately he wasn't....I'm not one to look for problem areas, but Explorer needs refurbed sooner than later.

We didn't let the negatives ruin our cruise. We took it in stride and had a great cruise in spite of it all!

On 12/14/2019 at 6:51 AM, suesnake2002 said:

All I gotta say about that window is ewww

We just got off Explorer on Dec. 8 and there were many windows like that. More disappointing was the entertainment and lack of things to do. Whoever is in charge of the schedule needs to learn how to spread things out, not cramp most activities in the last two days. Most of the crew appeared new and were trying to do their best. We'll stick with the newer, larger ships in the future.

6 hours ago, Mrclean3 said:

We are sailing on Explorer Feb 7 and return to Miami Feb 16. The airlines just changed our flight from Fort Lauderdale to 9:05. Can we walk off and get to FLL on time for flight. 
phil

We were cleared @ 7:15 this past Sunday, so I would suggest that you get in the self disembark line between 6:30 and 7:00a.m. Not sure how you are getting to FLL, but it was only a 35-40 min. drive back on Sunday a.m. We used SAS, but had to wait until the driver filled the van with passengers from various ships, so I wouldn't recommend them. Our flight was at 10:45 and we were fine. 

One more thing...the checking luggage and security lines were crazy busy! My DH has A preferred status on Southwest and we both have TSA, so our lines weren't long, but if you don't have those, I'm not sure how long it would take you to arrive at your gate.

Good luck!

Wonderful news! So happy for you that honest people found them and gave them to guest services. This is a lesson for all of us to keep our valuables home so that this kind of thing doesn't happen. 

This will be a Merrier Christmas for YOU!😂

On 12/9/2019 at 2:29 PM, berbician said:

Thanks again for the additional information.  I do plan to go to the beaches so I will make sure to take our water shoes.  I visited all those islands last year on Adventure and enjoyed them.   I understand your statements with the food, neither am I a Foodie so  I will be thankful too. 🙂 However, when something does not taste good period you have to say something. That's how I feel 🙂 🙂   I am sure Symphony will definitively be a different experience for the better !!  

The only time we said anything about the food was when the risotto was not edible, just one big glob on the plate, so my DH gave me half of his fish dinner. The Head Waiter came by and we mentioned it to him how disappointed we were because when we were on Harmony in Sept., the same risotto meal was delicious and that's why I ordered it. The HW, Constantine, told us he would send an order of risotto from Giovanni's for me the next night, but it never came, nor any night thereafter. My DH didn't want me to say any thing, so I didn't....some things are just worth "letting it go."

Yes, Symphony should be better. We've had much more fun and better entertainment on the Oasis and Freedom class ships, so we'll stick with them and any new ships from now on.

1 hour ago, berbician said:

Thanks so much for the update on Explorer. I will getting on her early in Jan and appreciate the update.  I am assuming you were on the nine day itinerary correct?  Did they offer the drink card by any chance? Do you happen to have any of the criuse compasses to share?    Thanks again for the report.      

Yes, we were on the 9 night itinerary (which was the main reason why we booked this cruise). If you go to the beautiful beaches in Curacao (Blue Bay) and Bonaire (Lac Bay/Sorobon), wear water shoes. The entrance to the water is very rocky. Aruba's Palm beach was smooth:)

I only noticed that they offered a buy one , get 40% off the second one drink package. We weren't interested because my DH only drinks during the diamond lounge hours (5:00-8:30p.m.) and I don't drink.

I don't have any cruise compasses...just threw them away each day...sorry.

One more thing. We are not foodies and consider the food on the cruise ships as just that ..."cruise food," so we don't have high expectations and are just grateful that someone is serving us and we don't have to clean up and do dishes:) However, the risotto was just awful...came out as a glob and just overcooked. The head waiter actually told us that people were complaining about the food! We loved our waiter and asst. waiter...Dedy and Denys! We only ate dinner in the main dining room because we have eaten in the specialty restaurants many times and it's really gone downhill and isn't worth the money to us.

We are looking so forward to going on Symphony in September!

1 hour ago, mo&fran said:

The pools have heaters.  Must not have been turned on.

That's right. I asked several times and was told that they only turn them on in colder climates! It was just so weird to see very few people in the pools when it was hot outside....ggggrrrr....

1 hour ago, IndyCapt said:

Thanks so much for the follow-up! We go mid-January so we had already purchased passes through a 3rd party. We'll remember to call the resort directly if we go back in the future. We'll try to get there as close to 9am as possible. So, is it open bar with the Day passes? Thanks again for the review!

Yes, open bar is included with the day passes. There is a bar in the pool and in the restaurant. There are also waiters on the beach who will take your order. My DH ordered from the pool bar and got me my water there also. If you arrive at 9:00 you may want to check out what they serve for breakfast. I hope you have as much fun as we did! No problem getting a taxi back to the port for $16 per taxi.

On 11/8/2019 at 7:24 PM, IndyCapt said:

Can you report back on your experience? We'll be there for the day pass in mid-January. It has good reviews on here but hoped to hear from someone with really recent visit....thanks in advance!

As I promised you, I'm reporting back about our experience at Barcelo's last week. It was a really nice place! We arrived around 10:00a.m., but wish we would have arrived at 9:00 because it was such a wonderful resort:) The pool is very large and clean and the clientele represented all ages. The beach was beautiful with lots of shaded areas. The resort appeared very safe as there were several security guys making sure everyone had a band on their wrists. The food was good, not fantastic, but good. We didn't go for breakfast because we couldn't wait to enjoy the beach and pool areas. Lunch is from 12:00-3:00p.m.  I don't drink, but my DH had several margaritas. I saw several people with frozen drinks that looked delicious.

Would we go again? YES! The RIU was a couple hotels away from us, so we may try that one next time, just to compare. I would suggest that you call Barcelo before you book with a 3rd party and see if they will sell you a pass cheaper. We didn't do that, but talking to some other cruisers, they said that they always call the hotels directly for day passes.