orville99

Schooner bar for cocktails then a few steps to chops - priceless😀

We always take one with us. Their systems are at best flaky, even on a good day.

They didn't work as BT speakers when we were last in a CLS on Allure in August. We used our own BT speaker.

At this point, Guest Services is their only option if they are still on board.

and for the past 20 years...

While this may be true about new bookings, all eight of our cruises taken post restart were either bookings made back before Covid hit or were L&S from cancelled cruises( and I doubt we are alone in that analysis). I just looked at our upcoming cruise schedule, and the first cruise we have booked that was made post restart is not until the summer of 2023. In short, they are still working off a significant number of lower priced bookings (probably more at this time than new bookings. BTW, every cruise we have taken post restart has been better from a service and quality standpoint than the one before it. It is nowhere close to pre shutdown standards, but it is improving dramatically cruise by cruise.

The challenge is not just getting a full crew, but getting the correct full crew. We have been on several cruises since the restart, and one theme has been common amongst all of them - the combination of new crew (rookies), crew that have not sailed in 2+years (rusty crew), and crew that are being pulled from ships they normally work so they can staff the larger ships (overwhelmed crew). We have had numerous opportunities to have substantive knee-to-knee discussions with restaurant venue managers (i.e. MDR); executive chefs, restaurant services managers (the person responsible for all of the restaurant venues), and others, and they all have the same lament - they can't get the crew they want, and it takes time to train (or re-train) the staff they have. Significant shortages in trained and competent chefs (all the way from head chefs to prep chefs), wait staff that are unfamiliar with the restaurants (flow, timing, menus, etc), and sporadic supply chain issues where they can't get key components of menu items, and the chef doesn't have any suitable substitutes. Every one we spoke with reaffirmed that it is truly still a "work in progress", and they are as frustrated with the product they are delivering as we are with the product we are receiving. Two solutions: 1) Recognize that it is a long way from pre-covid levels and "grin and bear it", or 2) Wait it out until the number of negative rants drops below the level of tipping/smoking/upickem rants.

Sorry, but at 74 years old (and counting) I have lived in the digital world for more than 30 years, and it is virtually impossible to gain no understanding of how the digital world works unless one chooses to avoid learning.Remember, we “old folks” are the ones that invented the digital world in the first place.

It has been awhile since we were on Brilliance, but if I remember correctly the cabins had a Wi-Fi booster mounted on the wall next to the cabin door. We always got better internet in the cabin than we did in the public areas of the ship.

And less “jitter”

Absolutely, and that is why we never purchase it, and why we turn our phones off and store them in the safe for the entire cruise. All it takes is a few clouds to disable ship-to-anywhere-by-any-means service.

ON the AT&T website. Enjoy AT&T Passport for International Travel - Wireless Customer Support.pdf

We have taken eight cruises since the restart, and have used our iPads to stream without any shut off issues regardless of whether we were at sea, coming into a port, or docked. Our phones, on the other hand, have switched between services in the middle of phone calls as we entered or left a port.

Yes, but a WiFi wireless network and a Cellular satellite service are two completely different technologies, which is why you can turn cellular off but leave WiFi on and make WiFi phone calls and send WiFi texts while on board.

If you read the details, it does not cover all locations and that is a very expensive data overage charge. Which is why I specifically stated "most". If you purchased the international plan instead of the cruise plan, you purchased the wrong plan.

You won't be close enough to any coast. The ship's systems cut off within a few miles of port, but not anywhere other then when actually coming in to a port. And, Voom is not Cellular. It does not shut off while in port.

AT&T also offers a 30-day package designed specifically for use on cruise ships. This is different from their "international" package which simply allows roaming phone calls and texts in most countries at domestic rates.

From our past experience with the AT&T international package, it covers phone calls and texts, but not surfing the internet on any devices. Also, while it covers the roaming charges on those calls, you still need to go through the Cellular-at-Sea satellite hook up on board, and once the ship is within a few miles of any port, it is required to shut off that uplink and go to whatever service is available in the port itself.

Also not true. But hey, look at it this way, you are batting 1000 on this.

Yes there is for everyone 12 yo or older.

Unvaccinated adults can’t board a RCL cruise ship, so the question is moot.

That’s interesting. I’m surprised it would take 90 days to compost. The corn starch is typically mixed with a biodegradable binder to make a plastic-like material, and depending on which type of binder is used, the decomposition time can range from 60-90 days.

Corn Starch.

The real challenge with identifying a specific strain of corona virus using EUA tests (especially at this time of year) is that the predominant cause of wintertime common colds is also a corona virus.

Hope you feel better soon, and that the symptoms are not too severe. At least you got three legs in that you enjoyed.