Hoopster95

Great comment. I assume you've only sailed on the larger ships? I spent 25 days on Rhapsody in Feb/Mar... superb first name basis service. Superb staff and crew. They loved everybody and everybody loved them. You get to see them and actually talk to them everyday. Absolutely the best crew in a very long time on RCI. Oh, and while Symphony & Harmony had 1 day stateroom service, Rhapsody still had two. Of course, now that I post this, someone on the Haifa cruises will post that I'm wrong and that everything is different. I can say this with 100% certainty, and has been said for years on this forum: RCI - Really Consistently Inconsistent

Before anyone else on this topic makes one more post, I would like them to post exactly what a cruise worker gets paid, what law states their pay scale, and what these "gratuities" actually are.

Thanks for clarifying. This is partially correct. Any port HAL goes to, the largest Royal ship also goes to. Some current smaller ships (NCL & Oceania come to mind) also visit Prince Rupert & Wrangell. The most interesting port HAL has done in the past (and only 3 times pre-Covid) has been Port Alberni within Vancouver Island, where only the smallest of cruise ships could've gone. It was the Maasdam. https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/news/video-port-alberni-welcomes-the-first-of-three-cruise-ships/ As far as route, only (most) ships sailing from Vancouver go through the Southern portion of the inside passage. All Seattle based ships, including HAL, head out to the Pacific Ocean and also miss the Southern portion of the inside passage, which is roughly Vancouver to Prince Rupert. Green is the full inside passage from (most) Vancouver based cruise ships. Red is the route that Seattle based cruise ships follow. They both do the inside passage in Alaska, the northern portions depending whether they are visiting Juneau, Skagway and/or Ketchikan.

This is Juneau port photographed from atop Mount Roberts. 5 ships in port. 4 (the maximum amount) are docked. What is the ship out there with tenders running back and forth? Yes that's a HAL ship. The smallest ship will likely tender.

I’m just trying to learn…. What exact ports does HAL smaller ships go that Royal larger ships cannot go?

twangster, you are, and have been for years, the number 1 reviewer on these boards hands down. Your explanations, information, pics and videos are always first class. Being critical myself with my own review photos I personally didn’t notice any issues with your photos. Phenomenal review again and truly appreciate your time and effort putting these reviews together. Back to lurking 😉

I found this answer in 5 seconds by typing the following into my google searc "quantum of the seas connecting balcony"

One thing that has not been mentioned is immediately when you board the ship go to deck 4 in front of the Attic (Comedy/Nightclub venue).... or upon stepping into the Promenade immediately ask a staff member where the Show reservation desk is. Normally there is a desk there with RCL staff adding show reservations for cruisers for the whole week. Also, if you are tech savvy and know the RCL app, those same shows will be available from the app the day you board. I've recently been on both Symphony and Harmony (Jan & April 2023) within 3 weeks last minute booking, with all shows showing "sold out" on the cruise planner, and yet I had reservation to ALL shows the day I boarded. Not only that, I attended Columbus twice, Grease twice, the water show twice... standby line was no problem finding seats within 15 min of the show starting. By the way, I only had a very late boarding check in time (2-2:30pm) because of my very late booking of the cruise, and still got all shows reserved once on board without a single issue even though most of the ship had already boarded before me. @jlewisrnBreathe ... relax

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2661933-ovation-may-13-24-live-in-alaska-wlots-of-photos/page/32/#comment-57577120

I’m sitting at the other table in your Izumi photos lol! For those of you that remember me on these forums…. Hi! Sitting here at MIA in the lounge awaiting my flight, and I thought I myself “I haven’t lurked on CC boards for months… maybe I should see if someone posted a live review”. Lo and behold. I feel compelled to post for the first time since Covid. Hey drumexpert great job with photos. Did you happen to go Jazz on 4? If not, you missed a genious percussionist! They were Argentinian and that drummer needs to be discovered for a record label or major artist. You focused a lot of your review on food…. I too had the UDP and also agree with your positive opinions at all venues. In my opinion this was the best ship by far for food since even before Covid. All specialty dining was above average compared to previous sailings. I always stay away from Jamie’s … I sailed this time with 1st time cruiser so we tried everything regardless of my preconceived notions. Jamie’s is normally mediocre at best, but even this venue was great here on Symphony. I’ve often compared RCL dining to Oceania because of my few experiences with Oceania regarding amazing elevated food… both times in CP150 could’ve been on Oceania. Absolutely top notch foodie quality awesome meals, beyond tasty exceptional and just great service. The beef tenderloin and lobster thermadore were exquisite. CP150 wins on Symphony as the best dining venue hands down. I cant be any more positive regarding the specialty dining on this ship this time around. Very surprising as I’ve always experienced various hits and misses no matter what sailing. Anyways, good to see you had a great time drumexpert.