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IceManCan

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Posts posted by IceManCan

    NCL Regular becoming RCCL First Timer

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Teen club is great. I have two teenage boys who have loved it. My oldest is 19 and we will be taking our 1st cruise where he is ineligible for it and is a bit nervous.

     

    Giovanni's is probably the best "family" specialty restaurant but nothing beats 150CP. We are big fans of the Solarium for Breakfast. Less crowded and on the healthy side.

     

    Love the Pub for singer songwriter type music and chill atmosphere.

     

    Dress code is loosely enforced.

     

    Flowrider is the best!

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    No tuxedo rental on Symphony of the Seas

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Please - no commentary needed as to whether or not you would want to wear one.

     

    I tried to order one through the tuxedorentals.rccl.com website. Symphony of the Seas was not listed.

     

    I send an email asking for help. I received this reply:

    Please be advised that there are no tuxedo rentals onboard the Symphony of the Seas. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

    Sincerely,

    Kevin Thistle

    Special Services - Tuxedo

    Royal Caribbean

     

    Since I will be spending some of my vacation in other places, I will not be bringing one along. Disappointed, but accepting that trends are changing. I will be in a sportcoat for formal night now.

     

    Mark

    I would guess this will change once they are State side?

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    tips

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    So if I'm sailing from the UK on a ship registered in Liberia which rule should I follow?
    Depends on who owns the cruise line. They are the ones who set the policy. If you don't like the policy spend your euros on a different line. And respect those policies.

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    Need some perspective

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I will be cruising Harmony in two week. I will be devastated if the flowrider is down.

     

    I cruise because there is something for everyone. My kids can do their thing, My wife can visit the spa and sit in a beach chair and read a book and for me, I flowride. Without it cruising would not be my cup of tea. I would get bored very quickly. I am not a fan of most of the ports as they are over croweded and not in the parts of countries I would generally choose to visit. I flowride from morning till evening and enjoy the nightlife on the cruise. If they were continually broken my cruising days would be numbered.

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    tips

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    You see, you have fallen into the trap of thinking your culture is the 'correct one'

     

    The US is fairly unique in the world when it comes to a dominant tipping culture - in the UK, we tip in restaurants but not for [example] someone holding open a door in a hotel! Cruise from Australia and you will see giant queues of people getting their 'tips' back

     

    Gratuities on ships is an 'extra' payment on all bookings - include it as part of the bill and Japanese guests (another example), who don't tip for anything in their culture, will not be confused

    There is no right or wrong culture. When I travel to a new country I adapt and respect the traditions of that culture. If you choose to do business with an american company out of an american port respect the culture or take your business elsewhere. Quite simple. It is not forced to any of us to like the traditions of other cultures. If we choose to visit other places and other cultures we are all smart to adapt to them for the duration of our visits.

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    tips

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Or if you don't like my opinion perhaps you should choose to ignore it or post in a different thread instead of preaching to me how to live my life.

     

     

    And if enough people talk about tipping in places like these what makes you think people at RCL don't read them? I have no problem tipping at at and 99.9% of the time always give people 20% in the service industry. Only rarely do I lower my tipping standards and the service has to be very poor for me to do that. As others have said in this thread tipping is uniquely an American thing and other industries have built tipping into the business models. But hey brother preach onto us how we should live some more, it's really helpful! :confused:

    The only result even if RCL ends its tipping practices would be they would raise the price of the cruise by 20% either way you're spending the same money.

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    tips

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Why doesn't it belong here, because you feel it doesn't? If you disagree then post why you disagree instead of lecturing me on topic details. I simply said that with their profit they should be able to build tips into price and allow people to enjoy their vacation without having to bring cash, or worry about tipping. That way if someone wants to tip extra on top it's up to them.

     

    Again this is simply my opinion which I'm entitled to just like you are entitled to your opinion.

    I was referring to the topic of corporate profits versus employee salaries. That is a topic far too complex for cruise critic and really doesn't belong on cruise critic.

     

    However since you are not gonna change Royal Caribbean's salary structure. If you don't like the idea that you have to add extra gratuities on at the end of your cruise in order to make sure that those employees are making a fair salary then perhaps you should choose a different form a vacation or a different cruise line!

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    tips

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Well said. RCCL made a PROFIT of 1.28 BILLION in 2016. That's not revenue that's profit. I think they could afford to pay their people a little better and remove the burden and guessing game of "tips" from their guests.

     

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/tourism/fl-royal-caribbean-4q2016-results-20170126-story.html

    This same argument could be made for just about every major company in the USA. Billions in profits with employees who make less than living wages. This however is a conversation that doesnt belong on cruise critic.

     

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    Johnny Rip-offs

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Just back fro April 8th sailing on the Allure... the ship was every bit as fabulous 4 yrs after our first cruise on it. Windjammer food exceeded our expectations at every meal, and Chops was delightful.

     

    DH has some perverse need to visit Johnny Rockets on every cruise. I don't get it at all, but keep him company. I am delighted to say the most recent cruise has totally cured him of his JR obsession. The cover charge has blown up to $12.95 . Unfortunately, we had coupon for free lunch or that would have stopped us in our tracks. Also had a 2-for-1 milkshake coupon. Total out of pocket cost was just over $5. But I was ticked that we could have used the lunch coupon elsewhere and didn't.

     

    Milkshakes were good. However the other food was just plain awful, and the "dining experience" was grating, to say the least. DH had the burger and fries, neither of which were tasty. I had what I thought was a BLT salad with crispy chicken. Ugh. Lots of yellow lettuce, mushy tomato and not a trace of bacon. Maybe I read the menu wrong, but couldn't even be bothered to check or complain. Onion rings - meh. We skipped dessert in order to escape, figuring we didn't need to ingest extra calories or spend a moment longer in the most annoying environment on board.

     

    Part of the charm, in DH's opinion, has always been the 50's atmosphere. That disappeared in a hurry, when the music played the same opening two lines of "16 Candles" over and over and over and over.... We finally asked our waiter if the music track could be unstuck, and he told us we could do so from the jukebox control at our table. NOT the case, nor did it work from any other table.

     

    So, while I will continue to find happiness in the fact I will never have to visit another Johnny Rockets at sea, I am disappointed for my husband, who really looked forward to those meals. I don't enjoy burger joints at the best of times, and to eat in one on a cruise ship just seems like dumb X 2, but this one was a game changer for us. YAY!

     

     

     

     

    Sent from my iPad using Forums

    You state you could have used your free lunch coupon elsewhere? Is this true? I am sailing Harmony in a few weeks and would much prefer Jamies over JR?

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    Royal Caribbean's Big Ships Vs Little Ships

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Bigger will always be better to us. We sailed on the Grandeur about four years ago and were quite bored after being on Explorer three straight times before that. We sail Anthem now and love her, as well as Quantum! We don't really socialize much so we don't usually care to see anyone once, much less more than once!!

     

    Sent from my K88 using Forums mobile app

    100%. I am not a sit in a pool chair for 8 hours kind of guy. I get stir crazy on a small ship. I'm also a flowrider junkie and love the variety a large ship has to offer.

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

    Prepaid gratuities- what’s NOT included?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Fantastic! Thank you! The seas pass thing has me a little scared. They make it too easy. Traveling with 3 kids (ages 11, 12 and 14) and don’t want them to think it’s a magical ‘swipe me anywhere and get what you want’ card lol
    You can set spending restrictions for your kids. I don't activate their cards at all. You do this when preparing their docs on-line

     

     

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

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