kevink

As others have said, using the online reservation system is very important. Plan ahead, so you can relax onboard.

One word of caution is not to panic the first day. I remember having second thoughts when we boarded in the early afternoon the first time on Oasis and they funneled everyone up to the Windjammer, and it was a zoo. After that first day, it seemed like people spread out and it didn't feel that crowded.

Does anyone have an email or phone contact for whatever department at RCCL operates the Sea Trek desk? Or better yet a way to contact them on a specific ship? I tried general RCCL customer service and they were no help.

For an Oasis cruise next month one member of my family is debating options for getting the PADI Open Water scuba certification. She's completing the coursework and the swimming pool dives now; the question is where to do the open water dives. Quarries around Chicago ain't warm this time of year.

The RCCL website here http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/product.do?pagename=onboard_prod_scuba_in_the_pool says you can take a referral excursion and do the dives through Sea Trek, but you have to sign up on board. I want to find out what port the dives would happen at, because that affects the decision.

Thanks.

-- Kevin

My wife and I are Diamond status and enjoy the perks. In May I've arranged a family cruise including my son who is diamond status and his wife of nearly five years who will be taking her first cruise. No problem says I, here's your diamond number and the phone number of the Loyalty desk, call them and they should be able to assign your spouse a diamond number.

He tells me that he called the Loyalty desk, and was told that his wife would only qualify for Diamond status *after* her first cruise. He's PO'd, I'm PO'd, everybody's PO'd. It makes absolutely no sense.

If I am Royal Caribbean and I have a customer who has cruised with me many times, shouldn't I want to turn their spouse into a loyal customer to get more business from future cruises? Would I not consider that telling someone's spouse that they can have a complimentary robe but their spouse is out of luck is not the best way to secure future business? Would I not consider that blocking someone's spouse from the Diamond lounge is also a likely way to lose future business?

This makes no fricking sense to me. Was the person manning the Loyalty line on drugs, or is this really RCCL's incredibly stupid policy designed to boost their competitors' bottom lines?

-- Kevin

We got off a cruise last Friday and never got any email about the guest satisfaction survey (and yes I did check the spam folder). Anybody know where to go online for the survey? I tried checking RCCL's online FAQ and that's no help. I tried calling RCCL and the person I got on the phone was no help.

Assuming this is still true (we did this ten years ago or so), on a partial transit the ship transits into Gatun Lake, and at that point you can take an excursion on a smaller boat through the rest of the canal, and then the excursion buses you back to catch up to the ship.

Thanks for this information. We will be spreading my wife's grandmother's ashes at sea on a cruise in a few weeks and we weren't quite sure how the process would work, we were just told to see the purser after we board.

I was wondering about transporting the ash container on the airplane, whether to carry it on or pack it. I'm concerned that the ash container will raise red flags going through X-ray, I have no idea what it would look like to the X-ray machine. The last thing I want is some TSA person deciding to poke through it.

As others have pointed out, it's really a function of the staff rather than the ship, and it's going to vary over time.

What I've learned in general over ~15 RCCL cruises is IMHO:

1) They excel at bread.

2) They do much better at chicken and seafood than they do beef. I have seen some pretty low quality beef served. If you really want a steak, go to Chops and avoid the steak in the MDR.

3) Pasta can be hit or miss sometimes, but in general they do quite good with pasta.

4) Skip the lobster. I'm not a big lobster person to begin with, but I've cruised on three different cruise lines and I've never had good lobster on any cruise ship.

5) To sum up my strategy: I scan the menu in priority order,

chicken>pasta>seafood>beef .

And of course, everything tastes better if you have a few drinks before dinner. :-)

-- Kevin

I can't remember the last cruise I booked where they didn't say that early dining was full at the time I booked. My conspiracy theory is that they are trying to push people into MTD. Anyway, I always have to initially book into MTD and usually when I call a month or two later I can get switched into the early seating. I just did so this week for an upcoming cruise in August.

-- Kevin

Another thought: if you just want to keep in loose touch on the ship, you might want to consider getting a pair of walkie-talkies. See also http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1789923 for other ideas.

-- Kevin

I recently looked into this for an upcoming cruise.

T-Mobile recently rolled out a program for no-roaming charges for text and data in 120 countries if you are under their Simple Plan:

http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/simple-choice-international-plan-countries.html

On board is not a very happy story however. Go to this link: http://www.t-mobile.com/International/RoamingOverview.aspx?tp=inl_tab_roamworldwide and under the country list scroll down to Royal Caribbean, they don't show Allure but Oasis should be the same. $5.99/minute for voice, 50 cents/text, data is out of sight.

I'm going to pull my battery when not in port.

-- Kevin

What we used to do in this situation is split the bed into two singles for the kids, and put the parents on the pullout couch. You can ask your room steward for an extra eggcrate topper for the couch mattress.

The main problem we've had before with late flights is what to do with the luggage, because sometimes the airlines restrict how far ahead of the flight they will check you in.

You might want to check into the luggage valet service RCCL has. With that you can have your bags taken care of, and be free to do something in Fort Lauderdale in the morning to have fun and kill time.

---

Kevin