fla33023

7 minutes ago, HelloItsMeB said:

Yeah, I got ready and even put on a white dress in case we made it to the white deck party later. That was VERY wishful thinking. I couldn’t get back to the room fast enough after that amazingly delicious gut punch. If captain party pants could see me now… 😬👵🏻😂🤷🏻‍♀️

She'd say, "girl, we had our moment. It's just time to pass the baton!" Hits all of us at some point!

I think the best part is this is just the beginning of the cruise! You haven't even fully settled into vacation mode yet! 

39 minutes ago, dahirsh said:

I can't bring myself to watch it again but did the woman in the first one claim the pinnacles ( or was it the whole cruise crowd?)  were given an opportunity to see the northern lights that everyone else was denied?  In the carribean?  Close to the equator?  On the SAME ship? What am I missing?

Yes. I was quite confused by that.  How did they seem them from Brazil?!

34 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

I really enjoyed the Christmas show last night, and then went to Christmas Eve dinner in the MDR. Everything was lovely, although I didn't love the dessert - it just wasn't my preference. Other people really liked it.

 

Decor:

 

 

Menu:

 

 

Onion tart:

 

 

Onion soup:

 

 

Turkey dinner:

 

 

Buche de Noel:

 

I wonder if many people don't like the stuffing.  I had to ask for more on Thanksgiving.  They are clearly using a cookie scooper!

1 hour ago, Rubyfisch said:

We made it Port Canaveral and are awaiting clearance. I'll catch everyone up on everything later today ... I'm going ashore once we get clearance.

It's made the news

https://wpde.com/news/local/man-falls-overboard-from-cruise-ship-off-the-charleston-coast-uscg-united-states-us-coast-guard-southeast-seventh-district-vision-of-the-seas-south-carolina-sc-wciv

12 hours ago, KBS1607 said:

We had trouble getting to the Miami terminal on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Our Lyft driver was very confused and there was something going on with traffic at the terminal.  We left in plenty of time but ended up boarding later than we wanted. 

Even with that, we didn’t have any trouble making reservations for our small dining package. 

We left on Indy that day. POM was insane! We boarded around 1:30, at least 40 minutes later than I thought we would. 

7 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

Merry Christmas Eve.

 

Current view:

 

 

Current position - by my rough estimate, assuming this map is correct, we are not getting Port Canaveral by 10 am. We're still over 100 nm away, and traveling about 21 knots. There have been no announcements. To be clear, I completely understand both whatever efforts were taken and that they haven't yet done any overhead announcements so we could sleep.

 

I'll take that view! Should be a nice, comfortable day in the Orlando-area. Sorry for what that family is going thru. And I hope everyone else has a wonderful day on or off ship! Merry Christmas Eve!

10 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

We are underway:

 

 

 

So early! I've only sailed from FL and it's always later. Enjoy your cruise and Merry Christmas! I'm enjoying this review already!

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

I can’t believe how many in the theatre were cheering for the change to Nassau.  Wish they would have changed to CocoCay. 
 

By way of extra info, Labadee was changed because they had heavy rain and flooding that damaged the infrastructure. 
 

Blur Lagoon dolphin swim may be fun for the kids.  We did that once, but who knows what will be offered.  Of course, didn’t they recently have a major incident with the boat that takes you 

Was there any info as to future stops being canceled as well? We happen to love Labadee and are scheduled late Jan.

9 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

 

 

Before the final decision is made they want the head physician to assess her.  He finally gets there very late in the evening.  The antibiotics have started to take effect.  Pain is subsiding.  He says no to diverting and expects her to be able to enjoy the cruise.  I’m hoping day 2 this week is a little more relaxing than last week.

 

 

 

 

Where was the head doctor coming from? I wonder if he has different rates than the "lower level" doctor.

You didn't mention the week you have in mind. Spring break for both Miami-Dade and Broward is the last week of March. There will be lots of young people on board. We both work in education so it's the week we sail as well, but we're used to it!

7 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

Fun confessions.  🙂

 

Re the windjammer, do you think you would feel the same if MDR menus were back to pre-covid variety and quality?  I guess what I'm asking is if you're converted to a WJ person more so now regardless of what the MDR is offering? 

 

What really interests me about the WJ is the spontaneity and variety.  Would love to go whenever we feel like we're done with our afternoon activities. The way Royal has completely screwed up MTD has also forced our early seating to be way too early...  

 

What I'm leery of with WJ dinners is missing our quiet family time together.  Maybe we'll just have to bit the bullet and try it sometime

We ate most nights in the WJ on Indy over Thanksgiving week. They turn down the lights, the music is soft and you can sit anywhere as it's never crowded. I love it.

6 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I've stopped off at the room and Stuart has taken my laundry and left an elephant.

 

 

But wait, I am inheriting quite a zoo here 🙂

 

 

 

Interesting that until recently I only got to keep them when I was in an Ocean View. I could leave them in the window. Now it's happened a few times in an inside. On our 14 day, my mom had to ask for them to be removed, they were getting a bit out of hand but it's just me and just six days (I change rooms) so I will enjoy my new friends.

 

I've often taken them apart and used the towels. Is that not the right thing to do? Lol

7 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Do we know that as a fact?  Do cash tips remain in the receiver's pocket?

Stateroom attendants, yes. I have asked more than once. I haven't inquired about the others as it's not as important to me. 

7 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

We left Rhapsody this morning without any decorations also.

I felt bad because I met a group of first-time cruisers. Told them how beautiful the ship will look Fri or Sat all decorated, they can take pictures, etc. Glad I didn't see them again.

Left Independence this morning and not one decoration was up. I had seen on FB that Liberty was decorating so that was a tad disappointing!

18 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

It would be interesting (but impossible) to learn what those who opt out of the daily gratuities actually provide to staff.  Is this a way to justify lowering the amount ones pays for gratuity, or are those who opt out simply providing the full $18 pp/day to those who they know assist them?

 

M

I opt out. Got off Indy this morning. Room attendant got $100. We ate in MDR twice. Each waiter got $25. Had deluxe drink pkg of which grats are already included - left additional $10 at Skybar and $40 at Boleros where we were most of the week. The bartenders were beyond great. Gave $10 each to the guys doing the jetski tour at Labadee. They were great and patient with my daughter and I. Doesn't matter to me what people think about our tipping. I will always tip those that I feel made a difference. 

6 minutes ago, MandyMooToo said:

I will say that it’s funny how the email made it seem like we would pay maybe another $30 and it was $125 and some change. 

Thank you for posting that. Obviously, someone's not going to cancel over $125 but I didn't know they could just "update the reservation" like that especially after you've paid in full. Guess it's in the contract somewhere.

18 minutes ago, MandyMooToo said:

Our Wonder cruise next month went up a lot.  We had already paid in full and the port fees increased for the Bahamas and we had to pay an additional $125, on top of what we already paid.

How do they phrase that in the email? Pay it or don't go?

20 minutes ago, luckybecky said:

Day 6 Debarkation

 

We woke up at 7am. We were already fully packed. We dressed quickly, tossed a few last items in our suitcases and ready to go before 7:30. We kept waiting for announcements. Every other ship I’ve ever been on is making frequent, loud announcements, trying to keep the process moving efficiently. At the bare minimum, they usually announce when the ship has been cleared and debarkation is officially open.

 

Bad

Radio silence. Finally a few minutes before 8:00, I suggested we just head out even though there had been no announcement and the feed on the TV had not indicated that debarkation had begun.

 

As expected, a madhouse. Forget getting an elevator. We expected that and were prepared to carry our luggage down the stairs. Joined the line which snaked from the elevators through the dining room to the outside deck and around the back.

 

Good

Once we reached the terminal, it was a very fast and easy process. Facial recognition only, no passport check or customs or anything. Took about 45 minutes to get from our cabin, to off the ship and in our car.

 

Overall, we had a good time. As I said before, we never let small concerns ruin our vacation. I’ve made numerous comparisons to our past cruise experiences and I don’t think this particular cruise compared particularly well. However on the positive side this was the best inside cabin we have ever had.

 

I know that some people disparagingly refer to Carnival as “the Walmart of the Seas.” Well, truth be told, I think Carnival is doing a better job for cruises out of Galveston in terms of dining and entertainment. The steakhouse and production shows have definitely been better on Carnival. And this cruise did not compare favorably to our only other RC cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas. I’m sorry, RC loyalists. These are just my opinions. I’m interested to hear what others think about all this. But we still are grateful that we have the opportunity to cruise. There’s always good and bad on every vacation, some things are great and sometimes things can go sideways. It’s OK. We enjoy ourselves no matter what.

 

Thanks for following along. Happy cruising!

I think this was a very fair review and I enjoyed reading. I know many people like leisurely meals but 2+ hrs at Chops is way too long to me. That mother/daughter time must have been very nice!

We leave next Sunday (11/19) and the menus showed up late last night.

3 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Unfortunately, by this point the photos are most likely gone.

Pretty sure that didn't need to be said.

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Starting it a lot earlier this year.

Yep. So many early sales this year. Walmart starts 11/8.

3 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I worked retail for many years, and I dreaded the holiday season. Now, I can't wait for Maria Carry to serenade me!

+1 🙂

 

39 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

First, I've always thought the waiters and cabin stewards--who are, basically, paid by there gratuities are underpaid anyway.  I've NEVER deleted the automatic charges...and never will.  I truly believe a lot of the people who do that, even if they CLAIM to tip directly in cash DON'T...or, at a minimum, they undertip.  What I have always done (atleast since they started automatically charging it) is to leave those in tact...and then ADD assitional cash tips to those who I thought went above and beyond.  I will still do that--though I will likely, subconciously at least, deduct the extra $2 pp per day from my extra tip pool.

 

My only real question now is how to treat that increase in regard to my upcoming cruises.  I have TWO RCCL cruises currently "in the queue"--B2B cruises for a total of 24 nughts during the World Cruise next July/August.  So, under the old standard, $16 x 2 x 24= $768 TODAY versus $18 x 2 x 24= $864 paid almost 9 months from now.  Worth prepaying to save a mere $96 that I'll likely blend into my extra tip pool on the actual cruise anyway?  Or just pay it all out at once in 9 months and give out a few $ less in ectra tips?  Probably the latter.

 

Oh, BTW, extra bar tips?

Do you folks who throw around dollar bills at the bar realize that they ALREADY ADD an extra 18% gratuity to every drink.  It is also added to your drink package cost if you've gone that way. The tip is even already thrown into the pot BY RCCL on freebie voucher drinks?  I do not carry my wallet or wads of cash around on a cruise ship.  I do tip the Diamond Club waiters an extra bit AT THE END OF THE CRUISE for great service the entire cruise...BUT I find zero reason to throw around extra tips to add to the 18% I'm already being charged.  You don't hand out singles to the MDR waiters at every meal, do you?

It's interesting to say you don't believe people tip in cash and then say that you tip even beyond daily rates. I'll just take people at their word because who really knows.