ajtaylor29

A couple of weeks ago there were a lot of cabins in all categories. So, they must have sold a bunch and now getting pretty full!

The good news for us is that this cruise now shows up again on the website! SO, hopefully it was just a glitch in their system and we're back on track! Now i have to worry about no hot water - what have you done to me?!?! 🙂 That would NOT be good....let's hope they have everything worked out before we board. Interesting that you're going to have so many ships/choices sailing out of LA. This is our first west coast cruise out of LA, so we're looking forward to a new ship and itinerary for us. We live in TX so often sail out of Galveston but usually fly to Florida. We still occasionally do a Carnival cruise (usually because of the itinerary) so hope you enjoy your Firenze cruise. We've done Alaska twice on Carnival ships. I pretty much love every ship I'm on, anywhere and anytime! Haven't had a BAD one yet....although definitely can rate some better than others!

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wow, that's amazing!!! so, yes they still sell it! i buy in giant bottles then pour it in to my travel size bottle!

well, everybody's hair is different, so i have no idea if this would be good for you or not!! But - i have very fine hair so most conditioners add weight to my hair and any style i try quickly falls flat! I use a product called Infusium Pro 23, it's a clear (looks like water) leave in product that helps untangle but doesn't weigh my hair down. I've used it for years.

My hair care routine is pretty easy BUT i have a certain conditioner that i have to use or my hair will not be good!!! So, i always take a carry size bottle of conditioner. The other products work fine for me.

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What does this even mean?!? i'm old i guess.... 🙂

We're booked on the April 12th sailing of Navigator OTS out of Los Angeles. The ship is currently in a scheduled dry-dock and this cruise is the 1st one upon the ships scheduled return to sailing. As of 3 days ago, it looked like there were approx 200 available cabins (including all categories) I know because we've been stalking the website because of our Royal Up bids!! Anyway - as of this morning, this cruise no longer shows up on the website AT ALL. I think it's pretty unlikely that it sold out in 3 days. The only explanations i can come up with are either A) the website is messed up and it will correct itself any minute or B) some delays are becoming evident in the drydock and they're anticipating having to cancel this cruise....??? I hope this is not the case, but wonder if anyone else has any info? Am i just being paranoid? We've never had a cruise cancelled, but we've also never booked the 1st one out of drydock and i know these things happen some times.

We just got off a couple of weeks ago and my husband played video poker in there (but i played vp in the regular smoking casino because, you know - vaping.... 🙂 ) but i'm pretty sure there was not a craps table in there. maybe roulette, bj, one other like texas hold em....someone else should confirm this for sure as i only walked thru a few times so i wasn't really paying much attention.

hmmm, what was the negative feedback? Celebrity is already non-smoking in the casinos, right? So, they introduced vaping as an option to totally non-smoking and got complaints....i can imagine why?!? in RC's case they would be taking away some form (smoking) which i think would be met with cheers?!

As a former smoker and current vaper, i'll weigh in with my 2 cents on this very sensitive subject.. First, i totally understand the questions and frustrations from non-smokers as to why they won't change the policy. My big question is why won't they ENFORCE the policy that smoking is only allowed while playing?!? Years ago (when i still smoked) i was shocked and disappointed when they outlawed smoking on the balconies. Outlawing that forced me and others to 2 areas on the whole ship - either pool deck or the casino. Pool deck was great during good weather and/or while sailing, but the main go-to place was the casino and we smokers would congregate in there from the minute we got on the ship. It was NASTY (but there I was as it was the only place to go)....This still happens (non gamblers hanging out just to smoke) but nobody does anything to enforce the rules. Now that i'm a former smoker, i'll admit that the strong smell really bothers me. I hate having smoke blown in my face and/or ashes spilled all over the machines. However, i am sympathetic to the smokers since there's really nowhere else for them to go. My situation is also complicated because as a vaper, i can only vape in smoking areas. I know many non-smokers feel that these should be lumped together, but please remember that my vape discharges NO smoke, very little smell, disapates quickly, etc. But in order to enjoy my vape i have to play in the smoking casino. If they would outlaw smoking in the casino but allow vaping, most everybody would have a MUCH better experience, the smell would be gone, and most smokers (i think) could tolerate this rule because they could vape while gambling then go out to the pool deck for a regular cigarette. I doubt this will happen but imo it's a viable solution.

Just personal opinion here, but we've tried JR's several times and i just don't think the burgers are very good...?!? Some times it's nice to have a change of pace and a burger sounds good, but then it's just ok....i don't think i've ever tried the milkshakes, tho and i hear they are great!

I don't remember any balconies called "sunset" balconies so i'm not sure....? is that what they're called on RC's website? We were just on Explorer last fall and didn't notice that room type. Best advise i have is to look up deck plans on a site like cruisedeckplans dot com, there you'll get a detailed description of each cabin and cabin type.

Hmmmm, i'm pretty sure they didn't leave us that survey but maybe they did and i lost it in the shuffle!? I know people love them and that's great, i'm just one person and i save RC money on blocks/cost them money on other things!!!

I just don't understand the allure of these blocks i guess....and i had no idea they were selling on e-bay?? (or maybe i should say "offered" on e-bay....does anybody really buy them for $100 or more....?? Hubby and I just received our first blocks on Symphony last week. Ok, they're pretty. But, what am i going to do with them when i get home?? I already have cups, t-shirts, koozies, hand sanitizors, drink coolers, lanyards, masks....all with RC logo on them and most sitting on a shelf in the closet (well, except for the koozies, we USE those!!). We love Royal, and we do appreciate the gestures to thank us for our loyalty, but i'm trying to PURGE at my house and don't need more stuff that we won't use!!! Also, those things are heavy and i didn't need to extra weight in our suitcases since we were flying home. So, we returned our blocks to guest services where they were VERY happy to get them back?! So if anyone is anxiously awaiting your Symphony block and you receive it this week - you can thank ME!!!! 😁

We took a short 4-day cruise on Voyager in December and it was my least favorite casino experience at sea yet. Very crowded, weird layout. There's a whole side of the casino walled off that was apparently a high-limit area when it was in Asia that is now just empty (which leads to the rest of the casino being so cramped). I'm sure at some point they'll open that up which will be a big improvement. The day we boarded we found: 3 ANCIENT single line games by the bar that were turned off. And, 5 new-looking super star machines against one wall that were non-operational. I think they had just been brought on and they hadn't had time to get them set up yet. We found a host and complained about there being zero video poker on board....they didn't seem too concerned but later that night they "turned on" the 3 by the bar. My husband played there some, but i love playing multi-line games so for me there was no vp at all. I played blackjack and a few slots. Saved me some money that weekend! I'm sure by now those machines are up and running.

Hubby and I are video poker players and we've been on many RC cruises. Usually, they will have several SuperStar machines, which play a variety of single or multi-hand games. Then they will have a few single line games. Usually some on the smoking side and some on the non-smoking side. Pay tables are bad. We know better than to play on a ship but we always do!?!? Superstar machines have straight poker, super times pay, ultimate-x, spin poker. And most will have jacks or better, bonus poker, double double, deuces wild, etc. The usual games. Rarely we see triple double.

We just got off Symphony this past Sunday. 2 couples both in owners suite so we had CK available to us all week. Everybody is different so this is just my opinion - but we love CK and avoid the MDR (it takes too long and often the food is just so-so). So on our 8 night cruise, we never went in the MDR or Windjammer. We ate breakfast in the Solarium once. (smaller scale buffet assortment, but we love the ambiance, smaller crowds, etc.) Multiple days we had room service breakfast (very good and i love coffee in the morning on my balcony!) One lunch at El Polo Fresh one dinner at Chops one dinner at Hibachi Grille all other meals at Coastal Kitchen I think the quality in CK is very good. I only had one meal (fish) that i didn't love, but other nights i always found something i liked. I agree with someone's comment that the menu is getting a little tired, it's time for them to update it. All other meals we had were great as well. Honestly, we had no problem finding plenty of great food on this trip!

also, note that it is not a $20 LIMIT, but a $20 credit (for free w/ the UDP) so if you eat more than that they'll charge you the difference!

I'm pretty sure that would be $20 for each person who bought the UDP, so if all 4 of you have the package then you would each have a $20 allowance at Playmakers. If only 2 of you have UDP for example, then only 2 of you can dine with the $20 credit...

We stayed on eastern (ship time) all week. However - that meant that in Aruba and Curacao the local time was an hour later than we were. That always confuses me?!? My husband keeps his watch set to ship time and we take our phones off "auto-adjust" for the time so they don't change when we're on the islands either. You do need to be aware if you're taking a private excursion that their starting time is different than your ship time!

I don't remember seeing the CK menus before we got on the ship, but somewhere on here i know someone has posted them so keep looking i guess! The menu is pretty small in CK but we always found something we liked and enjoyed, both at lunch and at dinner. We only had breakfast in there one day but it was great too! We did go to Labadee, and rented a cabana at Barefoot Beach (reserved for suite guests). There were 4 of us, and while we enjoy the hilltop cabanas, we spent most of the day in 4 loungers on the beach and there were plenty of them available. Next time, we might just go and park ourselves on the loungers! Also note, there were plenty of water floats available for use. I'm not sure if that's the case on the other beaches but it was at Barefoot. We've started travelling with our own floats since some beaches we go to don't provide any, just fyi.

We were on this cruise with you and had a great time! We were fortunate to be sailing in a suite, so we had access to Coastal Kitchen all week, and to the suite lounge. Food was great in CK all week. We also had dinners at Chops and the Hibachi Grill and they were both really good! Had room service breakfast most days (love having coffee on my balcony!) The suite lounge serves wine and beer all day (11-11) and full bar from 5-8 every day for HH. That plus our 4 free drinks w/ Diamond status and free drinks in the casino....no need for a drink package for us for sure! Saw several shows and enjoyed them all! (Hiro, Hairspray, 1977, one late-night comedy show). Symphony is my favorite ship. Well maintained, great staff! Only complaint is with the casino. They took my money. 😞 And also, the casino hosts were not very visible - they usually come introduce themselves to us but that didn't happen this time. Also, several video poker machines were out of order all week, and no one seemed interested in fixing them.... We still enjoyed our time in there of course and can't wait to sail on her again!

Yes, we booked our transport thru RC. They have a bus that will shuttle from Venice-Ravenna or Bologna-Ravenna and back. fyi - Ravenna is a lot closer to Bologna than Venice. We flew into Venice a few days pre-cruise, then went to Bologna for 2 days after the cruise then flew home from there) You cannot book the RC transport on the website, you have to call them (i don't know why?!?) It wasn't that expensive, i'd have to look up exact price, but there were 6 of us and it was the best option. Super easy to find the bus station. This worked out great for us! I loved Venice, and loved Bologna! So we got to add 2 Italian cities to our trip instead of one!