djh

Going to affect ships at sea in Western C now. Cayman's and Jamaica today. Outside possibility of Roatan on Wednesday if the storm is wide enough and drifts south a bit.. But it will most likely affect ships scheduled for Belize or Costa Maya (and maybe Cozumel )on Thursday and maybe Friday.

 

If you ship hasn't left the US yet, no frets.

Except maybe if you are on the Liberty scheduled to leave Galveston Thursday and dock at Cozumel on Saturday. I would think that one would be iffy.

We are staying in a signature suite on an upcoming cruise and have a couple of questions. I understand that the hallway on deck 14 has a key access, may I give my sister an access key so that she get up to our room? Also, is there access to the sky observation lounge from the end of the hall ( toward the reflection suite)?

On the Infinity last month the charge was $10pp

If we skip the concierge issue for the moment, the only thing that has changed in your list of concerns is the balcony furniture. Describing the new furniture as "vinyl" is not correct unless "vinyl" in the US is different to the UK. The new furniture is made of a modern material that is similar to what we have in the garden and much more suitable. Rain/dew clears from this furniture quickly and is so much more practical for a cruise ship - and UK weather. My husband and I have spent far too much time on cruise ships trying to rescue the old cushions from the rain or drying them when we did not succeed. [And on an M-class PH balcony that is a real pain.] The old furniture is just not as comfortable as the new [even when you are not getting a wet backside!]. The one report back on Cruise Critic since the furniture change has supported my view. We just wish that they would make the same change on the S-class ships.

 

As for the shore-side concierge, they do indeed now handle the pre-cruise requests rather than the Michael's Club concierge so that those on board can concentrate on those on board! If you are sailing in June, it is too early to heard from them. You can normally expect to hear between 4 and 10 day pre-cruise. Unless you have an issue that needs dealing with early [such as a booking/accounts issue], they will obviously be focusing on those cruising in a few days.

We actually were contacted six weeks ahead for our May cruise.

So... as of today D+ still have access to the Suite Lounge and uncomfortable chairs, correct?

Hmmmmm........Brittany in Michael Bayleys office told me the change ( no D+ in suite lounge) was happening immediately, and that was in mid February. I believe her words were " they are making the change as we speak " Obviously that is not the case.

Does anybody on a recent sailing know if they indeed have changed the policy of allowing D+ in the lounge?

Port of Seattle cruise schedule says 91.

If you get there early, you can get one of the smaller gold chairs--the only ones that don't break your back.

Those were the six chairs that they added mid week on our cruise after many passengers complained about the lack of seating, lol. There was seating for 40 and 283 passengers eligible to use the suite lounge that week. There was no seating outside at that time. You are so right, those chairs were absolutely the only comfortable ones in the entire lounge.

I have heard from a few P friends who were on LB the past 2 or 3 weeks. D+ have been allowed in the SL. However, the card reader on the SL door is not working and they were advised that when it was functioning properly, the SL would be only allowing suite and Pinnacle cruisers. I will have other friends on in a couple of weeks. We will see how it goes then. I have 56 days before I can see for myself!

After we returned from our 2/7 cruise, I wrote a letter to Michael Bayleys office because every time we went into the suite lounge, there were no seats available. A rep from his office called me last Thursday and told me that this is definitely changing, no more diamond plus in the suite lounge. She sounded like it would be immediate but apparently it has not happened yet.

No more slippers, chocolates. They have also cut down on the daily deliveries.on the positive side, some ships the concierge will walk you off the ship all the way through customs.

Sometimes. On Navigator that was the case. Both times I've been on the Liberty the concierge has just walked us to the gangway.

Also, I am aware of the new suite perks on Oasis and Quantum class, but while they seem to be increasing, I feel that on other ships the perks are declining. But like I said, maybe I'm expecting something that was actually done on Celebrity.

Important question from the hubs - well important to him:

 

Any sign of donuts on this cruise? and if so, are they gross asian-style like on Oasis or regular more American donuts?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

In the diamond lounge and suite lounge they had some chocolate covered doughnuts that I loved! Didn't taste exactly like doughnuts from home, but still good. I would think that they have them in the windjammer too.

Question for anybody that travels in suites and has a better memory than me. Years ago, it seemed like we got a lot more suite benefits than we have today. Not only big things (like invitations to sit at the captains table), but just little perks (like fresh fruit etc.) We travel on Royal and Celebrity often, so I think sometimes when I'm expecting a perk and getting nothing, I may be confusing it with Celebrity. Or sometimes confusing it with diamond plus perks. Any useful input would be greatly appreciated.

Or Sabor, like RCCL? It seems to be thriving!

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

We have eaten in Sabor several times and have always loved it. Its Mexican fusion done right. A sushi place has no appeal to me at all. Hopefully before we go in October, they will rethink their decision. Don't they also do sushi in Qsine ? Even Izumi or Silk Harvest would be better than just a sushi bar.

Hopefully they have the classes since one of my TA perks is "Cupcake decorating class for two".

They had them last week, so I would imagine so.

Anyone could just walk in and have breakfast on Freedom. They weren't checking cards at all last week.

You know, come to think of it, I never saw anyone checking gold cards on Liberty last week either. They never checked ours, even on the first day.

Looking at the current compass, the Chops breakfast charge is $15, not $5. Still not thrilled but hoping that that price will keep crowds away.

Are Diamond Plus doing breakfast in Giovanni's? I haven't thought of the D/D+ breakfast option in awhile - not sure if they even still have it.

Yes, I corrected that on the Chops Breakfast thread. I guess I need new glasses.

Thanks.:) Admittedly, I'll be part of that rumbling if this Suite perk is degraded by crowding.:o I think $15 pp should keep the crowding down though, as you said.

 

I'll be keeping an eye out for reviews of the Gold Card Breakfast experience and other Suite perks before I book my next Suite on GotS, though. If I feel like we're no longer getting our money's worth for the several thousand we pay for a GS, we'll just book a JS or below to use our Future Cruise Certificate, then move on to Celebrity for our Suite cruises.

I agree. I just finished my email to Michael Bayley. In 30 years of cruising, I have never written a letter or email to any cruise line. I really hope someone in his office will actually read it.

The current Liberty compass has the breakfast at $15. Hopefully, that will discourage most people. $30 for breakfast should do some crowd control.

Yes, I think I stated that it was $5 but apparently I wasn't wearing my glasses when I read that. I thought $5 sounded too low!

Just wanted to say Thank You for all the information and pictures you have provided.

You're quite welcome. We have done this itinerary many times on several ships, so finding out all this information and reporting back gave me something different to do. I hope those of you sailing soon will report back. I love sailing out of Galveston and I'm hoping all of Liberty's hiccups can be worked out soon. Debbie

Thank you - these are great. We are on the itinerary that is Rotan, Belize, Cozumel - but are sea days are the same...do folks think the specials, show days/times etc will be the same? Or would love to see the compasses from this week - which I think is the same as ours

I think they will be a lot alike. We did that itinerary Thanksgiving week on Liberty and it was just about the same. Debbie

Ice shows were Monday at 2:00 and 4:00 and Sat at 2:00 and 4:00

 

Saturday Night Fever was Tuesday at 5:45 and 8:15

Oops, I should have read one of those compasses that I sent out, lol.

Looks the Wave is working fine. Wonder why they think it's dangerous?

What you couldn't see is the speed they were going when they got to the bottom. These guys appeared to be the designers or constructors of the slide. When they came in, they would slam against the wall at the bottom.... hard. I guess the liability was just too great to open without doing a few modifications. One of the activities staff say they "hoped" to have it open this week. I hope someone will report back.

I tried emailing you at the address you provided and it is invalid. Can you please list it again? Thanks!

That's it. I have had about 15 requests for them and they all used that address. Make sure there are no spaces and use the @ sign.

Thanks for the pics. Looks like they are trying to use similar seating to the suite lounge on Oasis - I remember the purple couches. Did they have suite breakfast in Chops? That's Mr Wolf's favorite perk.

Yes, I still enjoy the breakfast there. The raspberry pancakes were very good. They have started something new. Apparently, for $5, any passenger can eat at Chops for breakfast, and I think maybe lunch. It includes a mimosa. I don't really know how many people took advantage of that.

We had MTD on deck 3 this cruise, and it was a mess. The tables were so tight together, that people could not get through. Our son is in a wheelchair and we stopped going into the dining room after night two, because we had to keep asking people to get up and move so we could get out. That is very embarrassing to my son, so I complained as did many others, and they finally moved tables out to make more room. Our server said that they might be changing MTD to another deck after our sailing, so you might get lucky and get deck 3 back? who knows.

I agree! They crammed so many tables so close together. On one night we felt like we were sitting at the waiters prep station. Another night, lobster night, we were served our main course quickly and then our waiter disappeared......for 35 minutes. He never came back at all. I finally had to get the attention of a maitre'd to get our table cleared and order dessert. the maitre'd said that he got stuck in the kitchen getting orders. I really feel sorry for those my time waiters, they give them too many tables to handle at a time.