Llmtax2000

We are traveling in a grand loft suite in April. We will be in 1701. Are both of them noisy? This will be our second Star class experience. We have Philip as our genie? Anyone have him before?

We are on our last day with Philip as our genie on Allure, and I can say unequivocally that you will be lucky to have him as your genie. Philip had even created a proposed schedule of dinners and shows for us before we even boarded. When we wanted to move some things around — no problem! He anticipated everything we could want and then some.

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Should all work just fine. I accessed Netflix and Amazon video on our last trip on Allure.

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I did search and found that RCI says kids 13-15 can use the fitness center at certain times and with the parent supervising. I was just wondering if anyone ever did this and to see if there were any problems with it. My son is a competitive swimmer and just made some regional competitions (big deal for a kid doing this less than 2 years! Proud Mom!!), and the competition is the weekend after we get back from our vacation. We'll be in Indy for the 8 night European cruise. I told him the days we're in port, he'll be getting in a lot of walking, so that will be good. But he was hoping for the days we're at sea, he could go to the fitness center and use some of the weights or a rowing machine, if they had one. I have no problem staying with him to supervise, and it would be during the day most likely. He's been doing to the fitness center at the hotels we stay at during the last year, he's always been respectful to anyone else and the equipment. I understand the need for age restrictions, but just wanted to see if anyone else had done this. When we're here at home, he's swimming 15 hours/week and 4 hours of dryland training with his coach, so he'll be missing a lot!

Just chiming in to say my DD was a competitive gymnast, so she worked out regularly onboard from age 13 . We did try to go when it would likely be less busy, and I was with her at all times. No one ever questioned us.

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We have been on Oasis two previous times, but on Sept 3rd will be our first time in a suite. When should be expect to hear from concierge prior to the departure. Also, I read up on the Sky Class and I was curious if I have to book my dinner in advance or they will be ok to book after we are on board. Lastly, how do we go about booking the behind the scenes tours? Is there anything else that I am missing?

 

Thank you,

 

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The concierge has always been able to get reservations for us once we're on board.

We've always been a party of two or four, though, so I'm not sure if it works for bigger parties (in case you are).

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We loved Tallin on our Baltic cruise! We ended up much preferring Tallin to St. Petersburg. Tallin just felt more genuine, and St. Petersburg felt like Epcot Russia.

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Just call tomorrow and they'll adjust the price back down. It's happened to me before -- I pay the deposit, then next day go in to pay and the price has jumped. I just call and they fix it.

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Just piling on that we've used the labadee cabanas several times and really enjoy them. It's just nice to have a place to hang out. All that being said, with last year's price increase we may pass next time. It was a no brainer even at $250 -- but more than that is just a lot of $$ for what usually turns out to be about four hours on the beach.

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Can you handle your own bags and express off? We've been off the ship and in our car driving home by 7:30 when we expressed off the ship.

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Just adding that my DD made Diamond on her own at 14. [emoji1][emoji1]. We're a ways away from D+, though, and starting to burn out a bit on RCI. It seems like the food service has declined sharply the past few cruises, and there's more "nickel and dime" expenses each trip. [emoji51][emoji51][emoji51].

We've been thinking about jumping to Celebrity.

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I know it can be pricy, but I pay for the internet package primarily so that my DD and I can text each other while we're traveling. We've taken many cruises together, and she earned additional freedoms as she aged and as we became more experienced with the ships. Now that she's 15, we typically just have periodic check-ins during the day and evening -- and a curfew. And we always review general safety tips before we board (no visits to others' cabins, etc). And I insist on meeting her new " running buddies" at least once.

But the ability to text back and forth has given me a LOT of comfort through the years.

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Thanks for the quick responses, all. We had a bad experience with a Princess cruise with no other children on board, so we're likely a bit overly concerned.

My DD doesn't use the flowrider or rock climbing wall (thank goodness!), so a cruise with other teens who just want to talk to each other and see shows should be perfect.

FWIW, we're diamond on RCI, but the service has dropped precipitously on our recent trips-- even though we always book a suite. We're hopeful we'll have a better experience in a Celebrity suite. :-)

We are likely looking at a seven-night eastern Caribbean.

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My 15-YO DD and I are frequent cruisers. We've done quite a few RCI cruises in recent years, so we're thinking of trying Celebrity. However, I'm concerned my DD won't find a group of teenagers with whom she can "hang out" while on board.

Does anyone have insight regarding the numbers of teens typically on board a spring break cruise to the Caribbean on Celebrity?

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Well I have to admit, I purchased the VOOM Surf and Stream package and it was utterly terrible by my expectations... Regardless of where I was on the Navigator (which I am on until May 30th) the signal kept dropping out and when it did lock on so to speak the download speed never breached 0.5Mbps

app

I wish I had read this post before we jumped on a 12-night cruise on Navigator on June 25th. Having been on Allure and Oasis, I assumed that "VOOM" would be on par on Navigator. Boy, was I wrong! It was awful, awful, awful. There was barely capacity to "surf," and much less to "stream."

BUYER BEWARE!

My wife will be happy to hear about this. Self serve in the Windjammer huh?

 

 

 

She and one of our daughters will have the pop package, so this will be a very convenient way to get pop while hanging out on the pool deck.

 

 

 

Dan

Love that reference to "pop" -- takes me back to my growing-up years in Minnesota. Down in Texas, everything is "coke." it just sometimes comes flavored as Pepsi or DP!

Just piling on to say that we've had a CLS on Oasis once and now we've had CLS twice on Allure. Both L1s. We love, love them. The added proximity of the suite lounge made this last trip even better.

I'm not one to rant -- but I don't think I've ever had worse dining service on a cruise. My traveling companions and I were MTD this trip (3/6/16 departure) but spent five nights in American Icon with the same waiter. The water glasses were left empty for extended periods of time, I had to ask for my card to be returned more than once, food was delivered incorrectly (eg, "no croutons" asked every time, salad first delivered with croutons every time), food delivered to the wrong person, menus delivered in the wrong language. And after each (incorrect) delivery, he would disappear for 15 minutes, so we had to wait to ask for the correct item/order. Those are just a few of the issues. I've never not given extra tip to the waiter at the end of a trip, but I couldn't bring myself to do that for such bad service. It was like he wasn't even trying.

Please, no flames that I should have asked for a different waiter. I'm an eternal optimist, and kept thinking it would get better. I can't wait for that survey to arrive ....

I can say on our trip not all seats were taken at all on any show we went to in the "suite only" sections. For the Ice show it is the rows are the first two down on the left side walking in. Depending of course on how many are wanting to watch the show when you decide to go I think the possibilities of sitting together are just fine. :)

We've managed well with "mixed" parties by having the non-suite guests arrive 15 minutes before showtime, right before the concierge/suite section opens up. A lot of folks have figured this out, so there does seem to be a general rush into the section 10 minutes before each show. That being said, we've never had problems getting to sit together.

That's the one thing I wish the new RCI ship's would have incorporated..The one and only time I've cruised PCL I was impressed with the laundry area and wish I would have had some to do ;):D

Ditto -- I really miss the laundry rooms (and pizza) found on Princess!

Thanks for the responses! I know I'm being a worry-wart, it's just our first cruise as diamond status -- I just want to see the words. [emoji1][emoji1]

The cabanas on Barefoot Beach are only available through the concierge. I've had good luck emailing the concierge a few weeks out to ask for one. Be forewarned -- the prices has risen steeply in the past few months. What was a $275 OTW cabana is now $495.

So I shared a few weeks ago that my luggage tags for my March 6th trip indicated emerald status, even though I'm diamond status. This past week, I discovered that my cruise "documents" show me as emerald status. Before you ask, know that I made diamond status last August, and didn't book this upcoming trip until December.

I called the C&A line, and the customer rep said she would re-update the reservation and she would contact the ship directly to be sure I checked in diamond status ( since our cruise is in three days).

Now my question -- my Set Sail pass shows my name and shows L1 in a small square (crown loft suite). It also shows a letter D in a small square. Does that mean the reservation has picked up diamond status? I've been trying to find an old set sail pass from a prior trip to see if it had a letter E in a small square, but I don't have one.

Any opinions?

We'll be on it with you -- see you there!

Ditto on the universal remote -- worked great for us!

This reminds me of our video workaround -- we bring movies preloaded on an iPod and the tricolor cords to attach to the back of the tv. When we discovered RCI disabled the "source" function on the remotes, we started bringing our own universal remote. A lot of trouble, you say! Not if you have a picky child who will insist on seeing certain movies over and over.