Driftwoodgal

Hi Colleen, we always book our first night dinner reservation (usually Portofino) before we cruise so that we can have our preferred time.

Kathy:)

Kathy,

We did book ours before the cruise. Had a horrible problem with them over charging us $60 to not giving us credit back on our bill. It was finally fixed by Rahul, the Diamond Concierge.

Lots of aft balconies open on the July 23, 2013 Radiance sailing. We snagged 9256.....9258 was still open a couple of days ago. Come join us.

Have you had any Pinchers lately?

First time we did this was on the Oasis. Prebooked for 4 and what a nightmare we had getting it straightened out. On the Navigator we waited and booked when we got onboard and it was so much easier.

We just expierenced our mini nightmare on the Freedom last month. We won't ever book a reservation ahead of time again. We will wait until we board.

Thank goodness for Rahul, the Diamond Concierge. If he hadn't helped straighten this out we might still be trying to get our credit back.

Maybe they do a weekly rotation. When we're were there, I did see the waiter from the DL working the pool deck during the day. However, he was the waiter every evening in the DL.

Yes, it is a weekly rotation. I visited with our waiter on our Freedom cruise about this.

I had the honor to sail the cruise with the OP. In my opinion, the CL had much better service (not nearly as crowded). Although the concierge in the DL was excellent, I believe the waiter service fell flat. Be it known, this was just my experience. Many loved the waiter.

 

Host Dan

It is my understanding that the waiters rotate in and out of the DL. They work a regular bar and then rotate into the DL. Ours was very good on our May 6 sailing.

.....and now for the flip-side of being a Diamond member on the Enchantment. A portion of the Viking Crown is blocked off for Diamond and above. The few nights I stopped by I noticed NO FOOD at all and the "drinks" were on a single portable cart. Very few guests attended and most of the room was empty. The CL is on the 8th floor......but I was denied access as I'm not D+ or above and was not in a suite. In short......I saw really no benefits for being a Diamond member on the Enchantment. Kind of annoys me that I've sailed RCI like 15-17 times.....never in anything less than a balcony cabin BUT someone in a suite for their 1st cruise can use the CL. I know what RCI's "policy" is.......I just don't agree with it. I'm on the Freedom in Sept in a mini-suite......hopefully by then the "policy" won't change to D+ to use the DL. LOL.

Until you hit the magic Diamond Plus number sail on ships that have a Diamond Lounge. You will have all the perks of a suite without being in a suite. We had the CL lounge yanked from us right after we turned Diamond. Thankfully we sail on longer cruises so when they went to the point system we actually benifited. Our 11 night cruises counted more than the one 3 night cruise we have taken.

This was our 4th or 5th time having Rahul as our DL Concierge and he was fabulous. Helped with reservations. Managed a very large group of Diamonds (had an overflow area just outside the door in the Viking Crown Area). Did not get any WOW cards or we would have deisgtnated him as our WOW employee.

Sherri,

He got a WOW card from us. :D

Has Rahul been in charge of the DL for awhile? Did someone mention he will be leaving in a few weeks?

When I talked to him he mentioned that he had just gotten back from vacation. He indicated that his plans were to stay on the Freedom since he enjoys the ship. Don't know about the switch to the CL, but that topic didn't come up. I loved his nightly calls to the cabin giving you an update on the next sea day.

We loved the Diamond Lounge on our recent sailing. Loved Rahul too! He does run a tight ship. He did check to make sure the people in the DL were supposed to be. You had to be Diamond and above to get into the lounge.

Great pictures of the lounge, thanks for sharing.

FYI we had ice show tickets booked and they changed them after we were on board. Thanks to someone on oujr Meet and Mingle group we found out about the changes. I would suggest booking all of your shows in advance. Our May sailing had very few empty seats. The entertainment on the ship was very, very good.

Patti,

Thanks for the time you take in posting lists for future cruisers.

Curious if you booked your Chops reservation before you cruised.

How did you get the WOW Card?

Sherri,

Hope it is ok to answer where we got ours.

We obtained our WOW cards at the check in area before we boarded the ship. We were the first to check in and board the ship. The stacks of cards were on the right hand side of the window where we checked in for the priority boarding at the dock.

We were on the same cruise and we loved Rahul and even gave hime a wow card. He made us reservations for dinner, saw us in Grand Cayman and made sure we got to the Diamond line for the tender which saved us a ton of time, and got us out boarding passes for our flight home. He was always willing to help us and answer questions for us. We went to the lounge every night and as soon as Roger was tied up with other guests he would serve drinks to antone that was waiting. Overall we thought he was great!

Funny, he got a wow card from us too! The mess with the Chops reservation was a nightmare from the time I booked it two months out from the cruise to the last bite in Chops. The St John tour had some real safety issues that Rahul addressed to Explorations. We were in the lounge every evening. He did the same thing, he was right there anytime the bartender was tied up. He also made sure to open up the area outside the Diamond Lounge when it was to full.

What are people's feelings on Rahul? We had him last week on Freedom and it seemed like he didn't give anybody the time of day. He was on his phone or stayed at his computer half the nights we went. We really missed Amit!

He was great on our May 6 cruise. Got a call from him each evening on our phone telling us about the ports of call, tenders etc each evening. Took care of a BOGO problem at Chops for us. This was after attempts to get it corrected at Guest Relations as well as Chops. We had a problem with a tour in St Johns, he emailed Explorations for us. I have a call on my phone that I need to return to RCI regarding the tour. Booked excrusions for us in CocoCay and was johnny on the spot when we were in the DL needing a drink. There were over 300 Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle cruisers on our sailing. He did a great job for us, sorry you had a problem.

If you keep the middle aft 9260 you willl have a better view of the port and starboard. If it is raining you will not have as much protection in 8168 as 9260. You will only have one neighbor in 8168. The balcony really narrows as it wraps around.

I am a real happy camper in any aft cabin. It is 113 steps from the Centrum to 9256 on the Radiance. Didn't count them on the Serenade, but would think it is the same.

First let me post that it is VERY important that you get your "next cruise" certificates in to the LA at the very beginning of the cruise. We were on a B2B cruise and really weren't worried about booking. The second cruise was so busy you couldn't get into see the LA. She did not put out her time sheets for future days so when you arrived it was a toss up if she would have a time slot. She gave us forms to fill out on the first cruise, and told us to be sure that we did not leave the forms on her desk. We should fill them out and hand them to her when she was there. Unfortunately she wasn't at the desk, the International Ambassador was there instead so we handed it to him. On Saturday we went with friends at their appointment time and brought up that we had already turned certificates in and not received documents. On the last night I didn't sleep worrying about the certificates (letters) I had booked four of them and managed to get one of them during the appointment. When we got up the next morning the certificates were outside on the cabin number.

For those that are not wanting to use the same TA you can sign a form when you are on the ship transfering your bookings back to RCI. The first time we booked on board the LA put down a TA that we had used on our first cruise. That TA was an online company and a nightmare. I told the LA that I wanted the TA company off my information. I signed a form that removed the online company and have booked my cruises directly since. You don't have to get home and transfer your booking from the TA to RCI, you should be able to do this on board the ship.

Good morning Patti:

 

Unfortunately NextCruise reservations can only be used for Royal Caribbean and not Celebrity.

 

Since the program has been a huge success some of the ships have run out of the confirmation letters and started giving out a booking recap. I apologize for any inconvenience that has caused anyone but we are very excited about the program and its popularity.

Regards,

 

Aaron Laufer

Supervisor

Loyalty Service Center

Trade Support & Services

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

316-554-5759

Alaufer@rccl.com

 

Not understanding why they would have a problem with forms. They have a printing department that does the Compass every day, and copy machine. :rolleyes:

Patti,

Thanks for the information, I was hoping that it would be the same as the previous way of just changing the cruise, but keeping the booking number.

The hurricanes didn't happen, so we could have gone on the cruise :( Saying that we had to put on a brand new metal roof on the house to the tune of 12K. There went four cruises :rolleyes: Oh well at least I don't have buckets in my house anymore.

I heard that everyone had a great cruise. Looking forward to meeting up with Bev and Julie in January on the Voyager.

Heah, do you know when the Alaska bookings open up for 2009? I want to book the 14 day Alaska cruise for May of that year.

Patti,

Thanks for posting your letter from RCI. I think I understand the process, but have one question. At the present time I have a booking that I had on board the Brilliance in Jan 2007. I changed my booking to the Polar Bear cruise and had to cancel that and change it to a May 2009 Alaska cruise. They transferred my OBC to my new cruise as I kept the original booking number.

Do you know if you book your New Cruise, then book pick your date, and have to cancel that cruise for some reason and book a later one, will they still give you credit for the deposit and keep the OBC if you keep the same booking number? Not sure if you are following me, but I am just wondering if it works the same way as it has in the past. Keep your booking number and your deposit and OBC follow you.

Originally posted by TJ]

 

Becky has a cracked rib and is still on the ship and is getting better.

 

Glad to hear that the little dynamo is being held back by a rib. Saying that I know how painful it can be. Here's hoping that Becky comes back with the same delightful personality that she showed us on the Brilliance.

Becky if you are reading this, I still have pictures of you climbing the rock wall. Thanks for being such a great CD you helped make our cruise on the Brilliance 2006 Panama Cruise special. Royal Caribbean needs to take care of you as you are a great asset to the company. Get well soon.

If your ship hasn't had the upgrade on the bedding call C & A and ask for an egg crate for your bed. You can also go to Guest Relations and ask them when you first get on the ship. This sure can save your back if you have sleeping problems.

We went in the later part of January and had no trouble with bugs at any of our ports of call. I was worried about bugs as well, and even bought packets of bug wipes while on the cruise, never needed them.

I can't remember what color shirt I wore the day that we ziplined, and I don't remember that the cables had a bunch of grease on them. You have to use your hand, which is gloved to brake, I don't remember grease on the glove either. I wouldn't wear my best shirt or shorts.

Any type of shorts will be just fine. I think I was in a pair of blue jean shorts when we ziplined. I will be taking more windshorts on our next cruise just because of the weight factor in my suitcase. There are nice bathrooms at Almonds and Corals, so you could take an extra pair if you are worried about it, and change after you zipline.

The magnetic signs worked for us on the Splendour of the Seas. One of our members from our Meet and Mingle Gang made all of us one. It was so nice to have it on the door, it sure made it easy to find our cabin.

Joannanna,

The cabin catagory for 7038 is an E1 in my brochure on the Brilliance.

To the OP,

When looking at the brochure that I have I would take the 7550 over the other cabins if that is the ones that you are choosing from. I have read that the E3 cabins do have to look at the lifeboats below them. If I had to chose between an inside cabin and looking at a lifeboat cover.......... I vote for the balcony.... if the cover bothers you don't look down. After our first balcony cabin we have chosen not to go back inside....... OK, OK, OK..... you guys warned me. My new mantra is don't get a suite.....if RCI upgrades me.......well I am in trouble. Are you reading this RCI?

I don't know how much this will help you out as it is second hand knowledge. On our cruise in Feb 04 we did the zipline, but girls at our table took the ships whitewater rafting and had a wonderful time. They were not expierenced at all and had the time of their life. I think I recall that they said that the rapids were a class three level. I am not sure what the levels are.... but I know they had a good time.... and both got sunburns.

We booked our tour to the zipline through a local. I try to book outside the ship when possible to get more for your dollar.

Hope you have a great cruise.

Family of 14,

Do you have any finger nails left with all that is going on? Good thing you just got back from a vacation.

Laura,

Thank you for such a wonderful board. It helped me tremendously on our last cruise. I made such wonderful new friends because of this site and had incredible independent tours because I was able to do research here on this board. Nothing like asking for some ones opinion on a tour.

If everyone dropped their graphics, except for their name logo, would that make a difference? I have dial up service... yuck .. lucky I have that since I am in the country, pictures really slow loading for me. I am not a computer person so I really have no clue what slows things down and what allows a quick transfer. It seems like when I am looking at a thread with alot of graphics it is slower than if the page has only text material.

Thank you for your hard work... even with the problems that the board has had recently I am still typing www.cruisecritic.com every chance I get.

Colleen

God bless you and yours.