Oscarsgrandad

I’ve just asked a similar question on the RSSC Facebook page….it seems that we UK cruisers only get a few sticky bag tags and nothing else.

similarly, international flights are usually economy only unless you book penthouse or above, it’s my understanding US passengers all get business class international flights….

We've had new boarding passes emailed to us and we've been moved up to deck 9 from deck 6 and had an upgrade from G2 to F1

2 hours ago, fizzy said:

Until an example is made to passengers regarding refusal to follow rules....no matter what they are.... by disembarkation or confinement, it appears that some will always do as they please with no consequences.  

I've not long since watched one of those U.S. cruise vloggers as he recalled the recent cruise he was on (Royal Caribbean...) where a newly embarked passenger was having a stand up argument with a member of staff refusing to wear a mask now he was on board, threatening the staff member and insisting there was nothing they could do about it if he refused -  he was told in no uncertain terms that failure to comply would result in him being put ashore - especially now as they hadn't left port yet!

The rules are plain enough, you have a choice comply or stay at home -- personally its a compromise I'm willing to make to get away for a break and the more whinging moaners that stay at home the better.....

Can’t see why anybody should feel out of place anywhere...a cruise is a cruise, some do cost more than others but that’s only a matter of money.

In some people’s cases you just have to remember that money doesn’t buy 'class' or good taste.

May have asked this before so apologies in advance......

my better half is giving me grief because our first trip with Regent is 16 nights and they advertise two formal nights....but I’ve read that the majority don’t do black tie / tux' and said I won’t need to lug mine across the Atlantic....

Am I right or will I need to book another case on the flight?

Regards 

Anxious from England!

Shoot me down in flames if you like......

Ships and boats are regarded as female because they're expensive to create, maintain, they're (hopefully) beautiful and men fall in love with them.

Choosing a god mother is merely a tradition, bit like old ships having a figurehead to protect them. I'm sure nothing would befall the ship if they didn’t have one but sailors can be superstitious and it’s just a bit of fun.......bit like crossing the equator, no big deal but tradition dictates a ceremony is held.

One not knowing who someone is only stops them from being a celebrity in your world. 

I know who Christie Brinkley is but don’t ask me to name 10 international sports personalities....I don’t know any but I wouldn’t put them down due to my ignorance.

My pleasure...(the reply not the MiL!)😇

I'm sure if you've a mind to, you'll enjoy the cruise. 

If you're into entertainment most of the Headliner shows are worth the 40 minutes out of your day - the average time of each performance. The Rising Sun gets busy in the evenings so if you're a pub goer , go early.

She's a nice ship,  I was pleasantly surprised - we could have made more of it but it was our 'care in the community' week so had the mother  law with us - we'd certainly consider another cruise on board (but without the MiL!)

Saw this and thought I'd add my opinions to maybe put your mind at ease.

Got off Arcadia on Sunday 26th., 

Yes the poor girl is looking tired, there were a few plumbing issues ( slow drinking off the  bath, one afternoon/evening we had only warm water, not hot in the shower but in fairness there was a team on board doing some work with pipe work.

there were also a few buckets in weird places due to an odd leak or two. We took a 'short cut'  past cabins on deck 8 from the stern forward to our cabin, we were barefoot and noticed damp patches in the carpet. At some points they had vacuums and blow driers going to help dry things out.

The issues above sound awful and my observations but actually made no real difference to the enjoyment of the cruise, we were blessed by the weather, the staff in general were lovely, helpful and relatively efficient. 

Food served was usually hot and sufficient for normal humans, although the names of some dishes sounded exotic they were bland but to be fair they're catering for the masses. Excellent curries are to be found in the buffet late on though.

our cabin as the most of the ship was immaculately clean, it was my first impression on our first day....yes there are some worn parts but everything was spotless. 

Linen, towels, carpet in our cabin were lovely....I even checked under the sheets and bed..out of curiosity of course and everything was spot on.

we've been fortunate to enjoy different ships and cruise lines and the only things that really let this cruise down in my opinion was 'Harmony'  a duet which weren't as good as they thought they were, the brass section of the ships orchestra and some of our fellow passengers - the usual 'snap of the fingers - I've been everywhere sort'

P.S. The average age of the passengers on this cruise was 65, this may make a difference to you if you're young (if only 'at heart') 

We're booked for the Miami to LA / San Diego sailing in 2020, our first time with Regent....And looking forward to see if the ship, the cruise line and the experience live up to the hype.

We're taking our first cruise with Regent and have signed up for the Miami to LA trip on Splendor in 2020.

There is also another economy led reason why these foods are on offer in buffets, they keep well for longer in Bain Marie's, as do the cheap, processed meat(?) hotdog sausages and burger patties that are so popular with so many American cruisers.

Pasta based dishes can also keep for a long time both hot or cold, served hot for one meal and if not consumed turned into a pasta salad...it's all about cost.

It's very much a cost led exercise when feeding a multi racial /cultural ships population be they passengers or crew, they're certainly never going to please all of the people all of the time.

Thankfully the cruise lines please most of the people, most of the time, the rest are often just going to complain whatever's dished up!

Five days is better than no cruise at all, it also depends on how much fun you can pack into the five days....you can always sleep when you get home!

Well here's the answer to the DJ question, your options are

if you've got one wear it (if it still fits)

if you haven't got one but you fancy wearing one buy one,

if you are not sure cruising is for you then don't buy one just take a jacket or at least a shirt, tie and trousers

None of the above then go to the buffet.

 

My question is, how many men have special shoes they only wear with their tux or DJ. You know those special shiny shoes?

Did look for patent leather to go with my tux but settled for a pair of black, highly polished Oxfords, took quite a few cruises to break them in.....

We did the upgrade from the 'free' drinks package in January in the Caribbean, certainly made it worth our while to do so as I drink more spirits that weren't included in the free package, my wife prefers the more expensive wines and I did try more cocktails this time round to boot.

On one occasion my wife wanted to try an even more expensive wine and they informed us we would have to pay only the difference between the included and non included wines.

(We shall upgrade again in a fortnight when we're aboard Vision.....oh yes!)

It worked out even better for us in January as then there was three of us on our account ( son in seperate cabin) but he got his upgrade free...

As regards the currency on board, if sailing in the Med, we tip individuals in Euros rather than US dollars (they can spend it on shore leave without having to exchange dollars for euros) but clear our ships account using our credit card in dollars and let the card company do the currency exchange, always better rates for us so far.

15 days......

We fly out two weeks tomorrow to Venice sailing on Vision for a weeks worth of R&R.

Probably won't be as warm as our January cruise on Adventure in the Caribbean but it'll still better than being at work!

Personally, after six in the evening for casual, I would be dressed in trousers (never denim) and a collared shirt, a full shoe ( as opposed to sandals) as a minimum if attending any meal indoors.

For smart casual trousers, a jacket or blazer, possibly with a tie.

Business casual would be a suit, formal is tuxedo or minimum dark two or three piece suit and tie.

We flew Norwegian to San Juan to go on our cruise in January. Some comments to help the flight be that little bit better.

It's certainly a lot more convenient than flying in the day before and staying overnight in a hotel then having to transfer or having to change planes. By the time we got to the ship it was early evening and we pretty much walked straight on.

The plane was comfortable and quiet compared to some of the older planes, the service is okay but very slow.

We had meals booked on the flight but it took more then two hours to get fed and until that was done there was no drink or snack service available. Fortunately we had picked up a meal deal from Boots at Gatwick Airport so had drinks, sandwiches and fruit to stem the cravings. The food served was okay, reasonably tasty and hot

Once the painfully slow meal service was finished they opened the refreshments service to those that wanted to order and pay by card ( no cash accepted on board) via the screen in front of you, each customer being served from the galley - not efficient.

On board duty free range is very limited if you're the sort that likes to shop at altitude.

We flew out of San Juan on the evening flight, unfortunately we were dropped off quite early in the day and we ended up hanging around the airport for the afternoon - be warned, there aren't a lot of places to sit or seats to sit upon. We have hard suitcases which we made into a bench seat / sofa after we found a quiet corner to read and people watch....

Would we do it again? Yep, probably doing it again next January, sure beats being at home in the cold.

Why not buy a roll of pallet wrap ( Like heavy duty cling film ) and waterproof the whole bag like they do on those machines at airports?

The cruise line, like the air lines won't refuse to load bags wrapped like that as they can still be X rayed.

Remember Madeline McCann who disappeared from a Portuguese hotel room? She was 3 and had younger siblings. Her parents left them alone asleep in bed and went out to dinner. Then and now I couldn't imagine parents having so little regard for their defenseless children.

Being on vacation doesn't excuse neglect.

 

 

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There are many people in the UK who think that the McCanns should have been prosecuted for wilful neglect, if they weren't doctors etc., they would have been.

As regards any situation where your child's safety is concerned, you are ultimately responsible.

That's the problem with the litigation culture that was nurtured mostly in the US, it's always someone else's fault, therefore we can make money from it.

Cash up front works wonders. Just ignore the comments from those that are waiting as you take your drink and walk away. :)

Have to agree with Paul65, Reckon you implied that you're happy to pay to get served first irrespective of anyone else waiting in front of you.

Please don't be misled by some of the posts on here, we did two Caribbean cruises fairly recently, one Dec'15 and again in Jan'16. Both with RCCL. We never tipped up front and the food and drinks service was excellent at all times, admittedly our cabin steward was a bit of slowpoke but hey we're on holiday.

Pool side there were plenty of lads and lassies taking orders so we never had to go to the bar unless we needed to stretch our legs!

Pool bar service was sometimes busy but we never needed to buy quicker service and generally used the short wait time to chat to fellow cruisers.

The schooner and R bar staff were always quick to serve in the evenings, once again, cash never changed hands but pleasantries did.

Noticing the servers name on their badge and using it works wonders to build up a rapport, speak to them first and they'll always remember you.

Cash up front works wonders. Just ignore the comments from those that are waiting as you take your drink and walk away. :)

Umm, like I said, cash up front and crass behaviour....do you barge into elevators too?

I reckon if you're on a drinks package you very rarely need to sign, the first couple of times we did but after that no. Plus we never needed to present all of our seapass cards to cover rounds of drinks for the three of us.

are you planning on carrying it yourself only or are you intending on checking it in a flight or with the luggage handlers at the cruise port?

If your intention is to carry it then most of them will do the job as you will take better care. If you're checking it in then just pack your suit into your suitcase.

If you go the carrier route make sure it has a detachable shoulder strap though, for short trips, weekend functions we carry suits and it's easier to shoulder carry, leaving your hands free.

We never carry cash on board either but we find that excellent service is usually achieved by being polite, engaging with our servers and treating them with respect. After the first encounter we normally find that we get noticed and served so quickly and efficiently sometimes we have to tell them that there were people ahead of us in the queue.

Both my wife and I had stints of working behind a bar in our younger days as second jobs when we had a young family to support. We have to agree that 'tipping' in advance is a little crass, bordering on offensive and isn't any guarantee of better service. We noticed that many of those waving cash used that as an excuse for a definite lack of 'please, thank you' and patience in general.

As for getting a 'better pour', we recently had the benefit of a 'free' premium drinks package and noticed how the staff tended to pour constantly whilst tipping the measure into our glass, rarely leaving any space for a mixer, we found it better to ask for less ice!