danv3

Cuba sailings on Majesty do have formal nights, so that might be where some of the confusion comes from.

RC calls the evening dress for the MDR "suggested".

That’s the root cause of all of these threads.

I don’t care what the rules are. I just wish there were some actual rules and that they were enforced.

So feel free to dress however you feel comfortable

Why won’t RCI just say this? All of the guest angst over attire is because RCI’s policies are unclear and then inconsistently enforced (if at all).

Too bad hand sanitizers are ineffective (or at least insufficiency effective) against the main thing one would generally be concerned about on a cruise ship (norovirus).

Interesting...some have said the 4 nighter"s didn't have a formal night :confused:

Empress and Mariner don’t. All others do (for now) even on short cruises.

Lol- just realized I worded my post a little wrong... was wondering if there were EXTRA activities, like games/trivia/etc while in port, like on sea days :)

There will be some, but I’d say fewer of those sorts of activities on a port day.

I’d still stay on board rather than get off in Nassau though.

Are there any places near the port to buy magnets and small stuff? We're thinking of taking a tour that has no shopping in the itinerary, but want to buy some trinkets.

There are a few small shops right off the Plaza de San Francisco which is just off the ship. Selection is limited.

As dress code threads go, this one is fairly pleasant and respectful.

I really hate these debates. Someone is right and someone is wrong. My understanding of the definition of the word suggestion is that it is not something that can be enforced? So is it a suggestion or is it a rule (which can be enforced)? I don't see how anyone can say it is a suggestion that is rarely enforced--it can never be enforced if it is just a suggestion. It seems to me if I read the link from two posts above these are only suggestions and the only rules (per the bottom of that link)are no tank tops and no barefeet.

These debates are entirely because of RCI’s consistent inconsistency. We’d all be much better off if they either (1) abandoned formal night altogether and went with “anything goes,” or (2) established a set of actual rules and enforced them.

The current practice of “vague suggestions that are generally not enforced but sometimes randomly might be” is pretty silly and creates unnecessary guest stress. I mean, there are literally multiple dress code threads every day on this board and none of them can be answered better than “you’ll probably be fine, unless someone on this ship decides to enforce the suggestions”

Great pics and info..very helpful as we plan for next summer!

Seems to have worked. Saved $290 in cruise fare for the loss of $100 in OBC. Waiting on confirmation e-mail now.

I was under the impression that repricing was technically a cancel and rebook. Never actually done it before!

In any event, on the phone with my TA now. To top it off, today is final payment day...so we'll see what happens.

Potentially saving $300 in same category or even $100 if I move up a category.

Thanks to all for the responses.

If I rebook the same ship/sailing/stateroom to catch a price drop, do I lose all my excursions already purchased and then have to rebook them as well? Got a chance to get a significant price drop. :D

It definitely needs a better name. “Dress your best” makes it more confusing than the current system.

no formal nights on short cruise.

Definitely not true on all ships at present.

I was on a Majesty four-night a week ago and we had a formal night. Attire ranged from shorts to tuxedos, and to be honest most people seemed to have made a little bit of effort to dress up. (I.e., the dress slacks and collared shirts that pass as “formal” in 2018).

It is now called "Dress your best" on Mariner.

“Dress your best” seems like a pretty silly/confusing name for what is supposed to be a relaxation of non-enforced suggestions. For example, I normally wear a suit on formal night. But that’s not dressing my best...my best would be a tux. So on Mariner it sounds like they’re telling me to dress more formally, not less. I know that’s not what they mean, but that’s why the label they’ve applied is dumb.

Doing a very similar itinerary on Serenade next summer, so I’m looking forward to this thread.

Can you share where you’re staying in Stockholm pre-cruise (and what if anything you’re doing there before embarkation)?

Just did this yesterday to re-book internet at a lower price. Got back OBC and promptly turned around and spent it. Saved $10.

Very easy to convert Euros to CUC and then CUC back to USD at the end of the day. They will not even bat an eye.

I’ll be cruising to Havana in a few weeks. I will be exchanging my American dollars for Cucs. We are not big spenders and have no plans to eat in Havana. Would you be able to give a ball park figure as to how much cash we should plan on exchanging for 4 adults? We will be doing a walking tour so we will make sure to include money for tipping.

Not much. Maybe get 25 CUC per person if you’re not planning to eat. There aren’t a whole lot of souvenirs to be had and they’re all pretty cheap unless you want expensive cigars, rum, or higher end artwork.

If you give your guide a 20 CUC tip he’ll be very excited as I think that’s nearly a month’s salary.

I was on this sailing as well. I may chime in with a few comments of my own.

My impression of the Majesty was that she was in great shape for her age, but felt surprisingly crowded for a ship with fewer people on it than almost any other RCL ship. We didn’t have a balcony and found it kind of hard to find places to sit (that weren’t in the sun or in a smoking area). I know, first world problems.

Anyway, Cuba was great but RCL definitely over-worries you on the visa issue. Cuban authorities literally did not even glance at mine. It could have had errors, been blank, had a fake name, etc. and she’d never have known. YMMV, but I wouldn’t stress. Just fill it out and hand it in.

So I boarded Majesty today and was surprised to see a fixed dining time and table assignment on my seapass card. Surprised because I have MTD and made reservations for each night of the cruise five months ago.

So I go to speak to the woman at he MDR this afternoon and she basically responds, “sorry, MTD is full, you have regular dining. Talk to a manager if you want to.” So I do, showing him the email I have from RCI confirming my MTD reservations. He proceeds to take out his phone and snap pictures of my confirmation email (!?!) presumably to report up the chain. I think he was genuinely pretty surprised.

Anyway, his solution was to take a sharpie, mark through my fixed dining assignment on my seapass card and write “MTD” instead. :confused: He then said to just show up at 6:00 and they’d seat me.

I guess I should just be glad that only my dining reservations were lost and not my room reservation!

I was on the 4 night to Cuba a week ago. "Formal" night was day 2. When I say formal it's all over the place. I have to say the younger passengers (20's -30's) were better dressed. Saw some men with suits or sport coats but mostly collared shirts with nice slacks or Dockers.. Also saw some middle aged men with shorts, tees shirts and baseball caps (worn throughout the meal). Women were generally all dressed better, some cocktail dress and also just nice pants and tops. My favorite was the older gentleman I saw everyday in his 'cruising my life away" tee shirt. Wore that to dinner as well, formal night included. His packing must have been pretty easy. Anyway just info.

Thanks; this is exactly the kind of eyewitness report from a four night I was seeking. I sail tomorrow!

The thunderstorm probably closed the airport and limited visibility under the Skyway. Sounds like they left after the storm passed.

I guess that’s as likely as anything, though that storm came in several hours after the ship should have left. It was sunny until ~6:00.

Appears to be departing now...