RCI secrets they don't tell you

[Emmee D]

So many wonderful tips in this thread! We're leaving on EOS next week and I know I'll be using a bunch of them.

 

The one that I can offer (sorry if this has been covered already) is that if you're particular about your shampoo/conditioner or if you need to use a specific brand/type for whatever reason, bring your own. The showers have a dispenser of an all in one shampoo/conditioner/body wash and it wreaked absolute havoc on my hair on our first cruise. I was able to buy a bottle of conditioner in one of the ports that did the trick, and now I always pack a bottle of my own.

 

What they supply in the showers isn't bad.. I used it as shampoo and body wash, but needed a more intense conditioner. my hair is thick, coarse and wavy and goes from "looking good" to "bird's nest" if I don't use a serious conditioner, especially out in the sun & in & out of salt water all during the cruise.

[zap99]

A secret that every one knew but me was the answer to the question " why is the Lift ( elevator, I'm a brit you see ) called Saturday ". Come about Tuesday I realised how stupid I really was.:)

[cruisingbooboo]

A secret that every one knew but me was the answer to the question " why is the Lift ( elevator, I'm a brit you see ) called Saturday ". Come about Tuesday I realised how stupid I really was.:)

Hahahahahahah thanks, I needed that!

[marquisite]

A secret that every one knew but me was the answer to the question " why is the Lift ( elevator, I'm a brit you see ) called Saturday ". Come about Tuesday I realised how stupid I really was.:)

 

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought each elevator was named after a different day :o:o. I cottoned onto the real reason on the 3rd day when we caught the same elevator.

 

Hey, it was the Radiance with the hard floor and not a simple rug, give me some slack :D!

 

I guess that is the difference between "cruising newbie" and "veteran cruiser" ? ;)

[dread_pirate]

A secret that every one knew but me was the answer to the question " why is the Lift ( elevator, I'm a brit you see ) called Saturday ". Come about Tuesday I realised how stupid I really was.:)

OK, I'm the newbie - splain, please!

[Brigbound]

OK, I'm the newbie - splain, please!

 

No problem. Some ships have inset tiles on the elevator floor that display the day of the week. It helps one to keep track of days without consulting a phone/calendar/watch etc....

[fishtaco]

OK, I'm the newbie - splain, please!

 

Each day they change the mat in the lift and each mat has the day of the week imprinted in, so if you get the lift on Monday the mat says Monday,lf you get the lift Wednesday the mat says wednesday:)

Edited March 1, 2013 by fishtaco

[Cru1s1ng2009]

OK, I'm the newbie - splain, please!

i have never heard this either??:confused:

[temple1]

Somehow I surived reading all pages. Excellant tips! I took down quite a few for my upcoming cruise. Thank you to everyone for contributing. I will be sure to pay it forward.

 

You are a tougher woman than I am! I only skimmed the last couple of pages. :o

 

My greatest discovery on IOS last month were the lounge areas between the elevators areas on many of the floors. A nice place to sit and wait for your traveling companions to catch up to you.

[SuitCaseBears]

Love our mini white noise machine!!!

 

I have a white noise app on my Adroid phone (I'm sure iPhones have them too) so we don't have to carry a separate piece of equipment with us. It has choices of various sounds it can make and you can set the volume and even how long it will play.

[cruiselife4me]

Thanks for the info. I've cruised many times but I love learning new "secret" information!!

[JasonTehGreat]

I have seen a few posts here about booking private shore excursions. I think that is a great idea. My only suggestion is to book one close to arrival in the port so that it will end with plenty of time remaining to get back to the ship before it departs.

 

My cousin and I were on a cruise in 2008 with a stop in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We booked a Dunns River Falls tour through RCI. They had 2 tour guides; one for the bus ride to the river (well over an hour each way) and one to actually guide us to the foot of the river and all of the way up the waterfall.

 

Our river guide decided to take us to the foot of the river and leave us! He disappeared and left the whole group at the bottom of the river. It took us about 1.5 hours longer to make it up the waterfall than it should have.

 

When we finally got to the top of the waterfall and found our bus guide I thought she was going to have a stroke! They had no idea what happened to us, they couldn't get ahold of the river guide. It was a mess. Needless to say it took us a while to get back to the ship. We made it back to the ship about 1.5 hours AFTER the ship was due to leave port.

 

We were fortunate enough to have the "running of the drunks" cheer squad (our table mates in the MDR included) rooting, screaming and cheering us as we made it back on the ship.

 

So from then on I will only ever book "official" excursions if they are scheduled to end close to departure time.

 

Also, you may be very happy to know that RCI passed notes under all of our doors that night asking us to come to Guest Services to fill out an "incident" form about what happened on the excursion. We all received full refunds for the excursion and I think like $25 on board credit or a drink or something.

Edited March 26, 2013 by JasonTehGreat

[knittinggirl]

Wow! We had Dunn river falls around the same time. And they did pretty much the same thing. We were dropped off at the falls too and we split off from the in the water group and had a nice walk next to the falls. Since we were not with the in the water grip group,we walked back to the bus at the regular meeting time. Made the mistake of walking through the craft market and got visited by the gift givers that wanted tips for their cheap guy it's. We were made late by the shoppers. They stopped at too many shops on the way back for 15 going on 45 minutes and the pulled the gang plank up behind us. Our five hour trip stretched to nine hours with no lunch because we had bought the excursion the yield that hadn't included in. No remuneration from RCI. These days we never leave the ship in Jamaica except to buy coffee in the port village.

Rci excursions will refund you if they're canceled, not sure it's the same for private toys.

Sent from my KFJWA using Tapatalk HD

Edited March 29, 2013 by knittinggirl

[SueBabe]

RJ, download "Ship Mate". Pick your cruise before you leave home. When you go into "airplane mode" on board you can use the deck plan feature. It's a great app. We've used it the last 2 years.

 

When I search for "Ship Mate", several app choices appear. Would you mind posting a picture of your app please? I think it's the one that is $1.99 that shows Cruise Ship Mate-Carnival, Royal Carribean...... is that the one you are using?

 

Thanks, Sue

[DaNana]

When I search for "Ship Mate", several app choices appear. Would you mind posting a picture of your app please? I think it's the one that is $1.99 that shows Cruise Ship Mate-Carnival, Royal Carribean...... is that the one you are using?

 

Thanks, Sue

 

It is the Royal Caribbean app that has this and it was free.

[SueBabe]

It is the Royal Caribbean app that has this and it was free.

 

I did find only one RC official app, but it only has a one star rating with bad reviews. I have an iPhone 4S and wanted to use the app primarily for the deck plans. FYI, if you posted a picture, it wasn't there.

[sotong]

The free Ship Mate app only has a few ships on, the 1.99 version has all of the RCI ones.

I downloaded it yesterday in the UK and the deck plans are good.

The RCI one is more about promoting shops hence the poor rating!

Gillian

[theallens55]

Check the floor of the elevator as they change a plate as the days go by, Monday to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday etc. Take a picture of it each day so it helps u organize pictures later. Also there is something a out different colored carpet on port and aft? Please help on this one CC'ers...

Somone told me to take a photo of your cruise compass each night to help identify your photos

[CruiseDude_83]

RJ, download "Ship Mate". Pick your cruise before you leave home. When you go into "airplane mode" on board you can use the deck plan feature. It's a great app. We've used it the last 2 years.

 

With the RCCL iPhone App you just have to view all the deck plans while you have an internet connection...before you put it in air plain mode. Once it has loaded the plans they store in the app. I used this app on Allure of the Seas last September and never had an issue when I loaded each plan before boarding the ship. I could only open the deck plans on board in air plane mode if I had opened them before with an internet connection.

[Royals Carol]

But if I'm sitting at the table while my husband gets his food which should only take a few minutes...it's not being "not used". It's not like leaving my towel on a chair for 2 hours, I'm sitting at the table.

 

My husband and I usually have carry on bags so prior to getting our food, we do find a table and one of us will sit with all of our carry on luggage while the other one gets their food. It has nothing to do with being greedy with the table, etc. It has everything to do with not wanting to continue bumping into someone unintentionally with our carry on luggage, slung over our shoulder. This is not like throwing a towel on a chair to save a place in front of the pool. I don't think it has anything to do with cultural differences either. I just think it is more polite not have bulky items over my shoulder while trying to get my food....nothing more, nothing less...

[leo1591]

Hello Everyone

Is it better to book the shore excursion with RCI or find another source regarding the cruise to Rome/Spain etc.

[subtchr]

I have not yet cruised to Europe, but in general we avoid ship-sponsored excursions, both to save money and, more importantly, to have a more personalized, small-group experience.

 

Your best sources for information are the port boards on Cruise Critic, and your roll call, to find other people on your cruise who might want to share excursions.

 

I see you are new to the boards - if you need help finding the port boards or your roll call, let us know what ship, date, and ports, and we'll be happy to help!

[xcell]

Not sure if booking is considered a RCI secret but...

 

If booking a family (like mine) - we book 2 rooms, connecting with 3 in each with one typically a senior so we can get balcony discount, and senior discount if applicable. As well, it is sometimes easier to find a 3 - 3 vs a 4 -2 room booking configuration.

[cruzincurt]

My husband and I usually have carry on bags so prior to getting our food, we do find a table and one of us will sit with all of our carry on luggage while the other one gets their food. It has nothing to do with being greedy with the table, etc. It has everything to do with not wanting to continue bumping into someone unintentionally with our carry on luggage, slung over our shoulder. This is not like throwing a towel on a chair to save a place in front of the pool. I don't think it has anything to do with cultural differences either. I just think it is more polite not have bulky items over my shoulder while trying to get my food....nothing more, nothing less...

We do the same to be efficient. If we are sitting at a 4 top and people wander by with food in their hands we invite them to sit down. Likewise, if the place is full and there is a 2 sitting at a 6 top, we will plop ourselves down after asking if someone is sitting there.

[dolfansam]

I love the open air eating area's, arn't they a fantastic place to start your day, breakfast, hot coffee and the freshest air you can get, doesn't get any better. I wonder if we asked if they would put small lights out on the tables for evening dining, wouldn't that be great!!

 

When I was on a cruise to Alaska, I used the area behind the Windjammer type area (on Celebrity) for my own private balcony. I was sailing by myself so I did not want to pay a lot to have a room with a balcony. Other than sail away, there were no more than 10-15 people, more often than not less than 10, out there at any time. I ate my breakfast out there every morning and lunch on sea days.