Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on the Navigator of the Seas (Maybe with few pictures added)...

[harryfat1]

The timestamp is now 3:10 and with the sail away at 4 PM, in theory, there’s no more boarding of the ship.  Unlike airlines where you can board close to departure time, for cruise sailings, you must be ready to board 90 minutes prior to the official departure time.

 

So it's not surprising you don't see any activities by the pier as most of the workers are done for the day

 

 

That is why for the 4 PM sailing time, the latest check-in time from the app is 2 to 2:30. Nothing officially later than that.

 

Has anyone heard/read stories here on CC that have people being denied boarding because they missed the 90-minute cut-off period?  Most people here are the anal types so we typically error in arriving at the port TOO EARLY but how about arriving TOO LATE?

 

I have seen YouTube Videos of Pier runners where people missed their ship coming from too much partying at the port stops but what about boarding too late on day 1?

[Sea Dog]

Great pictures as always. I am anxiously awaiting a mooring line pic that you are famous for and have influenced me on my reviews. Lets see some lines!!!!!!

Edited August 31, 2023 by Sea Dog

[JamesEM]

Hi from rain soaked Myrtle Beach, so far according to my rain Gage we have gotten 12 inches of rain, the heavier rain is falling inland.  So far the center of the storm still has not gone through the area, good news the winds are down to 60 MPH.  Lucky for me that I live 2 miles in land on a golf course that drains really well, so far so good. Also, all the businesses were told to close by 3 p.m. today.

 

One nice perk about the Central Park cabins is that on most nights you could sit out on the balcony and listen to live music or open the balcony and listen to the music, but will turn off the A/C.  As for the food, a couple of nights I would get a hamburger patty and some mashed potatoes cover with gravy and add some vegetables, instant Salisbury Steak. 

  

[harryfat1]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Great pictures as always. I am anxiously awaiting a mooring line pic that you are famous for and have influenced me on my reviews. Lets see some lines!!!!!!

Thanks for the compliment on the pictures.  I'm just the dumb dude on the other side of the phone clicking on a circle.  The device/software does all the work.

 

Having me take credit for taking good pictures with a great phone is like rooster taking credit for the sunrise.

 

Speaking of pictures, tonight was the "Blue Moon".

 

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/29/1196637207/blue-super-moon-wednesday-what-time

 

Took a couple of pictures from my cell phone via its big zoom.  Actual footages.  No photoshops or any post-production work.

 

 

 

Yeah, just amazing what you can get from a cell phone camera nowadays.  In the old days, I would have to get the mega zoom camera or SLR out.  Now I just whip out the cell phone and take a picture.  No skill was necessary to take this picture other than having a steady hand as it was zoomed out to the max.

[harryfat1]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Great pictures as always. I am anxiously awaiting a mooring line pic that you are famous for and have influenced me on my reviews. Lets see some lines!!!!!!

Doh, Line Pics! There are none, dude!  

 

This itinerary sucks in getting a good line pic. 

 

Catalina was a tender port so no lines.

 

Ensenada blocks off the bow and aft part of the ship unlike Cozumel or other Caribbean ports where you walk past the aft of the ship on the way to the cruise terminal, Ensenada makes you walk AWAY from the ship to the cruise terminal.

 

You will likely encounter this same issue next October when you come out.  Cabo will be a tender port for you so no line pics there. Ensenada will be the same issue I faced.  I have forgotten what the port set up was at PV as that would be your one and only chance to get a line pic.

 

Although I did capture a few workers setting up the lines early in the morning at Ensenada

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

1 hour ago, JamesEM said:

Hi from rain soaked Myrtle Beach, so far according to my rain Gage we have gotten 12 inches of rain, the heavier rain is falling inland.  So far the center of the storm still has not gone through the area, good news the winds are down to 60 MPH.  Lucky for me that I live 2 miles in land on a golf course that drains really well, so far so good. Also, all the businesses were told to close by 3 p.m. today.

 

One nice perk about the Central Park cabins is that on most nights you could sit out on the balcony and listen to live music or open the balcony and listen to the music, but will turn off the A/C.  As for the food, a couple of nights I would get a hamburger patty and some mashed potatoes cover with gravy and add some vegetables, instant Salisbury Steak. 

  

Glad you are holding up well.

 

12 inches of rain in a day! People in California have NO idea what that even means.

 

The average rainfall in Los Angeles for the ENTIRE YEAR is 12 inches.  You got it all in one day.  People in LA would lose their minds if they even got 6 inches of rain in a day. Forget about 12 inches and that's not even the heaviest amount of rainfall...

 

 

 

https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we09a.php#:~:text=Average for seasons 1944 through 2022%3A 11.86 inches*&text=See month-by-month numbers as season unfolds.

 

Yeah, Central Park on the Oasis ships is very nice at night.  We listened to classical music one night there. Although we prefer the noise and hustle/bustle of the Boardwalk area slightly more.

 

You can't miss either area.  Just a question of personal preference.

 

Hope the rest of Thursday is a good one for everyone in SC as the storm blows by on the way to the Atlantic.

 

[harryfat1]

One more picture and that’s enough of the ship tour as we need to go back to the cabin and hopefully, the suitcases will have arrived and we can unpack.

 

 

Speaking of which, does anyone here NOT unpack?  Meaning they live out of their suitcases for the entire cruise?  I would think for the shorter 3 or 4-night cruises some people might be tempted to just leave everything in the suitcases but will likely unpack for the longer sailings.

 

Happy dance to see all our luggage arrive in tack.  Never did hear back from the cruiser that got his luggage left behind from a Princess cruise on what happened.

 

As I posted previously, you only miss/care about your luggage if they were misplaced somewhere by the workers.  Otherwise, you will just take your luggage for granted.

 

[harryfat1]

As we unpack, now is a good time to emphasize what you can and can not bring on board.  RCI has a website that lists prohibited items.  If you are new to cruising, you need to check that list as some of the stuff you can pack for a land-based vacation is not allowed on cruise ships.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

 

Some banned are obvious like weapons and illegal drugs that you couldn’t take on the plane anyway. But as a Newbie cruiser, you will be surprised by other prohibited items like Coffee makers, clothes irons, or extension cords. Regular household items at home are not allowed on cruise ships.

 

If you pack them the ship’s X-ray machine will detect them and the item will be confiscated.  If your luggage doesn’t arrive on time, chances are they are being detained in the “naughty room” way down on deck 1 and you have to go down and get them while talking to security about what happened.

 

Yeah, avoid the hassle and check the list of what is not allowed before leaving home.

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by harryfat1

[bobmacliberty]

8 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Has anyone heard/read stories here on CC that have people being denied boarding because they missed the 90-minute cut-off period?  Most people here are the anal types so we typically error in arriving at the port TOO EARLY but how about arriving TOO LATE?

 

I remember reading a story here of this happening a few years ago.  Some poor family didn't have the correct paperwork to board and was scrambling to get it in time.  They got the paperwork before the ship left, but not before the 90 minute cutoff, and were left stranded.  My understanding is that it's not a cruise line rule that everyone must be on board a little early, but rather a Customs and Border Protection rule (I think) to ensure that the passenger manifest is accurate.  

[clochette]

11 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Has anyone heard/read stories here on CC that have people being denied boarding because they missed the 90-minute cut-off period?  Most people here are the anal types so we typically error in arriving at the port TOO EARLY but how about arriving TOO LATE?

 

I have seen YouTube Videos of Pier runners where people missed their ship coming from too much partying at the port stops but what about boarding too late on day 1?

We saw it in Miami maybe 15 years ago, we were on the promenade deck  waiting to depart and to see them dropping the lines when a cab came flying in, a family of 4 came out excited to see the ship there and still tied unfortunately they were not allowed on board as the paperwork was already filed, it was so sad to see them so upset.

[Coralc]

14 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Great pictures as always. I am anxiously awaiting a mooring line pic that you are famous for and have influenced me on my reviews. Lets see some lines!!!!!!

 

11 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Doh, Line Pics! There are none, dude!  

 

This itinerary sucks in getting a good line pic. 

 

Catalina was a tender port so no lines.

 

Ensenada blocks off the bow and aft part of the ship unlike Cozumel or other Caribbean ports where you walk past the aft of the ship on the way to the cruise terminal, Ensenada makes you walk AWAY from the ship to the cruise terminal.

 

You will likely encounter this same issue next October when you come out.  Cabo will be a tender port for you so no line pics there. Ensenada will be the same issue I faced.  I have forgotten what the port set up was at PV as that would be your one and only chance to get a line pic.

 

Although I did capture a few workers setting up the lines early in the morning at Ensenada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are no whistle warnings about approaching the mooring lines in Ensenada. Not only can you not really get to the lines, they are guarded by sea lions during the day! 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Coralc

[Sea Dog]

Just now, Coralc said:

 

 

There are no whistle warnings about approaching the mooring lines. Not only can you not really get to the lines, they are guarded by sea lions during the day! 

 

I love this!

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, Coralc said:

 

 

There are no whistle warnings about approaching the mooring lines in Ensenada. Not only can you not really get to the lines, they are guarded by sea lions during the day! 

 

 

 

I guess you may be able to get some mooring lines of the Carnival Ships at their dock. Not sure where Royal docks, but this was taken from our Princess Ship, and you could walk from the Carnival dock to the Princess one.  And yes, I have a lot of those same type of seal pictures.

 

 

And I think Harry mentioned the ship might rock a little coming up the coast from Ensenada. Only enough to sometimes give you a waterfall in the pool.

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

7 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I remember reading a story here of this happening a few years ago.  Some poor family didn't have the correct paperwork to board and was scrambling to get it in time.  They got the paperwork before the ship left, but not before the 90 minute cutoff, and were left stranded.  My understanding is that it's not a cruise line rule that everyone must be on board a little early, but rather a Customs and Border Protection rule (I think) to ensure that the passenger manifest is accurate.  

 

4 hours ago, clochette said:

We saw it in Miami maybe 15 years ago, we were on the promenade deck  waiting to depart and to see them dropping the lines when a cab came flying in, a family of 4 came out excited to see the ship there and still tied unfortunately they were not allowed on board as the paperwork was already filed, it was so sad to see them so upset.

Yeah, I think I saw some documentary on the Travel Channel years ago on the inner workings of the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal on boarding day.  Some families had problems boarding due to insufficient paperwork as they couldn’t get the other notary work faxed in on time prior to the 90-minute cut-off on the shipping manifest.

 

Being late to the dock and being denied boarding is brutal.

 

That’s one thing Newbies don’t know as the difference between flights versus cruises.  For a typical flight, if you have no check-in luggage, you can arrive at the smaller airports that typically have short TSA lines and be aboard the plane shortly thereafter.

 

Getting to port at least 90 minutes ahead of time is not mentioned on the cruise documentation (at least I don't recall seeing it). Even if you look at the phone App, for the 4 PM sailing, they have a check-in time slot of 2 to 2:30.  That’s cutting it very close.

 

If you are a Newbie and you select the later check-in time slot of 2 to 2:30 thinking of avoiding the long lines that want to board early and you get delayed by traffic and don’t get to the port until 2:35.  You would think that is still OK if you are flying as you could still make it on the plane if the TSA line is short (or you have the TSA pre-check clearance to avoid the regular lines).

Not sure you can board the ship if you arrive at the port at 2:35 and with the 90-minute manifest requirement that you will be allowed to board…

 

Not sure any cruise lines should even have the 2:00 to 2:30 check-in time as an option.  They should make the 1:30 to 2:00 as the last option to give some notoriously late people some leeway…

 

 

[harryfat1]

This brings up the next question – how early do most people fly in pre-cruise?  I assume most people play it safe by flying in at least one day prior to sailing.  Especially with various airline delay issues, we saw last year and this year (we all remember the Southwest debacle from last winter), the high risk of flying on the day of the cruise is too stressful for the 8+ anal scale people.

 

Having said that, when I was younger (more clueless days), I once flew a red eye on my first Caribbean cruise in the '90s.  Back then airlines were more reliable, and I felt OK to arrive at FLL at 7 AM on a red-eye from California and take the shuttle to the port for the cruise.  No way I would do that nowadays.

 

Seeing last winter storms' impact on airline flights, arriving 2 days pre-cruise doesn’t sound as anal as once thought.

 

This reminds me of our red-eye story: Back in 2013, we were going on the Carnival cruise sailing out of Boston to see the US/Canadian Northeast region.  Having never been to the historical Boston area, I booked a 2-night hotel in the area and red-eye so I could maximize my 2 days in town.

 

Got on the plane around midnight and after 2 plus hours of them trying to start and reset the plane’s flight instruments, they declared that flight to be dead.  Everyone had to de-plane at 3 AM and we all had to call the 800 number of the airline to re-book our flights as there were no on-ground agents there to help the couple of hundred people from the plane.

 

There was a big family group of around 10 people, and they were going on the HAL cruise out of Boston that next morning after the red-eye landed.  Well, that’s not going to happen now.  So half of them were on the phone with the airline and the other half of the family were on call with HAL at 3 AM trying to figure out how to catch the cruise ship at the NEXT port of call as they won’t make it to Boston on time. 

 

During busy traveling periods, it's not that easy to find 10 empty airline seats from point A to point if most of the flights are already full.  Easier to reroute 2 people on a different flight.  Not so easy to reroute 10 people. 

 

Think all of them were ready to cry at the airport as they realized they were going to miss the first few days of their cruise as they had to deal with connecting flights on another airline to get to the port where they all could board the ship.

 

As for us, after a while on the phone with the airline, we were able to find 6 seats to Boston on a later flight but that would be at a different airport. So we all drove home and got back at 6 AM after not sleeping the entire night.  Took a morning nap. 

 

Called the hotel to explain that we can’t make it to day 1 of the 2-day hotel reservations.  The manager was kind enough not to charge us for the first night booked and just switched the reservation for one night instead of two.

 

Total mess. After that, you couldn’t pay me to go on any red-eye flights to arrive on the day of the cruise…

[harryfat1]

2 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

 

There are no whistle warnings about approaching the mooring lines in Ensenada. Not only can you not really get to the lines, they are guarded by sea lions during the day! 

 

 

Very nice.  Didn’t realize Patti had joined the Line Club/Cult.

 

You had better luck in seeing the “locals” than us.  I have seen them on YouTube but didn’t see any up close in person. 

 

The workers that were tying up the Line chased them away early in the morning so I only got some water splashes but two on the side of the rocks before they were chased away as well.

 

 

NO sea lions at the same location as Patti's pictures

 

 

As y’all know I don’t just show you the final product, but the process of getting there.  To even take a picture as Patti did of the one and only Line tie-up, you have to walk all the way to the front and then back. 

 

See how they fenced off the area.  You can't even come close.

 

 

Same for the Aft area with fence gates.  Can't touch that...

 

 

That’s me in the red arrow as my wife took my picture the rest of the family just shook their head as more of the “weird things that Dad does that can’t be explained” as I walked 100 yards to take a picture of some dumb ship line ties…

 

 

[Coralc]

I was more interested in the sea lions than the ropes. ☺️ We just walked through the gap. I think a worker might have yelled. I just pointed at the camera and the sea lions. And he shrugged. ☺️ We kept walking.

[LobsterStalker]

This adds another layer to the question of whether or not you can board the ship past 90 mins pre embark .

You’ll see it states 

Departure by 4 PM

Arrive no later than 2:30

Ensure everyone aboard by 3PM

Clearly some wiggle room there for those notoriously lates you spoke of !

 

Cheers

[momof3cruisers]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:12 PM, harryfat1 said:

August 7 (Monday) Day 1

 

 

My favorite day of any cruise is Day 1.  Many people will disagree as it’s hectic and not relaxing but I like the excitement of seeing different things and experiencing a new ship is very special.  You get that “new” feeling only on day 1.

 

Remember back on post #2 when I asked people – what’s in your vacation?  Relaxing isn’t on my priority list so I really enjoy day 1 versus any given sea day in the cruise.

 

That being said, since I have already sailed on this itinerary three times previously, it has less of a “Wow” factor but it’s been over 15 years since we last sailed this way so maybe it’s good to see things with a fresh set of eyes.

 

Thinking about it, my first ever RCI cruise was this same itinerary back in 1996 on the Viking Serenade.  You get double and quadruple points if you know that the Viking Serenade was part of the RCI fleet years ago and actually sailed on her back in the old days.  I think the lifeboats on the new Icon of the Seas might be bigger than the Viking Serenade…

  

RCI hasn’t really put much emphasis on the West Coast sailing. The West Coast sailing has been dominated by Carnival and its subsidiary ships.  Next year Carnival will have a new ship, Firenze, coming over from their Costa subsidiary. So they will have 3 ships sailing from LA/Long Beach area versus 1 ship from RCI. Then there’s the HAL and Princess sailings up and down the state as well locking up the West Coast cruise market.

 

During the period of Mexican drug cartel wars, RCI and other cruise lines actually left the West Coast market, and only in recent years have they started home porting more ships on the West Coast.

 

Anyway, enough cruise history.  Queue up the Beatles to get the day going

 

 

 

 

And the Stones:

 

 

BobMac can mark the official count of when day 1 of the report starts. You folks thought I was kidding when I said, in the beginning, this is a “postman route”. It’s like taking a ship elevator from deck 1 to 12. The next deck up is…

 

We sailed on Viking Serenade in 1998. My oldest and only at that time was two and adored our waiter. It didn’t hurt that he brought her Mac and cheese and chocolate milk every night! Lol. We had a cabin as far forward and as low as you could get and WOW was that anchor loud in Catalina! 

On 8/26/2023 at 6:20 AM, h20skibum said:

 

I miss those good old days, as you watched people trying to navigate the stairs with their life vests, dragging a strap in one hand, and trying to not spill that drink in the other hand.

 

This is from an old Independence of the Seas sailing in 2009.

 

I do not miss those days. We did a Disney cruise out of Port Canaveral with a 2 year old and special needs 3 year old. Everyone including the toddlers had to wear their life jackets and since they were so little, we had to hold them or they would have been trampled. It was so crowded and so hot that my six year old who was the BEST traveler from the day she was born ended up scared and crying. Truly awful start to the cruise! 

[harryfat1]

7 hours ago, h20skibum said:

 

I guess you may be able to get some mooring lines of the Carnival Ships at their dock. Not sure where Royal docks, but this was taken from our Princess Ship, and you could walk from the Carnival dock to the Princess one.  And yes, I have a lot of those same type of seal pictures.

 

 

And I think Harry mentioned the ship might rock a little coming up the coast from Ensenada. Only enough to sometimes give you a waterfall in the pool.

 

 

 

 

That's a cool waterfall picture of the pool due to the waves.

 

Yeah, the area between Cabo and Ensenada going north can be rocky.  Lots of ocean movements. Especially if you encountered one of the winter storms coming down from Alaska between November and April.  Or the "Pineapple Express" storm from Hawaii that packs a lot of water.  

[harryfat1]

4 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

This adds another layer to the question of whether or not you can board the ship past 90 mins pre embark .

You’ll see it states 

Departure by 4 PM

Arrive no later than 2:30

Ensure everyone aboard by 3PM

Clearly some wiggle room there for those notoriously lates you spoke of !

 

Cheers

Good to know.

 

So let’s “walk through” the process with some hypothetical time stamps to see how everything will unfold with the tight deadline:

 

2:30  - Arrive at Pier via Lyft cursing the airline delays and bad traffic on the way that made you late

 

2:32 – Give the luggage to a porter, who by now is standing by the pier chilling’ as 99% of the passengers are already on board and he is talking with other porters about their Fantasy Football League

 

2:34 – Go back to the curbside to pick up your luggage after the porter threw them out by the sidewalk because you forgot to tip the dude

 

2:36 – After tipping the nice man, you walk up to the non-existent security scanning lane.  Take off your belt/cell phone but your new $200 sneakers have a metal plate at the bottom that triggered the security system so the security people had to “wand” you a few times while asking you to empty your pocket. In the middle of all the commotion, you dropped your cell phone and now it's not working anymore.

 

2:41 – Walk up to the non-existent line of Cruise Check-In and let them scan your phone App but since your phone is dead from above, you frantically search for the hardcopy “backup” in your backpack while silently giving patting yourself on the back for being super anal in bring a paper hardcopy

 

2:45 – All passports and documents scanned and you made the cutoff list for the ship to submit the manifest to US Customs Patrol

 

2:48 – Need to use the restroom as all the excitement made your bladder weak and must go NOW

 

2:52 – Run up the escalators as the people at the balconies are harassing you for being late and videotaping you as a “pier runner” for YouTube upload to embarrass you for the next 5 years

 

2:55 – you were running too fast and lost your balance and banged your knee on the pole at the way to the long gangway ramp

 

2:59 – You officially made it onto the ship but you need wheelchair help to take you to the medical center to look at your knee which will result in a $500 RCI medical bill added to your account

 

3:05 – They wheel you to your Muster Station on the other side of the ship to officially say you checked in for your Muster Drill

 

So it looks like arriving at 2:30 at the dock is doable. 

 

You are good to go. Enjoy your cruise…

 

[harryfat1]

3 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

We sailed on Viking Serenade in 1998. My oldest and only at that time was two and adored our waiter. It didn’t hurt that he brought her Mac and cheese and chocolate milk every night! Lol. We had a cabin as far forward and as low as you could get and WOW was that anchor loud in Catalina! 

I do not miss those days. We did a Disney cruise out of Port Canaveral with a 2 year old and special needs 3 year old. Everyone including the toddlers had to wear their life jackets and since they were so little, we had to hold them or they would have been trampled. It was so crowded and so hot that my six year old who was the BEST traveler from the day she was born ended up scared and crying. Truly awful start to the cruise! 

Good to talk to another long term cruiser.  The new generation of RCI folks only know RCI from Oasis class onward.

 

Yeah, hard to get the little ones to stand outside with lots of people around and in heat (or cold).  Don't think anyone misses that part of the Muster Drill.

 

 

[harryfat1]

As I said in the very first post in this thread, I’m not a professional cruise reviewer.  A case in point is that I didn’t take any pictures of the cabin electrical outlets for this section. Another incident of “Been there, done that” syndrome where you have cruised so often that you take for granted in not taking pictures of items you plan to discuss later on.

 

Anyway, look on YouTube for the electrical sockets (or lack thereof) in the cabin.  One very obvious sign of an older ship is a shortage of electrical sockets/USB ports. The advancement in technology over the past 20 years has left these cabins very dated in the electrical setup.

 

In our cabin, we had 2 regular North American electrical outlets.  That’s it.  Period. No more.

 

For world travelers, you have one European plug that you can use your travel adapter to change to the North American voltage.

 

So the maximum number of electrical sockets you can have inside these older ships is 3. If you have multiple electronic devices, you will need to share.

 

No big deal, you say, I will just bring a surge protector from home.  I have many of these at home.  Problem solved.  What is this anal idiot worrying about?

 

Ha.  This anal idiot will now remind you to go read the list from above once more and see that extension cords (surge protectors) are on the prohibited list.  Can’t have that in the cabin.

 

OK, now what?  Nowadays you can buy USB hubs that you can charge all the USB-based devices, including the many laptops that need 65 watt power to power them.

 

Here’s what I bought from Amazon.  No, I don’t get any commissions for the link.  Buy this model or any other model on sale. Matters not to me.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGLTD816?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

 

The top slot has 65 watts to charge my laptop if I needed to bring one on my cruise – I never do but some people need them for work.

 

Many USB sockets that you can charge phones/tablets/watches on.

The really powerful ones can charge 2 laptops at the same time but those cost more and since I don’t bring laptops or tablets for that matter on the cruise, this model at less than $40 does the trick for me.

 

The newer cruise ships’ cabins now have extra USB plugs so you can just use the cables there but if you are on the older ships regularly with multiple devices, look into investing in a USB hub charger.

[harryfat1]

Anyway, all done with unpacking.  Put away the suitcase underneath the bed and another step to say you are on vacation. 

 

Haha, yeah, No.  I didn’t take any pictures of the drawers that store all the clothes. 

 

In fact, no pictures of the closet or the desk area for that matter.

 

Yeah, yeah, I know I suck as a reviewer.  You get what you paid for in reading this.

 

I promise I will do better on the next cruise in December as it’s the newer Quantum class ship and since it’ll be new, I will be more vigilant in documenting everything.

 

[harryfat1]

As we were done unpacking, we wanted to find someone to open the connecting door between the 2 cabins. Unlike Princess ships where there are 2 doors, RCI only has 1 door and you have to wait for the “supervisor” to get a key to open it.

 

We looked in the hallway for a while to see if any workers were around and luckily, we found someone with a white sailor's uniform and asked him to open it and he said he would have to get a key to it and would do it later.

 

In the meantime, the cabin steward, Melanie from the Philippines showed up to introduce herself. We have a choice if we want our cabins to be cleaned during the day or at night time.  In the older days (a few years ago), the cabins were cleaned twice but nowadays it’s only done once a day.  We opted for daytime cleaning as it’s nice to come back after a long day of excursions to have a clean bed to plop on. 

 

Night-time turn-down service is a nice optional thing to have to come back after dinner nighty to see a towel animal in the dim lights of the cabin but not as practical as the daytime cleaning.

 

As RCI no longer prints hard copies of the daily compass (instead forcing you to look at the phone App), if you want a hard copy of the daily planner, you have to ask your cabin steward for it.  I tried to look for them down at guest service’s wall of papers and on the wall, there was a sign that said to talk to the cabin steward for hard copies of the daily schedule.

 

So we asked Melanie for hard copies and for the rest of the cruise, she would have the hard copy of the planner out by the door’s mail slot every night by dinner time.