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I cruised Explorer in June. We ate in the MDR almost every night, never had any issues with the food. They ran out of food? I've never heard of such a thing. I met people this morning while waiting to board Mariner who were on that same cruise and they didn't mention any issues. It's unfortunate you got sick from another guest. I've heard of people refusing to give up their cruise because they were sick and they boarded any ways. Getting sick happens on land as well. As a frequent business traveler I can't count the number of times I've gotten sick after flying domestically within the U.S. They only quarantine when it's appropriate. Not going to the doctor for fear of quarantine puts other guests at risk. If you've both gotten this sick you've likely infected someone else. Imagine how they feel.

seems a little bit over the top that you are blaming royal for getting ill. sugar free desserts to me don't sound like desserts :/

I'm sorry that your experience was sub par, but, I find this all a little bit hard to believe. My wife needs to eat gluten-free and Royal has been EXTREMELY accommodating to her needs; even at the Windjammer. See this post I made about the topic "Gluten Free" last month.

Same prices we saw on the Allure in March. We only used the pressings for one formal night dinner and everything came back on time and in great shape, wrinkle free. The rest of the time we just used the "hang it up in the bathroom during a shower" trick and everything turned out fine. I roll my clothes rather than folding them and it makes a big difference in both space-efficiency in the suitcase and minimizing wrinkles. We really didn't miss having access to an iron.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers, well wishes, thoughts and concerns, I really appreciate it. The hurricane is over and GONE! It was rough for a couple of days. It started raining hard with high winds Thursday 9/13 and we lost power that evening. The winds picked up all day as well as the rain. Friday was pretty much the same,high winds, rain and crap flying all over the place outside. Saturday the wind and rain subsided and I could get outside and start cleaning up. Today (Sunday) very little wind and no rain, clean up continued and will do so for a few more days (my lot is almost an acre with many trees). Power came on about 4:00 pm, YEAH! I was getting tired of those cold showers and warm beer! Had some damage to about 40% of my roofing shingles, so a new roof is in order. Have already contacted a roofer and my insurance folks. We have been through a lot of hurricanes, but this was the worst. The folks that live downtown New Bern got hid really hard. This was just a small tRjacaste of what the folks in New Orleans, Texas and San Juan experienced. Just glad it is over! Thanks again folks, greatly appreciated. Rjac

Well we are back from our fabulous cruise aboard the Celebrity Summit! The weather was PERFECT and the seas the whole time were like a lake! Hubby and I have only been this year on the Grandeur of the Seas and the Celebrity Summit, both pretty much equal in terms or age and size. The Summit is a beautiful ship, but in much need of an overhaul which is happening this February. Comparing just the shape of the ship to Grandeur, Grandeur won out on this one even though she hasn't been drydocked. We were in a Grand Suite on Grandeur and an accessible Sky Suite on Summit. Grand Suite on Grandeur won out as the furniture etc is a bit outdated was in much better shape than the Summit. We are actually booked back on the Summit next May so we are looking forward to the "new Summit" as they are redoing all the Suites, venues etc. We did utilize our Butler but not very much. We had coffee brought to the cabin every morning and he was the one delivering it. He was always available. We had a horrible smell in our bathroom as soon as we boarded and continued throughout the cruise, he kept calling the plumber etc and was quite disturbed by it (more on that later). He did have a bottle of wine sent to us just to keep us happy! Food and Service- Food was fabulous on the Summit. We ate in Luminae (the Suite Restaurant) for every meal except one. We were given both the Luminae menu as well as the Main Dining Room menu to choose from for dinner. The selections were wonderful and the service was the best I've had on any cruise ship. We did eat in the Ocean Grill once while in Bermuda (Celebrities version of Windjammer) and this wins hands down over the Windjammer. The food and flow of food was so much better, the selections was awesome and the way they have it set up the flow of people moved so well you didn't feel like you needed to be a hockey player! We did have some excitement while on board, they arrested 3 people as soon as we docked in Bermuda ( I thought the sight of about 15 police officers waiting at the dock was a bit overkill!) LOL and one man when disembarking (we were on our balcony) feel overboard getting off the ship between the gangway and ship) The screams were frightening, but crew quickly rescued him and he was ok. (Make note, do not take selfies when disembarking the ship and not sure where you are going!) As we were entering NY Harbor last Sunday, I had the waiter in Luminae, the Butler keep asking me if I was going to Michael's (Suite Concierge lounge) to Disembark and I assured them we were. They said Andrea (Suite Manager) has something for us. We finally made it down to Michaels Club to disembark. Andrea found me and handed us $1000 future cruise credit ($500 for me and $500 for Jack) for putting up with the bathroom smell all week! We really didn't expect anything so this was quite a pleasant surprise. We can use this $1000 toward payment for our upcoming Summit cruise in May! Win/Win! I feel that Celebrity is not for everyone. There are no bells and whistles like RC ships have for children (there were only 25 on this cruise and all toddlers). We were very happy with this though as we are a bit older and enjoy the relaxation of just being on a cruise. Their service is outstanding, their food is outstanding, their drinks are outstanding and all is all it was an extremely pleasant experience!

Fill out the special needs form: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/guestSpecialNeeds.do (or send an email to [email protected] ) Should get a reply back in a few days saying they'll have distilled water and extension cord provided in your stateroom. If it isn't in your stateroom upon arrival, just talk to your stateroom attendant.

Just got back from our Alaska cruise on Explorer of the Seas on September 7. The ship was nice, and so was our room. Staff personnel were also kind. We were celebrating our 48th Anniversary as well as both of our birthdays. That was noted on the reservation at least two different times, for all the good that did. No one said a thing to us. There were no gluten free desserts and no sugar free desserts at Windjammers even though I spoke to Guest Relations about it twice. One server said the Jello was sugar free. The one I confirmed it with said it was not. Their "gluten free" sweets were two baskets of . . . .apples. Yes, I have pictures. We wanted to have a steak in the main dining room the last night, but that was not an option. The three dinners we ate in the main dining room were good. The one we had to eat there after getting on board the ship was very limited, and they kept running out of food. On the 6th, I started with congestion and a sore throat. I didn't go to the ship's doctor because we'd heard that you get quarantined. I had to go to Urgent Care on the 8th and my doctor on the 9th. I have acute sinusitis and acute bronchitis. On the 11th, my husband started getting sick. It started out just like my infection. We had to call the ambulance on the 14th because he could not breathe. He has Influenza A and pneumonia. He is still in the hospital and is likely there for another two days because he still needs oxygen. Talking to representatives from Royal Caribbean yielded that it was our fault for not going to the ship's doctor, and since I got steak once, that was good enough.

Dad taught me about rolling clothes, evidently originated in the Navy. Worked well for 10 years on the road.

FYI: Be prepared to have a LARGE extension cord provided. The cord I was given was a heavy gauge cord at least 50 feet in length! ? That made me laugh...the one they gave us was at least 100 feet long and probably weighed 20 pounds. During the day, it was just a huge mass of cable stuffed in the corner so we could navigate through our cabin. I have since learned to take my own 15ft cord since we both use a CPAP. They have always provided us with distilled water complimentary.

It seems to me if he had the flu...he needed to be quarantined......take it from someone who was exposed to the flu by a sick passenger . I was between jobs, so no insurance, I missed my first week of training because I was so ill. It also cost me over $300 in doctors bills. I didn’t blame RCCL for becoming ill, I blame the passenger who was contagious and spread it around.

Keep in mind once on board you can purchase the cheaper 'Surf' only plan. It's slower but for checking email, texting and if your phone supports wifi calling it sometimes works on the basic Surf plan as well. Typically only 'Surf and Stream' is offered before sailing. Both are offered once on board on a pro-rated basis for days remaining in the cruise or by the day (24 hour pass). I often wait until day 2 since I've got cell phone coverage for most of day 1.

Grand Suite ?

My cousin recently returned from Explorer the week before this post. This was his third RCCL cruise this year! He also complained about the food in the main dining room as well as the service. He was also very turned off by the waitstaff begging for a 10 rating on the survey every day, even going so far as to say my family depends on it. Have you also had that experience?

I'm having a senior moment! What is GS? I'm hoping I am one and don't know it.!

We try to get there by 10:30am - 11am and usually walk right on, lowly Gold status. Seems like most of the crowd arrives after noon-1pm.

So sorry to hear you and your husband got sick but I don't understand how getting Influenza could be RCI fault?

Same price schedule was on Freedom earlier this year, so most likely a fleet-wide standard. The suit pressing service is great, I had to take advantage of it after having to keep my suit, which was packed as carefully as I could manage, in my suitcase for three full days as we arrived in FLL a couple of days before departure. They delivered the suit in time for formal night, looking good as new!

One of the perks is that you will have your own line for check in. We never waited longer than 5 minutes.

I second what @CGTLH has said. Although I filled out the customer needs form for our last cruise, the supplies needed were not in our room yet. A quick conversation with our stateroom attendant had a gallon of distilled water and an extension cord delivered during our dinner service. Below is a screenshot of the area you need to fill out. FYI: Be prepared to have a LARGE extension cord provided. The cord I was given was a heavy gauge cord at least 50 feet in length! ?

I would call and capitalize on this before they discover their error.

As a Carnival cruiser converted to Royal this is something I've learned to get over and it hasn't turned out to be an issue for me. Couple of things: 1. I bring Downy wrinkle release. Travel size bottles available at places like Target. I give my shirts and jacket a quick spray, crank the shower on hot and use the bathroom as a steam room for a few minutes to aid in releasing any wrinkles. 2. Rolling certain clothes loosely can reduce wrinkles (frequent business traveler trick). 3. You can request just pressing or steaming only without a full dry cleaning or washing. Price schedule from Anthem 2018 attached:

Robert I am so glad to hear from you. I was really worried about you and your family. Having spent many years in Cherry Point I love the area and hated seeing the devastation. Sooo glad you are all ok and that whatever damage you sustained is manageable.

So glad to hear that you came through it. I was so worried. So many images of flooding and people needing to be rescued....

Glad you and your family made it through the hurricane. My family was in Katrina and Rita. The cleaning up is just as bad. Thank you for keeping us updated. Please get some rest.

Thanks for sharing. We like sailing Royal Caribbean for now because of family friendly activities and atmosphere. We intend to sail Celebrity and Princess when we are childless. ?

@Boston Babe thanks for sharing!!! So happy to hear that you and Jack had a great time. Can't believe that craziness that you had. I got a good laugh out of that one.

We were typically too far to enjoy the scenery unless we were going into and out of port. It is not like Alaska, New Zealand or Norway where you cruise and are surrounded by beautiful scenery. I do not think a balcony would be beneficial for a a sightseeing perspective. They had an unusually hot year for the Canadian coast. They said it was 90s and humid and a pretty miserable summer. When we were there is was spectacular and mid 70s as the high and lows of 60. There was only one night when we went to the hot tub that the temps dipped into the high 40s and it was raining and foggy. It felt great in the hot tub but would have been miserable to be on deck. If you got a balcony it would be for the ocean views. The weather was pleasant enough to sit out there on our cruise but I am betting you could luck out and it could be too cool come sept as well.

So glad you were able to speak. I will say the best ER plan sometimes will fail, but we do try to have a plan. Sometimes the weekends can produce a slower response as well depending on when your agent typically works daily. Now you can relax and start planning all your fun excursions and shows for your cruise!

Thanks AnnetteJackson, just before I emailed the contact that KathyC uses I tried phoning my TA again and was able to reach her and straighten everything out. Stay safe and thanks for the offer to help! thanks KathyC for your help!

Hey there, I wanted to check in to see if you were still having issues reaching your agent. I now have power and internet (for the time being) so wanted to check in. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] and I can make that payment for you. We do have an ER plan for all our agents and there is an office number to reach the Admin Staff (425-396-7505) I can say that when in a storm sometimes things happen that will take an agent offline unexpectedly, but we have offices all over the US so there is a person covering or the office staff that can jump in and help. EMail me and I can look into your reservation.

Yes, she usually stays until November.

The problem with getting insurance from the cruise line is they compensate with Future Cruise Credit which has it's own set of terms and conditions. You want a policy that compensates with cash and can cover the entire trip (home to home). I know it is unlikely to happen but you never know, cruise line's trip insurance will not reimburse you if they go bankrupt whereas most other policies will. Make sure you read the policy wording before purchasing to ensure it is the correct insurance coverage for your needs.

I was wondering when these message boards would be reach the point someone would be speaking Klingon...

Since you are not in North America they must be using the European metric-english system. Some metric, some standard in a complex formula based on your latitude and longitude. Or it's just wonky IT... again. Or you hacked Super Mario's account.

Nuqjatlh are these Royal Cruises tlhih jatlh of? Are tlhih a king? My Klingon is rusty. (TWSS).

With RC website its more :

Agreed @Tim B. Looks exciting to me ? I'll be watching for it. I'm also looking for some of those new Cuba ports @twangster was talking about- Havana is the current stop but it looks like Cienfuegos and Santiago are coming on line soon! The email was interesting to me as it said 5 cities you've never been to but include St Maarteen and San Juan which are pretty frequent stops from what I've seen. I get that Havana is new and defiantly makes the list of places many haven't been and Curaco I don't see to much chatter about. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-destinations/cuba?icid=hpnwbt_conten_cb_hm_banner_2373