Leaderboard

Been following this blog for awhile but first time posting. Love this blog. Feel like I’m taking an advanced course in Cruising - too much good info for Cruising 101. Just returned from Mariner Aug. 12. Previous 2 were on Wonder so wasn’t sure about “down sizing “ ship. Must say we had a great cruise! Nothing negative to say. We even enjoyed the MDR. Maybe we just aren’t picky eaters. Food was hot, served in a timely fashion, great waiter and assistant. Room steward was also good. Met him on first day as soon as cabins were ready. Did a great job - cleaning and meeting our requests. Thanks to everyone who posts such great info here! Feel like I know you just from following.

Liberty is great and the aft views are certainly not deck 17 but they are pretty ok. The ship is showing her age but the crew happened to be better than we expected. NYE was insanity!

Thanks to all suite cruisers who replied about dining in Coastal Kitchen. You have given us confidence that there is no problem with eating as many meals there as we care to. We will most likely get lunch in other places, but dinner in CK every evening seems quite likely. You all were so helpful in your replies, so thanks!

Sounds like you are a smart lady. What I have found is the larger ships are great for when you are with families, and you want to do everything available. The smaller ships are nice when you want a more personalized cruise. When you are on a ship with 2000 passengers you see the same ones often and the staff gets to know you easier. I am 62 and find I like the trans-Atlantic cruises on the smaller ships. I get to know people I am cruising with, and the cruise staff have time to learn who I am and what I like. So When I am with my son and friends, I cruise the Sympathy of the Seas (or similar) and have lots of ports. When I am alone, I cruise the Voyager (or similar) and cruise with lots of sea days.

And mini golf. Lawd.

"I'm 6'7" and even I can fit in the shower!"

Priority Gangway Service or PGS. Split the gangway with a rope barrier. Regular pre-existing access on the right, premium boarding on the left. Just $19.95 plus 18% gratuity. Priority Bar Service or PBS. A separate station/queue at every bar reserved for guests who purchased PBS. $13.95 per person per day, plus 18% gratuity. Priority Elevator Service. One elevator with an operator who checks for the PES sticker on guest sea pass cards with priority direct floor service. $7.95 per person per day, plus 18% gratuity. Entertainment: Aqua show, $9.95 per person, plus 18% gratuity. Ice Skating shows, $12.95 per person, plus 18% gratuity. Broadways shows, $15.95 per person, plus 18% gratuity. Royal Caribbean original production shows $13.95 per person, plus 18% gratuity. Two70 production shows $11.95 per person, plus 18% gratuity. Priority Promenade Viewing areas. Used for parades and promenade entertainment. Dedicated standing areas in premium locations. $8.95 per person per day, plus 18% gratuity. Shall I continue?

The survey asking if we will pay money for Sorentos made me think why to stop there. Here some more creative ideas for RCL: Weight the plates in the WJ and pay by the pound. Want Emuster ? Pay extra otherwise you are back to the regular crowded muster. All cabin doors to be removed , want privacy ? It's extra, diamonds will get free transparent shower curtains, D+ will get free transparent door and pineapples will get a real door but without a latch. Quest challenge lidt can be purchased the day before , same for Love and Marriage. Tender boat tickets will cost money, people will be able to swim to port for free. For dinner time you can choose between 5 to 5:15 PM , want another slot ? It's extra. Extra charge the comedy show if you don't want to be the star of the show. Jacuzzi will be coin operated, the good news, you can use your key to charge it to you room. The flowrider will still be free you just need to pay if you want it filed with water. At the end of the cruise at the exit you will need to be weight , every extra pound you gain during the cruise will be charged. Charge 4500$ for a 7 hour use of the over the water cabanas , oh wait ...

Besides extorting him for the 10 score? No seriously, be fair and honest, but here is my rule of thumb, if you were going to give an 8, and then they suggest in any way that makes you feel uncomfortable that they really want a higher score, give them a 7. If they are joking about wanting a high score give them the 8, allowing of course for cultural differences. My boys are dead serous jokesters, but I had to explain to them that there can be language barriers, and cultural differences, so keep the joking light.

I always get those emails about " loyalty has its perks" since I turned diamond. The crazy emails are the ones thar say your name and stuff. I'm looking for some casino comps for itineraries out of Canada/Boston/NJ.

I would say try the lunches as well. The Flatbreads and sticky ribs are worth a trip. Also the French toast.

I am staunchly against waking up 4am while I am on vacation! UGH! As far as tipping room service I feel staunchly about this too. When I order room service, this is me being lazy. And I better not think for a second that when that assistant waiter who drew the short straw knocks on my cabin door to bring me what I ordered is not going to get at least a few bucks from my hand to theirs....ah......No bobroo, you'll be digging deep into your pockets to thank that person for you being so lazy. Added gratuity or not, that person is getting at least a few dollar bills unless I see a $5 first.

Is your trip on Spectrum travelling to Vietnam by any chance? Having passport size photos is usually a requirement for a visa on arrival there, and I would expect the same would be true via cruise ship. On Spectrum they will very likely collect your passports on Day 1. You will get them back on days that you are required to have them in hand for immigration, and otherwise they will do all the immigration work behind the scenes. On the last sea day, they'll have stations to collect them back. They will give you a run down of what you need to do for each stop - they are very efficient.

Independence of the Seas - 4 Nights - Nassau, Perfect Day - 8/14/23-8/18/23 Hey all! We’re just off our 4-night cruise on Independence of the Seas. Below are my Top 3 / Bottom 3, and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. Top 3 1) Chops Grille remains undefeated. It continues to be my favorite meal at sea. 2) Adventure Ocean is such a fantastic benefit. My kids proactively ask to go each night. 3) Really love the pool strategy on Indy. Great main pool area, plenty of hot tubs, and Splashaway Bay with a large kids pool is such a win. Bottom 3 1) Surprisingly, I would rate this as the “least friendly” cruise I’ve been on. Most crew just seemed to be getting by. Our Stateroom attendant barely spoke to us all week, even when passing him and trying to speak to him in the hall. 2) I had inconsistent experience with Diamond Drinks on CocoCay. Each time, I would ask the bartender to use my Diamond drink. Twice, I was still charged. Both times (different bartenders), they said I could just use my remaining drinks back onboard. Pretty frustrating. 3) The food in the Windjammer on this sailing was subpar. We normally love WJ food, and will eat nearly every breakfast and lunch there. But we found ourselves going to Sorrentos or Fish & Ships just so we weren’t subjected to the disappointment.

I too for some reason have never been bothered in either the hot tubs or the pools, it must be my "sunny disposition" I agree with others, the little kids are fine, it is the collage age crowd that can be very disrespectful to some passengers, a good hard stare usually fixes that behavior, drunks though unfortunately require a more hands on approach On every cruise line I have been on, it is true cold weather cruises, they drop the age limit, not just RCCL. This is my hot tub smile!

The last cruise I was on our neighbors were ordering 2-3 entrees each night. They all came out one by one. That's probably a decision made by each ship's head waiter.

Not necessarily entrees one at a time. We were on Oasis a few weeks ago and several of us ordered two or three entrees. The first night they came out separately but after that for the rest of the week all entrees came out at same time.

Surrendering your passport is commonplace on many itineraries outside of North America, I can’t ever remember being asked to bring extra passport photos; it is indeed a curious line item in the documents.

It's obvious, we go after chair hogs.

The only way to get a good deal on Icon currently is to gamble in Casino Royale and hope you get lucky. we booked Oceanview Balcony for May 2024 for only taxes and fees for 4 people + $1000 freeplay and $100 obc. Costed me $1500 in losses in the Casino.

We always do specialty restaurant on embarkation just because it's so much relaxing and quiet. It's worth the few extra bucks to me.

"The Gift" ... still included at no charge

Pretty confident we can look back at this thread in a few years and see some of these ideas became reality. Maybe we should delete before it's too late

Do away with all loyalty perks and benefits.

Not only will windjammer be weighed by the plate but it will be self checkout. Enter the number of napkins you need on the kiosk, as well as number of water glasses. Reserve a table by the window for an up charge. For the rooms they will drop bed linens off at the door, guests will need to make their bed. Full service will be an up charge. Sorrento’s will be an up charge, first toss your own pizza, put it in the oven, weigh and pay. You can bypass this hassle with the pizza package. Pool chairs will cost extra, using the dynamic pricing model. As more guests book chairs the price will rise based on demand until the last chair is $3,000 per day. Coco Cay will use the European model of charging for bathroom use. The paper towel dispenser will be coin operated.

This was deck 10 from what I remember.

Heck, I have done online banking from the ship WiFi

I was going to try Pats back in March, however after walking from the station to the Rocky Statue then down to The Liberty Bell my missus decided enough walking had been done Did have a Philly Cheesecake in Con Murphy's but can't imagine it would be of the same standard as Pats or Genos.

I've been looking at those ones too over the last few years. Oasis was doing those too. But we picked the 9 night since it takes us to so many more places. I don't love the timing of this one. We normally don't travel so close to the end of August (with school starting back up), but this itinerary is only available at certain times so it is what it is. Navigator is still one of those ships that keep getting away from me. One of these days...

Last two cruises they've retaken one or both of ours anyway.

The same thing happened to me twice. I had been trying to check in on the app using the link at the bottom of the check-in page. Apparently the best way to check in is to click on the “person” at the top of the page and check in from there. In both cases, 11:30 was the earliest time available despite it only being a few minutes past midnight.

Woohoo! We'll be back on Liberty in a 2br on her first sailing out of Ft Lauderdale. 73 days for us. It is the last suite we have on the books for now - going to try connecting balconies. I look forward to following along.! @GregD I need to go back and read your blog again, we're going to be in 9708 again.

With them changing the name of the Viking Crown bar on so many ships, I can't remember if that was its own standalone bar or just another dumb name for the Viking Crown.

We board Quantum on Monday Morming. No notice of any change to the Juneau stop. I fully expect we will be in Juneau this coming Friday.

Windjammer line etiquette, heck line etiquette anywhere on the ship is another I'd add to the list. I bite my tongue quite often because, vacation... not worth it.

I haven't uploaded a check-in photo since the restart. It takes maybe 5 seconds for them to snap a picture when boarding. It's not worth the hassle of doing it yourself.

The photo you upload at 45 day check in can be done with the phone App or at the port when you board. It's all digital for their on-board scanning system.

Same. Something changed recently where it doesn't autofill my info.

Add us to the "no thanks" for PDCC. I am not a beach or pool person. I see no value in getting off the ship at all unless I can go to the Beach Club and with prices at the current levels, -0- chance I will go. Dan enjoys snorkeling but there really isn't anywhere on PDCC worth the effort. We have been staying on the ship at PDCC and I don't see that changing.

Yes, that is why I asked. Normally Jamie's is available and even though they changed the menu, I was going to book that. But it shows day 2 and 4 only on all of them, well the three specialty restaurants. I love a good lunch. I mostly get the UDP on longer sailings but on shorter one's I do the lunch. It's great to enjoy the meal and then the rooms are ready.

The last time we sailed on Mariner they did offer a small menu (but really good !) in the MDR on embarkation day. They said at the time that it was a “trial” but I have no idea how long they did it or if they are still offering it. We really enjoyed it and wish they would offer it fleet-wide.

Who’s Going? Me, Hubby, D17, D15 Flight Delta from DTW-EWR; booked through Air2Sea again. We really could have gone to EWR or LGA, the schedule was similar, but flying to EWR was a bit cheaper so we went with that. In addition, I already have our driving route mapped out should we need to drive ourselves to Cape Liberty. Pre-Cruise Stay For the longest time, I had two hotels booked for this trip. Because we are only flying in one day prior to the cruise, we were not sure if it was worth it to do our usual stay in Manhattan or try out Jersey City instead. The girls and I tossed around both ideas for quite some time and in the end, because D17 loves NYC so much, even half a day there is better than no days there. So, we are back at our usual place in NYC, the Intercontinental Times Square. Itinerary 24 AUG CAPE LIBERTY, NJ 25 AUG CRUISING 26 AUG BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 27 AUG PORTLAND, MAINE 28 AUG BAR HARBOR, MAINE 29 AUG SAINT JOHN, NB 30 AUG CRUISING 31 AUG HALIFAX, NS 01 SEP CRUISING 02 SEP CAPE LIBERTY, NJ Cabin Getting ready to check out the aft views on a Freedom class ship. Without a doubt, it will be very different than the aft views on Oasis class. And just for fun, I could not help myself, I did put in some minimum bids for Royal Up but I am not going to hold my breath. We are already happy with our cabin, there are no extra perks on Freedom class ships even if we did win the RU. Pre-Cruise thoughts - Hubby and the girls are super excited. We are for the most part, going back to the basics on this one. No drink packages, no dining packages, no CK on Liberty. It’s going to be MDR and WJ all the way. Because we plan to spend most of the port days on land, it might even be WJ most of the way. Hubby is super excited! - It is somewhat amusing because Hubby and both girls are hoping that I go back to the basics and end up liking it. On the other hand, I am most looking forward to how the three of them do without what they have gotten used to. If the last few days have been any indication, it’s going be amusing for me. They have already had endless arguments about how they will share a VOOM package lol. One kid just asked me yesterday how she can do laundry on the ship. At least I can admit that I have fallen into the deep, dark, suite hole, unlike some others lol - One thing I did purchase was the Evian water package. We need our water in the cabin. Let’s hope it’s Evian that shows up. - Once again, in the spirit of a live blog, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I will do my best to find out whatever I can for you. - When responding to a post with a series of pictures, please do not include the pictures in your reply. It just makes for easier scrolling. - Lastly, I will try to post videos and stories on Instagram. You can follow me @lovetocruise2002

Never heard of 'im.

I’ve stayed in cabins that didn’t have the cooler, I’d have gladly paid for one. And I’ve stayed in cabins where the cabin was colder than the cooler, would they charge less? $1 for each minute with Guest Services=roughly $15 to lodge a complaint!

I also bring late night snacks to cabin from Sorentos and Park Cafe after WJ closes.

Take the Jazz on 4/casino space and charge for entry based on if you want it to be smoking or nonsmoking 50/50 raffle every day for cash prize $5 per day for the cooler/mini fridge in the room Charge for a sea pass card/but app is free $ 5 each waterslide $ 1 each minute you speak with Guest Services $10 per day to reserve chairs at pool/solarium I hesitated suggesting these.........Royal is listening

The post is about Icon. A suite for $15k pp is insane but even on older ships the suite prices are rough. I saw that it was $2600pp for a GS on mariner, that's not worth it. Royal has priced themselves out of being a budget friendly line. The problem is people are fine paying it. They couldn't charge $7k for an interior on Icon and $70k for suites unless someone is paying it. It's not rich people but the middle class splurging because of Yolo.

Oh my favorite two things at chops are lavender vodka martini and the jumbo lump crab cake!

Agreed Fact is anyone can sit behind a keyboard and say the tip X to the room steward and Y for every drink! Who's to say its not BS? If anyone wants to tip extra then it should be a personal thing between them and the recipient. No one should feel pressurised into tipping more than they can afford just to keep up with others.

Honestly, the under 16 kids are not as much of a problem for me than the over 16 and under 25 year olds. They monopolize the jacuzzi and are making out and doing all sorts of PDA. Grosses me out. Ugh...when did I become my parents?