tiny260

Agreed, They may do things that you scratch your head about, but I wouldn't want to cruise with others, Doc it may have been you that I read, book the itinerary first then the ship, I hadn't thought about that until I read it, then I was like Duhhh. The only reason I would jump from RCCL would be to take an itinerary that didn't offer, since I only take one cruise a year, I have not begun to scratch the surface, I still have the Greek island, Hawaii, South Pacific, Australia, South America, Middle East etc., etc.. When I retire I'm already planning a world cruise, so if Royal doesn't offer one by then, I may have to look at others.

Thanks, L454S and dorts, that explains a lot, I still had my cruise compasses from my trip, and thought they explained the VAT in one of them but couldn't find it, it might have been on a separate sheet of paper and I threw it away...

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it, this will be our first time to use MTD, I scheduled 6:30, closer to the time we eat at home, we decided to go to MTD because out of the last 5 cruises, we have had 1 group of table mates for regular seating that were interesting and engaging, the rest either didn't show up or were pretentious a**'s, maybe I see a common denominator here, maybe it's us....

I did what I assume was/is the precursor to Dynamic Dining on RCCL on a Disney cruise, it was actually pretty cool, at first I didn't think i would like it, but since your same wait staff moved with you it was a non-event.

It's like the t-shirt says, "I have no cruise control, it's like they just book themselves".

I read some of the thread on CC and it seemed like that one's that were commenting were all of very large groups 8 to 12 people and they some how booked that through MTD. I've never used MTD before, I've always eaten at a specialty restaurant our used the standard late seating as my choice, but for my upcoming Liberty (5-28) I did book MTD on the nights I didn't have a specialty restaurant.

I looked and I still can't answer your question totally, because that western Mediterranean the departure times were so different and can't tell by just the time printed to know if I was at sea or not. What I did see today that I didn't last night was there was another line labeled "Service Charge", so for the above check there was a $1.15 service charge. So then I found another receipt that was definitely on a sea day for Sabor, that had a tax but no service charge. So where I think you are going is that while in port the VAT applies (Probably as a service charge on the receipt) and at sea it doesn't. Hope this helps.

I would just check in Windjammer when you get on and see, I've been seeing posting of Sushi showing up all over the buffets on different ship. I'm by no means a Windjammer Connoisseur I believe that title goes to Matt. I was on Harmony last year, we may eaten in Windjammer 2 or 3 times, our favorite places for breakfast and lunch were Park Place (8th floor, Central Park) and the Solarium Bistro, so we just didn't go to Windjammer that much.

Jade is included in the Windjammer for the ships that have it, I know Liberty has it because I'm getting ready to sail on it. On Harmony you have Izumi, which is it's own separate restaurant that serves Sushi and Hibachi style meals

Only if its one of those really sad faced cats like you see on the internet...

I always find that If I wear a ball cap, keep my sunglasses on and look straight ahead they tend to leave you alone, I don't remember them being that aggressive, but I'm a big guy so maybe they tend to leave me alone, plus my family tells me I frown all the time.

Good catch on the cruise documents, passports also. I always have all of that with me in my briefcase.

My cash stays with me, I usually carry a backpack or brief case, I carry on a small "carry on" suite case, the carry on is for medication and a swim suite and extra toiletries and maybe a change of clothes, it has never happened to me but there is the possibility that your luggage could get lost and not make it to your room, typically the only time I have heard this happening is when people fly and the airlines lose the luggage and not the cruise ship. Your room should typically become available around 1 to 2pm, they will announce it over the ship PA system, then you can go drop off anything extra you are carrying around and then really go explore the ship.

Sorry, DocLC, I would have to look at the receipt again, because we ate at Sabor multiple times. I want to say that yes we were at sea, I will check again and let everyone know.

We cruised on Harmony in 2016, probably the same Mediterranean itinerary that Symphony is going to take, I looked on some old receipt's I kept and a $32.40 bill from Sabor had a $2.72 cent tax on it.

Maybe I should let one of the more knowledgeable bloggers post to this,,, I have never heard of RCCL using cots. The sofa's convert to beds and then the have Pullman beds that swing down from the wall, for almost like bunk bed effects, and I've even heard they can bring in a roll away bed and pack and plays for little one's, but never cots. The only time I have ever seen cots used was when that Carnival ship lost power and was stuck, that put cots on the upper deck so people could sleep in cool air. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Sounds vaguely familiar, having a hard time remembering, something to do with the swimming pool...

Conservation friendly, catch and release...

San Juan, has some pretty serious coffee if you like coffee, St Maarten has a Guava berry liqueur they are famous for, Ladadee is RCCL's private island, but they do allow vendors to sell on the island, think Haiti, they had some clothing with some pretty detailed lace work that we have never seen anyplace else before, I've never heard the end of this one, I didn't let my wife go back and look and buy, thinking they would have it on the next island, they didn't, or any other island since. Hope this helps.

I didn't do San Juan as a stop but instead cruised out of there, so I had more time, but a tour of old town and the forts was pretty amazing, I didn't go, but I read there was a rain forest tour that supposed to be pretty cool. St Marteen, I would do a beach and snorkel type, be careful of beaches on the french side of the island, "Clothing optional". Labadee is RCCL's private island, everything is pretty well organized, you didn't mention ages, but I'm 55 and I did the zip line, the roller coaster and the water toys and then just laid by the beach and sun bathed.

Thanks Matt, I was just typing all of that and you bet me to it with that awesome blog post...

I agree, I love my sea days, we normally book the 3x3, sometimes a 4x2, last year in the Mediterranean, I strayed from my normal and went to a 5x1 and was exhausted by Saturday, no longer a spring chicken...

Thanks, Klaconqeso, very well put...

I should have prefaced my earlier statement with "that was the way they did it last year when I was on Harmony", and I was a little skeptical when they told me my room key would be on the door, but I believe we have to have a little more trust in our fellow human being, if the cruise ship was in some down trodden part of America I could see not wanting your card left out so people could steal your stuff, but this is a cruise that people have paid thousands of dollars to go on just like you, so why would they risk screwing up and getting thrown off of the ship? Nothing is in you room at this time, maybe some free gifts from the cruise line, maybe your luggage? When they make the announcement that your room is available go down by the room and get your key, and then no worries for the rest of the cruise. Pre-loading your picture save you and RCCL time so you can get on the cruise ship faster.

Yes, they leave one of your cards behind the room number placard in an envelop, use your set sail pass until you go to your room.