Rey Santos

Sorrentos: Second best reason to get the drink package!

You know, I hate that all the terrible reviews of Sorrentos is just convincing me that I have to try it when I cruise.  If everyone told me "oh you have to eat here, it's the best pizza ever" then I might try it.  But with so many people talking about how bad it is, now I feel I must try it to see how pizza can possibly be that badly done.  Why in the world would that be my reaction??

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for making my first cruise on Royal go well with all the tips and reviews on the board plus the blog post.  Just a quick story time.
The wife and I flew out of MSP on Friday, Dec 8th, 2017 to Fort lauderdale thru Atlanta.  The same day a massive unheard of soul crushing blizzard fell on Atlanta. Our flight to ATL landed 45 mins late but our flight to FLL was a nightmare.  We got on the plane at 3pm and then over the next 8 hours got on and off the plane twice, pushed back and then the flight got canceled because the crew timed out.  ATL only has 8 deicing trucks and they apparently breakdown easily.  MSP has 40 for a comparison.  All the flights the next day were past the set sail time so we had to improvise.  We stood in line for 2 hours trying to get our checked luggage back and Delta said no go at 1AM.  I started the search for a rental car and all the one way, one day rentals were gone and was told there is no way we can rent you a car.  Here is the trick:  If you reserve a one way car but for a weekly rate it will come up and you can get out of there.  It cost more but when in need its totally worth it.  Most programs have an early return policy so you will get a little money back.   In the end we got a car from Hertz for $360 and drove from 2AM-noon to fort lauderdale without bags.  Did a quick Walmart fashion stock up and got on the boat.   During the drive down talk to Delta and got our bags rerouted to Jamaica our 4th day stop and we picked them up there and enjoyed the rest of our cruise.  So we were the casual people on formal night :)
 

Wow, all things considered, you managed to get on the cruise (formal clothes or not).  That's a great accomplishment. 
Good tip for the rental car!

Happy to report that early this morning I checked online again and notice that limit had been lifted.  So I called RC right away to ask for the upgrade.  In the end we are good, now in a suite with 1 1/2 bath and an extra pullman bed so the kids don't have to share a bed plus free gratuities for all   Told the kiddies they would get their own room maybe next time lol.  And yes, Matt, I booked with the NRD so it was my understanding all along that I would have to pay a penalty of $100pp for one of the cancelled rooms (not both rooms) which is what ended up happening.  The remainder of my deposit goes to a FCC which can be applied to this cruise in a few weeks.  Something interesting though, after reading bcarney's posts about his FCC, I did ask them what happens after I apply this FCC and sometime before sailing in March I decide I want to upgrade again, would my FCC be lost since already applied?  They (agent and supervisor) assured me no it would not be, it would simply be reapplied by a supervisor since it is not expired and I am not changing the sail date or ship.  They said this is done all the time.  So what I have learned from all this is that the front end agents often do not know the rules and sometimes even the supervisor does not because with my case they had to go to a manager.  With all this I was on hold for probably over and hour but worth it because it was good learning experience to not take the first agent's word for it all the time.  And I may be in the minority here but I prefer to book and deal directly with RC because I can argue my own case and have control over my own booking.  I blame it on my Type A personality lol.

No need for all of that at the port in Cozumel. All of the prices for popular destinations are posted. Don't know how recent this pic is (its from Google image search) but it is similar to what we saw Christmas of 2015.
 

I've been to Mr Sanchos. Can't wait to go back. That's my review. I was a bit anxious as it was my first "non RC" venture, especially regarding the return to ship. When we left to get back to the ship,  there was a line of taxis that had to be at least 50 or more. All modern, all air conditioned. Service is amazing. Again, can't wait to go back in September. ?