Traveler

Well , it was long time ago since the last cruise . I guess its another Med cruise before Symphony is going to Miami. Actually this cruise was the original cruise we planned for this ship but then we added one in April. This time we are going to focus mainly on exploring the ship , we scheduled only 2 tours so I am not even sure we will go out of the ship in every port, but things can change. The main different for this cruise is the fact it will be our first time on a JS , The price was right and hey YOLO , I booked it. As always we arrived 1.5 days before the cruise , after all there are allot of things to do in Barcelona , this time I found a flight with a connection in Istanbul with Turkish Air as they are part of star alliance and we get points and access to the lounges (due to the status in United). It prove itself as we enjoyed the very impressive lounge while waiting between the flights and they also upgraded us. Tomorrow we will tour Barcelona , not decided yet where to go so it will be a free style and mainly for the day to pass so we can board the ship ? Not everyone were happy we are cruising again : The lounge : They have food stations were they prepare some fresh dishes : And how I can Ignore the Baklava cakes, mental note to myself - avoid checking you sugar level at least few weeks after the cruise

Thanks , I saw something like that that was offered in the in flight duty free magazine and wanted to check it out. I might try to order it.

Thanks, I will try them , going to pack them.

For the cruise I might agree , although I used the box cutter few times to create better boxes for the wine I purchase on board and at the port to get it them ready for the flight

I agree about the box cutter , but not sure about the screwdriver as it dose not contain all the types I might need , but yes , I rarely use it.

Exactly , sometime matches can save the day ::-)

No issues on the last 8 cruises or during my many flights , the letherman is less than two inch...

? , but the wine opener is a must , I do not consider it as something I can leave at home

As part of pre packing preparations for my next cruise (I can only blame some FB group for starting today), I tried to figure out why my suitcase wight so much. I went over the stuff that are being left in it between flights and cruises, here are some and my excuse for carry them. Am I over packing , maybe ... Some extra thrush bags , always good for dirty cloths and packing bottles. Zip bags , disposable cutlery - Mainly for pre cruise if I want to buy something in the supermarket to eat . wide tape - for the suitcase tags (anti rain system) and for bottle packing. Small tape - Fix small things , I even fixed my old passport with it once. small cutter - to help me create packing boxes for bottles and the tags. Matches - From Farvor steak house in Buenos Aires (very recommended, the restaurant not the matches) Nyquil bottle - our saver if catching cold , and now the pills are not the same :-) Screwdriver - to fix eyeglasses, basic electronics (which mean I will open the device which is not working , look on it , do not know what to do and close it again) , Picked up in Fry's , I should be allow to go to this store (at least my spouse would prefer me avoiding it). Small fake Lederman , the Original was stolen - goof also as a door stopper . Emergency antibiotics - Mainly for the times I travel to Asia and South America. Anti stain wipes - actually they never work , but will give them last chance. As you can see you can also call it my nerd kit ... Any strange things you pack and never use ?

Enjoy your cruise , Oasis class is the best ?

First , welcome to the blog. From what I observed at the different ships so far (Allure, Oasis, Symphony , Harmony , Rhapsody, Liberty and Voyager) they have a combination of new and old machines. I do not remember what were the exact machines at the Oasis but on my last cruise with Rhapsody I did saw the golden buffalo machine and the four screen machines which had also the buffalo game (the one that you can choose what will be on each screen that includes the buffalo , Miss kitty, Panda and some other that I do not recall). As @JLMoran said , it seems the machine on board is tighter than the one in Vegas and AC , although I won a jackpot on my last travel (and one on the Symphony) the way to know if machines are good or not based on the long run and not on random jackpots. In that case I can tell you that Symphony and Rhapsody were good for me and the rest was or even or many times on the negative side (but still I had allot of fun and if I calculate the certificates I got its much better). The "free cruise" system is very simple. for every 5 $ you spend in the machine (no matter if you win or lose) you get one point , from 1000 points you start to get vouchers for the next cruise and from 2400 points you can get cruise certificate for inside room , 3600 for ocean view room and 4800 for Balcony . I had a discussion once with someone that cruise very often and spent most of her time at the ship casinos playing slots , she told me that once she is over 10000 points (never ever I was even close to that) they start to give you beside the certification also on board credit to use on your current cruise. Make sure you insert you room card to the machine while playing so they can track and rate you. On the certificate you have a list of cruise you can take for "free", when I say free , you still need to pay taxes and gratitude. you can chose a cruise from the list or you can use its money value (500 for inside , 800 for ocean view and 1000 $ for Balcony) to pay for any cruise you want. You must book the cruise no later than one month after the certificate was issued. The Certificate will be handed to you on the end of day 6 at the Casino (they will try to find you) or to your room no later than day 7. to book a cruise you just need to call the number on the certificate. If you and your husband are playing and both are getting certificates I think you can combine them for next cruise. Please note that if you played allot, before using voucher just call the Casino and ask to price the cruise you want , many times you will get better discount (more than 1000 $ which is the max certificate value). so you can book the cruise you want with the discount/casino rate and later book another free cruise with the voucher. Not like land Casino , you are not getting free drinks in the ship Casino unless you reached to prime (2500 points) status , but since you are M life Platinum it might be that you already getting this benefit, if not , once you got to 2500 points just go to the host and he/she will give you a sticker for the drinks. The Casino will be open during sea days and around 15-30 minutes after you leave the port , usually it will stay open until 2-4 Am pending on the action. Let me know if you have any other questions and most important enjoy your cruise and good luck at the Casino.

Make sense , but when we consider that it was also not presented also on the Symphony of the seas it might tell us something.

with the number of points they need a new level ?

Well , I will go with the wonky IT with combination that I am not entering the US site. Did find any correlation yet between the number of points although the bests I found is the amount of $ spent (including the cruise cost) *6 for platinum and *5 for gold but has I cannot recall the exact amount for the past cruises. The strange things is that my CA numbered changed in the site and in the application. I just hope RC not planning to go to the airline FF model were the millage is based on the amount of dollar you spent (changed during the last five years as before it was per the real millage). Well I will stay optimistic and more important will reserve another 9 nights (the amount I am missing for diamond) just to be on the safe side.

With RC website its more :

No , they are far from it , for example last cruise I was in 2062

I still see the same , will check tomorrow again .

I logged in today to my account to check for BOGO for my Symphony cruise in two weeks. Two strange things I could notice . 1. My C&A number changed , although it has my exact status the number is totally different. 2. When viewing my past cruises I can see that in the points, instead of points per night I see several thousands points which make me think , are RC going to change the point system again ?

I wish they would build a new small/mid size shop , I am sure it will be much better and might get some of things which the 20-25 year old ships do not have and you can not ass them just by renovation

Bonus post - Real Hummus recipe (not RC Hummus) As promised I am adding a real Hummus recipe , although it take much more time than go to the supermarket and buy ready made one I Guarantee fresh homemade Hummus is much more tasty and healthier. The main missing integrates In so called “Hummus” in many restaurants is the Tehina (sesame paste) You can get one in every middle eastern grocery shop or in many Natural food stores, I even found it once in Walmart. What you will need : Two cups of chickpeas (dry ones, not from a can) One cup of raw tehina/tahini One Lemon One onion 5-6 Garlic clove Salt/pepper Olive oil. Preparations: The secret for a good Hummus is to first soak it in water for at least 24 hours. So we will put the Chickpeas in a bowl and rains it. We will add water to the bowl, enough to cover the chickpeas grains. The water should be replaced every 6 to 8 hours. In places like Florida its better to put the bowl of chickpeas in the refrigerator. After 24 hours we rinse again the chickpeas few times. Now we are ready to cook. Cooking Put the chickpeas inside cooking pan/pot and add water (around 5 cm/2 inches above the chickpeas level) add the garlic cloves (peeled) and the onion. once the water is boiled reduce the hit, remove the foam that was created during the process using a spoon. From time to time , using a small sieve, remove the shells which are separated from the chickpeas. The Chickpeas should be cooked for around 1 to two hours , it is ready when you take out one grain and can smash it easily in your hands. As fresher the Chickpeas are the shorter time they need to be cooked , some people add a spoon of sodium carbonate to expedite the process , its possible , I try to avoid it. Once it is ready , remove the onion and move the Chickpeas with some of the cooking water to a food processor or a blender Grind the Chickpea and the garlic until getting smooth paste. Let the Hummus cool a while before mixing it with the tehina as tehina very sensitive to hit. Once the Hummus is chilled you can bring it back to the food processor/blender and slowly add the tehina, lemon Juice from one lemon , salt and pepper and a spoon/two spoons of olive oil. That’s its, now you have real Hummus , Enjoy. The prepared Hummus can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two days but if its left more than that it mean : or you do not like Hummus or something went wrong with the process ?. If you want to reduce the preparation time for the future, you can cook more Chickpeas and freeze them before processing it. Once you take them our from the freezer you can grain them with the tehina and lemon/salt. There is also possibility to use a pre cooked chickpeas from a can , but then you need to rinse it very well and the taste will not be the same (but still better than many other places).

Hi , As @Lovetocruise2002 said Was on the Rhapsody last week , came to the port around 10:30 and got boarding number 2 , we boarded around 10:45 or 50 but early , Have a nice cruise https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/9042-rhapsody-of-the-seas-greek-islands-25-aug-1-sep-semi-live-blog/

Thanks , The countdown is 21 days ? Symphony , I would not even have time to diet before

Call center jobs are one of the jobs with highest churn rate . So when RC saying "Our Springfield facility is not closing, and layoffs are not in the plan,” the company said in a statement. “Several weeks ago, we shared an update with our colleagues about reassigning some call center work to other locations. This will be done over time and only applies to some positions that are vacated by colleagues who decide to retire or leave voluntarily for other reasons" they mean they will let nature do its own , If RC will stop bringing new people to the call center in the US it will be quite empty in 6 to 9 month. Maybe the will keep the second level support in Springfield.

Day 7 and 8 (Sea day and disembarkation) So every good thing must end I guess, Day 7 came quite fast , I love sea days , no need to plan anything beside , well to leave some time to pack. Lucky for us we were told we need to leave the suitcase no later than 11 (its usually 10). As we did not had special plans we did a last tour at the ship , spend some time on the sundecks (which was quite pack but still we could find places , and yes many chair were empty for hours with books and towels). It was a perfect sea day from weather perspective, during most of out port days we had some rain for 30 minutes +/- but during the sea day the sun was out all the time. Dinner was again in the MDR , it was the last day to see our wonderful table companion , I feel lucky we got this table as we really enjoy the conversions. During this meal we took some pictures, shared emails. We said goodbye to the Casino and the Casino bar (who provide us with few drinks during this cruise) and went to sleep around 11 PM , I found out that one of the key making the disembarkation easier is to : try to sleep early, avoid to many drinks before going to sleep and pack early so it will not bother us. Before going to sleep I found our cabin attended and gave him extra cash gratitude as I think he did the extra mile. Our disembarkation was schedule to 9 AM ad included airport transfer so we had time to eat quick breakfast, get out from the room around 8:20 and waiting for our number to be called. It was a rainy morning but not that bad. As our flight was schedule for 6 PM we considered two options for the day , the first was to use RC program “stay a while” which allows you, for a payment to stay on the ship until 1 or 3 PM , use the different facilities and eat lunch at the WJ. We thought about it and we were not sure we really want to stay and watch all the happy people that just got boarded the ship and have full 7 day to enjoy it. The second option (and the one we choose) was to get to the airport, rent a car and drive to the nearest city mail for few hours of shopping with lunch break at a local restaurant. So, we went down to the port, collect our luggage and catch the transfer, we did not have to wait too long and the bus left to the airport with 10 people, it was about 15 minutes ride. At the airport the bus leaves you at a parking lot which you need to walk around 10 -15 minutes to get to the gates (take it into consideration if you consider this) . we dropped our suitcases at the luggage storage service (7 Euros per suitcase as I booked a small car and did not know if it will have enough space for the luggage) and collect our car. All in all, it cost us the same as if we used the stay awhile program but allow us more flexibility to do whatever we wanted. Flight back went without any major issues and we arrived back at home safely , starting another week and to countdown our days before our next cruise. So what I think about the Rhapsody?: It was our first cruise on a Vision class ship and we had some doubts (small ship , older ship etc) , the ship itself looks good, It is well maintained although you can find here and there some places which might need to be refreshed. Service – Service on the ship is very good and maybe even better than other ships we sailed at the past. Facilities dose not feel crowd, we always found place to seat at the WJ and the Centrum during major events was not crowded more than the promenaded during same events. MDR services was very good and quite fast. Ports - The ability to get to ports which bigger ships can not attend is a major plus for sure, I loved Mykonos, Kotor and Athens will try to visit them again. Food – food quality in the MDR was usually good , some of the dishes were better than I was eaten on other ships, Chef table was amazing , we did not tried other special restaurant. Off hours food – Here I Think RC could have done much better, the only facility offers food after 9 PM is the park cafe were you can get small salads, Pizza and hot dogs , some cookies were also offered. Most of the days it was open only until 12 AM and on some days until 2 AM , offering mainly Pizza. I think RC should offer bigger variety and leave it open longer. The area near the cafe was packed with people that were looking for something to eat. In one or two of the nights the place around the cafe was quite a mess with allot of used cups and dirty plates. Entertainment – Although they do not have Broadway shows on board they offered something almost every day, we saw one headliner show and one home production , it was nice. Live music was easy to find, and the Centrum was always offered something. Casino – Small comparing to the other ships but not very small, it has some new slot machines installed , six to eight gaming tables (4 BJ ,1 3 card poker, 1 roulette and 1 Caribbean Poker. Most of the times it was not too busy, 3 $ games were offered many times. Cruise Director / Events manager – The CD is Elvis from Chile and EM is Paulo from Italy (who looks to me exactly like the Austin powers character) , it was their first cruise together but they had good chemistry. I think both did good job , Elvis could been seen everywhere and they both organized nice events. The fact they added the Quest plus the love and marriage game show to a European cruise was a big plus. So, Based on our experience would we try another cruise with a vision class? I will say yes, if it is an interesting route or we can get a good deal on it. I think RC doing good job maintaining Rhapsody and if you are not comparing it all the time to the bigger classes she is doing not bad at all. Let me know if you have any questions. That’s it for this blog, as always II enjoyed sharing the experience. I would like to thank my spouse for her patient , for all the times I took the internet to update the blog, asking her to wait with the food before I am taking the pictures and leaving the lights on late at night to finish sending the updates ? Thank you , until next time.

I think this picture describes my disembarkation day feelings