J. Woody

I didn’t buy any food package.  Just go and try Izumi 3rd night.  It was great so back again last day of the cruise.  

On 8/18/2018 at 10:45 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Depends....which ship?

On 8/18/2018 at 9:45 PM, Farminger said:

Now the $65 million add on to this thread, where on the ship, besides the Windzhammere (Sorry, Matt, had to emphasize that one) Latte-tudes, and MDR can one get specialty coffees and teas with the Refreshment Package?

Harmony’s MDR does.  Server got w/espresso and Latte for me.!

On 8/23/2018 at 8:59 AM, twangster said:

The theory was the POS terminals at bars would have a long cord that could be extended to reach the guest.  Most of the time though, the cord wraps around bottles or other items like drink of the day displays so in the end, you do have to usually take it off and hand it to the bartender.

The terminals sometimes have issues.  On Anthem at the pool station it would never read my band for the whole cruise.  My card was in the room since I was going swimming so they had to key in my towel manually.  Took several minutes and quite a line developed while they fuddled with it.  

I had same experience terminals had issues all the time at pool bar.  My son lost his on days 3.   Found out over $40 charged at Arcade.( not used by my son)!

I phoned guest service and they took off those charges.  

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

Short cruises on most lines don't include lobster.   Typically 5+ nights.  

Thank you for let me know !

Thank you for your blogging and taking your time !!

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Dinner Night 4:

Wine List

 

Menu:

Greek Salad:

Pork Tacos:

Chicken Cordon Bleu:

Garlic Tiger Shrimp:

Tagliatelle:

Probably the best dish this cruise. 

Warm Donuts:

Overall dinners in the MDR were satisfactory.  We were not "wowed" by anything but it was not terrible either. Service was beyond excellent. That was all to the credit of our waiter, Jonathan. Best waiter so far on any Royal Caribbean cruise, and that includes CK. And yes, I did miss CK

 

No Lobstar ??

22 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

MDR Dinner Night 1:

Mushroom Soup: Delicious!

French Onion Soup:

Ceasar Salad:

Spaghetti Bolognese:

Kids Chicken Nuggets:

Fish & Seafood Mash: this was quite good, but a bit cold.

Prime Rib: Hubby said this was not good as it was quite dry.

Warm Hazelnut Chocolate cake:

Key Lime Pie:

Overall impressed with the food in the MDR tonight. Service with Jonathan was outstanding. That was a nice surprise! We put in a request to be seated at his table every night. We'll see how it goes. Off to see the ice show now.

 

Our Service with MADE last week of the Harmony.  He is also great !!   Enjoy your cruise and thank you for your live blog!!  

Missing straws ?  We just back from Harmony.  Straws are everywhere.....and agree that hard to drink frozen drink without it.!!

Thank you tonyfsu21. I would like to make sure that “ Solarium” is only for adults but Solarium bistro.

Is Solarium Bistro for only Adult ? ?  I would like to try but my teens should not allow to dine there ??

We always traveling with only carry on. ( Such a tiny suit case).. We can’t bring a big spray of sunscreen/ shampoo/conditioner for all of us.  I have to shop before embarkation.

Is there any Super market near port ??  We will stay Holiday Inn Express Airport & Cruise port 1150 West State Road 84 Fort Lauderdale. or I could buy at store in the ship.

Thank you for your help.  !! 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

I did.  The details were buried in this live blog:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5195-independence-122117-9-night-christmas/&do=findComment&comment=51953

For the price it was a decent way to try something different.  On the bus ride the driver narrated and provided many tidbits of information.  That is why I will endure bus tours - because you can learn so much that can be used on future visits.  Tip - avoid the seats over the wheels.  The wheel wells curve up and into the rows of seats above the wheels making for zero leg room.

I read your blog. What a beautiful pictures !! Thank you for your post , twangster !!  Also thank you let me know Lovetocruise2002 !!

So you skip that tour half way of that ? Go back to the ship port is that easy ??

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We've did a taxi to PE last time on Harmony and also when cruising Allure.  You just need to tell them, "Port Everglades, Terminal 18".  And be on the look out for Harmony of the Seas.  You cannot miss her.  She is massive.  You'll know if you're not getting dropped off in front of her 

However, taxi drivers in FLL are not the greatest, at least not in our experiences.  After our last taxi debacle last August, Hubby says we are done with taxis and sticking to Lyft now.

Do you mind to explain for “ Lyft” ??  What is this ??

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

You will want to tell the taxi driver "Port Everglades", and ideally the terminal number where your ship is docked (this may or may not be on your set sail pass, I honestly don't recall). If you don't know the terminal, it's OK. There is an overhead display as you enter the port that lists all of the ships and which terminal they are in, so you can look at this as you enter and quickly figure out which terminal you need to go to. IIRC, Harmony is usually in terminal 18, but others here can confirm that.

And don't worry about asking newbie questions! That's a really good question to ask, and we were all newbies at one time or another.  Honestly, even with one cruise under my belt I still feel like a bit of a "noob"!

Thank you JLMoran !!

I’ll be in San Juan for a day in Aug. Never been there before.  I booked “ Old & New San Juan” tour through Cruise Planner .  Only $25.00 for 2 1/2 hr. Any one tried this tour before ??

Big point will be a Air Condition bus !! 

2 hours ago, melski94 said:

It depends on the ship if you can sign the waiver online.  On Harmony, you have to do it on the ship.  If you can do it online, then you will see it as part of your online check in.

You can't reserve a spot to do the zipline or flowrider unless you are doing a private event or lessons.  We did the zipline after embarkation with no wait at all.  My teens did it a handful of times in a row and then were done for the week.  It's a very short ride.  If you are looking for special Flowrider time, you can reserve the flowrider for a private session or just do group lessons for an hour (just not the first night as they should visit the teen club the first night).  Group lessons are limited to 8 people so you get quite a few rides in the hour.  There is also teen flowrider session one night just check the teen cruise compass.

We've put arcade credit on the kids seapass card on Liberty but decided against it on Harmony to use the kids gold C&A discount (which was a huge pain so don't do that).  On Harmony, you can purchase arcade credit on the cruise planner or once onboard purchase individual games on the seapass card.  You can't get the $25 credit for $20 onboard Harmony unless it is to refill the card (don't know if it works the same on other Oasis class ships).  On Liberty, you could just buy the $25 credit for $20 on the ship so the difference on Harmony surprised me. So next time for my kids, I will just purchase the arcade credit on the cruise planner.

We are going on Harmony. I’ll let my teens to do first thing after embarkation... I don’t want to buy flow rider lessons. Looks cool, but so expensive.  I’ll buy arcade credit on cruise planner then. One thing, this is out of “ teens activity” topic, We are staying hotel near airport Ft.Lauderdale.  I will use taxi to get cruise port, should I give driver the address or just name of the ship?

Sorry for newbie question

Thank you for your post!!

3 hours ago, CraftyCat05 said:

To know what teen activities are on your ship, you can check the Cruise Compasses from your ship on prior cruises and some of them have the teen compass in them.
You can't sign the waiver's online, but you can sign them on your stateroom television on at least the Oasis Class ships. Most of the time, the activities are first come first served, but you can also reserve the Flow Rider for groups or yourself online at a cost. 

I have never bought the arcade card, so I have no idea how it works, but I usually see them at a discounted price as you said.

Enjoy your first family cruise on RCCL!

Thank you for your comment!!

Hi, our family first RCCL cruise is a month away, I would like to know our teens activity on board.  Zip line/ Flow rider have to sign the waiver ??  Can we do on line  ?  reserve the spot ?

Any recommendation would be appreciated.  How about arcade card ? There are always discounted.( $20 for $25 value}.  some one bought this ?

Thank you for your help.

On 5/22/2018 at 1:37 PM, tiny260 said:

I'm doing "resortforaday", picked one of the resorts that accepts kids because I will have my Grandson with me on this cruise (Hyatt Ziva), otherwise I would have selected an adults only.

If you research Dunn's Rivers fall or the Blue Hole, it seemed like the drive was 2 hours and the cost was not favorable. I would have loved to do Dunn's River again to relive a moment from our past but didn't want the long bus ride (Or Taxi).

Check this tour, Courtney- Taylor Tour to Blue Hole.  Yes. it took 2 hours but really interesting to see loco village and I shopped Coffee Beans which sold double price at port!!

On the way back, we saw  “ tube river” and asked him to stop. Kids having a great time.  I’ll sure to use this company next time.  

I booked cabana at Nellies Beach.  Over the water ones are sold out.  I heard cabana served “first come bases...."

Which one or # you would recommend?  Any suggestions I’ll take!  Thank you

4 hours ago, jurrjurr said:

Exception is Quebec.  The language police will hunt you down.  Beautiful province but strange laws and regulations.  

Hope not see the “ Welcome home all Canadian” banner in Quebec.

On 5/24/2018 at 11:08 AM, Sailor_to_Cruiser said:

I am american. I live in Scotland (North Ayrshire). I have been here for 18 years.  I sailed out of Harwich a couple years ago and found the British population onboard the ship very overwhelming.  I sucked it up because, after all, I am in their country.  I would never put down and call names to the people of the host nation.  That is just bad diplomacy.

Regarding the "Welcome home all Americans" banner: it was in America, in the Nation's Capital of America.  If they can't say it, then there is something wrong with the country.  I am retired US Navy, and I am often appalled at the way the UK treats their service members, both active and veterans.  (I know that All Americans does not mean servicemen and women, but just go with me on this). Open your mind and see how other countries act and see if it can be used in your own country.  Maybe if everyone did that, it would be a better world.

Remember, it is an American company, sailing from America.  It is going to cater towards the majority of their guests from that location, Americans.  I've heard that cruises from Galveston are heavy on the Country music.  They're Texans after all.

 

Just for your information.  In CANADA,  all airports put JUST “ WELCOME”  banner on ALL  languages even in the city.  Nice !!

What a great news on  your morning!!  Happy sailing !!

6 hours ago, monctonguy said:

is this a change in policy or the way its always been?

 

Don't these people that pay lots of $$ for a suite get all kinds of perks for their money already? Surely sharing a lounge with some seasoned cruises doesn't ruin your experience or make you feel like you aren't getting what your entitled to? And I cant imagine they are over crowded.

 

I guess these are problems I will never have to worry about....staying in a suite and being waited on or reaching pinnacle.

 

There is lots that I don't like or agree with that Royal does...this doesn't even register as an issue for 95% of cruise passengers....just the elite ones I guess!..lol Sounds like those who sit in first class and complain about how NOT first class enough it is......first world problems eh?!....

 

Maybe cruise on a ship that doesn't have a suite lounge...then you wont have to deal with those pinnacle people that spent like 700 nights in a inside room to reach that status...haha

 

Now if your are pinnacle AND you can still afford to book a suite...then you deserve a whole lounge to yourself.....

 

Oh..and this thread should prob be under Discussion rather than News and Rumors?

To reach “ The Pinnacle” 700 nights in a regular room !!!!?  OH MY God.  These people is royal for Royal!