MaryCS62

I don't mind Jamie's (the lamb chops were delicious), and I actually like Giovanni's, but I do have a soft spot for Portofino's.  10 years ago, my Mom took the family on a cruise for her 80th birthday, and her only caveat is that we all had to eat dinner together. The only exception she made was for DH and I, because that year was also our 25th anniversary, and she said we could do one night of specialty dining on our own.  We ended up at Portofino's, and had a wonderful time

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

The truth is, I probably wouldn't even worry about contacting them ahead of time.  My recent experience is that they have pretty much abandoned the "group seating" concept as a default arrangement.  Yes, you can still request group seating but I think they have realized that most people really don't enjoy sitting with strangers and prefer private (or what they try and pass as private) dining.

If you just go to the MDR on boarding day, you can pretty much request your table.  It's kind of important to go to the MDR on the first night so that you can "claim" your table.  If you are doing MTD it's certainly not a guarantee that you will get that same table every night (especially if you miss a night or 2 due to specialty dining or for whatever reason) but they really do an excellent job of trying to accommodate your individual requests.  I have been amazed at how consistently they have put us either in the exact same table we request on the first night OR at least put us with the same servers.

Best of luck !!  Don't worry.  You WILL get a table for 2 if you ask for that.  Where that table is located is a big more of a toss-up unless you go and scout the dining room yourself and pick out a nice table for yourself !

Funny - our 2nd night of MTD on Anthem, they tried to stick us in an awful spot, and I flat out refused it.  They finally found a better table (I requested near the windows), but it was still a bad night - very slow service (maybe because it was first formal night & pretty crowded).  The next night, they asked if we wanted the same table as the night before, we said yes, thinking we would get the window table, and they brought us to the one I had refused.  No again, they found us a better table near the windows.  Next night - same thing. This time I asked which one it was, it was STILL the bad table, and again, got a better one.  The last night, I said what table number we wanted, and got one close by.  

Next cruise, we're doing set time dining, and going to talk to them first thing to see if we can get a good table.

On 3/28/2023 at 5:13 PM, KDK said:

Thank you for this. I requested scheduled dining and they put me on a waitlist. Now, I've reached out to the special services for food allergies and they forwarded my request to the dining manager. I have my fingers crossed, because right now I only have MTD reservations. 

Did your daughter ever order gf from room service?

We never tried - she's too nervous to do something like that.  She would be more likely to save bread from dinner, or grab something from Windjammer (fruit, cheese, etc) and store it in the room for later.  Her first cruise, she didn't want to wake up for breakfast, then was annoyed the DR wasn't open for her to eat - but we had brought a jar of PB, and she got an apple from WJ and ate that til she could get something else.  She also carries gf protein bars, or Kind bars with her, so she has options.

For my GF daughter, safest option is to have scheduled dining (NOT MTD), so that you have the same waiter pairing every day. Also, go to your dining room when you first board, introduce yourselves to the headwaiter, and inform him/her about the issue. They will be on top of it and be an extra layer of protection.

15 hours ago, SweetPea said:

I am trying to look at my cruise planner through the app, and I'm stuck in a loop. 

When i click Accept, it brings me back to the same Terms of Use  page. 

I'm on Android. Restarted my phone and same deal. 

Is it just me?

 

That's happened to me a few times - I end up un-installing & re-installing the app. You can try clearing the cache first in your app manager, but I don't think that worked for me.  My phone has been glitching a lot lately, though - freezing screens, apps failing - so I may be replacing it soon.

8 hours ago, jays2rc said:

I neglected to mention that we also booked the Sushi Making class on Day 3.  It's covered pretty well on this blog post except the food and experience differed slightly.

• Our class started at 10 AM, so we skipped breakfast before heading to Izumi.  The time feels really early for lunch; I think this is so they can finish the class and clean up before the lunch crowd rolls (ha!) in.
• It entails making two rolls (spicy tuna and shrimp tempura), 2 shrimp (ebi) nigiri, and what I think of as futomaki (hand roll).  It's a ton of food, especially at 11 AM when it's time to eat your creation.
• Unlike what the blog post mentioned, there was no galley tour.  (boo!)

The class was one of the highlights of the cruise.  Well worth the price despite the somewhat awkward scheduling.

ETA: The description of the class indicates that sake is also served.  Either because of the early time, or just general customer preference, they served champagne/mimosas to the adults instead.  I don't care for sake anyway, but thought this might be a good heads up to those looking forward to having sake at 10:30 AM. 

ETA2: I'm realizing now that this picture looks about 10% as appetizing as the meal actually was.  This was prior to cleaning up and adding eel sauce and spicy mayo to the rolls.

Took the sushi class on Anthem a few years back - DH won't touch it - even when I had tempura shrimp to offer -- but older DD was with us, and while she couldn't do the class, she was more than happy to help me eat some of it.  Have it scheduled for my upcoming Oasis cruise with younger DD, and will have to remind her to just have coffee in the morning, and maybe a hard boiled egg or yogurt, to make sure we will finish it.  Really had a lot of fun with it 

Just got off Anthem, and I saw little cards that were left on unattended (towels only, no belongings) lounges in the Solarium with the time the attendant first noticed it. These particular ones were labeled 730 am, I think.  They removed the towels around 930 am, which was about the point when there weren't really any more empty loungers.  Didn't spend a lot of time by the pools, as it was a little cool so I did other things, but it worked that one day

I can't see my C&A points on the website, and if they're on the app, I can't find them.  We were able to get points from our honeymoon cruise in 1988, however -- in the photo album I had from there, I included our tickets and other things from the cruise.  Several years ago, DH called them, and they said scan & email the info and they would credit it - and they did!

It's my cruise too, and while I don't mind the extra sea day, I'm annoyed because we had plans to meet up with friends -- we were going to take the Disney shuttle and they were driving to meet us so we could hang out at Disney Springs for a few hours.  

I noticed on the website when I "view boarding pass" there are 2 boxes (me & DH) with our pics, reservation # & 2 links - 1 says Set Sail Pass, & the other is view luggage tags- it doesn't include the Guest Ticket Contract, just the tags. Is that an option for you?

4 hours ago, NJCruisers said:

I have no problem getting 2 apps or an app & a salad or whatnot, I'll make it work. Just for planning purposes, I don't want to go out for our specialty dining night and miss lobster night or whatever the one I really liked was.  I like steak, but I don't want to eat the same thing over and over again. 

Can you find another 10 day cruise? That might help you figure out the order

10 hours ago, WAYNO said:

I agree, but I could also add, just like with the  carne asada on Mexican night, leave off the sauce and you just have a steak.  Or so I was told by our waiter when he learned we purposely skipped Mexican night.  The waiter was convincingly concerned when we only returned for night 6 and 7 after night 1.  

 

I don't know what I could do to make French night okay.

Beef tenderloin, beef bourguignon, chicken cordon bleu - or the risotto if I don't want meat that night.  That's one night I'm not worried about

As of now, from the various menus I've looked at, for 7 day cruises - 1st night, Welcome aboard, 2nd night French, 2nd to last night is Royal (lobster) night, last night, Bon Voyage. The other 3 nights seem to be Italian, Caribbean (at least on the Caribbean sailings), Mexican or British. There's also Mediterranean, but I think that shows up on 9 night or longer. My sailing next week (Caribbean) has British but not Mexican, which is good in one way, because the Mexican menu didn't appeal, but bad because I had made an educated guess as to which night was Mexican & booked a specialty (Jamie's) that night, & apparently it's Caribbean night, which did have things I liked.  I may switch Jamies to Italian night, since I won't want that 2 days in a row, and tbh, the Italian menu didn't really appeal either. A couple of things looked good, but I'll get my fill at Jamies.

Considering all the supply chain issues, your best bet will be asking ahead of time. This weeks cruise could be different from next week, if they have to change suppliers.  Definitely speak with a dining manager at any location you plan to eat at.

On 3/3/2023 at 5:18 PM, RJC said:

Found on the 270 menu on app!

 

That sounds really good!

Best bet would be to just call / email the Wedding people directly. I did see a wedding dinner on Explorer 10 years ago, but they were maybe 15-20 people in what was then the Italian specialty restaurant, Portofino's.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/topics/cruise-weddings

3 hours ago, D Alt said:

Anyone bring their own seasonings, dressings or condiments ? 

I am thinking of taking some Himalayan sea salt and Everything Bagel Seasoning with me on my next one, mostly for Windjammer breakfast. 

I've never done it, although celiac DD has considered bringing things she wanted to be sure if. As long as they are in a sealed package when you come onboard, it shouldn't be a problem 

If it's your cruise in the app showing the kids menu only, go to the change sailing option, then scroll all the way down to browse all ships. Find your ship and its current sailing, and check dining there. Keep in mind that as far as I know (at least for 7 night cruises), days 1 (welcome), 2 (French - 1st formal night) 6 (Royal - 2nd formal night) and 7 (Bon Voyage, but really it should be goodbye ) are "set in stone".  The others (Italian, Mexican, Caribbean & sometimes British gets tossed in there) sometimes move around.  For example, it looked like night 5 on our cruise was going to be Mexican, and that menu didn't appeal, so DH & I booked Jamie's for that night (he wanted to do it, so we picked that night).  But - when I checked last week's sailing, as well as the current one, it had  British night 3, Italian night 4, & Caribbean night 5 - no Mexican at all, so if we get on board & that's the options, I may see about changing Jamie's to a different night.  

For shorter & longer cruises, you either won't have as many choices, or there will be repeats. 

I'm getting a sharps container also, but I only take a weekly med that is an injection.  However, I test my sugar 4 x day, and those stupid lancets have to be disposed of safely.

On 2/21/2023 at 1:12 PM, HeWhoWaits said:

Our oldest was Song of America.

Ours too!!  Honeymoon cruise in 1986 - and boy, were those cabins a lot smaller than the ones they showed on "The Love Boat" 

Narcotic or anything with a C (controlled substance) symbol (C-II - C-V), I would definitely bring the bottles.  My DD, who had epilepsy, I did belt & suspenders - had a weekly med holder filled in, and at least 1-2 weeks more in bottles (for a 12 day, 1 week in the med holder, 3 weeks in bottles). If you want to make it easier - ie, you have a 90 day supply but don't want to bring the big bottles) you can ask your pharmacy if they will package some of your meds in a 2nd, smaller bottle that will take up less room.  For my upcoming 7 day, 2 weeks of med holders - I take meds at 5 different times/day), and if I don't need the 2nd week, I have it set up to use when I get home. For things like tylenol, motrin, or other "as needed" meds - I have a multi compartment cylinder that will hold a bunch of over the counter meds. 

FYI - if anyone takes a cannabinoid product, I would check very carefully to make sure you can travel with it.  The only FDA approved products I know of is epidiolex (for seizures) & Marinol (for chemo & AIDS related nausea/appetite stimulant)

3 hours ago, ScottD said:

Just remember when getting there that early that traffic and people will be everywhere, as you'll still have people getting off the ship and people trying to line up to get on. 

One reason I didn't want the first available time. We went with 1030am

Funny story about water slides -- many years ago, (maybe 30??) took 3 or 4 yo DD to Sesame Place, lots of water rides there, including an inner tube slide. You could do a single person in a donut, or 2 people in a figure 8 tube.  DD too young to go on her own, so I took her, & DH was on the single rider line. That moved faster, so he was done before us and was waiting outside the gate you have to leave by after splashing into the pool at the end of the slide.  DD and I start - I'm in back, she's in front - and she couldn't quite reach around one of my legs to grab the handle on the tube, so she just grabbed my leg.  Off we go, and we're sailing through, going up and down the sides as it curves, until one curve, the tube went up the side, and didn't go down - we got separated from it.  Tube continues down without us, and we continue down as well.  Not sure how, but DD is clinging to my leg, and I grab hold of the top of her bathing suit to keep from getting separated. DH is watching for us, and sees the empty tube come out without us.  He rushes back into the area where the pool is, and jumps in (shoes and all) as we're coming out.  We get separated as we leave the tube and land in the pool area, where she promptly goes under.  Then, one of the lifeguards comes running over to us, offering to help me up - me, who's sitting up perfectly fine (if panicking about my child) in 2 feet of water, instead of the child who went under and didn't pop up.  

Considering the weight differential between us, it's not really surprising that this happened, so I would take seriously any restrictions they make for the ride

most comedy has an element of rudeness to it - it's part of what makes it funny to some, and offensive to others. I'd watch (and probably laugh), but wouldn't heckle - I'm a big believer in karma 

So, I decided to treat myself to a spa day treatment while we're docked in Nassau -- DH is going on an excursion, and I decided to treat myself.  It shows up in my website calendar for the cruise, but not in the app. I plan on printing out the receipt just to be sure, but anyone know any way to fix this?