AussieCoasterKing

On 11/28/2023 at 11:42 AM, F1guynz said:

When sailing out of Sydney we have arrived early than our check-in time (we were in a suite) and because the ship was not ready there was an area with seating we had to wait to board. The passengers were boarded in the following order, B2B cruisers, Royal Suite, suites, C&A in tier level sequence.

If you arrive after the ship has started boarding, then it is just first come first served.

 

This is what we found pre Covid in Sydney. I wasn’t sure if they still recognised C&A as we have sailed in suites since 2020. Thanks.

2 hours ago, ScottishRobbie said:

Sailed on Brilliance out of Sydney 4 weeks ago. Times not being checked. All being well just drop your bag off anytime from 8, explore Circular Quay/The Rocks and show up any time after 11 and you shouldn't have any issues.

Thanks for letting me know Robbie! We too are on Brilliance this December, had to tick it off the list while she's in Aus!

44 minutes ago, mscinmia said:

No more priority in Port Everglades since restart. Suites/Pinnacle first, then key and after that it is the order you arrived to the seating area.  If you look at the latest C&A benefits you will see that it is no longer offered.

I’m asking on here because when I Google it this is the first response you get

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/Can-i-get-Priority-Embarkation

I’m certain pre pandemic we had seperate lines for C&A but I haven’t paid attention since. Anyway I bit the bullet and got The Key for this cruise anyway. 
Thanks to everyone who replied. 

Hi Everyone!

We are cruising on Brilliance OTS out of Sydney in December. We normally book a suite, however given the age of the ship I felt it wasn't worthwhile. Anyway, I've read (elsewhere) that anything lower than Pinnacle no longer gets priority.

Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks in advance
Luke

Thanks everyone for the great replies. You’ve given me lots to think about!

We are planning to cruise on Independence OTS and Harmony OTS next year and the trip has two nights between the cruises. I was thinking of staying at the Radisson given its so close to port but would appreciate any suggestions or advice. I realise our room probably won't be available when we get dragged off the ship so any recommendations of tours we can take (or should take by ourselves) to Kennedy Space Center would be appreciated!

Thanks!!

Luke

On 9/30/2019 at 1:57 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

You know my vote already. Hyatt Regency at MCO! Hands down. Done it 3 times already and will be doing it again next year for Harmony.

Sorry to quote such an old post but I wondered the best way you have found to get from MCO to the port? We'll be cruising on Harmony next year... Hopefully!

Just got off Jewel last sunday.  I honestly have to say the the floor would have been softer to sleep on than the bed.  Couldnt wait to get to a hotel and sleep on a comfortable bed.  Room steward told us to take it up with guest services.  Guest services told us this is how it is fleet wide and we needed to request a mattress topper during booking.  Little good that did for the 9 nights of horrible sleep on this cruise.   We were planning on staying 4 weeks on adventure and 4 on jewel again in Jan/feb but now have put that on hold til I get a direct conformation from RC that this issue can and will be corrected. Ive been on over 60 cruises and never had a bed this uncomfortable on any cruise line including RC.  So whatever they were/are thinking when they changed to these mattresses, I hope they fix it because I really enjoy RC and would love to go back to them.

My thoughts exactly!! I just hope they don't have the same plans for Celebrity!

FWIW, I like the mattresses across the fleet. Even on Harmony, I slept like a baby on them. It's a subjective thing.  Heck, there's no objective way to even determine what is hard or soft when it comes to mattress firmness.  

While I agree with you that it can be subjective, I've certainly never stayed in a hotel where you can feel the aluminium siding under the mattress that they use as a bed frame. My body also has never ached while laying down. 

Logistically there are a few ways it could be done. One would be to use the same approach as is used for 3rd/4th person options where symbols are used to denote which staterooms have pullman beds and which have sofa beds. You can select a stateroom based on your preferences and/or your search for staterooms can filter only staterooms that match your preference -- the same could be done with symbols denoting staterooms denoting alternate mattress options.

 

Another way of handling it is to have mattresses that are firm on one side and soft on the other, and can be flipped based on preference, or the mattresses can have pillow tops that can be added or removed with a zipper -- selecting your preference could be handled the same way you choose whether or not you want separate twins or one king size bed in your stateroom.

 

And finally, they could, as you suggest, reclassify cabins based on mattress type.

 

Perhaps these are aspirations that need to be limited to luxury cruise lines or maybe suite class staterooms. If my future experiences are the same as past I'll be perfectly happy -- but some of these reports of overly hard mattresses is concerning.

I think these are some great ideas however I feel your premise is off. They haven't done this due to customer demand for harder mattresses. I suspect it was done to reduce weight. You might think I'm crazy but you drastically reduce the wait of 2000+ mattresses it is going to make a difference!

Either way, I doubt we will be on another Royal ship after what has been said on here about Anthems beds. I'm just glad they cancelled our Ovation cruise in Jan!

I'd settle for a mattress that stops me feeling the supporting "frame" underneath it!

That is BS. We were on the Anthem in its inaugural year and the beds were like sleeping on plywood. Sounds like to me that RCL went really cheap with whoever they selected as a mattress provider. 

 

We are going to be on the Allure in January, I see you mention that the Allure had a comfy mattress?

We were on Allure in 2011 and the beds were awesome! I'm not sure if they have changed since then. We were on Explorer 12 months ago and the bed was as bad as Radiance. We always have two cabins and my girls beds were so bad even they complained and they can sleep anywhere!! Thank you for letting me know about Anthem I guess my theory that the newer ships have better beds is flawed.

Unfortunately I don't see us cruising with Royal again, it just isn't worth it! Not very relaxing if you can't get a decent nights sleep!!!

Hi. Everyone. I realize this blog is old, but I am responding for anyone who would like to travel on one of these ships soon.  I have been on the below ships within the past 7 months.

 

Freedom of the Seas (twice) - comfy bed in both our interior and balcony rooms

Brilliance of the Seas - hard bed

Enchantment of the Seas - hard bed

Vision of the Seas - REALLY hard bed

 

Freedom offers the most comfortable bedding of them all.  The other ships had beds that were hard as rocks!  My husband likes firm mattresses, but even he said they are too hard. Vision was so bad that we had over half a dozen extra pillows brought to our room, and we lined them up under the mattress pad.  I suggest that if you do go on one of these cruises, buy a portable foam mattress pad.  I got the Simmons Siesta Memory Foam Roll-up Bed recently, and I am going to bring it on my next cruise on the Oasis. I pray Oasis is better, but I am not taking any chances from now on.

I'm so glad to hear that others are finding the same issue! We thought it was just us! My wife suffers from a bad back and its just not worth it anymore. Our last cruise she had to get several massages just to cope. Even our kids who way next to nothing and can sleep anywhere found there beds uncomfortable. I almost suspect thats why they've made them so hard. We were booked on the reposition of Ovation next Jan hoping the bed would be better in a new ship but I think I'm glad it was cancelled. 14 nights would've been murder on both of us!

Anyway I would love to know how you find the Oasis. We sailed on Allure in 2011 and loved the bed so much we wanted to buy a mattress.. which you could buy but not outside of USA.

"what show are you referring to??

Only the best podcast ever! You have to listen to every ep if you've never cruised before!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/royal-caribbean-blog-podcast/id685427740?mt=2

That's the Australian link but it should work for you! Enjoy!

Hi, is anyone able to offer advice on photography packages? I am getting married next month on oasis and not sure whether to upgrade the photography package. We are a small party, under 15 of us. Will one hour be enough for photos? I would like group shots after the ceremony and I would like photos in the different neighbourhoods of ship. Did you like your photos? I've read that they can be hit or miss. Any insights would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Congratulations Extra Petite!

We had two hours of photography but he spent more time with us then that. Probably helped we were on a ship that didn't get a lot of weddings. There was only 4 of us (guess you call that a REALLY small group). We were also able to split the photos into two days which meant we all had to get dressed up twice but it allowed us to do outside shots on a beautiful day. 

Our photographer was pretty good at what he did. He was very nice! I wouldn't call him a professional and some shots were disappointing, but others were great! Honestly, I could imagine some would be less experienced but I suspect the bigger ships that have A LOT more weddings would also have more experienced photographers. 

My advice would be. Don't be afraid to speak up if you want a different location (they were very accommodating for us). Take the time of day into consideration (I even thought about the direction the ship was facing) and make sure he's taking the pictures at the highest resolution he can.

Matt, perhaps Extra Petite could come on the show after the wedding?

Good luck!

Thanks for your replies everyone! I was hoping someone might've had someone or heard of someone who was able to go into the teen club as I feel she would be more comfortable in there (she's the oldest of all her friends).. Anyway I'll certainly ask when we get on-board. As Matt says "Worse they can do is say no!"

Thanks again!

Hi All

I'm looking for some advice about an upcoming cruise. We will be cruising a week after my eldest daughter turns 18. In Australia its legal age for drinking and nightclubs but I think USA (therefore RCCL) its different. 

Anyway, I've heard it can be difficult for people of this age to find fellow cruisers to socialise with because your too old to go to the kids club (which would be her preference ((and mine!)) ) but not old enough to go to the nightclubs.

Any advice or thoughts appreciated.

Luke

I was surprised it was not on the Freedom class either.

Or Voyager class. Certainly doesn't take much space up!

So it looks like its only the Radiance, Oasis and Quantum class ships that have thermal suites. I'm a little surprised and disappointed. 

LOL I'm aware of the eat as much as you want, order another this or another that, but I guess I would say I was a bit self conscious. I can do major damage at the Wind-jamaire, but to actually ask for another entree, or another appetizer made me feel funny lol. Maybe this year I'll go for it.

I feel exactly the same way! Last cruise I started with breakfast next cruise will be dinner! Well maybe lunch :) 

Do you think they'll put the MDRs on Allure and Oasis back the way they were before?

Can anyone tell me if a ship that has the machines continues to offer it if they aren't cruising out of USA? Or do they just stick an out of order sign on them?

I find it impossible to find the info out but I suspect Mel is right as I generally find a vague reference online in somebody's blog or postings. The thermal suites I've been in are mostly a steam room, sauna, heated lounge chairs (tiled) and showers with effects like tropical rain. On average I can spend 2-3 hours in them each day. It's moly oasis and I love that they don't advertise them as I hate crowds. Most of the time I'll have it to myself with perhaps a couple of people max. They do a daily rate or a pass for the whole cruise. I think daily was around $20-25 and a weeks cruise I seem to remember being about $130. The best ship was Celebrity Solstice but the best rccl cruise ship I've been on is the Radiance. Allure was disappointing. I'm looking forward to trying the one on Ovation but I'm hoping they change the design from the other two quantum class ships as the heated beds appear to have high windows behind them which makes no sense. There is nothing better then laying on a heated lounge watching the world go by!

OT Does anyone know anywhere else you can buy these? Amazon won't ship to Australia.

Thanks!
 

2.  Luggage Tag Holders

These are the new improved version--http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M5MDAS0?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00M5MDAS0&linkCode=xm2&tag=royalcacom-20--but they're essential for me.  You simply print and cut out your paper luggage tags and place them in the holder.  There no need to fold, staple, laminate, tape, etc. these as they're ready to go as is.  I've used these successfully for my past several cruises.

When I was on the Explorer 2 years ago, they did not. There was a large whirlpool in the spa/gym area, along with a sauna and steam room. All of which was free. Not sure if things have changed though.

 

Mel

Thanks Mel for the reply.. I'll continue to have some hope as something may have changed while in dry dock. I'll give you an update after the cruise.

Luke