ScooterScott22

A few follow up questions. Is there much variation between the CK for the different ships. We will be on Ovation for Alaska in a few months (yea, it is actually getting close) and from what I have researched it appears they have just a standard menu. We know the layout and location are a little different, so really wondering about differences of the menus most of all and maybe the reservation system. Should we expect different dinner menus on certain nights on Ovation? We are planning on doing a few different specialty restaurants and CK was probably going to be our fall back option but now I am wondering about possibly making plans for specific evenings ahead of sailing.

Mentioned that we will be on the same cruise an it will be our first to Alaska but my guess is the only non-scenic parts are when it is dark. With the days getting longer that will not be very much of the cruise. ? I was up in Vancouver for work and had an afternoon free so checked out Stanley Park and watched a couple ships sail out under the bridge. So my guess it is pretty scenic right from the start.

There are many local groups that tour ships while in port. So there could be a similar process where there actual tours of the ships and it would not seem to be any more of a security risk than today. Now if the excursion was just to give access to the other ship, it seems that might create more problems. It would be possible that all people doing that excursion would be given an armband and be required to leave at a certain point. They would not need to be on the other ships manifest or anything. BUT the issue is what happens if someone “gets lost” and doesn’t make it to the departure. The only way possible would be if they gave you a Disney style magic band that had an RFID chop that could locate you anywhere on the ship.

As mentioned it is not required at most ports. We don’t always but many times will carry ours with us depending on circumstances. One bonus to doing so is to get a passport stamp. While you cannot find this at every port, it is possible to get passport stamps at some ports. In Nassau just stop by the small building just outside the fence on the left and they have a person that will stamp your passport for you. There is a small gate with a guard that will give you access so you don’t need to exit through the hord of people trying to get you in a taxi or carriage ride.

Don’t feel sorry. I admit this is a “guilty” pleasure since I do not know their exact circumstance. Since it is actually pretty hard to get left behind I am comfortable that 99% of the time it is likely due to the persons negligence or arrogance.

I have to say I am very disappointed in this thread, as it had no video or link to dock runners. That is one of my favorite pastimes. We always look forward to departure time and plan for a good viewing spot about 15 minutes before departure time. Still sometimes we have to get our fix from YouTube videos. Thanks to @twangster for at least the screenshots! (Even if it wasn’t the actual couple.). Edit To add - for those couple of new cruisers posting, the ship has multiple avenues that they will inform you of departure time. It will be posted in a number of places near gangways and tenders, in the cruise compass and stated over the daily announcements and at other locations, sometimes even the night before at certain venues. Yes sometimes things happen but it really is pretty hard to not know. There are plenty of times this happens and there are plenty of “close” calls that never make it to YouTube because the ships do try to wait at least a reasonable amount of time. Since the ship can get charges for staying in port extra and they have a schedule to keep they can’t wait too long.

Hopefully with all the wonderful information people have on this board you will get an earlier answer but will be sailing her in May and I’ll be happy to give feedback. I would expect they can find a way to accommodate the choices. My question for you would be with the portion size. Our son will be 11 at the time and will eat kids food up to more exotic cuisine so we have no issues with choices. Since you guys are 14 even if they have the right choices, will the portions be large enough with the kids selections. Granted it is a cruise and they should be able to find selections elsewhere throughout the day to keep them fulll. Also folks have reported that you can get food from the buffet and bring it into Coastal Kitchen but not sure if that applies to dinner service.

Love the grid and the information. I do understand that it may still have some edits in the future I do have one question. There is a line for “VIP theater seating” and a line further down for “ Theather seat waver”. The thread helps clarify the first one but I was trying to understand the second one. I was guessing it had to do with reservations before boarding. In my mind I was thinking it could be someone standing there waving you to your seats, an antebellum south style fan that they leave at your seat for use during the show or is it a person gently waving a palm frond over you while you are seated to keep you cool. ? (Although silly that last one is possible since the grid shows that it applies only to the Star class.)

Awesome, now the countdown begins!

Like above post, my starting point is the CruiseTT website. That is usually pretty accurate but it seems that it does not get updated with changes, should they happen. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/ Has most of the same info but slightly different arrangement.

You missed the point, it is about creating a relationship with the person and part of that is the tip. It is easy to engage with them in some chit chat and get to know them a little. I love to hear about their backgrounds and families. Some of the things that can share are very interesting and can range from helpful tips about cruising or personal stories. We have been lucky enough to have seen prior servers and stateroom host on subsequent cruises. It is always nice to have someone remember you from years ago and they are doing so because you are nice and not because you are an A**. Watch how Chris Pine’s character in the movie Horrible Bosses 2 treats his cleaning lady and you can see it is more than just the money.

Why remove a few dollars from someone who has access to your room and all your stuff? Do you want your tooth brush messed with while you are out of your cabin? Do you really want to mess with the person bringing your food each meal? The people handling my food and personal belongings are the exact people I want to have a good relationship with and if that means a few extra bucks, it is worth my peace of mind. It is an especially nice way to “thank” a person who has taken a job, months away from their family at a time to make more money than they probably could at home. (Which is still less than most people taking a cruise are making.) Edited to add - besides, many time my experience is the kids get more attention than the adults, especially from the wait staff.

Insert obvious “science fiction loner in the basement” comment here.

Just be careful, the storm last week closed the port and the inbound ship did circles out in the gulf until they were allowed to enter. I believe they were 4 hours late.

We will be on that sailing, so haven’t been on yet but have done a lot of research. Looks like the biggest “change” for the ship, from what is out there in the inter-webs, is the switch from Kung fu Panda to Johnny Rockets. But I haven’t seen any updates on that thread lately.

Sorry I have to chime in on this. I love cruising. I love roller coasters. But sorry they don’t really go together for me. Cruising is for relaxing and roller coasters are for thrills. A roller coaster doesn’t add to my cruise experience and limiting the scope of the coaster to fit on a cruise ship, probably makes it not very exciting. Water slides and flo-rider rides sure but not coasters, keep the coasters at Cedar Point.

Thanks to those who gave updates, I had hoped to have more after this evenings news. Sad to say it sounds like the cameras were checked but multiple hours after the event. Hoping for the best for his friends and family.

I thought you second line was going to read - “will be the first in the concierge lounge, linger over the food holding everyone else up, take as much as they can on a plate and leave half of it on the table as they leave”. ?

The local news just reported that a crew member went overboard from Harmony of the Seas. Ship was reported to be ~200 miles from Puerto Rico. Search is underway.

Awww... ...you made me miss JVF. He was on the local news here in the past.

Thanks for sharing. We haven’t stopped in Nassau in a few years and it never seemed bad enough to receive a written warning. I wonder what factors might be causing this increase? Are the tourist people just not paying attention and it is giving criminals more opportunity or is there a rise in the criminal element. Maybe the severe hurricane damage from 2017 has caused some shift in demographics or just greater need and risk taking.

No one has put it bluntly but if you (your friends) have a passport then should there be an issue while out of the country it will be much easier. It is pretty easy to find people on this board and other that say even though you can travel on ID or birth certificate it is best to have the passport. So another vote for get the passports here! Funny side note on this topic. My wife has been watching a FB thread about some folks that made the decision to get on a closed loop cruise with only drivers liscences. They either didn’t plan well enough and took too many risks and are “stuck” in the Bahamas.

#1 - True upgrades are rare, as others have mentioned, but well publicized. That is probably why you hear so much about them. First I agree we have paid for a few upgrades on other lines and since we paid, even though we got a good deal it is not equivalent. Also is it really a true upgrade if the cruise industry moves you from from one category stateroom to another. Many times the room is actually the same just a different part of the ship. So is it really an upgrade to get moved to the veranda stateroom midship on deck nine from the same veranda stateroom aft on deck six? Some people say no and ask their TA to not approve an “upgrade” without checking, as there is a reason they picked the original stateroom. #2 - With the new program, it appears that is probably your only choice if you are hoping for an upgrade.

Just checking, since we will be departing out of Vancouver on the Alaskan cruise about changes in the Canadian laws. Does that mean you can put ANY “medication” in a ziplock baggie to carry on the ship.?

Hopefully someone can help me decide. We are struggling with weather to make some specialty dining reservations or not. We are still relatively new to Royal and will be doing Star for the first time this late spring in Alaska. While I understand that we have the Genie, there are a few nights we really would like to lock in place. We are not ones to plan every tiny detail for the most part so it seems the Genie will be beneficial to us in that regard. Since the Alaska scenery is slightly different we are looking at this a little different. There will be thing to see as we are sailing unlike traversing stretches of water in the Caribbean. We have done Norway fjords/Iceland in the past and this is similar in that the itinerary is more likely a one time type cruise. Also many of the port departure times are around 8-9pm we also don’t want to conflict with some of those plans. Sorry for the background but I think it might help on why this is on my mind. So the real question is what to do with the 1-2 nights we really would like to have a specific dining location (time is probably somewhat negotiable). Should we go ahead and schedule those couple of things on our own now? Is if fine to schedule/book most of the dining that we want? Should we just rely strictly on the Genie? Any advice is appreciated but hoping Waytooo has some details and shares info on this.