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Mathew Jones

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  1. Has anyone taken part in one of the onboard shows called Crazy Quest? If you have the ability to go to that show I highly recommend it. It is very much an interactive/ audience participation show that is only for people over the age of 17. If you like to participate in the show be close to the stage or on the end of an aisle that goes directly down to the stage. If you wonder what it is I will give you a quick breakdown. It is basically a scavenger hunt type game for items in the crowd. For example one of the items was someone from your team had to have a drivers license with an Austin, TX address on the license. This was on the mild side. It went adult very fast. VERY FAST. If you are wondering how adult it gets here is an first hand example: I saw a passenger run on stage only in pasties and a thong. YES, you read that correct only PASTIES and a THONG. For ones that may not know pasties are similar to stickers that go over a females nipples. And thong is referring to underwear.
  2. You are correct. That is exactly what I was trying to refer to. I found the app very cumbersome and many times incorrect.
  3. Just got off Liberty and had Brian Leavitt as the cruise director. I would have to say that he was great. Always very personable. We ran into him several times on the cruise and he was always inviting and full of energy.
  4. I am not sure if I missed it or not but I could not find a Compass on my Royal APP. I am on an iPhone. What are you using? And where was the Compass on your APP?
  5. OK all. Since many of you have been a wealth of great knowledge I will share with you some of my personal reviews from my experience of my sailing on Liberty of the Seas from 5 to 12 May 2019. First, I will begin with the night before and the hotel stay. We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton in Galveston. In a nutshell, STAY SOMEWHERE ELSE. STAY ANYWHERE ELSE. They upgraded the room to a king suite ocean view. If that was an upgrade I would hate to see the other rooms. The room was dirty and very dated. The carpet was frayed and ripped in several spots. The chairs at the dinette in the room were all stained on the seat cushion. There were white stains on several of the throw pillows, looking human in origin (EWW!!!!). The shower took several minutes to get hot water and was very built up with calcium. There was mold on the soap and shampoo dispenser. I am not talking hidden, but right on the top. The cable did not work for the TVs and there was a missing remote. After all of that the front desk told me that they have nobody from maintenance that was working at 8:00 P.M. I will never stay there again. Cruise parking I used the EZ Cruise Parking. It was extremely convenient and close. The parking was two blocks from the terminal and if you walked out the exit side of the terminal across the street you were right there. It was open parking but that was all I needed. I did the walking option and it only took me five minutes to walk to and from the terminal to the lot. Will definitely use them again. The Key Program The Priority Embarkation and Chop Lunch was a perfect beginning to the cruise. Check in was a breeze and the badging for the Key Program was easy to see. We received out Voom access and schedule of times for the Flowrider, rock climbing, and ice skating at check in. Once the ship was cleared for embarkation we were inboard in less than five minutes. We did not utilize the carry on drop off option. Chop Grille lunch was great. It was a nice get away from the mass confusion of embarkation and was a pleasant escape from having to go to the Windjammer to get a bite to eat. Voom internet was a good option for us. We were able to still communicate with our families and each other throughout the entire cruise. We used Facebook Messenger to communicate with each other and the other couple that went on the cruise with us. We then used Google Hangouts to talk with family that was not on the cruise with us. Nice option to have. As for the speed, it was a little hit or miss. There was some buffering but it was short lived and did not take away from the overall value of the Voom internet included with the Key Program. Priority time for the Flowrider, rock climbing, and ice skating was an over all bust. All of the times were very inconvenient. Flowrider was only once on the morning of day 2. The rock climbing wall was at the same time as the first formal night dinner. Ice Skating was day 6 on the other formal night time slot. And there was only one time slot for each one of these. Priority seating at the shows was awkward. Half the staff didn't know about the Key and the area for the Key Program was not labeled or displayed anywhere. We ended up just sitting in the Suites area and was never questioned. Priority port of call debarkation. We didn't utilize this since we had shore excursions set up for each of the ports. Choice debarkation and breakfast. The prior night all Key Program guests will receive different luggage tags for a Key Program pickup area in the terminal. This was nice to not have to search around for our luggage and was able to just look in one specific area. The breakfast was a nice option for the last day prior to leaving the ship. The food was good but the service was a little lacking. Our wait staff seemed off put for having to serve the breakfast and it was not what I would have expected based upon the top tier service we have receive the entire cruise. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The Good. The customer service on this sailing was top notch. There was only one exception to this which was the debarkation breakfast. Our stateroom attendant, Edna, was awesome. She made sure everything was taken care of and perfect at all times. She even memorized our names before we boarded. As we were walking to our stateroom we met her and she addressed us both by name. Her attention to detail was excellent. Our wait staff, Charlie and Wira, were awesome. They were Johnny on the Spot with everything. Never left without anything. One roll left, and poof, a whole new batch. Our drinks were never empty. Great crew. The Bad. The cleanliness of the pool deck was not good. I know that this is a combination of people being slobs and crew not cleaning up. During the evening movie there were tons of cans and cups just laying around everywhere. It just looked very messy. Not one crew member even attempted to clean it up during the entire duration of the movie, which was Bohemian Rhapsody by the way. The other bad item was the Royal APP. Fairly useless and not very good overall. I wish that they would add a digital copy of the cruise compass to it. That would be awesome. The Ugly. After leaving Jamaica the captain informed us that we would be getting back into Galveston early so they could perform "technical maintenance". All shops and the casino would be closing on Saturday evening and would not be available after that. We literally got kicked off the Wonder Woman Slot machine and could not get a Corona after 10:30 P.M. And since we were pierside all evening long the gentle motion of being as sea was also missing. Kind of disappointing for the sailing to end that way. EDIT: Planner to Compass
  6. Here is my very short list: 1: Carnival Pride (December 2003) 2: USS Anzio CG-68 These are the only two ships I have sailed on. Can't wait for our sailing on Liberty in two weeks. Would not recommend the USS Anzio. Food was very comparable to Golden Corral. There was no stateroom attendant. The bathrooms were community style. They didn't offer an alcohol package. The sailing was for only offered in 180 nights. And the port schedule was way too variable.
  7. The biggest problem I see with the Royal Up Program is with the extras. For example, if I am in a Oceanview balcony room and I get The Key Program and get an accepted bid to a grand suite The Key is essentially useless. I would much rather do a Voom combo with the drink package then only to have The Key with a GS. I have a bid in for a JS and GS on my upcoming sailing on Liberty. I would keep The Key if I got upgraded to the JS but would change two things if I upgraded to the GS. If I got the GS I would not get The Key. Instead I would get the Deluxe Beverage Package with Voom and the Chops lunch special.
  8. Called again and got the same answer. After I got off the phone I actually received an email joining me to Club Royale. I might try to just do the redemption and see. I heard that you can cancel the redemption and return the points to the account if they do not accept the voucher. I will let you all know.
  9. Not if you utilize the drop off option for The Key. We are going to do that.
  10. I do not have any included special discounts. This is my first time cruising with RCCL and I am not using a voucher. The lady specifically said that because of the rate that I booked at I cannot redeem the OBC voucher. I may try again and see if I get the same answer. As for using the TA, they are not the most receptive or attentive bunch. I would not rely in them to actually do anything about it. There prices are great but the customer service is less than desired.
  11. Just got off the phone with a rep for Club Royale. She told me that I could not redeem my $100 OBC voucher since I received such a good discount on my sailing. Thought that was interesting and strange. I did get a great deal, but it is interesting that I couldn't get a discount due to a discount I received. I did earn the ability to obtain the $100 OBC but can't use it. We went originally booked through RCCL but transferred to the USAA travel partner, Member Travel Privileges.
  12. I received my Royal Up email exactly 60 days out from our May sailing on Liberty. Just FYI
  13. Wife and I are going on Liberty on the 5th of May. We paid $44 pp/pn a little while back.
  14. That is actually where I was going with this question.
  15. I was wondering what would happen if the President closes the border to Mexico on how it would affect cruise ships pulling into Mexico? We are going on Liberty in May and have Cozumel as our first stop. Maybe I should start thinking about other ports like Belize or Roatan. I am wondering what others are thinking about this possible glitch in the situation. On another note these latest discounts offered by RCCL on excursions just saved me another $60 off of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. Good thing I am a Cruise Planner stalker.
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