Drewww

Anyone been on Grandeur recently and have any feedback on the boom internet?  I haven’t been on it since it was upgraded to starlink and was wondering how it was. 

Has anyone cruised the med with a scooter?  We’re booked on an 8 night cruise with stops at Nice, Provence, Corsica, Prortofino, not Rome and Palermo. My mother will have a scooter due to her age and mobility issues and there doesn’t look like there are many accessible excursions through Royal so I was winding if people had any experiences with this type of itinerary.  Thanks in advance!

Good to hear we’re heading out on the 1/23 sailing (I hope).  I’ve got a ton of questions.
 

We’re you able to book entertainment once you got on the ship?

how was getting into Barbados?

any tips for our first pandemic cruise?

Agreed that location doesn't mater.  I've had two agents at MEI one in FL and one in VA while I'm in MA and they were both responsive and very helpful.  I highly recommend Michelle over there she's great!

On 7/22/2020 at 12:26 PM, JLMoran said:

This is what I don't get. It's called Chef's Table, and it's supposed to allow a chef to get creative and put his personal spin on things. If it's standardized fleet-wide, then it's nothing more than a glorified specialty dining option that happens to include a decent selection of wine in the charge.

I really hope they roll back that decision, especially as they're having to make all these adjustments around getting sailings going again. By making the Chef's Table a personal thing again for each ship's chef, it improves the draw and gives the people sailing a reason to want to book it on every ship.

This is, of course, assuming that Chef's Table isn't done away with for a time -- hard to social distance when you're at a big round table with a bunch of strangers and getting animated as the wine flows.  

I understand that they need to make sure it meets a certain level which is why they want to standardize it but I agree with you that it should be something unique 

I love Chef's Table.  I think the combination of the pairings, the food and the company is just unbeatable.  The first time I did it the chef was so animated and passionate about what he made you couldn't help but like it.

The food is great and the wine pairings are fun.  I think if you DON'T have the drink package its a real steal  For basically little more than you would pay for the wine you get a great specialty restaurant meal.  

The problem I have with it now is that menu now seems to be static.  I'm not sure what ship @Pima1988 was on but the last two times I was on Anthem it was the same as was mentioned above.  I asked about it and they said they wanted to standardize it across the fleet which I get but I'd rather a chef get creative with something, maybe add in a unique dish from where they're from and make it a truly unique experience rather than something that's standard across the fleet.

I did this right before Christmas a couple of years ago.  Because of the time of year it wont be super warm but there are a ton of things to do on Anthem.  I love the ship and hope to be back on it in December for a 12 nighter.   Make sure to see the shows!

21 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The RCBlog Group Cruise next year is to Norway on Anthem.

365 days away today (366 to my birthday) but who's counting 

6 hours ago, Jill said:

I’ll send Sharla at MEI an email today. I can’t imagine they’d wipe out $1800 of cruise planner OBC if the cruise gets canceled by them. I would think they’d just reissue the certificate to be used on another. This isn’t like free OBC promotion. This was for all my purchases from our canceled May cruise plus an extra 25%. I applied this certificate to my upcoming October cruise which likely will get canceled. 

Please let us know what you find out.  I'm in the same boat I want to apply it to another cruise but its later this year so I'm a bit worried.

I agree with @WAAAYTOOO quantum is made for colder weather so more of the stuff is inside. Its not as if you can't get outside there are plenty of places for that but it doesn't have the big open spaces like an Oasis class ship has.

MDR on Anthem is on par with the rest but I love Wonderland.  I can't remember if that's on Oasis class but I think that its the best restaurant I've been to on all the ships (outside of Chef's table).

Please add me to November 25, 2021 on Enchantment of the seas!   Just added my next cruise for Turkey day at sea 

I just mailed mine in last week and they cashed the check right away (6/22) so i'm hopeful new applications are getting turned around quicker, but if you look at the info from last week if they are issuing 50K more than they receive the backlog on 1.6M is 32 weeks 

Around the world!!!   

Two years gives me enough time to save up 

I got to use the WOW bands on anthem last year, they were included in our Jr. Suite (along with another couple's but that's another story ) and I thought they were cool but I only used in in two ways, 1) when I had my hands full (usually with drinks at @twangster says 2) my wife is not an early riser so I would take her seapass card when I went to the gym in the morning (knowing she had her band) so that I could grab us both a coffee on the way back to our cabin.  I probably would have used it more if I didn't have to take it off to pay, but I felt bad because it would be wet from the pool or something like that.   I could see a near future where all wait staff have mobile readers so you could use without taking it off to help with reducing contact.

Also aren't you able to take a band from a previous cruise down to guest services and have it re-programmed for your new cruise?  I thought I heard Matt mention something like that on one of the podcasts.

I started using MEI because I wanted to join a Group Cruise and never looked back.  They'e very responsive, are great at repricing without having to do anything and gave me some good tips when my cruise was cancelled.  Much better than some other agents I've used for family cruises in the past.  I use Dannett LeBlanc if you need a specific contact over there.

I was thinking this might end up being a Bermuda cruise, I did one on Serenade of the Seas last year from Boston.  Also it could be something like 2 days at sea, Perfect Day, Nassau, two days back.  We'll just have to wait and see but hopefully it will end up being something like that and we can still have a blast!

1 hour ago, Katiemay0726 said:

If you follow their pattern my guess would be they won't cancel until around June 10th. Their first round of cancellations happened on March 12th and it went through April 12th. The second round was announced around April 12th and went through June 11th. I'm supposed to be on Indy July 11th out of Fort Lauderdale but the CDC order goes through the end of July so I'm not expecting to cruise and don't expect them to announce until mid-June that they're cancelling.  It's all a big waiting game at the moment. We all know there is going to be at least another round of cancellations, it's just a matter of when and for how long. 

June 10th seems a bit late because then they would be cancelling one day before some scheduled sailings on June 11th.  I would think they'd be announcing something in the next week or so to get it out there before memorial day (in the US).

Fingers crossed on these!  This is the most amount of cruises I've ever had booked 
 

June 26, 2020 - Mariner

October 11, 2020 - Brilliance (RC Blog GC!!!)

December 7, 2020 - Anthem

July 16, 2021 - Anthem (RC Blog GC and Birthday!!!)

On 4/21/2020 at 10:30 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Under normal circumstances, you would see your refund within 48-72 hours but I really have no idea how long it's liable to take now.  Since I suspect that this sale is designed to generate cash for Royal, it would seem logical that they would hold onto your original purchase as long as they possibly can.  I just don't know how long that could be.  I wouldn't look for your refund quickly, like it used to be.  I hope I'm wrong !!  I also made numerous cancellations and repurchases last night.  It would be nice to get the money quickly but I'm not going to count on it.

Glad to report I got the refund this week so it took a bit longer but not much!

I just cancelled and rebooked several drink and internet packages.  This is the first time i've been able to take advantage of a sale like this.  How long does it usually take to see the refunds for the cancelled packages to show up?

Hey everyone,

since there are no cruises 45 days or so I was wondering if people have some good suggestions for cruise related books to tide us over. I’ve been borrowing the Cruise Ship Cozy Mystery series with my monthly borrowing through prime but I’d like some more suggestions to add to my list
 

For the zombie lover I recommend Sea Sick by Iain Rob Wright

if your looking for a non traditional cruise I’ll recommend The Cargo Ship Diaries by Niall Doherty

leave your cruise related books here and maybe we’ll start a read along

17 hours ago, Zeashore said:

Biggest advantage I can say - ROOM!!!!!  and the fluffy white robes,  

don't forget you can check in with the Diamonds. Hardly a wait at all.

Double Cruise points 

On 1/11/2020 at 6:10 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

Holy cats - I'm glad I got a promotion at work because the airfares to Boston from Mpls are high! I'm hoping they come down, but really, what are the chances?

Have you tried the app hopper?  You put the travel to/from and dates and they estimate what the price will do and best time to book.  Saved me some cash a couple of times.

When do you start hearing about activities on the group cruises?  I know they're SOOOO far away, but my wife and I are booked on the ones in October 2020 (hopefully can still go) and July 2021 (definitely going) and hearing about all the activities they have lined up for the one that is currently going on I was just wondering when we might start hearing about that stuff.

Hey Everyone, 

I have a non-GoPro question (although I was interested in it) related to the zip line since there are so many people who seem to have done it.  Is there a place at the start where you can lock up your towel and other gear when you start the tour so we can head right out to the beach afterwards?  Thanks in advance!