DDaley

Mendenhall river levels went back to normal a few days after the flooding so I’d assume not. 

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I think they are trying to determine WHAT they can charge for and what would bring the most revenue when it comes to the newer ships.

This was exactly how I read it, they’re not gonna make you pay for your trash midnight snack but they might make you pay for a nicer pizza on a future new ship and leave the trash pizza for the WJ. I have definitely had pizza in the WJ and it looks like the same stuff.

Since I've never had a slice of Sorrento’s I’m not too up in arms about this but I seriously doubt they're gonna take away the only complimentary late night food without at least replacing it with something else. 

Yep, there are 2 on Oasis but they’re in rough shape if you expect the balls to stay in place and the cues to have chalk! The play area in the Playmakers on Oasis is such that the cue hits the walls when you’re shooting from 2 of the 4 sides of the table. Best pool tables we found were upstairs in The Music Hall! 

12 hours ago, CruiseMsclDad said:

Good point, I was looking at just for comparison purposes, NCL Viva

I ended up booking Viva for 2025 because although it was $1k more expensive than Royal, the ship I was comparing it to was Rhapsody. So for the extra 1k I get to sail a ship that is twenty seven years newer, visits 6 ports in 7 days (an additional 2 islands in the same amount of time) and has way more included/specialty dining options. I feel bad defecting, but Royal would never release a crazy itinerary like that with their new ships! 

I have found that keeping sale items in my cart will keep the price for purchase later on but I have to assume it’s my specific browser and settings since everyone claims otherwise. I have successfully been able to do this on my last 3 cruises! I have a sale in my cart right now for internet at $18.99 but it’s currently advertised at $19.99.

Safari is usually trash for most websites but I do all my Royal CP browsing on it.  

On 8/8/2023 at 4:07 AM, PG Cruiser said:

SHE'S A GEISHA
Izumi

Just me or is this image link broken for others? Love this cocktail! 

I believe you could order a mocktail and it would be included on your package, then take your drink and visit a different bar or bartender and pay full price for a shot or two of the liquor of your choosing to add in. That way you’d only be “paying the difference” while working around their refreshment package limitations.

Not sure if this is considered “cheating Royal” and will be frowned upon here but I don’t thiiiink so? You paid for all the self-assembled parts of your drink! 

3 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

I didn't get a survey but if I did I would vote for a planetarium.

You can take it here! It even has a question near the end that asks if you’d be interested in a planetarium. 

Funny, I just took this survey but did not get served these questions since I didn’t say I went to Sorrento’s on the last ship I sailed (because there wasn’t one). I was interested in the section about them possibly adding Cuban, Thai, Chinese or Indian restaurants though! 

According to @nassaucruiseport on Instagram they are open and offering free concerts on Saturday nights! Looks awesome. 

On 6/11/2023 at 6:33 AM, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah I'm super curious what they asked in this pre cruise survey? 

Weirdest question I saw and just came to the forums about was them possibly offering axe throwing on ships in the future! whaaat? 

It was a survey asking what type of cabins you book/why and what restaurants you go to and there was a list asking what food types I would want to see in the future. 

On 8/6/2023 at 2:56 PM, JASimmons said:

How has the glacier break flood affected the excursions in Juneau?

They say the river level is already back to normal so you should be fine. 

You will definitely be cold on the first day or two and the last day while the ship is in LA. December is past our usual “summer weather” months of July-October so it will more than likely be pants/sweaters by the pool until you’re farther south. I sailed in early October last year and was bundled up in 2 towels on the pool deck the whole time (we didn’t go father south than Ensenada though). 

As for bringing on drinks, you need to put them in your carry-on if you don't want to get sent down to the naughty room to receive your bags after embarkation as drinks in checked baggage will be flagged. Bringing on your own drinks is cumbersome and they will be in your way while you're trying to Flowride or waterslide while you wait for rooms to open. That’s the trade off you need to be willing to make - be burdened with liquids for a few hours in order to save some money by not buying a drink package. 

It was a glacial dam that broke, ie melting glacial water overflowed and brought the Mendenhall river waters up surging, destroying 3 buildings. This is a major reason I am visiting Alaska this year instead of next, the glaciers are melting rapidly already!

When do you sail @deep1? As of now my Mendenhall kayak is still on for Sep 15. 

46 minutes ago, Richardg1978 said:

Booked a 2D balcony room on Harmony for sail date of 8/19 on 8/10. On the morning of 8/12,

You're doing all this in the future? Impressive!! 

3 hours ago, Floatingby said:

Just wondering if people bring floats for the beach at CocoCay? I know not for the pools but are they allowed in the ocean?

Definitely. I am usually the only tourist in any ocean with my own float I brought from home. People always ask where I rented it from, sorry guys this ones from Amazon. 

This trick saves a TON of money in places like Waikiki where everyone is buying cheeeeap ABC Store floats that cost an arm and a leg! 

1 hour ago, ManonM said:

I looked there and all I see is a cooler bag with 6 beers or a bottle of wine. 

It shows up after 3 Load More’s at the bottom of the page. Or simply filter by Alcohol in the sidebar:

11 minutes ago, ScottD said:

Most do mention they are recycled, but to what extent, who knows.

Yep then I was sucked down the “can you recycle glossy photos” rabbit hole and seems like you really cant! Recently I wouldn’t let my mom toss out a photo we found at my grandma’s of 5 people none of us could identify. Ancient, random family photos are safe at my house and kept out of the landfill! hahah

1 hour ago, cruisingcpl said:

I believe that the prints that have been printed out can be wiped clean and the photo paper re-used for a new photo.. So, they aren't really throwing away thousands of photos each cruise.. Most amusement parks use the same type of photo printing system that has this capability.. 

I just spent over 30 minutes Googling this and have sadly found no evidence that this re-using photo paper suggestion is possible. Every single post or article about unused souvenir photos I could find mentions how they toss them out and how printing them doesn’t cost more than the overhead to take them. This is also why they’re priced so high at amusement parks (generally $20 a print). This thought was so cool to me I had to see if it was true! Unfortunately, it seems like Royal is actually just tossing em.

Once when I was on HAL, the photo gallery worker let my friend and I take every single 8x10 picture of ourselves around midnight on the last night of the cruise because they were going to be tossed the next day! We got like 25 prints and split them amongst ourselves. 

5 hours ago, ckruetze said:

A quick question. Should I post some pictures? If so of what? I don't think I've seen anything so far that hasn't already been shown here on the forum and definitely on the internet.

Yes! Speaking for myself I come to the Live Blogs FOR the pictures. I always still read the entries but blogs with pictures are the best! Pics of literally ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated! You were in Italy!! Any pictures from off the ship, any pictures from on the ship. LITERALLY ANY pictures from your crazy cabin you barely mentioned!! Pretty please!!! 

3 hours ago, F1guynz said:

Are kids on HAL over 50’s?

Hah! Well I’ve only sailed HAL from California but there were just as many kids on my two sailings (both in early December) as on Navigator from LA. And with no actual kid spaces for them to retreat to, I’d say HAL is a worse experience if you’re trying to find a cruise line without children. 

3 hours ago, twangster said:

Celebrity does it too, so maybe Holland America is a better choice?  Very few children on HAL.

Holland America’s indoor pool is also overrun with kids since there’re only two pools and four hot tubs. The 2 hot tubs aft and 2 in the indoor pool area are usually 10 kids deep!! I usually waited to get in until they all got carted off to get ready for dinner. 

Combine just as many kids, no poolside music of any kind and mid-day offerings like quilting and scrapbooking classes and you can see why I vowed never to return to HAL. Unless of course I can get one of their constant free stateroom offers to work out! I am a 2 Star Mariner on HAL (equivalent of RC Platinum) and somehow get like 30 free stateroom offers a month! How? Why? Royal please send me some of these! 

In Cabo there are tons of snorkeling excursions that shouldn’t be too expensive but that port is also easy to navigate on your own. The tender will drop you off in the south west corner of the marina and from there you can walk about 20 minutes to a nice beach (Playa El Farito). There are tons of kitschy bars, restaurants and shops in this area surrounding the marina like Señor Frogs, El Squid Roe, Cabo Wabo, etc. Another cheap option would be to water taxi to Lover’s Beach under the cool rock formations you see in Cabo pics. 

In Puerto Vallarta you can also easily get yourselves to the beach by way of taxi or Uber. We called an Uber right outside the port area and took it to Playa de Los Muertos in the Zona Romantica area of town. I just really like this area (Panchos Takos are the best tacos I’ve ever had in my life) and the Malecon/beach here so we went that far (about a 20 min drive). There are plenty of closer beaches! As for excursions, I have been on a sunset catamaran booze cruise that was fun (~$70pp) and also an ATV adventure that goes up into the mountains (~$100pp). 

In Mazatlan the area the ship docks is a major shipping port and has a small, sectioned off area for bars and shops; anything else requires a taxi to get farther afield. There are the cliff jumpers a short drive away and a bunch of resorts that offer day use passes. When we were there we took a ship-sponsored excursion to a lagoon to ride/drive mini speed boats followed by included lunch and afternoon use of the El Cid resort. This was somewhat expensive but was super fun! The resort had a beach and nice pool area with covered grotto and water slides. 

Congrats on your engagement! My husband and I also took a cruise while on our honeymoon last summer. 

1 hour ago, CruisingNewb said:

Then it broke the next day.  It was up and running again a day later.

Hah well I will keep my fingers crossed it will be back running sometime! Thank you

In my cruise date Facebook group someone mentioned the North Star is currently broken and won’t be getting fixed any time soon. I tried simply Googling this but came up with no results, anyone been on Quantum recently and can confirm or deny?