CruiseGus

10 minutes ago, DunkelBierJay said:

I also wondered about Nassau and all the development money that is proposed for the port area there and whether consideration for re-directing is is just a nutty idea or would gain traction if the US squanders its position as the home of cruising. No other country comes close in terms of itineraries sailed from the three large east coast ports. At some point, something has to break on this, and good news has to prevail.

think of all the added cost of transportation for food and beverages when having to load them on a ship to deliver to Nassau to resupply these cruise ships.  This is one of the mail reasons these ship from multiple companies home port out of the USA, fantastic transportation infastructure and resupply logistics at cheap costs.

Hope they think to assign times by C&A status

7 hours ago, Chadster said:

In most places where masks are required in restaurants for dining in, the rules state "except when eating or drinking." I would assume the same would go for bars. Social distancing would be tricky, but Royal's smart -- they can figure it out.

I'm sorry, but if I'm walking to and from somewhere on the ship and I encounter a large group, I'd prefer to have a mask. Maybe it's because I'm just used to wearing one now without much of a second thought.

I guess I'm very different from most that have posted

A. Yes - with the caveat that this is mainly when moving from space to space - one i get to my lounger that is 6 ft from the next one I would want to take it off.  yes i would have to put it on for a trip to the bathroom or bar.

B. Yes

C. NO - I know that the mask is not for my protection but to protect others from me - - look at the lack of voluntary social distancing at pool parties and beaches over memorial day, I just don't need those types of reckless people around me anytime and they will be there if its voluntary.

In regards to the quote above, "if I'm walking to and from somewhere on the ship and I encounter a large group, I'd prefer" THEY have a mask on as to not infect me.  Its not like they are Handing out N95 masks to the general public, cant even buy one

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

It's true, we are on the west coast here in Florida and there are still resorts open for business. The beaches are packed and you would not believe the stores, drove the vehicles to keep batteries charged and the local stores are as busy as Holiday shopping time. And while the younger set is on the beach, it is the older generation that are in the stores. It's very frustrating because while we (our family) shelter in place (trying not to binge eat really nasty delicious food) we look about and shake our heads, what are they thinking? We can hear live bands at a local "resort" Just unbelievable! The bands are playing and the resorts are open because people are showing up! Stay safe & healthy everyone.

Here in  the Midwest people are taking head of the warnings, very few people in stores and every one cognoscente of their distances. it is only the younger children in their 20's that are still running around and socializing, at least those with out family responsibilities. My 28 year old son with no family still runs around at night, his twin sister with a daughter has hunkered down with schools closed, she actually told him not to come over and as twins they are close, face-time it is

33 minutes ago, twangster said:

I pretty much exclusively use My Time for the ability to vary night to night based on plans.  Traditional dining generally has better service because the entire dining room is in sync.  With My Time it's possible for many tables to be out of sync, one table just sitting down while the next table over is having their entree placed before them. This can cause more work for the wait staff to manage.  

That being said eating solo as I often do I typically have very fast service and rarely do I experience the service issues that I see reports of.  Maybe I'm just lucky.

They try their best to place with you the same wait staff every night with My Time but sometimes it's just not possible.

 

Your experience with MTD and mine/ours has been the same, a lot of times I not only get the same wait staff, but if not the same table one very close to it. I personally enjoy the fact that dinner is not a long drawn out affair as we generaly only allow ourselves desert once a cruise.  For me a couple of hours at dinner is way to long.

19 hours ago, Hoski said:

Not always true.  We don't always cruise in a suite but do cruise a lot so we are spending money with Royal even if not in a suite.  Also, Hilton rewards me for being loyal and I get lots of free rooms there.  Rewarding those who travel with you often is a great way to make more money.

 

Although I'm a Marriott and IHG guy, I have no doubt the points accumulated to those free rooms are based on how much you spend per night on your paid rooms.

I had over 500 lifetime nights with Marriott before I realized that to obtain "Lifetime" status i also need a couple of million in spend dollars.  Started staying in the better hotels, up the the rate the company would reimburse, and then also paying with a Marriot card to receive the 5X point on spend.  Luckily i made the highest lifetime status before the program changed.

I am not saying that loyal cruisers should not get some perks, but those paying the heavy fare should have their perks also.  In my mind though the heavy fare cruisers should always win in a tie type situation.  JMHO - enjoy those free rooms I do!

@WAAAYTOOO @DublinFC  what I can tell you about the motion is that one the first night I ran into a friend from other cruises.  We spent some time almost every night with a group of 8 of us all diamond plus, all but us were on at least a b2b, some even longer.  On our week the last portion, 2 sea days, at least 2 were sick.  3 reported being sick the week before, but said the seas were rougher.  One of our servers, who had recently, joined the staff was missing the last night and reported to be motion sick also.  My wife was able to head it off, by taking "Bonine" starting the morning of the first sea day and again that night and next morning.

We have been in rougher seas on other ships with a lot less motion noticed.  Maybe it was a combination of time of year and the storms that have been effecting the southeast US this pas few weeks.

I am certainly not trying to influence anyone's decision, this is just my opinion of my experience and yours could differ.  We did enjoy our cruise, but it is not at the top of our list to repeat again, although in my opinion the food served and variety in Windjammer was superb.

On 2/13/2020 at 7:15 PM, Fran said:

RCC have all but scaled out loyalty programs in favor of suite guests.  ....... secured suite passage with three different lines.

As it should be, suites pay 2-3 time what other passengers pay per person. (when the additional cost falls below 2x balcony I seriously consider it)  It is no different than when booking a suite motel room, or first class airfare rather than economy.

Depending on which cruise line you book suite passage on some line don't necessarily reap huge benefits other than a bigger room

On 2/7/2020 at 1:11 PM, DublinFC said:

Id like to visit NO and sail from there too.  I am not sure Id like Majesty though.  We have sailed and are sailing on the lager ships.  However, the lower price for sailing on her is tempting.

I know that a few posters just before my response were in favor of taking this ship out of NOLA.  I just returned from a sailing on her, Majesty last week, also know I personally do not prefer the big Oasis class ships.  I will give my opinions, starting with, I have sailed from NOLA 6 times now, although the other 5 were on a carnival ship. 

Lets start with a few positives, the service is definitely up to Royal standards, all staff are pleasant and willing to help.  The food was good, maybe even some of the best I have had on 20+ Royal cruises in both the MDR and Windjammer.  Decent itinerary, that included Key West and CoCo Cay (interestingly on our sailing we were the only ship there)

First at this time Majesty is moving from doing 4 or 5 day sailings to 7 day cruises and experiencing a new home port.   This presents some noticeable adjustment for the crew, that should hopefully should work itself out over time.  The terminal Royal uses does not have a very large waiting area and the traffic flow for both people and cars is not the best.  There definitely seems to be a longer time from actual docking / tied up to actual release of passengers than on any other ship I've experienced (this could be attributed to new home port) 

There is no adult only area.  The rooms no mater what category, are much smaller than normal.  There is no specialty restaurant at all, if that's your thing.  Almost all bars have daytime activities ie trivia, next cruise event, that make for very little quite space during the day.  The centrum design makes it difficult to find somewhere to sit and listen music played there. 

The big screen on deck is of very poor quality, most noticeable if watching a movie, in addition not a lot of clear views of it (this is also a problem on a lot of Royal ships, but most noticeable on this one)  the best viewing are has been taken over by the smoking sections.  By the way the smoking sections are not clearly delineated on open decks and seem to expand more so than on other ships of the fleet.

The ships movement is very much more noticeable, so much so that some long time cruisers experienced motion sickness.   The ships ability to attain a higher top cruising speed is not there due to size and age of ship (this affects the ability to make up for lost time due to either delays or rough seas). 

Finally, if your are interested in the diamond lounge, there is not one and the old use of the Viking Crown has definitely ended.  You can get specialty coffee only at the Diamond and above breakfast in the MDR in the mornings, but you must ask to be seated in the section if you qualify.

Just our/my opinions above, and although we like to sail out of NOLA, once was enough on this particular ship.  Again just our opinion the slight cost advantage does not offset the many disadvantages.

5 hours ago, Matt said:

Im not sure about Tampa, but I know in NYC, conventional taxis were exempt from the car seat law.  

Laws aside, I'd just put them on your lap and hold them.  It's what our parents did.

316.613 f.s.
Abstract: F.S. 316.613 316.613 

(6) The child restraint requirements imposed by this section do not apply to a chauffeur-driven taxi, limousine, sedan, van, bus, motor coach, or other passenger vehicle if the operator and the motor vehicle are hired and used for the transportation of persons for compensation. It is the obligation and responsibility of the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for a child’s welfare as defined in s. 39.01 to comply with the requirements of this section.

13 hours ago, TotalF said:

I mean, I get it. Safety first as a cruise ship is its own little world/eco system. 

Good on them for taking appropriate steps to minimize the threat of an outbreak onboard

I agree, but how are they going to enforce this?  voluntary disclosure?  that never works, guess if your using a passport the could look for exit Visa stamps (very time consuming)

14 hours ago, DesertBob said:

We have a cruise out of San Juan on the Freedom of the Seas in May. Our flight into San Juan lands at 4:22am and our ship does not leave until 8 pm. Is there some place we can store our luggage before we check in.

I bet your looking to store it for the 6 hours before you can check in at pier.  probably not getting a motel.  The only storage I have heard of, Barracuda Restaurant, does not open till about 9 or 10 am. 

I might suggest looking into a one day car rental, returning it to Airport later in afternoon and then Uber to port, you'd have to figure out if this is cost feasible.

First time I have ever remember, last cruise in Nov on Liberty, my check-in asking for an arrival time.  this time is also printed on my boarding pass.

I have sailed out of NOLA before with other cruise lines, (don't hate on me, sometimes you have to try other to appreciate your favorite), in fact just returned from that cruise, and they strictly enforce this check-in time to even let you into the terminal buildings.

Has anyone ? maybe @Twangster sailed form NOLA and knows the answer for sure??

2 hours ago, twangster said:

They've had the video for some time.  They were trying to keep it out of the hands of the media.  When it went public they were very upset.  They know what it shows and have for a while now.

I for one am glad the video has gone public and that RCCL has made a public statement to the effect that they hold no responsibility for the negligent actions of an adult.

on lots of ships if they have to many Diamond plus for that particular sailing the have been restricting the concierge lounges to Suite s and Pinnacles.

I would save complaints like this if the just changed the name of all the concierge lounges to Suite Lounge fleet wide and save themselves this headache

did you also complain about this on a Facebook group

get over it some folks are just lucky.....  personalty I'm happy when ever some or myself gets over on the system

If I really want it "I pay for it" ... i.e. book a suite

wish i was in the 1%

but darn happy to be in the 10%

most people to sail more than once are, and I'm just guessing at  this are at least in the 20%

looking for more actual information related to the lawsuit

romance is what you make it

for all i know it could be early to bed and and early morning ....

trip to the gym ....

well adults know

On 1/9/2020 at 3:04 PM, Va4fam said:

.... called when the noise started at 3 AM.  Unfortunately nobody picked up the phone two nights in a row.   ....

Sorry but if I'm awaken at that time of the morning and GS did not answer the phone, I would have been standing in front of their counter, and they would have known I was there.

looks like all flat rates have increase from a little over a year ago, by about $2 along with the airport fee climbing $2 also. has actual

Wonder if Uber being allowed has actual cause rates to increase due to lost revenue as opposed to bringing rates down

On 12/30/2019 at 8:42 AM, KWong said:

I think any one of the hotels in that 17th street cluster will suit your needs.

agree, you should be able to find one there that makes you happy, I have stayed at a number of them and each have pro's and con's

2 hours ago, FloatMe said:

but we go to maya chan beach resort every time we are there. It is a pleasantly primitive with phenomenal customer service.

loved this place, the service is so exceptional

If interested, I'd have showed up with the paperwork and taken the tour

Cozumel downtown area is very walkable and very safe and not anything like the port terminals.  Not nearly as aggressive as Jamaica or some other ports

15 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

The waiter stopped serving them one at a time with all the sides and fancy plating.  He just brought out 3-4 at a time. LOL

Which I dislike, I don't want all the other fixings each time after the first time, just bring me a few tails on a plate.