Crown&AnchorEsq

We tend to tip at the end of the week.  We left something for the CK manager because we found he was the one that mostly went out of his way (and also arranged for the special MDR meals to be delivered).  We also tipped two of the CK waiters that we had that stood out.  One was serving us the last night so that was easy enough, the other I went and grabbed a drink in the suite lounge until I saw him, grabbed his attention, said thank you. and slipped him something.  

For suites, yes, but sometimes you need to ask.  For C&A platinum and up, yes but you will almost definitely need to ask.  For everyone else...can't hurt to ask, they have them on board.  Maybe slide your stateroom attendant a tip on night one and ask nicely early in day 2?

14 minutes ago, ShowMeVegas said:

How do I find out which night it is?  I've perused the app, logged in on a computer, everything... Will we just find out after we board?  I'd like to make my specialty dining reservations around it

You will need to wait until the day before to be absolutely sure but there are a couple of ways to make a better-than educated guess.  Best bet is to see if you can find a cruise compass for your itinerary on Serenade, it will likely be the same night on every cruise.  As a backup, look at the MDR menu and your itinerary.  Dress to impress night will usually be a sea day and the "royal night" (lobster tail night) on the menu.  

I suspect that some of this is mining for more spending options as others have said, but I also suspect this is a response to everyone reporting that sorrentos is...not great... in their post-cruise surveys.  Sorrentos is free and at times (embarkation, late night) absolutely packed.  They have to be able to churn and burn the pizzas.  As a result, you get a slightly-better than frozen pizza.  My guess is that they are really looking at making a better product (read: true hand-stretched, wood-fired, NY style etc etc) but limiting the demand by charging a fee.  I'm only guessing, but the sorrentos issues might have well been one question: "would you prefer to pay more for a better product or are you ok with the so-so (but free!...well included anyways) product."  I don't see how they can get rid of the only real late-night option (cafe promenade barely counts these days) 

We also got the suite questions, certainly looks like they are finding ways to change the inclusions there.  

We really enjoyed CK, I want to say we did 4 out of 7 nights, most breakfasts and a few lunches.  The reason we did not do more dinners was because we travel with a few people who have somewhat limited dietary options and a few of the nights were not terribly appealing for them.  One night late in the week we mentioned that they were really looking forward to a certain dish from the MDR and CK arranged to have that dish brought up from the MDR menu.  In the future we plan to check in with the CK manager and do that more often.  I anticipate it is not an issue as long as you ask in advance so that they can coordinate.  This is one of those YMMV situations but unless you are ordering exclusively MDR items, I would say go to CK and just ask for some of the MDR items if you do not want to miss out on those.  

Amsterdam/Netherlands at large are trying to get away from the tourist/party culture that made Amsterdam what we think of today.  They ran a big campaign about six months ago to discourage stag party/hen party/bacherlor(ette) parties and cruise ships are the next target.  There's an ebb and flow to all things, Amsterdam is just finding that they were too successful in attracting tourists and are trying to discourage it now.

As discussed, ships will still go the the Netherlands, most likely via Rotterdam.  Not as nice, but its no different than the lines moving to Ravenna when Venice banned cruise ships a few years ago.  

I imagine it changes from ship to ship but the last 3 we have been on the backdrops/ropes set up around 4-430 and then the photographers all emerge and walk to their stations at 5.  We were travelling with young kids and were trying to get photos as quickly after getting dressed/before they could spill anything on them so we timed it out.  If you want to knock out your larger group and nuclear family all at once I would recommend picking your preferred backdrop/setting and park your group there at 5 of.  The stairways in the promenade are usually a good choice for big crowds because you can stack people.  That way you make sure you have a shot at getting what you want.  

With that said, if you ever see a photographer set up who does not have a line, stop and get some photos taken.  If they do not have a line they tend to be more willing to try extra things and with a big crowd the more photos you have the more likely everyone will be happy with how they look in at least one of the photos.  It cost you nothing but time to have the photos shot.

Miami/Perfect day/Nassau/Falmouth/Labadee

Look forward to seeing everyone there.

Response from RCL will be that "they are actively monitoring the situation and will respond appropriately."  As echoed by the previous posts, it is not really subject to the same concerns that the State Department is expressing because it is essentially its own island (geographically a peninsula but essentially separated from the rest of Haiti by a fully gated security post).  With that said, there have been skipped sailings here and there due to protests and security concerns but that is likely as easy to predict as missing the port because of high winds/hurricanes.  We were there in December on Oasis and they apparently broke three mooring lines and had to use the thrusters to keep the ship tight to the dock.  Capt. said they were one line away from skipping the port.

Most balcony rooms on Oasis can be opened up.  We had a GS an Ocean View connected both in room and on the balcony (to expand the space).  There are a few exceptions where there are physical walls/bulkheads.  Look at the side view of the ship and if it looks like you have a frosted glass partition then half of that can be swung/slid open.  

I did some research on this when we were booking our next cruise and the general rule of thumb is that ships built post-2006 (Star Princess Fire) have the ability to open dividers, supposedly for fire-fighting purposes.  I have seen it indicated that "fire codes" require it, but have never actually seen said code and I am not sure who could actually enforce it.  Either way, from what I can tell, Freedom, Oasis and Quantum class ships can be opened as well as Mariner and Navigator.  Remember, that this is not advertised as a feature though and rules can change at any time.  

Used to be an option in Europe.  Someone else asked about it back in June and was referred to this pre-covid experience.

Out of curiosity, do you know if there are any interport itineraries for your sailing?  I did not know RCL did them, but I have been seeing anecdotal reports about them particularly out of Rome and Barcelona.  Could be a connection.

You can check out anytime you like

But you can never leave.

3 minutes ago, Xaa said:

Just as Royal can create an area that excludes paying customers under 16, they can create a rule that modifies the hours of the exclusion.  Their ship, their rules.  Looks like it's 3 hours or just 12.5% of some days.  Doesn't seem huge to me.  If it's a deal breaker for you when deciding to book future cruises, I certainly respect your choice.

I, on the other hand would complain that the family time falls during prime young-child napping time.  Not that the diapered crowd is likely to be using the solarium (unless they're Depends brand) but those 3-7 year old still need naps during vacation.  RCL does their best but they cannot satisfy everyone.

Took a one year old and 18 month old on Oasis (actually the same child, just two cruises-six months apart).  

As mentioned above, they will be assigned to the Adventure Ocean Nursey which carries an hourly cost.  First thing to do when you get onboard is run up to AO register the child and reserve your time slots.  They fill up quickly but it is worthwhile.  They will allow a certain amount of time on the first day that I believe is somewhat dynamic based upon the number of children on board.  In May of last year it was 8 hours, in December it was 12 hours.  Pick the times you know you really want in the first 3 days or so.  After the first day they will let you add additional hours as long as there is space.  You will need to leave diapers and a bottle with the child but they will handle everything while they are there.  If you are on board they will give you a phone to carry with you in case something comes up.  We needed to return to rescue the little one once because they could not get him to calm down.

22 Months will probably not be potty trained but there is a small diaper-friendly splashpad located by the larger splashaway bay pad.  They will not be allowed in the big area.  I have also seen staff prevent non-diapered children from playing in the diaper-friendly pad.  NB: the splashpad does not open until the pools are open which is usually 9-10 on most days.  That may seem plenty early to most people, but if you have an almost 2-year old who is up at 630, trying to fill that time until 10 can be tough.

On the topic of early mornings, do not forget that you can get free continental breakfast room service (or full breakfast if you are in a suite or want to pay the fee) I would recommend ordering something small. The little ones tend to wake up hungry and may not be accustomed to waiting until everyone is showered/dressed and ready to head to breakfast (and then waiting through a buffet line or ordering/prep).  A piece of fruit or muffin delivered first thing can do wonders to stretching them until you can make it to your preferred breakfast location.  For breakfast don't forget that Johnny Rocket's is complimentary and very frequently one of the least crowded offerings. 

Get used to finding the fastest route to deck 6 aft and riding the carousel.  You will (almost certainly) be doing that alot.   

+1

That was our experience as well.  Nothing guaranteed until you receive the room but certainly reason to be optimistic.  

Wondering if anyone has first-hand experience since the updated protocols were released 11/10.

Previously the protocols were worded such that "parties with unvaccinated children" were required to book through royal.  Thus the collective experience seemed to be that if you had unvaccinated children in your cabin you could (if you chose) let them hang out in Adventure Ocean if you wanted to go ashore on your own, though if they wanted to leave the ship it needed to be with a Royal Excursion.

The wording has now shifted slightly to "families" with unvaccinated children being required to book through royal.  Perhaps a distinction without a difference as the protocol does continue by indicating that vaccinated parties can go ashore as they desire (with certain limitations through December). Regardless we are coming up on 2 months out and it looks increasingly less likely that we'll be able to vaccinate our infant and/or 3yo

We just received the "book by 10/20" offer and I'm currently combing through options now.  Only trouble is that the Mrs. will need to stay home with the 4 month old so I will probably end up bringing the 2yo.  They're going to be super annoyed when they see $0 spent at the Casino...wonder if I could convince the casino manager to comp nursery costs. 

Never mind, I didnt scroll far enough through last week's posts, mods feel free to lock or merge with wannabe's post from 9/27

Curiously received by way of my USPS Informed delivery account this morning

I checked Club Royale Offers as well and it does show up there.  Is anyone else seeing something similar? I barely gamble enough on board to turn earn the occasional $100 credit usually so this seems odd.  It is obviously for cheaper cruises, but still, gift horse and whatnot.

Alas we're in the same boat (or out of the same boat(ship) as the case may be).  We had a 2 bedroom Owners Suite booked with 5 adults and two kids which itself was a replacement for an A2 suite on Allure which was supposed to be this past January.  Right now if I'm seeing everything correctly it looks like there is precisely no way we're going to get into a similar stateroom for any early '22 cruises.  

Best option I am seeing right now is two connecting JS on Oasis, does not really get us any of the suite benefits we generally look for (and certainly not the genie we were originally counting on when we scheduled Allure for '21).  Anybody seeing a better options for late January-early March?  Our travel agent seems to be out of her depth at the moment and just keeps telling us that there's nothing available that would accommodate our party.   

In an ideal world we'd be trying to include two more balcony rooms for extended family who were supposed to join us as well.  Best laid plans and all that...

TLDR: Everything's cancelled and I'm grumpy, Help me find GS or better for 7 people plus two balcony rooms on the same ship in early 2022, preferably FLL or MIA

20 hours ago, Pooch said:

Nordic Empress 2002. New York to Bermuda!  2 nights Kings Wharf, 2 nights Hamilton.

Same, except 2003 and I am pretty sure ours was 7 nights.  This was back when Royal was still cruising out of the west side.  I remember sitting in the windjammer and trying to catch glimpses of the Intrepid.

We had a similar experience with our 1/24/21 FCC, we had booked 6 people into an A2 suite spread across three households.  For life reasons it is unlikely that two of the households will be cruising anytime soon so we consolidated the FCCs, including the bonus credit, all back to one household.  

Losing out on that A2 suite still hurts though, that was probably our only chance of playing in Star Class for the foreseeable future.

On 12/29/2019 at 8:11 AM, 1978bucketlist said:

When researching I discovered that we could book 2 bedroom grande suite on Royal for same price as family room in Fantasy.

We're in a 2 Bedroom Grand Suite (GT) on the 1/18 Adventure sailing.

We did Dubrovnik, Kotor, Santorini and Olympia (Kataklon) in 2017, which I believe would be the route, or similar to it, that you have planned.  It was actually one of our favorite cruises/itineraries and I keep meaning to do a not-so-liveblog/review because its an itinerary which really deserves more attention.  Rhapsody has a well deserved reputation for service, at least as of our 2017 experience, I'm sure most of the crew has turned over.  As mentioned above, Rhapsody really does revolve around the Centrum, which effectively functions as a vertical boardwalk for the ship and you can find plenty to do on all the levels of the Centrum.  

Itinerary-wise, we had a beach day scheduled for Dubrovnik that was cancelled (apparently we were the only ones to sign up for a beach day in May).  So we just walked the old city on our own.  My memory was that there was a free or very cheap shuttle between the port and the Old City and the city was very walkable.  There is a free map with points of interest marked out and you can do the museum/aquarium while you're there.  You can do the "Game of Thrones" tour and walk the city walls or pay ~15 euro or so to walk the walls on your own.  We did neither but those that did had good things to say.  We found a little Irish pub instead and I tried some Croatian Craft beer and used the free wifi to check work/update family at home (we generally don't get Voom/surf) 

Kotor we did a city tour and then toured an olive grove.  Kotor used tenders when we were there (I believe they still do) so we picked an early excursion to take advantage of the priority disembarkation.  I believe we were one of the first off the ship.  We were there the day after their independence day celebration and it was still early so everything was a little sleepy but it actually worked out for the tour because we got to see everything without the crowds and then took a bus ride out the olive grove.  It was a great ride, the guide was good and we stopped for photos along the way.  When we got back to the city we poked our head in quickly and considered walking up the mountain stairs but everything was so crowded we just decided to head back to the ship.  I would really recommend getting off the ship as early as possible to see the city.  Its a small city and there can be big crowds

Santorini is also a tender port but I would say you could do any of the dime-a-dozen tours.  They pile you into a bus/van and show you the picturesque spots to take photos of all the white houses with their blue roofs.  We also went up to the highest point on the island but at some point or another so did everyone else.  Almost everyone ends up spending some time in Thera where I (once again found some craft beer) and then take the cable car/donkey path back down.  We took the cable car, there were at least two broken wrists on our cruise from people that took the donkey path

Kataklon/Olympia-Make sure you get out to Olympia to see the ruins.  There are plenty of excursions or private tours that go out.  My memory is that the time in port was short so the piece of mind for a ship-run excursion might be advisable.  We did a Ruin/Vineyard combo excursion that was a blast.  

@MrMarc with regards to the forum selection clause in the cruise contract, that really only applies to "consumer complaints"  the BI/Wrongful death tort claims follow the usually common law choice of laws principles.

14 hours ago, MrMarc said:

 9. FORUM SELECTION CLAUSE FOR ALL LAWSUITS; CLASS ACTION WAIVER: a. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN SECTION 10 (b) WITH REGARD TO CLAIMS OTHER THAN FOR PERSONAL INJURY, ILLNESS OR DEATH OF A PASSENGER , IT IS AGREED BY AND BETWEEN PASSENGER AND CARRIER THAT ALL DISPUTES AND MATTERS WHATSOEVER ARISING UNDER, IN CONNECTION WITH OR INCIDENT TO THIS AGREEMENT, PASSENGER'S CRUISE, CRUISETOUR, LAND TOUR OR TRANSPORT, SHALL BE LITIGATED, IF AT ALL, IN AND BEFORE THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA LOCATED IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, U.S.A., ...

Emphasis mine.  

Going to attorneys immediately after an accident is more common than you think, especially when they're knocking on your door.  Publicity issues aside, if you are in an accident, particularly if its a situation where you have a good claim (say you get rear-ended) its not a bad idea to get an attorney involved asap just to make sure that all evidence is preserved.  Just because you hire an attorney does not mean that you have to file suit.  I'd have to check the statute of limitations in Puerto Rico but my guess is that suit wont be filed for at least a few years. (Statute is  3 years for tort (bodily injury) claims in most jurisdictions.)

The publicity...that's an attorney's strategy choice.  The client needs to approve it to some extent, but here Winkelman wants to control the narrative and get out in front of the grandfather being the sole cause of this accident.  As many have alluded "litigating in the news" is also a time-honored strategy, it provides some leverage to get the case settled or prevent it from dragging out.