bobroo

Thanks for sharing! A lot of people are going to be excited to hear this!

Inquiring minds would like to know which ship this pertains to because it is this first ship we know of that has let D+ back into the Concierge Lounge!!!!

A Fall Foliage cruise and considering giving up one of the fleet wide top coveted cabins for??? Free draft beer? A gold colored Seapass? An armoire? Free copy and fax service? A doorbell? <puzzled look>

The best cabins are NOT the ones that are the most expensive.

Expanding sailings out of Singapore is really, really good news!!!

<fingers crossed> I really, really hope The Pearl is a bubble tea concession!

I know in the times before COVID seems like 30 years ago but in about December/January-ish of 2019 Puerto Rico wanted to remodel their cruise ports. Royal Caribbean was excluded from the conversation and this really got their underwear in a bunch. There is (or perhaps was) a Royal business unit that is a port and pier general contractor/designer/consultant/architect. And not that they don't know the business or do a good job; but it does bring in "their guys". I think it was the "their guys" that Puerto Rico found objectionable and therefore said 'No, we are doing the job ourselves'.

Well, Royal got really upset they were not the architect/general contractor. They stomped their feet and threw their weight around.  There were a bunch of threatening letters to top politicians and I believe some top brass from Royal had meetings with these politicians to change their minds(?) stating that Royal had had a close relationship with PR for 40 years and the good things they do but real heavy on the PR owed Royal the job of port improvements.

PR said, we are doing the job without you. And about that 2019 December/January-ish timeframe Royal Caribbean cancelled any future ports of call to San Juan that they had not already had under contract with their port authority. There were some source documents posted on the Blog at the time (letters penned by Royal). And there was a press release stating the future cessation of sailing to San Juan which was really brash and totally uncharacteristic of Royal. You could tell they were steaming.

It all was just 3 years ago.

Post COVID we have sailings to San Juan way into the future. I wonder if the revenue from the just-about-a-guarantee of selling a few hundred cabins to the quinceanera girls on any sailing out of San Juan changed their mind?

I am glad to see that San Juan is going forward with their plan, it has been overdue and a long time coming. 

On the other hand, modifications to the ports in San Juan bring nothing but bad memories on how ugly and intimidating the top management of Royal Caribbean can be. 

The more successful San Juan's port modifications become, the bigger the middle finger in the face of the  bullies of Royal Caribbean. Good for you San Juan! keep up the good work!

Our friend Twangster probably has the best public video documenting the dive; but if I were in your fins, I'd spend some time on YouTube and compare them all for yourself.

14 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

I know the current dates don't line up with school schedules, but I'd love to see a NOLA sailing as a group cruise someday. Hint, hint @Matt.

RCB going to NOLA would change all conventional wisdom and opinions what a cruise vacation should be; finally realizing it’s the journey NOT the destination.

I hope it happens!

A: The servers at Playmakers are……..Barstaff.

RC trivia question:

What department are the staff at Playmakers and Johnny Rockets employed by? 
 

Are they waitstaff ie: asst waiters?

Barstaff?

Kitchen staff?

Refrigerators and their Freon are terrible for the environment and waste a lot of electricity to boot. 
To think that a cruise ship has literally thousands of these aboard and yet at the same time wants to tell you about their Save The Waves program or that they have created a LEED certified cruise ship should have us all saying ‘I was born at night, but I was not born last night.’
 

IMO Royal’s real problem with Quest? It does not generate any revenue.

I think it’s gone for good.

More Chef's Choice comments: Even though the cookies are complimentary at many venues and are served in your stateroom unappetizingly (you'll scratch your head how the word "chef" is associated with them); this is a BETTER gift than what they gave out previously...the bag of sugared biscotti from some third party vendor that used plastic so thick the bag was hard to open. And, who would put cookies in solid black packaging? To answer the question, the same guy who thought some dough with the smallest amount of sugar could pass as being called a cookie. YUCK!

Now previous to that, the Chef's amenity go-to was a plate of chocolate cover strawberries with a doily. That was hospitality!

If there was one thing a green-minded cruise line would do would be to eliminate the misidentified refrigerators in each stateroom. Not only do they not chill things properly, they are terrible for the environment. It's not a stretch to think they consume a lot of electricity.

1 hour ago, Sokko said:

 

 

What is the Chef's choice gift and do we receive that on every cruise or just once ?

 

Discounts on Balcony and Suite staterooms, how do I see the discounts?  I book myself through the Royal Caribbean website / call direct and it would help my decision making if I could know what to expect while comparing cruises.  I have tried a travel agent and did not have the experience that I expected (don't want to discuss in open forum).

 

 

 

The chefs choice gift is a plate of cookies you'll find in your stateroom on embarkation. They are them same cookies that are available to everyone at Sorrento's or the cafe in the solarium, or a Central Park Cafe, or (I'm guessing) the Windjammer. The chefs gift is different than the bottle of beer or bottles of wine you will receive next to your plate of cookies. Those come from the Loyalty Ambassador and the Beverage Team. There are some choices of what you would like to receive but those need to be designated beforehand. To be honest, Royal claims you can select the preferences online from My Cruises but the reality is the choices are no where to be found. You'll need to call C & A to make your selections. More honesty: your bottle of beer and wine selections will be warm. Your beer will need to be exchanged at a bar for a cold one and at a bar other than on the pool deck or solarium because glass is not permitted there. Chilling your white wine? Folks here will tell you they request a bucket of ice from their stateroom attendant or they drop it off at a Vintages, R Bar, or a specialty restaurant with a wink and a nod that you'll return to drink it there later. I've always found they are happy to put your stateroom number on your bottle and chill it for you. Professional cruisers bring a cooler and take care of business themselves.

Discounts? More flat out honesty: Royal has their booking so intentionally confusing it is really hard to see what discounts are really applied. Oh, you might find some $ numbers written on lines of your booking confirmation and if that makes you feel good--great. But actually determining any discount or an amount of discount is less than straight arrow. As a seasoned cruiser of Royal you'll learn that you just plain need to look at that bottom line/ out-the-door price and ask yourself "Is this acceptable?"

An Owners suite will have plenty of room to store all empty luggage in the armoires.

It's NOT my cabin, it's the stateroom attendants' cabin. I am just a temporary guest.

To whatever extent they want to clean, or not to clean; is not my decision.

I am simply happy to just be on the boat.

My stateroom attendant on Liberty in June was responsible for 14 cabins, most of which were junior suites.

Stateroom attendant on Indy in May: 12 balconies.

Navigator in February: another double digit junior suite duty week for him.

IMO, Royal is purposefully overworking the cabin attendants. Understanding this, I order double portions of lobster via room service on formal night plus whatever desserts the stateroom attendant wants--double those too. I bail and go to the MDR as soon as the food is delivered. 

Cruise vacations at his point in time require patience, forgiveness, empathy, and a lot of time. Everything related to a cruise today comes with shortcomings.; the airlines, hotels, car rentals, the embarkation process, the staff onboard, and including the folks and businesses you come across at a port stop. Your expectations have to be really, really low.

A country asking a potential visitor for identification, vaccinations, or the exact location they will be staying is completely ordinary. It is by no means unusual or pandemic related. It is no means a big ask.

A stay at an all inclusive resort has far fewer moving parts.

It's not too late to cancel and take another type of vacation. 

Another +1 for Airtags!  They are a permanent part of all my luggage now. Replacing the batteries yearly is a small price to pay for the piece of mind that one of my bags is 1) in the naughty room 2) is in some other hallway unrelated to my cabin 3) has been left on the dock by some irresponsible porters.

Testing yourself before a cruise with the same urgency as the OP does after his cruise will take away ALL the stress that someone tests positive before the cruise.

100% free, self administered, and non-reported tests are available at COVID.gov/tests  These non-proctored tests are not accepted to board a cruise ship, but feel free to use them as a pre-test.

If Royal was really concerned about the many, many people who are claiming they come home COVID positive, they would require mandatory rapid testing of every passenger at the port of time of embarkation and do away with the Pre Cruise Testing On Your Own. I'd like to think Royal would enact such a system just to protect the crew members.

Pelican cases used as luggage for the win. They cost just about the same as luggage but are built to withstand the abuse of porters, bus drivers, bellhops, and ramp rats.

 And, they will be the last time you buy luggage—ever. 

I will NEVER understand the reluctance of cruisers to fly in a day or two early to start their vacation.

Likewise, I will NEVER understand cruisers who want to end their vacation early and buy a plane ticket for the absolute earliest time possible on the day of arrival.

And to top it off, these people come here and ask for pseudo permission.

<shakes head in disbelief>

As most of you know I am a big "it's the journey, not the destination" guy. And I can promise everyone that Southeast Texas between Houston and Galveston delivers on the journey part of your vacation. 

Our trip a couple weeks ago we chose to stay in Webster. It was centrally located, 1/2 way there, and kept hotel costs reasonable. It allowed us to eat at a Whataburger, have an absolutely fantastic evening on the boardwalk in Kemah, and make an obligatory stop at Buc-ee's.

There are al lot of things I like about sailing out of Miami, but I gotta tell ya';  sailing out of Galveston is better-- and it's because of the stop at the gas station.