Pattycruise

The Visa card had a special yesterday-all royal purchases were 4x points and all other were 3x. Only Nov 7.

The cleanup in public areas was done last night. I went out to the bars when they let us out of our cabin and all appeared normal-except for tied closed cabinets in the pub on 5. The guitarist there even played extra time after the pub closed ( maybe 15-20 people there)

Communication has been great. I’m thinking we must be docking standard early morning as they gave out that WiFi to change flights and other plans but if we all change assuming morning arrival and it’s not that means additional changes for people. That would really be terrible and a nightmare PR considering so many people don’t carry insurance and Sunday flights are typically more money, let alone the cost of flights this close to flight date. I’m glad they made it 2 hours free WiFi to get things organized.

Currently on Explorer Transatlantic and we were hit with an unexpected squall last evening about 7 pm our time (3 pm Miami time). The ship listed significantly causing injuries -casino table and a slot machine pinned a woman-plus other injuries to others. Items flew off shelves, things overturned. We turned around last night around midnight our time-8pm Miami time. an announcement was made 8 am our time (5am Miami time-we had a scheduled time change last night) we are turned around to bring injured to Las Palmas, Canary Islands. AND to resupply. Ships normally have “enough and then some” in inventory to complete their sailing a some extra “in case of delay returning”. In our case we were supposed to resupply in Azores-but due to weather we had a last minute port change to Tenerife. So while some supplies were acquired I’m sure it was not enough for the chain of events that happened leading to inventory being ruined, I digress reminder 1. ALWAYS pack extra meds-I do for 3 days, but mine are not “life changing” if I miss them for a few days. I’ll now consider a 7 day supply going forward or just pack the one bottle full. 2. if traveling with meds in a pillbox medical will not know what you are on if you don’t have a list or picture of your pill bottles that they can find. I’m not sure of the protocols if you are unconscious-is someone searching your cabin? Are they calling your emergency contact shoreside if you are a solo traveler? So you really need to have an emergency card with a list of meds and the dosage and the time of day you take them with your cabinets knowing where that list is and if traveling solo your emergency contact should have that info. 3. Be aware of surroundings and try to think quickly. Is walking and staying near glass a good idea? If you are near things that can fall and roll your way-is that safe if it indeed happens? Yes events unfolded fairly quickly-but there was time as we were listing to think about that before the tilt got worse and things started flying. 4. yes, we all have plans and need to be somewhere. 3 days late to port is not good for many people. travel insurance can address some of the pain of canceling/changing flights. Get travel insurance!! 5. patience and understanding. Have it. Everyone has questions. I’m pretty sure they will all be answered. Know that Royal will answer your questions about reimbursement and compensation soon enough. Understand that they are putting the pieces together, working with many parts of this big machine to get the answers you need so they aren’t giving constantly changing answers. 6. realize the extra work crew has to put in. The same stress you felt during the incident they felt to. I was able to text my family to tell them what was happening-live, crew had no such luxury. They also had to go above and beyond to clean the mess, ensure we were all accounted for and then that they were all accounted for. This on top of a drill day where they could not get their usual rest. They must be exhausted. Consider putting a note out with your do not disturb sign-no service needed today. Give them a break where you can. 7. If you are unhappy with what’s offered and need “more of something” ask guest services. My last sailing we had a delay to port (radiance Panama Canal to Tampa) due to Hurricane Milton. I overheard a passenger complain the one hour they gave him of free internet was not enough to fix his flights, hotel and ground transportation. (Things don’t come easy to everyone!). The “internet guy” said that’s all you get. I logged the guy into Internet on his phone with my code. Guest services was offering the use of their phone to assist people. Had he complained there he would have been reminded of the benefit that had been announced. 8. join the Facebook group for your sailing. You’ll get better ideas on what others are doing. Also be mindful though that you can’t believe everyone in those groups with the rumors they may start, but there typically are some helpful hints about your cruise- before, during and even after. 9. continue to read things in this group. You really do learn useful info and learn from other’s experiences.

Docking in Canary Islands tomorrow Medical reasons and a resupply We will be back in Miami 3 days late, November 17 This announcement made at 8:00 am our time. I’m sure they will work on the details for payments for flights etc. And update us accordingly. As I ponder this situation I am amazed at the quickness of the cleanup. I imagine there were emergency calls to Miami all through the night due to the time change and those people in Miami are making the calls to get the medical lined up as well as the resupply that we’ll need to complete our crossing. I’d spoken to a bartender last night who stated the inventory in nearly every bar was ruined and furthermore the inventory in the storeroom was also impacted. I imagine the food inventory suffered as well. I’ve posted in both Facebook groups for this sailing that I’ll be keeping my do not disturb sign and a note that states “no service today “ on my door today because I believe the crew need a break. Yesterday we had drills while at sea and then this happened last night just after 7pm our time.

The wine on someone’s table before the tilt got worse the casino-passenger was trapped by poker table and slot machine hit her Kitchen, can’t imagine the mess

I’m deck 7 aft and it doesn’t feel “too bad”. (I’ve felt a lot worse) I recall the captain stating we’d be having rough seas around Sunday…I’m hoping he doesn’t mean anything much worse than this! Imagine being a first time cruiser?!

Just heard my stateroom attendant tell a neighbor down the hall the passenger count is done, now they are accounting for crew. i feel bad for the crew, they had the drill today and now this-it surely has cut into their sleep and rest.

A lot of crew mobilized on deck 5 to receive scanners and instructions. Note: No announcements were made about a drill or mobilizations of crew so there has been another means of communication. (Unless I missed it) I had heard a call for a supervisor to report to an “”ECC” within about 20-30 minutes after the listing. I’m now scanned-9:55-and awaiting the announcement I can leave my room…once everyone has been scanned in. spoke to a neighbor who stated she went to and opened her balcony during this listing and was surprised how close we were to the water. She’s lucky she didn’t go in. Her son is deck 2 and his window was in the ocean

Explorer had a SEVERE listing at about 7:06 this evening in the middle of the transatlantic. (3:06 eastern time) during our Barcelona to Miami Transatlantic. It took a bit of time, understandably, for the captain to announce that we were hit with a pop up squall with hurricane force winds of 80 mph. it was for quite some time we were listing, I’m sure for some it felt like forever. Things crashed down, tables overturned etc. reports of a” stampede “ to exit the theater, passengers grabbed their life vests, and you could hear some screaming and crying. dinner was announced to continue about 8 pm or so, with delays due to gallery disarray. Even the theater announced to continue the show later as well. almost 2 1/2 hrs later they’ve decided to start checking to see if anyone is missing. We have all been sent to our cabins and cannot leave till all are accounted for stateroom attendant started with red cards in the key slot to establish we are there. It’s supposed to be a scan. Seems somewhat disorganized. Attendant has now-10 minutes later removed cards. My friend on the other side of the ship was scanned and told she could now leave her cabin which totally contradicts the captains announcement . Imagine if this was a real incident. The good news is I’ve given away 5 bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne to my hallway neighbors. The bad news-not all of the wine was twists of!

In all my time of reading up on all things casino I’ve not heard this. The worst thing would be if they tell you no. Be prepared they might try to reprove the cruise. Typically one of the original people on the reservation must remain on it and that’s what you are doing so there technically should not be an issue keeping your reservation and items purchased. It’s the casino booking itself that could become the issue. i hope they can give you the originally booked price (shown at the top of your invoice. Id price out the cruise to see what it would cost if they wanted to reprice it- so you are mentally prepared if that’s what they want to do

Omg, If love to know what ships you’ve sailed on. In my opinion the pillows are awful, as are the mattresses.

I saw the Celebrity Norway:Arctic and booked it. I’d rather do 14 days on a ship than to fly over for a 7 day cruise. The Celebrity sailing knocks 2 items off my bucket list. I’ve no idea if Royal will add this type of itinerary, I didn’t want to wait to do this trip

I did not get any food or drink at horseshoe bay. I know drinks were about $16 and the plastic cups were not that big. One time I was there someone from a different ship had a case of beer with them. I do know the cost of renting a lounger is $20/$25 each and an umbrella $20/$35 each. You can carry in food drink etc.

I’m the opposite. I’d rather keep my money and given how long royal used to take with refunds in the event of cancellations I don’t have prepaid gratuities to have to track.

If carrying a credit card and relying on it have a second card on hand for emergencies in case your first card is compromised. I grew up a cash only family and I always have some sort of cash on hand for emergencies, I definitely take Euro with me for the reasons above and then some extra/just in case.

I doubt this Has to do anything with people not being able to get out of the way of trams since they are still running trams. I’m gonna guess cost savings.

Just did this cruise on Radiance. They couldn’t fill chops I guess and offered dinner at $20 onboard. Idk if they offered discounts for other restaurants. I did not take advantage of the discount for a few of my own reasons. Stayed on the Queen Mary the night before the cruise -not too far from the pier. Absolutely loved it and highly recommend it. We had difficulty getting an Uber-I think because we were opting for the cheapest one. (I had read an article recently that the cheap ones do cancel a lot so better to cancel and rebook if it’s talking to long. In our case we were 3 people so I needed an XL and it kept saying 15 minutes and as the time dwindled down it would reset. I finally went in and ordered the more expensive xl and it was there in 5 minutes. ) It’s lots of walking on the Queen Mary and if I had to do it again I would have booked 2 nights just to be able to relax more and take In a bit more. You can arrive early and they store your luggage. In our case we arrived early and they gave us our rooms right away.

If doing the inside passage definitely pack binoculars. Well binoculars for any part of Alaska are good to have!

Yes, she likely has a group rate and therefore could not apply your certificate

I was on Radiance 16 nt recently and inquired about extending my BOGO to a guest and was told no. Pretty sure the guy was wrong. I didn’t pursue it because honestly-I don’t care if I use it. Interesting side note they started offering Chops DINNER for $20 per person. They should have sold me the BOGO-they would have made more $ off of me!

Be proactive. before speaking with your travel agent do a mock booking of the cabins so you can understand pricing and availability. Understand it would be cheaper to buy 2 cabins off 2 rather than a solo cabin for yourself and a cabin for 3. It’s also easier to find cabins for 2 that are together. I usually call my agent with the exact cabins I want. You CAN book with minors in their own cabin but their cabin must be directly adjacent to you or directly across from you. On of my sailings I had a balcony and the kids were in an interior promenade across the hall. Also note if you book 2 cabins of 2 there likely won’t be a third bed in the cabin (unless you can get a cabin that sleeps 3-book 2 in it and then move one once you board-fine this way because it’s cheaper) so if your intent is to have the kids in one cabin and you have your own someone won’t be comfortable with 3 in a cabin that sleeps 2. I don’t understand the problem with the connecting staterooms that someone mentioned, usually the connecting door is opened so it’s easy to go in and out between the cabins If you do choose to put 4 in one cabin I’d book a cabin that is fairly close to a public restroom so there at least is a second bathroom available if needed.