sammy79

Gotta think there was a lot more brewing in this man's life than an impulse moment.

You left your cabin without checking for your wallet?  

It would seem with his wealth he’d be sailing regent instead of royal. 

Did the Royal bling necklace come with the cup?  
He just needs Royal bling grills now.

Ok, I looked it up. So someone has a lot of disposable income. To me the big deal isn't that someone is rich/stupid enough to buy it. The big deal is that he is leaving a $100k cup sitting on a table at a beach.

Since Oasis doesn't go to Alaska and there is no 13th deck...please get a travel agent! I think you need help.

Oasis doesn't sail to Alaska..perhaps you mean Ovation? 

Ugh, this bites my butt so to speak. People pay good money for Star Class, you want those seats make the purchase. Smh....
When I see people in Star Class I think good for them, I hope they enjoy...  
 

Suite snob story… we’re in the comedy club sitting right behind the reserved star class chairs. Two women in Sky Class seemed mildly perturbed that those seats weren’t for them.

Our Genie Shane 💜
We have known Shane since 2019 so there was already some familiarity here. However, we have learned this week that knowing Shane, and having him as our Genie are two different things.
There are Genies, and then there is Shane. That is the best way I can describe our experience with him. We have never had terrible genie in any of our sailings, but Shane stands out not because of the grandiose gestures, but the small little things all throughout the week. Those small little things, add up to reflect a Genie who adores his job, genuinely listens to his guests, and takes time to build a relationship with them. This is why people adore Shane.
Any genie can send food, decorate, and throw a party, but very few will become unforgettable because their thoughtful small gestures truly show that their guests, and their satisfaction, are their number one priority. This is Shane. He is all that, and more, a truly unique Genie. 

Back to real life.  We left our room at 6:30.  7:15 gangway was open.  Very easy as they had 4 lines open.  In Uber by 7:30, at FLL by 8am, time for food for kids and about to board our 9:25 am flight.  I know it’s not what’s recommended but we’ll take the chance to be home by 1 pm and have the afternoon to get ready for the week.   We’ve done it this way several times and so far so good. 
 
Great blog as always!  We missed you in the pub last night. 
 
 Our countdown is 71 days and I can’t wait! 
 
 

Then, I lost 90 minutes of my life watching Cats. The things we do for our kids 🤦🏻‍♀️
These people were all smarter. 

People were leaving in droves! Entire rows were emptying out. Sort of rude. It was not my favourite either, but still. I felt bad for the cast. Not sure if they are used to it or not. 

After dinner we went to see Frozen in Time. I got a good laugh at myself here because I now know that I spoke too soon when I said we don’t encounter shenanigans.
Shane had reserve two seats beside D17 and whoever it was for did not end up showing. Towards show start time, Shane removes the SC banners. Like hawks, two guys swoop in and ask Shane if they can have the seats. Shane tells them go ahead. D17 later pointed out that these are the same guys who did this at Aqua 80 try #1 a few nights ago.
Anyhow, this is where it got crazy. So the two guys sit down and another guy behind them starts yelling at them. The two guys start yelling back saying they have every right to sit there because they asked (which they did). Then all sorts of swearing and name calling begin. We told D17 to get ready to duck down lol.
These 3 guys caused such a commotion and neither would back down. Everyone was now watching. They basically did not stop swearing and name calling until the show began. So extra and such an overreaction on both parts.

Star class flowriding worked to our advantage this morning. You never know how these sessions turn out. Always unpredictable. Sometimes a ton of people show up and you only get one run. Sometimes no one shows up. Today, only Andrew, Owen, and Justin showed up at the start. They got some good runs in for the first 30mins until another family arrived. All together 5 riders for the last 30 mins. That is pretty decent.
Hubby is working on better “carving” this sailing. I don’t even know if I spelt that correctly lol

One thing I found interesting this morning is that no Genies showed up to this session. When I think back to all the SC sessions we have had since the restart, a genie has always met their guests at the FlowRider to get them set up etc. Now, for us it doesn’t really matter because Shane likely knows that Andrew, Owen, and Justin all have waivers signed and know their way around the FlowRider. But the other family that arrived around 9:30am, they probably could have used some assistance. We ended up having to help them out a bit. When I mentioned this to Shane later, he said that on Oasis, the sports staff runs the session. But the sports staff also wasn’t giving this family guidance either so….🤷🏻‍♀️

Sorry. “Going in the comment card” for the crew member that brought you onion rings. Such great service. 

Still being investigated probably 😂

We were so blessed on our Wonder cruise week before last - nary a drop of rain to be found!  PDCC was so great, even the balloon was flying.  That pic of the thruster-buster day makes me sad.

This is my new happy place.  After YEARS of doing the UDP we decided that it was just TOOO much food.  Now with the 3 night pkg plus our BOGO we can skip lunch, for the most part, and really enjoy dinner rather than forcing ourselves to go to dinner when we really aren't hungry.

Sail away now delayed until 7-7:30pm. Need to revise dinner plans….

Frankly, Royal is getting exhausting.  There should be no debate that the fine service people deserve great compensation.  But gees, every time I turn around Royal is holding a masterclass in separating me from my money.  Firstly, the Royal beverage packages are the most expensive at sea - so your 18% is higher dollar amount.
Second, in one year Royal changed cabin service from twice a day to once a day, I did not mind but RCL and / or cabin attendants benefitted.  Right on the heels of that gratuities go from $14.50 to to $16.00 and we all scramble to pre-pay our existing bookings quickly.  Now one year later the $16.00 to $18.00 and I need to start looking at my cruise receipts and call my TA again.  Then at the end comes the “Tip Tip Hooray” envelope suggesting you should do your share.  We always throw extra cash along the way but if you want to feel nickel and dimed this is the place.  Oh and if you want one of the new ships, well you know that pricing.
i’ve never been on Virgin Voyages but on their web you see one price (that is reasonable) that includes gratuities, WiFi, and sodas, juices, and water it is obvious they are stepping into a marketing hole Royal and others created. 

There's an elephant in the room here. The entire cruise industry and its profitability is built upon cruise lines paying workers wages that, in the First World would not be considered a legal or viable wage. This has been interpreted by lots of mainstream media and investigative journalists as exploitation -- and I understand that conclusion -- but that's First World-centric view.
Cruise lines hire people from places where what they pay is considered good pay and a good opportunity. When people go to a resort in Mexico or any other country where low-level workers are paid low wages, it's seldom they stop to question the ethics. The cruise lines are held to an inconsistent standard because they operate out of the US, even if they aren't hiring American workers.
Everything is a function of the economy of a particular place and context. Tucker Carlson recently went to Russia and raved about how a week's worth of groceries that would've cost $300 in the US only cost $175 in Russia. That seems like an indictment of the US economy until you consider that the average American makes in a week (~$1,100) what the average Russian makes in a month. Their groceries cost 60% of ours, but they make 25% as much as we do. With that bit of knowledge, their groceries cost far more than ours. It's all context. 
Long (long) story short -- small amounts of money that mean very little to us mean a lot to the people from places like India and the Philippines, who work on these ships in the menial roles. Any amount of cash you can give any of them is extremely worthwhile to them.
 

Something nice i stumbled on, the Concierge in the D-lounge has the ability, and power to handle many or most things that we would normally stand in line at guest services for. It took me less than 5 minutes to have them remove the daily from my account, and I handled everything with cash. Including tipping out that particular Concierge who was very helpful to us, and with whatever anyone needed from what I seen. As far as tipping out the laundry staff...that seems very far fetched to me. Have you ever been asked by a hotel or resort to tip out the laundry staff? Maybe, they added verbiage such as service fee's? I think that there should be no more tipping at all. Just give us a price for the cruise as a whole and the cruise line handle all of that back of the house agenda.  

We just got back from several BtB's, (2 months straight of sailings) and the gratuities are getting out of hand. So, I went to guest services to ask just where tips are going. They handed me a pre-printed list and I was very surprised. Back in the day, tips were split between the Cabin attendant, Waiter, and assistant Waiter. Now...if you look at the list, there are several others added, such as " other hotel services" staff and others behind the scenes we never see or use directly. @ $6.50 per day per guest. If we order something to the room, there is already a 18% tip added to the bill. So why are we paying it twice? (Royal, though making it what seems easier to get it pre-paid so it is out of our minds...but as a way for the guest to subsidize the payroll system) So I asked them to remove all the daily gratuities, and we went back to doing it old school. We went back to handing out cash again. Because of all the changes in the MDR, and reduced quality of the meals and reduced options. We find that we are using the MDR less and less. Maybe a small inconvenience, but when I use the MDR, I hand the tips directly to the recipients just prior to leaving from dinner...just the way we do it when we go out to eat at home. I knew that the staff would like this, but was surprised that they were more excited about it more than I thought they would be. Of course, I informed them how I would be handling it from the start, so that they did not think they would be getting twice the amount. You would be surprised just how much what I consider as "fluff" in the amount you tip per day.  $6.50 per day x 2 = $13.00, for 7 days = $91.00