Thorntor

Has anyone sailed on both Celebrity and Royal since the new slimmed down menus were implemented? How do they compare - quality wise? We did a B2B Royal cruise in Jan/Feb and were generally OK with the new menu with one or two exceptions. On those nights we booked specialty dining. Would like feedback so we can decide on a specialty dining package on Celebrity. Also, is it possible to book the first night of specialty dining on the second of third night rather than embarkation day?

"Let them eat cake !," the RCCL CEO was overheard saying.

For clarification, are cocktails and wine in the MDR available under the Classic Drink package or only at the bars on Celebrity ships?

After cruising on Royal for the last ten years, we are doing our first Celebrity cruise in September. Hopefully, one our Royal bloggers can point me to a Celebrity forum similar to this Royal Message board. Also, our TA advised me that Celebrity now longer accommodates Crown and Anchor Diamond and above cruisers with similar perks??? Does anyone know if this is accurate? Thanks for your help.

Currently on Symphony - Overall new menu better than expected. Dinner service is definitely speeded up. Tonight was Mexican night - by far the poorest. Poblano soup VERY spicy; corn fritter soggy; first carne asada brought to table was still mooing; flan just OK. Dessert selections on all nights are very disappointing. Breakfast in MDR has been very good. Windjammer at lunch needs revision. Most selections are VERY heavy meals - stews, rice, mashed potatoes, chicken. One or two lunch meats, two types sliced cheese, hot dogs & burgers, very small green salads (no variety of salads). Overall, new menu pretty decent, lunch choices on sea days poor, mexican night a good time for specialty dining or beginning your new diet.

Not trying to be smart, but did I miss the word "nationalization" in this discussion. Did or did not the communist government nationalize private assets when they came to power in Cuba. Having visited Cuba on an RCCL cruise in August 2017, I can attest that our experience was far more focused on a cultural exchange than on a beach resort vacation. One of our guides was a Fidel foot soldier who shared about his current food rations and more. Another guide was a young teacher who shared about the new culture and looking forward to the day when a more open and modern Cuba. Hopefully, new port facilities will be built and more open visit opportunities will become available (like we have in Viet Nam.)

Night 1 is the Welcome Aboard Menu and Night 2 is the French Menu. Does anyone know when the other specialty night menus are offered? We will be on Symphony on January 21st and we might want to change our show/dinner reservations based on MDR offerings. Currently we schedule our specialty dining reservations around the entertainment schedules, but now we need to also factor in theme night menus that don't excite us !!!!!!!! Perhaps this is an oxymoron as I don't see anything in the MDR menus to be excited about.

Since when is tofu a Mexican dish? The only Mexican dish on Mexican night is carne asada. I think if I went into a Mexican restaurant and ordered tofu, I would be giggled out of the place. Also, why are 17% of the MDR menu choices Indian cuisine? Give me a break Mr. Bayley.

I don't get concerned about the lounge issue, what concerns me is that some of the lifeboats are actually labelled "Pinnacle and Suite Guests Only."

Unfortunately MDR menu changes are a done deal, regardless of what seems to be a phony rationale. We have purchased specialty dining packages on all of our recent cruises to get better quality choices. That said, RCCL needs to wake up to the fact that bar services are where you make the money in ALL restaurants. When it takes 25 - 30 minutes to get a cocktail while seated in the MDR, guests simply decide to forego their adult beverage. Most restauranteurs serving alcohol will tell you that the profit margin on alcohol and specialty beverages is far greater than the profit on food.

Restaurants everywhere are suffering from increased operating costs. When the cruise lines are selling every cabin, they don’t have to worry too much about customer dining or other complaints. The specialty dining venues offer a choice for those willing to pay extra for better quality.

Could it be that RC has made a business decision to reduce quality in the dining rooms in order to sell more specialty dining venue meals ? We walked out of the main dining room on lobster night on Harmony in Oct 22 due to poor quality.

Beautiful area. First visited on a cruise then went back for a 5 day visit the next year. Residents were OK, but hospitality is not their strong suit.

Got one. Ports they asked about were definitely based on the regions I related an interest in. Thought one of the most interesting questions was ranking how we chose which cruises we choose, i.e., cruise line, area to be visited, price, ports of call, ship, length, etc.

Don't think so. Watched the CD every day on the Morning Show and the CD had a beard and mustache (and didn't have his mouth wide open.). Also don't believe his name was Cory. Agree with Atlantix2000's insightful comments. We were about on the ship every day, spending hours people watching and did not disembark in Roatan or Costa Maya due to hip issues. We did go to the Aqua Show, production show Mama Mia which was fantastic, and the 70/80s event on the Promenade and did not see the CD. Perhaps he will come forward ???????????

On 22 Oct I upgraded our Voom internet on Harmony to try to stream our favorite football team playing on ABC. Connection was horrible and kept freezing up. I was finally able to get a radio broadcast over the Voom internet, so I gave up on video streaming. No future live streaming while onboard for me - a waste of money.

We recently stayed at the Best Western at Cocoa Beach. They have a cruise shuttle if you need it. Nice staff, clean, and relatively inexpensive. We ate at Florida Seafood, but will be looking for another restaurant next trip.

For a lot of very nice folks, these events add a lot to their cruise experience. They know the captains, cruise directors, etc. Having spent more time in receiving lines than I wish to remember, I doubt that they are a lot of fun for the staff - week after week. Nonetheless, attend if that floats your boat.

We were at Labadee two weeks ago and everything was normal, i.e., quiet and safe. Our neighbor on the ship said they went up to the top of the aerial slide and did see armed soldiers securing the mountain road leading to the resort. We had seen soldiers at the resort outdoor lunch area several years ago, but not this trip. As I said before, everything was quiet and normal with plenty of local vendors as in the past.

Just watched the unveiling of the Ion in the Amber Theater on Harmony. They showed 3 episodes of the “Making of the Ion” and unless I missed it, the never said what the sphere is. However, the dis show an animation which showed a large sphere as the grand staircase on the promenade. Not sure if that is what we have all seen in the Ion snapshots??????

Just got off a six day sailing on the Allure without ever seeing the cruise director out and about or mingling with the guests. We were on board four of the six days and with the exception off the Daily Show, we never saw the gentleman. I thought I saw him once,but it was the fellow who works in Future Cruises. Not sure what his job description is, but I suspect that interacting with the guests is in there somewhere?

We are presently on the Allure and boarded last Sunday. Last Saturday afternoon we received an RCCL email saying our Royal Up bid had not been accepted and we had the option of canceling our bid or waiting “up to departure” for possible upgrade. Not wanting to unpack and then have to move, we cancelled our bid. Hope this helps!

DW forgot her passport once. RCCL's "official response according to the person who answered our phone call" was "you can board the ship, but will be unable to leave the ship in foreign ports." Another day and another RCCL agent might tell you something different. We all know that the port security seldom check for passports and that a sail pass is all they look at. However, as pointed out by other contributors, there is always a chance of something out of the ordinary.

Couldn't agree more. It is not the wearing of the pin, but the "better-than-thou" attitude that a very, very few exhibit from time to time. Our experience was once trying to get off the ship in Ft. Lauderdale early in order to start our 800 mile drive home, some Pinnacled Princes complained that the early departure was supposed to be for the Pinnacle guests. The few Pinnacle exhibitionist remind me of of man I met in Arlington, VA who years ago lived on a neighborhood with a lot of retired generals and admirals who had their name and rank on their mailboxes. He put his name and rank on his mailbox as well, "Private (Retired)."

We also use Premier Parking. Drop your luggage first and then go to their lot at 250 Southeast 3rd Ave. Shuttle took us less than 5 minutes, even with the huge Miami Marathon going on. Seven day parking is about $90 versus $22-$25 per day at the Port.