DAVE(Darkcabbie)

On 8/13/2017 at 0:42 PM, GrubbyGrubbles said:

Hi everyone

Can someone please remind me what time we have to get off the ship by at the end of a cruise?  I can't find any information in the paperwork and the website seems to be down.

Thanks in advance.

Hi GrubbyGrubbles , Southampton is my home port and we always sail from there and we always opt for self walk off ( which means keep your bags in your room and take them off your self) so we can disembark as soon as the ship is cleared by customs (after our last breakfast onboard though)or you can stay till around midday i think as we have seen that you can pay a little extra to stay and have lunch before you go.

If you have to catch an early flight self walk off is very useful as you can get to the airport asap.

On 8/10/2017 at 0:37 AM, DocLC said:

 

Enjoy your cruise and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.

These are going to be the loooooooongest 16 days of your life! And, somehow, times slows even more within the last 24 hours.

Thanks and your so right Doc but now we are down to 9 days yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 

1 hour ago, bcarney said:

This photo was posted in the Royal Caribbean Dining Facebook group by Joel Alderman today from Independence of the Seas.  The image pretty much sums up the devolution of dining quality in the main dining room (and it also explains why I now ask for the off-menu Indian food).

Wow that looks awful , we have been on the Indy 3 times and never had any food that looks as unappetizing as the above and i have to say if that was served to me it would be going straight back.

CMON RC  you are a quality cruise line not a cross channel ferry.

16 days till Navigator WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO 

30 DAYS   Just like the song from the group Europe ..... ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN 

On 7/24/2017 at 7:00 PM, tiny260 said:

It's not a link you sign up through, if you have cruised on RC and gambled in the Casino, you are probably a member. I was and didn't know it, just by using my Sea Pass card at the tables and in the slot machines. If you know that you have gambled on a cruise and used your Sea Pass card you can call 1888-561-2234 and they can confirm if you are a member or not.

Thanks , I will give it a go. Just got to work out the area codes from the UK.

On 7/22/2017 at 3:04 PM, tonyfsu21 said:

This is not a "US Citizen" thing. Club Royale is all about spending money and time in the casino. RC does not discriminate. I ran into a couple from the U.K. On my last Harmony sailing and they were CR members. You can join w/ no problem.

Thanks tonyfsu21 , do you have a link as i can't find it on google UK

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Marc or Tony...maybe you know for certain but to my knowledge there is no restriction on club membership.  Just not sure about pricing since UK pricing rules are so different.  I believe that you would be eligible for all of the onboard perks such as free drinks in the casino and waiving the 5% convenience fee (so long as you qualify).  I don't want to steer you wrong though.  Anyone else ?

Thanks WAAAYTOOO , I will try to find the club membership as it would be good to get some perks in the casino as i was moaning that when we leave our time in the casino gets wiped and we get nothing for the money we have spent. Any link available to click on so we can join ?.

Hey all, this is the first i've heard of Club Royale and i love to hit the casino is this a US citizen only thing or can i join it in the UK ?.

Hi KatyM , thank you and your welcome. When are you going there.

My wife and i now always pre purchase all our trips , dinning and spa etc as you then only spend maybe $100.00 - $200.00 but it will obviously depend on what else you purchase on the ship .

Usually hurts me though as my wife loves to buy from the Michael Kors shop on the Indy OOOUUUCH .

Hi GrubbyGrubbles,

Le Havre port is very industrial and when we got off i didn't notice any coaches but there were lots of taxis and you may find that RC run a shuttle to Le Harve just check on board.  

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3 hours ago, KatyM said:

Hi Dave, would you know anything about getting off the ship at Le Havre? What is the distance from portside to shops or places of interest? Also do you know of anything worth seeing , we have an 11 year old with us and I am not brilliant with walking distances. Hope you can help.

Hi KatyM, we are actually back there next month on the Navigator Of The Seas and you will love it. 

We were also there last October on the Indy and you have many options. When you arrive in Le Havre there are local taxis right by the ship who can take you in to town or if you prefer it is about a 20 to 30 mins walk to Le Havre or you can opt for a excursion from RC which we did last time and opted for Honfleur it was beautiful in fact we have decided to do the same trip while there next month. It is a local harbour with great shops and restaurants and a fantastic medieval church which is a must see. the nice thing about this trip is that it is affordable and only lasts about 4 hours so you get back to the ship with plenty of time to explore Le Havre if you wish or just chill out on board till sail off. We also opted for the same trip again as it was so lovely we cant wait to see it in the height of summer, there is also an option for Deauville which is also a good option as it has a promenade and beach huts that are named after a list celebs and a great beach.

Another nice thing about this port of call is that you get ages there as we don't sail till 21:00 

Hope this helps and if you need any more info please just ask.

1 hour ago, Matt said:

It's on its way: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/07/11/video-crafting-royal-caribbeans-main-dining-room-menu

I saw the new menu on Harmony and Anthem so far. Granted, those are new ships, so need someone on like Enchantment or Navigator to confirm they see the new menu too.

We are are on the Navigator in 44 days YIPPPPEEEE so i will check out the MDR menu and if it's the new one i will photograph it and also see if there are any new additions to Chops etc .

I would love to see a Lazy River Ride , now I would love to take credit for that idea but it was Michael Poole who had the idea and mentioned it on the Project Icon Podcast (Ep 168) and i love it . What a great way to chill out floating around the ship with a cool one in hand.

Any one beat Michael's idea .  

3 hours ago, coneyraven said:

I guess it's a matter of your skill and comfort level ..... I have no issues here locally with being on a scooter, but for some reason, the "driving on the left side" really plays with my brain ......

No problem to us in the UK   

We don't go in Vintages so I cant really help more than that but this is a great blog with really great people so i'm sure someone will have your answer 

Hi Jason and welcome to Matt's blog. 

22 minutes ago, Jason.H. said:

My wife and I are cruising Oasis of the Seas on September 3, 2017 and we have both bought the deluxe drink package for the first time (sixth RCI cruise together). My wife particularly likes champagne so we hang out at the champagne bar a lot. From what I have read the deluxe drink package covers drinks up to $13 on oasis class, but all the menu's I'm finding online only show two champagne (sparkling wine) choices (by the glass) with both being over the $13 mark. Has anyone been on a very recent cruise with the deluxe drink package and been able to get champagne without paying an up charge? Thanks for any answers!

Hi Jason and welcome to Matt's blog. Also if it helps Matt done a podcast on the drinks package in September. if you click on the podcast tab above and look for episode 164.  Hope this gives you some good info. 

1 hour ago, Matt said:

Land JR's rarely are as fun as when on a ship

Everything is better at sea  

3 hours ago, Sunny said:

I bought the bogo...Thank you... more confusion here...When can I book those dinners and how do I choose the restaurants?

RC was not clear...Thank you!

 

 

 

Tiny260 is spot on go straight to the restaurant as they fill pretty quick. When we went on the Indy in October they had booked us into Chops on the first night and we tried to swap as night 2 was the formal and wanted to eat in Chops but it was full. 

Loving the Strawberry 

Your welcome Sonny , anything else you need to know just ask

47 minutes ago, Sunny said:

How do you purchase BOGO dining? Thank you

Hi Sonny and welcome to Matt's blog . All you have to do is go into the My booking page on the RC site click on my cruises and log in (register if you haven't) and underneath where it says countdown to cruise click on your cruise and it will take you to countdown to cruise page and on this page scroll down till you see Dinning & Beverage and click on the add tab by the dinning. now just scroll down to the bottom and you will see BOGO and just click on it to purchase. 

hope this helps and Bon Appetit 

11 hours ago, coneyraven said:

...... We're gonna need a bigger Boat...

 

I'm loving your film quotes  lets hope they don't call it Orca as we can see in your pic above what happened to that boat but i guess even sharks will do anything to get some Honeystung Chicken 

7 hours ago, Christie said:

Nobody knows expensive bingo until they go on a Disney cruise 

I love Disney in fact my wife and I got married in the Magic Kingdom in Orlando but so many things have swayed us from cruising with them. Matt has said how much more expensive they are there is no casino(last time i checked) and now the bingo etc. I guess that's why we are loyal to Royal and have never looked back since our first cruise with them.