WAYNO

Thank you. it is refreshing when somebody shares with the world they had a really good cruising experience.

I bit on one of these sales, once. Cancelled my existing drink reservation, bought the new one, and with hidden or other fees, guess what? The price was more. .

I print everything. But when the time comes, my Wife simply flashes her documents via her cellphone and I no longer actually use the printed copies. But if the phone was dead, or we had poor cell service, or we actually boarded separately, or, or, or... I'm always glad I have the hard-copies. Gotta say too, even though we have 3-cruises booked in the next 6 months, I am envious of everybody that has a next cruise sooner than mine.

I've lived in the Pacific Northwest my whole life. The PNW is very much like the Alaska panhandle... the animals, the trees, the mountains, the seas... that is what I love about the wild Northwest and wild Alaska. I cannot imagine experiencing all this, then complaining there were no sidewalks or paved streets. On the other hand, other than the wild areas of the Northeast, I don't find much to like of the Northeast, either. We all have our preferences. What? Unpaved roads and no sidewalks?.

I am sorry cruising was not meant for the OP. I/We have done this cruise and its variants, and we have this same cruise booked twice more this year. And I will love it all over again, for many of the same reasons the OP hated the cruise. Everybody has their own expectations, and again, cruising is not for everybody. And no, this is not NEW YORK CITY, nor does it have all the immediate gratifications some folks need. .

I have discovered, other than the decorations available via the cruise planner, you'd be well off to do all the party planning, decorating, and celebrating, yourself. We have told waiters, maitre d's, and booking agents, about a special occasion, and NOTHING has been done by the ship.

I used the laundry for the 1st and only time very recently on Wonder. My skivvies and socks, t-shirts, pants, etc. all came back quite nice. If I wore fragile stuff maybe I would reconsider, but otherwise, I think we over-think all this laundry business. I will use this laundry service in the future, without concern.

My experiences will be more positive. Something as simple and relatively inexpensive as a walker, if I put a luggage tag on it, I would expect it to be waiting at my cabin door, without question.

We leave many ducks on each cruise. And we find some, too. Apparently there are fun haters that just can't stand somebody else having fun. But, we are very careful and respectful of where we leave them. I have also seen many cruise staff find our ducks, and yes, they are excited when they find one.

This is laughable. Northeasterners are perceived by Westerners as the rudest, snobbiest, and most unfriendly folks in the country. And Northeasterners are butt hurt because they think tourists are rude?

They got what they wanted. Similarly, the Oregon Coast, without logging, fishing, canning or sawmills, now must rely on tourism. And the tourist season is very short here. They would love to have those same tourists that Maine does not want. Many businesses struggle for one season, then close. Tourist traps should be careful of what they wish for. Or, "ya gotta make hay while the sun shines". Bar Harbor and Portland...actually all of Maine, tolerated me while I was there, but they did not want me there. So this is no loss to me. BTW... The most tasteless lobster I've ever had were the lobster rolls we got, both in Bar Harbor and Portland. I wont let the door hit me in the tail.

Gettin' closer...

Everybody has a different experience. When I ask for it with my booking, I never receive it. When I ask the room attendant, I receive it nearly immediately.

Problem is, yes, we received a detailed itemization of charges for medical services, to be paid via a cabin charge. Since we did not receive a final room bill, the medical bill is not shown as paid. And yes, we received a credit card bill showing charges to Royal Caribbean, but it is just an overall amount, for the entire cruise. Our medical insurance is asking for proof the medical bill was paid. I will submit what I have for financial documents, and if that is not sufficient, then I will have to beg Royal for an itemized final room bill. Yes, I have contacted the CEO in the past when I could receive no satisfaction otherwise with other issues. I have been thru this before, and all the same proofs were required. Fortunately, I had the detailed room bill for that cruise, and the insurance company was satisfied.

And that's a problem. Some receive a bill, some don't, we don't know why.

Thanks. Next time I will know this. More shortcuts on their end, and things slip past me.

We have experienced this, and have the same need for an itemized end-of-cruise bill. In the past, they were always pinned to our door. Then later, were available on the TV in the cabin, and the bill itself was emailed to us. On our most recent cruise, we have not received a copy in any fashion other than on the TV. I'll have to remember now to take a photo of the bill on the TV..

I wont begin to point fingers at causes of GI or other ailments aboard ship, as there are many possible causes. But when these ailments reach the ship, I can see how easily such ailments are spread. I am concerned that folks still do not take hygiene seriously. I continue to see many men leave the restroom without hand washing. And I continue to see folks grazing/sampling at the buffet counters, while simultaneously handling the serving utensils. Then, the next grazer puts food in his mouth after handling the same utensils. If there are germs, bacteria, viruses, whatever present, that's an easy way to pass it around. We got off Wonder a couple months ago. My Wife, the super-clean-freak, came home with both pneumonia and e-coli. I came home uninfected. Apparently, Doctor's must report e-coli infections, as our county is tracking her and the efficacy of the medicines prescribed to her.

Navigator. We love the ship. We love her ports of call.

@WAAAYTOOO ...In the past, I've gone to Next Cruise, paid my 200-bucks, and I had sixty days to redeem the casino certificate including the free play. This time, they said the Next Cruise booking was still good for the full sixty days, but it could only be used on the casino certificate for thirty days. It has been roughly 50 days since I received the casino certificate. My casino certificate was for a Junior Suite plus a thousand dollars free play. They said no, so I used the Next Cruise on an offer I received in the mail, so as to not lose my 200-bucks deposit. So, right or wrong, it is difficult to know for sure, when they apply the rules differently, one cruise to the next. And because I've had difficulties in the past with Casino Certificates, I attempted to redeem it and book a cruise while still on board with Next Cruise. But as some of us have experienced, they no longer book cruises, but only sell you the 200-dollar deposit for a sixty day extension.

Just booked this cruise to use up a Next Cruise deposit before we lost it. Sadly, Royal is re-interpreting some small print that now disallows our substantial free casino play. So we will have a wonderful escape to the sun, anyway.

Whoops, I didn't realize it was an old thread, resurrected. I will bow out...

Used to be, getting an early boarding slot was easy. Now, regardless of when I check in, the earliest boarding slot available is 1:30. Traveling cross country thru three time zones, plane changes, sleeping in a motel, booking a shuttle, finding breakfast, etc., we don't always have complete control of when we'll actually arrive at the airport or cruise port. But as has been said, usually they board us regardless of how well our scheduled boarding time actually matches our arrival time. The biggest exception to this has been Los Angeles. They are requiring us to remain in hugely long lines holding tight to our time slot.

I see white night as highly participated on most sailings I've been on. I don't see it in print, other than someone saying, "tomorrow is white night". And since I don't own anything white, I just eat in the Windjammer on that night.

I hope this will be your first of many. We very much like Navigator, and very much enjoy the associated Mexican ports.