AandD

21 minutes ago, Peachjan said:

In previous cruises, we have tipped independently. Do you tip in addition to the amount charged daily? We are also low maintenance and non drinkers. 

Yes. I have no idea what the room attendants make but they work hard and take care of us. Same with the waiters. We get some free drinks so $1 for the bar tender.

1 hour ago, wolfies said:

These are some random questions, otherwise I'd make a more relevant title for this post haha. Anyone who is bored want to help me out with a some questions that I haven't found the answer to? And please don't come at me if these are dumb! Family of 4, going on Anthem for a 7-night cruise next week.

 

1- Do people bring insulated bottles from home for water, and if so where do you get water from, are there fountains? We drink a lot of water but I hate the thought of bringing/buying a case of water. (My husband and I also have the deluxe drink package but I will still want water for us and for the kids.)

 

2- If we choose to self-disembark, can we eat breakfast and get off later than those getting help with their bags? Do people who get assistance with their luggage not get breakfast?

 

3- My 11 year old has a T-Mobile Sync Up Kids Watch- should he not bring it? I don't know if there's an airplane mode setting for that. And I'm not even sure if it will work if our phones are in airplane mode and we try to send him a text.

 

4- We have 2 connecting staterooms, our plan is to put the kids in 1, and my husband and I in the other. However when we booked, I had to put my name on 1 stateroom, and my husband's name on the other stateroom. Due to the kids being minors, the website wouldn't let us book it the way we will be sleeping. But I heard on the live Q&A the other day that booking spouses separately is a hack for getting away with only 1 deluxe package thing, and I was like wait I could have reserved my husband and I together?? I swear the website didn't let me. Did other people have to do this? Because I realized the other day now are our seapass cards going to only unlock the room that we were booked under? Do I need to get this fixed? I assume we can use the original door and simply walk through the connecting door, just curious if that's what people do.

 

5- I know tips are a hot topic...we prepaid for tips but I still want to bring cash to tip our attendant or any servers/bartenders that go above and beyond, plus our cabana attendant on Coco Cay. But I can't even decide what is a good amount?? Would someone be willing to throw a dollar amount out there? $100? $500? Honestly no idea what is a good amount.

5- We tip the bartenders $1 for a drink. Also, we have been giving the room attendant $5 or $10 a day depending on the type of room. we are not high maintenance or demanding but I usually give the attendant a $ 20 when I first meet them and then add more later in the week if their service is good. We usually give our MDR waiter some money. 

On 3/21/2024 at 7:01 PM, twangster said:

This is usually related to restricting access to a loyalty or suite lounge since that denies access to the coffee machine within.  

Or the crown lounge coffee machine is broken so they offer a coffee voucher.

If so that isn't new, experienced it in 2019 on elite top heavy transatlantic cruises.

We were on Quantum of the Seas from Hawaii to Vancouver last year and had a free coffee each day. Not sure why. But I think it was only Diamond and above as the people we were sailing with didn't get the perk. 

We were on the Hurricane Maria cruise out of SanJuan in 2017. It was our second cruise. Ended up in Florida 8 days later. Royal took care of us. We will be on our 19th cruise with Royal in July. Like Riley says, "roll with both the waves and any changes and enjoy the experience!"

On 3/1/2024 at 9:15 AM, OCSC Mike said:

I've never noticed that on Indy or Freedom but my wife would know better.

Check out the running track on Enchantment if you're bored. That ship was literally cut in half during a dry dock and they added a brand new middle section then put it back together. You can most easily tell the new section on the track up top b/c there's a big hump in the middle... that's the new part.

Thats interesting Mike. I knew they did that to a few ships. If we ever get on the Enchantment, I will get bored and check it out. 

For me, I only use the running track in the early morning on the Oasis class ships. I dont like the smaller cramped feel of the tracks on the upper decks. But if its early morning you shouldnt see so many people. You will just have the weather to deal with. 

You are right about the food not being as good post covid. We just got off the Jewell on a 7 day. The Main dining room fried chicken and tomato soup were good the first night. Other than that, the Main dining room and Windjammer were just OK. We did Chops for lunch one day. It was good. 

I don't know how many people have been to Maya Chan Beach, but we went our 4th time last fall. We did notice the beach wasnt as big as it used to be. But the food and service were still great. Here is a post from the owners. 

Start Again – Maya Chan Life (temp.domains)

On 1/18/2024 at 9:33 PM, Thumper44 said:

 

It's hard to say where we'll be at sail away, but this is us.  Please come up and say hi.  Tell us you're from the RCblog message boards!!!

 

I see you are from KC. We are out of St. Joe. Seems like there are a lot of people on the facebook group from the area. Maybe we will run into you.

If it was me, I would pay. You are on vacation. We carry very little on the plane as we don't want to deal with the overhead storage. With that said, we usually fly southwest. But the next 2 cruises we will be using Delta and American. So, we are just going to pay and not worry about it. As to the porters at the port. We usually give $5 for 3 bags. 

1 hour ago, Cactus527 said:

I am DYING to see someone toting this on to their next cruise so they can have their free drinks. 

Think of it as a permanent Stanely cup winner. Good press for royal, taking pictures of people posing with and drinking out of a $100K cup.

7 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

For me, cheap won out when we went to Galveston in July 2023. We stayed at the Best Western near HOU. I have no idea if the area is safe or not - we literally took the shuttle to the hotel, DoorDash-ed dinner, and stayed in until our prearranged shuttle picked us up the next morning. Hotel and staff were terrific. Just my two cents! I would absolutely do this again too.

Same here. We stayed at the Days Inn by Houston Hobby last year. Cheap but recently renovated. I would stay there again. 

We play the penny slots purely for the sound effects. You dont see them much anymore but we always looked for Miss Kitty and Texas Tornado. Now usually dancing drums. Usually grouped in sets of 3 as progressive slots. 

13 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

IF they feel the need to do it at all, it needs to be consistently on the last night. Then those of use who choose to partake in MDR for dinner can just opt out on that night.

Doing it any other night is just ridiculous and doing it twice would definitely lead me to drop my rating of dining room service at least 3 points lower than it otherwise earned (and the reason will be indicated in my comments). That's right - if you do the stupid song and dance appreciation thing twice, your whole rating goes in the toilet, no matter how great the service was otherwise.

I know some of you will want to tell me "don't penalize the crew members by lowering the rating," but if a message needs to be sent it will be sent.

Yes, let us know the night so we can skip the MDR. And I have made comments after the last 2 cruises. I told them it wasn't about the crew members service but that we wanted a peaceful dinner and conversation with the people around us. 

18 hours ago, barjpoe said:

Same here. I've seen people try and leave before or even during.

That was us. We didn't try to leave. We left.  We are gone at the hint of loud music or dancing. 

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The most annoying cruiser is the one who has no concept of space and think they're the only people around. Walking down the middle of a busy promenade and they just stop randomly.

Probably the same people that take their good ole time stowing their bags while boarding a plane.

Even worse, go thru a door or come to some stairways and stop. 

We had no problems in May after cruising from Hawaii. 

On 12/20/2023 at 4:21 PM, Peter D said:

This is something similar to what we did in August 2023.  As everyone else mentioned, Port Valet works great and highly recommended.   

We used the late flight as an opportunity to go walk around If you like walking around aquarium and Pike's Place Market.   As long as you don't mind some walking, there is a relatively easy and very cheap option to get from cruise port to Sea-Tac airport.

A short walk from the cruise port (past uber/lyft station) is a stairway up to main road.  There you can grab a public bus that will get you to downtown (close to aquarium and Pike's Place Market).  When you are ready to go to the airport, another short walk to Link Light rail WestLake Station and you can take the train directly back to SEA-TAC airport.  

Thanks. Thats pretty much what I am thinking to do after the cruise.

We are going to be up there next summer and are thinking about taking a late flight. 5:30. Has anyone ever used Port Valet ? 

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

I echo your thoughts! Just under 4 years for me. The countdown is on!

we are right there at 4 years. But we have been lucky enough to have good vacation benefits. So have done a lot of cruises the last couple of years. 

4 hours ago, Parkhopper said:

The current Black Friday deal that we're considering is $125 per person.  Also, and I don't know if this would play any part in the decision, but my wife has difficulty walking, so she'll have her scooter for the paved bits and we'll have to use the sand wheelchairs for the beach.

Been to the Beach club twice. I would go back for $125. Set by the pool last time. Never even went to the ocean. Catch the Tram from the dock to the Beach Club.

On 11/15/2023 at 3:37 PM, Archchic said:

We're headed back to Maya Chan next week! I could not care less about the seaweed. We had an amazing time last visit with the pool, cabanas, bar, and massages. We're arriving in port at 7 AM and departing at 3 PM. We'll make the most of the early day. I'll report back afterwards.

It looks like they have lost some beach. I am curious as to what you think. 

We were there a couple of weeks ago. No problem getting to the new spot to meet the taxi. Ocean was too rough to get in that day. But nice shady cabana, plenty to drink and the food still good. And not crowded. No problem getting back to the port on time. 

if you like the animals do Easy Roatan Monkey and Sloth thru Royal. Paradise beach Cozumel. it was our first time at Paradise beach, and they have my business. Price is right, food good and nice beach. It is not that far from the port and plenty of taxis to go back and forth. When Maya chan beach is open, that is where we go in Costa Maya. 

7 minutes ago, Rory said:

Royal's new terminal in Galveston is excellent! Last August I arrived at 9:45 and lined up. Was onboard at 10:30! Earliest ever in 40+ cruises! The terminal is very nice if you have to wait a few minutes before boarding. When the new terminal first opened it took some time to get operations in order and lots of delays. Much better now! I also recommend doing the self-assist when you return. So fast that you are off the ship and on the road in minutes once they get clearance.  

Same for us in August.