lildawgscottFL

Oh I'm not offended. I think it's cute. Just thought t was funny in the context of the thread.

WOW! I was quickly scanning through these and completely read that wrong....
 
"There was a time when I thought about naming my son (Something) Of The Seas..."
 
That would have been really strange!!! (but understandable ;))

The Queen isn't a derogatory or condescending term. She is the Queen of our castle. She even bought a plaque for our wall (yes, she bought it) which reads...
 
"When the Queen is happy, there is peace in the kingdom."
 
Believe me, I wish we were equals. At least she's a benevolent ruler.

I've been trying to come up with some witty response to this whole thing, but I've got nothing... 

How about you come cover my office and I'll take your place on the group cruise?  :D
 
Ok while I was up with the baby in the middle of the night last night, I came up with these:
 
Top 5 Ways Labadee Beats Castaway Cay
1) Things to do!  Mainly the zip line and coaster
2) The view.  I love the mountainous terrain of Labadee
3) The food.  In all fairness, I did eat the "upgraded" lunch in the suite area, but it was delicious.  The way Castaway Cay used to be
4) Barefoot Beach- loved the sectioned off area for the suite guests
5) Huge splash pad area for kids 
 
Top 5 Ways Castaway Cay Beats Labadee
1) It truly is its own island.  Although Labadee is sectioned off from Haiti, we passed by a security check point on the way up to the zipline with people camped out.  It was kinda weird 
2) Serenity Bay.. not sure if Labadee has an adult only beach
3) The cabanas are way nicer 
4) Live music- they may have this on Labadee but I never saw it
5) Lack of the artisan market.  I thought I would like this on Labadee hoping it would be good local shopping without the heckling... but several people got stuck buying their stuff because they asked their names and immediately carved it into things.  They got guilted into buying things because it had their name on it.  

There are coverage DCs! YOLO BOOK IT!!!! :P

I'm totally trying that! Nice Jerel! Nice!

:lol: :D :lol: :D  

Thanks, Matty! I was gonna do the same thing, but I've been too busy at Disney. Holiday season and all. Hey, at least I've made enough (in tips!) to afford more cruises!

Male here, but my name is Kris and I have a hyphenated last name, so I'm used to people assuming I'm female. It was a real shocker when I interviewed at my college as they expected a woman to walk into the interview.  
For what it's worth, I assumed Christie was the man in the photo, too.

Great rundown, Christie!
 
Split this thread off into its own.

He meant Matt "I'm one point away from Diamond" Hochberg. ;)

Any word from Royal yet?
If not you should call them and say you know 'Matt freakin Hochberg', that'll get some results.

I can assure you this gets you nowhere

Cut us some slack. It's not a gender-specific name. All of the following could go either way: J_Keeble, WAAAYTOOO, DocLC, and many others. Until we get to know them. Then, we're only left with DocLC going either way. ;) :lol:

I did the same thing, isn't that awful. Should never assume. Although your right, probably not the baby.
 
Welcome Christie.

I've somehow missed the community board down here.  So, I've been bumming around the message boards for a few months and never formally introduced myself. 
 
My name is Christie, and my husband and 1 year old daughter and I live in College Station, TX.  I'm a chiropractor and my husband works in information security for Texas A&M.  We are huge Disney fans and used to cruise exclusively with DCL. We were looking for something different for Christmas this year, so we booked a week on Oasis of the Seas.  I learned about RCB podcast from listening to WDW Today, and went back and listened to all the old episodes while preparing for the Christmas cruise.  i honestly went into our cruise with very little expectations... I mean, what could beat Disney, right? I found that I actually thought RC beat Disney with many things.  Now, I'm not sure when we are going back.
 
Currently we have planned an anniversary cruise on Anthem with just my husband and I in Sept 2016.  We are pricing out Allure for Thanksgiving week next year.  And last night my friend in Florida suggested we do a joint cruise in March 2017.  My husband is wondering when we get to go back to Disney World with all the cruises we have planned haha.

WOW! I was quickly scanning through these and completely read that wrong....
 
"There was a time when I thought about naming my son (Something) Of The Seas..."
 
That would have been really strange!!! (but understandable ;))

I enjoyed with my family the Caribbean cruise during week 52 in 2015.
I want to point out the excellent service in dining room from SELIM (waiter), he was outstanding during all dinners, his attention and dedication were so great.
Another special situation was in city sightseeing company, my wife forgot her hand bag and we contacted client service for this company and my wife received 15 minutes later her hand bag, therefore I want to point out the attention and solution for this inconvenience that we had, my especial recognition to Mr. Guillermo Maldonado for his excellent service to our request and its quick solution .

This is from a different post on these boards (http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php/topic/1202-first-timer-in-the-us-cruising-oasis-cruise-in-july/?p=11005), but instead of making you search, here's my thoughts again....

B) 

First, my disclaimer: I am a bartender at Dockside Margaritas in Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I live on tips. So, admittedly, I am biased. That said, I can still present an objective argument as to why tips really are not included when you purchase the drink package. Yes, technically, they are. But, it is a set dollar amount regardless of how much you drink or do not drink.
 
For example, let's say that the total gratuity amount is $50 (it's not, but it's close to that - round numbers are just easier, obviously). Then let's say you get 10 drinks over the course of your cruise. Each bartender would get $5 per drink. But, you never would get just 10 drinks, because to break even on the drink package, you would need to drink 5-8 drinks per day (easy for this guy to do! not so easy for others). So now let's say now that you get 50 drinks. Each bartender would get $1 per drink. You see how their tip just dropped a lot? But still, you probably wouldn't get just 50 drinks, because then why buy the package? You didn't come out ahead and you should have just bought the drinks individually. BUT!!! It gets worse. They tip share! Not only do they tip share with the people at their specific bar - let's say R Bar - but they also split with other people at other bars - let's say the On Air Bar. The bars are grouped, so stronger bars will help support the staff at weaker ones. So when you give the bartender $1, you're really giving that bartender $1 divided by the amount of people sharing that $1. In the case of the R Bar and On Air folks, that's split at least 6 ways. So instead of the traditional 15-20% tip a tipped crew member should receive, they're receiving something like 2-3%. I don't know about you, but I think the service I receive from the Royal Caribbean crew is worth far more than 2-3%.
 
So what we do is leave a buck per drink on top of the "included gratuity" - in some cases two bucks for more difficult to make drinks, like mojitos,etc. At the R Bar, the bar we spent the most amount of time at, we ended up giving them a lot more than that. But, we weren't just paying for someone to put liquid in a cup. They provided such a unique experience that we felt the need to say thank you in a big way. Remember, if you do not do the drink package, you still have an included gratuity. We always round that up as well, again because they earn more than they're being given.

One contrary point. If the bartender isn't happy to see you, seems to begrudgingly pour the liquid in the cup, and doesn't seem to care if you are there or not, feel free to stiff the guy! Well, okay, maybe not stiff. He still lives on tips. So maybe just a bad tip. ;) Just because I'm in the industry, doesn't mean I don't recognize that there are horrible servers and bartenders out there.

Speaking of servers, you should also give them something more. Calculate the amount of money you would have to spend for any meal based on the prices you'd pay on land, and then consider how much of a tip you'd give your land-based server - 15-20%. Then consider how much you're giving your sea-based server. Then, don't be a curmudgeon! If you can afford to spend thousands on a cruise, find a few bucks for the service you're receiving. If you can't afford it, maybe you can't afford the cruise in the first place.

Finally, don't forget to tip something anytime someone goes above and beyond for you. If you're stateroom attendant does his job and nothing more, then he is already being tipped. But, if the deck patrol guy does something WOWing for you, give him a few. He probably doesn't get that often - you'll make his day! If he WOWed you, WOW him!!! Instant Karma!!!

I'm sorry, you lost me with this, "cruised too much" concept. Does not compute.

Oh man, I hope we get that upgrade in February! Please, please, please!!!

Oh man, I hope we get that upgrade in February! Please, please, please!!!

Oh man, I hope we get that upgrade in February! Please, please, please!!!

Scooter will be working the entire time. That's the nature of my job - I work when everyone else plays, and I play when everyone else works.
 
But I do hope everyone enjoys the holidays!