FSUFAN

I personally don't find the longer serving times relaxing. Last cruise, there was only 1 other couple that showed up each night (so 2 empty chairs at our 6 top table). Trying to make conversation and exchange pleasantries for near 2 hours was exhausting. I didn't want to be rushed, but 20 plus minutes between courses was too long. Again, I think some of the issues were Covid hangover and newly hired, inexperienced servers.

Versailles https://www.versaillesrestaurant.com/ Try the Ropa Vieja. Literal translation is "Old Clothes". It is slow roasted shredded beef with garlic, onion, tomato sauce. Cuban sandwich, Palomilla steak, Mojo Roasted pork. Any and all of these are just excellent.

I am looking for someone on these boards who has been on a charter fishing trip out of Sitka and any recommendations. I would like to get out in open water (not fly) for salmon, flounder, ling cod and the like. We are sailing mid-June 2023. There will be 4 of us. Thanks in advance.

I'm all for RCL making a profit but hate that they flat out gouge people at times. Example. We are going on the Quantum to Alaska in June. I wanted water for the room. We had sailed the Voyager in October and I paid $11.99 for a 12 pack of water. No water was listed for purchase on the website planner for months (I check it nearly every day). Then out of the blue, water showed up with a "Sold Out" splashed across the picture. So, I guess in all of Seattle, there is not water to be had. Then the next day Evian water showed up in the planner and was priced at $28 for a 12 pack. Grrrr. I just grabbed a 12 pack of the Evian at $18.99 on the Black Friday sale. Grrrrr. I just want some plain bottled water and I don't want to lug water during boarding. Just give me something that is a fair price for me and a fair profit for RCL.

The whole website is screwed up. At least now for the customers. I have cancelled most of my orders and have rebooked. This is a joke to order, cancel, order again, cancel again. Lather, Rinse Repeat. Mrs Fan wants the Key at any cost. I booked it at $30.99. I also grabbed a VS+S for 1 device knowing that the Key has that but in case I talk her out of the Key (which I think is too high at $30 - I am comfortable in the $24-$25 range). I'll keep checking on the cost of the Key and a near daily basis and cancel/rebook if needed. I just need internet access for my VRBO/Airbnb rentals that we own. I can pay for that out of my rental budget pot.

I've been posting on this website for a few months now and the only constant on purchases is that they seem to have no rhyme or reason. What I have figured out for myself is that if I see a price that I can live with, I buy it. I really want the Key. I will buy it at $25, but it has not fallen below $31, so I keep looking. Due to Mrs Fan's lightweight drinking (maybe 2 drinks total per day), I will never buy a DBP.

The web site is horrific as of now. Voom Surf and stream for me was $14.99/day on sale. When I tried to add another device, it was supposed to be $11.99/day. But the website adds the second device at $16.99/day. So I just booked 2 separate Surf and Stream packages for Mrs Fan and myself. I hope it will be fixed later today or tomorrow. If so, I will cancel and reorder. So as of this point with the glitches on the Website, it is cheaper to order two separate packages rather than one package with two devices.

I too tried this morning with the VS&S. The price was great at $14.99, but when adding an additional device, the price more than doubled. I ended up just getting 2 separate VS&S even though it stated add a second device for just $11.99 it would not process correctly. I don't have time today to hang on the phone trying to get a $3/day fix and refund. I really wanted to get the Key but it's still priced too high for me at $30.99. My mental price point is $25 or below.

Maybe we can merge this thread with the "Top 10 Drinks/Cocktails" thread. We can drown our sorrows while waiting for the website to come back up. I hate to pile on, but I worked 30+ years in IT and whoever is in charge of the RCL IT group should be fired. I never worked for an organization that would put up with these issues. It seems like there is something amiss with the website about every other week. Just a poor showing by IT management.

My recipe for a Margherita at home 2 shots of Blanco Tequila (I prefer reposado, but Blanco (clear/white) is probably more traditional) 1 shot triple sec 1 oz fresh lime juiced (about 1/2 lime) Shake with ice, strain over ice in rock glass. No salt (at least for me - high blood pressure issues). NO simple syrup, no other "green" pre-blend needed. The triple sec is sweet enough. This is very clean/crisp tasting.

Their IT group is the worst. If only they could have had some sort of heads up that people might have wanted to save money during the sale {eye-roll}

I told my grown daughter and her husband. "Look, you are both adults, it's time to get a passport." In my opinion, anyone 18 and above should have one. It is internationally recognized as a form of id. Funny thing is she had one as a teen when still living at the house.

The Holland America Line cruise had all the perks plus the Shop card and 5% back using my Costco Visa. The RCL cruise really offered nothing more than the Shop Card from Costco. But I was booking 4 cabins for Mrs Fan and my 3 grown kids/spouses. I gave them a "rebate" on the cost as dad keeps the cards and gets the 5% back with the Costco Visa. I've been tracking RCL trips and sales for not quite a year and they really don't seem to offer any extra special perks. I know near everyone on this board thinks that they are somehow the best bang for the buck, but I have not seen it yet. Again, for families, it is a great cruise option with all the onboard stuff. I just don't see this great value with RCL for 2 people in their mid-sixties. The HAL cruise on the Rotterdam to Norway is about the same price as our RCL Quantum cruise to Alaska. The perks that HAL is offering is crushing RCL. In my conservative cost estimate, the HAL perks add up to around $1,500 to $1,600 in extras. RCL has run the 30% off (sometimes it the "up to $550" off) and kids sail free promo for months on end now. No value for me as our kids are grown. Again, I have been tracking RCL costs for less than a year, but so far nothing has been an extraordinary discount in my opinion.

I used the form based service to change cabins. I booked 4 balcony cabins on the Quantum for an Alaska trip. High up on the ship. Decks 10-12. Then I read that the overhang blocks out sunlight on the upper balcony cabins and they can be cold. I went to Costco Travel, filled out the online forms, and put in a request to move to decks 7-8. Got all 4 cabins moved and it was done in about 24 hours. I know that you do not get the personal service that you might get from a TA, but as one other poster stated - cash in hand (or should I say Shop Card in hand). The Shop Card reward, plus the %% off with the Credit Card make it hard to pass up.

I have booked 2 upcoming trips thru Costco Travel. One with RCL and the other with HAL. The RCL trip only came with Costco Shop card (but it was $340). The HAL trip, I got "The best deal ever" promotion plus the Costco Shop card ($310). The Best deal ever promo has/had pre-paid gratuities, deluxe drinks package, one night specialty restaurant, $100 OBC, $100 excursion credit and deluxe Wifi for two.

A standard jigger is only 1.5oz. I stated in an earlier post that all of the drinks we had on a recent Voyager sailing were extremely weak. The bartenders poured to the jigger and not a drop more. I looked at the metal jiggers they were using, and they were the same size on both ends and appeared to be the smaller 1.0oz. I ordered a double whiskey on the rocks and the glass was barely half full. Mrs Fan, who weighs about a "buck fifteen" and gets tipsy on a glass of wine, had a DOD and said that she tasted no booze and felt nothing. She only ordered wine from then on. From Bar and Bartender dot com "Jigger Size – How Many Ounces in a Jigger? A jigger of alcohol refers to 1.5 ounces (approximately 44 ml) and the bar jigger was named after the measurement. The standard jigger measures 1.5 ounces on one side of the hourglass and 1 ounce on the other side."

The last Carnival trip we were on was way better than the Voyager trip we just had. Could be pandemic hangover and restart, but the service was first rate and the food was a lot better. They had groupings for Indian food, Mexican food, pizza, etc. Guy's burgers were "off the hook".

We went some years ago on the first sailing of the season with Princess. It was great as we were the only ship in port for the stops. Excursions were way less crowded. It was cooler and we brought some heavy coats and other cool weather clothes. But we had a ton of sunshine. Being the only ship in port was a huge deal. The towns are very small. I could not imagine having 2 or 3 other ships full of passengers to contend with. We'll see as we go again in June on the Quantum OTS.

We did an extended family Christmas cruise some years ago. We did a secret Santa exchange so each person only had to pack 1 gift. Then afterwards we went home and Santa had left the bulk of the gifts under the tree.

IMHO, it depends on the ports of call. Anything Alaska means that there is very much to see and experience off of the ship. I think first time Alaska cruisers need to do as many off-ship excursions as possible. Our first trip to Alaska (many years back), we did a float plane trip in Ketchikan, a whale watching trip in Juneau, and the Train trip out of Skagway that went up to the Yukon (at the time) with lunch at a dog-sled place. It was a lot, but we got to experience a ton of really cool stuff. We were life-long Floridians back then and it was a very radical change of scenery for us. The float plane trip was phenomenal. We are going back in June and will probably do less off ship. Again, in my opinion, the Caribbean stops, particularly the ones that are near ports from Florida in a 7-day sailing, are all very similar. Beach, snorkeling, drinking fruity drinks, T-Shirt and straw-hat shops.

We did Alaska some years ago and all the operators worked within port times of the ships. We booked everything independently. The whale watching tour was really telling. We were on a really great boat that was maybe 30 or 35 ft with open back and a closed cabin area. Just a group of 8 of us plus the captain and a mate. The excursion offering from the ship was near us most of the time and it was shoulder to shoulder on that boat with about 50 people crowding the railings trying to get a glimpse of the breaching whales. Plus, we had soft drinks, smoked salmon and crackers to nosh on that was included in the cost. It was less expensive than the ship excursion offering.

I'm looking for the same thing. I reached out to several independent charter captains, and most were busy closing down for the season.

We love to cruise but with a few caveats now. Mrs Fan and I both grew up in south Florida (Jupiter area) and less than 10 minutes to the beach and as kids and teens, we spent hours and hours at. So Caribbean cruises are fun, but it feels like we have done beach things all of our lives. Also, living in Florida (we're retired now and moved to TN) allows you to do some really inexpensive cruises. But now, I could not care less about another cruise to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cancun, etc. Might feel different about eastern Caribbean (in the winter). We just did the Voyager OTS and have mixed feelings. The ship was packed, venues were overflowing and, at least for me it appeared that staffing was not up to par. Still trying to figure out if RCL is right for us as we are both in our mid-sixties. Those with families, it's a no brainer. We have an Alaska trip with our grown kids on the Quantum in June. Then a HAL trip out of Amsterdam to Norway Fjords. So, I guess we are looking at different spectrums of cruising with each line. One thing is certain, we will continue to cruise.

We did a NE/Canada trip last week of Oct. When it was time to disembark, everyone had to meet "face to face" with the Customs agent in Boston. It was a simple look at your ID, then look at your face, then move along. We got up to him and held out our TN Driver's License. He asked if we had Passports and we said yes. Then he said I want to see those instead of DL. I thought it was a weird encounter/request since I know that State DLs are acceptable. We stepped aside and dug out our Passports, he glanced at them and waived us on.

Mrs Fan is 2 thumbs way up on The Key but she doesn't know what I paid for it. To me, it seems like a good deal under $25 and a money grab at anything over that amount. We have a June Alaska trip coming up and it has not dropped below $32. I'm not going to bite at that amount. Again, if I were King of RCL, the Key would have a few extra perks. Maybe a few free drink coupons. Additional 10% off drink of the day. A 6 or 12 pack of water in your room. I don't know, something more than what it is now. Either that or just charge a flat fee for early on and off. I'd pay $100 bucks just for that privilege.