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TakeMeSomewhere

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  1. Thanks
    TakeMeSomewhere got a reaction from jlock-14 in Essential Oils   
    Also, anything that is confiscated, unless it is illegal, will be returned to you at the end of the cruise.
  2. Thanks
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to Kiwi in Spectrum Silver Lounge   
    Hi, we had a fantastic cruise on Spectrum in a J4 Silver Suite earlier this year (5-night July 7th). 
    The indoor Silver Dining area, which is very nice, has a small lounge off to the side and a speck of a space for the concierge. The entire area connects to a HUGE solarium area for Silver Suite guests. Signage also indicated Diamond and up C&A could use the area. The Solarium is fabulous, with a couple of hot tubs, a mini-lazy-river thing, a dedicated bar, and tons of comfy seating with great views. I don't think we ever counted more than a dozen people in the entire area. That was awesome for us and we spent a ton of time enjoying the space (but as an RC fan, I couldn't help thinking the space was really underutilized -- although it could be because Silver Suites on our sailing weren't sold out). For our sailing the Dining/Lounge area had a small mobile bar cart that offered a limited selection of complimentary alcoholic beverages during certain times (5:30-8p I think?) -- so, basically, a Diamond lounge benefit. The lounge area was almost always empty, and hardly anyone got a drink at the bar cart.  We felt soooo bad for the poor bartenders in the Silver Solarium and really all over the ship -- the bars were ghost towns. My wife and I enjoyed some generous pours/conversation with bored bartenders who just wanted to chat with someone, lol! We noticed on the 2nd day that 12-drink punch cards were being sold for just $69 after tax (!).  We received 10 C&A points for our 5-night sailing. Hope this helps!
     
  3. Haha
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to ckruetze in Europe 2024? You'll need a visa for that...   
    Sadly we are so slow with regards to new politics over here in Europe. I hope the travel authorization also asks for facebook usernames and other useful stuff like that.
    Oh and one day we will also get really long queues at the security at airports and if Europe is really brave we might even ask passengers to take of the shoes at the airport security. And maybe one day (probably not during our life time) we might even introduce an organization like the TSA who could randomly confiscate phones or laptops of arriving passengers.
     
  4. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to wordell1 in Beware of merchant named Argan at the Puerto Costa Maya port   
    For the record, my wife and I have shopped many times in the secured port in Costa Maya - It's actually one of the nicer ports.  I'm not sure if OP is referring to this area, or the downtown area of Mahahual.  The secured area is one of the largest of any port and has lots of shopping.  The vendors in my experience are active (standing in the door asking you to come into thier shop), but not aggressive.  In town can be more aggressive and there are vendors on the beach itself.  In either case, a simple "no thank you" is enough.
    While there are deals to be had in some ports, generally you are probably not getting a deal on most items.  If you want to buy something, use google to check prices - it doesn't take a minute.
  5. Haha
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to Xaa in Beware of merchant named Argan at the Puerto Costa Maya port   
    Buying skin care products from a stranger in a foreign country on the street.  What could go wrong?
  6. Haha
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to tonyfsu21 in Well now we know what is to come for Diamond members   
    I think the world stops spinning when a scooter riding Pinnacle guest boards any ship. The sense of entitlement is completely out of hand. 
  7. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to tonyfsu21 in Well now we know what is to come for Diamond members   
    There’s always the pin as well. I am certain to get flamed for saying this but the pin is obnoxious. I wouldn’t be caught dead with that Pinnacle pin on. I don’t want that kind of attention. 
  8. Love
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to SweetPea in Well now we know what is to come for Diamond members   
    I would support this in that my 3 experiences being a suite guest sailing in Sept x2 and early May, pins tend to take over the suite lounge and camp out there during HH. I've told Royal 3x now that this cheapens their suite experience, but clearly they don't see it that way. I don't begrudge pins their due benefits, but combining suite perks and loyalty perks waters down the perk for everyone. I'm not sure what the cutoff is (I've heard 30? 50?) for there to be too many pins onboard to have them not use the lounge, but even 30 can overwhelm an Oasis suite lounge. Of course you never know which pins are in suites and which aren't, but sitting in large circles all wearing their pins and acting like they're holding court isn't great optics, especially for a first time suite guest who just wants to enjoy a single cocktail before heading for dinner. 
    Our last cruise on Oasis is sending us back to the Haven where (novel concept), you have to book the Haven to use the Haven. 
  9. Haha
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to AlmondFarmer in Well now we know what is to come for Diamond members   
    I suggest Malarky.
    And for those of you having a hard time determining if another passenger is Pinnacle, be patient, they will likely tell you. 
  10. Love
    TakeMeSomewhere got a reaction from Mary Sue in Mariner Passenger Overboard Rescued   
    Not only will this person be put off at the next port, but this person will also be flagged and will never be able to board any cruise ship on any cruise line ever again.
  11. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to ScottD in Detailed Itinerary in Cruise Planner   
    Doesn't the TA send you an invoice? every time I make a payment to my TA, she sends me an updated invoice with a new balance, and it's directly from RC, so it has all of the itinerary info and passenger info on it each time they send it 
  12. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere got a reaction from Ryan79 in Can I request (and get) an early tender time?   
    The itinerary time will be ship time. I can't say for sure but it's a good chance that there will be a time change on the ship at some point to bring it to the local time. Changing ship time and not having the same time as local time both have their issues/difficulties. When I was on ship in December, I believe that ship time and local time were the same. 
    So the ship is expected to arrive at 8 am, then it takes approximately half an hour to be able to start tender operations. That's if everything goes smoothly and as expected. As other people mentioned, excursions, suites, Diamond/Diamon Plus, and The Key all get priority before others that got up early that morning for tender tickets. Then once you actually get on the tender, you still have to get tendered to the port. Long story short I strongly believe you won't be able to get to the port for 8:30 to meet the 3rd party excursion unless it's a private excursion and they are willing to wait for you.
  13. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to EmersonNZ in Even when things go wrong RCL makes good   
    I noticed a few complaints on these board regarding the service they have received from RCL. And while I am the first to say they aren’t perfect I thought I would share a couple of examples of where they have gone the extra mile to make things right when they have gone wrong. In each case we received service which was above and beyond what we expected. In each case we just let them know there was an issue and never expected anything in compensation. 
    My advice. If there is an issue let them know. Be nice and polite. Remember every staff member wants to make your cruise  enjoyable and whatever went wrong it either wasn’t the staff members fault or if it was a mistake on their part they do it on purpose.
    An issue with air-conditioning (we think)
    We were in a room that had a bit of an issue with the air-conditioned. We mentioned it to our stateroom attendant who apologised and got maintenance to look at it. It took them a couple of days to fix it but eventually got it working. We thought nothing of it and forgot about it.
    On our last day we got a letter in our state room saying a 30% refund had been credited to our credit card. They didn’t mention what it was for hence we ‘think’ it was due to the air-conditioner.
    Cancelled excursion due to weather.
    We were on an Alaskan cruise and had saved up to an excursion of a lifetime which included a helicopter ride to a glacier and then a bobsled ride. Unfortunately there was low cloud cover most of the morning so the helicopters couldn’t fly. This certainly wasn’t in RCL control but they offered us a more expensive excursion which also included a helicopter flight later in the day. Unfortunately this also got cancelled as the weather hadn’t lifted. We thought that was the end of it and resigned to not being able to take the trip. About an hour later we got a call on our cellphone only to tell us that they had one spare space on a flight leaving in 30 minutes which they guaranteed would fly. While it meant I couldn’t go as there was only one seat my wife had an amazing trip. What I was impressed with is they took the time t to ring us and see if we wanted the spare seat. They didn’t have to do that.
    No sugar free soda in Coke Freestyle
    We were on a cruise where they didn’t have any sugar free soda on the ship. We mentioned we couldn’t find diet free soda to one of the staff in the Windjammer out of passing. Before we know it a manager came and gave us bottles of diet coke and let us know we could go to any bar and ask for free diet soda.
    We thought that was the end of it… then when we got back to our room that afternoon there was a plate of cookies waiting for us with a little note. Then every day or so another plate of cookies in our stateroom
    Issue with on board credit
    We made a booking for an upcoming cruise and there was a bit of an issue with the onboard credit. The indicated we would receive $400 when in fact we received $50. A quick email to RCL and not only did they fix the mistake but they added a whole $400 making it $450 onboard credit.
     
     
  14. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere got a reaction from DoomSlayer in Kids Sail Free   
    I am not saying your TA is wrong about not being able to downgrade your brother's room to an interior but I will say that I have booked clients in a balcony and then they changed their minds and requested to move to an oceanview. As the final payment hadn't been made, and there were oceanviews available for the number of passengers, I was able to change their room from a balcony to an oceanview.
    Two things come to mind in this situation, there aren't any interior rooms that will allow the number of passengers for your brother's room (I am assuming 4 or 5 which greatly limits availability). The other thing is that going from the current room to an interior will most likely reduce the commission the TA will earn, while upgrading would most likely increase the commission. 
    If the booking has been made within 30 days you can change your TA or move the booking to Royal. 
  15. Sad
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to Ampurp85 in Diamond Lounge Newbies   
    I also want to say I met a solo D+ woman in the DL on my Grandeur sailing last month and she said she has been dealing with racist D+ and pinnacles since she joined the lounge, and she is at 305pts. She told me that's why I get all the stares and inquiries, I always assumed it was because I was so young. I wanted to believe she was just one of those that can't see they might be an A*hole and it has nothing to do with her skin color. But then one went on a rant about how there is so many black people cruising now and proved her point. 
    On Oasis my brother and his young, ethnic self went several times a day to get coffee.......he was always accosted by someone and their cruise stories. 
  16. Sad
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to FionaMG in Diamond Lounge Newbies   
    I know a couple who encountered precisely this on their first cruise as D; he's Asian and she's Afro-American. 😕
  17. Love
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to teddy in Diamond Lounge Newbies   
    Now I know every ship and cruise isn’t like this, but our first impression:  
    The Diamond Lounge isn’t all that and a bag of chips. 
     
    We are currently on our first cruise as Diamond.  On boarding day we went in the lounge for a coffee.  It was really good coffee.  We went back after sail away for another cup and were approached by an old guy (a complete stranger) who asked how many cruises we had done.  When we said we’re on our 11th he started telling us how many he had and asked if we belonged in there. He asked how many points they lowered Diamond level to. 
     
    Normally I’m aggressive to people like that, but we laughed, acted nicely deferential, drank our coffee and walked out.  After all, we know jerks exist all over the place, not just on cruise ships. 
     
    We went back a couple afternoons later for a cup of coffee and he was holding court again.  He saw us and started in on C&A points, and number of cruises he has that he knows is more than years I am old.   This time I quietly stared at him until everyone became uncomfortable and found other places to be.  This  approach ended up with us being able to sit in some comfortable chairs since they were vacated after five or six  minutes of complete silence. 
     
    Today we went in for a cup of coffee and he asked if we were still on our 11th cruise.  🙄  
     
    I’m not looking for help with dealing with idiots, I work retail and am very comfortable doing so. 
     
    My reason for posting this is to remind older Diamond Plus and Pinnacle cruisers that they aren’t the future of Royal Caribbean.  People like my wife and I are, along with the young families we’ve heard people in the lounge complaining about.  
     
    Another reminder….no matter how much money you like to brag about spending, it costs nothing to be nice to someone else, especially people who obviously share a passion with you  
    We’re heading back for happy hour tonight.  It will be fun to see what all the regulars do when we walk in  
     
  18. Love
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to WAAAYTOOO in 2024 Deployment Schedule   
    Placed down payments on these today so going for real…
  19. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere got a reaction from WAAAYTOOO in 2024 Deployment Schedule   
    We were looking very closely at these two sailings and decided to go with AD for 12-27-24 over New Years. Just a little more price wise, two extra days, and the better itinerary of the two. 
  20. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to twangster in SeaPass and Naming Question   
    I appreciate this is a topic that is very important to you.  I'd be interested to see if any cruise line, or airline, handles this differently for international travel.  
    A cruise ship always involves international travel, at least for the mass market cruise lines.  The name has to match government ID and that is the name that is the basis of the passenger manifest.  The passenger manifest is submitted to every country visited on the cruise.  The passenger manifest is the basis of immigration processing at each stop on a cruise.
    The problem with international travel (that by definition involves other countries) is that the international community isn't as quick to evolve beyond old ways.  
    Royal Caribbean has no choice but to follow the name on the ID that will be used for travel because that is the name that becomes the entry for a guest on the passenger manifest.  Unlike a local business in a country that more quickly adapt, when international travel is involved it isn't as easy, yet. 
  21. Haha
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to smokeybandit in Wonder Naming Ceremony   
    I Wonder what they'll name it?
  22. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to Matt in Wonder Naming Ceremony   
    It's Dec 9
  23. Haha
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to Ray in Bad Experience on Adventure   
    It really must have been a bad cruise as the post is all underlined. 😉
    Hopefully OP returns so they can fill in the blanks as to why it was so bad! 
  24. Haha
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to MLH in Bad Experience on Adventure   
    At least it wasn't ALL CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  25. Like
    TakeMeSomewhere reacted to PG Cruiser in Select your departure in the app   
    If they wanted to do that, they could simply add something like the word "voucher" next to the $0.00 in the list of orders in the "Account" section of the app.  
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