Geezer Of The Seas

Another one of the mysteries of cruise line IT. If it's any comfort, I have similar issues with HAL. Abruptly stopped receiving cruise related e-mails & marketing e-mails. Clicked the e-mail box again when recently booking a reservation, now I'm carpet bombed daily. Royal ? Never any problem, got the gift card offer e-mail and get the C & A newsletter at the end of each month.......and we're just common Platinum folk.

Don't sweat the check-in selfie. In 4 embarkations from Port Canaveral my DIY's have never been accepted. Typically, the reason given is insufficient lighting or background is too dark. Small detail, the terminal photo takes mere seconds and you're on your way. I'm always amused because the gate agent shows me the picture and asks if I'm OK with it or would prefer a retake. Standard response from me: No thanks, pretty passed me by a long time ago!

Fire and/or other emergency requiring ship evacuation. Somehow, I don't envision the real thing going as smoothly as the drills the crews perform periodically...........

You are not alone. Royal has to be profitable, I get that. But there's a fine line between that and jumping the shark with pricing. They might be approaching that. We've done 4 Royal cruises since 2022, each one has seen fewer shipboard add on purchases. We'll always book excursions that interest us, after all part of the reason we do this is seeing places we've never been, albeit in a very compressed time element. Increasing fares= fewer onboard bells/whistles. Just how we roll.

What you read is the truth. Same is happening with Lyft. The Uber driver that took us to Brightline Orlando a week ago also drives for Lyft. Similar treatment like Uber drivers receive. We selected Uber XL (Comfort) for all rides. We had 3 pieces of luggage so I knew a compact/subcompact vehicle wouldn't cut it.

Brightline station not the airport. Cab driver that did come and pick us up(less than 10 minutes after calling) after 40 minutes wait for Uber told us no Uber driver would show for a $5.52 ride of less than 5 miles. And the Uber driver that picked us up from Brightline Orlando to take us home (no problem for a near $70 ride apparently) told us the same thing. Matter of fact, I asked 2 Uber drivers that dropped fares at Brightline Lauderdale if they could even see our request in the app. One said yes and he couldn't help us. The second one I asked, I offered him $25 to take us 'off the books'. No joy there either. Couldn't line up an Uber from Port Everglades to Brightline either. Used a shuttle recommended by Crowne Plaza Hotel to get us from hotel to port and port to Brightline.

No, but during the course of my career I was shot at, bottles thrown at fire apparatus I was driving, physically attacked by patients I was dispatched to care for............all in the 'tourist capital of Florida'. Any points for that?

I have no movie channels. Your point?

@twangster, we agree to disagree. Haiti has been violent and dysfunctional............forever. A catastrophic incident involving a cruise ship going into a country that has been gripped by anarchy for decades doesn't add up to good business sense. Any cruise line resume sailings to the Black Sea (Russia/Ukraine) or Mediterranean Israel/Hamas/Hezbollah)? Not a lot of separation among them all; the 'war' in Haiti looks different is all. It just seems a bad idea. Haven't been in a major metro area lately...........well Ft. Lauderdale around the port last week.

Everyone says "but Labadee is 3 or 4 hours over land from Port au Prince". Personally, I think Royal (and any other cruise line with stops in Haiti) is playing with fire. An aircraft on a 'slow' landing approach is like shooting fish in a barrel. So, what happens when/if these bad actors come into possession of high performance boats and start busting caps at a cruise ship? They don't have to board, just squeeze off a few rounds at the pool deck would be all it would take to create a story the cruise lines couldn't deep six. My opinion, of course................

I'm now certain ALL cruise lines source their IT to the same vendor. Cruise director reminded passengers Sunday morning at start of disembarkation to settle their folios if they hadn't, CC users would receive an e-mail copy 'several' hours after the disembarking, and don't forget to complete the God Almighty post cruise survey. Just as well about the survey, I've got a bunch of axes to grind. 27 hours later, we've received nothing. Calling last night.............well that was a joke, my call was never answered. And that idiot bot on the website is worse than useless. Suffice it to say, done with HAL!!!!

Where to begin? Was our first and last HAL cruise. Nieuw Amsterdam is a beautiful ship with a hardworking (and seemingly understaffed) crew in the buffet. Final night, despite the dress code of the day published as casual, I was asked to leave Pinnacle Grille, return to our already packed luggage and and put on slacks. No argument, but I pointed out the dress code of the day (same as day 1) where I did see men wearing shorts in Pinnacle. Host insisted, I politely refused and canceled the reservation (was part of Have It All and I didn't care, no loss). The food quality was in our view, a disappointment. There was a lot, I mean a lot of flies in the buffet. Everywhere.......... Embarkation/disembarkation are nicely done and expedient. Brightline: Great, if you're in Premium, not so much in SMART. Trip home in SMART, 2 hours 10 minutes. A passenger in seat in front of Mrs. Geezer was on the phone from Lauderdale station to 10 minutes out from MCO.............literally, and half the coach knew it. Premium on the way down, they make an announcement regarding electronics and phone usage. SMART, they don't even tell you to read the safety information. UBER: NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!! Ordered a ride at FLL to hotel, no one ever showed. Easily got a ride from MCO to Longwood $63 and fees...............and set a world land speed record on SR408 & I-4 in the process. And I've come to the conclusion the port area in Lauderdale is one giant hustle. Think we paid more in tips in one night than we did on all 5 cruises combined. PS: First port call was canceled on 11/4 due to weather, which for the first 2 1/2 days was the worst we ever experienced at sea. First time we had to go to the Bonine. But at least we missed the earthquake yesterday, so there's that.

Icon of the Seas. Crown's Edge. Free pass for Crown's Edge clipped to chair hogs chair. Unfortunate harness detachment. See where this is going? FWIW, we're wrapping up our first sailing on HAL. Same problem. smaller scale. Chair/table hogs in the buffet is worse than the pool. And the buffet flies are absolutely horrible. Real flies, not subset of passenger.

Not RCL, but we left FLL on HAL Nieuw Amsterdam Sunday. It was comical watching passengers ducking and weaving to avoid the porters at Terminal 26. Not this Geezer, I look to do a ' luggagectomy' as soon as possible. And props to HAL for their boarding procedures. Better than anything I've experienced with RCL from Port Canaveral. Smaller ship I know, but the group assignments really do work better than Royal's 'appointments '. BTW, we lost the first port call today, and are trailing behind Freedom and 3 other Eastern Caribbean itinerary ships so close to the coast of Cuba, we could probably apply for citizenship. My God, it's windy! Had to break out the Bonine for Mrs Geezer. Me? I was assured by a bartender doubles of Maker's Mark on the rocks would make me walk straighter.......and it did!

We're leaving on a HAL cruise Sunday. Only thing we've received so far was an email advising Port Everglades is hosting the International Boat Show this weekend and allow adequate time to reach the port and parking . As for weather, one Orlando TV network local affiliate who specializes in white knuckle hurricane hysteria describes the water temps as 'piping hot' or 'over 90' degrees in the Central Caribbean. Shorter daylight hours and lowering sun angle, combined with wind shear in the region makes me inclined to be a little dubious. Not to mention NOAA has only been tracking ocean temps via infrared on GOES satellites since the mid 80's. Can't do nothing anyway except take what Ma Nature serves up.

@Jolly Ogre. Without violating HIPPA rules, How did you tear the tendon,was it complete tear or detachment at the heel? How's it feeling now.......and speedy recovery to you.

Royal & other lines seem "slippery" with the discounts & 'kickers' (as they call them). Either or on some, not cumulative. Experienced this on a Wonder booking last year. They're learning from The Rat. Ol' Mickey released his new annual pass prices for next year last week. Top tier pass $1549 (plus tax) for a single pass. Makes my recent trip to the dentist for a crown look like a bargain......and the dentist didn't have blackout days.

Like you, I was impressed by the comfort of the bedding on Royal's ships. Found THIS website and ordered 2 king pillows (around $100 plus shipping) They were thrown out in less than 7 days. Absolutely NOT the same quality of pillows on the ship. If memory serves, an Italian brand on the package, Made In China on the pillow tag.

Can't speak to the whole fleet, but one bartender on Jewel at the Solarium bar, 2 bartenders at the Solarium bar on Wonder, and one bartender at the Trellis Bar on Wonder.......... YES!!! I never ordered from a roving server, ALWAYS walked to the bar and would wave off other bartenders and waited for my favorites to place my orders. It paid off handsomely. I just added a tip to each order, never cash. As I learned (drinking a' la carte anyway) the Bartender of record on the receipt gets the additional gratuity. A little work, but was worth the effort.

Next to power off/on, cache clearing is the only thing I know to try. But I have to go through the browsing history and selectively do it, lest I earn incur the wrath of the 'finance minister' since wiping cookies, etc. results in important websites not recognizing our computer and the hoop jumping, 2 factor authentication, blah, blah, blah. @!#%& computers............

Must be a digital contagion. Logged into HAL website Sunday to download/print boarding passes. Nothing available for several hours, not even the upcoming trip or one we booked for 2026. A week or two ago, stopped receiving e-mails (marketing or trip relevant). We're new to HAL so the first impression............ Do they all use the same IT vendors? Finally did get boarding passes into the app and printed.....................

Watched Carnival Freedom depart Nassau 20 minutes ago, with 2 tugs shadowing her until she got to the port entrance. Looked liked the bridge crew was really earning their pay. Channel markers were laying almost parallel to the ocean and pretty big waves crashing into the bow. Based on Utopia's current position, they are heading due west toward Florida and nowhere near Coco Cay. Cruise to nowhere, looks like Hurricane Oscar caught everyone by surprise.

Indeed, there's a woman on trial in Orlando for second degree homicide for packing her boyfriend in a carry on......but they weren't doing a cruise check in.......

Not uncommon. Gordon visited central Florida as a tropical storm almost 2 weeks into November, 1994. I was on duty, prodigious rainfall inland, wind was so-so, but there were tornadoes along the central East coast. As @Jolly Ogre said, frontal passage with cool weather behind it starts pumping the brakes on development. And with lowering sun angle, the oceans aren't heating to boiling like media loves to suggest. It By Gawd better, we depart Ft. Lauderdale 11/3.

Sure, in balconies and the occasional junior suite. I no more consider Royal to be "premium", high end , whatever than any other mass market line. Silversea, Regent Seven Seas, Ritz Carlton Yachts. Premium. I'll never see a cruise on one of them. Service? We enjoy and appreciate the service from every crew member......even in steerage.