bcarney

THANK YOU for not saying "Ron Zacapa 23 YEAR OLD". That phrase is like nails on a chalkboard to me, because it isn't. It's just marketing - it used have a teeny, tiny portion of a possibly 23 year old rum in it years ago, maybe a full molecule or two, but nowadays it does not. It's like "Pilar 24" rum - how can a 5 year old company have a 24 year old rum? It's not, it's just the number 24 slapped on the label. Everyone assumes "year old" when they see a number. Zacapa also has 45 g/liter of sugar added, and also glycerine to make it "smooth". I have no real preference for spiced rums, by the time you add it to a frozen drink you've covered up a lot of what makes rum, rum. I haven't seen Mt. Gay silver in a long time. I've toured the distillery (not the visitors center) twice, they make a proper, no stuff added (unless it was aged in a used barrel) rum.

How nerdy can I get? ? I'm a traditionalist, so it's Goslings for me (the standard bottle, not the 151). Goslings only has 11 grams/liter of added sugar, whereas Kracken has 43 gpl, if that is a concern for you. Goslings is also the more traditional 40 proof vs 47 for Kracken. "Groupthink" rates them about equally https://www.rumratings.com/brands/482-kraken-black-spiced https://www.rumratings.com/brands/420-gosling-s-black-seal Kracken uses a younger rum base as well, IIRC (hence the added sugar and caramel colorings), so personally I'd be sticking with Goslings. But all that said, keep in mind these are SPICED rums, not regular rums, so you might want to make room in your cabinet for a traditional rum like Appleton or Mt. Gay (both easily accessible) for recipes that require a non-spiced rum.

I have the final statement in front of me. $700 was refunded. It paid for 2 Deluxe Beverage packages, all gratuities, $20 on t-shirts, my wife decided she wanted a drink in a pineapple so there was a $10.62 surcharge for that, and she also bought $61 worth of perfume. Our final bill was $94.17.

I was on one of the impacted cruises last week. I think the Company handled it well - they gave us 50% of our fare back as refundable OBC, and we in turn spent every penny of it onboard. We're happy, and Royal still managed to keep our money (on high profits items like the drink package), so everybody wins.

We just got off Majesty on Monday. It was one of the Cuba-cancelled cruises where we received 50% of our fare back as a refundable OBC. Upon boarding we ordered a drink, and there was a guy there pitching BOGOHO drink packages. After doing the math it was a $47.50/pp per day plus tip - which is a far cry from the $66/day last spring. Normally my wife wouldn't get the package, but we were cruising without the kids, and to be honest the money was already "spent" mentally, so with a little bit of arm twisting she relented and we purchased the package. On a side note, the refunded money covered drink packages for two, all the gratuities, and some other miscellaneous spending. We walked off the ship with a final bill of only $94, after living large all week. It was most definitely a great cruise. ?

All - this thread is doing nothing but causing harsh language and hard feelings. It's accomplishing nothing. Nothing can be done to bring that little girl back, so just let it go and move on.

Amen to that. Six or so years ago they were dredging small marinas on the Great Lakes because water levels were at all time lows. This year, there's so much water that some of the marinas are under water and no-wake zones are being expanded because the wakes are flooding houses. When it comes to nature the only thing consistent is change.

TEAM 7!!! ?

I've been on (I think) 17 cruises, and even with all that experience I still learn new tips from people almost every time I visit this site. It's a very useful resource, and I've even made some virtual friendships along the way!

Not to mention that, for the most part, the items being served in the MDR are also being served in the WJ. Plus, the food is warmer as they haven't been sitting on a covered plate along with the 23 others destined for your waiter's section.

This is exactly what my family has been doing for the last few cruises, and with the same expectations regarding time. Not sure what we're going to be doing on Majesty next week; no specialty restaurants, so we'll probably ask for MTD and bounce between that and the Windjammer.

Dinner in the Windjammer is nothing like the zoo at breakfast and lunch; there are times we've gone in there at dinnertime and the place is 3/4 empty. No worries about saving tables, etc.

Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale? Heck I'd much rather drive that (relatively) small distance than mess around with all the nonsense at the airport, lost or overweight luggage, backups at TSA checks, parking costs, etc.

I'm on Majesty's July 17 5 day sailing. They want a $700/pp minimum bid for an upgrade from a Oceanview GTY to a Jr. Suite - that's now 2x more than what the cruise cost after the Cuba cancellation refund. $1K for Grand Suite, and $1,700 for Owners.

For me the hilarious bit is that they fell for buying that craptastic "artwork" they sell onboard - look at the walls behind them! LOL

For those on cruises that were going to Cuba, check your planners for price drops. I just logged into mine and the Deluxe Beverage Package is now down to $44/day!

Havana has been replaced with Costa Maya - that makes me happy, as I'll be able to go to Maya Chan again!

Our 7/17 sailing now has Costa Maya - which means I'll be able to go to Maya Chan again! ? Woot!

I have to say, that 50% refund has already taken much of the sting out of this, for me anyways. Now I'm just hoping they don't turn it into another sea day.

This is all my fault. I booked a Cuba cruise, and now this. My apologies.

You are correct, I didn't include that in my calculations. Mea culpa.

If you go to the Diamond Lounge, they can make some 'better' drinks for you. I discovered the joy of a simple Lemon Drop there last month on Rhapsody. Well, more accurately the joy of 3 of them one evening... ?

On all my recent cruises mixed drinks were $12 plus tip so $14.16. At $49, the break even point, if solely considering alcohol, is 3.46 drinks. A recent cruise I scored the package at $46, so break even was 3.25. On my last cruise I had the package at $49, but had to cancel it before the cruise for financial reasons (I wear black on Tax Day, LOL). When I got onboard I saw the package was $65/day plus tip...I was really kicking myself for cancelling it. I settled for the $79+tip drink card offered on Day 4.

We've slowly become disenchanted with the quality of food and frantic service in the MDR (with the exception of a Vision cruise in early 2016; the food that cruise blew us away). On our most recent cruise we deliberately decided not to visit the MDR at all as an experiment (for lack of a better term) to see if we'd like cruising that way better. Since we were on Rhapsody with only three specialty restaurants, I picked up the 3 night dining package, and we planned the other days in the Windjammer (specifically Indian and Caribbean nights). Night 1 was at Izumi, and the waiter was one of the best I've ever had, land or sea. Enjoyed him so much we wound up booking the sushi making class as well as our last night at Izumi again! I don't remember what order we did the rest but we wound up in the WJ for Caribbean night and I think German night and two others (Indian was on the buffet each evening), and we also did Chops and Giovannis. Pros: We were able to eat when we wanted to; 7:15pm today, 6:30pm tomorrow? No problem! Less stress. We didn't have to rush to get to the early seating after a day off ship (we have kids so late seating is out). Less cost (almost)! Not having to pay airline fees for an additional bag of "fancy" clothes and shoes that we would only wear for a few hours saved money, and was used to subsidize the cost of the speciality restaurants. The Windjammer food was of better quality and better selection than the tired MDR menu, IMHO. No pathetic dried out duck with a side of red cabbage...that has been on the menu since the time Noah was captain of Arc of the Seas. Cons: None, really. We didn't miss it at all. They missed us, though. They called on Day 3 to inquire as to why we weren't showing up. I wish I could say "we're done" with the MDR but that wouldn't be true as our next cruise is on Majesty which I don't think has speciality restaurants. But I think it's pretty unlikely we'll be back in the MDR very often in the future.

They edited the article and removed that sentence.