bcarney

Carnival changes loyalty program where you start to lose points after not cruising for two years...
Click here for the article.

Carnival changes loyalty program where you start to lose points after not cruising for two years...
Click here for the article.

I was on Rhapsody in January and was expecting to depart from the Pan American port until a few weeks from embarking. Pier 4 is very modern and you will have no issues with boarding. I will highly recommended getting there as early as possible as getting into Old Town SJ can be a cluster…and that is putting it mildly. Before noon isn’t that bad at all, gets hairy after that. We got a 11am boarding time, we were dropped off at 10:25 with very little traffic by the ship and we were onboard by 10:40. That included a delay caused by a software hitch the check-in folks experienced. I’d have zero issues embarking from that pier again. Next time however, I’d stay in a hotel in Old Town and just walk to the pier.

The one time it did ($19 Deluxe drink package) it kicked off a pandemic! 😂

Caribbean night is my favorite. That chicken is fantastic and always ends up being a huge portion in an era where portions have gotten smaller.

A few Goalpost Margaritas and I am a FUNGI 

Just join in the conversation. If it’s on speakerphone in public they obviously wanted other people’s input. 

I'm of the exact opposite opinion. One of the things about cruising that appeals to me is visiting other nations and being exposed to different cultures.  These "Perfect Day at Whatever" amusement parks have absolutely no interest for me. We've actively avoided cruises that go to places like Labadee whenever possible (been there twice which was one time too many), but with RC including those type stops on so many cruises, we've been forced to look at other lines unfortunately. 

Richard Fain single-handedly helped me get through the pandemic.
There will always be a spot in my heart for him.

We sailed out of New Orleans over Christmas and that port was better than expected. So much we booked Mariner for a New Year's cruise next year.

We saw Nate on Voyager and ended up hanging out at the pub most nights.  He's fantastic.

We were on Brilliance over Thanksgiving and Nate Goodlet (the best performer and most talented guitarist in the fleet!!!) was playing until just a few weeks ago when the ship went over to Europe.  I followed him on Facebook, and he's going to Alaska soon (if he's not already there).  Here is the first half of his "winter tour".

(edited to correct spelling of name)
 

I sent you a PM with our experience, @Bowen.

I picked up one of these (the 12 bottle), and it's a surprisingly nice piece of luggage, very flexible, you can put clothing in it as well if you don't need the room for all the bottles. Has brought home many bottles of Caribbean rum!

https://vingardevalise.com/collections/vingardevalise-wine-travel-suitcase

I picked up one of these (the 12 bottle), and it's a surprisingly nice piece of luggage, very flexible, you can put clothing in it as well if you don't need the room for all the bottles. Has brought home many bottles of Caribbean rum!

https://vingardevalise.com/collections/vingardevalise-wine-travel-suitcase

You guys are no fun , nothing better than blowing up the shytter in your cabin. Love going defcon 1 on that mug. 

They bring it to your room on the last night.

Shoot as long as there wasn’t a rat in me drink , I’d have not thought twice. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Rub some dirt on it. 

The OP is all BS
The way is works is there is a minimum salary set by international law standard for anyone at sea.
Then there is a contract guarantee for each employee which may be above that minimum international level.
The gratuities MAY be used to meet that minimum (I'm unsure of this part) but anything in the gratuities pool over that amount does go to the employees in that pool.
Also NOTE if you remove your auto gratuities pre-paid or not and give cash, say to your cabin attendant, they have to turn that into the pool (fireable offense not to) yes cash given above the daily gratuities is theirs to keep.
So yes they get the auto gratuities from the pool that are over their minimum guarantee wage. 
QUIT Encouraging cheapskate from removing gratuities and get your Facts straight 
 

If you have a chance stop in at Lovango Rum Bar in Cruz Bay. Great cocktails and food! And an incredible rum selection if you are into that (I am!).  

If you have a chance stop in at Lovango Rum Bar in Cruz Bay. Great cocktails and food! And an incredible rum selection if you are into that (I am!).  

We did it with our kids who enjoyed it. The one we picked also took us to a beach to look at starfish, and had a jerk chicken lunch that was nice.  The excursion was called "Stingray Sandbar, Starfish Point, Beach & Bites".

In my world 5pm is considered a late lunch. Or an appetizer.

Why does @Matt look like he's about to take a request for Piano Man in this shot? 😂

Royal Caribbean is not worth any price! 
Summary - I have no idea why anytime books this cruise. Literally every aspect of the cruise is worse than a bad all inclusive resort. Anything you want to do will be better at an all inclusive resort than on any Royal Caribbean cruise.
Pool(s) - Extremely small, imagine the size of a backyard pool, not even 5 foot deep. At least they were heated, but no frills and packed.
Food - Ouch! Unless you go to the buffet, you will wait 45 minutes+++, for a table to eat mediocre food. We paid for my time dining to eat anywhere between 630 and 8pm. Regularly waited 45 minutes to an hour...then got sat with waiter that barely paid attention to us. Just awful dining experience. Buffet is somewhat better but mostly filled with cheap dishes - pizza, pasta, hamburgers and other cheap entrees.
Activities - Nearly all of these are a scam designed to extract extra money from you - whether it be drinks during trivia. extras for everything, etc. 
Gambling - Holy shit this is the worst part! RC literally screws all of its passengers due to its own greed! The table odds and slot odds immediately change in international waters to grossly exceed any resemblance of fairness. As a .ere example, RC keeps like 90% of bingo fees. Texas Holden cash rake and tournament rake are absurd. Poker cash ga.es are even more brutal. You have to be an idiot to play slots on any RC ship. Just an awful weather to treat its customers.
Maintenance - Literally every restroom has multiple broken sinks and/or soap dispensers. Rusty railings everywhere. Soap and sanitizer everywhere is broke. 
Room - we booked a balcony room - ok but it is very small and shower is similar to a RV shower. 
Overall, I have no idea why anyone books RC over an all inclusive resort. Literally every aspect of a "bad" all inclusive is way better than RC.
Stay away from this tourist trap!!!