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constable145

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Posts posted by constable145

  1. Travelling with some picky eaters coming up in a few months... I've read some horror stories about the direction food is heading since I last cruise in the fall of 2022.

    I've done tons of specialty dining thanks to previous Star Class voyages. 

     

    The picky eaters I'm travelling with have enjoyed Chops in the past. I'm thinking Mason Jar and Playmakers might be a good idea for the picky eaters but I've never done them myself.

    Is the MDR "THAT" bad now? The 3 night package is currently 20% off so thinking about it as a Christmas gift.

     

    Anyone have any insight?

     

    Thanks!

  2. They really need to update their literature. 

     

    This was handed out at the Captain's Corner. Can you spot what's wrong with it? 

     

    This Captain's Corner might be the least impressive one I've ever seen. 

     

    Only the Captain and Hotel director. 30 minutes in the Star Lounge. No fact sheets handed out on provisions. 

     

    One good question did come up "if you kill all power to the ship, how long would she take to stop?" 

     

    Captain James' response "that's a good question. I'm not sure. I've never tried it." 

     

    He did say that if he had to stop in an emergency they can hit the brakes and the ship will come to a stop within 3 ship lengths.  He also added that if he did that a bunch of things would rattle and crash and the Chief Engineer wouldn't speak to him for 3 weeks. 

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  3. 34 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    That's great news. The sailing that we have coming up for New years is a similar situation. We booked it within the double points window but because the school board changed Christmas vacation dates on us, we had to move from December 18th sail date to December 31st sail date. My TA did move the reservation so it has the same number as the original, but like all things Royal, I am slightly worried I won't get the double points. Good to know that if it doesn't happen, C&A might still honour it.

    Looks like you guys are having a great week. Perfect timing cause a big cold front hit Southern Ontario and it's freezing here! lol

    Ya my TA made a mistake. The loyalty ambassador was great. 

     

    Let's be honest-even if they didn't fix the error, it's not a big deal. Not getting double credit for a cruise is the epitome of a 1st world problem. 

     

    I see it's 17 at home. 

     

    It could be colder... But it's 32 feeling 36 here (for the Americans on this site, 32 is what the rest of the world calls hot...).

     

    My feet and ankles are starting to swell. That usually happens - keys to avoiding that are reducing the salty foods you eat and reducing the amount of alcohol you drink - HA. 

  4. Day 6 is upon us. 

     

    Two more days at sea. So far this has been a great trip. 

     

    Some observations :

    1. After having the Ben and Jerry's manager say our diamond drink vouchers were good for milkshakes on Wednesday, we were told that they made an error Thursday. 

     

    The loyalty ambassador confirmed this and it is due to the franchise contract they have with B&J's. Another example of RCI being consistently inconsistent but it didn't put a damper in our trek. 

     

    2. On the subject of the loyalty ambassador, Ruby is fabulous. We had this sailing booked in the window where you could get double-double points for a suite. We had to rebook it outside the window for booking. 

    My TA instead of transferring the reservation to this sailing, he cancelled it and created a new booking. With a quick email to C&A, Ruby had the ship righted so that we all get 28 points. (getting my 8 y/o closer to Diamond status on her own instead of freeloading ;)) 

     

    3. Pub staff are some of the best I've ever encountered. Shine, Rui, Jayson are top of the charts. 

     

    4. Amit in the suite lounge is probably the best concierge I've ever had. 

     

    5. Food in the MDR has been good to very good. Beef tenderloin on the menu for the second time tonight - that pleases me. 

     

    6. The sports staff are amazing. My daughter is a thrill seeker but was a bit timid around the flowrider and understandably so. The sports staff were incredible. Lori loved it! She's since gone back again and they even had her doing tricks. 

     

     

    It seems like Liberty may be one of the least talked about ships on this site probably due to the fact she sails out of Galveston and is overdue for a refresh... That being said there has to be some more questions so come at me! 

  5. Greetings from Jamaica! 

     

    So far this trip is great. 

     

    Amit the concierge is incredible. 

     

    Spectacular bar service from the pub. Great MDR service. 

     

    Yesterday we went to Seven Mile Beach. We rented a jetski and frollicked in the water for a few hours. 

    Today we're pretty much staying on the ship. I dislike Falmouth. It's close to absolutely nothing. 

     

    3 nights left including 2 sea days. 

     

    If you have any questions let me know. 

  6. 4 hours ago, Robert M said:

    Any news of Freestyle machines being installed? A RC rep told me it’s “Highly Likely” but didn’t say when

    No news. It was the first ship I've sailed on in years that haven't had them so I was surprised to see that they have them. 

     

    I haven't asked. I'll ask the concierge if I get a chance. 

  7. Can confirm. 

    The casino still reeks of cigarette smoke. 

     

    Nothing has changed. 

     

    Celebrity has non-smoking casinos. 

    The province of has non-smoking casinos. 

     

    It is unconscionable that RCI still permits smoking in their casinos. 

     

     

  8. Greetings all! I'm somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico now and thought it would be a great time for an update. 

     

    1. Embarkation in Galveston was pretty smooth. We're in a suite and my mom who's travelling with us has some mobility issues so that sped things along. 

     

    There was a lack of communication thought. After telling several people that we were in a suite and being told that didn't matter I finally went to someone after seeing dozens of people be whisked passed us.. I asked the employee who was marshalling people if there was expedited boarding for suite guests. She seemed surprised that nobody had told her we were in a suite. 

     

    Shortly after we were at the pub enjoying a beverage. 

     

    Our suite is nice but far from fancy. I've previously sailed in a grand suite on Allure and 2 star class suites. I had tempered expeditions. This room is big, clean, and comfortable but it is far from opulent. 

     

    There is some soot on the balcony. That's to be expected in an aft balcony. 

    The phone doesn't call housekeeping but we are pretty sure low maintenance. Our suite attendant Viola is amazing. 

     

    The dining room was great. I had the mushroom soup, prime rib, fried chicken and 2 helpings of keylime pie (they're small). 

     

    The Texas liquor laws are ridiculous. Texas should stick to ranching and shooting things. They have no idea how to grow grapes. Absolutely putrid wine until we were 12 miles out.

    The crust bow

    Suite lounge is amazing. Amit the concierge I think knows every guest by name already. 

     

    Sorrento's pizza is almost a flatbread crust now. That's good. Fewer carbs... Which is good-I tend to drink my carbs. 

     

    WiFi coverage and speed is awful. Starlink can't come soon enough. The app crashed for everyone last night and even though I linked a credit card it's now telling me I have a cash account so I'll see Amit to help me out there. 

     

    My daughter's prepurchased arcade package didn't show up on her card so I'll look into that as well. 

     

    Apologies for any typos.. I'm at the gym sweating out the damage I did to my body last night and sweat VS touchscreen is "un-good". 

     

    If "y'all" (apparently that's how people speak down here) have any questions let me know. 

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  9. 4 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    Welcome back to cruising!!!

    Looking forward to what you think of Liberty and that 2BD GS. We have that exact same cabin booked next summer (August). Are you on Deck 8?

    Oh, and post pics! 😉

    Boarded my flight. Pushing back whenever the last few passengers board. 

     

    Apparently Cozumel isn't the only place where people are late. 

     

     

  10. Tropical depression 7 is now Tropical Storm Fiona ( a coincidence for sure- my daughter's stepsister's name is Fiona). Fiona now almost certainly seems to be headed north. 

     

    It's 12:49am EST. I have less than 6 hours left until my vacation starts.

    Better set my out of office.

    Travel docs including authorization to bring my 8 year co-pilot are set. A week's worth of homework, both English and French immersion have been obtained- wish me luck with that!

     

     

  11. I can speak with some expertise in this area.

     

    The retention period for CCTV footage is a balancing act.

    Law enforcement agencies want it kept for as long as possible.

    Privacy advocates want it kept for as little as possible.

    Law enforcement IT folks squawk when we ask for more storage...

     

    Generally, video is saved for a period between 1 week to 1 month. If an incident is reported during the retention period, footage can be saved for perpetuity.

    Also, most entities will not release CCTV to a private persons.

    Best practice is that footage is only released by way of a court order.

  12. 16 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

    We have booked numerous excursions through Viator.   Just make sure your tour times coincide with your time in port.   

    It might be helpful if you share where you are going as some ports have more options than others.

    My family and I had a great time at Playa Mia in Cozumel a few years ago.

     

    We are on the Liberty next week- in Cozumel one week today.

  13. I'll be sailing with my 8 year old daughter and my parents in 2 bed room GS this coming week.

     

    I'll do my best to give you the play-by-play.

    My first cruise in over 3 years ( Covid can go eff itself... I miss cruising).

    My first time on a Freedom class ship in 12 years.

    My kiddo and I are diamond members. My folks are emerald. 2 of the 4 of us have drink packages. We plan on doing speciality on night 3.

     

    We're flying from Toronto into Bush- I'm not thrilled with the idea of having a trek of over an hour to get to the port, but c'est la vie.

     

    There's some background. If you have any questions you want to ask in advance, post them here and I'll do my best to find the answer.

  14. 10 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

    If you have 24 hour complimentary room service, then I assume you are in a Star Class suite; in this case anything you order is complimentary.

     

    If you aren't in a suite, I would like to know the origins of your complimentary room service.

    All full suites allow 24/7 room service at no charge. You can order from the full room service menu anytime, or MDR or specialty restaurants when they are open.

  15. Too many to mention-

     

    In 2010 the first year Bud Light Lime was available towards the end of the cruise the pub ran out. Our server disappeared after taking our order and he came back maybe 10 minutes later( an unusually long time) walking down the promenade. He appeared a bit sweaty and then apologized.  He had gone to 5 different bars looking for the beer.

     

    2. My ex-wife ordered a malibu and coke on the Rising Tide bar on the Allure in 2012. The bar tender apologized as he only had Parrot Bay. He offered a free shot for her to sample. She didn't like it.   He then delayed the departure of the bar ( that sounds funny to say..) and ran to another bar to get the correct shot. He didn't charge us due to the inconvenience. 

     

    3. On the Harmony in 2017- my ex was a no-show for dinner. Our server in the MDR doted on our entire family. We were a big group, and loved the fact that even though we were Star Class we opted to eat with our big family 5 nights out of 7... Anyway, our server wondered where my ex was. I said she had a bout of seasickness. Just towards the end of our meal, our server returned with a cut up plate of green apples. She told me to take them back to our room. She then informed me that green apples are a natural seasickness remedy. I said to her " there's no apples on the menu- where did you get these??" ( knowing full well her slightly extended absence was due to her running up to the WJ to grab an apple.... She then said " Oh Mr Taylor ( Folks from the Caribbean can't pronounce my name more often than not..) don't you worry about it. You take care of your wife and these will help."

     

    I'm on the Liberty in 8 days. I'm sure I'll have more examples then..

  16. 33 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

    If you're sailing as a single adult with a child under the age of six, it would be worth checking to see what price The Key is selling for on your sailing. It's been deeply discounted during the Labor Day sale for many close-in sailings and could conceivably be cheaper than the internet package. The internet package is included as one of the benefits of The Key but must be purchased for everyone aged six and over in the stateroom.

    Unfortunately there are 4 of us in this suite- all of us over 6. We only need one internet package so the Key is a colossal waste of money.

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