Cowcrazy65

This is our first cruise.  I have not seen much posted about the Grandeur.  We are going out of Baltimore for a 10 day Western Caribbean excursion the end of Feb.  We did not want the extra cost of flying and It is only a few hours drive. I realize it is a smaller ship and older, should we be going on a different ship?  :unsure:
 
Thanks!

Silly question!  We purchased our tickets on line thru RC for our excursion.  Do we go to the Guest Services desk a day in advance and pick up our ticket and information?

My husband is a big eater.  When seeing pics of the meals they serve in the MDR, he commented he will have to stop at Windjammer too.  A friend told us he always orders two meals when he eats at the MDR on Carnival. Some times it is the same thing and other times he has two different items as well as deserts.  :unsure:   Is this allowed on Royal Caribbean?

If you do not purchase the drink package, I assume you still get some type of drink at the MDR and/or buffet? Do you get anything but water?  Coffee or milk with breakfast?

If you do not purchase the drink package, I assume you still get some type of drink at the MDR and/or buffet? Do you get anything but water?  Coffee or milk with breakfast?

I've never known of any tender tickets needed to CocoCay.  RCCL owns the tenders (CocoCutter 1, CocoCutter 2, etc.), and they run continuously all day.  

Quick question. ..do you need tender tickets like you do in other ports like belize or do you just get in line? I have a teen im going to register a program for and my oldest and i are just hanging on the beach. Jane

I've gone 8 out of 10.  One of the times we missed it was a sea day with extra activities added, the other was the same but since Nassau was the next stop we headed there early and overnighted.  

1 out of 2, we were headed to the eastern Caribbean on freedom so it just became a sea day, don't recall if they "upped" the onboard program or not

Rain wont stop them from going there, but winds and waves will.
 
It's hit or miss..I am 4/6 there....
 
For me they ended up staying over night in Nassau both times but not sure if that's the norm or not.

Glad we could be helpful and I hope you will become a regular friend here!

I am not so sure of tipping either... at least my views are changing.
 
On day one when we meet the attendant I introduce myself, ask for the extras I will need, such as extra pillows, ice in ice bucket, extra towels, etc. Then, when the cruise completes, I tip at the end. If he was great, and the room was exceptionally clean I will tip. I don't want to tip early because I don't want the attendant to think that's all they get, or that since they were tipped they can forget about me either. I have never had bad service, but I have had "great" service, and there is a difference.
 
I changed my tipping procedures because I heard some things since my first cruise. On one podcast, not RCB, I heard the attendant, nor anyone on the ship, does not get to keep their tips. They are pooled amongst everyone, servers, on the cruise, and the employee can be terminated if they are found to hide their tips. This makes sense, as not every server has equal chances of tips. e.g bartenders and wait staff have best chances. Also, I heard from a steward, that they only get paid if the rooms are full. So for example, if only 10 rooms of his 12 assigned are full, he only gets paid from those full rooms. Also, the tips that we are charged on tip of our bills are supposed to be the "tip". I admit that $25 per day for room and waitress seems small, all your drinks include a tip charge.
 
I also heard the best thing you can do for a staff member is to remember their name. Then when you complete the end of cruise critique, mention the great ones who served you in that critique. Their names are ver hard though, so I may ask to take photo instead... but that feels really creepy too.
 
My two cents.
 
Mike_

Mike,
 
I think we're on the same page and have the same goals which is to reward good service. We just take a different approach to get there.
 
Who knows; I may try your approach. From your clarification, it sounds more like a sign of gratitude for the coming service and the hard work.

As others have noted, there is the open booking option, but they have scaled back the discount amount you can get with it.  
 
You are better off just booking a specific cruise as far in advance as you can and moving it around as necessary until you find a sailing you want to go on.

The option still exists (last time I looked in November) but the OBC is almost zero so the only benefit is a low deposit that can be used on a future sailing if/when you are ready.

There is. I believe it's called a Future Cruise Certificate. However, the benefits are not worth it in my opinion as the onboard credit is very small. You're better off dummy booking a cruise--just pick a date well into the future--and then changing that booking to the one that you really want later. That way, you'll maximize the amount of onboard credit.

It warms as the summer progresses and the days get longer, so keep that in mind. Generally speaking, you're going to get the best value before mid June and after mid August as these are the slower times and thus less busy. In addition, if you go in May, fewer ships will have arrived in Alaska,miso he ports won't be as crowded.
 
Has Royal released their 2017 Alaska sailings yet? If not, you won't be able to book onboard.

I see how the strategy could/might work. As long as a staff member understands that the pre tip isn't all there is and that it's for the good service you know or anticipate you're going to receive, I can see how the strategy could be beneficial.
 
Please don't assume that their was any judgment in my reply. I simply wanted to understand the how's and the whys behind the process. I also wanted to clarify for newbies that this wasn't a requirement above and beyond the daily fees.
 
I'm glad to hear that it has worked well for you and I'm appreciative of the fact that you're rewarding the hard working crew members. :)

Thank you Doc,  I understand now where you are coming from and your correct,  the newbies need to know where the starting point is and if they catch the incurable cruise disease most of us have on here then they can decide what is most comfortable for them on future cruises.  As I have a soft heart for the workers in the service industry I have always been a heavy tipper so you can't go by what I do.  Since I don't plan on taking my money to the grave with me I don't mind sharing it with the hard workers that make cruising what it is......ok....I'll quit now....Good Luck....Mike

Thank  you all!  I am so glad I found this blog!  This is our third cruise and everyone from the first question- :)  has been so very helpful!!!!

Partially, but I don't think completely.  On one cruise (Oasis) I was introduced to Sam Adam's Double Bock and had it every night at the English Pub style place.   It was not available on my next cruise on Jewel; in fact the only craft-like beer on that was Sierra Nevada. 

Thank  you all!  I am so glad I found this blog!  This is our third cruise and everyone from the first question- :)  has been so very helpful!!!!

If you pre-purchased a shore excursion online, the tickets should be delivered to your stateroom.

They should be in your room when you get there or delivered that night. At least, that's the way is suppose to happen. On my last cruise, we didn't receive one set of tickets for some reason, so they reprinted them at the Shore Excursions desk for us. If you don't have them by the night before your tour, just go to the Shore Excursions desk. Except for this one exception, they've always been delivered to our cabin.

Had a few bottles of water in my carry on 3 weeks ago in Port Everglades and had no problem.