nydvc

Probably at the Golden Corral or Out Back Steak House. He's a growing boy, you know. 

Hello all.
 
My wife and I will be doing out first transatlantic this October on the Independence. since we have so many sea days and we love eating in the specialty restaurants and love Shushi we planning on doing the dinning plan. Now our plan would be to use the specialty restaurants frequently and not eat in the main dining room. What advice would you give in regards to Tipping. We have always giving more then the recommended amount providing additional $$$ to individuals that have served us. They always do a great job. But now we will be eating at the specialty restaurants MOSTLY so do we cancel the waiter portion of the  auto tip added to the cabin account and give that amount (in addition to the extra) to the individual waiters when we eat?  Do the waiters in the specialty restaurants share in the auto tip amount?
 
 
Hope this makes sense?
Thanks for everyones input!!!
 
Rich

Hello everyone. I could really use some help here. I am rather bothered with RCCL right now. 
 
Story
 
8 weeks ago I put in a reservation and deposit for a transatlantic cruise next September. I purchased a gift voucher off or Raise that required a new reservations to be made in order to redeem the voucher. I purchased a 1K gift voucher. The very polite customer service person told me to send the voucher in with the pertinent information and in 5 days it will be credited to your account for this cruise. NO problem went ahead and sent it in as recommended. 
 
approx 14 days later.........
 
Called and was told it could take up to 14 days so give it a little more time. 
 
 
approx additional 14 days later 
 
called and they said it can take a little time and they recommended I resubmitted
 
approximately 14 more days (6 weeks total) 
 
 
Called and was given the name of a customer representative who would "follow up and work on this" . Was given Ben Adams email. 
 
 
8 weeks later........
 
 
Email Ben and Below is the correspondence with him today. 
 
 
 
The only email address I can provide is [email protected]. That email is monitored daily and any email that comes in will be forwarded to the appropriate person. I am sorry I am unable to provide any other contact information. Additionally I am sorry I have no new information as to your certificate being applied, and for the delay regarding that application.
 
Benjamin Adams
Resolutions Specialist | Consumer Outreach
Royal Caribbean International | 1000 Royal Caribbean Way Springfield, OR 97477
Phone: 1-800-205-9812 | Fax: 541-285-9415
[email protected]
 
From: Richard 
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2016 1:07 PM
To: Benjamin Adams 
Subject: Re: Gift voucher
 
Hi Ben
 
 
I am not satisfied with this answer. After EIGHT WEEKS I believe this requires more then just waiting.   I realize you may be limited to what actions you can take however At this point I need to raise this up the chain of command. I would like to take this up with your supervisor.   Can I please have his name and email.   
 
Thanks Ben
 
Rich. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 12, 2016, at 3:51 PM, Benjamin Adams <[email protected]> wrote:
Good afternoon Rich,
As of yet I have not received an update on your certificate being applied. I am keeping watch for it. There is sometimes a delay on those getting applied. As soon as I receive any information I will forward that on to you.
I would like to thank you very much for your patience as we get this resolved,
 
Benjamin Adams
Resolutions Specialist | Consumer Outreach
Royal Caribbean International | 1000 Royal Caribbean Way Springfield, OR 97477
Phone: 1-800-205-9812 | Fax: 541-285-9415
 
From: Richard Kittelsen
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2016 5:18 AM
To: Benjamin Adams 
Subject: Gift voucher
 
Good Morning Ben
 
My name is Rich XXXXXXXX and customer service (Nancy) provided me your email to follow up on a gift voucher that was to be credited to my cruise reservation #4551911. It started a couple of months ago when I reserved the cruise.  I had the gift voucher and was told to send it to [email protected] which I did the next day.  I was told at that time it would be credited within 5 business days. This was the 24th of July. No confirmatory email of any kind was received and the credit was not posted to my reservation.  AFTER two additional phone calls where I was informed to continue to give it additional time I was then told on my third call to send in the request again. This was on August 16th and is attached for your review.
 
Nancy said you would be kind enough to follow up on this and make sure the voucher was credited in a timely manner.
 
Can you please provide my with status on my situation.
 
Thanks Ben
 
 
So here I am wondering how to proceed. Frankly this is 1K of my money and I want to see it on my reservation. My opinion is  Ben just turned me around back to customer service and will only wait until this department responds to him which I believe may be never. 
 
Has anyone experienced this or could give me some advice on how to proceed through RCCL bureaucracy. How do I preceed?  
 
Thanks Everyone. 
Rich

Wow just saw this......Thanks for the info. very interesting. and definitely looking forward to seeing it now.  I very much doubt I will be in the group that leaves at intermission.....thanks. Bob 

A couple important notes about the Oasis production of Cats:
 
Cats productions are personally authorized/scrutanized by Andrew Lloyd Webber. This is taken quite seriously, you will never see Cats at a community theater or at your local high school. Mr Weber retains the right to fire any Cats cast member at any time. There is something like 12 or 15 Cats sets, meaning there can only be a maximum of 12 or 15 (or whatever the number is ) productions going on in the wold at any one time. One of which is in long term residence on Oasis. 
 
Mr Webber mandates Cats to be preformed with a live orchestra. In contract negotiations with RCL, the orchestra requirement was bypassed. Instead the music is recorded and on a click track. However, Mr Webber requires a conductor (Mr. Webber's personal choice) to be on board and in charge of the click track during performances (a full scale theater production at sea can have unexpected surprises--see below)
 
In other words, the Oasis production is the identical full scale, authentic show that you would see on New York's Broadway or London's West End. No scenes are cut, it is full cast, and of course there are the costumes... And the tradition continues that the audience is invited to take pictures with the cast members in character after the performance.
 
Here is what happens during Cats. The first act introduces you to the cast. The flamboyant costumes are awesome! You here the familiar songs from the production. Cats is in British English, and there are words and phrases that unfamiliar to a lot of people. And, at the end of the first act, "Memory" is sung. For many, many people the show is over; so they bail. They've seen the costumes and heard "Memory". Add-in a little difficulty in completely understanding what is being said--many people don't have the patience for Act II.
 
Where to sit? I don't think it really matters that much to be honest. I promise you'll be able to upgrade to just about anywhere for Act II, perhaps front row.
 
Cats is free and a part of your cruise fare. Also free and a part of your cruise fare is Meet The Cast (find the day and time in the Cruise Compass). It will be held in the little Comedy Club (I forget what the name of the club is). Here's what happens at Meet The Cast: It only happens once a week for about an hour or a little better. There will be 5 or 6 cast members there (I guarantee at least one or more from Cats, I also bet heavily on divers from the aqua show being there) and there is open question and answer for everyone who attends. You get to ask about how long it takes to get into costumes, the actors previous theater experience (you will be pleasantly surprised at just how good these actors are), what happens during rough seas, and finally what happens if there is an Alpha, Alpha, Alpha call during a Cats production. Alpha (and some similar calls) are required by maritime law to interrupt everything onboard a ship....everything. So, the music stops during a performance, does the click track stop too? or, does it continue silently in the background? and, what happens if you are in a choreographed dance while this happens? An Alpha call will probably last 15 seconds or more and can be an eternity if you are onstage and not sure what to do. Hmm...good question!
 
Also for free (for certain levels of Crown and Anchor) is Behind the Scenes. Again look for it in your Cruise Compass. Behind the Scenes (much like Meet The Cast) happens in the theater. You get to go onstage, behind the stage, touch the sets of Come Fly With Me and Cats, meet the sound and lighting guys, and really see how big and well equipped the theater is. It's really a multi million dollar facility. Also you see where they cut the budget when they made Oasis and a dressing room backstage is nonexistent. Hmm...more good questions.
 
I suggest you get a video of Cats and review it before you sail. Certainly go to a production. Go to Meet The Cast. Armed with some interest and some background, you'll really, really enjoy Cats and have some appreciation for what is really going on...unlike those who bailed after Act I.