cruise-y Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 So, I've been on a lot of great cruises to a lot of great (and varied) places on many different cruise lines. But, I've never done a 2 week cruise. Will the MDR food and shows repeat? Can I wash my clothes (myself - in a laundromat) somewhere on RCCL Independence? Will 5 sea days be too many? Will Windjammer have enough variety? Enquiring minds want to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 The menus do not repeat except for breakfast. Dinner menus will not repeat and lunch menus will only repeat once. Breakfast can get a little boring, but there are usually enough different options for lunch and dinner to make up for that. The Windjammer was especially nice as there was a differentthem each night and cooked to order options. There will be plenty of activities to keep you busy during sea days. In addition, 5 won't seen like that much over 14 days and they'll give you a chance to relax and catch your breath between ports. That's about the same number of sea days that we had ok our Norway/Iceland cruise and they were very welcomed after long port days. Royal does not have self serve laundromats, so you'll either need to bring things you can wash in your sink and hang dry or use the landry service. About half way through the cruise, they'll also have a wash and fold special where you pay one price for a bad full of clothes. This is really meant for under garments, shorts, tees, and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 Just to be clear, are you talking B2B or a proper 14 night voyage? If B2B then dinner menus will repeat one voyage to the next. However with the variety offered you are welcome to try something different from the menu on the 2nd go. As far as breakfast repeating, when at home do you eat a different meal eat day for weeks? I'm guilty of eating the same thing day after day or mixing it up a little bit, but not much. When people notice that breakfast choices are often similar day to day, I often wonder what I am life I'm missing, because on land, my breakfast doesn't vary so much day to day, week to week.. As far as dinner, I sometimes struggle between two choices. Repeating the menu 7 days later lets me resolve that which I noted the 1st time around as a strong option. "This time I'll try the duck but next time the chicken sounds great too". hayley_bopp and Sweety 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruise-y Posted June 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 Thanks! Yes it’s a 2 week cruise not a B2B. Bummer about the laundry facilites. Oceania has washing machines guests can use and it was very convenient. We’ll already be coming from a week trip so will need laundry help. I’ll watch for the wash special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 I did 19 nights on Anthem (7+12) and I used the laundry special on the 2nd cruise. It's a small bag but I only washed small items. Most of the time I was in shorts. Formal wear was used for dinner only then I changed. I made a plan before sailing and packed accordingly. It wasn't too bad. By not over packing but taking a few extra items it wasn't too bad at all. I have several long cruises next year (10, 13, 14 and 16 nights) and will do the same. Sweety 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fonemanbob Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 We do the same thing. Plus a bottle of Febreze. I bring two ties and 1 shirt for formal nights and I am set. We each bring half a dozen plastic hangers each and a very small bottle of laundry soap and we are good. That and the laundry special is it. As twangster just mentioned we are now doing longer cruises as well and you just pack accordingly and you are set to go. It all depends on the climate and the time of the year that you sail. We looked funny 3 years ago doing Alaska in July getting on the plane wearing a sweater and a jacket and it was 90 degrees outside. We took them off on the plane but they were not packed in suitcases adding to the weight limit. Also there is no fashion patrol watching over you. Thank goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitsmom Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 1 hour ago, fonemanbob said: We do the same thing. Plus a bottle of Febreze. I bring two ties and 1 shirt for formal nights and I am set. We each bring half a dozen plastic hangers each and a very small bottle of laundry soap and we are good. That and the laundry special is it. As twangster just mentioned we are now doing longer cruises as well and you just pack accordingly and you are set to go. It all depends on the climate and the time of the year that you sail. We looked funny 3 years ago doing Alaska in July getting on the plane wearing a sweater and a jacket and it was 90 degrees outside. We took them off on the plane but they were not packed in suitcases adding to the weight limit. Also there is no fashion patrol watching over you. Thank goodness. I was thinking of wearing a sweatshirt and jacket on our July flight for Vancouver (Alaska cruise) but hubby thought that was too crazy even for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 17 minutes ago, whitsmom said: I was thinking of wearing a sweatshirt and jacket on our July flight for Vancouver (Alaska cruise) but hubby thought that was too crazy even for me Having lived in the Arctic I always got strange looks connecting on flights in Ottawa during the spring and summer hauling a winter coat on the plane with me. whitsmom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayley_bopp Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 6 hours ago, fonemanbob said: 4 hours ago, whitsmom said: I was thinking of wearing a sweatshirt and jacket on our July flight for Vancouver (Alaska cruise) but hubby thought that was too crazy even for me It all depends on the climate and the time of the year that you sail. We looked funny 3 years ago doing Alaska in July getting on the plane wearing a sweater and a jacket and it was 90 degrees outside. FWIW, anyone sailing out of Southampton in thw summer months may need a jumper and jacket Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attaboy101 Posted June 13, 2018 Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 On 6/12/2018 at 10:21 AM, twangster said: Having lived in the Arctic I always got strange looks connecting on flights in Ottawa during the spring and summer hauling a winter coat on the plane with me. we live in the arctic and always end up traveling with heavy coats to and from vacation... such is life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 13, 2018 Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 7 hours ago, attaboy101 said: we live in the arctic and always end up traveling with heavy coats to and from vacation... such is life. Welcome to the blog ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruise-y Posted June 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 On 6/12/2018 at 7:21 AM, twangster said: I did 19 nights on Anthem (7+12) and I used the laundry special on the 2nd cruise. It's a small bag but I only washed small items. Most of the time I was in shorts. Formal wear was used for dinner only then I changed. I made a plan before sailing and packed accordingly. It wasn't too bad. By not over packing but taking a few extra items it wasn't too bad at all. I have several long cruises next year (10, 13, 14 and 16 nights) and will do the same. Is the small bag mid-cruise one per person or one per cabin? We will have already been on the road for a week before the 2 week cruise starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 11 minutes ago, cruise-y said: Is the small bag mid-cruise one per person or one per cabin? We will have already been on the road for a week before the 2 week cruise starts. Not sure which offer Twangbot was using, but for us, the D+ laundry special is per person. So on any cruise, 5 days or longer, both Dan and I can get a bag of laundry done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 57 minutes ago, cruise-y said: Is the small bag mid-cruise one per person or one per cabin? We will have already been on the road for a week before the 2 week cruise starts. For my recent cruise on Freedom, the mid-cruise bag was just one for the cabin. In our case it was a little worse; we had our kids in the adjoining cabin and they got no bag! We had to cram just a few of each item (socks, t-shirts, undergarments) from our respective laundry piles where I had been expecting two bags that each of us could put maybe 5 or 6 of each into. I suppose I could have asked our cabin attendant for a second bag, but I made the assumption that it was some rule the ship followed and didn't think to try that at the time. @Matt, has this been your experience when booking two cabins for your family? If I had to guess, for regular (non D+ / non-suite) passengers it's based on the credit card bound to the sea pass cards, since there is a charge for the bag and they probably want to avoid complaints of double-charging or the like. Since all four of us were on my one credit card, we only got one bag. Maybe if my older daughter was over 18 and used her debit card on their sea passes, it's possible they'd have gotten their own bag and we'd have been in better shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 1 hour ago, cruise-y said: Is the small bag mid-cruise one per person or one per cabin? We will have already been on the road for a week before the 2 week cruise starts. I've only seen one bag per cabin, but it's a simple matter to request another one from your cabin attendant. On many ships the housekeeping number on the phone rings to your cabin attendant (they carry a cordless phone). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 Should also note there will be a laundry bag provided to you on embarkation day for things like getting your suit pressed if you need it. But that's most definitely not any kind of special pricing, and as I recall it got pretty expensive pretty quickly if you needed more than a handful of things done. Something like $2 or $3 for a pair of socks or undergarments, $5 or $6 for a t-shirt, and around $10+ for a pair of pants. At least the suit pressing was reasonable at 10 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruise-y Posted June 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 Wow really makes me appreciate that small room of sea pass operated machines on Oceania. Such a small thing, with not much footprint, but such a nice amenity. I’m amazed RCCL doesn’t offer it too. It was $5 a load so brought in revenue too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 9 minutes ago, cruise-y said: Wow really makes me appreciate that small room of sea pass operated machines on Oceania. Such a small thing, with not much footprint, but such a nice amenity. I’m amazed RCCL doesn’t offer it too. It was $5 a load so brought in revenue too. This is one of those items that divides folks into distinct camps. On Carnival the machines were frequently broken so I suspect the charge barely covers the capital investment and on going maintenance. With respect to Royal I consistently hear folks state they are on vacation and they have no desire, intention or willingness to do laundry. They gladly pay $30-$50 and write it off as part of the cost of the vacation. They consider their time to be more valuable and they took a vacation to get away from cleaning, food prep and laundry. This falls into one of those "if I could combine the things I like about this grocery store chain, the things I like about that grocery storage chain and one thing I like from a different grocery store chain, then smush them all together into one store, that is the store I'd like to shop at". Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. For me, I've been able to adjust to life without them on Royal and it's not even something I think about anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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