Sea-debris

No one has mentioned underwear ...

 

how much underwear do you take for longer than 10-12 days? how do you wash them, especially men's?

 

I don't really believe that handwashing undies is as thorough as machine washing.

Okay ladies my travel tips on men's briefs.

First if I am on vacation and if expected to hand wash briefs I make sure he wears those high tec sports material ones not cotton.

Two Since I am doing the rinsing in a sink I bring a small bottle of detergent.

Three I am doing this on holiday time I insist he wear a panty liner.

I know what you are thinking and it was a fight at first but now if he is really hot and sweaty he changes it out during the day. He actually says it is comfortable and appreciates it when as he says the "boys and his butt" are extra humid.

Four No skid marks to deal with and if not a strenuous or hot and muggy day he tosses the liner and may wear them a 2nd day with a fresh liner.

Five After rinsing wring them then lay them on a fresh towel roll it tight and have your hubby give the towel a twist. Let them rest a few minutes unroll and they are almost dry just damp.

Air dry and they will be ready in the morning.

For this to work you must swear to never tell anyone he is wearing panty liners.

Seems all the other cruise lines are facing the same problems.

I have been reading Quantum cruise reviews and they are not pretty and the Royal Princess is at about 62% "Loved it" same as NCL Breakaway and when you read even 4 and 5 star reviews they sound pretty miserable.

The new ship offerings seem to be pretty sad.

Oasis is in the 80's similar to Celebrity Solstice class ships.

These ships are rated best of class not so Royal, Breakaway and Quantum.

Seems the planners who brought us these "smart ships" forgot about the human element?

You seem to be missing the point.

The suite category has a wide range of prices. I do not believe the same cabin dropped 13K. Why don't you look it up and report back. ;)

No you look it up or do the math you embarrass yourself!:rolleyes:

The ad stated Quantum suite drop 77% then $17,744 and then showed a price of $4,028.

You don't believe it then check it as I am not interested in booking a suite on Quantum at any price.

But I can do basic math and even if a suite cost $10,000 for 2 pax a $7,700 price drop is a big hit so what is your point again?

It was posted by CC so go question them and report back to us as I don't work for you.

Sign up for the Cruise Critic price drop email yourself and get informed they email you the Top Ten Price Drops of all cruise lines not the variance on price in given categories thus the name. It may be of use to you if you can trust them.

What ever the catagory suite is the price has dropped 77% and someone is out of pocket! :(

If you were in a suite that dropped 77% would you get an upgrade to another level? :confused:

I know they would not give you the cash back but it would upset me,:mad: but then I would never be in suite regardless.:)

It really does seem like someone's ship has sailed!

I would be disappointed if I was on it with this big a price drop it might have been best to jump ship?

Your ship has sailed.

Check out today's top 10 drops* before they're gone!:

12-Night Caribbean from Cape Liberty - Apr 12, 2015

Quantum of the Seas - Read the Latest Rants & Raves

↓ 77%

Suite From $17,744

3 days ago $4,024

The boarding did proceed at the earlier time in Rotterdam. Myself and our friends arrived about 11:10 am at the cruise terminal in Rotterdam and walked right in and had a seat in the area where they were doing check in.

 

At 1130 the check in process began. At that point is when we lined up according to Loyalty level and we were on the ship by 12:20 or so and sitting in the empty Windjammer by 12:30 PM

So you arrived at 11:10am before it opened at 11:30 and boarded by 12:20pm.

Your boarding took 50 minutes the same as mine which was full of chaos.

How long was the line when they opened boarding?

Was the jam caused due to just poor organization and lack of staff available to clear passengers or was it that 4,000 past Crown & Anchor members who sailed showed up before boarding began?

Glad to hear it seemed to be caused just due to poor planning and lack of staffing personal.

We did both trans -Atlantic crossings.

We were emailed that we could board at 11:30 am in Rotterdam I understand no one was allowed to board at that time.

We arrived at 3:30pm and the boarding was a mess we had to line up to get in the building once through security we were told as Diamond members we could advance but the crush was so bad we had to wait to get to the priority entrance as it was blocked by the crush of pax. Once there we moved well and in truth it took only about 50 minutes to board but a total mess caused by lack of staff to control the flow!

Why could boarding not proceed at the early time since there were no passengers on board and no customs to deal with?

I put it to the incompetence of RCI management who did no potential problem analysis for the boarding. Or perhaps they delayed the boarding to accommodate all the Travel agents they were hosting on the one day cruise to South Hampton?

In South Hampton I believe passengers did not need to get off, it was just that RCI wanted the ship vacant to showcase it for travel agents getting on in South Hampton for Lunch. I spoke to two passengers who did not disembark or see customs.

We did disembarked and it was a slow process.

When we returned at 4:00 pm it was a mad house once more with no staff controlling the flow and entrance doors plugged.

We entered with ships staff and squeezed past the lines but once in we learned that there was a door designated for staff and those in transit but it was not identified with signage or manned by staff.

Over the PA RCI apologized for the mess but never acknowledged the reason.

Since all staff did not have to clear the ship for customs I can only assume as confirmed by the pax that did not get off neither did we. RCI had everyone in transit get off and did not allow embarkation until after 1:00 pm so they could show case the ship!

They had total disregard for their paying passengers.

In Ft Lauderdale not sure what was going on but it appeared as though management was not prepared to have all staff clear customs. They had to page multiple times to have staff go and clear customs this was going on as late as 11;00 am. It seems pax could not clear until all ships staff did first.

Not sure if this was the cause but what ever the case I am willing to bet it was RCI management incompetence.

We asked for a late disembarkation in Ft Lauderdale and were given 10:30am as we were boarding Caribbean Princess docked near by.

At 12:20pm I started to panic that we would not make our boarding as the ship sailed at 4:00pm. We got in line even though not called and we were aboard Princess by 2:45 pm.

I feel sorry for all those that missed flights and had their cruise ruined at the beginning with the horrid boarding and then the nightmare disembarkation.

If I am wrong or misinformed in my statements perhaps some one can clarify as RCI never bothered.

To say the least I left Oasis with a much lowered opinion of RCI.

Thank you for the advice bluesea321.

I have found the member reviews and will read Royal and Ruby reviews. Not sure how to find ratings of ships?

We have sailed a Carnival cruise inside and a Celebrity Equinox Ocean view. I enjoyed the window more and the Celebrity ship was much nicer and I felt more pampered on Celebrity.

People we met on the ship suggested we try Princess as it was similar and that a balcony on the back was very nice. Also Princess has a special dinner you can have on the balcony. I have seen the pictures people have taken on the balcony with only their feet in the shot the balcony rail a blue sky and the sea going by. This is what I would like.

We enjoy the all inclusive price of a cruise we get to travel and relax and no surprise at the end of the trip. Much better then a Mexican all inclusive where you are stuck one place all week and you have to pay for everything if you leave the resort.

My husband did not want to cruise at all but he really enjoyed going to the gym and loved the sauna on Equinox while I just floated in the spa pool and we enjoyed the Spa food they offered on the pool deck.

Looking forward to cruising Princess.:)

Mom33 thank you for the complement on my tag :p I picked it because my husband complains about "the debris I scatter in the cabin" brochures, daily ships news, postcards, menus and stuff from ports of calls .

I am new to CC and have been following threads and am interested in sailing Royal so I thought I would research info on the ship.

I have limited cruising funds so I want to make every dollar spent count and insure I am getting the most for our money.

I understand everyone has different wants and needs on ships but I look for honest and critical ship reviews and comments.

I understand there are cruisers who don't care about the size of the balcony but if it is dinky then I appreciate the candor to acknowledge it as a balcony that is small and uncomfortable is not good cruise value to me.

I want to do a cruise in a balcony on the back but that does not seem to be a good option on Royal because of soot?

I plan to go on Royal with eyes wide open and avoid disappointment because of high expectations or ignorance.

I am sure Royal is a great ship but I just want to know what is good about her so I don't miss those features and what is a problem so I can avoid them and be informed.

I take it from your response that you consider all Princess ships equal?

I have only been on a few cruises and Royal would be my first cruise on Princess. I had hoped you could have told me Royal was a better experience then the other ships or your favorite.

I may start a thread and ask for input if Royal would be recommended as a good first ship to experience the Princess vibe I have read about.

Whether or not I loved the Royal has nothing to do with what we are talking about. You don't like the Royal so should I assume that colors your perspective?

 

I didn't rate the ship alone. I rated the cruise overall and the hard working Captain and crew that made our cruise the success it was. They deserved the rating. :D

Interesting statement, so what do you rate just the ship at?

I am interested to know if the Royal is your favorite ship in the Princess fleet as you defend her so strongly and attack any detractors even when the facts do not support your view on balcony size on Royal and other Princess ships.

If the balconies are small this is a measurable and verifiable fact which has been supported and proven by many yet you simply say the person is biased which is not well reasoned and just sad.

Would you award Royal the highest rating over all other Princess ships?

You can also read about the thousands of Celebrity passengers who have had their vacations ruined or cancelled while the ships are unexpectedly having to be taken out of service to have the propulsion systems repaired.

You can read about the Carnival passengers that were stranded at sea when more conventional systems break down.

X made the decision to cancel the trip, it did not strand at sea the pax, the ship then went from Alaska to the Caribbean.

Oasis, Freedom class and Solstice have Pods.

M class was the 1st but others don't seem to have the problems.

Royal may meet the new standards but from the reports of soot on the aft likely they are having problems.

The current system is likely malfunctioning.

If they use cleaner more expensive fuel and install expensive scrubbers they can comply.

Interesting that it forecasted increased cost pp may be why of all the cost cutting on the ships and explains why the ships are getting bigger.

Not really a big laundry person while on vacation rather be at the pool or any where for that matter then wasting time at the laundry.

I plan & pack so I don't need do laundry on a 7 day cruise.

Wrinkled clothes I hang in a steamy shower and give a shake, you can buy wrinkle free cottons these days as well.

I did an Oceania cruise once and was surprised that the pax would pay so much for their cruise yet waste time in the laundry just seemed odd.