Maraprince

2 hours ago, thesmiths said:

Thank you! 

Are you on the 9/4 sailing out of NYC?  If so, have you signed up for the M & M and the Roll Call?

MARAPRINCE

Regarding theatre with moveable seats, do they tend to keep the AC on high?  On Sunshine we could not wait for the Hasbro show to end due to how cold it was in the theatre.

MARAPRINCE

On day 1 when can you access your cabin?  We would like to drop off our carryons before going to the buffet.

MARAPRINCE

2 hours ago, luvsboozecruises said:

I was also on the 10 day trip. Worst cruise ever. NO..... Carnival did screw the ship up, YES, cutting the lido buffet area in half  and adding more cabins was really stupid, but crying over it will not work.... Alot of first timers on that cruise so you have to figure ways  around them like I did. When we all got onboard you could see the confusion of the passengers and the crew. Refub boat and new crew = HELP.. if you want to complain write to carnival and tell them.. instead tell others ways around that mess were on, breakfast as said, in cucina ,no one in it, also on sea days, eat in the dining room, lunch , don't have it at the same time as everyone else, 4,000 people on board when there should be 3200, makes Long lines,every where, as I said carnival screwed this one up and I will call them tomorrow and complain..  my wife and I had a great time and the great weather is always a plus. NEVER been on a bad cruise, have been on 50+ Cruise's and enjoy your time and make the best of it ,as you can.. have had, hurricane's and really bad seas and am lucky that we don't get sea sick, make the best of your next cruise and enjoy not being at work, because,  work sucks, not cruising...

 

As long as there is the option of eating in the MDR for breakfast and lunch on sea days, we will be doing so if we find the buffet over crowded.  Also, there is a Guy's on board that we tried on Sunshine and liked as an alternative on one day along with Cucina.

To avoid going through the Casino we used to go up or down and walk through a passenger deck.

If you know where the problems (crowds) are, you can plan ahead to avoid them.

MARAPRINCE

4 hours ago, MaritimeR&R said:

This is mainly in response for mixerdave's comment. I own Briggs and Riley bags. They run $579. Plus tax for my carryon and $759. Plus tax for each of my larger cases. I did not buy them to impress anyone: I saved up and bought them one at a time because they have a lifetime warranty!  Prior to purchasing them, i had traveled solo all over the world and got tired of constantly replacing bags.  In the long run, they have saved me money.  It is unfair and very petty of you to assert that the OP was trying to impress anyone.  

Many years ago my Travel Agent told me that he used the oldest, most beatup bag he could find to travel.  Never lost his luggage on all his many trips.  New, expensive looking luggage will always stand out.  I stopped buying expensive luggage after one cruise line "killed" my luggage while transferring it from the curb to t he ship -- no flying involved.  I had the combo soft and hard sided case.  It was damaged near the wheel base (hard part).  Took it to the repair shop who said that it could be repaired but the repair probably would not last. The filled out the form stating that my suitcase could not be repaired so I could be reimbursed by the insurance company.  With the money I received on my claim for that one suitcase, I was able to buy a full 3-piece set.

If your luggage is going to be handled by a 3rd party, use caution and do not go for the higher end luggage.  If you are the only one handling your luggage from your home to your car, you can use any type of suitcase you desire.

Or, you can carry your own luggage on and off the ship.

MARAPRINCE

On 6/19/2019 at 3:19 PM, bananawindnj said:

What  I find ironic is that most people   Probably eat the same foods at home all the time and yet these people complain about the choices in the buffet and MDR.  If some people can't find a different choice in the buffet for 7 to 10 days, they are just too fussy.  Poor quality and cold food is another issue. Shouldn't happen.

Food and entertainment are so subjective 

While I will agree with you that food is subjective, I normally do not eat hamburgers and hot dogs at home.  Adv. of the Seas buffet was not up to the standard found on other RCL ships.  The food selection and quality of the offerings was subpart and left much to be desired.  Day 1 can be excused but not the rest of the days when the same offerings keep repeating even at the snack time.

MARAPRINCE

One thing you might consider is to use fabric paint to paint your first initial and last name on your bags in a bright color that can be easily seen from a distance.  Unless someone deliberately picks up the wrong bag on purpose, they cannot miss your painted name on the bag.  Also, recommend that on all sides of the bag paint your initials so that anyway the bag is placed you can see them at a distance.

We had a situation many years ago that some "Nice" kids removed all the tags on all the bags on one deck the last night of the cruise.  As a result, these "unlabled" bags were not placed in the terminal according to the luggage tag colors but instead ended up on numerous luggage carts waiting for the passengers to come and identify their luggage along with proof of their identity (passport) and boarding pass.  The more your luggage stands out the better.  Thieves do not want luggage that can stand out in a crowd or be easily identified by its owner.

MARAPRINCE

4 hours ago, pcur said:

 

Quote

I can see your experience was different than mine, and Celebrity is more to your liking.

 

I always want to check how recent the poster has been on a ship, especially the Adventure.  We were on her in October 2018 and not impressed with the food.  It has improved significantly.  But, obviously something changed the first part of this June.  Perhaps new crew in the kitchens?  I don't know, except we just spent 75 days total cruising on the Jewel and the Adventure, and found the food on both to be just fine, except repetitive in the Adventure Windjammer.

It is boarding day and most of the new passengers will be heading to the WJ for lunch.  So why would you close sections and direct passengers to the sections that only have very limited choices?  This not the way it was handled on the Explore or on Anthem.  The full buffet (hot entrees, soups, etc.) was available.  We would have been better off going to Cafe Promenade if we knew what the limited offerings were.  I did not pay over $1000 plus to eat hamburgers and hot dogs.  It really makes a bad impression on day 1.

MARAPRINCE

We had no problem with the food served in the MDR.  Wait staff went out of their way to please.  Sea days we had lunch in the MDR but on port days we were limited to either the Promenade Cafe (better than buffet!) or the buffet.

MARAPRINCE

What are "edible" straws made of?

MARAPRINCE

Unfortunately for us, the schedule and location of the DL on Adventure simply does not work.  Had no problem on Anthem however.

We try to go to all the live shows even though most require us to do so prior to out 8:15 PM second sitting dinner.  Running up to deck 14 for some muchies and drinks from deck 6 really cuts into our shower/dressing time when returning from a day ashore.  I guess it is a question of priorities.  We are not alcohol drinkers.  It is easier to get a soda from the closest bar and take it into dinner than commuting to and from deck 14.

MARAPRINCE

On 6/17/2019 at 8:46 AM, pcur said:

 

 

We got off the Adventure on 5/31 after being on the ship for 34 nights.  Turnaround day buffet was their full menu on all 4 of our turnaround days, so you must not have looked everywhere in the buffet for the selections if you found only hamburgers and hot dogs.  

 

I found the salad selections very good in the buffet:  all kinds of dressed vegetable salads, plus the full salad bar.

 

There are a few RCCL ships that have (had) the walk-up hot dogs out on the pool deck, but I haven't seen those in several years.

 

On boarding day, we were directed to a table by staff based upon the number in our party.  We did not pick the section or the tab le.  Part of the buffet was closed off (front section) and we were seated in the back area right near one of the other buffet sections.  No plates were available and we had to wait for them to come out.  We were limited to what was available in the areas open and serving food.  Only after we were done eating and on our way out did they open the front section with selections other than was made available to  people entering the buffet when we did.  Those around us at nearby tables had either pasta, hamburgers, fries, hot dogs and mac and cheese on their plates.  I did find fish hidden behind the fries and some breaded fried chicken that was mostly bone under the breading and fixings for the burgers.  One passenger asked about cold cuts wanting to make her own sandwich.  What sections that were open in the area had limited choices.

We passed off the poor selections being only the first day.  But you could count on the same selections -- 2 types of chicken, pasta (different shape), same fish, etc.  Very repetitive and disappointing.

MARAPRINCE

29 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

RC won't do anything until it affects their bottom line. 

Is that why they had an employee at the entrance using a counter as people entered the buffet?

MARAPRINCE

On 6/11/2019 at 2:45 PM, pcur said:

We just got off 4 b2b cruises on the Adventure, and went up to the Viking Crown, which is right outside the Diamond Lounge, both on deck 14.

 

The DL is small, and holds about 50 people.  They have appetizers set up at 4:30, and a bar set up for drinks.  I usually tip $1 per drink.  The unofficial overflow lounge is the Viking Crown.  You can take your appetizers out there, and your drinks, too.  Your seapass card has 3 free drinks loaded per night, and you can order them during the happy hour time:  4:30 - 8pm.  Just tell the Viking Crown bar staff is a D+ order.

 

The first night is VERY crowded, and then many people go elsewhere for the rest of the cruise.  It's a pleasant place to have snacks, drinks, and conversation.  

 

If there are more than 450 D, D+, Pinnacle on the cruise, they will reserve the entire Viking Crown for happy hour, and put a HUGE spread of appetizers out.  We had that on one of our 4 cruises, and it was very nice.  They also added 1 free specialty coffee drink to everyone's seapass card to avoid a crush at the expresso machine in the DL.  

 

If you don't want to go to another bar, you need to get a seat in the Viking Crown or DL by 4pm.

 

All of our D+ amentities trickled in over the first 1 - 3 days of the cruise, so they may not be in your cabin at first.

 

 

On the Adv. of the Seas, we found both the location  of the DL  (deck 14) and the times you can get beverages there to be completely unfavorable to 2nd sitting passengers.  More often than not our shows were scheduled prior ( 7 or 7:15 PM) to our 8:15PM dinner on deck 4.  Returning from port you want to shower and get ready for dinner,   Our cabin was on deck 6 which was a very good location for many of the activities on the ship, but not the DL.  We do not drink alcohol and normally get either a soda or bottled water from the DL in the evening or a coffee in the AM.  Onl y 3 times during our sailing I ordered soft drinks from one of the bars on deck 5 and took them into dinner.  At least on the Anthem the location of the DL was near an area you could easily access.  Even then I choose to get the free drinks from one of the bars instead of the DL due to the large number of people who arrived as soon as the DL opened and did not leave until the time of the drinks was over.  The bartenders in the other lounges were glad to get my tip when I ordered and were always very polite.

MARAPRINCE

If RCL reads Cruise Critics posts I hope they hear what is being said regarding the food quality and selection available in the buffet area and wise up that they are not fooling anyone even the first time cruisers.

MARAPRINCE

On my 5/31 Adv. of the Seas sailing peope worn shorts throughout the cruise everywhere on the ship.  While RCL may say they have a dress code, they do not enforce it.

MARAPRINCE

We sailed on 5/31 down to the Carb. on Adv. of the Sea.  Buffet first day had food that you would find in a school cafeteria for kids -- hamburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, spag.  Fixings for burgers and not even potato salad, beets.  We , etc. that would expect to find to make a decent salad.  Every day chicken prepared 2 ways, but always the same dark meat parts except for the one port day that they had a whole roasted chicken and you could get some white meat.

Food selection was very poor.  By comparison the Explorer had more selections overall.  Having sailed on the Anthem a mere 7months ago --  no comparison, no way!  Plus, food options were limited to the buffet (in port) or Cafe Prom. where the food choices and pizza were better!  On sea days, we ate all 3 meals in the main dining room. And even in the dining room, the choices were more limited than on the Anthem.  At least we were able to have hot food and get out in about 1 hr. for breakfast.  We would go down around 10-15 mins. before the dining room opened for breakfast and have some coffe from the table set  up outside while we waited for it to open.    The last morning only food from the food trays on warmers  was available and it was either cold or not prepared well.  But on Anthem, the last morning they still made food to order.

Some tried to blame the fact that there were almost 600 kids on board for the poor food selection/quality.  Not so.  When you consider how much money you paid to sail on the ship, it is not unreasonable to expect food that is correcctly prepared, different daily menus.

Also, the pool area only had frozen yogurt and no food at all.  If you wanted to eat something, you had to go to the buffet area.  The burgers, dogs should have been outside in the pool area.  Too much space was wasted by it being in the main section of the buffet.

MARAPRINCE

Just off my sailing on Adv. of the Sea and I am wondering what happened in general with RCL in just over 7 mos. since my sailing on Anthem.  We had a large turn out on Anthem.  But on Adv. of the Seas we did not even receive an invite!

NCL outdid all the lines with the food and drinks they had on the Escape for the M & M. 

No problem with coffee/tea/juice and danishes if held in the AM and it is no extra cost to RCL --  room not being used for anything else with the food coming right from the buffet.

Maybe the larger ships are better equipped to handle the M & M and more willing to make it an event rather than coming up with excuses.

Really disappointed and surprised.  Also, the private Capt.'s reception on the 2nd formal night had no food, just drinks.  Not worth the time attending since it conflicted with a few other events (i.e. ice show, farewell show).  The bulk of the passengers on board were either first timers or had not even reached gold status therefore it was held in one of the smaller lounges based upon the numbers they read out.

MARAPRINCE

We do not really spend a lot of time on the beach, but it would be nice to sit on a chair at least in a somewhat shady area rather than on a beach towel on the sand.  However, we do visit some of the shops and look forward to having a non alcoholic drink (smoothie) and perhaps some cookies from the buffet.  We prefer the area near to the buffet opposite from where the ship is docked because the water is calmer and crystal clear.

Not wanting to create a problem, but passengers should be warned of the scam when discussions on the ports are held.  If no one pays, the scam will stop.

MARAPRINCE

Since several of you are on the same sailing (9/4) please sign up for the Roll Call so we can have a Meet & Mingle and put names to faces.   If there are enough of us, perhaps we can do a slot pull or a cabin crawl.

Have not been on the ship since the updates but did sail on her when she was the Triumph twice.  Very interested to see what was done to the ship.  I did sail on the Sunshine since the updates and found it to be very well done.

MARAPRINCE

On 2/6/2019 at 3:19 PM, ElCrappyTan said:

It was bound to happen - the "locals" are now taking over and the port area is being ruined. With Carnivals $50 million investment in GT over a decade ago, it was almost like another private island. Years ago, you never saw a local trying to scam anyone. Now it's out of control and all over the place. 

Now that we are aware of this scam, we will speak with the shore excursion desk to see if they would be willing to alert the passengers of it before we reach Grand Turk.  It should be address in the port talk.  In all the times we have been to Grand Turk in the past, we have never been asked to pay for chairs.  It was up to us if we wanted to give a tip to the man who led us to available chairs.

I guarantee you we will not be paying for chairs on our sailing!

MARAPRINCE

Too late for that now!!!

What a disappointment since it would have been nice to put names to the faces on the Roll Call.

MARAPRINCE

What happened to our Meet & Mingle?  Our sailing met the reqjuired minimum number of passengers who signed up.  No invite, nothing????  What gives?????

First time ever to have no Meet & Mingle on a RCL ship.

Very disappointing.

MARAPRINCE

Same thing happened on our Adventure of the Seas 5/31 sailing --  no Meet & Mingle  --  no invites.

😞

Maraprince

15 hours ago, blyle said:

What really irks me are the perks they give for the casino perks.  They get much more than loyal Carnival customers!

 

You have to consider that Casino players spend (translate to "lose" ) more money than passengers just paying for their cabins.  No matter what perks Casino players get, they still put out a lot of money to get those perks.

MARAPRINCE