notyours75

Like the OP we did our NZeTA through the app a couple of months ago and got approved.  However, a short time later the app started showing network error.  I even installed the app on my work iphone and get the same error message immediately.  Updated the apps, deleted, cleared the cache/storage, same result.  We do have the confirmation emails that we will print and take with us. 

I did discover that you can also verify the status on-line at https://nzeta.immigration.govt.nz/check-status You will need the NZeTA reference number and your passport number.  (both are on the NZeTA approval email.)  My understanding through research is that the NZeTA is electronically associated with your passport and you do not need to have a physical copy or show the electronic version to anyone.  (But having the print out does make me feel better about it.)  We are flying into Auckland in a few days. 

Same problem here.  Applied with the app a couple months ago, received the Nzeta along with the email then the app stopped showing it.  Have an android phone as well.  Will print and take the email confirmation but still makes me nervous it now showing up in the app any more. 

The sales seem to run in a steady cycle.  On our Liberty cruise the Deluxe Beverage Package has gone from $48 to $54 but mostly stayed at $51.  Just buy it now and cancel and rebook if it goes lower.  Royal will adjust their prices for each individual sailings.  It's very likely it will go back down but no guarantee it won't go higher. 

My boss is on the Liberty 1/26 sailing.  They left Jamaica last night but are diverting to Cozumel for a medical emergency.  Current arrival in Cozumel is around 21:30 ship time.  (Which I assume is still Central) .   He said a fall victim with a head injury. 

Houston is quickly becoming one of the best food cities in the US. 

That's our sailing as well.  We will see you on the ship then. 

In terms and conditions it says" Packages include service charge and food portion only for dinner and, when available, lunch service. "  I'm only seeing the service charge included on the 3 night and and unlimited packages.  The various other packages don't specifically state it.  We will be on the Liberty next week with the UDP, first time on RC.  We are traveling with another couple who are on the fence about buying a dining package. 

3 minutes ago, Tulsacoker said:

Ahead of time. Price in Cruise planner "included" 18% gratuities and on board that will be tacked on. Keep checking prices 

I did not realize that it included the service charge.  That makes it an even better deal, I was expecting to pay the service charge out of pocket.  Thanks for the info! 

6 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Actually, that's not such a great idea.  The bills are such a novelty that many people/places think they are fake and refuse to accept them.

Having done so on several cruises I disagree, that's exactly the point of using them. I'm not talking about giving someone $40 worth of 2's, I'm just talking about for individual drinks and small transactions. I've seen staff trade them off to others, show them off and even had a crew member approach me and ask to trade some $1 bills for some 2's. 

No one wants a fist full of them but they like the novelty a few of them. 

5 minutes ago, Bronx12 said:

Does anyone REALLY know how much stateroom attendants actually make? I have read several different stories, but it seems that there is never a clear answer. In one article I read, stateroom attendants make as much money per month as my wage. We all have a job to do, and most of us don't have the opportunity to receive tips.

 

On our Jan 2018 Breeze cruise I spoke at length with our cabin steward.  He was one of the best we've ever had.  He was from the Philippines and it was his 20th year to work for Carnival.  He said that he had 8 kids that he'd put through school and showed us pics of his big house and said his wife didn't have to work outside the home and his in-laws lived with them as well.  He said that working on cruise ships had provided him a much better standard of living in his country than he could have ever made by staying there.  He's just gone 8 months out of the year.  In fact it was his last week on the ship and he would be going home for 2 months before returning right back to the Breeze for another contract.   So by American standards he probably didn't make all that much but by his standards he was well off.  If my in-laws lived with us I'd probably find a job that I was gone 8 months out of the year as well. 

3 minutes ago, rusty nut said:

My Wife and I are pretty good tippers. We do the prepaid tips and if we decide to tip extra, it's always at the end, never at the beginning. I don't know, I kind of agree with @scottie99 it just seems kind of tacky and tasteless, patronizing, if you will. I know if I were in the service industry and a customer tried to slip me a $20 before any service was performed, of course, I would appreciate the money, but I'd be mumbling under my breath, "man, what a schmuck". 

Trust me that's not what happens, at least with the crew.  I tell them "this is a deposit on excellent service yet to come" and follow that back up at the end of the week (assuming excellent service) with a follow up tip.  It simply tells the crew member up front that if they take care of you, you will take care of them.  A bit of a social contract if you will.  I believe that doing some part of it up front better establishes your expectations for the cruise as well. 

I do agree with some of the comments, tipping culture in the USA is getting excessive.  You should not get a tip just because you did your job (except for restaurant workers because they are paid a different hourly rate because of tips.).  If your job is to hand me a fork and you give me a fork then you don't deserve a tip.  If you hand me a fork, knife, spoon, polish them up so they are nice and shiny and explain how to best use said fork, knife and spoon then that's tip-worthy service. 

The normal legal customs and protections that Americans enjoy do not necessarily apply.  As mentioned previously the laws of the country that the ship is registered in would be most prevalent.  One should also refer to the cruise line's contract of carriage.  I'm pretty sure it says some where in there "not responsible for other people's stupidity".   Remember you are in international waters a big portion of your time.  Caveat Emptor

My cousin's sister's husband's best friend's son once got a free upgrade from an inside cabin to another inside cabin on a higher deck.  Everyone else I've ever met had to pay for it. 

14 hours ago, scottie99 said:

Is it just me who is constantly astounded at Americans who take such pride in their tipping generosity?  I have always been appalled at the “tip em first day and get better service attitude “

 

We have cruised for 35 years, have lost count of how many but certainly in excess of 55. We have always paid the recommended amount. We have had great service and mediocre service, but always paid the tips. 
 

I expect to be shot down, but I find the American “tip em extra “ attitude as patronising to staff. This constant theme, “ we asked for ice etc” so tipped extra is ridiculous. I have pre paid tips, so I should be able to ask for ice ( I remember when it was delivered without asking)

I think the automatic gratuities are a bane upon the industry and the costs should be rolled into the overall cruise fare.  However that's another topic.  My experience with extra tipping has been that this makes the difference between good service, and excellent service.   But it's not a given, its earned.  The auto-gratuities are a given, you get those.  Anything else is earned on an individual basis. 

Another quick tip is use two dollar bills.  The crew doesn't see many of them so they are a bit of a novelty and helps them remember you throughout the week. 

The presence of an upgrade fairy is the stuff of rumors, legends and lore.  However her not-as-good-looking sister the UPSELL fairy is alive and well. 

This is our first RCCL cruise and I was a little disappointed in how they handle their gift cards from Drivewise compared to Carnival.  Carnival allows e-cards which are delivered within minutes of purchasing them which can then be immediately applied to any purchase from Carnival and even taken onboard and used as OBC.  RCCL sends you a paper copy which takes several days that you then have to fill out, scan and send back to them which takes time (and manpower) for them to process.  Last carnival cruise I paid for EVERYTHING with those gift cards from the cruise fare to the drinks packages to our OBC.   Disappointed you cannot do the same with RCCL. 

This will be our first RCCL cruise next month on the Liberty after 5 cruises with Carnival.  We normally like the early dinner seating but it wasn't available and when the UDP went on sail for a good price I was like hey let's try this.  So if I am understanding everyone correct we have a general reservation on the first night, location TBD.  Once we arrive on board we should make reservations for each dinner/lunch for the rest of the week.  Reservations can be made at any specialty dining restaurant? 

Now here is my stupid question.  I have no problem sitting down for a 2 hour meal, but DW wants to go to all the shows.  Lord help me if I schedule a meal where it causes her to miss out on a show.   How can I find out what shows are available each day and their times so I can schedule the meals for the whole week the first day? 

Be interesting to see how fast they can turn the ship around. 

Gratuities are a blight on the industry, staff should not be dependent on tips for the majority of their income, add the cost of the gratuities to the cruise fare and provide more transparency to the passengers.  We are traveling with a couple on their first cruise in Feb and I've had to explain to them about gratuities and it makes no sense to them.  I'm curious to see if the way Virgin Voyages prices their cruises will catch on. 

I was really happy with our Cheers package purchase for our Jan 18 Breeze cruise. We had not cruised since they changed the package and removed the $10 limit and added the non-alcoholic drinks to it. Yes the sticker shock up front of paying a $650+ bar tab was hard. However once on the ship (and after the first day, thanks Texas rules!) I never regretted it. The ability to drink top shelf drinks all week long and not worry about anything except what number I was on was fantastic. I ended up hitting 15 only once but when your drinking $20 Grey Goose VX and $16 Roca Patron all day I more than made up for it. DW, who is not a huge drinker, enjoyed all the coffee and non-alcoholic specialty drinks as well as a few loaded drinks per day. Overall I'd highly recommend it. Better drinks, less thinking about the budget but you have to pay for it up front.

Thanks for your excellent and insightful review.

Your description of the desserts had me drooling.

You know I completely forgot to mention the return of the Baked Alaska. On the last night they paraded the flaming Baked Alaska's around the dining room, sang the Leaving on the Fun Ship then cut them up and served them. I had read when they announced it was returning that for safety reason they would not be setting them on fire so I was surprised when they did. I asked our head waiter Rafael about it afterwards. He said at first they didn't flame them but after a few weeks the orders came to down to light them up so they do. It was a nice show as always.

From what I heard there were 2; the fatal aneurysm (older lady traveling with her daughter) and then a compound fracture.

 

Great review, very similar to my thoughts as I was on that cruise as well.

 

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That is consistent with my conversation with the nurse, what the staff in Circle 2 told the kids (broken leg) and the general scuttlebutt around the ship and on our FB group afterwards.

Fantastic review. A few questions....

 

1) Do you by any chance have photos of the dinner menus from the main dinning room?

 

2) Do you remember which nights were dressy nights?

 

Thanks!

No we did not take a lot of pictures but it was the standard American Table Menu.

Monday night and Thursday night on our trip were the elegant nights. Surprised at the number of people who dressed up.

Very nice review! We have cruised on the Breeze in June and NY Eve last year with our kids and are sailing on her again in Feb without the kids this time. The staff is amazing and we love the ship plus Galveston is only a few hours drive for us so thats where we usually cruise from. We are doing a spa pass again as we love the thermal suites but in Dec the Oriental Steam room was down the whole time, was it working while you were there? Also I noticed you mentioned a new room service menu, is that different than the same old one we had in Dec.? Do you remember what time the bar in the steakhouse opens? This time we are buying the cheers package and like your motto of making the 15 drinks a day a goal not a limit! lol In June it was nice hot and sunny so all of the sun decks/pools were always packed but in December it was cold and rainy most of the time so they stayed pretty empty. If anything the hot tubs were packed and thats another reason we love the thermal suites in the spa, not as crowded.

To answer your questions:

1.) Yes all the steam rooms and thermal suites were working perfectly, no problems. Even with the somewhat chilly weather it was rarely crowded in the thermals. A couple of times I had the mineral pool all to myself. I also enjoyed the showers in the spa, they were huge and since I was sharing a room with two women it was just easier for me to go up 2 floors to the spa and shower there. In fact I never showered in our cabin the whole cruise. I like those showers with the two side shower heads, like a car wash really.

2.) The new room service menu went into effect Jan 14. When we got on board the old menu was still in our room and then the next day (the 15th) I noticed that it was replaced with the new one that was previously posted.

3.) Pulled a couple of our fun times, the steakhouse opens at 5:30 each day. Alchemy generally at 2p but it did vary.

How does the Breeze handle the muster drill?

Do you line-up outside under the lifeboats or sit in a comfy lounge as we did on the MAGIC ?

It's done in the lounges, dining rooms, etc. Quite easy compared to the old way. Someone from each cabin needs to scanned in, you pack into the seats. (Ours as A3, Theater Deck 3) You wait, they call out names locally to find everyone, then the CD starts naming names over the whole ship. After they reach a certain point they dismiss mobility assist passengers then everyone else. Schwartz did announce the location of the "special life boat drill" for everyone who didn't make and added they knew who they were.