bobcan

On 1/17/2024 at 10:48 PM, snowlight said:

On board the Zaandam and have had a great time and generally excellent service. We have autogratuities “enabled”. But We had some USD cash set aside for final extra tips, and they are certainly deserved.

however, we unexpectedly had to dip in that cash. I do have plenty of Canadian  dollar (my home currency)… would it be totally uncouth to tip in CAD? Or do you think the HAL staff would be able to exchange it since “money is money” (and maybe they’re changing it into their own currencies anyway)

 

appreciate your thoughts!

Depending on the time of year and the itinerary Canadian Dollars may be appreciated. On East Coast Canada Cruises and cruises out of Vancouver crew when they get a chance shop ashore for clothes and snacks and would use Canadian funds rather than the hassle of converting US funds in stores. Also in the past I have given newer crew members loonies and twonies which they use as souvenir gifts to the young ones in the family at home.

Not knowing the itineraries of the various cruises I will not comment specifically on any of them, but I suggest that whichever one you eventually choose, make sure you do one that includes the overnight in Reykjavik. This gives you the opportunity to take in much of what there is to offer in the area and without the pressure of having to return to the ship in time for sailing you can arrange your own tour with a local company in smaller groups and cheaper than the cruise line offerings.

We were on a bus tour in the UK several years ago and the guide informed all passengers that the bus would be leaving to continue to our next stop at 10:25 and would not wait for stragglers. At 10:30 the bus left minus 2 people, at our next stop 2 more, then 2 more at the next. Guaranteed at our last stop everyone was back on the bus with 10 minutes to spare.

On 6/3/2023 at 9:08 AM, doone said:

This is all great information, but I am trying to figure out if we should book air, hotel and transfers through HAL vs. doing it on our own, any thoughts?

We just did Alaska a few weeks ago and used Hal for our airfare and transfer from the ship to Anchorage Airport. We booked the Pan Pacific hotel through our travel agent at a much better price than the cruise line. As far as transportation from the airport if you are able to walk a few blocks with your luggage the Skytrain is a good option to downtown, cheaper and faster than buses and taxis.

we did this crossing several years ago on a transatlantic on Holland Americas Zuiderdam which is a similar sized ship and it was very smooth although it can be rough apparently.

8 hours ago, dag144 said:

I have read that the lines are considering prohibiting old geezers over 70 like me from cruising without a doctor's OK.  I know the lines don't want to do this, but it may be the only way to satisfy CDC concerns.  Freighters that sail without a doctor do impose age limits so there is precedent.  I'll wait to see how this plays out before I book my next cruise.  What about you seniors, ahem!  

I have no problem with the doctor's okay provided everyone is required to get it not just 70 and over. I am turning 70 this year and on past cruises have joticed that many people younger than myself are in far worse health than myself and even worse than some in their 80's and 90's. Picking 70 is a form of age discrimination and I think could result in the cruise lines being subject to legal action for requiring this.

1 hour ago, Live4cruises said:

I'm not close to 70, but I think mandatory physician certification for passengers over 70 is inappropriate.  If a doctor's note is going to be required, let's do it for all 

Mandatory physician certtification should be for all or none. Setting an age is both discriminitory and insulting. I will be 70 this year and although not in the best of health I am still in better health than many people I know who are 20 and 30 years younger.

I don't understand why Hal is even promoting many of these cruises. Seattle is closed indefinately to cruiseships and ALL Canadian ports are closed till at least july 1 for any ships over 500 passengers so Alaska and Eastern Canada cruises are totally out of the question until July

if you pay the corkage when boarding they give you a sticker to place on the bottle indicating you have paid and you are permitted to take it to any dining venue or lounge on board and they will open and serve it for you.

bob

Sounds great to me, means two days on board a mostly empty ship. We don't go ashore at any of the private islands.

When downloading the Royal IQ app today, I noticed that the app requires permissions from your phone/tablet to access the following:

Device & app history

Identity

Contacts

Phone

Photos/Media/Files

Microphone

Wi-Fi connection information

Device ID & call information

Allowing this effectively gives RCI access to all your personal information, your friends e-mail and or phone numbers and in fact gives them the ability to completely take over your phone.

Bob

Know what you mean, after many hours trying to book dining times we wanted, the thought of having to change them is not a pleasant thought. I must say that the royal website basically sucks.

bob

Well as of today, I'm still not able to make reservations for my shows and I'm sailing on the March 21st sailing which is 72 days away.

The key word is supposed, what is supposed to and what

Actually happens with their website are two different things.

Bob

We are booked on the Anthem for June and no shows are available to reserve yet. My question is what time do these shows start? I am trying to make dinner reservations and don't want dinner to interfere with the show times.

Reservations for shows are supposed to available 90 days prior to sailing.

Bob

Does anyone know if the 15% gratuity for drink service still applies at the bionic bar?

Which ship did you book on? Maybe they are looking to change to dynamic dining and do not want to commit to setting a time. When we booked Quantum they initially confirmed late dining then sprung dynamic on us. I and probably others complained about this bait and switch so they probably feel it is better not to confirm until they are sure.

bob

688 people have read this and only 2 have bothered to post/comment.

Is it even worth continuing? Is no one interested because I only have nice things to say and do not deem it an 'epic failure'......:rolleyes:

No please continue, there are many reviews to ponder and many of us don't want to post but just hear as much about others experience at the moment.

bob

Initial thought?

 

I don't have confidence in Royal Caribbean's IT department being able to get all of these integrated systems up and running smoothly and reliably. It took a reported $1.5 billion for Walt Disney World to deploy their RFID bands with integrated app based reservations, tap to pay, tap for entry, and virtual queuing. And even with all that money spent it had some significant flaws for the first 6 months or so.

 

I haven't seen anything from Royal Caribbean yet which makes me think they can pull off such a complicated IT project. Shoot, when they can't even fix an ongoing issue with their reservation system which causes cruises to be repriced when you do something simple (like put a special dietary note on your reservation), that doesn't really show me they're ready to take on a much more complex project.

Since they have not been able to get my dining reservations correct on the website yet (booked in May) I agree with you that they may not be able to properly get this system up and running. That being said won't it be nice to know that your luggage is not really lost but sitting comfortably on the dock waiting for your return.

bob

Several years ago I instructed them to charge my credit card (U.S. account) in us dollars, yet they still converted to canadian funds and charged my U.S. account which would have resulted in my being charged twice for conversion with applicable fees. When i questioned them about it they said that since they had already made the conversion they could not change it and it would stand. I insisted that they in fact could issue a credit to my card and rebill in U.S. funds which they begrudgingly did.

bob

20 years ago when we first cruised soft drinks in the main dining room, people complained but paid for it anyway. Then they introduced specialty dining, people complained but paid for it anyway. When they introduce for fee entertainment people will complain but still pay. And so it will continue, the cruise limes will continue to add extra fees until people stand up and refuse to pay them.

Bob

go to my cruises, view reservation and under pre cruise planner you will find my time dining reservations, you can't use it yet but it looks like this is how you will do it when available.

bob

We were also on the Brilliance on 04/09/04 and while the food in the dining room was okay it certainly wasn't as good as on our previous four cruises with RCI or as good as our one cruise with Princess. In my opinion I would give the food on this cruise 3 stars down from the 5 stars on all previous cruises.

bob