OccasionalSanta

We haven't been on the Ruby for a number of years, but it is the same class as the Emerald, Grand, Crown and several others. The daily activities and entertainment on all the ships are basically the same.

One advantage to this class over the newer ones on the Hawaii routes is that they can get into the Kauai port at Nawiliwili. The Royal class ships can't go there.

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

Maybe no longer a bracelet, but necklace charms/pendants.  Some ships advertise these giveaways in the Event Listings; other ships as flyers sent to the cabin.  This flyer was part of the garbage that was sent to my cabin when I was on the Majestic in April.  

There's a way to limit the paperwork sent to your cabin. We like to get paper copies of the Patter but no longer get sales flyers sent to our room.

I think I set this in the app, but I probably did it in the old app.... not sure where it is in the new one

12 minutes ago, lorri111 said:

We did this a few years ago, a special experience though the amount of food was a bit overwhelming!

Agreed.. I always suggest skipping lunch if you can.

7 hours ago, FeliciaB said:

What happens if you pick a day and the weather is bad that night?  Does it get cancelled or rescheduled or do they try to do it inside the cabin instead of the balcony?  Just thinking about this for our Norway 2025 cruise.

We have always been fortunate enough to have the UBD on the balcony and always while sailing..  On our last cruise I checked weather and specifically chose a day as we were leaving Puerto Vallarta heading back to L.A. in April. Any other day would probably have put us indoors, so we got lucky on that one.

On 1/27/2024 at 3:13 PM, 2MellowCruisers said:

We just did our first UBD recently on the Crown.  I don't know what is considered good and tipping is personal to everyone, I'll just give you our experience.

 

We tipped both of the servers $20 each.  They were excellent and it does seem to involve a lot of work for them, especially the one that has to keep running back and forth to get food.  They seemed really appreciative of the tips.  I did notice a charge to our folio of $19.80 a few days later and had to ask customer service what it was for since it was worded oddly.  They said it was the gratuity for the UBD.  I thought it was part of the price we paid before the cruise but I guess not.  We didn't remove the $19.80.  In the future we may not tip as much the night of since it seems we tipped about 54%.  It was a great experience though!

We have done the UBD 3 times and always tip the servers directly. I have never had any additional charges for gratuities added to my folio

Last year, we did the NB and SB back-to-back.... My only comment regarding Hubbard vs, College Fjord is that the ship didn't get anywhere close to the Hubbard glacier. There was an excursion where folks boarded a smaller boat and cruised closer to the glacier, but it was a bit pricey ($300/person, if I remember correctly) and it will likely sell out if you don't book it early.

(For the record, we were on the Grand)

6 hours ago, Auntiejo said:

I thought I read recently that they’re switching Sabatini and The Catch locations on Discovery? Is that in the works?

My brother had mentioned that to me as well, but I heard nothing about it on the ship.

Right now they have closed down the Gastropub and are converting it to O'Malley's Irish Pub

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

Sabatini’s Restaurant Manager (Headwaiter) said on 4/12 that the exchange was expected to be completed in 10 days. However disembarking the next day I don’t know if the swap has been completed yet.

It had not happened at of 4/27 when we disembarked

19 hours ago, Potstech said:

The Triple S hanger is not a shrimp but supposedly a langista   as explained when I had it on the Enchanted.  They may have changed it though.

You may well be right. I assumed it was a shrimp because the Triple S is described as Shrimp, Salmon and Scallops.

As an added note, I had to dismantle the "shrimp" since Mrs. OS doesn't like food with eyes

I haven't been a fan of Dine My Way since it was introduced. This is probably because we tend to not want to eat on any particular schedule except for when we hit the specialty restaurants. I kinda hope that the new system, which I hear will be rolling out this Fall, will be a little better. 

In general, I have found that day 1 of the cruise tends to be a nightmare for walk-ins, but the rest of the cruise is not bad. If I can't make a reservation for a specialty restaurant, I have always had luck chatting with the maitre d' early in the evening and being flexible about coming back an hour or so later

The second dinner was also excellent

The menu was the same as were the first appetizer and glass of sparkling wine

Mrs. OS had the Seafaring Stew for her appetizer which was served in a huge, crab-shaped dish

However, since she had also asked about the Tuna Salade Nicoise, the waiter bought that to the table as well

I had the Lump Crabcake

For the main, she had the Triple S Platter

Which was presented with a large suspended shrimp

While I had the Catch of the Day (Sea Bass)

For dessert, she had the Chantilly Lace

And I had the Delight in the Air

We recently cruised B2B on Discovery (Mexican Riviera and California Coast) and twice we ate at The Catch. While I suspect there will still be the complaints about the noise from the Piazza that were prevalent during the Bistro Sur la Mer dynasty, I have to say the food was excellent.

Here is a rundown of the first meal...

This is the menu

In addition to a glass of sparkling wine, we were served the first appetizer, which is not on the menu. It consisted of bread and dipping/spreading options. I don't remember what the ingredients were, but Mrs. OS seemed to enjoy it. (I was happy with just butter.

Mrs. OS' appetizer was the seafood tower.

While I had the calamari

Mrs. OS had the catch of the day (Swordfish) for her main

While I partook of the Concerto (pasta with seafood)

For dessert, she had the Mozart's Berry Composition (Yes, it was big)

While I had the Chef's Classic (crepes suzette)

We did not walk away hungry

17 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

 

I haven't ever noticed these before - we always pay at the gate. I will have to look for them next time we are there. We have been going out of 92 our last few cruises and I haven't seen anything similar there. Good to know they exist.

If they still exist (and are working) they're near the area circled in red below. Unless you happen to park near them, they are only convenient if you are arriving at Berth 93 since you'd have to walk  around the Y-shaped ramp to get there from Berth 92.

On 4/9/2024 at 10:14 AM, karatemom2 said:

Parking at San Pedro is very easy. You can line up and drop your bags off with a porter, then go park your car. It's a huge lot - generally plenty of spaces available. You are charged at the exit gate on departure and it is easier to use a credit card - it's an automated system where you put the ticket in the machine and then pay with your card - although there is always an attendant there to help, so I imagine you could possibly use cash, but who would want to do that these days? 

There are machines near Berth 93 where you could pay on your way out to your car. But the last couple times we parked there, these machines were not working so we had to pay at the exit gate. Does anyone know whether or not they are still broken?

On 12/27/2023 at 12:11 PM, d9704011 said:

As a new perk, maybe Elite Plus can get their laundry back within 48 hours.

Personally, I've never had it take more than 48 hours

38 minutes ago, avonlady6390 said:

It's 15.00 a day unless you are platinum or elite then it's half off.

Standard rates are:

$15/day for 1 device

$40/day for 4 devices

Platinum/Elite get 50% discount

Note that the device limit is at any particular time.  If you purchase for 1 device you can actually use multiple devices over the course of the cruise but only one at a time

Yes.  I have done so on numerous occasions. 

I have always used a 3-prong (grounded) extension 

6 hours ago, WECRUISEUK said:

Hello,just like your culture,we in the u.k. are not overly keen on tipping

Which explains why restaurant workers in the U.K. (and other like countries) are happy to serve tourists from the U.S.

5 hours ago, Outerdog said:

Above is correct. Leaving PV now bound for LAX.

 

Gonna be a rough one

We were on the Emerald coming back to L.A. just ahead of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hillary in August and the seas were incredibly smooth ahead of the storm.

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I prefer to play Texas Hold 'Em poker.  Sure there is a rake from each pot, but I am playing other guests and not the House.  After all, doesn't the House always win?  (In the long run).

Overall, I agree with you about playing against other players. The annoying thing about the rake is that the dealer is automated. At a regular casino, there is a person dealing so you know that some of the rake is going to pay for the dealer. With an automated dealer, it's just more money sucked up by the casino.

On my last cruise, I played a hold 'em tournament and the casino cut was 20% of the overall payout ($60 to play, $10 went to the casino, $50 went to the prize pool.) In land-based casinos I always seen the casino cut as 10% of the prize pool (for example, $55 to play, $50 to the prize pool, $5 to the casino)

I guess you can just look at it as vacation tax. 

On 9/27/2023 at 4:29 PM, Thrak said:

The lobster, for instance, is not the same as the lobster tail you normally get in MDR on a formal night. It is what is served in Crown Grill.

I don't recall the lobster served in Crown Grill being different from what's served in the MDR other than the fact that Mrs. OS was not impressed with it in the Crown Grill.

11 hours ago, mpk said:

 

 

Any mosquitoes on this cruise?  🙂 

We were on this cruise and did not see any mosquitos

You have to call room service once on board to arrange delivery and I bet that you can specify the kind of soda you want

10 hours ago, suzyed said:

You are able to ask for the traditional Escargot rather than their version.  We did it a few times dining at BSLM.

Yeah, we heard about that after the fact. Kinda bummed that BSLM will probably be gone before we get a chance to eat there again..

On 9/5/2023 at 9:52 AM, kstrittm said:

I just sailed on Discovery, and we ate at Bistro Sur La Mer one night.  The service was extremely slow

It's probably just me, but when I'm on a cruise speed of service is not my first concern. I'm there to relax and enjoy the experience.* I found Bistro Sur La Mer to be a very good experience and am disappointed that it is being eliminated. Then again, I said the same thing about Share. Mrs. OS was disappointed with the way they prepared the escargot. Mostly because she likes it covered in butter and garlic like they do in the MDR. But beyond that, we found the food at BSLM to be very good and also thought the location near the piazza made it feel like an alfresco French dining experience

*The one exception to this is when we are sharing a table (which we frequently do in the MDR) and one of our co-diners is kind of a pain to be around. But you take your chances and sometimes it doesn't work out.

On 9/13/2023 at 11:49 AM, kiwimum said:

In the past, we were allowed to customize the pizzas a little.... For instance on the Pizza Hawaiiana, I would remove the chicken and perhaps add mushrooms. Is this still allowable under the new regime?