dfishner

I think it is great that you have tried other vacation options we like to mix our vacations up between different cruise companies as well as doing non cruise vacation variety is the spice of life. Glad you had a great time

Thought this google hang out was a quantum waste of time. I think the way RCL has rolled out info for Quantum has been a total disappointment to the point I have lose interest in these ships. Maybe when they come out I will feel differently but for now I have checked out.

When you say EOS ---- are you referring to the Enchantment or Explorer???

Thanks! :D

Explorer

The vouchers are now on EOS and IOS they expect the total fleet roll out in to be done by 9/2014

We dined outside and it was one of the best meals we had onboard, We loved the tapas and we ordered a nice bottle of wine there was a Spanish guitarist playing music in central park which just set the mood

We loved it and I not a beach person and we had a fantastic time there. the food and drink were excellent we liked that we had loungers as well as a covered table from the sun. It made for a fun and relaxing day

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We did vintages on Oasis for dinner and it was probably the best meal we had, there was a spanish guitarist playing during our meal in Central Park we sat outside and felt we were transported to somewhere else. The food, wine and service were wonderful and it was a great evening, we are doing Allure this December and will do the same again it was well worth it

What you point out is totally true. Moving around ships, even for me who lives in S. Florida is good. Our first cruise was in 2004 on Navigator, and we did not appreciate the experience as much as we could have, simply because we were just felt overwhelmed by her. Now having cruised many more times, we will get a chance to cruise her again, with her return to a S. Florida port in the future.

 

We haven't been able to add extra days to vacations, to do cruising from other ports -- which would involve air transportation- very often. We did it last year a S. Caribbean cruise out of Puerto Rico.

Welcome neighbor we live in Sunrise we did the opposite we did two radiance class ships before cruising on NOS and we were ready for it since then we have cruised NOS three times it is our favorite ship and are so glad she is coming back to Ft Lauderdale I also like that the Seranade is also sailing out of Ft Lauderdale two great choices.

I really do not care what the poll shows one way or another and all this dissecting of the poll numbers proves nothing. In the end you choose what works best for you and for me I choose what I like and what I can afford end of story.

Always felt the boardwalk was never really developed fully and so much wasted space not much there to hold my interest like central park does. Hopefully on Oasis 3 they can a more interesting concept in its place.

NOS is coming back home also having a Radiance class in Ft Lauderdale as well I am beyond being thrilled.

The times we have done My Time, it was more stressful to get the time we wanted with the same waiter and table. Traditional gives you that without the stress.

Never had that problem was able to get the time we wanted and the wait team guess we were lucky but it has worked for us on all the cruises we have taken with MTD

For years on here people have complained about the food quality on RCL and when you feed so many people in one operation at one time quality does suffer. I applaud RCL for taking a major step in addressing this by making each dining venue smaller and probably having a satellite kitchen for each kitchen with a fixed menu they can probably address the issues you all including myself have complained about.

I rather have a few less choices and better quality food and really do not care if I have the same waiter every night or sit with people I do not know. I much prefer a smaller venue with better quality food this to me says restaurant.

RCL even addressed the dreaded dress issues that always pops up on here by making a formal dining room for those who want to dress up. I frankly never like to dress up but in looking over the menu for the Grande I would take a sport coat and tie something I never thought I would do again.

We will see how RCL handles all of this when Quantum comes out and I am sure it will take a few months for them to iron out the kinks since this is a new type of ship. I again applaud RCL for taking steps to address two areas that have come up on Cruise Critic time after time. I still believe people will complain no matter what it is human nature but at least RCL did address it head on.

We did the NCL Pearl a few years ago and we really liked the choices of restaurants on board the ship, we did not do the MDR except for breakfast. We never waited for a table we were just two. Food and service were very good. Our favorite were the French and Sushi restaurants. We would do another NCL cruise in our future sailings.

I have heard rumor that there will be a bar like the Molecular bar on Celebrity which is one of my favorite bars.:)

Gordon, you are spreading rumors LOL that is a first I ever seen you do. My comments are as follows I do like the dynamic dining I do feel RCL is stepping it up in the food area and will not miss the MDR like the idea of choices always felt RCL was not really strong in that area and for me they have now addressed it and have to say I am excited by what they came up with. Heck I would even bring a sport coat and tie which is something I have not done in years.

I also feel this cat and mouse game has gone on way longer then it needs to If I remember correctly Oasis was in stages and was spread out but it did not seem as long as Quantum., I do understand that it builds interest just look how many threads there has been since dynamic dining. Hopefully the next stages of QOS reveal will not be as long.

For us we are waiting on Anthem since we live in Ft Lauderdale so by the time she comes out and if we book the ship everything will be known. We do Allure this December cannot wait. Our choices after that will be Anthem, one of the Solstice ships we really like that style or NCL Escape life is great when there are so many choices.

I find it interesting that most people complain about the quality of food on RCL and how it is going down hill now they come up with a concept that hopefully addresses the food quality and variety issue. Part of the problem has always been feeding mass amount of people at one time in one area. I would think with the new concept there will still be a main kitchen but I believe it will be more of a commissary kitchen and I assume there will be satellite kitchens like they do for the specialty restaurants which will ease the pressure of putting out 1000's of meal out of one location which would improve the quality issues people complain about. When you put out that many meals at one time out of one kitchen something always suffers. I think what RCL is going to do addresses that.

When I first read about the dynamic dining before having all the facts it does sound like freestyle dining and there are similarities where it changes is that all the restaurant have their own concept with it own menu. One of the things I did enjoy about NCL was the ability to go to a different restaurant every evening for us it made it exciting because there was so many choices. It is also the reason why I like Oasis we spent a week on Oasis and never even saw the MDR.

I like the direction that RCL is taking with the Dynamic Dining heck I have not brought a sport coat on any ship in years and would for the Grande. I never thought I would ever do that again :-)

I am still not crazy over the ship it does not wow me like Oasis but the dining did perk my interest.

Well I have no problems with the dining options nor the change in the dining room format never been a fan of the MDR concept. I do enjoy having dining options on a ship even paid ones. From what I read so far about both new ships they really do not get me excited the way Oasis and Allure did. I know Anthem will be coming to Ft Lauderdale someday soon and unless I see something that will make me want to go on her I think as of this date I would say a no go for us. If we want Freestyle dining we know where we can go for a lot less money.

Finally something that makes sense to me all though just getting $25 for an open booking does not seem right I tend not to make decisions on my next cruise right away so I guess I will pass on purchasing a Next cruise or whatever they call it now. Thanks Patti for posting this

Gee and I thought I was having a mind meltdown when I read it and could not understand any of this. I still do no,t even called C&A to explain it to me they could not and I just thought it was me being dense.

Glad I used my last one a few months back for this December on Allure. I will not being purchasing NCC anymore it is no longer worth it the paper it is printed on.. And it is always the same thing when RCL takes something away another screw up corp decision. Love the ships dislike most of the business decisions made from the home office. I am glad I am not loyal to one line it comes back to bite you in the end and your loyalty means nothing to them.

There is no Portofino on allure

I always am amused with these kind of threads and agree with everything the other posters have wrote. We have been cruising with RCL for quite awhile now, when we first started to consider RCL I found CC and started to read reviews of the food and almost did not book our first RCL cruise which would of been a big mistake. Over the years I continue to read how the food quality has declined to a point the food would be inedible.

So I would say RCL is not a foodie cruise line we are foodies and never had a problem with RCL food some we like some we do not and we mix it up with the Specialty restaurants and that seem to be a good balance for us. Is it 5 star no it is banquet food but that is not always a bad thing does the quality suffer yes but more times then not the food is good . If it is just about the food that interest you then you did pick the wrong cruise line Celebrity would be much better choice but if it is all about the on board experience which is why we cruise on RCL you made a good choice

On a side note Azamara has some of the best tasting food we ever had on a cruise ship the MDR was so good made going to the specialty restaurants a non event.

We were on Liberty of the seas this past November after being away from RCL for two years or so. Same great staff, same average food, great shows, very good to excellent service, loved the diamond lounge and appetizers. Was there cost cutting? I have no idea was to busy having a great time to notice. I think if you look for things you are going to find them I am on vacation and don't sweat the small stuff it will make you nuts.

We have been with RCL for awhile now seen all kinds of cuts over the years some bothered me some did not, the ones that did bothered me I voiced my opinion to directly to RCL. We also have seen some very nice enhancements as well.

I look at it this way if we have the same great on board experience we come to expect from RCL we are happy camper and over the years I can say there is not one cruise we have taken that RCL did not deliver that for us.

I did not like Adam reply but in his defense and I am sure he does not need it you basically gave him a laundry list of what you did not like even though you wrote you were still loyal to RCL but you ended up saying you will look at other alternatives what did you want him to say?

I can understand why RCL is doing this since they are more targeted to families which maximizes their revenue but I can see where this would anger people who like a certain cabin in a location they desire and being told they can no longer book it..

Most common hand sanitizers are absolutely worthless regarding noro. You need the stuff hospitals are using and then you need to rub your hand with that stuff for quite a time to have it working on noro.

 

 

 

Actually I´ve seen a cook onboard the QM2 doing this... Instead of replacing a nearly empty plate of pancakes (only two left) he carefully filled it up again. Then he put the plate back and laid the tongs right over the pancakes. There wasn´t even a space to place them in front of the plate :eek:!

 

steamboats

You need to wash your hands in hot water and soap for 20 seconds then use a santizer just using a santizer by itself does not stop the problem