zimmerman

We sailed on Explorer (out of Ravenna). the cocktail in question specified Absolut vodka. But he made it with something that wasn’t.

I know this is well trodden ground and highly emotive… I recall this particular gem popped up a few weeks back; someone commented on the fact there were huge queues at guest services and guests were getting their gratuities refunded. This was contested. We’re just off a cruise. one of the waiters (in a speciality restaurant) we were talking to told us that on the previous week’s cruise, 25% of customers had cancelled their gratuities. he could obviously have been laying some foundation for our sympathies or trying to illicit some generosity from us. Who knows. Was a European cruise sailing out of Italy (so maybe there could be some assertions made about cultural norms). the other thing he told us, he claimed that some staff don’t get ANY salary. Their salaries are wholly dependent on the gratuity pool. So if 25% of guests retract them; their ‘salaries’ are effectively reduced by 25% for that week. I found this a bit alarming. Not sure, I always assumed they got something? Maybe the ‘room and food’ is the something?

Some brief feedback for any casual visitors to this site; Just back off our third cruise. So we don’t have any of the previous baggage/experience that a lot of this forum has. Leading up to the cruise I was frequenting this board and with each day, getting more and more concerned. I think all in all, it wasn’t as bad as these boards can suggest (or be interpreted as). it wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t a floating war zone that you could be forgiven for thinking it is, reading a lot of these threads. some of my thoughts on common themes: Cabin Cleaning: in respect to the once a day cleaning - absolutely fine for us. Wasn’t a problem at all. We did have issues with the cabin on embarkation day that took the whole day to resolve and probably soured the whole cruise experience; but the once a day cabin cleaning - was perfectly fine for us. Service: overall service was great. Staff cannot do enough for you. As has been highlighted, there are probably too few though. Dining Room: [queues] It seemed to get better as the week went on. First few nights were absolutely terrible though. We had my time dining and across the week we waited 5-10 mins at most (one night maybe 15+). We had a reservation at 19:30 and this worked for us. Leaving the MDR though, could see huge queues (both reservations and non-reservations) across the first 4 nights for sure… didn’t seem to be as much of an issue across the last few nights. [service] The waiter(s) we had were amazing. the head waiter, was amazing. but the reality is, they are spread so thin, they can’t really do any better… so this isn’t a criticism of THEM, but the SYSTEM. our waiter seemed to be looking after about 50 of us and his drinks guy was nowhere to be seen after taking our drink order. first night our drinks hadn’t even arrived after 40 mins. Similar story the next few nights; or one drink would arrive but the other didn’t. Can’t recall, second or third night the drinks arrived after an age and were wrong. So after that, we just took our own drinks in with us and I would nip out between courses to get our own drinks. Took so long for the food to arrive, this wasn’t a problem. As alluded to, took ages for the food to arrive. Was worst on nights 1-2, but definitely speeded up as the week went on. Food was always warm. [food quality] the reduced menu wasn’t that big a deal for us. There was always something to select. If we were cruising 2-3 times a year or more; or this was our 48th cruise or we were sailing more than 7 nights… I could see it being more of an issue, but it wasn’t. For me there hasn’t been any noticeable difference in quality between our first cruise in 2018 and this, our third. We’re foodies (we’re probably food snobs if being honest). So I’ve never found the food to be amazing quality; but I’ve never gone hungry and I’ve never struggled to eat it. No change on this cruise. It’s a consistent 6.5/10. [drinks] one thing we noticed, definitely at the pool bar (and maybe they’ve always done this)… but when making cocktails they’ll not use some of the premium spirits in those; if you ask, they’ll oblige without question though. To be honest, that’s one of the plus points of RC, the selection of premium drinks available on the drinks package. Noticed this on day one and just made sure we specified what we wanted when ordering after that. Could I have x with Grey Goose or could I have x made with Kraken etc.

No, they’re all on here making jokes about up-charging

I’ve eaten in chops 4 times. the fillet is about as average as you can get. it’s amazing compared to the MDR but if that’s the filet I got in my local butcher or restaurant, I’d never buy it again.

If you’re a proper foodie, you’ll be disappointed. If you eat to survive, you’ll love it. after reading this forum for the last couple of months, I’m terrified of what to expect for our upcoming cruise. then again, there were similar horror stories ahead of our cruise last summer. this will only be our third cruise and whilst I’ve found the food on the previous two adequate and ‘you’ll never go hungry’ it’s far from top quality or even fine dining (as many seem to suggest). I’ve come back for a third time, so it’s definitely not terrible (or hasn’t been), but people obviously have very different reference points and/or expectations and/or tastes.

Thanks both. I owe -£69 apparently. not sure if that means how much I owe, or I’m in credit? Either way, both links shared, look like I’m ok.

It’s weird the website doesn’t offer any sort of statements/account activity option.

I cruise in a weeks time my balance was due late June I’ve checked in online i have cruise passes i was offered Royal Up theyve emailed me my documents on the website it says no balance due All good then??? But I cannot find a record of paying it!!! aside from the £450 deposit (July-22)… I cannot find any money coming from the account or credit card where I usually pay for everything. If I hadn’t paid the balance on time, would i have been able to check in? would the website say no balance due (and it’s said this for ages) if I’d missed it? I’d assume some other message and/or emails to tell me I’d missed paying?

We were on Serenade last summer and didn’t have any reservations. i doubt we ever waited more than 5-10 mins (maybe once was it 15 mins). the queue for reservations was always much shorter than no reservations.

Managed to find them in an email. many thanks all.

I’m checked in, but I can’t see my luggage tags anywhere. Don’t sail till the 27th… when should I see them? As far as I can see, the only outstanding step is completing the health questionnaire.

I never frequent buffets on dry land, so at least I now know the correct etiquette for the Windjammer

Reusing a plate? I always assume this is better than just creating more dirty crockery. im no scientist… but how many germs can there be on a plate I’ve used, and is the contamination risk any greater than the fact I’m a the one who’s used the plate and holding the plate and rocking up to the buffet station anyway? I'm not using the plate to ladle out the pasta or dipping it into the soup. am I naive? Is reusing a plate actually bad? I assume it’s about contact? or is it more the fact that not everybody will be so careful and inevitably the ladle or tongs WILL touch the used plate?

At the expense of having a proper base At the expense of space At the expense of having access to better and fresher food even having access to a proper working environment (monitor and keyboard etc). Being hunch over a laptop 8-12hrs a day (probably on a static chair), is no fun. it obviously works for him, so power to him. Don’t think it would work for me.

Eating healthy food not drinking not getting off at ports working from an empty room I’m not getting it… what’s the upside? sounds like a lot of money for someone to clean your room (once a day) and prepare your food.

Are Walkie Talkies an option? not tried it, did consider it for our then 10yo though. EDIT: broadwaybaby beat me to it

I’m 48 and intending to head straight for the water slides on our next cruise. I think we’re early boarders (11:30) so hoping to head straight for the slides before the masses arrive. will the slides be open immediately after embarkation?

Sure it’s about $10 for kids. it’s a menu specific to chops.

We’ve always started our cruises (only 3) with lunch at Chops. It’s great value for a lunch and it’s loads better than the other dining options (such as MDR and Windjammer). However, I’ve never been blown away by the food or the steaks. If I was paying steakhouse prices I’d be very upset. But I’m not, so I can cope with that. I’m not rich enough to grin and bear it, with the cost for dinner. As for Giovannis being better; that’s got to be a fallacy hasnt it? Surely it’s the exact same meat? I can’t imagine that Giovannis gets preferential treatment and/or somehow they get to select the best cuts every time.

Unless they’re drinking (and sharing) it, in an empty bar or whilst sat in front of the barman, who’s going to know? slight tangent, we’re about to embark on our third cruise. We get the deluxe drink package for us but no package for our daughter (she’s now 11). We’ve so far gotten away with getting bottles of water and Virgin cocktails for our daughter, pretty openly. And nobody has said anything. She’s even gone and ordered them herself (with our passes). I’m guessing we’ve gotten away with it because she was so small/young…. Presumably that goodwill is going to run out soon?

They appear in the app (not the prices though, from memory).

Is Johnny Rockets any good? never had it (and I’m partial to a bit of fast food). How much does/will it cost?

4 pages and 82 posts….. what the %^*+ is half and half?

Found a thread from about 4 years ago, so not sure how accurate that info is. we’re sailing out of Ravenna late August. Is anywhere likely to show them (English soccer matches). Whether it’s a sports bar or the pub (assuming this ship has those). doesn’t it matter if you’re at sea or not? Game kicks off at 17:30 local time (and I think sail away might be at 18:00 or 19:00). Would that even matter? I'm thinking I might have to make some sort of plan to watch a bit on my phone before I lose network coverage. (I know it’s only a game and it won’t be the end of the world if I can’t watch it… but I’m definitely going to try).