LobsterStalker

On 6/19/2024 at 9:31 AM, dramamommao said:

I'm sad to see this thread go the same way just about every tipping thread goes with both sides of the spectrum pointing at the other and saying "wrong!".  As I stated in my earlier post, RCI is an American based company and works off that business model.  Like it or hate it, just the way it is. 

 

I can personally attest to the fact that the pub and schooner bar players are not "highly paid".  Most of them are from USA, UK, or other country that have a fairly high cost of living.  Its not comparable to the other employees who are from say India where the salary earned onboard goes a lot further.  In most cases, the salary for a musician pays the rent and electric bill, the tips cover living expenses for when they are off the ship...they have to take time off at some point. 

 

Yes yes...they choose to be musicians, their fault, etc.  But without them I know my cruises would be a much duller experience.

 

Tip how you feel compelled to (or not).  Either way, mentioning any entertainer by name in the survey is definitely appreciated and costs nothing but a few minutes.  

 

We can all agree to disagree, and still share the seats around the piano 🙂

 

BTW- the example at the dueling pianos that was given is definitely not allowed ("$$ or we won't play for you") and is distasteful.

And by what authority are you stating it is not allowed , because it happens clearly and blatently . However , you may be interpreting it differently than them... It's not necessarily $$ or we won't play... Rather , picking and choosing which songs they may pick , and "coincidentally" the majority of the picks may come under larger bills !

Cheers

5 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Crazy.

They are paid to entertain people. Its not morally correct to only play songs that people have bribed them to play. Should be majority rules,  offer different song names and biggest cheers gets the song played. Not the minority with fists of cash deciding. But thats my opinion 🤷

I can do you 1 better than this . On a Norwegian cruise in 2018 I was at dueling pianos , and someone tipped a 5 with their request . As he started playing the song and was about 20 seconds in he realized it was not a fan favorite , he says " someone tip me another $5 and i'll stop"

someone quickly hands him a 5 and he moves to the next song. 

I thought that was quite classless to say the least ! , 

Cheers

4 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

They’re 17 and 19, old enough to go away to college. Heck my sister and her friends backpacked in Europe for 6 weeks after they graduated high school. They’re grown. Just go to guest services and get extra keys. 

Exactly                                      1

The only thing OP should need to ask is if it is allowed . If your 19 Y/O is not adult enough for this responsibility you should already know that .

Cheers

8 hours ago, ngrund said:

And being from where you are and your screen name -do you even consider RCL MDR lobster to be acceptable?

I do not consider myself a "foodie", have eaten thousands of lobsters , and to me even a subpar frozen tail is a good addition to a nice surf and turf meal . I guess this is why I am so turned off by the idea that anyone is gonna tell me I can't share my "prepaid" meal. The only way this is gonna fly is if they change their entire policy to 1 entree , at which point the whole idea of cruising is now turned on its head .

JMHO

Cheers

14 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

OMG! You are talking to a person who using @LobsterStalker as their call sign.

 

I love the irony of it all.

 

I will share mine with just about anyone. I like lobsters but I am not a "stalker".

 

🤣

I have been a Lobster Fisherman for 35 years , hence the name 'Lobster Stalker' .

Even though they are not as good as fresh caught, they still go good with a decent steak !

Cheers

This whole thread is just making me cringe ... I'm only at page 2 of 5 but I can assure you that regardless of all the changes in the MDR recently, some of which I can live with , there is no way on this beautiful planet that a waiter is gonna tell me I cannot share my lobster !!

Think about this . We are all talking about lobster , but let's take it a step further ... I order a steak , and my DW would like a bite ... Sorry , "No sharing your food Sir"... The whole concept is ludicrous !!

When we want Surf and turf , I order both steak and lobster entrees and ask for my steak first and DW orders same and asks for lobster first and we share . Until RCI tries to limit to 1 entree (end of story) this it how it will go  

Cheers

14 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

It is raining and I need something to do. I'll click on anything.

Exactly this

And the board seems to be lacking threads that (Actually) peak my interest lately

Cheers

28 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

At least the OP can't be accused of using click bait.

.....Or can they 

❓

53 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Thank you for this. This is really what frustrated me. They said “a few minutes” several times. Once we were cleared, they said to give them a “few minutes” to put out the gangways. My middle child was in line for Flow Rider. She rode it. We went to the cabin and gathered everything together and went to go down. Then stuck in the stairwell for an hour and a half. “A few minutes” turned into 2 hours. It was a mess. 
I’m sorry you got sick. I don’t buy the pork taco poisoning. We talked to people that didn’t have the tacos that got sick. We had the pork tacos and didn’t get sick. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Maybe this is a more reasonable explanation for the generousity .... The colossal screw up , having people left in limbo for hours !

1 hour ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Yes, I shouldn’t drink and try to comprehend. I received our email statement and it made more sense. 

From my experience this was much more generous than expected. Miss the port altogether and you are lucky to get your port fee back , yet they refunded half a day's fare ? ... Sucked to miss your half a day , but great compensation I guess 

Cheers

16 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

As we didn’t pre-pay out gratuities, and upon further review, it looks like the whole Thrill Waterpark was refunded, but it’s in weird increments. 

Unless I am misinterpreting , your letter also states "önboard credit in the value of half a day of your cruise fare paid"

Cheers

1 hour ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Up at the top with the kids… their request. It’s heartbreaking for them. Briley said “ Worst day at Coco Cay”

 

Makes it even worse watching Adventure disembarking all morning  . And Of course the once in 20 stops that it's actually calm enough for the balloon to go up , so that has to be in your face all day . 

Oh well ,try to look on the bright side . My truck got plastered with Seagull SHAT this morning... at least sitting on a gorgeous ship is better than that !

Cheers , 

3 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

 

3 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Try cashing out the OBC in casino on a slot machine?

This is the correct answer

Amazing how condescending people can be though ... until they are educated , then suddenly it gets real quiet

LOL

Cheers

10 hours ago, BND said:

It gets ground up with other food and becomes fish food.  At a certain distance off land they can eject organic matter. Would you rather eat bread that has been on a couple of other tables?

Never stated that at all .... Just making an observation . However it could be easily remedied if the service were like it used to be and the assistant waiter came around with a tray and gave you whichever kind you wanted . Now you are lucky to have your water topped up . 

Cheers

On 5/10/2024 at 2:34 PM, BND said:

Yes, if you pay attention you will see what they do with uneaten bread.  It is thrown out when they clear tables.  Tearing each piece is a weird thing to do.

Just think of the % that must get wasted !

1 hour ago, laurieal said:

Back on the ship, I returned to my stateroom for my usual refresh, but unfortunately it took a bit longer than I expected and I missed sailaway. 
 

Bye bye, Scarlet Lady! You look beautiful!

 

 

I found myself in what I can only describe as a reenactment of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. 
 

 

I ordered a Papa Jac, my first of the trip. The bartender (Ade from Indonesia, who is really nice) asked whether I was sure. 
 

👀

 

Yes? Apparently people don’t like it. They find it too strong. He says he only makes one per cruise!  
 

 

Now I need to order 15 of them in the next days so RCI don’t decide to remove it from the menu. 
 

It should be a quiet evening today. I’m planning to have dinner in the Windjammer and then I have a reservation for One Sky at 20:00.
 

After that, who knows! There a Finish the Lyrics game show that I don’t think I’ve ever seen. Can anyone comment on it?

This could be quite entertaining if not for the constant audience (cheating), and in my opinion ruining it for everyone . Totally realize these things are just for "fun"or maybe a keychain, but let the selected players play on their own.

...interested to hear your comments

Cheers

42 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

3 hours ago, Lionesss said:

—no more ice unless you ask for container then only filled once during cruise 

 

 

Expand  

Seriously?  Not once a day like we've been getting? Thanks for all the info, good and bad

I believe this falls under the category of clueless you mentioned . If you ask for ice you should get it 

Cheers

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

RC never stopped due to safety concerns. They stopped due to PR concerns.

Plus since the ship wouldn't have been cleared for passengers to disembark, the ship technically was never there. 

That's very subjective , but either way for the thousands of passengers ( half of which probably don't want to be anywhere near ) , the PR issue still stands . And also frome my understanding , whether anyone actually gets off the ship or not , as soon as lines are thrown , they are technically in Haiti ...

??

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

3 hours ago, sandebeach said:

Just saw on a FB page that Adventure of the Seas pulled into Labadee at midnight one night and delivered supplies. The supplies might be for the people living there?

Yes. They've been doing humanitarian stuff, especially fuel for generators.

Am I the only one that finds this odd that with everything that is going on  and the decisions that have been made , that Royal is making middle of the night stops with thousands of passengers aboard .... (Assuming this is actually true) .Especially in light of all the talk about Travel insurance policies possibly even becoming invalid due to this ... Seems Risky

??

4 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Good morning. 
 

Early towels  taking loungers in the morning. (8:05am).

 

 

Breakfast at CK. 

 

Be safe. 

Early ?

In my recent experience by 7:30 there are very few decent spots not already hoarded .

I'm Jealous ! That pic looks half civil 

Cheers

On 4/2/2024 at 10:56 PM, perfect match said:

Keep checking your Coco Cay Beach Club prices! I just went into my cruise planner for a totally different reason and noticed that the price went down to $76.99. Total discount after all of the add ons was $11.00. That’s not a lot of money, but I’ll take it.

 

I was so busy canceling my previous reservation and rebooking at the lower rate that I forgot do do what I originally went there to do! 😂 Guess I’d better go do it! 

$296.75 PP Canadian for my  Feb/25 Oasis.

I'd like to try it out but I'll never justify that ... I'll keep checking though

Cheers

6 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I've seen the Harbor Pilot come /go from the ship.  That's something only a young, healthy person can do, and -- if the article is truthful, which is never a sure thing -- this group was far from young and healthy.  What did the article say?  Four elderly, one quadrapalegic, one pregnant woman?  Seems like an unlikely number of medical issues for a group of nine.  

Nor have I.  With the media being what is is, we don't know much for sure.  

If this is true , why would any coast guard captain ever consider it a viable option ?

46 minutes ago, colesc15 said:

I love it. We were the only ship today at Coco cay on Wonder, which is rare now a days and man was it great being one ship. Hideaway is definitely our favorite and with one ship and lots of kids on Wonder, Hideaway was never packed and wonderful. I even found a 10 year aged whistle pig bourbon which I was shocked to see. I found it interesting though that currently they don't allow any shots, straight liqueur, neat, during "spring break". 

I understand the reasoning behind that but It would not sit well with me , (at 54 yrs old) if I want to purchase a shot and could not. 

...I would quickly get over it though !

Cheers

9 minutes ago, island lady said:

Yes...though the "fee" is to pay to upgrade them to a sky class cabin from the balcony cabin.  

You beat me to that one !

Cheers

5 hours ago, DavidOrawan said:

I mean when you include 2x in balcony cabin + drink package + internet + maybe 2 specially dining we are at over 5000? Where princess or ncl are around 3500 and for comparison msc is under 3000

That is quite a comical generalization !

... At least it made me chuckle

Cheers