PopeyeDaSailor

I'm thinking about getting a cabana on the Perfect Day Cay ...

What is the difference (besides price) of the Oasis Lagoon ($399/day) vs Chill Island ($649/day) cabanas? I notice our Cruise planner only has only 1/2 day at the water park? Is there a full day pass? Would the cabana still be worth it if we hit the waterpark?

Well done. I spent two weeks in Italy alone (3 days in Rome) and still didn't see 80% of it! So much to do there!

I can’t say I really paid attention to the dress of anybody other than my family. I’m thrilled when my boys have a clean shirt and underwear on so perhaps my standards are different... [emoji41]

 

In all seriousness: the most formal my boys were in were golf/polo shirts and nice shorts for formal nights. Some people loved to get dressed up. I’m not that thrilled with hauling the extra clothes around anyways.

 

We were not denied access to the MDR. We were not snickered or sneered at. My kids looked just as adorable as they normally are, but I’m a little biased...

 

 

 

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I'm glad you posted this. I have an 11 year (boy) and a 5 year old (girl) that I will be cruising with next May. This is my first cruise with kids and I was wondering how strict they were with enforcing kids in "formal" attire. I personally don't want to go out and buy my son a shirt/tie/shoes for dinner on a cruise. My daughter will LOVE getting into a nice dress though! ;)

I'm glad to hear a nice polo shirt will do for my son.

Like the start! I remember the first time I ordered Pizza in Italy. Being from North America it's a shocker but definitely good. Best Italian pizza I ever had was in Venice.

I remember taking an Alaskan cruise back in 2003. We stopped at Skagway, Juneau, Sitka and finally Ketchikan.

By time we hit Ketchikan we were sick and tired of seeing the same "cruise" junk stores. If you're not taking a fun excursion having the ship less crowded is always worth staying on especially ships as big as Symphony!

You can post your review, but I will not read it (I just wanted to be different than everyone else)! ;)

The US charges an exit tax to renounce your citizenship.

First there's a $2,000 fee per person just to file the request.

Then you pay 25% of your total assets to renounce. I'll say that again, 25% of your assets. Not exactly spare change.

And then to add insult to injury, you have to keep filing tax returns for the next 10 years.

 

Even with that, there are many who do indeed renounce. I'm sure if you google the subject, you'll find many articles about it. An ever increasing number of Europeans with dual citizenship have renounced over the past few years.

 

 

 

I'm not familiar with the requirements in the UK, but unlike the USA, many countries do not require salaried workers to file tax returns. While as i'm sure you know, in the US salaried workers along with everyone else are required to file tax returns.

I don't understand your hatred of the US? You should be thankful your kids still have the ability to be citizens. What country do you live in that's so much better?

Also why do you file your tax returns still? If you do not live here, then simply don't file them anymore, I doubt the IRS will come get you. Are you a citizen of your new country? To me it sounds like you still visit the US and that's why you still file. So you can't eat your cake and have it too...

You can get tea as well. Fruit juice in the morning at breakfast but you have to ask for tomato juice. Royal has a sugar free fruity drink in many dispensers (mango is the flavor I like)

 

At happy hour in the suite lounge, you can get most mixers if you like them.

 

There’s a cappuccino/expresso machine in suite lounges on most Royal ships that is available all day to suite guests.

 

 

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So the next question and spreadsheet should be is the drink package worth it if you're in a suite?

Popeye becomes confused when thread is told in 3rd person.

Popeye (like Jimmy on Seinfeld is getting angry).

In all seriousness I'm going on Symphony next May and I haven't been on a cruise since 2003. What other options are there to drink for "free" if you do not buy a drink package (alcohol or not)? I'm staying in a Grand Suite so I know I can get drinks for "free" in the Suite area during happy hour. But can I still get coffee and other non sugary drinks for "free" elsewhere? I know you have to pay for places like Starbucks (but I hate their coffee anyhow and only go into one to use the bathroom without buying anything).

I've never seen an adult who looks like a 14 year old. They may ask for ID, but only because of the fuzzy line that 17 or 18 could be, not 14 :eek:

LOL. I'm 50 now but people still think I'm around 35 (I'm 6'2" 190 lbs, have all my hair with no gray and I'm very fit). Back when I turned 21 I had to carry 3 picture ID's just to get into bars because I looked 16. If I wasn't 6'2" I probably never would have gotten in. I can only imagine with women that look young because of height it would be very easy to look 14 when you're 20.

I am not very computer savvy but perhaps someone could start a poll to determine what percentage of folks care about seeing photos of John's dog.

For the record I think John and I are on the opposite side of this discussion but I have ABSOLUTELY no problem with seeing pictures of his cute little dog! Keep them coming John!

That said if you don't want to see pictures do this:

1. Go to top right corner and click on your username and pick EDIT OPTIONS

2. On the next screen scroll about 1/2 way down the page until you see SHOW SIGNATURES, SHOW AVATARS, SHOW IMAGES.

3. Once there simply click the little box to the left of anything you want to turn off.

4. The last step (and most important) is to then go all the way to the bottom and click SAVE CHANGES.

For those that want to know,

SIGNATURES - the the tags at the bottom of people's posts.

AVATARS - are the pictures to the top/left of every message.

IMAGES - are the pictures inside of threads [NOTE: if you turn these off they will only show up as links]

One other helpful edit on the OPTIONS page is: Number of Posts to Show Per Page. I like to set mine to 40. It will cut down on the number of pages in LONG threads like this one!

I work in IT, so this stuff comes natural! :)

Who decides who is well adjusted?

 

Define "well adjusted"?

Come on, stop being obtuse. Society and norms determine this. When 99.9% of society thinks you're an attention seeker for acting like this with a toy dog that's who decides.

It's sad when people do this and claim ridiculous reasons because there really are people that legitimately need a service animal.

I'm pretty well adjusted and I put an outfit on Bell every now and then.

 

Especially during football season.

 

Oh no, I'm feeling the need to draw attention to myself again.

 

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Very cute dog, but the point is you most likely can function outside your house WITHOUT this cute little dog correct?

You don't need it for comfort when you do something "stressful" like ride in a car or the subway?

Yes.

 

And accurate.

 

If you think your pup is a child and can’t get through the day without dressing it like a doll get some professional psychological help; don’t make the rest of us deal w your inability to travel without your pet and its accessories. Or stay home.

 

 

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Amen. These people need a psychiatrist not a toy dog.

Speaking of "pet free" apartments, I mentioned this thread (and the continuing saga) to my 20 year old daughter yesterday. She is in college and mentioned that when she was in the dorm last year several girls on her floor had "emotional support animal" cats, despite the fact that pets are not allowed in the dorm. She also said that one of the girls lets her cat roam the hallways of the floor. :rolleyes:

 

She's disappointed that she can't bring her two pet cockatiels to school with her in the Fall, as her apartment has a "no pets" policy that includes birds (she checked). Maybe I should suggest that she purchase "Service Animal" flightsuits for them to skirt the "No Pets" rule. :evilsmile: (Just kidding--we wouldn't actually do that--but I'm sure plenty of people do!)

We really are weakening as a species or devolving. :)

I think that this is the way of the world because of on line searches looking for the best bottom line. I know that in Las Vegas room prices quoted can double with the addition of required resort fees... sometimes more than $40 per day.

 

When you do an on line search you are comparing the base price of different rooms without resort fees that may vary a lot. You get blind sided at check in.

 

If cruise lines showed the suggested tips as part of the price per person it would reflect the true higher price of the cruise. Tips to me are a hidden fee that needs to be paid to make up part of the crews salary. Certainly no union would put up with this practice and many higher end cruise lines do not add tips because they pay their people directly.

This is just a soap box opinion about hidden charges overall. I do always pay at least the suggested tips and more because it is salary, not tips, in my opinion.

Well said. Again for the "haters" I have no problem tipping, I'm quite generous, I just wish you could tip everyone directly. I realize there are lots of "others" that you never see that make your cruise fantastic I just do not like the fact that the cruise line plays "middle man" with these people's tips. It leaves too much room for the cruise line to screw over their employees.

They want $629 for a cabana with all day passes on my sailing May 18, 2019, that's just absurd!! Only waters provided in the cabanas?!

Ouch.

The dogs have a special place to go to the bathroom. You are not going to step in it on the ship's deck.

 

There is a forum on Cruise Critic dedicated to disabled traveling, which includes people that travel with service dogs. I've provided a link below. Why don't you take a look, you might learn something.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190

 

Here is a thread that you might find interesting. Note, it has over one million views ...

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=585728

Again, I have no problem with people with real disabilities bringing certified service animals wherever they go. It just bothers me when people abuse the system with silly things like "comfort" pets.

Which doctors?

 

The same doctors that give out HC parking documentation.

 

The same doctors that prescribe unnecessary opiates.

 

Been on a lot of cruises, never heard dog barking in room, never saw or stepped in anything, never seen dog in MDR.

 

I have seen them at shows, on the promenade, and in the DL.

 

 

 

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Someone posted earlier in this thread about a woman feeding a toy dog in the MDR from her lap. Why would you bring your dog to shows? Do people not realize how dogs hearing works?

And yes doctors give out stuff like candy. I guess I'm just from a different time period where people were tougher.

First of all, neither is a seeing eye dog. That does not diminish how important they are to someone who is blind.

 

You are not qualified to determine what is necessary for someone to function in today's society, and in this case specifically, you don't even know what the condition is. Of course this also describes the reason that the system can be "played" or taken advantage of. But what else is new? The same applies to billionaires who legally pay less taxes than you and I.

Read my earlier post. I said this should be regulated strictly by doctors. I never claimed to be qualified to give anything besides my opinion on this. The fact that people in our society now need a dog for "comfort" is silly to me, but others may feel it's fine. Equating a seeing eye dog to a toy dog is ridiculous. Any eye doctor would clearly issue a medical note for a seeing eye dog and it's pretty obvious to anyone a blind person's need for a guide dog.

But if I'm paying thousands for a cruise and I have to hear a dog barking in the cabin next to me ... or I step in something on deck ...

But who’s to say that dressing the dog up and pushing it in a stroller means the dog isn’t preforming a service. You’d need to know what service the dog supposedly provides to know that.

 

 

My dog comforts me when I’m stressed or upset. She will lay across my lap or stand in front of me if I’m standing. She can preform either of those “services” even if she is dyed rainbow colors or wearing a tutu. She can even prefer that service from a stroller because if I felt I needed her comfort I could lift her from the stroller (however, she is far too big for a stroller.) (my dog is not an ESA. I do not agree with ESA as an excuse to bring your dog into a public place. If dogs/pets are allowed I do sometimes bring my dog, but mostly she stays home.)

 

Besides, if RC is going to allow pets on board (which it sounds like clearly they do) I’d much rather that “you” push your pet around in a stroller where they are contained, can’t lock my legs, can’t be stepped on, can’t growl at me or bite me... than carried around in your arms or sitting in your lap at dinner or shoved in my face in an elevator.

 

The real issue here has nothing to do with current laws. Current laws are pretty clear. It has to do with RC has decided that they will allow pets on board the ships and will allow them in the dining rooms. Whatever their excuse it that seems to be the case.

 

 

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I'm sorry but your dog comforting you is not a medical need. Just my opinion.

The only result even if RCL ends its tipping practices would be they would raise the price of the cruise by 20% either way you're spending the same money.

 

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Hey I'm not here to fight with you on this, we just differ on our opinions and I didn't mean to jump back at you.

I agree it would cost more but it's why I posted their profit margins in the first place. With the right marketing they (RCL) could advertise "tip free sailing dates" and try it as an experiment to see if they generate more business by eating into their profit margin slightly if they book more rooms then it would be a win win (assuming they actually paid their staff more).

I've never seen cruises that stay there more than a day. Let us know what you find out.

I was referring to the topic of corporate profits versus employee salaries. That is a topic far too complex for cruise critic and really doesn't belong on cruise critic.

 

However since you are not gonna change Royal Caribbean's salary structure. If you don't like the idea that you have to add extra gratuities on at the end of your cruise in order to make sure that those employees are making a fair salary then perhaps you should choose a different form a vacation or a different cruise line!

 

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Or if you don't like my opinion perhaps you should choose to ignore it or post in a different thread instead of preaching to me how to live my life.

And if enough people talk about tipping in places like these what makes you think people at RCL don't read them? I have no problem tipping and 99.9% of the time always give people 20% in the service industry. Only rarely do I lower my tipping standards and the service has to be very poor for me to do that. As others have said in this thread tipping is uniquely an American thing and other industries have built tipping into the business models. But hey brother preach onto us how we should live some more, it's really helpful! :confused:

I just wish that having a dog or any medical reason for something special was better regulated and controlled by doctors. To me it should be very difficult to get a handicap special needs treatment unless you really need it. It's abused way too much and should be strictly enforced with a doctors note. Clearly if you can push your dog in a stroller and dress the thing up like a child then you are abusing the system. Where do these dogs do their business while on the cruise?