FrankNBrew

Thanks for the info. I have a thinner sport coat. I'll do my best to load it in without any tight folds (wrapped around other clothes) and hope for the best. Worst case I'll be wearing a wrinkly sport coat over my wrinkly shirt. 

What would I expect to pay if I decided to have a button down shirt and sport coat dewrinkled on board?

For ya'll who dress to the nines, how do you travel with formal clothes? I carry a medium size suitcase, which is usually stuffed for a 7 day trip. Without bringing along a 2nd bag, how do you do it?

12 minutes ago, FrankNBrew said:

We will be on the LOTS next month on our first cruise in many years. We plan to catch the sunrise every morning and be in bed by 10:00 every night. We're not night club people, but more of the cocktails, humor, and good conversation types. Formal dress is out, so we will be skipping the MDR on formal nights. What do recommend we wear on other nights in the MDR, to catch some shows, or drop in one of the bars for after dinner cocktails? I'm a big fan of khaki shorts (sometimes plaid) and polo shirts or t shirt. Are there places where a polo, khaki shorts and open toe footwear would stand out as under dressed?

I'm not sure why this was merged with a discussion about formal nights in the MDR, when I'm specifically asking about everything but formal nights in the MDR??

2 minutes ago, baileybrad said:

Everyone on the boards knows that this topic is source of consternation for many people. Our cruise on the OAS the week of Christmas leaned more towards folks coming closer to the dress suggestions on most nights in the MDR. You still see a wide window of clothing choices for folks. The people that do seem to stand out the most, at least noticed by our 3 sons who have been cruising for the past 10 years, are the occasional ones wearing shorts with flip flops in the MDR. That is rare. Their cruise, their choice. For simplicity when packing I have not brought a sport coat for formal night on our past couple of cruises. I would always take it off at the table so .......... I still wear a tie and a long sleeve dress shirt on formal nights. Spouse loves to dress beautifully. The boys like to wear bow ties with vests on formal nights. One thing that drives my wife crazy is that on 4 of our last 6 cruises we have been seated at a table for six with just our family. And I have reduced bringing one short sleeve polo shirt for the non-formal nights. I repeat one shirt from the first night and on the last night and it drives my wife crazy. My take is that I wear the darn thing for about 3 to 4 hours if that. Hope you have an outstanding cruise.

What if you get gravy on your shirt?

We will be on the LOTS next month on our first cruise in many years. We plan to catch the sunrise every morning and be in bed by 10:00 every night. We're not night club people, but more of the cocktails, humor, and good conversation types. Formal dress is out, so we will be skipping the MDR on formal nights. What do recommend we wear on other nights in the MDR, to catch some shows, or drop in one of the bars for after dinner cocktails? I'm a big fan of khaki shorts (sometimes plaid) and polo shirts or t shirt. Are there places where a polo, khaki shorts and open toe footwear would stand out as under dressed?

I'm also considering taking an Uber from the port to IAH. Or take an Uber from the port to the Texas City Budget, where we can rent a car for $30 and take our time getting back to IAH. I've used the price estimator, but it doesn't account for surge pricing. I'm wondering about the probability of surge pricing during ship departures and arrivals. Hopefully somebody can give real experience.

13 hours ago, whitshel said:

Correct Bob, it showed on day 4. Still a good value, most mixed drinks are $10 to $12. 

Those will be nice to have for days 6 and 7. Fingers crossed they will be offered!

Is the $79 dollar drink card offered every day? Or only on Wednesday? 4 of those would make a lot more sense than a drink package for us. Thanks!

30 minutes ago, whitshel said:

$30.68 including tip for a bucket of beers. We had Corona.

 

That should keep our bar tab under each $50 on pool days! 

2 hours ago, coppermom1 said:

Thanks for these posts! I will be on the February 10 cruise. I cannot wait to read more about your cruise. Have a wonderful trip!

We're on the February 10th trip, too! Looking forward to lots of pics and tips to use on our cruise. 

3 hours ago, zdad59 said:

 

You are tipping back of the house at any restaurant you go to whether you think you are or not.   It is not an optional activity for the wait staff or bartender.   It is a job requirement.

Not true. I've worked in restaurants. It's not a normal practice. My step daughter worked at a pizza joint where she brought out the food for the servers. In that position she would get a very small portion of the tips at the server's discretion. Some of the servers never tipped them. That's fine, because her hourly wage was not discounted to accommodate for tips. 

If the cruise lines are adjusting the pay for their back of house employees, expecting them to make it up in tips, that's terrible on their part. Tips are for the people who are directly dealing with the customers. 

Also, for the record, when I booked this upcoming trip nowhere was I told about the auto gratuities. That was revealed to me when I asked a question about OBC. $29/day may not be a big deal for some, but we booked this trip thinking it would be an affordable vacation. I wasn't expecting to be gouged to supplement the cruise line's payroll. 

Odds are good I will leave the auto gratuity in place, but the whole concept is a load of feces. If the employees deserve more, pay them more, and tack it on to the price of the cabin. Don't blame the "cheap customers" if your ship is unable to keep good help.

14 minutes ago, zdad59 said:

 

Not quite correct.    The amount you tip your server is shared with the back of the house.   How much they need to cut varies from restaurant to restaurant but both wait staff and bartenders share their tips with others.

I'm not paying extra for the back of house. That's an optional gratuity the server pays based on the level of service they receive. I'll base my gratuities on the level of service I receive; not based on a promise the cruise lines made to their employees.

5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I hope you are ready for some "feedback".

 

Biker, who may rethink the tip on this thread.🍿

I spent many years as a self-righteous <insert derogatory label>. I'm ready.

When I visit a full service restaurant I'm expecting the server to perform to an acceptable standard, and I expect to pay an additional 20% for that service. I don't expect to pay any additional for the cooks, dishwashers, busboys, etc. That's baked in (no pun intended) to the cost of the food. I don't tip at McDonalds, nor do I tip the hot food server at the grocery store. 

 Being my first cruise in a very long time, I will wait a few days to see how things work out. If it turns out I don't care for the main dining room, and would prefer to eat at the buffet every day; and I don't care to have my room serviced several times per day (I usually leave the do not disturb sign on my hotel rooms for the entire stay) I will probably opt to remove the auto gratuity. I'm paying over $300/day for our cruise and some basic services other than a bed to sleep in should be included in that cost. 

If gratuities are optional, it's fair to only tip for services I care to use.

At Dunns River Falls is it possible to climb using the observation deck, yet jump in at different areas if I see a nice hole to cool off in? Or do we make our selection at the bottom and stick to our choice? My wife and I are very average middle aged Americans. Not sickly, yet no athletes either. We have no desire to hold hands with strangers, but we would like to give the falls a try, and have the option to enter and exit as we see fit, on our own schedule. 

It looks like this subject has been covered several times, yet I don’t see consistent answers. On the RCI app it shows ship time is CST. Galveston is CST, but all 3 of our stops are EST. The RCI app, RCI website, and every port schedule I read all have the same times listed for our stops. How can this be? If our ship is supposed to dock at 10:30, according to everything I read, will this actually be 9:30 ship time, and this will be reflected closer to departure? I ask because I booked an excursion at 11:00 in Falmouth. If we’re not actually getting there until 11:30 EST I would need to book the 1:30. 

Let's say I rent a car from Bush airport which needs to be returned in Texas City before we leave. And let's say I was to drop off my wife at the cruise port around 10:00 AM, drive to Texas City, drop off the rental, and Uber myself back to the port. Would my wife have a place indoors with a comfortable seat to wait for me an hour or so before checking in? Is traffic going to be an issue in and out of the Galveston port area around 10:00 AM and back into the port area around 11:00AM? Or does this plan sound like excessive hassle and we should simply drop the car in Texas City and Uber together?

I was very interested in this walking tour in Falmouth...maybe because it’s a picture from Key West. 😂

I noticed this board is extremely busy with very experienced cruise travelers, however the other boards for ports get very little traffic.  The Cozumel board gets a lot of traffic, but not so much for some of the others. I've been reading and asking questions on the Jamaica and Cayman Islands boards with little information gained. I see lots of questions with no responses, or a bunch of "I have the same questions" replies. I'm appealing to the diamond, platinum, etc, folks here on the RCI board to head over to the port boards and share your expertise with us pre-Gold RCI cruisers. Thanks!

Thanks for the response. The more I read about Falmouth, the less excited I get about that stop, and even less excited to travel to Montego Bay. After reading reviews about The Hip Strip, it sounds like walking the strip may be more annoying than rewarding.  Finding a beach closer to Falmouth may be the best option. Our cruise has 2 options for Blue Waters; there's a Blue Waters beach transfer, which says it includes a complimentary beach chair, which leads me to believe the entry is also included?? And then the all inclusive for $68 each. I'm guessing by day 5 of our cruise a day of all inclusive eating and drinking isn't going to sound so great. I'll probably book the budget transfer and we can head back to the port and find a nice local restaurant for food and drinks if we so choose. Thanks again. Keep the responses coming, please.

Doing more research, I discovered that when we arrive in Falmouth our ship of 4,000 is the only one in port, and Montego Bay has zero ships in port. That makes Doctor's Cave sound even better. Any chance the lack of ships in port in MB could reduce the quality of service at DC beach? Or affect shopping on the Hip Strip?

We will be in Falmouth mid February for 8 hours. It's our 3rd stop. We have active stuff planned for the first two stops, so I'm thinking a lazy beach day would be appropriate. Reading many posts about taxi pricing, it doesn't look like we would save much if we hired a taxi on our own, and avoiding the negotiation process sounds appealing. The cheapest excursion offered on the ship is transportation to and from Blue Waters with a 3 hours beach visit for $26 each. For an additional $4 each we can take a bus to Montego Bay, visit the Hip Strip, then spend 3 hours at Doctor's Cave beach. I'm leaning toward the 2nd one. If you've been to both, any reason you would pick one over the other? I love big waves. Does either one have bigger waves than the other? Or are they in close enough proximity to each other where the surf will be comparable at both? How about a place to rinse off the salt water and change out of swim clothes for the ride back? Better food and drinks at either? All info appreciated!!

Thanks for the info. Looks like the Cayman Safari tours start before our ship arrives. But their website gives us some ideas.

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

 

Enjoy your day. The east side is great away from the crowds.

 

Not sure which company you are using but there have been mixed reviews on here of some jeep tours. Please research carefully, don't drink if you plan to drive  and be sure the jeep is insured for you to drive.

 

As John says please report back.

It’s a private tour. Just 3 of us with a guide. Apparently there is beer on board??? I guess we will decide who drives before any alcohol, and the guide (who hopefully isn’t drinking 😃) will drive afterward. The trip advisor reviews were excellent. And, yes, I always check out the reviewers for validity. 

I appreciate the warning!! 

58 minutes ago, matj2000 said:

People need to stop being cheap.

 

If you want to drink a lot, buy the package.

 

If not pay as you go.

 

If you cannot afford it,  go camping..

I once got kicked out of a campground for sneaking in beer. It was a Boy Scout camp. 😬