HappyTexan44

I *can* pack extremely lean and mean.  I've done a multi-week Eurorailing trip with just a school sized backpack. Woolite is essential.   
But, I am a proud overpacker.    DH is a former long-haul truck driver, my car is a touring Cadillac and we all felt like cattle being funneled to slaughter on our last flight, so we drive for all vacations.  I bring my California King comforter and between the three of us we bring about 6 pillows.  I have a fond memory of DH saying to me while in a hotel room, "Where is the back scratcher?" and I pointed to the window ledge.  I wouldn't say I pack too many clothes, but I bring lots of stuff because it doesn't seem fun to have to do without while on vacation.  

@alphawave1  The real issue here is her giving you grief.   Maybe stop her when she starts in on you, and say something like, "How about you not give me grief about how much I packed, and I won't give you grief when you ask to borrow stuff?"    What will likely happen is that she'll still give you grief.   Then when she asks to borrow stuff, you can just clear your throat and give her The Look.   

 

I've had my luggage sent to the wrong airport because the rude person working the airline desk used the wrong tag,   So, if I can, I put my own tags on.    If I can't I insist on seeing each before it is put on.  

19 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

it now takes 2 weeks unexpedited to get a passport for a minor. And you never know when you might have an emergency.

Yes, it was shockingly quick.  We applied just before Thanksgiving and got the passports early-Dec.  That was a new passport for daughter, and a marriage name change for me.  There is a passport renewal times thread here.  

Does make me what to take some screenshots though showing I have a paid-for cruise.  

1 hour ago, pcur said:

Provolone, swiss, cheddar, fig compote, celery, small slices of dark rye bread, grapes

Thank you!   That is a respectable selection.  Not what I'd have picked, but better than my expectation for a restaurant.  

We'll be on Voyager, does the library/game room have playing cards?   

I wonder though if Royal can convert the new people into loyal customers?     One downside of attracting customers looking for the latest shiny, is that they are easily tempted away with another shiny.   There isn't an unlimited supply of families with money.   
Maybe they'll stay, after all, as parent of a 13-year-old I can see the appeal of a vacation where daughter is active and happy while I am relaxing.  
 

Oh, I have a bunch of those around somewhere.  My grandfather used to bring home the excess cards from when he volunteered at the VA Hospital.  They'd get so many of those donated that they littered the place.  
 

What is a casino card?

2 hours ago, pcur said:

We also have 3 of the cheese/fruit plates brought daily to our table of seven for nibbles between courses.

Do the cheese/fruit plates have the sort of stuff that would be handy to bring back to the room for snacks later?    Do you remember what types of cheese and fruit were provided?   Mostly interested in the cheese.  

48 minutes ago, NoShoes2 said:

 

We are on Symphony Jan. 27th sailing. I was surprised that the earliest available time was 11:30. 

Could it be that other people have taken all the earlier times?  

2 hours ago, doghog said:

Just voicing my opinion, as unpopular as it may be on the RCI forum. 😉 ✌️ Curious, what's your starter cruise? First cruise?

Yes, it is to see if we like it.    I was one of those that always said I'd be bored on a cruise and I wasn't interested.   Then several people we know went on cruises and told me about them.  After, I told the family about one of those, they said, "Why don't we try a cruise?"   So, I looked into the idea and it seemed reasonable.  I looked for a cruise in the 5-7 day length leaving from a drivable port, Galveston or New Orleans, with a big water slide (for me).   I've already been to many places in the Caribbean, and the family has been to none, so ports didn't matter.  We wanted to do it as cheaply as possible, since there is a chance we'll hate it.   Fall 2022 I booked Voyager 5-day in Feb 2024.  We got two promenade rooms for 4 people for $1400.  

One nice thing, I really wanted DD aged 13 to be safe AND have fun.  So, we invited one of her friends to come along.   The rule will be that they need to be together, or with us, or in the room.  The girl's parents said Yes, and then later they decided to come too.  They are one of the people I know that cruise often.  
 

13 hours ago, doghog said:

Makes sense to me. Celebrity does it. I also believe if kids are cruising under the KSF program they shouldn't be receiving CAS points for those cruises. Would you still cruise if she wasn't earning CAS points? 

Well, even I'm not cruising for the points.   We have our starter cruise coming up, so we're cruising to see if we like it.  But, I'd think it was pissy of them to not give her points just because she was a kid and it would be a ding against Royal if they did that.  We're paying adult prices for her, but even on KSF I'd think they should get the points.   Adults on a casino comp cruise get points.  

 

12 hours ago, Etta1213 said:

You eat Triscuits??🤔

No, that would be Scared of eating Triscuits.   🙂  

Thank you for asking this.  

Looking back at the menu after reading what people have said, the Pesto Tagliatelle and Garlic shrimp entrees being combined sounds awesome.  My all-time favorite dish is Shrimp Alfredo.  

Good thing I like Butter Chicken.   When eating Mexican-ish outside of Texas or Mexican, my go-to dish is enchiladas because I *thought* that was a dish that no one could mess up.  I used to think that about lasagna until a restaurant served one without tomato or dairy products.  

Side note, we got the 10:30 arrival time.  Our friends going with us are experiences cruisers, and she said the only thing keeping her gang from arriving at 7am with their faces pressed to the glass is the hotel breakfast.  

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful replies.   I am particularly happy to hear that people have liked the Escargots and the Tenderloin, since those were the two things I was most interested in.  

People are different, some like to wing it on vacation.   Me, I find that stressful.  I love the anal scale that was mentioned here and I'm somewhere in the 9.2-9.5 range.   I'll never forget the AZ vacation where we drove around, and I'd had it well-planned except for the restaurants because life got busy the weeks beforehand.  At one point DH turned to me and said, "Where's good to eat near here?"   I had to say, "No Clue."  Plus, planning and researching vacations helps to extend the vacation.  

I hope somebody has tried the lamb.   My MIL is a Kiwi, so DH orders lamb often.  

Enough time has passed that people have experience with the new MDR menu items.   What I'm looking for is recommendations specific items, particularly what to avoid and what is pretty good.   The same ship/itinerary as ours starts in a few days and it has the menus up.   They are:

Voyager – Likely MDR Menu lineup for our 5-day cruise
1    Welcome Aboard
2    France
3    Caribbean
4    Mexico
5    Italy

I've noticed that the thoughts on the beef dishes is all over the board, which makes sense because it just depends on what the suppliers have on hand.   I always avoid anything with "White Fish" in the description.    I feel that is the fish equivalent to admitting the dish is Mystery Meat.   

So, I'm curious about everything else.  We don't have any dietary restrictions.  DH loves vegetables so if there is a really good veggie meal, I'd like to hear about that.  The desserts *sound* really good, but I haven't noticed any glowing reviews on any desserts.   
This is our starter cruise, so we'll be sticking tot he MDR.   

 

Caribbean+Night+Menu+-+Royal+Caribbean+Main+Dining+Room (1).pdf French+Night+Menu+-+Royal+Caribbean+Main+Dining+Room.pdf Welcome+Aboard+Menu+-+Royal+Caribbean+Main+Dining+Room.pdf Italian+Night+Menu+-+Royal+Caribbean+Main+Dining+Room.pdf Mexican+Night+Menu+-+Royal+Caribbean+Main+Dining+Room.pdf

But aren't there reports of twice as much on one entree plate being reliably allowed?   

DH eats more than the average person because he's extremely active.  So, I can see him eating more than normal.   I eat less than normal, but I could see myself skipping dessert and appetizer because none appeals, and just eating two of the small entrees, although in that case one at a time would be fine.  I also don't plan on eating crap.  So, if someone observed us, they might think we were wasting food.  

8 hours ago, Ashland said:

If you're a Costco member try their Kirkland brand....much better than any we've found in Mexico.

Thank you.   We're Sam's Members, but my parents are Costco members.  I can ask Dad to pick up some for me.  The quality of vanilla does make a difference.  

32 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Where?  Even when DW & I go to "high end" restaurants, we're looking at maybe 90 minutes, 2 hours at the outside.  And that includes drinks, appetizers, meals, and deserts.  

3-4 hours for a dining window isn't the time for each dining table, but the time window in which most people are eating dinner.  It was in reference to the person that said the MDR gets a pass since they only have 3-4 hours in which to serve a meal to thousands of people.  I was pointing out that restaurants have about the same amount of time.  

On 12/27/2023 at 6:43 PM, Crapster said:

I would add 2 $1 chips for the dealers to place where they want after each new point is made for the duration I'm at the table. They tend to take very good care of you.   

@Crapster   I feel that this is a naïve question, but I don't know the answer.   What does "take very good care of you" mean?    I've read that sometimes on the table games they aren't always reliable about giving you earned points, so slot machines are better.   Were you saying that the dealer is generous with recording your play for points accumulation?   

Also, this part is confusing, "after each new point."  You earned 4000 points, so tipping $2 for every points adds up to $8000.   That doesn't make sense.  Can you clarify your dealer tipping frequency?   

17 hours ago, Lakelife4me said:

Back to why my bar for MDR isn't set high. I work for a large corporation that has a couple of company events per year. Trying to feed 5000 to 7000 people at once is ridiculously difficult. We always referred to it as our "rubber chicken dinner" so I avoid it if I can. Even spreading it out over 3 or 4 hours, good luck.

The MDR doesn't get a pass and it isn't a catered dinner.   It *is* a really really large restaurant with an extremely limited menu.   In a catered event, it does matter that everyone gets their food at the same time.  There are speeches and group things that will happen, so everyone needs to eat in sync.  In the MDR, do you really care that someone on the other side of the room got their entree a half-hour before or after yours?   The traditional dining times is for their convenience, not yours.   Also, in your standard event space, the kitchen might average 1-2 large meals per week.  Whereas the MDR is doing a large meal each day, plus smaller breakfast and some lunches.  So, while an event space has an excuse for a smaller kitchen, the cruise ship has zero excuse.   Kitchens can be scaled up.  They can hire more people and buy more equipment.   3-4 hours is a standard window of time in a restaurant for dinner.  

Well, according to their own bean-counter reports, they are spending less on food per passenger.    Considering how much inflation has hit my grocery bill, it seems impossible for the quality to have *not* tanked if the food budget has gone down.  

Reminds me of a place I used to work.    A manager would get a great idea for a morale booster, once they cooked steaks for everyone for some company anniversary.   A high-up manager mandated that the steaks be 'huge, as in hang off the edge of the plate."  The steaks were less than a 1/2" thick and shoe leather.  I took it home thinking my eat-anything cat would enjoy it.  Nope.  He didn't recognize it as food.   One other time they got everyone white polo shirts with the company name on it.    Fabric was so thin and transparent that even men wore a undershirt underneath.