firefly333

7 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

What do you pack for the runs? I’d like to add it to my cruising pharmacy bag 😁

Just something over the counter, but I wound up so sick I had to take antibiotics for the e.coli to get rid of it. I got really really sick. The over the counter stopped the runs but I wound up past just that, needed antibiotics. As did several others. I eat a lot of spinach but e.coli could be on a lot of other things, ..honestly over 50 of us posted to our roll call they all got the runs the same friday night. And I didnt get off the ship, wasnt cozumel. I dont care what they claimed.

By the time another week went by and I was so sick I was close to having to be hospitalized and I think running a fever. I needed antibiotics sooner than a week later.

Over 50 of us got the runs one night on my roll call. A unheard of large amount I never even saw during covid. Friday night, many went to doctors when they arrived home, I was on b2b and tried to report it at guest services. Talk about rude. I was yelled at, yes he raised his voice and yelled impossible it could not be food related he said Their food is inspected, I got it in cozumel. ..though I said I didnt get off in cozumel and ate nothing in any ports. 

Some called royal and tried to report it and none said royal,cared, if it's not covid dont bother. My doctor treated me for e coli as most doctors diagnosed it as that. One lady went into hospital. Turns out stuff for the runs isnt sold in the onboard stores. Miserable 2nd week. Now I pack for the runs. People can and do get sick from the food. I'm witness.

Rcl might have changed but the cafe I went to used Seattle's best which is sold by Starbucks., 

25 minutes ago, Vagabond Knight said:

 

Our opinion is that THEY should have paid US to eat that mess. I know that others seem to enjoy Wonderland, but we went away disgusted at what we'd paid for what we considered a horrible meal (if you could even call it a meal). The funny thing is, we're usually very adventurous when it comes to food but, with the exception of that marvelous chocolate globe dessert, we thoroughly regretted not being in one of the other restaurants enjoying a delicious meal. To each his own though... 

And I had a horrible meal at chops. Truffle fries no seasoning, steak was red, undercooked and I didnt have time to wait to recook. Luckily was  bogo but I ad it have NOT been back. This isnt gourmet food. Hit or miss on any particular meal. I'd say it's about luck.rather than wonderland being bad. Used to have arugula for salads, now I havent seen it except on carnival used to do honeydew but now only saw it on my carnival cruise. But at least I can find bread and salad to make a meal. Italian night nothing I will eat. Except the bread and salad..sometimes you just gotta do what you can. Not every meal is up to par. But I didnt have to cut up veggies or wash dishes.

On 5/18/2024 at 10:47 AM, c-leg5 said:

It is only more expensive if you are literally booking a “private tour for one person”, as you would expect. 
 

I think the suggestion was to book a group tour, similar to a cruise line excursion, independently which is often less expensive. Some people, especially in Europe, arrange “private” group tours through their roll calls where the tour is usually smaller and limited to people from your ship.

Like everything else, there are “pros” and “cons” to booking through the cruise line or independently and needs to be decided by individual comfort level.
 

We have done both depending on circumstances and location.

I was with my sister in Belize and we hired a taxi. The lady selling was annoying but I assumed she was just directing to different taxi but no she said 2 have to be in the taxi, the driver and a 2nd person with him by their law. She took us to some church and we sat and sat, about how black people had to sit outside and couldnt come in, sat another 30 minute way over a hour held hostage. I was so hoping mad. Felt like I was being held up. I didnt tip. That's for sure.

I'd done taxi in other ports but not Belize except that one time. My sister has seizures so when I was with her we didnt pre purchase excursions because i never knew when she would have such a bad day of seizures I'd have to literally drag her around. Now she found a husband who drags her around even if she is limp like a fish. 

But I've had bad experiences in Belize. Wanted to see the birds last time, instead did some stupid yellow open air train waste of  money. After that time being held hostage at some church i had no interest in .. yea belize is scary in my book. Nothing but problems. We all 4 sat there at a stand off for a long lomg time.

I'm hoping to stay in rome next year and scared to death to plan alone, or how many days, or I'll be thinking get me out of here. I do prefer group tours I admit it. I want to be surrounded by others. 

If you mean rhe Greek dinner it's free. They just request reservations but I've walked in.

You dont have to be a huge fan of the food to continue to cruise. I enjoy not having to cook or clean up. I love salad and it's a pain to fix so that makes me happy. Doesnt have to be super good. Just nice that I dont have to cook and clean.

I'd do wonderland again as a bogo at half price. 

Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder. I wouldnt count on any good deals. Travel has been solid lately and now you limit yourself to close to out of nyc. I've seen a group which can be joined where you can ask for ideas and deals. Social media site, not a special site selling cruises. I love my TA so I just look at what they offer. Maybe do some mock bookings and narrow it down to which ships or specific ports.

Pizza should be open by 1 pm if not sooner. They have some fruit and other stuff usually also.

It's a smaller ship, less food choices. 

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

What ports are impacted by this issue?  In many ports you might find that you can arrange better private excursions or book directly with excursions operators…just be sure to be back to the ship on time.  You can get more info on the port of call forums.  

The problem with this is most private have a higher price for just 1 person. Couples or families it's less expensive but for me as a solo it's a higher cost and not worth it. This really depends on the size of the group you want to book. I just dont find deals for 1 with private excursions. I just skip or book something else. 

7 hours ago, gavvy said:

On Oasis last week I thought the food was very good.  The MDR food was consistently good and service was fast and friendly.  The Turkey dinner was a large portion of meat one night that I struggled to finish.

The WindJammer was the usual stuff, nothing exciting or bad, apart from the desserts- how do they manage to make something look so nice and taste MEH!

 

Overall I had no complaints with the food or the service.

I once ordered the turkey and asked for only dark. What I was served was 90% white, with a 1 inch teensy piece of dark meat. Went to WJ to eat enough to fill up. 

Its just not what I desire that much any more. I need to get  ove, but after that I will look around. Each of us is different.

One other thing on the carnival app I like for breakfast or lunch works better than dinner. At the bottom there is a button you can slide where you ask to share a table. During dinner I find most couples want to eat alone and not many others want to share, but early lots want to share. Just push the button to share. Otherwise I always get a 2 top by myself. 

It is one extra button yes, but I like to share brunch sometimes. Also faster seating. I cant push the button from my cabin and walk to the dining room before half way there it goes off and already matches me. Its that fast. Had to wait until I'm closer to lush the button I'm ready to ear.

No wonder they have a whole dining room dedicated to anytime, it's that good. 

1 hour ago, JRasnicJr said:

I'm planning a Royal Caribbean cruise with my 82-year-old parents in October and I'm seeing that excursions have a maximum age limit of 80 years. Does Royal Caribbean actually enforce this or is there a way around it? Thanks.

I was 71 and there was a bird watching excursion in Belize age limit of 70 I couldnt do. I believe its insurance but not sure but missed the cut off by 1 year. They will not make exceptions. Bird watching isnt that strenuous. It was in town walking thru back yards looking at local birds.

Diving had a 65 age limit. There are many with lower age limits than 80. 

7 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

But this says Avg/person.  So if I have two people in the room does each person have to pay the average price?  So is the total two times as much?  This is all so confusing.  There should be a law that will force the cruise lines to give me the total price for two people.  That's how they stick it to us.  They make us do our own addition, or would that be multiplication. . .now I have to multiply by two.

Ok I picked a random cruise to coco cay. 1 pax, and then 2 pax. 1 pax always is more than 200% higher because solo cannot book a gty on royal. If you have 340 pts I can enter that and get the total down but most everyone like me does group rates but here is what you see if you arent aware of lower group rates. .. you see the cabin only choice comes up. $804 average for 1 pax plus taxes.

Then to show you I changed to 2 pax, so 2 fees and taxes, but  now it says average fare is $354 per person, and they pick your cabin. Total is only about $10 more because 2 people can do a gty, 1 pax cannot. This is why you see threads about royal, why is the solo supplement mlre than 200%, it's not apples to apples it is 200% just a solo cannot pick gty as a choice on royal.

Before covid solo used to book a invisible 2nd pax to get the lower rate. Often it's a much bigger difference than this, often hundreds, just a random choice. But then royal cracked down on giving solo a 2nd loyalty point if they booked as a double with 2 pax to get the much lower gty rate. 

When I post with royal you really need a TA and do group rates, I'm serious. One I was looking at a 10 day in europe direct in a balconh showed over 5k, but $2700 from my TA. My refundable rate on wonder booked onboard at next cruise was over $3400, but under $1700 refundable in a inside balcony after my TA added discounts. Carnival to me is straightward, royal is not. But anyway,this is how they now show taxes when doing a mock booking. Carnival no surprises, but royal can be a head scratcher to newbies. And I'm not even getting to obc combining. 

Maybe not the best example. I might see prices for the new utopia from 399. And then when I put in 1 pax, the lowest price is over $900, because the first price is a gty price and aolo cannot book a gty on royal. All my royal bookings are refundable group rates, or I wouldnt be booking royal. 

3 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

We been on 23 Carnival cruise, but we are booked for a Royal cruise in a few months.  For those who have been on both cruise lines, does Royal have an app similar to Carnival's Hub App?  Are you able to request dining time on the my time like on Carnival and view menus and such?  Any other comments or advice about it?  Thanks!

No it's not even close imo. On carnival if you have any time you push a button and within 5 minutes or so the computer matches you to a table number, you walk up and show the table number and they walk you to the table. From 530 pm onward.

I'd done carnival then tried anytime on royal. You cant make a reservation until about 645 pm. It's not any time you want to eat either, if you want to eat earlier it involves a lot of standing in line and people still pick a assigned time every  night or they stand in line, none of this super fast computer matching you to a table when you want to eat. Royal anytime is a farce. They need to take lessons from carnival.

You can see the menu in the app and otner things they do well. ... anytime dining is not one of the things they do well. Other than you can see the menu, imo it's not even similar. Not popular on royal for a good reason. 

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

I am confused, what is the advantage to doing this?

 

They claim it's to obey the new calif transparency law. Now they add it up for you. Each cabin at the bottom says total with fees and taxes. This is solo so 1 set of fees and taxes or it would be  more.

They been working on rolling it out, now they do the math and call it transparency. 

3 hours ago, StephPS79 said:

Literally the only change is where the taxes and port fees are displayed.  Now they will be on the first advertised price screen instead of the last final booking price screen.  The process of paying port fees and taxes isn't changing.

That's what royal is doing on every cabin. Used to show taxes and fees on the main page. Now they do the math for you, and show the price and then add in the fees and taxes. This is a solo price and how they are handling it. As you said now they just show rhe math on mock bookings when before it was at the bottom of the page and you had to do the math.

He was my favorite captain. I loved his southern accent and friendly to all. I am so sorry. I knew the ship diverted to ft Lauderdale to take him to the hospital but didnt see he passed. I really am sad. 

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Oh, now we're talking about Explorer in 2026. I only looked at Utopia for this year and didn't see the screen shots. Don't mind me, wasn't following.

 

There are some 5N cruises on Explorer in January 2026 starting at $182 if you don't mind only going to Mexico. That's pretty damn cheap, lol.

I am booked on some explorer late 2025, but more than that. Like 300 to 400% more. Maybe prices dropped but I dont see that price, but i have it set for 1 pax. And mine have DP340 added and still more than triple. I have b3b on explorer, but 2 are eastern which is always more.

I need a invisible husband clearly. I dont see anything below 800 and that's before taxes and fees in any category. Now you know why solo say it's not fair. We are willing to pay 200% but 400% more than the advertised rate isnt fair. .

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

FWIW, I never saw any low prices in July. The decent prices were for AUG-NOV when mentioned to me late last week.

Royal emailed that to me for July.  As a sale.

The 289 price is jan 29. I have wonder booked around feb 2nd then 1 day then utopia.. if I didnt have utopia mid feb I'd jump on it anyway. Good deal. 

2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Oh right, my bad. I don't ever have all the solo rules in my head. Sorry.

I added two screen shots, 289 price first page, I click thru and 804 before taxes shows as cheapest. I could almost do this one, I think I leave on wonder feb 2 but I might be wrong. Prices arent that bsd, sut this is why solos on royal say not fair. Carnival let's me book a gty why  not on royal. This is why people used to book a fake 2nd pax as a solo. 

34 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

For a specific date or as a solo price? I ask b/c a friend alerted me to some reasonable Utopia prices. Here’s a 4N with a base price of $387…

My issue is that price is usually a gty which when I change to 1 pax, goes up above $900 before taxes. The email I got for sales sales specialty said July 2024 and nothing close. 

The gty price is meaningless ... this is why solos keep saying why do we have to pay more than 200% solo supplement.

This says insides from 289, I click thru and the cheapest inside shows as over $800. That's not 289 x 2. Ra dim example. .. cheapest I see.

When I see a low price I just know its maybe a gty. Then I put in one pax and it then goes to pick your own cabin. It does that for me 99% since a solo cant book a gty. 

I'm still looking for the 399 3 day utopia sale price they emailed. Any chance you are clicking to pick your own cabin.

1 hour ago, RRTcruiser said:

So if I read this correctly, anything we buy in the duty free liquor store aboard ship on leg 1 of a b2b will be delivered to us on the last day of that cruise and is ours to use throughout the 2nd leg of a b2b ?

They held mine until end of last leg. They do not deliver it at the end of the first leg. 

Have to buy it last day of first leg and bring it back yourself to your cabin.

4 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Looking at another Alaska, our first one way back in 2013 on Radiance, we snagged an aft Sunset Balcony for under $2K, same ship same itin next August $3500...boing!😲

Doesnt sound bad to me. My price for a inside balcony this oct about 1k, was over $3400 last I looked though came down some down. Not even for a good balcony. Harmony. I dont bother to check prices.