sldispatcher
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Posts posted by sldispatcher
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Back home safe....stayed ahead of the storms most of the way.
A very significant number of folks chose self-carry off on the bags today. And we were let off earlier than planned as well. I can only guess that disembarkation for the rest went fairly quickly and ahead of schedule.
Bon Voyage to those leaving today....
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Actually I did know about the deals, but we purchased a 3 night combi for the family as Christmas presents.
We will tend to go the Celebrity and Holland route because it fits us more.
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After one week on LOS, I can't recall a single item in the MDR, Golden Corral aka Windjammer, or any of the specialty restaurants that I would pay $7.95 to have delivered to the room. Period.
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In Our Wake
The day has had a thin meringue of grey high clouds as well as a subtropical haze hanging in the air. This combination has muted the usual blue color, but onboard it has been anything but muted. The Royal Promenade has been made into a Fire Marshall's worst nightmare with Asian born trinkets being offered at "terrific deals" on tables covered with "luxurious" pashminas. What normally would be space that allows free flow of passengers, RCCL barkers have caused a block in the flow of foot traffic.
The overpriced photo area is making some vice president of revenue management's annual bonus go up by the minute. Park West continues to find a supply of rare art but able to make good deals. They must have the same wholesaler as Tanzanite and Amber suppliers.
The MDR was shut down for a galley tour and special lunch for ...surprise....a special fee. We did not partake for $35/person. Lunch was back in the Golden Corral on deck 11 for some. Others bit the bullet and went to Johnny Rockets and called the food "subpar" but the musical breaks were entertaining enough. Apparently the main attraction were the milkshakes.
The Tidal Wave machine was actually working and a line formed for it today since the ride had such little availability this week due to various maintenance issues.
I'm not a prophet, but I fully expect there to be daypasses/etc. in the future for those slides. The nickle and dimers will not be able to refrain at RCCL.
The MDR experience on our last night was made great by the waiter and assistant waiter with just a lackluster menu to work with. They try hard and did "the ask" for 10's from the overhead announcement by the dining room manager as well as the waiter himself. He related one family gave him glowing reviews in a written format on the survey, but gave them just 6's on the survey which impacts his future. I have not seen the questionnaire yet, but if the numbers are tied to the staff AND the food, then that may be unfair for the wait staff.
Let me be clear as we close this trip out, that I think the LOS is at a level where first time cruisers will be overwhelmed with the options and never have an excuse for being bored. There will be some that will be happy with the food choices. In my humble opinion, it is still a good choice for those who have limited options to get to one of the larger cruise ports with other options.
The specialty dining onboard LOS is probably a rip off at the price offered. They are not that much better than the main dining room. The more cruises under my belt, the more jaded I have become about specialty dining places. Those especially centered around steaks are often overpriced and under deliver because the prices keep going up and the quality is not matching. With a good wait staff and friends/family to fellowship with, the MDR is adequate.
Another thing I find is that the Jr. Suites are a fairly good value for the space and limited amenities offered. The superstructure involving the aft of the ship is not conducive to enjoying the cabins as much as on other ships, but it wasn't all bad. I would not want to have these cabins in a scenery heavy destination. The lack of good air circulation kept us off of the balcony 90% of the time anyway.
So this has been a critical, but not necessarily negative "live from" review. In fairness, you can look back at my Marina review this January and find that I did not give them a glowing review on a daily basis just because they at supposed to be a super premium line. I'm not going all negative on the LOS just because RCCL is a mass market line.
As stated at the beginning, the many "live from" reports help me to prepare for my trips and making decisions. We are all thankful for everyone's efforts to post these and we certainly don't have to agree with the opinions. It amuses me how you can read two reviews from the same cruise and have 2 completely opposite end of the spectrum perspectives.
Here is the one sentence summary of our trip.
We've had a good time with family and friends this week, but as we come to the end of the cruise, we will probably leave RCCL in our wake.
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Scallop app
Salad
A very good pasta with a light cream and pancetta sauce
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Cheese plate
French Onion Soup
Finally...a warm roll...and it is punpkin seed
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Eggplant yum yum!!
Got too busy eating and didn't get other dishes captured
This is meringue dessert
Cannolis
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tOSUsteve: You know the abuses occur..and on cue, the offended showed up
Like everything else if you don't put a limit on things it gets out of control. How would you feel about a service animal being a snake for comfort or emotional support.
As a primary care physician, I can tell you, if someone can't do without a pet for 7 days or 7 hours, they are not ready to fly or go on a cruise.
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Day 5 - At sea
The sun was creeping around the edges of the cabin curtain telling us it was time to make a decision..turn over or turn out. I went up for a much calmer Windjammer breakfast. The air has the humidity that if you could see it would be causing just as much drag to the bow of the ship as the blue water below. Only a few white caps dare break the surface as the gently rolling waves do their thankless job of providing texture to the view. It is truly the deep blue sea.
Speaking of texture and conditions, the overall condition of the ship is up to par with such a massive vessel. Can you find a few areas? Sure. Does that alone take away from the ship? Not at all. The beds are firm and the mattresses are fairly thin. The pullout sofas will handle someone up to about 4 feet tall. Maybe 4 1/2. After that, things will have to get diagonal. Our ottoman became a handy sofa bed extender.
Even with as many people as are onboard, you rarely meet people in hallways. The elevators bays at Deck 11 and 5 are obviously the busiest.
Golden Corral, also known as the Windjammer, got crowded by 9am. Really crowded.
Lunch was in the MDR where there was not quite the slam-the-food-on-the-table-in-a-hurry service today. I like the made to order salad bar. By this time we are getting tired of eating anyway. Mysteriously, several seem to have room for dessert no matter the conditions.
There was lots of overdue napping done today. I LOVE days at sea. I know they drive some people crazy. Not me. That is real vacation.
Giovanni's was our dinner selection tonight. It was the second formal night of the cruise and they had the prime rib and lobster in the MDR. Giovanni's was also serving the lobster. Of course, anyone who is familiar with lobster knows that what is usually served has the size and appearance of a genetically enhanced crawfish tail on most cruise lines. This was no different. The tail was about 3 inches long. The server was nice enough to have us an entire plate of them already out of the shell so everyone could try one.
Speaking of which, we had almost the entire menu as she insisted that we just order our entrée and she would take care of everything else. That is fun considering our group of 9 is large enough to sample so many items. This was the richest of the dishes we have had on the ship to this point. I'll post pics soon enough although there are several available with a simple search. I would say the eggplant and the grilled shrimp were standouts. However, I really liked my Osso Bucco which was the waitresses recommendation.
Next door, in a separate area of the Windjammer was what appeared to be the Chef's Table dinner taking place. It was a nice setting. Our group was not at the culinary level to participate in that, but those are usually some of my favorite activities.
As we motor northward, we are edging up on the end of the cruise. To be honest, some cruise itineraries and lines you can get to this point and wish you had more time. Others, you are thinking it is time to get off.
But we have other anxious travelers waiting our return so they can begin their vacation.
We'll leave the LOS in great shape for you. But we have one more full day to relax before we do that.
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Jamaica Me Crazy - Part 3
Some quick hits...
1. There needs to be a stop to the insanity of "service dogs"/"service animals" onboard ships and planes when they are not related to helping a blind person see...period. The idea of being in a condition where you cannot be separated from your pet for 7 days without some sort of meltdown is ridiculous. If a person is at that point, stay at home. I can see 10 years from now, if we don't stop this, that every sailing will be full of family pets. This evening, I saw them. One dog being pushed in a stroller, the other one big enough to need a saddle to ride. Neither human was blind. Shouldn't be allowed. Period. Same for airplanes.
2. The MDR continues to be one of the stronger features of the ship. On our Jamaica stop night, the grilled pork chop was done just right. The sole was delicate. The desserts again seem to be a standout for RCCL which you cannot always say about other cruise lines. Just try HAL for a week and you'll see what I mean. Is the MDR perfect? No, but you try feeding 3500 people plus a night and get it right for everyone for a week and see how you feel.
3. Entertainment has been varied and overall a good quality. The comedian, whose name escapes me for a moment, was sharp and witty enough to be funny for all ages.
4. The $7.95 room service charge, if it is still in place, looms at times in my head as a real pain for a lot of people and will direct behavior. That is probably what they are after anyway. Behavior modification by way of a charge. Look at what happened to overhead bins when the baggage fees hit. We'll see if there is noticeable changes in the onboard eateries when that occurs.
5. Along the same vein, I would recommend that they send out folks after midnight ...if just one, to sweep the hallways for room service trays. There are so many trays left out overnight. It is unsightly and unnecessary in a ship this large that at least one person cannot be sent out after midnight to pick up trays. Again, this is probably in part due to being in the Caribbean. It seems like IQ's drop many points on these sailings. Sorry, you know it is true.
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Rant On
Just a shout out to the fellow cruisers...I know no one on CC would do this, but it took 5 days before some cerebrally challenged folks showed their true colors......and one of the reasons we attempt to avoid Caribbean cruises....
Balcony door left wide open PLUS coat hanger in cabin hall door to create a cross breeze I suppose. So entire aft corridor of the port side of ship feels like a sauna in the hallway.
I suppose the clearly written signs, etc. mean nothing to those folks as their synapses were blocked from making the leaping connections of logic required to think "my actions will impact others". I'm guessing they would be the first ones offended if someone started smoking next to them.
Speaking of which, I was a bit startled by the casino being a smoker's haven onboard. I suppose I missed that. I don't gamble or smoke, so that doesn't matter, but it is a great path from the front to the back of the ship before/after a show.
Rant over.
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Jamaica Me Crazy - Part 2
Excursion reviews don't normally get full court press coverage from me here, but I thought I'd spend a little time here discussing our tour today.
You need to know up front I almost always avoid ship sold tours. I try to find private operators through Viator or online searches so that we can be in smaller groups. We did that for Falmouth as we wanted to do Dunn River's Falls and tubing. In case you didn't know it, the falls are an hour away from the port. They are near Ocho Rios. The roads aren't bad, but they are curvy. Our bus driver and guide were courteous and the 16 passenger vehicle was spotless.
I mentioned the time earlier because of the distance, food access, etc. You need to plan if you are one that needs a snack regardless of how much breakfast you have had.
Dunn River Falls, well, let's just say was interesting. It was crawling, literally with people. You can go and look at them with a day pass, or you can climb them, literally climb them. Our tour was a climb and it was exhilarating and crazy at the same time. It was also extremely crowded.
When they warn you that you need to be agile and athletic, they were not kidding. Also, water shoes are an absolute must. You start at the beach and form a human chain holding hands. From there the assault begins in what was nearly an implausible if not impractical thing to do. When I say climb the falls, I mean climb the falls. Not the nice dry rocks along the edge...I'm talking about rushing water sometimes ankle deep. And you will get wet head to toe. Big steps and little steps. Nothing but rock, water, and your shoe grips. Sometimes ankle deep, sometimes chest high in pools. It was a Jamaican ropes course with water.
Before you think that you can't do it, the two persons at the front of our human DNA chromosome twisting up the falls were in their late 70's. He had one knee replaced and needed the other done. They could have exited 3 times and did not.
Photographers film and go with you the entire way. The leader did it barefoot!
Tired and feeling accomplished, we scrambled out of there and on to our White River tubing which was extremely well managed and quick to do. FINALLY we were at the lunch stop before heading back to the ship. Oh what a beautiful sight a cruise ship is when you've been away on an excursion.
Another of our group had a private island tour and enjoyed immensely.
LOS was already bustling by the time of our 3:30 return. Sailaway was easy, peaceful and without any fanfare.
After 3 days of activities, we were all looking forward to a couple of days at sea.
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Jamaica Me Crazy - Part I
RCCL obviously took the very best parts of Golden Corral and mixed them with Shoney's on a Mother's Day Sunday lunch to come up with the Windjammer. Okay, it's not THAT bad, but our Jamaica stop had everyone in there at seemingly one time. Before the RCCL flamethrowers come out, yes, I'm aware that peak times occur before docking. Yes, I'm aware that room service can be offered, etc. etc. etc. Not my first cruise. This isn't about the crowds, but the quality. Food being subjective and it also being a buffet, there is only so much one can do with it.
The design is extremely crowded even during the off peak hours. Things flow, but the bump-into-others rate is high with relatively narrow passageways. The entrance can look like the portal to a 50 yard line lower deck seating SEC football game with the flow of people in and out during the peak times.
This backfired on them as well for other parts of the ship. Mainly the aft elevators. 8 may have been enough for a TV show, but not here. (And yes, apologists, I know there are stairs and I use them.) Just plan to go ahead of time to any destination if the elevators are going to be used. It is not uncommon to have to wait for 3 or even 4 just to find space to where you are going. There was some intelligence built into how they work, but you have to watch it to pick up on it. Also, the port side elevators had one reserved for "priority service" so you might consider the starboard side to be faster.
Ah Falmouth.
I suppose it is too far for RCCL to get LOS on this itinerary to make a run for a private island, so we use this port where the wired fence part is to keep the people out of the institution (port). One foot out of the nice, modern facilities and you are transported to 3rd and 4th world conditions quickly. There is a major contrast between Jamaica and Grand Cayman. The port is not especially scenic as an area, but it does serve as a contrast between the flat lands of the Caymans or Cozumel from the previous 2 days.
Some notes for those who are still reading. As far as the Junior Suite is concerned, the bathtub is a nice feature maybe, but it is not full length and the height of the sides is not safe for anyone with even the slightest of mobility problems. The sneak in closet (don't think it really qualifies as walk in) is quite ample and a nice feature. The room itself, although not posh, is spacious enough compared to regular rooms to be worth the small investment in my book.
Again, back here, there is almost zero foot traffic outside of the door.
On the Royal Promenade, I've noticed almost no rooms with the curtains open.
The carnival barkers selling everything from lunch in specialty dining spots to the drink cards, are out in force today. They clog up quite a bit of space, but if people didn't fall for it RCCL wouldn't do it. I don't find it as annoying as some people do, but the fact that they are relentless with it in almost every aspect of the cruise is what probably chases some people away.
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Saw drink cards today. $75
For the person who asked about Holiday Inn Express at the Seawall, we really liked it. Large rooms. Ample parking. Away from most of the crazy part of Galveston.
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The review from yesterday is coming...it is just going to be in 3 parts...and was way too tired too post last night.
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Live from the LIBERTY of the SEAS 3/26/17 sailing
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
I can also now report that we were in 7712. Did not want to post exactly which cabin until off of the ship.