SSVacation

We went to the CL also. Carlos was the concierge there and he was also excellent. No views from the CL on Liberty. At 6pm, it was a bit more crowded than the DL for our two cruises.

Glad to hear Carlos and Anis are both on Liberty, they are excellent, hoping they are still there in October!

We should all meet in one of the lounges and hash this out over a few cocktails 🍸

We were on the Adventure recently and we did receive an email from Dionne about 5 days before hand, as Bob stated she was excellent!

Just off the Adventure, Dionne was very nice and provided great service, we were in a GS and did receive an email about 5 days beforehand.

If you have cruised for many years you would have definitely noticed the decline in quality pertaining to the food, especially in the WJ, but as stated, it does fill the void - another shout out to Don Pedro - was nice having breakfast with you in Giovanni's every morning Pete!

Just off a B2B on Adventure, Yes there is a stir fry station and is was very good, probably the best selection they had for dinner in the WJ, the rest of the selections were not very appealing.

FYI.

 

The new concierge on the Explorer starting on Jan 18, is JORGE GUTIERREZZ.

 

Does anyone know anything about him?

Jorge was our Concierge on the Granduer a few weeks ago, He was excellent!

We always book suites, I can see truth to a lot of the complaints here, but there is a huge difference when you have the right suite attendant and Concierge.

The suites on the older ships do show the age but that is somewhat to be expected, not acceptable, but knowing the age of the ship when you book will help with the expectations.

Some of the other lines have been offering a better experience, and some even with a better price if you shop around.

With 5 cruises booked through this year we will be trying 2 of those on Celebrity in a CS, we have over 30 cruise on Royal, none of them a bad time, just think it's time to try another line.

We just received a phone call from Crown and Anchor, thanking us for our comments on our December cruise, wishing my wife a very Happy Birthday, also looking forward to welcoming us aboard in 3 weeks, and asking if there was anything they could do for us!

After 30 cruises with RC this was the first time we have had a call like this from them and a very nice touch!

Getting the sea pass bill on the last morning :eek: kinda Ironic, the higher the bill generally means a great cruise :D

Sky bar 🍻 or Schooner 🍸 if the weather is bad.

We just did both on Grandeur, they both had outstanding service, we found the meals a little better at Chops, and the selections a little better at Giovanni's, but I'm with Bob on this one, it's now $35 pp at Chops and getting harder to justify.

Just back today from the Grandeur, the CL overflow was in the Viking Crown, also had 3 drinks loaded on our sea pass that were good at any bar. Not sure about the diamond lounge.

Two 😎

Have done them both many times, don't think you can go wrong with either.

15 days......(not soon enough)

biomedbob You cannot make a statement like that and not back it up. I see in your signature you have been on GOS many times, so why now is it sooo bad?

I think he doesn't want a good thing to get very popular!

Back on the Grandeur in a couple weeks, great ship and even better crew!

3 more :cool: Taking the last trip out of Bayonne on the Explorer.

Yes many times, we have had the same suite attendant on the Explorer the last 2 times we sailed her, we are hoping to see him next week on the reposition.

We usually run into many of the crew we have met on past cruises, at least one on each new sailing!

That's correct, however your airline has to participate and your flight must leave no earlier than 11:30AM and that departure can change depending on the port.

 

From the RCI website regarding Luggage Valet

Thank you for the info. We loved that service from San Juan but they stopped it years ago there.

Our next up ends in Port Canaveral so I will be sure to use it!

I fully accept that that the CL was originally set up for the use of Suite Guests, and I believe that those that book suites should be entitled to receive everything that is sold to them as part of that package. As such I feel for them when the Lounge is overcrowded and the facility cannot be enjoyed to the maximum.

 

However under the current rules, the access to the CL is also part of what is purchased by a D+ or P member and therefore they are equally entitled to use the space and services of the Concierge and Bar Service Team in the Lounge.

 

I think it is a good idea that drink vouchers have been introduced to enable guests to drink in other locations, particularly when travelling friends might not have access to any Lounge.

 

But it is unfair to accuse people of "feeling entitled" when clearly they factually are. Every business chooses the way in which they look after first time or regular clients. Royal chooses to have a loyalty scheme that offers certain benefits to different guests.

 

I for one do not expect any greater level of service from any other guest no matter how many times I or they have cruised. I think that all guests should receive the best product and service available. I always have and that is why I continued to return completing enough cruises to reach Pinnacle.

 

So am I entitled to consider the Lounge as part of the deal struck with Royal, under the current rules YES I DO, and if they change those rules I will consider my position then. Do I consider the "free drinks" to be an issue, no not really because I know that I can cruise with other lines at a lesser price, and buy a drinks package and still come in at a lower cost than I might pay with Royal.

 

I choose Royal because of many aspects, the hardware (Ships) is certainly one aspect that keeps me coming back, but the Software ( the Crew ) is my main reason.

 

And yes I do know some highly regular cruisers that do push the status thing beyond a reasonable balance, but having access to the Lounge is currently an entitlement that is reasonable and therefore I hope to continue to enjoy the ability to have a concierge that welcomes us into the Lounge without considering our presence anything less than valid.

Bravo!

We encourage our employees to take ALL of the vacation time they have!

We even offer them cruises as an added incentive for a job well done!!!!!

We book early and often!:cool:

As much as I would like to see more Radiance sized ships it looks like the emphasis is on bigger and more passengers for RCI, this will not be a good thing for the company in my opinion as a downturn will come eventually."

I could be wrong but seeing the changes first hand it seems greed has taken hold on a great company.

I am guessing the Leviathan Class with 10,000 passengers will be next!

Southern......on the Adventure :cool: