monkeyinhat

Thanks for the info.

Public service warning....don't forget to leave out pants. I got a panick call from my mom. Picked her up at airport wearing a sweater and a night gown. Her traveling companion had been drinking [emoji16]

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Any one cruised in the past couple months Freedom from Ft Lauderdale know if the airport valet or whatever it is called where you pay for them to send luggage thru for a fee is offered?

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Thank you all.

There is a U.K. Website I used to look at.

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As signature shows regular to Royal. Like to book early to get pick of cabins. We decided to go back to X for 2019. got to thinking, we are so close to D+ maybe will just stick with Royal. Maybe do a suite on a mega ship.

Started looking at cruises ran thru prelim booking to see a price for refundable deposit and non refundable deposit prices. Huh? ok. so then keep going to see cabins available , look at several different options all only give me a choice of mid ship . Ya can't tell me all aft or front are sold out on 5 different dates/ different ships. seems like they are not giving me much of a choice .Looks like to me they are deterring online booking.

Are non -refundable deposits transferrable?

My after the holidays blood pressure will not allow me to call directly and ask Royal. So thought maybe someone knows what the deal is on site new bookings.

btw-I always pick and look online then call directly and book thru Royal. Easier for me than going thru Travel agent.

TIA

I think it is ok the dessert is ordered at the same time. Many times waiter hogs require more attention at MTD. We have left after waiting too long for dessert order in order to make a later show

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For anyone who has sailed recently, were there any theme nights (white party, 70s, 80s)? Sailing on the 4 night to Key West and Bahamas and want to plan outfits (aka costumes) accordingly. Thanks!

 

 

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I know they had a white party when we were on2 weeks ago.

But do not remember any others

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But there goes my mind.........what is under the kilt? [emoji848]

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Because no one can call or email us. Owning our own biz we can totally disconnect from othwise 24/7 work

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Thanks for all of the info and answering my questions.

We always do smart casual but hitting Disney 4 days prior to Cruise. Thinking of taking hubs mostly shorts and doing a load of clothes at Disney hotel.

Happy boozin' and crusin'

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The Empress was the first Cruise we took. So excited the first night the propellor FELL off the ship! But as you can see we got hooked

Anywho.... we go in less than 2 weeks. Couple questions. As I understand it no formal nights . Correct? I am leaning to think dress is a little slack. Did you see men wear shorts an collared shirts in MDR? Was money exchange at port a big deal?

Cheers [emoji481]

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Thanks for info. Never cruised from Tampa.

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Have not used UBER but have priced from Disney hotel to port

How would we book it . I am assuming with approx 90 minutes 1 way it woul require UBER driver some planning? Also would they stop at store so we could pick up sodas.

I am guessing you put in on app and they show who would be willing to take fare .

We are looking for a hassle free trip.

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Yippee. Vidalia onion tart back [emoji106]🏻

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I did my first embarking day massage and will always again. She did extra time because she says not busy on that day. Think they want to get you hooked. And was a fantastic way to start off much needed vacation. I don't always make time for myself to do spa treatments at home so feel that a little extra cost is worth it.

Another hint. We are diamond not sure about other levels discounts. I booked massage online before vacay and got 25%off. Did a facial onboard. Since I had not used the diamond discount on board I got 25% off that service too.

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Nelbleu. I really feel the embark and debarked problems it port problem. Felt ship staff unhelpful as the didn't know what was going on either. No organization or care. It seemed part problem was delay getting enough wheel chairs and personal to escort wheelchair passengers off ship due to large quantities (to be expected).

As I said terminal and passport line flowing not backed up.

They have conveyor system to claim luggage rather than search a pile. So much easier/less chaos.

We had 11:30 flight and plenty of time. With boarding starting 30 minutes prior and uncertain I would do walk off

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Not sure of cooking prep. But this was new on my last cruise. By the pasta station they now have toppings. Sautéed pepprts mushrooms zucchini etc. and different flavored oils with pesos and chilies. was very excited to see this. As a vegetarian added a lot of flavor to some bland cafeteria type food.

Some items I saw were listed vegan,vegetarian,gluten free In windjammer

I feel that was a B.S. response to send you such I saw the great care taken regarding gluten free diets.

Never understood the vegetarian/vegan eating fish thing. Has face ,beating heart.........[emoji226]

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Just got off Navigator. Few pool servers but sea days only.

Something about hubs & I are invisible to servers & bartenders. We tip cash. We drink easy 2 ingredients mixed drinks. Have tipped 20.00 for free diamond member drink thinking surely they will come around to us or bartender will see if ready for another . Nope sit with empty glasses in search of or in long line. Even in diamond loung ignored over large demanding groups who do not tip. Stand at the bar still ignored. Every drink we tip something. But stay invisible. Hubs got so mad the last night he tipped the one girl staying she was the only one who waited on him all night an extra 100.00.

Now I can not blame the bartenders getting mad over people with drink cups banging them on the bar at them. That is RUDE

Cheers

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Paris....what I did was think long and hard and waiver on booking massage. I received the precruise offer. A little deceiving when committing to book gives you drop down menu with different days/times/prices. One of the cheaper was debarked day 5 pm. I am telling you perfect time and way to start vacay.

We are diamond members. We get 20% off spa.Hubby wasn't feeling well one day and convinced me to go back to spa. I went for a facial. Since I prebooked day 1 massage at precruise discount. I was able to use diamond discount also.

The hotel and planes were cool. You could also see Miami version of people mover. Could probably walk to it to use it.Hotel super nice top notch toiletries.

Nice pool with ocean view. When my boys were little they would have loved it

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We cruised Navigator February 2016. I gave it a not so good review and we were not so pleased with the trip. There were several areas of wear and neglect. Main problem was service and moral/attitude of staff. Most were rude, not helpful and would run rather than serve you or answer a question.

We booked this ship and cruised again last week. The only reason was we had wanted to do the ports on the itinerary. And even thought it had not been the best experience, it wasn't horrible.

So.....to be fair I wanted to give my opinions of the ship 11 months later.

It was definitely a major improvement. The ship was in great shape, clean. I had noticed torn and worn drapes in MDR had been replaced.

The attitude and service of the cruise was a major improvement. We had great dining service and good in other areas that had lacked before.

One of the staff on the the ship did a between you and me (wink wink) and told us the ship had been in code red. they had received so many bad reviews that headquarters came aboard from shore and did a "ship cleaning" fired cruise director and many managers in many areas. They have made an effort all around to approve moral and ship improvements.

And as I stated above it showed. Kudos, to Royal for listening to reviews and making the changes and the efforts.

Yeah, everyone is not going to be pleased with everything . We are not high maintenance people expecting everyone to jump to our needs. But I wanted to be fair and give notice to the improvements. I gain valuable info from these boards and feel I need to give back and give info also

Now for the other. Check in was annoying and there was no need for the back up and waits. This was totally caused by the port authority people checking passports and scan machines. They were rude , pushy and unnecessarily brusk. No need for it. We arrived at 12:30

I decided to book a 30% off spa massage right after muster drill. from now on I will always do this. What a perfect way to start off a cruise after stressful Thanksgiving, Christmas, life. I did a 75 minute hot stone. When it was over, she told me that on the first day they have a lot of time that she gives extra, she gave me a 100 minute massage.

Cuddy the cruise director did , that I know of, 3 sessions of "how to Meditate" sessions. I enjoyed.

This year the difference I noticed was they let us pick our departure time. gave us different times to leave and gave us luggage tags accordingly. Even though leaving the ship was unorganized and staff not helpful. We had 8:30 departure, at 8:50 we left as they had not called anything other than self assist and we needed to get to the airport. The terminal was empty and the luggage was there so made no sense.

The past few years we have gone out of Ft. Lauderdale. I was surprised that at the port they did not stop the cab to check our id's . no security driving up at all.

We stayed at Hilton Downtown on Biscayne Blvd as I used Hilton points. Really enjoyed it. We had high floor , 2 walls of windows, watched the planes look like the were headed right thru our room then veer up an over . So cool. There was a publix and liquor store maybe 4 minute walk. Only food other than hotel we saw was Checkers and Burger King across the street. Cab was less than 25.00 from airport, and again to port.

Happy Cruisin' Ya'll

Royal Caribbean is great for vegans and vegetarians. There's Indian food always available - every dinner in main dining has Indian food on the menu, and you can ask for it at other times too. If that night's offering has paneer or something, you can ask for something you enjoyed at a previous meal, you'll get it.

 

There's also plenty of salad, fruit, and other options. Lots of portobello stuff. You'll have a great time!

As you can see by my signature we have several Royal cruises completed

Since the last menu changed 4 ish years ago there has not been Indian dishes on the menu every night or Indian dishes at all.

Table mates have asked for something they enjoyed previous night and given a no go. Told staff gets all left overs

My hubs enjoys MDR so we go every night . I am well aware of the veggie choices. I can only eat pasta and red sauce so many times.and so much salad per day. And so many portobellos slightly allergic

I can not tolerate the soy ball or sweet an sour chicken

I note my preference every time and told veggie options are available

The pas cruise after 11 days I asked if there was anything else I coul order. Asked what I wanted I sai I missed Indian dish. The next night I was overwhelmed with all I was given

This isn't always the case. As I am no pushy

Room service menu nasty pizza and spinach an artichoke dip

My best bet is breakfast loading omelette up veggie styl

And lunch loadin up pasta with veggies

Dinner I get salad cheese plate and dessert

I don't cruise for food. But above statement is inaccurate

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Thank you all...Happy sailings

Thank you all for the info. Celebrity had the recliners with footstools and it was comfy.

So is the only difference having mini suite vs balcony is larger room size?

We are ready for a change and hear great things about Princess.

The 2 I am looking at are Regal & Crown.

What we love and is most important to us are balconies, preferably fantail/aft

with lounge chairs to lay and read on our private balcony. On Royal , I know which cabins have those.

Can anyone tell me what category or cabins may have lounge chairs on the balcony.

Also, any advantage with the mini suite? My husband misses tv the most on cruises. Have read on here that Princess has great variety.

Any information you would like to share regarding these ships would be much, much appreciated.

TIA, lisa

I thought anthem didn't have a main dining room

Well...I have booked airline for this jan.5 th. Using a bogo ticket on delta have to do it early as limited number seats. If cruise cancelled. Will lose my free seat ,can only book once.

Booked the cruise when first released