caribbean sailor

Leave the gratuity prepaid and tip extra where you feel it is warranted. To remove gratuities means that someone you may not even be aware of, may be providing you a service and not getting tipped. Very unfair, IMO.

Royal's continual price rise is very unfair.The first thing i do on board is to remove the royal money grab.And tip as i please. :p :eek:

Hi everyone,

 

I am planning to book an eastern caribbean on harmony in the next few days, can you guys rate the following ports for me? the goods and bads? I can't decide which itinerary i should go for :confused::confused:

 

1. San Juan

2. St Thomas

3. St Marteen

4. Nassau

5. BASSETERRE, ST KITTS NEVIS

6. Labadee

 

which are the must-go ports? Any information i will appreciate, thanks in advance!! :)

I would put them in this order.

1 Labadee

2 ST KITTS

3 ST MARTIN

4 SAN JAUN

5 NASSAU

People get angry.

 

Wait a few days for it to pass.

 

Then turn around and book another RC cruise.

 

Not much of a statement.......

 

 

I have to agree with you.All most people seem to worry about how much other people tip.Royal Caribbean must get a great big laugh,while people are worrying about tips. Royal's picking their pockets. :D :) :rolleyes:

Actually it is more like a service charge. ;)

Agree it is like a service charge,But more life a money grab.Shame on you royal. We don't have to sail on royal .:p :mad:

I am sure there is some corporate tax reason for this, but if they are now mandatory, why not just increase the price of the cruise and do away with them? Other than the possibility a few years later they may magically "re-appear" without a corresponding reduction in the cruise price.

That is just what they will do.TIPS ARE GIVEN NOT TAKEN.:rolleyes:

I wish this applied on ALL cruise lines. I have seen people in line on the last night, not just on Royal Caribbean, but on other lines, removing their tips because they spent their money on other things, felt they shouldn't have to tip for kids, didn't know that they had to pay gratuities etc.

 

The biggest excuse is that I want to tip those who served me. From my experience, the amount tipped to the wait staff, cabin stewards etc is nothing near what the suggested amounts are.

 

If all cruise lines did the same thing, either including the tips in the price, or making them non-removable such as the hotels do with a resort fee, everyone would have to pay, not just some of us. I do feel that if there is a problem with service, if it's reported and not fixed, then a partial reduction should be possible. If not reported, no adjustment.

 

I am not the least bit empathetic to those who find excuses to not tip in full or at all. Sorry if you fit into that category.

Maybe you should worry more about how you spend your money.And we will spend our money as we please.:)

I put Royal Caribbean in the title in hopes it doesn't get moved :o

 

I am currently making a really poor attempt to concentrate at work and needed to post something.

 

22 days to go and my 10 month drought of no cruising is ended.

 

30 days,then eleven night cruise on the Grandeur of the seas.

Ok, I'm not thinking balcony club here [emoji85]

I have never been to the spa. Never gambled in the casino. No rock wall or flo rider. Never been to quest. Have only seen the love and marriage show, actually. No other shows. Am I missing out?? We usually spend our time at the pool during the day and bars a night. We nap before the late seating dinner and then go dancing after dinner. We are emerald so we have a few cruises under our belt.

The only thing i have not done,was leave the ship with more money then i bought on the the ship. :D

Are we REALLY this petty? Do passengers REALLY think they are so superior? I have no words. I would welcome the gents (working all night to make our experience better) to help themselves to a cup of coffee. I do believe in karma....

I agree with you 100% because you can buy a cruise ticket,this does not make you any better then the guy sweeping the deck.Maybe better off but not better.:mad:

...actually its "up". :D;) But someone has to get their old, and their tired sent to them I guess.....

I would gladly trade you the anthem,in Cape Liberty.For any Voyager or freedom class ship.We call it the amusement park of the seas.:)

For sure...perhaps the Explorer needs to return to Cape Liberty

We will second that move.Would love to see a voyager or freedom class ship.Return to Cape Liberty. :)

I think that for every port you dislike there is someone else who really likes it. e.g. I have a friend whose favorite port is Tortola.

I find this to be true also. Have a great next cruise.:)

That's not altogether true....if you hand someone cash, you can BET they won't be claiming it! Into their pocket it goes! Guaranteed.

 

I agree why should they turn it in they earned it. :)

I put Royal Caribbean in the title in hopes it doesn't get moved :o

 

I am currently making a really poor attempt to concentrate at work and needed to post something.

 

22 days to go and my 10 month drought of no cruising is ended. :D

Way to long, 94 days.Have a great cruise

The Explorer only does 5 night Bermuda sailings. She gets in at 9am on day 3 and then leaves at 5pm on day 4. The Grandeur does 7 night sailings that arrive at 3pm on day 3 and leave at 6pm on day 5. That extra afternoon is enough time to explorer all of Dockyard so that you can focus on other areas of the island the other two days. The third option (which I kind of like but have never tried) doesn't focus on Bermuda at all, but the Explorer does a 9 night caribbean sailing that includes Bermuda as a port of call on day 3 from 8am to 4pm.

I hope you are right,i though royal moved the explorer from New Jersey.

The Explorer only does 5 night Bermuda sailings. She gets in at 9am on day 3 and then leaves at 5pm on day 4. The Grandeur does 7 night sailings that arrive at 3pm on day 3 and leave at 6pm on day 5. That extra afternoon is enough time to explorer all of Dockyard so that you can focus on other areas of the island the other two days. The third option (which I kind of like but have never tried) doesn't focus on Bermuda at all, but the Explorer does a 9 night caribbean sailing that includes Bermuda as a port of call on day 3 from 8am to 4pm.

I hope you are right,i though royal moved the explorer from Bermuda.

Does the Grandeur of the seas have stabilizers.:) First cruise on a small ship.

Well said sir ! I salute you !

And we get to dress up beautifully again on quantum class ships [emoji3]

 

WIN WIN !!!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks for the salute,and have a great next cruise.:)

I never had a problem with traditional dining before, never even thought of how a change might be better.

 

So when we booked our Quantum cruise before the ship was even built, I had read about DD. I was SO, so excited to try it! I thought it would be great to come back from an island and not rush to get ready for dinner at a certain time. Also to pick whatever restaurant I felt I wanted to dine at, depending on what mood we were all in. I couldn't wait to try it!

 

Then after about the 2nd or 3rd night on Quantum, I severely missed traditional. Our reservations that I made previous to our stepping foot onboard QOS had disappeared once we got on QOS, however fortunately we were able to walk right into any restaurant without barely a wait, so that wasn't an issue at all. I found the service was not like you had with traditional dining at all, and I felt the servers felt the same way. A number of them had even stated that to us. And you could just tell. Something that I thought would make a perfect cruise even more prefect, I came to severely dislike. I missed walking into a dining room and knowing which waiter I was going to have. I missed the personal aspect of it all. I missed a lot of things! I cannot wait to go back on Freedom in November and get back to traditional dining.

 

So I was one who actually was eagerly anticipating DD with every ounce of soul in my body, but who ended up pretty much loathing it. The majority of the passengers on our cruise felt the exact same about DD. I do hope QOS and AOS finds something that they can work with and succeed for long-term, given all the different restaurants that there are. But I can't wait to step foot in the same dining room every evening once again! :D

I also agree we can't wait to walk into a traditional dining room. Change is not always good.Also a new ship is not always better.After fourteen cruises on Voyager and Freedom class ships, Most Out of Cape Liberty.We will suck it in and drive to Baltimore for a Eleven Night cruise on the The Grandeur.Our first small ship.No Quantum class ships for us.:)

Feel very fortunate. You didn't miss anything but confusion, a foray of errors, and FAILURE of a dining program that didn't work out.

TRADITIONAL DINING was not broke why fix it.We want no parts of DD DINING OR THE Quantum ships.The amusement parks of the seas.:)

Way to many aprox 121 days till our Eleven night cruise on the Granduer of the seas.1/3/17 :)

If you are young and attractive, yes your clothing is optional. Otherwise you are breaking the law !

Where is my like button.:) :)

Extremely unhappy that Royal Caribbean is not allowing you to prebook Chops or Giovannis on the Christmas sailings. We are on Independence and wanted to have a quiet family meal at each restaurant to celebrate the holidays.

So I can not get a straight answer- either they prebooked Chops and Giovannis to where there is zero availability or- as I was told by a supervisor at Royal Caribbean - they are not allowing anyone on any ship to book a specialty restaurant For Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Who wants to eat Christmas dinner on an assembly line in the loud main dining room? If one of the perks of the ships are the specialty restaurants - why remove that perk on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? I just do not understand.

This is from Royals own page -

 

Food & Beverage

 

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Q: Can Specialty Restaurants reservations be made onboard the ship?

 

A: Advanced reservations are recommended, however reservations can be made at the restaurant based on availability.

Maybe they are going to give the staff a break on Christmas eve and Christmas day.They are a long way from their family's.Have a great next cruise.:)

I am a non smoker and so is my husband (except the occasional cigar) I can not stand the smell of cigarettes it makes me ill and I have asthma also. However I don't make a fuss on a ship. I realize that people are there to have a good time and there are different strokes for different folks. I don't remember ever having an issue with balcony smoke even when we were next to smokers. It just really wasn't that bad. We have stayed in JS and GS and regular balcony rooms and never was it so bad I needed to complain. I think some people really LOOK for things to complain about. Or if something went wrong and they are already moody it just makes them more prone to thinking things are worse than they are.

I have to agree with you as a none smoker,I have never had a problem with balcony smoke.Also Royal will never stop smoking in the casino,as long as smokers are throwing their money away in one of Royals slot machines. :)

The cruiseline should pay them. I will remove the automatic gratuity also and will tip cash to the people who serve me directly.

I agree with you,hang in there.Have a great next cruise.:)