monorail81

Cpt. Henrik Loy is listed as the captain in my Cruise Compass for the Independence today and his smiling face is on my TV...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, now I have to kill you :D

Ummmm? Sorry?!? I didn't realize it was secret info. Lol! He is just my favorite captain on my favorite ship...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did a search and it looks like Tor Olsen might be going to the Serenade in November? At least that's what his Linkedin account says...:confused:

 

There are different terminals I believe, but the one we used this morning had ramps and one escalator. It was easy to maneuver the rolling suitcase and duffle bag I had, but they also had an elevator you could take if you didn't want to take the escalator.

Did you happen to be using Terminal 18 today?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We always do self disembark at Port Everglades. If you are on the Eastern Navigator 8 day cruise it looks as the arrival in port is 5:30. I suspect disembarkation would start by 6:30. That should give you enough time. However, I seriously doubt the Nav will use the Allure/Oasis terminal 18 so that leaves terminal 25 which is far less efficient.

Question...how difficult is it to lug the luggage through the Ft. Lauderdale terminals with self disembark? Are there ramps, escelators, or do they make you use an elevator if you have more than one piece of luggage? It's been a few years since we have sailed from Ft. Lauderdale and We didn't do self disembark last time. We just sailed out of the new terminal in Canaveral and self disembark was WONDERFUL with the ramps. We are considering it for our cruise on the Indy next week but would like to know more about the terminal...TIA!

yes, FR is Capt Espen's new assignment

Do we know where they are moving Capt. Olsen? I hope he's not retiring...

WE cashed out our OBC on the last sea day and got $136.00 back from guest services. So many people don't know that if you can't spend it all you can get cash back.

Can you cash out if it is an OBC the TA added to the booking? RCL would hand me the cash and not credit it back to the TA?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What happens if you book three people in a room, but the third finds out they can't go before the final payment date? Can you cancel the third person without penalty to the other two's fare?

Our total seapass bill was $1.37. :)

We departed the Freedom a week and a half ago and ours was $0.09! We had a credit and I wasn't letting them keep any of it. Haha! :D

I never knew that! I've booked D1s and it's always just the two of us. I've had one booked for next month since last year. I nabbed a certain coveted aft the day the bookings opened. Other times I've just have my pick. I see now that all the D1s have a sofa bed.

I did just try a mock booking with a third person in the room and the D1s popped up. Thank you for teaching me something new tonight! :-)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was looking to book a trip on the Freedom next year. When I started my booking, several categories did not appear as an option. I was looking for D1 or E1 and neither showed as an option. The cruise is in November of 2016 and by no means full.

This isn't the first time I've seen this. Does anyone know WHY RCL does this? I want to book a higher priced balcony. You'd think they would want to take my money. Lol! It's so frustrating. I know I could book one of the other categories and switch it later, but I'd prefer not to have to do that. Is there any timeframe that they hold onto the rooms before they release them for booking?

Any thoughts?

If you are using a popular online TA, I think I know which one because I use them, too. We have booked two trips through them that were "clearance rates". When we first submitted the reservation to the TA, it did not show the discount. Once the TA actually submitted the reservation to RCL, the confirmation returned to us INCLUDED the C&A discount, so the price shown was less than what we first booked through the TA. I'm pretty sure the clearance rate offered is something done by the TA and RCL has nothing to do with that price.

Correct.

 

• Dining & Culinary Services: $7.75 USD
  

Does anyone know what the indivdual breakdown is within the Dining Room? i like to leave extra and would like to know what my starting point is.

Thanks!

If you only want it on certain days, then just pay as you drink. That's always still an option. No need for a package.

The only other negative was no welcome back party except for diamond and above. We were told by several crew that it was a new policy company wide as of last week.

Odd...the Loyalty Ambassador told us it was ONLY the Freedom cutting out the Welcome Back party when we asked why we hadn't gotten our invitations...I'll let you know what Corporate says when they respond to my "Why?" email...

Just off the Freedom yesterday. It was our fourth time sailing her. It is by far our favorite ship that we have sailed. In our opinion, she is the best run ship.

Being a nurse you should see the size of the medical kit I take on 😉

I'm not a nurse and you should see the size of my kit! :D I've got all the things I need to self medicate should we get a cold, sore throat, etc. We view the ship's medical facility as a place for emergencies - not a cold. I don't go running to the doctor on shore every time I have a little cold. Why would I on the ship?

Just off the Freedom and the "Island" is a little area at the front of the MDR between decks 5 and 4. It had about 7 tables of 2 and was included in the MTD section. Just trying to figure out if it's the same on the Indy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does anyone know if the "Island" section of the MDR on the Indy is part of the My Time Dining section or the Traditional Dining section?

Hi Monorail,

Yeah, I understand going to any port. Still ..... We hope it all works out that we keep the original ports. Since, we didn't get travel insurance though...:(. Let's hit the seas anyway, and maybe tender at Gilligans Island! :D

Bobbi

Haha! We're in the same boat as far as the insurance (and probably on the same ship...). We're local, so I guess we don't feel like we "need" it. We might rethink that thought after this. Gilligans's island - love it!!! :cool:

Walking out of the MCO terminal we were greeted by RAIN, lots of RAIN! Our taxi guy safely & slowly maneuvered through flooded streets and very LOUD crackling thunder and lightning. It was after lunch the BIG rain, THUNDER & Lightening began! We stayed at the lunch place for about 1 1/2 hours. Then headed back to the same building as our room. We sail Sunday to the Western Caribbean on RCCL. Hoping things will have gone well and we can board the ship and go to our scheduled Ports.

That's very typical for this time of year in that part of Florida. We used to live very close to your hotel...

We're also sailing on Sunday and crossing our fingers we can board. At this point, I don't particularly care all that much about WHICH ports as long as we go somewhere. Lol! :D

We were booked on the Navigator out of Miami back in 2004 when one of the three Hurricanes that hit Florida that year (can't remember the names) came barreling through Miami. We got a call from from Royal telling us that our cruise would be leaving on Tuesday instead of Sunday, making ours a 5 nighter instead of a 7 night cruise. Those on board ended up with a 9 night cruise while the Nav went around in circles in the Atlantic waiting for the Hurricane to pass by.

Charley, Frances, and Jeanne...rode all three of them out...praying for Erika to fizzle or shift east and become a fish storm.

So this came to mind. What if you were not allowed to go to Mexico? I must make this clear. I do not have any warrant or wanted by any country. But what if you were sailing on a eastern itinerary and Royal changed it do to what ever. Would RCCL let you rebook or cancel without a penalty?

From the contract everyone agrees to when they book...

You should get a refund if the port charges are cheaper. But Royal doesn't have to offer you any compensation...I'm pretty sure it's in your cruise contract that they can change the itinerary at will...especially when it comes to keeping you safe. We were on the Freedom for an Eastern in December. It was when the propeller needed to be removed. So, they switched our Eastern to Nassau, Cozumel, and Coco. VASTLY different than what we booked, but a great trip regardless...it will be what you make it.

I wanted to find out how many other ships will be in the ports when we are there. The latest date I see is April 2016. We cruise in September 2016. Do you know when those dates will be posted?:confused:

I would do a search on a major search engine website whose name is now synonymous with "Internet search" and use the term "Cruise timetables". You may or may not be able to find schedules through 2017 for some of the ports...