TwoMisfits

Thank you for posting your dairy allergy meals!  

10 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Day 1 Embarkation cont

 

We left at 4:30 and I checked the WiFi as we were leaving, not terrible speeds but not great. We will see how it holds up as we progress.

 

 

 

Dinner came quickly, at 5:30 for us. There are only 3 tables of 8 here. So I can see why reservations fill fast. Here is the menu. There is a $15pp upcharge If you have the dining package.

 

 

 

We informed our server of DWs allergies and it wasn’t an issue. Her salad was a little sad, it came with just oil and vinegar. It would be nice if they had a vinaigrette option. Hers was made in the back and came out just before we got our rice. So it was good timing. She said it was one of the better cruise ship dinners she has had. Very flavorful and well seasoned and nothing was dry.

 

 

 

 

You are allowed to mix and match items, you don’t have to stick to the combos they have for you. So I got the filet and lobster. This is an incredible deal, even with the upcharge. You get an entire lobster tail and probably a 6 ounce filet. It was excellent.

 

 

 

 

For dessert I got the sesame balls. DW got fruit and it was her favorites so she was thrilled. We didn’t expect anything given the no notice and what they have on the menu.

 

 

 

I really do feel this is worth it. It’s dinner and a show and even if it’s $69 I think for what you get it’s a winner. Definitely beats the Pants off Gunbae on Virgin.

 

After dinner we walked around and enjoyed some guitar music in Central Park.

 

 

Thank you for posting your wife's dairy allergies meals.  This will help me a lot next month!

Bummer that Izumi didn't have sorbet to go with the berries.

14 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

There is no extra bed space!

For sleeping...not in the entire room.  Having the extra sofa bed means we can kick a kid between the cabins if needed...

Thanks for the barcode tip - if it's right, I'm very happy with the 2 interiors I was assigned.  While not next door to each other, they are close and they are in a great spot in the middle of the ship (not under the pool, not over the dining room) where we can do stairs up and down to get places - and only 2 decks from central park, but not on the central park deck, so no traipsing folks coming down our hallway.

Plus, they gave me 2 3 person rooms, even though I had canceled our 3rd person in one room months ago...so extra bed space is a plus...

6 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

If you are going to park in the garage, it doesn't open until 10 A.M.

Thanks!  That's the info I needed - so 10am arrival, no earlier:).

30 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Use the Key line and don’t worry about check in time. 

That's my plan - I just didn't know if it started at 10:30am, or even earlier.  I can get to the port at any time b/c I'm staying overnight (I was planning 10:30am, but might pop over at 10am if that's actually start of boarding)...

Hi everybody,

     I have a confirmed 11:30am check in, but I have the Key, so I'm just wondering what the earliest check in time in Cape Liberty for Symphony of the Seas in May 2024 is (b/c I need to get on board to reconfirm allergy accommodations with a few places - including the Key lunch, and I'd like to do it before the madness of a sold out ship all being on board).  Thanks for any info you can provide!

7 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It's best to ask. Relying on a post from one ship in 2018 doesn't help anyone.

Nonfat milk solids are typically lower in lactose than regular milk, so if that's the concern and you can eat other foods with Lactaid, you may be OK.

Other recipes for soft serve do not contain any dairy.

It's actually VERY rare for soft serve to not have dairy.  The only one that is widespread on the market is the one that makes dole whips.  If you go to McDonald's, Dairy Queen, Wendy's, Mr. Softee's, etc - all those places have dairy-full soft serve.  

So, if you see a soft serve machine and the word "vegan" is not listed anywhere near it, you can be pretty guaranteed it's a dairy-based product.

PS - And even dole whips - only the fruit flavors are vegan - if you are ever getting a vanilla dole whip, it has dairy.  It is very hard to make a vanilla or chocolate soft serve that passes muster as vanilla/chocolate ice cream without using dairy.

The previous poster's response is incorrect.  If there has been no change in RCCL's supplier, the soft serve DOES have (a ton) of dairy and lactose in it.  

11 minutes ago, bajathree said:

Probably because the suites on that sailing have been showing sold-out for weeks....someone would have to cancel for a suite to open and then depends how many other bids are in for suites....chances are slim.

Funny enough, the only thing not sold out on my sailing ARE the suites.  Inside, outside, and balcony are all gone.

I was deciding if I should Royal Up, but for me, it seems like it will be pointless (since it's too many levels higher), so I'll stick with the insides I have...

17 minutes ago, Rewind said:

Just got the email - it has moved to Norfolk.

And now we know most of RCCL's Baltimore folks also come from the west and south of Baltimore vs the north.

2 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

That is not true.  I live much closer to Bayonne than Baltimore however, I just booked a cruise out of Baltimore because I wanted a smaller ship and the Vision had a great 12 day itinerary.  

 

For me Baltimore is also leave my house in the morning and arrive in time for a late lunch on the ship.   Norfolk does not work for me.

But you're rare...I'm betting Carnival looked at their passenger location stats, and that's why they made such a quick call, while Royal is still deciding...

17 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

oh, most of the flights are not dressed, but there are some that are from certain places.

 

but I will tell you that a lot of the people that I know that cruise out of Baltimore are not going to drive to the New Jersey New York area.

 

we have tried to get them to go on a cruise that we thought was good out of Bayonne and they wouldn’t do it. 
 

I will drive there either.DH and I take the train. And they could do that, but for some reason they don’t do that either.

 

not saying that this is Royal Caribbean’s fault. This is a disaster not of their making. But there will be a number of people who would not drive to New Jersey.

I think anyone driving south and west of Baltimore won't go north now b/c traffic through Baltimore is now gonna be horrific for awhile.  So I understand why Carnival went south and took getting through Baltimore out of the way for a lot of their cruisers (who, when driving, I expect come more from the south and west of Baltimore vs the north, b/c if you were north, you'd probably go to Bayonne/NY for the larger ships and more varied itineraries to start with)...

8 hours ago, read2learn said:

Carnival is moving its cruises from Baltimore to Norfolk,VA. Has anyone heard if there will be any changes to RC cruises from Baltimore due the bridge accident? 

Guess Norfolk's reno was easy to finish quick...

We'll see how long Carnival keeps Norfolk as a year round port.

1 minute ago, ramja96 said:

We sailed out of Norfolk last August and they said the port was being closed for the next couple of years to dredge it out deeper.  So I don't think Norfolk is an option.

Oooh...that's not good.  If true, ignore my prior thoughts...

I assume all Baltimore cruises will now be VA ones, since Norfolk is used so rarely.  There's no way cruise ships will be allowed to dock in Baltimore during the clean up and then rebuild of the bridge.  And that will take awhile.

7 hours ago, firstimer2009 said:

You have separate cabins?  Are they inside cabins?  I’m liking this idea!  Don’t tell my husband. 😆

We have a few kids, so that helps:).  2 and 3 in our inside cabins.  I don't look for big cabins to fit us all b/c I like multiple bathrooms.

Since it never hit my spouse's mental budget, we'll be cruising without a drink package.

I don't drink (we have separate cabins), and he doesn't drink anything but coffee, water, beer, and alcohol, so it was all or nothing.  Since the price was more alcohol than he would drink, we'll bring on 2 bottles of wine (for him) and 12 bottles of water each, and he'll get an evening drink every night (on top of the glass of wine, b/c it's all for him).

I'll save about $60/day from the lowest the drink package ever got...

40 minutes ago, mets123 said:

Thanks. I booked all ours for or May 24 Symphony sailing except 1977 which wasn't showing yet.

It is - I'm on the same sailing - look again.

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

You will enjoy Symphony.  Don't miss the ice show!

I've actually booked all 4 shows plus the comedy show.  

Following advice here, I did not book their last showings (in case of technical/weather issues).

The shows lined up nicely for me with early dining, so that made me happy.  We have Hairspray Day 1 at 7:45pm, 1977 Day 2 at 7:30pm, Hiro Day 4 at 8:30pm, Comedy Day 5 (for the adults) at 8:30pm, and Flight Day 6 at 8:15pm.

There were late shows, but 10:15 and 10:30 are a little late for me for show start (I'm an earliesh to bed and earliesh to rise person - I turn into a pumpkin at midnight or so, but don't want to be "hyped" or "excited" and then immediately trying to sleep.  A wind down hot tub or book reading or drink is where I live after 10pm...

Hi everybody,

     I woke up this morning, and all my entertainment options were available for my late May 2024 Symphony cruise.  Happy booking!

14 hours ago, iuki said:

It was RCI who turned him into the police and immediately terminated him.  RCI stated they have zero tolerance and are fully cooperating with the authorities. They discovered this during an inspection.

Keeping their liability down - if they didn't report him instantly, their possible civil damages could have been epic..  Once the police have all the victims identified, RCCL will be paying out the nose anyway to each of the victim's families to avoid the inevitable civil suit.  This one, b/c RCCL is the actual employer and it happened on their watch, will be pricey.

So, I know you just wanted to know tree nut items, and you said contamination can be okay...but...

You will be out to sea, away from premiere medical help if your spouse does run into the allergen.  While his previous reactions have not been life-threatening, that may not be the case for his future ones.  So, failing to inform the waitstaff of allergies seems like a really bad idea.

I understand your spouse may get more limited in his selections - I also have tree nut (and mango and dairy) allergies.  But more limited safe selections should always be preferable to unsafe ones.  If the allergy is not mentioned, it will not be prepared in a safe area nor with as much care.  It will be in a contaminated fryer (if it's a fried item) or in a contaminated grill/pan, possibly right next to tree nut products.  It may get made with someone making a tree nut dish, and then turning around and prepping your spouse's.  It's just not worth a gamble, since eating out with allergies is ALREADY a gamble, and now you're just adding to it.

If he won't mention the allergy, I would skip all vegan friendly items and all Asian items (especially Indian and Thai) and Mexican moles.  Cashew dairy products and unsafe almond flour (since all tree nuts, except coconut which is not biologically a tree nut, in the US are processed on the same lines without allergen level cleaning/sanitation UNLESS the product specifically says something like "these almonds were processed in a dedicated almond only line/facility") will be used extensively in vegan friendly stuff.  And Asian cuisine LOVES tree nuts in their savory dishes.  And all moles include nuts.

Again, though, I'd contact special needs and get his allergy listed.  If he already needs Benadryl just for ingesting a few nuts, he needs to be safe with his choices, and he can't be safe if the chefs and waitstaff don't know about it.

14 hours ago, CGinMTL said:

I have never been loyal to a brand

Always look at price and itinerary to make my decsions

That's me.  If I have free drinks every day, maybe it would be a harder call, but I don't, so it's easy to shop.  

I have RCCL this year, and next year looks like land based trips...and then we'll see if value returns for certain cruises on any of the lines I'll sail in 2026...

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

It’s become kind of a tradition to do a “Toast to vacation” selfie. This one was colder than usual!

 

 

(The drink is From Here to Orion from the Bionic Bar. Cuervo Gold, Blue Curaçao, and Sprite)

 

Came up to the Solarium to read for a bit before dinner (only problem with evening cleaning - it’s between 5 and 8 ) and nature started showing off.

 

Thanks for letting me know about breakfast/brunch pre-orders.  Since I have allergies that greatly affect the regular menus, I'm sure they'll want me to pre-order those, too...and I never even thought about those meals til now...