pcur

We ate well, and often!!!

OP: I just got off the Vision 3 days ago. It might be too early to book. What I had to do for our embarkation lunch reservation is book it through the Cruise Planner, then get the charge refunded since we had the UDP. No way to book embarkation day otherwise. Once on board go to Chops on Deck 6, around the corner from the elevators, and take care of all your reservations for ALL the specialty restaurants. The Chops manager did this for us while we had lunch. We decided ahead what we wanted; e.g. Chops, Izumi, Giovanni's, then repeated that 3 times. You can always change the reservation later in the cruise. We purchased the UDP about 2 months before our cruise, but could not specifically book each restaurant until we got on the ship. You might already know this, but only Chops is open for lunch, and only for embarkation day, and all sea days. We loved the UDP. I found it on sale for $212 each, including gratuity, in the Cruise Planner. Our 10 day cruise for dinner, and 4 lunches in Chops was an average of $15 per meal per person.

Didn't feel you were being judgey, just clarifying it's more laziness than physical.........

Giovanni's accidentally charged me for dinner last Friday, 3/17, that was covered by my UDP. The charge including 18% gratuity was $53.09.

I never said I was physically incapable.....lazy, maybe......tired of the damn thing schlepping along and weighing me down....definitely.

Hmmmmm......I wonder if people constantly disparaging a category of Crown and Anchor members for wearing an identifying pin, or the posters with the disparaging remarks, are actually more annoying?

To even more finely dice this information: 7/8 of the categories are restrictive regarding the underage child drinking anything in the establishment serving alcohol, as well as actually being inside the business. So, under the "does it communicate" mental column heading, yes, this chart does communicate that in seven-eighths of the categories, representing 92% of the states in the US, a child either cannot consume a beverage in the alcohol-serving establishment, or cannot be in there at all. I'm going to give the above poster the benefit of the doubt that his/her statement was meant to communicate that it is pretty rare to find underage children that are welcome inside, or allowed to drink anything, in an establishment serving alcohol. If you want to find 100% states that agree on a single law, it would be interesting reserach...

Exactly 2 states: WI and TX. Other states all have varying degrees of no admittance, with the most liberal based on age.

I got off the Vision 2 days ago, 3/20/23. The ship was cleared at 7:30 am. If you are in a suite, or are Pinnacle, you are escorted off the ship immediately, and your luggage is in the holding area right up front next to Immigration. Self-assist is the other option for quick debarkation. The line starts very early, too. What I love about Miami and Fort Lauderdale home ports is the facial recognition software Customs/Immigration are using now. So much faster! Outside, to the left, is the pick-up area for Lyft/Uber, etc. I recommend this because you have your own dedicated car, and YOU DON'T HAVE TO WALK TO FIND YOUR TRANSPORTATION: it comes to you. Much more time is spent if you hire a driver or take a shuttle/bus. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR CELL PHONE SETTINGS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE BEEN USING THE SHIP'S WIFI. THE RIDE SHARE APP WON'T WORK, OTHERWISE. Stand outside the crowded ride-share lines, either at the very beginning of the pick-up area, or the very end. Tell the driver, using the app, what you're wearing. This helps them ID you as they drive up. I found many Uber cars don't have front license plates, so you're waiting for "that Chevy Blazer" to actually drive PAST you in order to see if it's "your Chevy Blazer". Let the driver recognize you as he/she drives up. I eyeball the inside kiosks for luggage checking as we drive up at the airport. But, I find that arriving early means the lines inside and outside aren't bad. Two days ago I was walking off the ship as soon as it was cleared (I'm Pinnacle), and my sister and I were out on the sidewalk waiting for our Uber less than 10 minutes later. We were at the FLL airport by 8am, and had time for breakfast before my 10:30 am boarding time for my flight.

Ummmm....noooooo..... I will order my dinners to suit my tastes. I will order a second half order entree INSTEAD of the sides. Chops, especially, has carb-loaded sides (the asparagus being the exception), so my half portion substitute worked well for me, and was not a problem. It's been my experience that ship's restaurants will take orders up to closing time, as they allow extra time after closing time for late arriving guests and clean-up. I have seen this many times as I am exiting a specialty restaurant near closing time.

Funny how this all starts to go weird on us at the beginning of Spring Break.

I am SOOOO not in favor of being "strong-armed" into tipping. However, my philosophy (well broadcasted here on CC for 20+ years) has never changed. Anyone who helps me with my (then) 50 lb suitcase actually IS earning their tip. Multiple bags per person? YES, I think a helpful hand deserves a tip. Also, YES, BOTH the shuttle driver and the porter at the pier. Silly me, but I actually appreciate them helping me with the awkward, heavy stuff. Now, I travel with a 22" expandable and an under-the-seat roller. I still tip them to help me with my bags. Before I abandoned my 26", 50-lb, monster suitcase, I remember last year getting out of a shuttle with it, and telling the porter at the pier, "You're the best thing I've seen all day!! THANK YOU!! Here's some money for you!" He laughed and thanked me.

If the second entrée you order with the UDP is a half portion served as a side dish, it is usually not a problem. You need to ask your server in the restaurant. I know I did this in both Chops and Giovanni's on the Vision 3/10-3/20.

AGREE!!!!

However, that means extra-extra work, since they don't have the opportunity to clean up smaller messes more often. I'd say an extra 50% for toddlers and infants, and adjust for the age and messiness of older kids.

Agree. These are items that were on the previous menus. As I've mentioned, it not just the dish of food itself, it's the lower quality ingredients and ineptitude in the kitchen. Much bigger issue than just taking away some of the dishes from the menu.

^^^^^THAT!!!

Depends on the ship. The newer, bigger ships seem to have more flexibility. Anthem, for instance. Enchantment, Vision, Grandeur, it's a hard "no". Only what's on the menu. I sent this to RCCL yesterday: Rather than give my opinion in individual surveys for each ship, I decided to give you feedback all at once. I have sailed with RCCL for 50 years this October, having taken my first RCCL cruise in October 1973. I am NOT a picky eater, and will eat just about anything. Since mid-January of this year I have sailed on five ships: the Enchantment twice, the Anthem, the Oasis, the Grandeur, and am now on the Vision. That’s six cruises total since the changes in the Main Dining Room food service went into effect in mid-January. I have found that the quality of preparation for my dinner meals in the Main Dining Room is seriously, SERIOUSLY lacking: · The Enchantment not only had the menus decimated by eliminating some of my favorite entrees, but the food almost always arrived either cold or undercooked. At a table for 6, 5 of us received undercooked or raw grilled salmon one night. · I found the food on the Enchantment consistently to be poorly prepared, cold, undercooked. · A table mate on the Enchantment, who pre-ordered dinner every night for the next night to make sure it was gluten-free, had a gastric attack one evening. The kitchen had scraped off the sauce and served it to her, instead of cooking it separately. I watched her abdomen swell up in 10 minutes after she ate a few bits. Startling and, well, unacceptable. Luckily, she had a remedy in her cabin. · The Grandeur was a big problem, no matter how I tried to adapt to the main dining room changes, I had a difficult time getting a decent meal. I gave up on my second attempt one evening when I finally ordered all appetizers. I called the head waiter over to ask him to notify the kitchen there was a serious problem with the escargot. It tasted way "off": either they didn't clean the snails properly, or they used rancid butter of margarine. Same meal, different appetizer: risotto with snow peas and mushrooms. I had it the week before on the Oasis, and it was fabulous. It arrived at my table on the Grandeur with lumpy risotto, and instead of snow peas the kitchen had glopped PEA SOUP over the top, and then forgot to heat the whole thing up. It was frigid and nasty! I gave up and went to the Windjammer from then on. · And, now on the Vision. I told my sister in January I thought it would be best to get the Unlimited Dining Package, and it was a good decision. If what I found in the Windjammer is any indication, the situation on the Vision is pretty bad. The Windjammer on the Vision has taken a turn for the worse. The hot entrees were switched to the smaller serving areas on the sides, to hide the fact that the selection is so dramatically reduced they don't need to even use up the space available in the larger round serving area. Meaning, they designed this buffet for serving a certain amount of food, and that food has been so drastically cut back that they would have obviously empty food stations. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, with their garnishes are predominant now. But, the real shocker is the dessert area in the round serving area. Trays and trays and trays of whole, uncut fruit (like, here's your dessert: have an orange and peel it yourself). Oranges, apples and bananas. Then, 2-3 other desserts, plus cookies. There are three obvious problems now: cut-backs on quantity and variety in both the MDR and Windjammer, PLUS labor shortages for preparation, AND unskilled culinary workers in the kitchens (a la my "pea soup" cold risotto). Not just one cruise/one ship, but a steady decline over 5 ships. For a business that has been serving excellent food for at least 60 years, you don’t just “forget” how to prepare these meals, you have undertrained staff. I am so frustrated by these changes that I am thinking of cancelling my future bookings, and waiting to see if the situation improves. I will not be forced into purchasing specialty restaurant meals, and I will not change my bookings to just ships that have a Coastal Kitchen, since I book for the itinerary as my priority. So, if you are one the Anthem, Oasis, Allure and probably the other bigger/newer ships, your chances of avoiding the above are better. I was on a ship when this started, and I've been on a ship pretty much since then through this Sunday. My recommendation: watch the Unlimited Dining Packages carefully in the 30-60 days before your cruise to see if they have a good discount. We got the UDP for the Vision 10 night cruise, and Chops for lunch on embarkation and sea days, for $212, including tips, or $15 / day. The specialty restaurants are still excellent........but, maybe that's what RCCL wanted all along...........to have you pay even more for better food?

Oh, and if you want (yes, you want) the other one: press and HOLD the button until it arrives. That one will "lose" the call. It worked for me today when I wanted to avoid the demon-possessed one.

Facing the two-fer elevators in the midship elevator lobby, it's the one on the left. Take a voodoo doll with pins in it with you, NO chicken blood: it will smell. Talk softly to it. Get off FAST!!!

It will open it's doors. Not register the 11th, and it is one of only two elevators that will go to 11. It will not respond to buttons pushed. The doors open veeeeerrrrrry slowly, like creepy crypt doors. It will indicate up, and sit open until someone on another floor below calls for it, and then take you THERE! If you try to keep the doors from closing to hold the elevator, it will start SCREAMING at you, and crush you if you get in the way, Like I said: demon possessed.

This morning I went to talk to the Suite and Pinnacle Concierge about debarking in Fort Lauderdale, and when was the earliest escort off. But, first I asked if he was aware of the elevator right outside the lounge door. Yes, the problems had been reported. I told him calmly that I have named it "the demon elevator", and it is possessed with an evil spirit. It took him about 2 minutes to stop laughing so he could talk to me. True that.

I am polite, always. Well, almost always. Me, on the elevator. Doors open to a mob of people. No one will move to let me off, because they don't want to miss their opportunity to get on. I pick my target: young adult, healthy looking, slurping a soft-serve cone (bonus points for dropped ice cream maybe?). I start plowing through the mob and smack into the side of that woman. She's calling out "OW" loudly behind me. I'm smiling.....................

I was at the Tryp on 2/4/23, and 2/12/23. I had no problems.

OH, H*LL TO THE H*LL, NO!! I would have just sat my butt down in my original spot and if I sat ON someone, so be it. People, the "me first" tribe of people, will push things like this to the outer limits. HA, I would even take a hand written note and leave it on the chair, saying, "So sorry, but I think I peed on this seat.....too much alcohol."