S.A.M.J.R.

Spa appointment where? If on the ship, why do the arrival/departure times matter? If off the ship, treat it as a 3rd party excursion. Tell the spa operators you're on Navigator and need to make sure you're back on the ship. I'm pretty sure they'll have a good idea what time the ship arrives/leaves based on their local time.

Pretty much everything shuts down on the ship on departure day by about 7am (8am at the latest). As far as time zone, it's only important if you're planning a 3rd party excursion (or off on your own), in which case, ask the excursion operator what time they believe the ship docks. If you're on your own, just make sure you have a time keeping device that stays on "ship time" (confirm what is ship time before you step off that morning).

No one is claiming they'll starve. No one is even saying they'll be hungry. People want to do what works for THEM. At home, we normally eat around 530-6p anyway. So why would we want to wait until 830? Except, 1) a couple people have mentioned that this "new" system started before the pandemic. 2) On our Mariner cruise, deck 4 did NOT have an early TD time, just late. If too many people are requesting early TD that they have no table for MTD early, IMO, limit how many people you allow to do early TD and start MTD at 530. Those that want to eat at 530, can, just get a 530 MTD reservation. And before anyone says you can't, you absolutely CAN get the same wait staff every night on MTD (we did for our first three cruises).

OK, so you change how much of the floors you have blocked out for traditional vs MTD. More people wanting TD doesn't explain why MTD needs to start late. Lack of crew on the other hand might. BUT, if you allow MTD to start at 5:30 (along with TD), couldn't some of the TD serving crew also take care of MTD pax? If you don't have enough crew to service the customers on board, then limit how many customers are on board.

Second this!

I'm pretty sure Oasis has three dining rooms, deck 3, 4, and 5. Run TD on one deck and MTD on two (or vice versa). That's how they did it on our cruise 9 years ago. I just don't understand the logic of the change.

TD = "Traditional Dining" We haven't been on many cruises, but it seemed to me past cruises had TD on decks 3 & 4, then MTD (starting at 5:30p) on deck 5. On our cruise last month on Mariner, they had early TD on deck 3, MTD starting an hour later on deck 3 (using tables not used for TD presumably), TD late on deck 4, and not sure how they split up deck 5. I agree MTD should be able to start at the same time as TD.

OK, the OP wants to know if RCI is responsible for reimbursing them for the loss. We've learned the answer is "no". [/thread]

So what would "resolve" the issue. If, as you claim, the OP is not seeking compensation, what is there to "resolve"?

I was on Mariner in July. Out of the eight nights, there was one "OK" meal, all the rest were pretty good. I am not picky when it comes to food at all. We did not eat in any specialty restaurants. Well, that's not totally true, we did the "Taste of Royal" lunch which was held in Chops. Dinners were all MDR. WJ for lunch/breakfast.

OK.

Well, I'm assuming they're concerned about ANY crime on the ship. In the casino, Sorrentos, theater, cabin, wherever. But again, what is the endgame? The OP getting their money back? Doubtful. The "thief" getting found? Probable, but will we know? The "thief" getting punished? Probable, but will we ever know that happens, much less what the punishment is? Will RCI tell the victim what happened to another guest?

As I said, you have to read reviews with a grain of salt. But to say online reviews (as a whole) are worthless isn't true (which is what I was responding to).

Let's think about what the end game is here. I don't see any way the OP gets their money back (unless RCI wants to be nice). The back of the ticket says they're (RCI) isn't responsible for "lost or stolen" tickets. So RCI doesn't have to give the money back. I don't think RCI, even assuming the catch the person who took the ticket, can force that person to give money to the OP. Maybe I'm wrong there. So, presumably, the OP wants the thief punished. And RCI might do that. But will RCI actually tell the OP what the punishment is? How much punishment is enough?

Not doubting that. But you can use online reviews to determine if something is good for you. You do need to read reviews with a grain of salt.

I disagree. If there are 100 reviews and 99 of them are negative, that tells you something. If there are 100 reviews and 99 of them are positive, that tells you something.

Thanks. Pretty sure you were. Although based on your posts, have you even gotten off the ship yet? lol

Oh, regarding the service in the MDR, we had no issues with it. Our head waiter I think was fairly new in the role. He didn't do anything wrong, it just seemed like he was struggling a little bit with learning/remembering our names, and seemed a little "stiff". I could never do the job, so we still gave him high marks. The assistant waiter was awesome.

We got off Mariner last month. Previously cruised on Freedom and Oasis. I would say Mariner is a slightly smaller Freedom. The similarities are many. We ate in the MDR every night except one (off ship). I enjoyed the food, but I'm not a picky eater. One of our party is, but she always found something. Somethings she just took a couple bites from what she ordered, but that's not unusual for her. Here's the video I put together for our trip (not a review, just for our memories):

I was starting to wonder why, if it was so clear that someone other than the OP cashed the ticket why RCI wouldn't issue a credit in the same amount. That first line pretty well sums it up.

Personally, I don't think you can compare the cost/year. You need to compare the cost/use. If you only take one international trip in 10 years, the cost of that passport was $165 for that trip, to say nothing about how many family members you need to supply. If someone doesn't want to get a passport, that's on them. Why some get so up in arms about how others decide to spend (or not spend) their money is beyond me. Do I think a passport is a good thing to have for a cruise? Yes. Do I think you will NEED a passport for a closed loop cruise? No. It's basically insurance. I also think insurance is a good thing to have for a cruise. But I'm not going to fault someone for not purchasing it.

Agreed on the RT&T. DW & I did ours at the same time, then a couple of hours later, DD & DS did theirs at the same time.

12 years, 3 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days at the time of embarkation. If they're younger than that, they should be with an adult at all times! Seriously, it depends on the child. There are some kids that would handle it just fine around 10 years old. There are others that should be supervised well into their 20s (just kidding). It doesn't matter what others have done. You know your child best.

I don't understand why this would be ship dependent. Shouldn't RCI have a policy in place that's the same everywhere? If a "ship" decides to not refund the difference, where does the money go?

It doesn't really matter what you envisioned when you booked the cruise. It comes down to what you AGREED to. I'm just playing devil's advocate. Anyone who has done an ounce of research on cruising over the last what, 18 months, knows there's a chance a person can be put into quarantine. AND that other members of the party may not be.