suec12

Mum - other dining venues - well subjective feedback is fine. Does the MDR have "available every day" French Onion Soup and Escargot?

We have not sailed RCCL for many years but are now ready to expose the grands to cruising. I've been reading some reviews but would also appreciate tips from past cruisers. We will have 2 children, 13 and 9. Are activities like the surf simulator extra? hard to get on? Dining? we prefer fine dining but not sure the kids are even going to want one night in the dining room - are the other venues crowded? need reservation? extra charge? Does Coco Cay have some transportation or is it a hot slog to get to shady spot? Does Diamond status get us a free happy hour? Thanks for any input!

I have a final payment due soon - sometimes I can get to that screen on the website - has anyone paid thru the website? problems or no problems? Thanks!

Well my experience with the website is still bad. And we have friends who are thinking about taking a cruise with us in Sept. I can't even get the website to pull up the cruises, itineraries, or cost. If you want to book a cruise now, what is the best path? Is the call center operating any better? I think even TA's are not happy with Azamara at this point! Thanks!

So we got the email that all is well with the the website (well at least better) but I'm not seeing my OBC anywhere - what about you? thanks!

tile museum in Lisbon?

Thanks for the replies so far - I did not know you could get a transfer from a hotel, day of embarkation - did you use Azamara (or whatever) Air? did you sign up for this transfer from the excursion portion of the website? Thanks!

We will be boarding in Southampton in Sept. - What times are currently being given for boarding and does it depend on when you fill out the on-line check in or your loyalty status? Do other passengers seem to be adhering to their assigned time? THANKS!

Well the title says it all - does anyone know if Azamara provides shuttles into the city in Porto and Bilbao? Thanks!

Sadly I do not know how to link - it was an article in The Street "Royal Carribean Makes Dining Changes more Severe than Carnival" Try to google it? I did see the you tube ranters as well but for now I'm hoping the escargot and French Onion Soup stay with us. We have cruised twice since Covid. One change that I think has impacted MDR meals is the need to accommodate so many dining preferences? / dietary restrictions. You have 5 entrees usually at least two are a gluten free, a vegan option - I think that cuts down on variety of entrees. Just my opinion but I fear the days of pretty good dining may be fading away.

The current report from Cruise Ghopfer was most helpful!

Saw a news item about RCL and Carnival making changes to their everyday menus including not having escargot and French onion soup available every evening - not sure if this was going to be on Celebrity. So are these currently still be offered on the Celebrity ships? Thanks!

Interesting Scot - where / when did you get the certificates? My situation is the same as the OP. Received email with no date specified.

On our recent Journey White Night we also went to the MDR to eat and then came back up on deck later to enjoy the music - we really liked the songs played and watching the high energy of the entertainers. The weather was perfect. But a suggestion I would make to Azamara is to not serve the food outside in a rather cramped space but to keep the food in Windows and folks can easily walk outside to the tables. It just seemed very crowded where the food was being served. But overall, we found it a pleasant evening and the staff went to so much work to put all those tables out on the deck.

Well I'll chime in about the seating times in the specialty restaurants - too restrictive - yes, too early 6:30 or too late 8:30. Every day they have staff at the buffet "wanting" to book you but those times are too limited and the nights we went the restaurants were not full - could not understand why they could not offer some 7 or 7:30 slots. Maybe if you are a suite goes, more times are offered? but I found it frustrating.

I used it twice on a 12 day trip with no problem but it was on days many folks went ashore. You may want to take dryer sheets as detergent is provided but I don't know if it has a softener component.

Thinking ahead a bit - we will be on a cruise that ends with an overnight in Lisbon. Too early to book flights but looking anyways - will we be able to make a 10:00am flight? Not sure how early we can leave ship / get luggage / go thru customs in Lisbon. Thanks.

For ladies, are jeans (fairly nice ones) OK? with sandals / flip flops? for in the MDR?

I think there is a box to click if you want to book - that will give you more info but there would still be another step before commitment / payment. I'll go to the webpage and make sure. Assuming you are signed in on your account, pick an excursion, then click "add to cart", then click numeber of guests and the time should appear. There is still another step before payment.

uktog - the OBC is for the NEXT cruise?

Over on my roll call (Journey Sept 23)we are discussing that luggage tags are not being included once we have completed the documents for boarding. Are all sailings having this issue? Might they appear with the documents on-line closer to departure? Some folks have called and then been able to get tags. If we arrive at the pier, will getting our bags tagged there result in much of a delay? Thanks

so would it be gauche to wear a Azamara robe to white night? Are there some folks that don't go white? not sure my DH owns anything white.

My husband enjoys an occasional cigar - are there any areas where he can smoke on the Journey? Thanks

Well you can use OBC to pre-book excursions but not dining. Altho I'm not sure, can you pre-book the package but not make actual reservations?

I know we all like the open dining concept on Azamara but can we try to arrange for the same waiter for the nights we eat in the MDR? I do like it when our waiter gets to know our preferences, esp. re: beverages, and we establish a bit of a relationship / rapport. Thanks.