mjeff87

You can bring food, but not alcohol. Found that out one time while stuck in the San Juan airport.....our plane (sitting at the gate) had a flat tire, so we were delayed boarding until they fixed it. One of the shops near our gate was selling Medalla in cans, of which I had a few while waiting. Right before we were finally allowed to board, I bought 2 cans unopened and stuck them in my carryon. I cracked one while everyone else was buying drinks off the cart while in the air. The stewardess was not pleased.

edit: I guess technically, you can posses alcohol but you can't consume it while in flight.

In ports, yes. But when sailing, once you are about 5 miles out of a port the signal switches to "Cellular at Sea". If you're planning on accessing the internet while at sea you will need to purchase it.

Ha this is so funny because we noticed it in Anthem last year. We'll be glad to have a bit of a softer nights sleep next time.

 

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I was in the Army and learned to sleep just about anywhere, on any surface, but the week we spent on Anthem last fall was the worst sleep experience I've ever had. I ended up having to sleep in the opposite direction (my head where your feet would normally be at the bottom of the bed), and that only provided marginal relief.

Glad to see they finally acknowledged the problem.

It was probably just our (bad) luck, but we reserved iFly when we boarded for the last sea day (Thursday, I think it was). It broke down on Tuesday and was out of service for the duration of the cruise. Obviously they didn't charge us the $25, but we never got to do it.

My advice, book it early......

Jeff

I had to go once, but it wasn't the naughty room on the ship. We were in San Juan and one of my bags didn't get delivered. Around 6PM I started to get worried, then found out it was being held. Problem was it wasn't on the ship, but still back on the dock in a security area. I had to debark, find the area, then drag it back on the boat and up to the room.

I had a small pocket knife in my ditty bag. Totally forgot it was in there.....security asked what was in my bag, and I told them I honestly didn't know, I wasn't trying to smuggle anything onto the ship. They told me where in my bag the item was but wouldn't tell me what it was. I had to open the bag, dump out the ditty bag contents on a table in front of them. Only then I realized they were talking about the pocket knife.

They bagged it up and gave me a claim number for it for when we got back to port at the end of the cruise so I could retrieve it. I firmly believed that I'd never see it again, but to their word they were honest. They gave it back to me when we debarked.

I normally wouldn't have cared about something small like that, but the pocket knife was my wife's grandfathers knife. He gave it to me before he passed away several years ago and has a lot of sentimental value.

We were going to do it embarkation day, but then decided to hold off until the last sea day. Darn thing broke down on day 3 and was out of service for the whole rest of the cruise, for whatever reason.

I'd book it earlier than later if possible.

We were able to book on board also, but.......we booked iFly for the end of the week (sea day sailing back to debark). It broke down on the 3rd day and it never reopened for the remainder of the cruise:mad:

If it's working, book it as early as you can.

Actually, I have never had the drink package, but my friends have mentioned this to me.

 

Now, my "free voucher drinks" do show up on the TV as zeros, so you are right about that.

On Anthem, yes. Each beverage shows up on the TV and the final statement with a $0.00 charge.

Pages and pages of $0.00's........:D

I was able to snag it at 30% off ($39/day) for our AOTS trip back in August. It was consistent at 20% for the longest time, then jumped to 25% one day. I logged in the next day to purchase and it was at 30%. The next day it was back to 20%.

That may not be bad, never thought to ask.

Try Captain Morgan's (or any spiced rum) and ginger ale.....it tastes just like a cream soda. Dangerous:D

One of my wife's favorites, when she is drinking (which is not very often).

Buy it now. I pre-purchased a package for our Anthem trip (last week) at 30% off a few months ago and paid $420. On the ship, cruisemates who didn't prepurchased decided to buy one and it was over $600. They were not very happy.

Yeah, I think that's still going on as well. I don't connect to ANYTHING whilst on vacation, though, except the Schooner Bar. :D

Just an FYI, the ultimate package discount is now 30% on the August 31 AOTS sailing. I've been watching it like a hawk for the last couple of months where it's been stuck at 20%. Logged into cruise planner this morning and saw 30%. $414 total for 8 nights. Still cheeses me off that they dropped the select package, because I generally only drink beer, but it's better than ala carte pricing in my case, LOL.

You better believe I'll be having my fair share of mojitos this time around, too:cool:

Don't forget to ask for MSC for their Black status to match your D status.

 

Biker, who thinks this one of the more lame reasons to threaten to quit sailing RCI.

Yes, we will. Our friends that we cruise with (husband is a TA) already got their status match a couple months ago and have been hounding us to get ours.

I agree it's a "lame" reason, but it's the straw that broke this camel's back. My wife dragged me on my first cruise almost 15years ago and it was an incredible experience...so much so that it became a regular thing for us. Little by little we've seen most of what made RCL special in our eyes gradually disappear. From the way it's going, I can see more coming, including elimination of D perks that we're finally able to enjoy. Its clear that they are trying to build revenue by bringing in new customers, at the expense of loyal/repeat ones. I don't like it, but I can understand it from a business perspective. We prefer to patronize businesses that value loyalty and will spend accordingly hereafter.

Well, that's it for me and my wife. I know in the grand scheme of things RCCL doesn't base their business model on repeat customers and our loyalty doesn't mean anything. The gradual diminishment of the royal experience has become too much to tolerate, and our money spends well in other places. We'll just return to AI vacations and will give MSC a chance to see what they're all about.

It's sad, we have a trip already booked (and paid for) on Anthem in August. It will be our first and last Royal cruise as Diamond. And I personally cannot and will not advocate RCCL to people who've never cruised before. Shame.

We were at an Officer's reception one night on a cruise some years ago, and each officer explained to the audience what their responsibilities were and how they managed their staff (usual stuff). Afterward, the CD fielded passenger questions, and someone asked the Chef the following (almost verbatim):

"If the cooks put the vegetable on the plate at 12:00, and the starch at 3:00, how do you keep them hot until you put the entrée on the plate at 6:00?"

She didn't understand that the Chef meant plating each component on the plate in a specific location.....not the actual time of day.

It took everyone about 20 seconds of silence before laughter ensued. I did feel a bit embarrassed for the lady, but it WAS hilarious.

There are three different Chimay labels...white, red and blue. Blue only on RCCL, but red is my favorite:)

^^this is true, BUT.....

On Freedom, I was able to use my C&A BOGO coupon for a beer on Chimay (bought one at regular price, got one for free). Not sure if that was per policy, but the bartender offered and I was not going to say no:)

(I did have the select package, which he quickly told me couldn't be used for Chimay which I knew beforehand)

Jeff

Wow....thanks for posting that! Majesty was my first cruise (my wife had been on a few before with her parents), and I wasn't sure if cruising was really for me. We did a 3 night quickie to see if I liked it. Before the cruise was over, we had already booked our next one:) The rest is history......

Great memories.

as stated above, and there's also a small exercise studio that group X's are held in (for a fee) if you are so inclined.

It's never very "crowded" in there, but the earlier you go the better you have a chance of getting on "your" machine LOL. There's nothing quite like running on a treadmill or elliptical to the sight of a sunrise coming up over the water;)

Not a big thing, but realize you are on a ship, on the wavy water. The ship does roll ever so gently from side to side....you will notice it when running on a machine. It's an interesting feeling.

Jeff

We've been out of PR three times so far, and planning our 4th trip on AOTS in fall 2017. We've stayed in Old San Juan at El Convento, which is an old convent converted into a hotel.....it is phenomenal in a word. The other two times we stayed in Condado at La Concha, which is a world apart from Convento. The entire lobby is a nightclub.

We love Embassy Suites stateside (stayed in one last year in Orlando when we sailed FOTS:)). We may try there next fall.

We'll say hello to her for you Bill.......will be boarding in 5 days:)

Jeff

DW and I will be on Freedom in 56 days.....can't wait. Does the Select package cover this?

Thanks,

Jeff

We have four cats, including one that is just this side of psycho and lives in segregation in our upstairs without direct contact with the other three (don't ask, she's the proverbial "cat from hell" LOL). Our old neighbors have cats as well, so they watch ours when we go on vacation and visa versa. On the odd occasion that they can't (or we can't watch theirs), we have a vet tech from our vet (we both go to the same vet, coincidentally) that comes after work and stays the night at our house. You might want to suggest to your friends to check with their vet to see if any of the techs/interns do pet-sitting on the side. It's a win-win for everyone......they earn some extra cash, and you have peace of mind that you have a qualified (medically) person taking care of them in your absence.

Jeff

edit: I am not suggesting that professional pet-sitters are not qualified to take care of your pets.....just offering another option

That's just wonderful:mad: We're sailing out of PC this November and DW wanted to go to Disney on the day we get back.....I told her it wouldn't be worth going for just one day (we fly back home on Monday) and that for next year, we would just do a short 4-day out of PC and then spend a couple days in Mouseland. She's gonna be upset to know that plan ain't gonna happen.....

Thanks RC (not)!

Jeff