CMurph

We now prefer arriving around 12:30. Boarding is a breeze, we have our first drink of the cruise & by then the cabins are open. Drop off the carry on and then explore the ship and enjoy sail away. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, because I am in vacation mode as soon as I leave the house!

I would love this thread if I could see ONLY the posts from Radio about the cruise. It's a pain to scroll through "following" "following" "following" etc Or I'll be there on the 12th of never. Please...everyone shush and let Radio post his updates.

I just got off the phone with Casino Royale yesterday. Haven't gotten the email but I'm positive both my wife and I will fall into the second tier. We will be boarding the Rhapsody on sunday for a B2B. They assured me that the casino host will have a list of the tier I will be in. And put the sticker on the seapass. We will be in Key West on Monday so if everything doesn't go right. They gave me another number to call.

The way the Tiers work are first tier Zero to 2499 points basically nothing. Tier two 2500 to 24999, free drinks, free cruise inside cabin. zero charge for cash advances. Some others that I'm not sure of. The next tier gets a free balcony room, and other perks. The Master tier gets a junior suite and other perks .

The certificates will remain as they are now.

Will our tier be determined by the points we earned in 2017?

I had the same response from Victoria?(Spelling) on Majesty about a week and a half ago.

She could see my points.

But, when I asked her how many points I had, she flat out said that she wouldn't tell me because, "Then everybody will be asking her, and she doesn't have the time for it." I knew I should have had the VIP sticker, that is the reason I was asking. After prying her about it, and she looked, she realized that I was correct. She gave me the sticker on my card.

Similar thing happened to us on the Majesty last year. She would not tell us our points saying "someone might hear". We never got the sticker.

My daughter & I would love to do that with others on our sailing...

Where are you seeing what the new program is?

I just booked it. According to the excursion page it is the Nassau version of a pub crawl. Includes 3 breweries (or pubs) and each place includes a snack....conch fritters, chicken wings and german pretzels. Obviously, adults only. I think it will be fun.

We have done it on the Oasis & Independence. The galley tour was better on Oasis and the food was better on the Independence. We had surf & turf on the Independence & it was truly the best meal we had all week! We have booked the brunch again on the Harmony. If you have never toured the galley, it can be very interesting. A lot depends on the personality of the person guiding your tour. Our most thorough & interesting galley tour was on the Brilliance (this did not include the brunch)

I would recommend trying it.

I have seen someone on a scooter take the galley tour. I would ask about the walker. There are grates on the floor that it could get stuck on & perhaps cause a fall. They request that you wear closed toes shoes because they are concerned sandals could catch on these areas. The chef that lead our last tour was very concerned about a couple of women that wore "slippers" as he called them, but they were sandals. I think a lot would depend on whether she pushes it along or she is able to lift it over these areas.

Our recent cruise on the Independence was the first time in 6 cruises we did not receive a certificate at the end. I don't understand it, and as others have mentioned there seems to be no one that can explain how things work. Didn't help that we had the worst casino host ever.....he literally did not say a single word to us when we went to get our stickers on our cards.

It is a suggestion, but keep in mind that occasionally they have a good reason behind it. We sailed the Independence earlier this month & received an email to arrive at 12:30. Turned out boarding was delayed because of a charter on the previous cruise requiring extra time for unloading equipment & such. Some people had been waiting in the terminal for 2 hours. When they started boarding, it was suites & Pinnacles first, then on down the C&A status line. There were a lot of unhappy people and the staff threatened to stop boarding if everyone didn't sit down and wait their turn.

Omg going there in the next few months...Do you know where you got sick?

It has been a while, but it wasn't on the strip. It was one of the older casino restaurants on Fremont Street.

Dh and I were on the January 18th sailing and the last night of the cruise(the 21st) we both came down with the vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever. Dh went down to medical and got an anti nausea shot, anti nausea pills and liquid meds for stomach cramps.

Three other couples were sailing with us and one of the couples also got sick the same night.

The couple that got sick, Dh and I all went to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel the day before, so that might be where we picked up the sickness.

 

It was a miserable 2 1/2 hour drive home the next day!!

With you all getting sick about the same time, I would think the odds are you picked it up at the same place/time. . I got food poisoning once in Las Vegas. Our last night. The flight home was torture.

Based on what I have read, this seems to be for the bigger production shows on the larger ships? The agency I used to book our upcoming Independence cruise says this (see below) It wasn't there when I first booked the cruise. I haven't seen this on the RCCL website. I wonder what it means.

Theme Cruise: Grease - Slick back your hair and pack your poodle skirts. You'll follow the romantic twists and turns of Sandy and Danny, two lovebirds who navigate the tricky social waters of their high school while keeping their reputations - and relationship -together. Ticketed events may be subject to an additional cost and are subject to availability.

I am pretty sure we are on the same cruise (Feb 5). I was surprised to learn of the huge group (700+). Hoping we don't encounter any issues.

We are on this cruise also. I know this group is having their own entertainment & activities all week and I'm curious how it will impact the regular scheduled activities for other passengers. I have been told they welcome anyone to attend their events, but it wouldn't be my cup of tea. I'm not particularly concerned, I fully intend to enjoy the cruise as always. But I am curious how it will turn out.

You mentioned a religious group, is it the kind of group that may require a special diet? There were reports a while ago about a very large group who took over one of the dining areas every single day in order to meet their dietary restrictions.

This is not that group, but from what I have read, it is still possible they will still take over a dining area so that the group can dine together. I also did a little research and from pictures & videos this group utilized the main theater, skating rink & other areas. I'm curious if this is done at a time when regular activities are not scheduled for those areas, or if the group will get priority and thus cause changes or cancellations of usual activities.

I am aware that there are often groups that reserve a venue for private functions. This group on the 2/5/18 sailing of up to 1000 is a large group and they having their own activities, shows & entertainments for the entire cruise....not just an occasional special function. I am curious to see what impact, in any, it has on our cruising experience and I will post about it upon our return.

Apparently, BOA isn't consistent. My son cashed in points & used it to book excursions and it was definitely more than 3 weeks before our sailing.

The apostolic at sea is a religious group, a singles ministry cruise with around 700 members.

I think you are partially correct. This cruise appears to be for the entire family, not just singles. The latest I read was 800+ would be on board.

I have not googled your charter, but I hope it is a mild group. At least not a bunch of college kids on spring break, but... I did a charter we had about 800 on the Splendour of the Seas in 06 or 07.... and while I would not choose to be on that sailing, normally, it was probably not too bad because we didn't take over any venues, etc, but still. Any group larger than a couple of hundred impacts the sailing significantly. That said, the cruise line do not tell you that you are sailing with a group. Since we are all people, aren't we supposed to accept everyone? I mean bears, bikers, WWF, plumbers, etc. all gods children... right.

 

JC

I was hesitant to comment on this subject, because I thought someone might look at it as not accepting others. It's not about that, one cool thing about cruising is meeting people from other walks of life. I was just wondering if, due to the size of the group and the fact that they are planning their own activities, will it mean that some usual activities will be cancelled or venues unavailable? You said yourself, any group larger than a couple hundred will impact the sailing significantly. I have read some comments that this did indeed happen to them...others say they barely noticed that a large group was on board. I guess I will find out for myself in a few weeks.

I am on this sailing. I found out about the charter a couple of weeks ago when someone posted about it on our roll call. Out of curiosity I did some research and found their website regarding the cruise. It advertises as having their own round the clock entertainment, with about 8 entertainers & speakers listed. I have no idea if it will impact our cruising experience in any way, we fully intend to enjoy ourselves as much as we always do. I do think it would be nice if we had been told about it beforehand. I'm not saying it would have changed our plans to take that particular cruise, but I can understand that some people might not wish to cruise with a large group with special interests.

I definitely wear mine on other cruises, and it is evident in pictures :) How much or how little you spend on the dress is totally up to you. I always keep my eyes open for a good deal.

It used to be a big thrill when we received our documents and luggage tags in the mail. Always did the "doc dance" at the mail box and all the way back inside the house.:D Now, I enjoy the thrill of seeing the message that my docs are ready. I save just the page with the tag in a separate file...then I can go in and type our name on them. I even bought the luggage tag holders after years of the using clear packaging tape (which worked just dandy). To some it may seem silly, but I enjoy all the planning and the little things we do in preparation for a cruise. Part of the fun for me.

I received the certificates via email 3 times, however, I just purchased mine earlier this month & we haven't taken the cruise I applied them to. I was concerned, so I had my TA check if the obc had been applied to the reservations and it had not. He took care of it for me. I figured if something in the system was causing them to send out multiples of the same emails, then perhaps a glitch may also keep the credits from being applied correctly.

Is that the dog that did it’s business in the Diamond Lounge?:(

Yuck. I don't know about that, it wasn't mentioned by the woman complaining.

A woman in the Diamond lounge was complaining to the concierge about a lady with a service dog. Tiny little thing (the dog), and I have seen this woman/dog before on other cruises. The complainer stated that the woman with the dog was about to reach Pinnacle and Pinnacles are a tight knit group and would never accept the woman with the dog! Not funny, but definitely ridiculous!