nb125

We are now considering splashing out on a suite. Looking at SS 6086. Does anyone have any comments on this stateroom and are there any benefits in booking a suite?

Thanks to everyone for replies which have been very helpful.

With regard to RCI we did enjoy the cruise but had a problem with the overcrowding in the dining venues especially the buffet where it was very difficult to get a table. Hoping that HAL will be better in this respect and if not I have gathered from reading this forum that the room service choice is a lot better.

Thanks for replying. So if there are no obvious problems with any of them it will be down to price.

We have only cruised once and that was with RCCL. Now thinking of booking Nieuw Amsterdam but finding the different categories very confusing. We definitely want a balcony and have the following options.

VB5142, VA8028, VD6162 and VC6122. Can anyone comment on these cabins to help us decide.

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... and many people have booked because of the change, including us. The only ones who know are Royal Caribbean. If you see them reverse the policy, figure the change hurt them. (don't count on it)

 

We enjoy Carnival as well, but until they catch up with the industry, we'll be sailing RCI and Celebrity.

 

You may like Carnival, from recent experience, I can say there are plenty of smokers over there. ;) I really don't think any cruise line will want to be known as the line that caters to smokers, just as most good hotels have restricted smoking areas no smoking in any rooms (at least in the U.S.)

Having recently cruised for the first time and walking through the casino I would say that RCI are very much catering to smokers. All of the reasons that are quoted such as consideration for other guests and safety issues are just proved by this to be hypocritical.

I am merely pointing out the flaws in your logic. I deal in absolutes in my life. I am a software engineer, so using flawed logic results in failures in the things I work on.

 

Whenever I see someone trying to prove an absolute with a single example, I need to point out the flaw in logic.

It's hardly a single example. Many people have stated on here that they have cancelled or know people who have cancelled including me.

Actually, that was my point. See what you highlighted in my post. The point I was making was that the Windjammer has become a more popular choice for dinner, and RCCL should consider providing a way for WJ only people to not reserve a spot in the MDR. Thinking on it further, it would help RCCL plan amounts of food to prepare for WJ dinner as well. If the WJ is crowded, there might be wasted dinners in the MDR and items running out in the WJ.

But if they do this they would need to increase the capacity of the WJ. No point in having extra food if there is nowhere to sit. Why have so many MDR levels if they are all half empty, they could turn one of them into another buffet.

Thanks for pointing this out because I get a little mad when people say RCI give enough notice of changes so that those who wish to change their plans don't lose anything, because from the minute we book in the UK, any change we make costs and if it is as a result of a RCI corporate decision, we just have to suck it up. That's unfair.

This is not correct. I told them exactly why I was cancelling and received my deposit back. Under ABTA rules they have changed our expectations of the holiday we booked and are required to refund any monies paid.

Hi. Sorry - should have been more clear. Since I always eat in the WJ, I am basing this on my own observations. Several years ago, there might be 4 or 5 other tables of diners each night while I was dining (30 minutes). It was easy to judge the regulars as opposed to the one night occasional diners. Recently, I noticed 20 or more tables taken by people I recognized each night for the entire cruise. I did not talk to any of them to find out the reason. I can only guess that some of them at least feel the same as me that 2 hours for dinner is way too long. I can eat and be done in less than 30 minutes and move on to other activities.

 

Just to be clear, I am not even thinking the WJ will ever be the preferred dining venue for the majority. All I am thinking is that RCCL should consider adding a dining option to the choice of MDR and MTD for WJ ONLY. Even if 20 parties choose this, it would clear up several tables in the MDR that will go unused, allow other diners to have full tables in the MDR and maybe increase the space between tables.

 

All I am saying is that there is a small percentage that do not like the MDR and use the WJ for dinner each night. Why force us to select a dining time or MTD when we KNOW we will not use it?

 

:)

This was not our experience recently on the Legend. After the first three nights in the MDR we started using the WJ instead, not because we cannot be bothered to dress up or have no manners, as someone has suggested. We just found it a long drawn out pretentious experience especially after a tiring day in port and it it's not as though the food is anything special.

However everyone on this cruise must have felt the same because it was a nightmare trying to get a table. We had expected it to be like this at breakfast and lunch but from what we had read on here thought dinner would be quiet and relaxing which was not the case at all. This would seem to indicate that on port intensive cruises more people are choosing this option.

I just had it on the Grandeur last week, but they called it "Cottage Pie". Was very good.

 

Gwen :)

Shepherds Pie should be made with minced lamb and cottage pie with minced beef. Otherwise they are just the same.

We booked MTD so we could sit by ourselves which we did for dinner but when we tried the MDR for breakfast they insisted on seating us with other people so only did it the once. We prefer to be by ourselves anyway but at breakfast having to make conversation with strangers is not my idea of a relaxing holiday.

I enjoyed the consommes and the roast turkey from the carvery. Did not like the fries, so thin and hard you cannot put a fork in them, more like what we call chipsticks, a potato snack that comes in bags.

The cooked meat from the antipasti section made a nice sandwich at lunchtime if not hungry enough for a big meal.

The desserts looked gorgeous but did not taste of much. The best dessert I have ever had was in the MDR, chocolate souffle with expresso cream poured on top, delicious.

The best things for us were the english bacon for breakfast until it ran out two days before the end of the cruise and one night only real cheese instead of the tasteless rubber, a whole stilton, gorgeous!

We were very disappointed on the Legend last week. I ordered the Petite Filet Mignon and had to send it back because it came medium rare rather than medium. When it came back I just did not like the taste and could not eat it. My Husband ordered the Porterhouse and said it was verging on tough and did not enjoy it at all. We had intended to visit twice during the cruise but did not bother to go again.

It's 2 bottles per cabin.

I am thinking it would be interesting if someone started a thread on the sometimes confusing differences in our shared language unless it's already been done. I'm quite new on here.

Hi - this is only my second post after years of lurking because that's how long my husband has been trying to convince me to try cruising. We have finally booked Indpendence of the Seas Spanish Med cruise next June. Too early to start serious planning but I can't resist reading the boards evey day.

I was curious about the contradictory reports regarding water so I asked the question of RCI on live chat and got the following answer which seems pretty definite.

" Our policy is that guests are not allowed to bring anything other than 2 bottles of wine/champagne with them. [16:50] If you require water, this is complimentary on board, however if you want to take your own water for medical reasons, this can be discussed further.