MaritimeR&R

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/florida/crane-falls-on-florida-based-oasis-of-the-seas-cruise-ship

It's only been a little over an hour. They are ascertaining damage to ship, dock, and people.

II it were real, I would have to say that the incompetency that exists in Royal's IT Dept. has spread to the Loyalty Dept. as it is poorly written.

Paid $509. for mine - end of June.  Asked about secure storage in the cabana given that there are supposedly outlets for devices and that the cabanas are not in a secure place. Was told they would check on it. Received an email back that said "no locking areas in the cabana as of now, but there are lockers available throughout Coco Cay for an $8. a day rental fee.  Needless to say, I think that is ridiculous.

 In keeping with the OP's original statement, the problem with dog urine is not one confined to Anthem. As i said in an earlier post, my JS on Adventure had a foul smell when I entered it on the day of embarkation. At first, I was told they were "aware" of the smell, that it would dissipate over the next couple of days, and to leave my balcony door open for a few hours to air the room out. The smell never completely disappeared, in fact it got worse. About 5 days later due to a failure of the air conditioning system, my room was very hot and what had been a foul smell was now clearly identifiable as urine.  Days were spent during which the room was aired out, carpets and furniture were steam cleaned 2X (crusty brown spots on three spots of the rug were cleaned up as well), walls and cabinets were washed down for fear of mold spores, a commercial ionized was run for half a day and the air vents were vacuumed and one filter replaced. Royal did their absolute best to remedy the situation and for that, I applaud them. They also compensated me for two out of my four B4B cruises. I seriously doubt that a trained service dog had defecated and urinated in this room, more than likely, someone's pet was responsible.  I think that the more Royal has to clean up after these "pets," especially if they find themselves in the position of having  to compensate other passengers for these pets' indiscretions, the more likely Royal will enforce their only service-dogs stance. 

3 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Pretty sure it's possible, but I need to check with management first.

Thank you. I believe it would be very helpful.

Bob, would it be possible to create a sticky for confirmed RC charters, sold out ships, and those ships suddently "pulled from inventory for unexplained reasons?

Sophie

 I know there is supposed to be transportation within the "park" in the form of a tram/s that run every 15 minutes, but that is one long walk for a toddler or an elderly person from where the ship is berthed to the entrance of the park, especially carrying anything with them. 

I hope there will be some kind of transportation besides being in a wheel chair for those people who can not walk the distance from the ship to where the tram/s will be provided.

Coffee is available in both the DL and the SL starting at 6am.  There were signs posted in both lounges for the month of November and all of February.

Booking double is the safer option. It insures a place in the life boats for your section.  You may not be able to add another person if your section is full.

First off, I want to admit that because of a childhood lung disease, I am have many more environmental allergies than most, but I usually do my best to avoid or take steps to prevent placing myself in situations where triggers are likely to occur.  I travel and cruise frequently and modify my lifestyle accordingly. If you know of anyone with severe asthma, you know that this is a life-threatening disease. Each attach leaves you feeling like someone has smashed your chest with a sledge hammer and the negative effect on your heart is compounded by each attach as you get older. I am nearly 70, so I have been dealing with this since I turned 12.

When cruising with RC, one thing I always do is file a special needs request and they have always been very good at working with me so that I can cruise without incident. However, the growing problem of people bringing along pets or untrained dogs that they say are trained "comfort animals" has led me to unequivocally support Royal's position on only allowing true service dogs on board their ships. I sincerely hope Royal follows through with their stance.

 In November, I spent a month aboard Adventure of the Seas and then, again, spent the month of February in the same JS.

In November, my cabin was fine: it had been deep cleaned before I used it (as requested through special needs) and my stateroom attendant adhered to using only vinegar and water to clean.

In February, upon entering the same stateroom, the smelled of wet dog was pervasive. I came to find out that, apparently, the deck supervisor was aware that the cabin had some odor issues in the past but she said it only seemed to occur early on in the previous sailings and then usually disappeared mid cruise. No other cabin was available and I was slated to be in this cabin for four consecutive sailings. 

For two days I avoided staying in my room during the day and left the balcony door open as instructed. On the evening of the second day I returned to my cabin after dinner and a show and their was a faint smell of urine in the cabin. I awoke after about an hour an a half having difficulty breathing, the urine smell had become much stronger and I wound up spending the night with a blanket on the balcony. Over the course of the next two 7-day sailings and the beginning of the third consecutive sailing, an ionizer was used, the cabin walls were washed, and all the furniture and rugs were steam cleaned twice and fan dried.  The cabin air filter had been cleaned twice and the ductwork vacuumed. I spent a lot of time in both the DL and the SL while this was being done.

By the beginning of the third week, the wet dog smell had disappeared and only faint urine odors would appear if the balcony door was left open allowing the humidity in the room to build.  My remaining week and a half was without further incident and I was left to recover from the barrage of asthma attacks and sinusitis.

RC gave me a 15% percentage of my cruise fare back in the form of an FCC for two of my sailings which was appreciated, but honestly, I would have much rather not had to spend two weeks dealing with constant sinus headaches along with my inhaler, guaifenesin, azelastine and Flonase as constant companions not to mention having to spend part of my cruise in Medical. 

It was very obvious that someone with a dog or possibly dogs had stayed in the room since I had left the end of November and that the dog/s had both defecated and urinated in the room as there were old brown stains in three places in the room, two of which were still crusty. I can only assume that whatever dog/s had been in there were not true service animals as I believe they are very well trained to do their business in the appropriate place.

I hope that if someone who customarily takes their pet along by claiming it is a trained service animal reads this, thinks twice about how their comfort or their unwillingness to kennel their animal should not take precedence over my ability to breather, to live, and to enjoy my cruise to the fullest extent possible, and decides to leave their animal at home.  

Definitely prorated, Bob.

You will get a balcony discount but it  will be definitely be prorated. The full balcony discount is based on double occupancy. Unless you are paying for at least two in the cabin, your dicount will aleays be adjusted accordingly.

Bob can Correct me on the specifics of this, but i believe even at 525+ the number of gifts is restricted (1 i think) on sailings less than 7 nights. 

I am taking my 9 year old granddaughter on Adventure out of NY the end of June. We are doing Bermuda, Nassau and Coco Cay. She been on cruises with me before but her parents and sister were with her too. This time it's just us. She is shy and doesn't want to do the kids program (she has alwsys prefered to stay with the family) so this Grandma is going to be one tired old lady. I did rent a Thrill Park cabana for our stop at Coco Cay and will likely do some of the sppropriate early shows with her. It's unlikely that i will be going down the slides. I am hoping she makes a friend or two so she can experience more of what the ship has to offer. If worse comes to worse, at least we will be going to sleep early....lol

According to a current cruiser, despite there only being 17 Pinnacles on the current Rhapsody sailing, D+ have been either barred or if already inside they have been asked to leave the CL lounge. According to the cruiser the D+ were told that the lounge has been an SL for three weeks and that they just have not gotten around to changing the key access yet. Needless to say, there are quite a few upset people. I had believed that RC would leave the CL's as they are but now I seriously wonder if this is the fate of all CL's in the coming year.

26 minutes ago, Retired LEO said:

Unfortunately there will be exceptions to this.

Until the first time the exception hurts someone and the owner and Royal Caribbean are sued.

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

The G&S and LeOctane are only supposed to go to Pinnacles or 340+ Diamond+ if they are in a JS or better.  

 

The reasoning is that if you are PC or 340+, you get an upgrade.  The upgrade is the white tube.  JS gets an upgrade, also the white tubes.  So if you are in a JS and 340+ or PC you get a dbl upgrade, the G&S or LeOctane.

 

At least that is how C&A Director explained it on Mariner 

And my info came from same, but on Serenade. Also, recently on Adventure and on Freedom  in a JS and got the white tubes. There goes that RC inconsistency again. Lol.

White tubes are now considered the upgraded toiletries. G&S and L'Occitane are supposedly suite and Pinnacle only. If you are lucky, as Bob stated, you might get them in a JS.

9 hours ago, truckswain said:

Correct, they are a business and making money and looking at the dollar is what a company is supposed to do.

Yes, but while seeking out every dollar it can grab hold of,  RC should also be looking the effect this model has on its product and ultimately how it is perceived in the marketplace.  If i pay for Voom, i expect what is advertised; if RC advertises that through my loyalty, I  will receive "X" benefit, I expect that benefit until it is no longer an advertised benefit. This "key" will likely be opening the door to exacerbating the problems that already exist.

23 minutes ago, agslc5 said:

Also you misunderstood what I was saying about the luggage tags. I was trying to tell the OP to GET tag 1 or 2  not get off the boat if they didn't. I have always been able to go down to guest services explain I need to get off right away and they give me tag #1 or #2. I agree with you if you have #5 and they call #2 you can't get your bag but that's not what I was suggesting to do. 

7:30 to 8:00 is usually when they start, but I have sailed Serenade for the last five years for 3 and 4 consecutive cruises at a time and what I have noticed is that luggage tags 1 and 2 are red tags, typicallt given to Suites and Pinnacles on Serenade and on other ships. All other tags are now green.  There has been a tendency in the last year to somewhat disregard D+ and below status in favor of when people must make their flight, bus, etc.  when assigning disembarkation numbers.   I use a wheelchair only for getting on and off the ship and have seen firsthand that when they are shorthanded, the pushers will typically start with those wheelchair assists that are with the concierge (he oftentimes comes to the general area and tells the person with the clipboard how many pushers he needs before they start letting people off the ship and those pushers go with him to the area where suites and Pinnacles who need wheelchair assistance are gathered.} After those are done, the pushers report back to the general wheelchair disembarkation point and start taking those passengers off by luggage tag number AND first come/first serve.  If your luggage tag has not been called, they will not take you downstairs to customs no matter how early you get to the wheelchair disembarkation point or how many people came after you and have a lower number.  Occasionally, there are enough pushers to meet the needs of the concierge and the general disembarkation person but usually the general area is limited to one or two (at best) until those assisting the concierge are done. I hope, like Grandma Dazzles experience, RC is accommodates your needs.

49 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I've heard they limit how many Keys are sold

One would hope that this would be the case, but  RC tends to look only at the dollar. Case in point --despite knowing that selling over a certain amount of  "connections" puts an unsustainable draw on their internet system and slows the service to dial up, RC will offer 2 for 1 deals a few days before the end of a cruise. Such was the case when I was on a b3b on Adventure in Nov. .37kbps was the norm during the day, RC did the promotion anyway, the fist sailing it took almost 3 minutes to load a response from them on their facebook page, the 2nd week dial up speed and then on day 4 the system crashed-no internet for 12 hours, then day 6 they sold one hour increments. IT guy was pulling his hair out telling everyone the problem was with the satellite and the servers in Miami and Atlanta. He said the current system cant handle so many devices online in the same area at the same time. Too many ships all viing for a their slice of the signal.   

I wish i could say that i believe that they will only sell enough keys to keep it manageable, but I highly doubt it.

I just checked mine and though my points ard correct, the website says I have 7 past cruises...lol i turn pinnacle in February, so there are quite a few missing

There is a glass wall that separates the SL from the Viking Crown in which a door could easily be installed in the future if the numbers make it necessary.  I would assume then part of the VC would be cordoned off.

Used my setsail pass on the app  to board Adventure. It went very smoothly.

It is my understanding that the crewmember is British.