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AZSwissGal

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Posts posted by AZSwissGal

  1. I'm still sad that we missed the beach club in April 2020 due to.. well you know.  We debated about booking the beach club because we thought the $40 per person was a bit steep, but decided to go ahead since we were scheduled to be there on my birthday.  Now we can only dream about a price like that.  

    • Like 1
  2. My daughter and I went on a cruise on the Navigator in April for my birthday this past April.  My daughter was all excited about an excursion she saw for Puerto Vallarta.  It involved horseback riding (as well as tequila tasing lol).  After I looked at the excursion I had to tell her that she needed to do this excursion by herself because I was not able to do it.  She wanted to know why and when I told her I was too old (by one year), she was really upset.  She knows that I go on horseback rides several times a year.  We ended up choosing a different excursion.  She didn't want to leave her mom behind.  She was more upset than I was😀

  3. 22 hours ago, paross4 said:

    Couple of items I still have from the cruise in 2013.  (the shirt is getting a tad bit worn - but it's great for wearing doing yardwork)

    Shirt.jpg

    VIP.jpg

     

    I have one of these shirts hanging in my closet.  Mine has a whole bunch of signatures on the back from staff members including the captain's.

    • Like 2
  4. We had the same waiter / assistant (Meckinson and Clive) on our April 28 seven night cruise and I agree they were wonderful, including greeting us by name after the first night.

     

    In Mazatlan we did a non ship excursion and actually enjoyed that.  We were driven out into the countryside to some of the villages out there and got see some of the arts and crafts, like making tiles, adobe bricks for building houses and stopped at a bakery where we bought some yummy pastry fresh out of the wood oven for dirt cheap.  We did spend a little bit of time driving through the city and ate at a beach front restaurant.  There were only four of us on this excursion, another mother /daughter duo.  I was surprised they didn't cancel the tour.

     

    In Puerto Vallarta we did a ship's tour.  My daughter had wanted to do the horseback riding tour you guys did.  Unfortunately for her, I was over the age limit:(  We were very disappointed in the first part of the excursion (too much selling). Also there were too many people.  Two buses full and what really irked us, the mixed Royal and Carnival passengers on this tour.  It improved with a lunch at a beachside restaurant and got better with a tequila tasting and a show depicting some of the history.  The show was actually pretty good.

     

    Sorry I kind of hijacked your review.

    • Like 1
  5. I have noticed that none of you here harping on the child's behavior have considered that she may be on the autism spectrum and the OP just did not feel it relevant to mention that since that was not the point of this post.  Persons on the spectrum often get angry at the drop of a hat when something triggers them and they may use throwing things to express their anger.  Unfortunately you can't always know the triggers and try to avoid them.  Example, my 31 year old, 5 ft 11, 200 lbs, son on the spectrum had what I call a meltdown in the middle of the waiting area of a hair place I took him to get his hair cut.  Yes, we got some weird looks and whispers, but the area had gotten fairly busy and when he was called by the worker, he couldn't tell who had called his name.  That's all it took.

     

    So before everyone keeps giving out unsolicited parenting advice, please keep in mind that there may be another reason for this behavior.

     

     

    • Like 3
  6. FWIW, at a travel show last month here in Phoenix, a Royal rep was giving a presentation which included all the new ships coming, when and where they will be placed.  She stated that the first ship in the Icon class would be placed in California, port TBD, in 2022, that this would make many people happy.  She did explain that the reason they would be able to base it in CA is due to the fuel the Icon class will use and would be compliant with CA laws.  

     

     

     

    • Like 3
  7. 1 hour ago, stevea36 said:

    I have found that if a TA participates in the Royal Up program you will receive the offer to bid directly from RCI.  The TA has no part in the process.   (I have first hand experience on this from both sides).

     

    My experience has been the opposite.  I received my invite to bid on RoyalUp via my TA.  The TA sent me the following email:

     

    "I'm excited to tell you that booking number xxxx is eligible for a special upgrade offer and I wanted to pass along the details for your consideration. As part of this offer, you'll have the opportunity to bid for discounted cabin upgrades.

    Availability is limited, so please review the offer as soon as possible if you're interested in making a bid to upgrade your cabin.

    To view the details of the offer, click 
    In the event of a successful bid, your card will be automatically charged for the bid amount and I'll email you an updated confirmation within 48 hours."

     

    So while the bidding process was all on me, the invite came through the TA.  BTW my bid was accepted 4 days before our cruise in September and we were already in Rome pre-cruise, so never received an updated confirmation which I didn't need anyway.
     

     

     

  8. 3 hours ago, eel said:

    ICON on the west coast almost makes sense.  Since ICON runs on liquefied natural gas (LNG), they will need a place to refuel.  There are no LNG facilities in Florida (yet) and I don't believe any are are currently under construction. There are several in Texas and one in Louisiana. There is also one in Mexico near Ensenada and one in Alaska.  Maybe they plan to use Ensenada for refueling? 

     

    She did mention that the ship will run on LNG that’s why they will be able to homeport in California since it will meet the strict regulations of the state. No mention about refueling was made but then again they were trying to get you to book cruises😏

    • Like 1
  9. 3 hours ago, Tall-Cruiser said:

     

    That is interesting news about Icon. The first Icon Class ship is currently due out in Q2, 2022.

    Thanks for sharing the info from the presentation.

     

    3 hours ago, OfTheSeasCruiser said:

    Thank you for sharing! Icon isn't due out until 2022.

     

    The representative started talking fairly fast at that point because she was running out of time, so I couldn't remember whether it was 2021 or 2022:)  Besides I was getting pretty excited about finally having a Royal ship within driving distance that I didn't pay that much attention to the timeframe.

     

     

  10. 21 hours ago, wl2cruise said:

     

    I went to a travel show here in Arizona today.  There was a presentation by a Royal Caribbean representative and when she was talking about all the new ships coming out over the next few years she stated that the first ship of the Icon series would be stationed in California, but that they did not know yet whether that will be San Diego or Los Angeles.  I do believe she was mentioning sometime in 2021, but am not sure if I remember correctly.

     

    Rita

     

    • Like 3
  11. 4 hours ago, coaster said:

    Sorry,  but I don’t know your background. How do you know TA’s are getting commission in regards to accepted Royal Up offers? The offers are being sent directly to the passengers and bypassing the TA’s. How would a TA even know an upgrade was offered let alone the acceptance by the passenger to pay a higher fare?

     

    I received my Royal Up offer for my upcoming cruise via my travel agent, not directly to me.  My TA forwarded Royal's e-mail with the link to the bids and I took it from there.

     

     

     

  12. We came across one of the cars that was in the show.

     

    DSC06362_zpsuodtitky.jpg

     

    DSC06368_zpsd7um2kk8.jpg

     

    DSC06382_zpsv0dx8nno.jpg

     

    That red Ferrari belongs to the owner of a Gelato shop in Sorrento. I have pictures of that car from our land tour two years ago. It was parked right outside his shop and was quite an attraction.

     

    Btw, his gelato is excellent. Our tour company had given us coupons for a free gelato from his shop:D

  13. I love your screen name! We winter in Phoenix - where in AZ are you, if you don't mind me asking? I haven't found any Swiss restaurants or stores that sell Swiss made products. I miss my Thomy mild mustard!

     

    I live in Glendale near the football stadium. Yes, there are not really any Swiss restaurants in the entire Phoenix area. I guess the closest to one is the Melting Pot which has fondue on the menu. As far as Swiss products - the only store I know of that has some imported Swiss items is A J s Fine Food with several stores throughout the valley. Not sure if they have the Thomy mustard or not, haven't been to the store in a while. I have started to order some items on line or bring them back with me when I visit my family.

  14. My Mom was born and raised in Switzerland. When I tell people I'm half Swiss, a lot of them ask where in Sweden my family is from. This is so common I've come to expect it.

     

    My Dad showed me a newspaper article one time, from maybe the 40's, about some international sports event, and even they thought Swiss people came from Sweden!

     

     

     

    I can attest to that. I am originally from Switzerland and other than what you mentioned there are two more questions that I get most. The first one is why I am not blond since apparently all Swedish women are blond[emoji57]. The other one is “so you speak Swedish”. Um no. I have gotten to the point where a lot of the times I don’t even correct people anymore.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  15. Go ahead and enjoy yourself however you want to. Don't worry about what other people may think. On my cruise on the JOTS I crossed paths with a set of older women, twins very obviously, who always dressed exactly alike. I would not have been able to tell them apart. I actually got a kick out of them and was always curious what they were going to be wearing next. I was actually jealous of their wardrobe;)

     

    Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

     

    Rita

  16. OH, It's look like all the show seems very poor.

     

    Do you enjoy it ?

     

    The shows we liked the best were the ice show, the impersonator Scott Record and especially the ventriloquist Ronn Lucas. Seeing that your kids do not speak English, the only one of these shows that would be of interest to them would probably be the ice show. The other shows were a mixed bag, parts of it good, parts not so good. Keep in mind that everyone has different tastes as far as shows go.

  17. Formal night 2-5 night

    I was looking at my pictures and jasmine menu is on the 2nd formal night. I also noticed that chicken Marsala was on the last night and now I think lasagna was only at the buffet

    Lamb was offered in the 5th night

    Menu arugula for night 5

     

    [ATTACH]349159[/ATTACH][ATTACH]349160[/ATTACH]

    [ATTACH]349161[/ATTACH]

     

    Lasagna was also on the menu on the last day in the main dining room. I only know that because I had it:)

  18. I was on this cruise. Saturday was the last day (sea day). Just before 6 pm, the captain made an announcement that we would be going top speed to get back to Fort Lauderdale asap due to a medical emergency. He estimated that we would pick up the pilot about 2 am and be dockside about 2:45. I woke up just after 3 am and we were in port. We did ask around at dinner as to what had happened, but no one we spoke to had any hard facts, just speculations.

    The debarkation process still happened at the originally scheduled times.

  19. Hi Rita. To sum it up in one word it would be...."expensive!" :eek: We knew that before we left but for perspective, one of our group ran to Starbucks, grabbed 4 tea and 2 coffee and it was over 40 CHF (or over $50 CDN). We had a few nice meals and also knew there was a grocery store and other cheaper options in the basement of the train station. Overall we really enjoyed Switzerland, it is very scenic, friendly, clean, and appears to have a strong economy. Actually reminded me of Canada in many ways....I hope to see more of your country if we get the chance in the future. Thanks for following along!

    Jerry

     

    Can't argue with that summation, lol. Every time I go back home I go into sticker shock. That's funny about the Starbucks. My DD and I spent a couple of weeks visiting two years ago. When we were exploring Lucerne she saw the Starbucks and wanted to get one (she is kind of an addict), but she quickly changed her mind when she saw the prices:D Unfortunately, we could not do Mt Pilatus because my DD is afraid of heights, so the gondolas were out. One of the trips we did was to the Matterhorn, though, which was really cool.

     

    I'm glad that you enjoyed it overall. It really is a beautiful country. When people ask me if I am going back when I retire, I tell them I can't afford to live there:rolleyes:

    Rita

  20. I have been following your review since I was interested to see what your impressions of Switzerland are. I was born and raised in Switzerland so I am always curious what other folks think of my home country. The train you took from Basel to Lucerne rode straight through my home town. It is just after Olten on the train line. I am ashamed to say that even though I lived for 25 years only about 30 miles form Lucerne, I never made it to the wall:o Looking forward to your day "climbing" Pilatus.

     

    Rita

  21. I believe it is not just the camo pants / shirts / etc. but also certain slogans on t-shirts. When I was getting off the Jewel of the Seas in Barbados in May, one of the ship's crew was talking to a couple wanting to get off. I did not get everything, but I did hear the crew member say that the passenger really should go change into another shirt to avoid any possible problems. He was not wearing a camo shirt, but I couldn't see what the slogan was. It looks like they don't even let you off the ship with questionable clothes.

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