Cruise review to finish this particular bit :-)

Lets start with the basics,
THE BOARDING PROCEDURE was the usual efficient RCCL boarding, I have never had any real problems with the RCCL boarding and this was no exception. It was as smooth and fast as usual, but then again we are Diamond members and the queue for boarding is normally shorter than the other queues.
The main complaint about the boarding was not being told about the Norovirus before we boarded, and given the chance to cancel and rebook on another cruise, which was what happened to the cruise following us.

CABIN was clean and tidy, if a tad badly laid out, we had a Promenade View cabin. This was a free upgrade, so it was ok, but I would not book one again.
Not much could be seen from the window except for the cabins on the opposite side.
It was quiet except for the bloke next door coughing all night... lol 

DINING we only used the Windjammer for various reasons, one being that the Norovirus was on board, so we kept away from the main restaurant's and just ate in the windjammer at quiet times.
The food was as usual in the windjammer, quite good if a bit samey it never changes from cruise to cruise.
Also other guests who used the main restaurant's said the food was always cold, but as I said we never used them so can't really comment.

THE PORTS were good, although I only got off at a few, because I'd been before many times. But the ports were not the reason for the cruise. Being away from home at Christmas & New Year was the main reason, we had planned to stay on board and enjoy the ship. But with the Norovirus this was not really possible.

ENTERTAINMENT was again ok, we didn't go to any of the RCCL singers and dancers production shows, not because they were bad in fact they are very good.
But we've seen them all before, they have not been changed for years.
There were some good guest artistes on ie. Jersey boys tribute Beatles tribute, and a zany comedian who we've seen a few times before but he's still funny...just wish I could remember his name.
The cruise director Joff Eaton is one of the best cruise directors we've had and his progressive quiz is something to behold...just about the best quiz on the seas.

BARS & DRINK PRICES were as usual on RCCL quite expensive, we were one of the lucky ones, in that being Diamond members we got free drinks in the Diamond lounge every evening between 5 & 8.30pm.

OVERALL it was a good cruise and RCCL did all they could about the Norovirus, the staff were continually cleaning and disinfecting. It was some of the passengers who were the problem, a lot of them didn't wash their hands regularly and quite a few complained about using the hand gel provided.

THE VERY BEST THING about the cruise was the people we met, especially in the Diamond lounge, we have cruised lots of times before with a lot of different companies. But we have NEVER met so many really nice people on one cruise before.

IN CONCLUSION I would give the cruise 7 out of 10 and will be sailing with RCCL again and sailing on the Indy again, just hope they change the shows by then.

Waiting Waiting Waiting....

It's Sunday morning, can't wait for tomorrow to start down to Southampton, don't sail till Tuesday, but stopping overnight in a Travelodge at eastleigh.
Want to make sure we make the ship, what with all this snow....which has stopped up here in Wigan but has not cleared from the roads yet.
I'm keeping everything crossed for decent weather tomorrow... :-) Well i'll get back to staring out the window and praying for a thaw....LOL

RCCL comes up trumps again

Just this minute had another phone call from Adam Goldsteins office concerning the Hong Kong cruise I was talking about.
They have refunded me $800 as it was only part their fault, which is true.
Getting $400 obc and the balance in a cheque from RCCL UK.
Can't fault that for customer service from the top.
Just wish UK Customer Service was as good.
What a good week this has been

RCCL Getting Better & Better :-)

Had another phone call from Adam Goldstein's office yesterday, they where inquiring about a Hong Kong cruise I took last march, on which I had lots of problems over visas etc.
The upshot was it cost me £4500 extra sorting flights from Japan which I didn't need in the end, they were booked on the ORDERS of the pursers office, who refused to refund me.
Anyway I complained to the UK customer service office on my return, who refused to do anything at all.
Then about 10 days ago I decided to try AG's office in Miami and lo and behold they got back to me asking for all the details, reciepts etc and promised to look into it for me.
Not saying I'll get anything back but at least they are treating me like a "Valued Customer" and doing something, not like RCCL UK customer service who basically ignored me.
I'll keep you informed (who ever you are lol .... prob no one but me reading this blog) Gets things off my chest tho :-)

Almost Ready

Got all my stuff sorted, just need to iron it all :-( ...LOL Prob do the packing on Fri, Sheila (my missus) does the packing part, i'm not allowed near the cases except to lift them off the bed and DRAG them to the car...lol.
I hate the last week before the cruise, it always drags :-( but last night I had a great diversion to take my mind off the wait.
I went to see the Kings of Leon with my daughter Nicola, at the MEN arena, Manchester.
They were amazing one of the best acts ever I've seen.
Just gonna nip back on the Cruise Critic web site and check out the forum for the cruise, some lovely people on there, can't wait to meet them all at the Meet & Mingle on board.

Service as it should be !!

Even got a phone call from Adam Goldstein's office, to check that everything was ok and making sure I knew about the refund. Now if the customer service dept at RCCL could be that efficient it would be great......

WOO HOO !! RESULT

Just been informed by my travel agent that Adam Goldsteins office in Miami have just been on and they are refunding me £1300 on the cruise, I lose the £200 obc but thats a small price to pay :-)