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All this talk of going through customs quickly isn't for me. I like to complain about certain things, security in airports is one (though I do understand why it's so tight), so I don't mind standing in line forever, or being questioned for hours, it gives me something to complain about ?

$3 on the menu, not bad.

Do we are very diplomatic in the Rafalski Household, so we let our daughter pick what deck and staterooms for this voyage. We gave her this opportunity because her brother has been able to celebrate his birthday now on two cruises since it is four days after Christmas. Thought this would be a nice perk for her. Oh, so we will be sailing on Deck 7 staterooms 7288, 7290 and 7291.

Looking forward to our first trip to Canada. Visiting Halifax and St John this Oct. Hope all goes smooth with Canadian Customs, as long as I don't try to sneak some poutine out of the country!

We love Mr. Sancho's. $50 through the same site that SusanJean posted. Price includes loungers and all the food and booze you want. Not walking distance, but only $17 taxi ride for up to 4 people.

Maybe RC will have a black Friday sale and discount the drink package at that time. One can only hope.

I have an update. I contacted our friends at the RC 800 number. After a good ten minutes on hold, and without much of a black and white answer, she explained that I had opted to 'choose' the higher rate of OBC and that I was actually coming out ahead. I want to preface my next few statements by saying, I would never speak down, or become angry with a call center representative. I'm not entirely convinced at times they have even a notch in the lowest part of the totem pole. I can say with 100% certainty every representative I've spoken to from RCI has been nothing but helpful and prompt. So with knowing they have little sway with my issue... I explained to her that, as a previous poster mentioned, I received the exact same line from the NextCruise representative. Not only did I receive it my most recent cruise, I've received it every time before. It's as if it's a go to sales line. Firstly, I did not come out ahead. I booked onboard NotS in December '16 to take advantage of the 150 per room OBC. At the time, the only promo RC was offering was an additional $25 OBC. Right or wrong, I always book an interior room, with the intention of upgrading later. When the 200 per room OBC offer, plus the balcony at a wash to what I'd already reserved was available, I jumped on it. To me, based on what I'd been repeatedly told, I should be at 350 OBC per room. Had I known I could, and presumably would, lose my NextCruise OBC when upgrading, I would have taken the NextCruise OBC on my previous cruise, and then walked into this 200 OBC when I upgraded. So to say I 'came out ahead' is, to me, a little disingenuous at best and to say the transparency is a little lacking would be an understatement. In a nice way, I tried to explain my position to the call center representative, prefacing that I knew she couldn't do much about it. She conceded there was not much she could do, but completely appreciated my position. (FYI: 'I appreciate your position' is one of my favorite passive call center lines :-D ) So where do I go from here? Let's just put it all out there: my vacation isn't ruined, I'm not going to go on some Facebook crusade that will only make me look unstable, and I'm certainly not going to bebop over to another 'cruise website' and start a petition to withhold gratuities from wait staff and cabin crew. I'm going to be just fine and have a wonderful time, and no doubt I'll eventually sail RC again. However, to say I'm disappointed with this outcome would be a mild understatement. I feel that since my last cruise on Navigator in December, I've had several 'disappointed' moments in RC courtesy of policy & fee changes. I'm not their highest level C&A member, I don't cruise more than twice a year, most times only once. I am, by no means, a Royal Caribbean VIP. And yet I've always been treated by the staff as a VIP. With my whopping 54 cruise points I've had a lot of fantastic experiences on RC ships. People ask why I never go to another line and my answer is always the same: I don't need to. I'll report back and let you know how my 3/31/18 sailing on MSC Seaside is. Loyalty match, included drinks, included internet, included 100 pp OBC for less than the comparable RC cruise from Miami that day. I guess I shall see if the grass is truly greener.

I would be a happy camper indeed if I could get that sale!