Leaderboard

And THIS is why the server at Playmakers remembered me and my family 9 months apart. We raved about him on the survey in January...when we went back in October, he came right up to us and said- "you were on the ship a few months back, right... I remember you guys and appreciate the review you left! Your survey went to my manager, who showed me and then it went to the department head who gave me an extra day off and a bonus" He was SO grateful, and really remembered us- remembered that my wife was a bartender in the past, asked my son how his soccer was going...it was borderline insane! So I guess it's true- they remember you for the good or the really bad reasons, lol

Room service breakfast (complimentary). Finally!

@Cactus527 I think you are a kind, beautiful person in soul and body . I truly think that it is how you ask and not what you ask. Which is to say......running the staff sort of ragged but constantly thanking them and being polite probably doesn't bother them as much as snapping your fingers and being rude. My brother will test them on drinks and food, but he is always polite and respectful, we feared they would get upset but they always are just amazed at where he puts it .

The staff do have great memories. I was on Allure from Galveston in Oct and when I went on in Jan, so many of the crew were asking where my family was and chatting to me like they knew me. But I say they have great memories one way or another. Either you were a kind, beautiful in soul and/or looks individual.......or an ahole.......and that's how they remember you .

did you hear that? ITS THE SOUND OF MY HEART BREAKING. GOODBYE. oh my gosh. welp i am now doubling down on names and faces for our upcoming cruises. i always fill out the survey and try to use names but i will be SURE to call out our crew by name so they can get OUTSIDE and extra time off. they work SO HARD.

Agreed - manners count. It's one of the things I've drilled into my children, and something I'm very proud of when people compliment me on how well they're behaved. I unfortunately grew up with the example of the opposite. It drives me bananas when I see other people doing it!

Sorry, @Ampurp85, For whatever reason it's not letting me get rid of the block quote thing. I went down to the early comedy show tonight (7:30). Collin M. and Nery Saenz, in that order. I've not been to an adult comedy show before, so I hid in the back because I was afraid. However, both comedians were great and I really enjoyed it. I would say about 1/3 were there with reservations, and the rest came in when they opened up the house. Definitely recommended for the 18+ crowd. I failed to get any photos of the comedians, but I did love the signs around the room.

I can’t wait to hear about the matching dresses! Will they use it as a real peacocking moment to lure in admirers?

Dinner in the MDR. I really enjoy Caribbean night because they always have chicken korma. The Asian bao tacos are also a favorite. Then, blueberry cobbler and pineapple sunshine cake. I got a photo of my roll just for @Ampurp85 . One fun note: My server asked me if I have been on Allure recently. I said that I had been on it last summer with my daughters. He then turned around and asked me if I recognized this server? And it was our server from last summer! I swear, the wait stuff in the MDR have photographic memories!!!! So good to see our past waiter again, so glad to hear he's going off contract in 23 days.

I use...an envelope next to my nightstand. About 6-8 months before I sail, every Friday whatever cash I have leftover in my wallet I put in the envelope. The interest rate is terrible, but the hours are terrific.

Lunch was a combination of Boardwalk Doghouse and Park Cafe. Delicious combination. That potato salad at Doghouse is still to die for.

I was able to call Club Royale and get a very decent upgrade cost on our 7-day on Rhapsody in November... I think there are deals to be had... just have to do the research.

Slept in this morning. It's sprinkled on and off since I got up, so I wonder if the weather will be dodgy again today. It's currently 8:45 and I'm *still* waiting for my 8:00-8:30 breakfast room service delivery. I'm hungry, dangit! I literally typed "dangit" and there was a knock at my door. It figures! Observation: My MDR waiter started in on his spiel last night about high ratings for the MDR staff. I cut him off and asked him, what exactly do you not get if I won't give you a 10? He blinked and looked really surprised. I said, MDR staff always tell me that I need to give them 10s, but I have no idea what that actually does for you. He looked out the windows near us and commented that I had said something about it raining today. He said that he has not gone outside on this ship in days. He's constantly working. By getting one of the highest ratings in the MDR, he earns time off where he can actually go outside. Whether or not this is absolutely accurate, I thought it was an interesting understanding of why they need to have higher ratings - It's how they get their time off. Okay, breakfast time. Feeding the hungry beast now (me).

Hi there, I didn't know it before. Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I am glad I found this website which is very useful for beginner like me. hehe

They really do. It’s usually my wife (I’m a wallflower) but even the Solarium Bistro omelet maker of all people remembered me in July (she was there for all 3 of our March-July Wonders).

I do this with spare change. I hate carrying change so it all goes in a can or whatever then I cash it in for some extra tip money before I cruise

That would be from the same type person that would eat a half-eaten doughnut from the top of the receptacle. Seinfeld reference

Dinner at Chops. I actually had a reservation for lunch and decided I didn't want to do it, so I went to get services to cancel it. They called over to Chops and asked me if I would want to do dinner for the same price. Um, YES! $25 vs. $60 is a no brainer. So, I had my first experience there for dinner. I've had parts of the menu with The Key luncheon before, but this was so much better. My server was amazing too - when he asked me what I wanted for dessert, I told him to surprise me. He literally clapped and ran off with glee. Starter rolls - onion was better than pretzel. Riesling for wine tonight. I used to love this, but it just wasn't hitting tonight. Starters: wild mushroom soup with truffle (excellent) and goat cheese salad (OUT OF THIS WORLD I would literally sacrifice someone for the opportunity to eat this again). Main course: 6oz filet with au jus sauce (MWA loved). Truffle fries on the side were great - I like it was just barely a hint of truffle on them. Dessert: my surprise was key lime pie! That meringue is something else... Overall, very good dinner and I would do it again. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. I understand now why it's so popular!

They will not accept photocopies. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/plan-a-cruise/travel-documents

The casino comps are the hardest to track, IMO. Unless there is a substantial difference in the base price of whatever cabin category you originally booked, it is really hard to know whether the price has really dropped or not. The problem is (as far as I can discern) is I never have any idea what "base" price they are using to calculate a price reduction (ad/or an upgrade). No matter how hard I look, I cannot manage to EVER find the same base price that they quote me. I wish I knew what the real bottom line was, but I never do. I just call and they USUALLY tell me that the current price is higher, not lower. I had one recently that actually did go down but it was a big exception. What really surprised me about that price drop was that they actually gave me a cash refund even though it was past final payment date. You just never know how that's going to go !

No wonder there are so many fights on Carnival I know all cruise lines have fights break out, but Carnival seems to have more than their share. I'll stick with RCL!

The Verizon plan I have now includes 1 Travel Pass day per month. When I did my first cruise 6 years ago, I paid for 1 in each of the ports I visited. I think it cost $20-25 total.

yes, as are we all!!!!!

I've had 6 price drops this year across 2 different cruises. Vision makes sense due to the ship and the length (9 nights). But I've had two price drops on Star for some reason.

I have seen per person OBC, though it may have just been the way it was entered in the system for a given promo

You cannot buy two of the same packages on the same sailing. If you want to expand your dining options, look at purchasing lunches to the speciality resturant on sea days. The lunches are often much cheaper and offer the same menu minus one or two dinner items like maybe steak or veal.

Yep- and if you have Tmobile, you're likely covered with your basic plan anywhere in the Caribbean, Mexico, Bahamas and Canada.

There is only one internet package available. There's no "messaging only" type package.

I really hope it's the former and not the latter! Though DQ did try to test the limits of the wait staff with how many drinks and how much food they could bring her. Thankfully, they would run it by me first. That child...

alicia i’m cackling

i…………… need to lay down. like do they even KNOW your live blogs???? MAKE THAT MONEY!!!!!!!

So, like hydrogen, ammonia has great potential, but we're many years from it being practical. Unless you just put a bunch of thirsty cats on board ship, you'll get plenty of ammonia in no time.

When you get to the port, just check in. Don't tell anyone she's not going to come. They don't require everyone to show up at the same time. They would have probably repriced your cruise if you'd gotten the right (wrong) person on the phone. #alwaysuseatravelagent

You can use the same deposit and keep the same reservation number and change to any cruise you wish. There will be a $100 per person change fee if your original cruise was booked non-refundable. If you booked refundable there won't be a change fee. The cruise itself ... as in "Mediterranean Cruise" has no bearing on the cruise you change to. You can change to a Caribbean Cruise or any other cruise. When I did this same thing, the cost of my new cruise was much less than the cost of my Mediterranean Cruise so my balance due was less. There was an additional line item on my new cruise receipt with the same reservation number that reflected the $200 change fee. I hardly noticed the $200 change fee since my balance due decreased. I did this a few years ago so things might have changed. I did it during the Covid era when policies weren't very stringent. I recently asked a NextCruise rep when I booked a TransPacific cruise to Australia for next year. She said I could still do this with the $100 pp change fee added on to whatever cruise I changed to. You can't cancel your original cruise and book a new cruise and use the money you have already paid --- it has to be "changed" and not cancelled.

On Allure weekend cruise they offered a cabana to the highest point total at the end of night 1. Only problem was there was a medical emergency and they had to go back to Miami so casino was only open for an hour. They did not award the cabana.

They should be allowed to comp stuff like the over water cabanas at coco cay. When I was there last week every one of them was empty.

I like to do that in the Crown Lounge. I am going to miss it when Allure gets amped .

I believe that Celebrity's newest and biggest ships match that of Freedom Class. The Panama Canal doesn't seem to be popular enough to warrant taking a Freedom class ship from more populated itineraries. Celebrity has imho always been about destinations as opposed to ship amenities. I think since Royal is a family-friendly/ ship-is-the-destination type line; they would rather use classes with less bells and whistle on less popular routes.

Welcome, They do allow you to change cruises, but it will incur a $100pp change fee. So, you could call/have TA change the booking, and they will usually deduct this fee from the overall cost.

I know that this is a couple of years old, but thank you for this GREAT post! This gets me even more excited for my cruise on Harmony next month!

Besides the fact that most of the newer ships cannot fit through the Canal, Royal Caribbean as a cruise line heavily markets itself as a family cruise line and Canal cruises aren't in super high demand with that class of cruiser. Honestly, if it were just me and the wife I'd probably take Celebrity over Royal!

It depends on your goal for the Panama Canal. Do you want to go through the canal on the cruise ship? You are limited to Brilliance, Radiance, and Serenade because of the size of the ships. There's the bridge to America's (I think that's the name) and the actual locks that limit the size of cruise ships. If I recall correctly, the 3 RCL ships above, are at the max to be able to transverse the canal. There's a chart out there that shows the biggest ships allowed on the old locks and the new locks. The alternate is to look at a cruise that starts or stops in Panama City or Colon and then you can do an excursion to the canal. You may find bigger ships that do that part because they don't go through the locks. You will also find limited itineraries with the Panama Canal because RCL typically only uses the Canal for repositioning cruises - moving ships to Alaska for summer, or to Caribbean for Winter. The nice part is you are pretty much guaranteed to go since Royal has to move that ship for the season. With partial transit ships, you run a higher risk of cancellation due to Panama Canal restrictions, like last year's water shortage. Other cruise lines, like Princess, have more canal options. We are headed out in this cruise on Brilliance soon. I'm excited for the smaller ship, since I hated Oasis - too big, too many people, and not enough ocean views*. *Laugh if you want, look at the windjammer ocean view on Brilliance compared to the limited ocean view on Oasis where you really just see the sports court.

Agree!! I looked at the price difference on the website for the Cabin I had and the lowest price of what I wanted, and thought that if I could get it lower than that, I'd do it.... when the Club Royale rep came back with a price several $100 lower than my threshold, I pounced! But you're absolutely right... it's always just a swag...

this is us for all our cruises also

I have told them this, they always have to consolidate at the airport. It's annoying. I will do on the biographies. I am not a nonfiction fan because I get enough of that in life, but I will do biographies of interesting people.

Ahhhh....we saw the guy working on this when we were there on Sept 6. It did not occur to me that it was intended for the UWC folks. I will have to show Dan. We sat and watched him for a while. Very impressive work.

Yay! #teamDeck17!!

My kinda guy and keep the food pics coming!