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It's not just Club Royal, it's Royal Caribbean in general. I guess that was obvious, but just wanted to point that out in light of my post above. Flight is on time and I'm happy to report that I'm packed and I didn't for get my tie or my underwear. Sorry @SweetPea, I couldn't resist......

DS came downstairs this morning and DH was working on his laptop. He said, "You know it's the day before vacation when I start my packing list!" He's the perfect combination of engineer and procrastinator. That list won't be done until this afternoon, but it's going to be an organized and color coded masterpiece! I added a couple books to my kindle - Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum #30 and Maui Murder. I like fluffy, don't have to think about it kinds of books on a cruise. I'm also 2/3 of the way through the 8th book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I think I've been working on this one for a year. I just can't seem to get more than two or three pages read at a time without falling asleep. At 800+ pages each, I feel committed to finish all 14 books though. I'll probably go ahead and take that one too since we're driving, and I don't need to conserve the space that a paperback takes in the suitcase. Maybe if I read it in a lounger by the pool instead of at bedtime I'll get further? Today I need to hem a pair of pants (I've been putting that one off for about 6 weeks), give DS a haircut, and drag out the suitcases. Our doggos are not going to be happy about that, and I waited as long as I could to not stress out our older pup. He is 14 and has gone deaf, can barely see, and is starting to have hip problems. Fortunately, he still does well at the kennel and in doggy day care when we travel. The other one is about 6 and has enough energy for both of them.

Made it to the airport and the United Club, which is already getting interesting. not sure what’s going on there….. But I’m sure that will be me at some point tomorrow.

This happened to me. I was fortunate to have an excellent travel agent, who took care of everything for me. Sorry this happened to you.

On our flight, next stop Miami! it’s getting real now!

Others have already posted tibs and tabs about this but I don't think there's a thread devoted to it...at least, not that I know of. There has been a CP "sale" going on for a couple of days. It is "on again/off again" but it's back on today. BUT - BE CAREFUL. Some of the dining packages include gratuities in the "list price" and some do not so be careful cancelling something that you already have until you know for SURE that it's going to be a savings. 1. It appears as though MOST of the packages - UDP and 3 night, already include the grats. If the grats are included, it will say so below the advertised price. If it says "Gratuities Included" then the final price will simply be the number of packages that you are purchasing, multiplied by the price of the package(s) you are purchasing. If it says "pre-cruise savings", the grats are NOT included in that price so you will have to calculate the total price to see what the final $$ will be. 2. It APPEARS as though the requirement to eat at least one meal on nights #1 or #2 is gone. The CP no longer required me to choose a "first" meal time. That's a good thing, IMO. Hopefully you can now use your packages on any days/nights that you choose. 3. It appears as though all of the individual restaurants still require you to calculate gratuities....IOW, the grats are not included in the posted price for individual restaurants. Some of the individual restaurants that I checked were less $$ than when I first purchased and some were not. Just be sure that you know what you'll be paying BEFORE you cancel anything and/or purchase at the "reduced" price. It seems like the package prices include grats. 4. I was not able to use any of my available OBC when I purchased/repurchased my specialty dining. It gave me the option of using the OBC but the final price was never reduced by the amount of the OBC so I am HOPING that the OBC is still there. This is uncertain to me at the moment. Hopefully the OBC will reappear in a day or so. 5. As far as I can tell, the ability to make pre-purchased dining reservations ahead of time has still not been implemented. I was never prompted to make any specific reservations. 6. Other items in the CP may also be on sale. I have only looked at dining so I am unaware if other areas of the CP are similarly affected. The prices are pretty good (considering the upward trend for specialty pricing) and I saved quite a bit of $$ by cancelling and repurchasing but it took me a while to figure out the secret code.

Good. Hope Royal Caribbean took hard and fast action. It's a shared experience. Play by the rules or be gone.

Up today for our walk then off to breakfast. We decided to try something different so we were off to windjammer.tried it but no bueno

I have always cut the kids' hair - you can learn anything on you tube! DD always just wants one length, and like go go months between cuts. DS has a weird wavy hair pattern, and the few times I have taken him somewhere to have it done, they mess it up. I can turn on a sewing machine, fill a bobbin, and make a straight stitch, but I really can't sew well. The last time I used my machine was to make a Halloween costume for DD when she was 6 or 7. It's been collecting dust in my closet ever since. No, when I say I'm going to hem a pair of pants I mean I'm going go just tack them in several places, or in this case, cheat and use heat bond and just iron it. I do too, the last couple trips down to Galveston we have really run into traffic or bad weather. We even had snow on the trip down a few years ago.

^^^^^^ Hmmmmmm??????? You heard it here first.

I probably would have reported him for making the suggestion. Not a fan of people smoking in places they shouldn't. Growing up around it and had no choice or say. Well, now I do. Not in my face or space. Other than that, I'm a delight. LOL.

I love a bowtie on a doggy. I have to say I admire how resourceful you are: you teach, bake, dance, cut hair, sew and then all the regular things we mortals do like cook and clean . I am with you on "fluff" books for cruises. I always try to find some short stories because that way I don't have to be too invested and can people watch. I gave up on the Wheel of Time years ago and recently Stephen King's Fairy tale because they were just dragging. I was always so sleepy after about a chapter. Hopefully the drive down is smooth and uneventful.

I feel for the OP but blaming Royal is a tad much. It sounds like whatever company the credits are from are at fault. Also, not a common opinion but so is the OP. At no point did they seem to verify anything. If I was spending money on something, I am making sure all my ducks are in a row. Yes, Royal's IT sucks but the onus was on the OP to verify things like name spellings and credits.

oh sweet lord. i need to lay down. gooDBYE FOREVER THIS IS SO GROSS

Just wish Royal would do the same thing, or worse, to the lounge chair hogs by the pools!

It sure sucks. I don't envy your situation. I've learned to scour over every cruise invoice the second I get it looking for anything out of place.

Okay, errors happen all the time, but if you do not have a travel agent to oversee this, then you have to stay calm and try to negotiate what will be in your best interests. Saying you will never set foot on a RC ship and they are a horrible company does not get too much cooperation from an agent. Calm down, take a deep breath, and consider the options more rationally. Yes, it was their error, so yes, they need to make it up to you as you are a loyal customer. You also should ask to have the situation escalated to a supervisor. If you do not go on the June 6th cruise, it will not be the end of the world. Instead, you need to see what is the best possible alternative RC can offer you--upgraded cabin, additional onboard credit, bigger ship, longer cruise--see what else is out there that could be of potential interest. Maybe book two cruises for the price of the one you miss! Also, in the future, check your reservation every week or so, which is what travel agents have to do. I mean, the ship could have had to go into dry dock for some kind of issue, and you would still miss the date, but you would probably not have to be so furious. I have lost so many trips the past few years due to Covid, war in Israel, Russian invasion, etc., that anymore I consider it great if everything does work out perfectly. Hopefully there will also be future opportunities for more travel! Best wishes!

Ok, with our flight to Miami less than 24 hours away, I'm happy to report that Kelli is completely packed, and I.....am not. But don't worry I have plenty of time to have things squared away before the car services arrives to take us to the airport in the morning . One interesting thing of note that I'm not sure I've seen mentioned before. It seems that Hard Rock Hotel has teamed up with Club Royal. Sounds fun and exciting And we just found out that both Phoenix and DSB will play on this sailing! We love live music, so this is a real treat! We are also checked in for our flight and ready to go in the morning! The plane we are taking starts the day in Houston then makes a quick turn in New Orleans and then back for our flight at noon. The excitement is building! Tic Toc

Hello Miami!

You actually don't have to email them.. I do this every year. All you have to do is go the the rewards desk in Las Vegas at any MGM resort hotel. You tell them you want to status match with your royalcaribbean status.. They then ask for your crown and anchor number to verify. I always just pull up my royal app which has my number and my diamond plus status and they match me in about 2 min. it's very easy. I do it every time at Park MGM.

Tonight playmakers for dinner then off for the headliner show.The show will be Mac Savard. We also lost another hour today at 2 pm

I never knew about it either. Actually looks like it's relatively recent. Here's today's FAQ which mentions Bermuda: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/deposit-requirements Then from last August, which doesn't mention Bermuda https://web.archive.org/web/20230807190820/https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/deposit-requirements

You can bring the passports. But you can edit the check-in information up to 48 hours before sailing so once they come in just go edit that part.

The fact they sent this email is odd, yet because of that that I'd keep this email in case later they say "hey, you never paid the full deposit"

Bermuda does require a $250/person deposit regardless of length. It's nice of them to let it slide because it was their mistake not catching it (unless you made the booking at NextCruise). I wouldn't trust them not to have IT issues and I'd pony up the full deposit, though

I don’t like when smokers tend to smoke in the non-smoking section in the casino. There is no one stopping them or redirecting them has been my experience

Update on this one. It seems that they DID use the available OBC for these purchases even though it didn't seem like it was, at the time that I purchased. I just reviewed all of the purchases I made online yesterday and the ones where I wanted to use OBC, do show the OBC calculated in the purchase price. So ignore this statement from above.

They most likely won't know before you arrive, but they will ask if anyone in your party has any food allergies or dietary restrictions when you are seated. My wife needs to eat gluten free and we are always very pleased with how accommodating our servers and staff are at offering suggestions and adjusting menu items to suit her.

Email the CEO MBAYLEY at rccl dot com

I highly doubt they are removing people for a first offense of smoking- most of the time they don't even respond to reports of smoking. So either it was more than just cigarette smoke OR someone reported it over and over until security finally caved and came by. Hell, our room attendant saw my wifes cigarettes on the table and told her "if you smoke on the balcony, just make sure the neighbors aren't out and keep the butts in an empty can and not over the side" Of course, my wife only smoked in the designated area, but were definitely thrown off that the room attendant even suggested it!

I am so sorry this happened to you. Their billing "system" is so F'd up for a company of this size. They need to just pause all transactions for a week and set up a new payment processing system with a whole new team because what they have in place now is a joke. I am currently at risk of losing thousands because of a $150 they can figure out how to process

I am doing my first Alaskan cruise this Sept on Quantum. I too normally cruise regular. We are in Interior VB and have excursions planned for 3/4 ports. So, I am looking forward to this blog.

I never even considered Alaska but my wife did and spent a year planning (with an outside company) what turned out to be a bucket list type extravagant 18-day land/sea trip in 2018. It cost a small fortune (especially given that we normally just drive to PC for 7N's in the Caribbean in an interior) but it was the best trip we've ever taken. I've been thanking her for making me go ever since. Enjoy!

Had a great cruise! Service was awesome, sooo many nice, helpful crew members. We didn't have a bad meal. MDR food was outstanding every night. Our waiter and assistant waiter were amazing all week. Two rolls from Izumi throughout the week, both of them were amazing. Just a couple quick thoughts, more to come later...maybe.

And keep electronic copies with the date of the invoice as part of the file name.

Thank you for the confirmation…and warning. Been a lot of discussions past few cruises with couples questioning if Icon is truly a family packed theme park. Apparently there is truth to the rumors. I’m out.

They'll bring a sharps container as well if you need one.

$1000 charged = $10. You can cash in on line for on board credit. If you charge about $70,000 or $700 credit...that is a BOGO or 2 for one cruise. Usually that's a 7 night Caribbean ocean view. If you pay the difference for a specific cruise, for example, the difference between an ocean view and a balcony, you can upgrade the 2 for 1. These are approximate numbers. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/visa-signature/royal-caribbean-visa-signature-rewards-options.pdf Gives the details. It takes a fair amount of cash flow for significant rewards and interest rates are not the best. Depending on your circumstances, it can provide some perks.

I recall reading that if you get caught smoking, they remove you. It's in the policy that smoking is only allowed in destinated areas and therefore you are breaking the cruise contract and subject to being removed or banned from the cruise line.

We really enjoyed Margaritaville (11/6/23). We booked thru Resort For A Day. The lazy river was very nice as were the waterslides. Plenty of shade. Food and drinks were not included and very expensive. Food was a little cheaper inside than at poolside. We had a big breakfast on the ship and skipped lunch until back on the ship. The walk to the resort was not too bad. There was a lot of construction along the waterfront to you have to go inland a block and parallel the coast to get there. Sidewalks were crowded. Once the construction is done it should be a breeze to get there. I would definitely go back.

Same

The people (not all) in the WJ are often a special breed. I will never forget that kid sucking that sausage and putting it back, the mom seeing but not telling the staff.

I did notice that but I don’t know why you’re so confused OBVIOUSLY it means only kids are allowed to eat on Nights 2 & 3!! However, breakfast and lunch menus are there so we better eat real good then

I agree completely! If you can book an aft boardwalk on deck 10 or 11 on the Oasis class ships, the view is amazing and you can enjoy the aqua show from your balcony.

On this episode of Windjammer guests behaving badly... I watched a lady just stand there at the wall next to the condiment pumps and eat her dessert..and then she just left and walked off. This was after I watched another guest taste test stuff as she put it on her plate..just full on picking it off her plate with her hands.

Yesterday was a very busy day. We had breakfast in Coastal kitchen and then off to hide ducks. We hid ducks till lunch at Johnny Rockets and then immediately went for the bridge tour. after the tour we went for a 3 o’clock show. We saw The ventriloquist again but a different show this time ,he was very funny. We lost another hour at 2 pm.time will not change today. dinner last night was 150 service was off we may not go back there on this trip. Filet veal fried cheesecake

Have a great time!

Dinner last night Chops the wedge lobster petite filet key lime pie crab cake spicy jumbo shrimp Red velvet I think it’s for @Sweety hope I got that one right

So excited for this. And no offense to the OGs who are awesome and I love all their blogs and want them to keep doing it and give us more. @Lovetocruise2002 don't hit me. But it will be great to get both and new perspective on Star coupled with a new ship.