Matt

I think the Antigua beach club is best case scenario paused, but I haven't heard a peep about it so I think it's probably not happening anymore.

17 hours ago, JimnKathy said:

If we get dinged on our upcoming September cruise, I'll be visiting guest services to remove all of my prepaid gratuities and let them know they lost several hundred bucks for the sake of gouging me for $15 or $25 or $42.

Gotta send a tough love message to the corporate finance and marketing folks.

I'm sorry, but that's not going to solve anything and hurts the wrong people.

The corkage fee has been a published policy for years (dare I say, decades). Up until now, we've gotten a reprieve so we're ahead of the game with all those bottles that never got charged. 

This isn't a new policy or a surprise. It's them actually enforcing the rules they've had for a long time.

Plus, I don't see how taking away gratuities from your cabin attendant or dining room staff teaches anyone any lesson.

I've had this issue where sometimes it takes a few plays to actually register that I've watched it.

As I recall, sometimes I had to wait until I got on the ship and on the wifi and then it worked.

Worst case, you can show up to the muster station and they'll do it for you there

Thanks for sharing what this is all about!

On 5/16/2025 at 9:13 AM, bobroo said:

What the hell happens to the existing water slides in Costa Maya and that $1M renovation?

They're being destroyed.

Something separate

It's all luck: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/06/16/how-can-you-win-royal-stateroom-upgrade-bid-its-pure-luck

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Will the lazy river have bar service mid-laze?

There are four different bars along the river you can stop at. So, yes?

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/01/31/learn-how-surf-cruise

It's crazy they said that, because I know Mason Jar is included in UDP.  Very bizarre

Looks nice. They've made some nice UI updates to their pages

Welcome to the message boards!

Yes, but you need to speak to the loyalty ambassador on the first sailing about it.

If you do nothing, you won't get the new level perks on the second sailing.  But if you talk to him/her, they can ensure you're set for that next cruise

11 hours ago, Gilley said:

what @mpoole3 said is correct

Words not often said together

49 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I assume you've quadrupled my salary as a result?

Yes. Let's see, four times zero is....

Good news, I just upgraded the database server for the message boards, which I think will solve the issues.

I did some investigating and I think we were maxing out the CPU for the server. Basically, so many of you were using the boards it overloaded it.  Let's blame @smokeybandit.

Performance should be markedly improved going forward, as I've quadrupled the resources available.

Royal certainly hasn't said it will. They haven't announced any ships getting an Amplification.

Plus, Explorer got water slides added in 2023, so I'm not sure if that precludes them from doing more work: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/02/27/royal-caribbean-adds-water-slides-explorer-of-the-seas

I have played with it, it's a very neat idea!

When Emma told me about it, I checked it out and it's a fun idea.  Watching the ship replays is quite satisfying

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

now I see they are back as package or combo that I think is actually a decent price

Where are you seeing this?

I have no @twangster level data to back this up, but I feel like luggage delivery has been pretty quick, where we have it within an hour or two of cabins opening.

1 hour ago, Jolly Ogre said:

No bonus discounts for my Dec sailing. Everything is the same 30% off.

Correct, it's September and October only

There's nothing saying you can't try MEI out for one cruise and "take it for a test drive"

I recently tried Turquoise Bay https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2025/03/18/roatan-all-inclusive-resort-turquoise-bay-review

They can change the itinerary at any time, even the day of the visit.

In my experience, it seems they wait to see if there's any chance they can make it in and only then do they cancel when there's 0% chance.  But they don't cancel until it's zero. 

So I'd expect a last minute change, if there's going to be one.