Jill

Woot! It’s a long wait!

This is no longer allowed post Covid. I’m not sure of the exact reason but it’s a new policy since the re-start

Well I just had to go looking at the Going Going Gone list. Indy 3 night for about $360 p/p December 5 Mariner 5 night Western just under $600 December 5 Wonder 3 night Perfect Day just over $600 December 4. Hmmm that Wonder one is tempting. We have her booked for may but December would be nice as she’d be all decorated for Christmas

I’m confused. I thought Royal will only adjust the price within 48 hours of booking now. No more Best Price Guarantee that was available during Covid. Am I wrong? I hope so! I love those price drops!

I couldn’t initially get in with Safari. Switched to Duck Duck Go and it worked. Has this always been available? I’ve checked that Royal gifts link before and never found the alcohol packages Also has anyone been able to switch the mixers? Hubby is a vodka tonic drinker and sprite is offered. I guess you could switch them out at any bar.

Really tempted to hop on one out of PC. Just got home from the Holy Land cruise but now going through cruise detox

We’ve sailed 4 times since the re-start. Last October on symphony was fine food/drink wise. It went downhill from there. US based cruises are having a horrible time getting quality food and it shows. Just got off a 12 night Odyssey out of Rome and the food was FANTASTIC every night! 5 night specialty and 7 nights main dining room. No issues with alcohol either. I really hope the supply chain debacle ends soon because it’s not up to par from pre-Covid. Europe has no issues. Big time issues still here in US

We just got off a 12 night Holy Land on odyssey. Loved the ship and my husband and I both said we’d sail her again to Aruba and Curaçao. Do it!

Central Park is pretty quiet and the music there is usually acoustic guitar or jazz. The bigger concern is being able to see across into other cabins. Keep your curtains closed when changing!

I’ll just tag her here @Sharla

So my husband orders Grey Goose with his vouchers and when those are gone, he switches to Tito’s. So order the more expensive stuff with your vouchers and pay for the cheaper.

TA with MEI Travel, a sponsor of this blog

Well Sharla worked her magic and has 3 cabins for our group of 3 couples in April. She got us a group rate. Our balcony cabin (brand new shiny Diamond Plus) is only $3280 with refundable deposit! That’s $800 LESS than our Wonder back in March. Excited to explore this ship and really hoping it’s a good experience for all cruisers and not just families

Oh hell no! We got a 25% FCC on symphony when I called and reported a fully burnt cigarette butt on our balcony. My goal in reporting was to hopefully have the captain make an announcement reminding people not to throw lit cigarettes over board (think carnival fire/1 died). I’d be pushing for a 50% credit. Agree on contacting Bayley. That’s disgusting!

They have a huge backlog especially for odyssey and wonder. We just earned our first on odyssey last week and I’m not expecting to get ours for awhile. During Covid Royal announced they were stopping the program. There were a lot of complaints from C&A members so they reversed that. Odyssey and wonder never had blocks made initially because the program was stopping. Royal had to find a new vendor for the blocks. Inventory is now being replenished but there’s a huge waiting list.

@PG Cruiser just don’t be this guy. He was on our odyssey cruise last week and came to solarium bistro in his bathrobe and barefeet. He also was shopping on the Esplanade on the last day.

I’m hopefully getting 3 balconies on hold until tomorrow for May 18, 2024. Was trying to do it myself this morning and was going to transfer reservation to sharla but ended up just turning it all over to her. Back and forth over infinite balcony versus regular versus large. We have one in our party that’s prone to sea sickness so trying to stay deck 9 or lower but decks 6 and 7 are for 3/4 people. Prices are about $750 per person higher than our sailing on Wonder (her 3rd sailing). We’re newly minted Diamond Plus so no more drink packages for us and possibly no more internet packages either. That’s cash to put towards cabin

Does anyone know if you can open infinite balconies between cabins like you can on regular balconies? I have a feeling the answer is no as balcony sidewalls I would imagine are solid

That’s what sharla told me

Hmmmm no matter what date I choose, ocean balcony shows me the exact same cabins on deck 12 and the same infinite balconies on deck 9. That’s all that’s available period for all 3 sailings. Weird.

We’re currently on a 12 night Holy Land/Greece/Turkey/Cyprus on Odyssey I knew 3 days straight in Jerusalem would do us in. We had 8-10 hour tours each day. After those 3 days, we had Cyprus and I really couldn’t find anything “light” to do so we just walked off to their marina area, had a nice lunch outdoors and got back on the ship and did the pool for the afternoon. The next day we were in Rhodes. I booked a sailboat cruise that stopped at 3 coves for swimming/snorkeling. Had a great Mediterranean buffet lunch onboard. Very relaxing day Next day was Turkey (Ephesus) and another 8 hour tour. Next was Santorini then Chania. No tours either port. Just did our own thing. We have 3 days in Rome when we disembark so today (sea day) we’re resting up for that. Research your ports and plan tours for some and beach days for others. You need to have some light days mixed in with tour days or you will be exhausted Since you’re a b2b, I’d mix the tours and beach for each week. Whatever islands you don’t tour the first week, tour them the second week.

We’re on odyssey now and we heard the helicopter and thought it was the wind. We’re the first balcony on the hump and we’ve had a lot of wind. Found out next morning what had happened. Hope the passenger is ok

I do this all the time with @Sharla. Sometimes it’s the weekend or after hours. I’m impatient and when I find the room I want, I book it then send the reservation number to Sharla to put in for a transfer.

We’ve never gotten any pins and will be Diamond plus after next week’s cruise. I’ve heard that Pinnacles are asked to wear them. Maybe @twangstercan confirm. It doesn’t bother me if someone wants to wear them or not.

We are due an odyssey block in about 3 weeks. Originally it was supposed to be Radiance from Alaska but we had to cancel due to us getting Covid. That would have been a cool reminder of a bucket list cruise. However, Odyssey will have a double remembrance. Bucket list (Holy Land/Greece) and marking 6 years cancer free. I am prepared to wait for it. I’ve heard though that they may have the blocks come November but there’s also a year’s backlog on odyssey blocks. To my knowledge there have been NO Odyssey or Wonder blocks distributed. Remember last year Royal announced they were not going to award blocks anymore but then there was “outrage” so they re-instated the program. My guess is they also needed to source a new supplier.