twangster

To each their own. Free room service would be welcome for this solo cruiser. If it doesn't work for you cancel it. They have to make changes due to pandemic protocols. If it no longer works for you, you don't need to justify your thoughts, it doesn't work for you. Refund it. I never knew people rushed on board to book fitness classes. Dining, sure. I learn something new here all the time.

I've received double points for a no show when my cabin mate didn't cruise. I haven't tried in a long time though. If you do get double points for being solo then you should also qualify for 4 x points. Time will tell.

I called C&A and asked. This is what they said: The criteria to qualify for the double points promo is based on the original booking date. As long as the booking was a confirmed booking created before Sept. 30, 2021 then whatever cabin you end up booked in will determine how many points the double points promo will use to calculate the total points. If you booked an interior, oceanview or balcony before Sept. 30 and upgrade to a suite (not using RoyalUp) then you will get 4 times for two guests in a suite and 6 times for a solo in suite. You can request the suite upgrade and pay for the upgrade anytime before sailing but you can't get into a suite using RoyalUp. The suite upgrade does not have to occur before Sept. 30,2021. RoyalUp from a non-suite to a suite never provides more points beyond the original booked type of cabin.

Studio balcony are in very high demand. Don't take it personal, someone beat you to it. There are very few of them in the fleet. Ask to be waitlisted in case another pops open.

They had multiple showing on the Sept. 5 cruise. Odd they didn't for your sailing.

Interesting. I get two copies of all marketing emails but have not received duplicate vaccination request emails yet, for any cruise.

We can only make uneducated guesses about changes made after the promo eligibility dates. Call C&A (800) 526-9723 and ask them.

I've gone through this or similar with one cabin of a specific category available. If anyone clicks on it it goes out of inventory until they move onto to something else. If someone closes the browser window or uses the back button it can lock a cabin for 15 minutes. Sometimes if you come back an hour later it's back again.

Keep an eye on the cruise compass section on this website once she returns to Bayonne for updated cruise compassess. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=435 From them you'll be able to see show times and typical event times. I've cruised on Anthem twice in December and twice in January. I'm more nervous about the plane having snow delays than the ship. One winter storm can mess up flights along the East coast for days.

The cruise planner closes approximately 2 -3 days before the sailing. You can cancel pre-cruise purchases until then. it actually gives you this notice in the cruise planner. On board I think the policy is now 48 hours before arrival in that port.

She already received slides, new restaurants, cabin updates, suite lounge, etc. Adventure received all the hallmarks upgrades of an amplification one year before they started calling them amplifications. She was the start of the amplification process, they just hadn't coined the term yet. Granted she did not Playmakers but neither did Voyager in her amplification. Granted she did not get a new resort style pool deck but neither did Mariner in her amplification. It always amazes me how one marketing word catches so many people up.

In theory there could be some specific exemptions on board. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/who-should-i-contact-if-a-vaccine-is-contraindicated Q What if I cannot get vaccinated due to a disability or pre-existing medical condition? What if I am not vaccinated for religious reasons? What if I have recently recovered from COVID-19 and am not now eligible to be vaccinated? A Vaccine Accommodation for Medical or Religious Reasons Please contact our Access Department at (866) 592-7225 or send an email to [email protected] so that our team can guide you on what documents will need to be submitted for consideration. You should contact them as soon as possible and ideally no later than 30 days before your cruise departs. You can also have your local travel agent or International Representative contact us. Should you require it, our fax number is (954) 628-9622. Please note that vaccine accommodated guests must adhere to all health protocols and travel requirements for unvaccinated guests as required by the cruise line and at the local, state and national level.

I've done galley tours on all classes of ships. Believe it or not a significant amount of food goes up and down in elevators. Not all food but a lot of it.

One December cruise lost Falmouth but they are citing Haiti as the reason. With Haiti unavailable we are going to Cozumel but given the extra time to get there we need to drop Falmouth and pick up Costa Maya.

Because I've gone on a number of galley tours and they explain it.

It all comes from the same galley, but okay.

Yep. Pretty similar to what the WJ offered but in the MDR. Upon seating you could head to the MDR buffet tables or do cook to order.

Interesting. I've not heard 8 night cruises doing this for all guests, only unvaccinated.

Ships require constant painting, even brand new ships like Odyssey. The sea and salt ait causes surface rust on all vessels, even new ones while they are being built in a shipyard. When a ship is destined for a dry dock it's not uncommon to stop painting them because surface rust is mostly cosmetic. Many ports haven't let crew off the ship to do things like cosmetic painting. It the Odyssey crew stopped painting even Odyssey would like this pretty quickly. That's salt air for you. When a ship is in normal operation they pay much better appearance to the cosmetics. When a ship is in layup with a skeleton crew they do not. While I agree it's doesn't make for a great picture, it's not a sign of anything more.

That was a common practice even pre-pandemic (blocking of VCL each evening for D overflow). However if you need that to justify booking more cruises who am I to stop you?

Royal has negotiated space and sometimes a significant portion of the seats on flights the day of the sailing. You may find these same day flight cheaper as a result. However normal airlines actually fly the plane and all the regular delays can always occur. The benefit of booking of A2S is the assured arrival feature. The somewhat hidden benefit is safety in numbers. Often these flights have dozens of cruisers all heading to the ship. With a significant number of A2S impacted by a flight delay there can be greater incentive for Royal to hold the ship. When you book you own flight there is no motivation to hold a ship for one cabin that hasn't shown up yet for reasons they are unaware of.

Florida hasn't be low in the case count so demand for testing is high but I've always be able to get tested for free. Maybe it's because demand is high that it's easy to get tested here. Off for my 10am free test here in a few minutes.

Pre-pandemic I kept having my reservations cancelled. Finally had my first success this year in July and have since seen the balloon up on a number of visits. Winds can be higher in the afternoon so I always try for morning reservations. Once the sun comes up and afternoon storms start brewing I suspect reservations later in the day are more likely to cancel but I have no proof of that actually occurring.

Certain times of year there are companies that charter ships to put on event type cruises. Since I often travel during off peak times to save money these are appealing times for charter companies to charter the ship so I've had a number of cancellations due to ship charters. This is less likely during peak times because the charter company has to pay more. It's unlikely they would cancel a cruise due to low bookings. They would simply offer more casino comp. cruises to Prime casino level members or reduce rates so bargain hunters like me with flexible schedules would jump on board. If one week is slow it's still better to sail with reduced numbers rather than force cancellations and do nothing with the ship while still paying the crew and the fuel bill to have her sail around empty. They can't just park a ship for a week and walk away. So it's very unlikely they would cancel a cruise due to low bookings.

For the longest time I could never get any Royal marketing emails. I gave up trying to fix that. I'd get emails about my cruise like changes to the itinerary, reminders to check in, etc. but never when there is a sale or any marketing. Then all that changed and now I get two emails for everything. Oh well. Try the URL that @AshleyDillo posted. Be aware if you booked through certain online travel companies or big warehouse retailers some don't participate in RoyalUp. It's something about the wholesale rates they contract. So if you booked through a company like that there is no RoyalUp.