twangster

I was wondering 'cause Enchantment isn't sailing in September ?

Keep in mind the dining options available on Enchantment. Chops Grille Do you really want an unlimited dining package?

Wait for it...

Royal has offered no indication either way. We simply don't know if they were added last month while she was in dry dock for routine marine maintenance.

Simply put Voom works and as long as your cellular provider supports wifi calling Voom works very well for texting just like at home. If your cellular provider doesn't support wifi calling then chat apps such as FB Messenger or WhatsApp also work over Voom. If your family is all iPhone users then iMessage works very well over Voom. Beyond that... Royal has a chat feature in their app that doesn't require the internet but does have a fee associated with it. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/07/06/royal-caribbeans-chat-feature-now-available-every-cruise-ship As far as the cost of internet on board: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/07/27/royal-caribbean-wifi-worth-it Here is some more information about cellular on board: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/06/30/how-use-your-cell-phone-royal-caribbean-cruise-and-not-come-home-big-bill

Who here loves cheap cruises? Turns out it costs money to properly fund an IT department and to build bullet proof IT systems. Who here wants higher prices? Once the hamster powering the middleware server has finished their rest break it will start working again.

In Carnival's defense their approach was a minimum of 95% vaccinated on board. In practice they are sailing with 96-97% vaccinated. The 2-3% unvaccinated are almost exclusively children. Royal had no idea how many vaccinated versus unvaccinated would be on board. That is largely thanks to the state of Florida who created laws that prevented Royal from knowing with certainty how many vaccinated would be on board any given sailing. As a result Royal had little choice but to develop a protocol intensive methodology. Months ago as Carnival was developing their approach it seemed reasonable for what was known many months ago. Nearly everyone is vaccinated, the rest by a large margin are children. At the time there was a lot of evidence to support their thinking and a lot of people even on this user forum echoed that thinking. Fast forward to today. Turns out all those people who argued children are not at risk were wrong. Turns out there are breakthrough cases with vaccinated. Turns out Delta is very easily spread. In hindsight we know all that now. Carnival has since adjusted their protocols. Everyone must be tested to board. Masks are becoming a thing. Those revised protocols went into effect just a few weeks after they restarted cruises, literally last week. It will take time to see the results. It's always easy to look back and with hindsight declare absolutely everything we know now. Royal guessed right, partly because Florida forced them into that corner. Carnival guessed wrong. As did a number of users on cruise forums who have stated as fact things we now know to be wrong. Look at me defending the whale tail. BTW - NCL will be sailing with 100% vaccinated. Carnival's 96-97% vaccinated is pretty close to that yet Carnival learned a lesson. NCL is still touting virtually no protocols on board. Wanna place bets what happens when NCL starts sailing?

GET not supported equals:

Right now with the cruise restart during the pandemic check in is not following normal or previous experiences. There is no fixed amount of time when check in opens at the moment. In the app it may offer an estimated date but not always.

I have two such cruises hanging around. Royal is slammed with these and it seems like it's a manual process so it takes a human to get involved. I did make a My Time dinner reservation on both because in my experience when they finally get around to working on my cruises I'll get an email informing me my dinner reservation has been cancelled. I've used the fake dinner reservation on every cancellation or refund. I use it as an alert system so I know they've finally got around to working on my cruise. I love Royal but I also hate Royal. In some aspects they are great but in other areas they absolutely suck. This is one of them. Based on other recent similar situations I'm expecting roughly another 30 days more before refunds post.

There is a way to know. The old cruise planner had gratuity included. Regardless how you booked it you know the final price you paid. If your cruise now uses the new "My Royal Cruises" interface gratuity is not included. Add 18% to the price you see. Is that cheaper than what you paid?

Think she is/was doing a photoshoot in the harbor.

I don't think Enchantment will be "re-worked" from a guest perspective. She continues to do her mandatory dry docks every 2.5 years due to her age. She's on the way to Cadiz right now for one of these but all that's expected from that is routine, periodic maritime maintenance.

They may be trying it now to see how quickly Michael Bayley's inbox fills up.

I haven't always found the casitas to be great sun shades. I suppose at 12 noon when the ship is crossing the equator it might work out but a lot of the time the angle of the sun means the casita isn't fully shaded. Sometimes the loungers next to the casita benefit from the shade they provide.

The Nassau cruise port has some pretty major construction going on. On other dates ships are dropping Nassau and notified guests it is due to construction activity on that day. Not sure about your planned stop there.

FWIW - Indy from Port Canaveral in November also is not allowing a time to choose from. A noon flight is on the bubble of doable but Orlando airport can have some very long check in and security lines. Recent user reports are not favorable to a quick user experience.

Oasis and Allure were built with retractable stacks required to clear the Great Belt bridge. Once clear and at sea they added scrubbing equipment that made them no longer retractable because they thought it would never be needed again. Never say never. Oasis and Allure were built in Turku, Finland. Harmony and Symphony were built at a different shipyard, in France. No bridge to clear on the way to the sea.

Book them while you can... Nothing says vacation mode like spending the day on the pool deck soaking up the scene. Choose from a poolside or ocean view casita, where you’re just steps from all the action as you relax in the shade. Your casita is the ultimate retreat between dunks in the pool and soaking up the sun. And everything you need is already there — like towels, a cooler, storage for your belongings and a charging outlet. We’ll make sure you stay refreshed with two complimentary Welcome Drinks and four chilled waters. And dedicated service always on standby so you can enjoy your fave poolside drinks, brought to you with the touch of a button. Space is limited and may sell out, so be sure to book before your cruise! Day 1 of your sailing: you will receive a letter in your stateroom with instructions for reserving your casita. Casita location selection is on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Only if they leave the EZPass transponder on the windshield of the ship's bridge.

Refundable cruise deposits are kind of like refundable airfare. You pay more for the flexibility to make fee-free changes and cancellations. By choosing the cheaper non-refundable rates you agree to the terms and conditions that come with them in the name of saving money. Once final payment due date arrives and the cruise is paid in full, the deposit type is irrelevant. After final payment all cruise bookings are subject to the same cancellation fee schedules regardless of the deposit type. If you are booking a cruise on short notice and you plan to cruise it would make little sense booking with a refundable deposit. If you are booking two years out when lots of things could change then refundable deposits can be appealing.

Credit to @Josh C for finding and posting this in the Royal Caribbean Blog Insider FB Group:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/01/22/royal-caribbean-refundable-versus-non-refundable-cruise-fares

You into food? Specialty dining, or... the spa?

Does sliding down the Ultimate Abyss in a bathrobe count? Or riding the merry go round?