twangster

They will supply a gallon of distilled water free upon request. Symphony has an outlet on one side of the bed so typically no extension cord required. Contact Royal if booked direct or if booked through a travel agent they should handle the request, it's quite common. Sometimes it may not be in your room upon boarding. Mention it to your cabin attendant or call housekeeping on your cabin phone and they'll deliver it before bed time on night one.

One thing to consider. It's possible different satellites are used in Asia and internet service in some countries may be subject to government oversight different than in the West. I know guests on the initial Spectrum sailings commented on poor internet but perhaps it has been optimized for the Asia satellites and didn't perform well while in transit to Asia. Perhaps that accounts for the 3rd choice. A choice that wouldn't be relevant or needed given the satellites and service here.

It is always best to think about others which is why I often give up a prime spot on a railing at a glacier when I've taken a few pictures - let someone else enjoy it. Being courteous to others when boarding elevators or waiting to order a drink at a bar comes naturally. However I draw the line at dressing up for others so some of them might feel better, maybe? I don't notice what other folks wear in dining rooms. It has zero impact on the taste of my meal or the company I am sharing. This applies in land restaurants and on ships. That's not to say I wear crappy clothes with a "just off the beach" look but I haven't packed a jacket or tie for a cruise in a while now. I wear long pants and on formal nights a long sleeve short with a collar when I eat in the MDR. If I sailed a luxury line or a different line that stated a dress code I would follow it. Royal does not have a dress code. Period. I paid as much or more than my fellow guests and I'm not dressing up for any of them. I have no issue with folks that choose to dress up, that is their choice. I do not consider this to be self centered or damaging to other guests in any way just as someone who wears a tuxedo hasn't damaged me or my experience in any way.

Do you prefer function or form? In RoyalIQ on Ovation I was able to cancel MTD in seconds, cancel and rebook North Star, look at an ACCURATE cruise compass, etc. Quite refreshing to use an app that actually worked. The new app is a work in progress and its in early beta... still. It may look nicer but doesn't work well.

RoyalIQ works better than the new app, for now.

Which I find odd since she was doing 22.9 knots last week. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/12127-allure-propulsion-issues/&do=findComment&comment=126566

Download Royal IQ now before sailing. That was the app on Ovation in May so unless something happens over the next few days that will be the app next week.

When I asked at JR on Navigator in March the answer was that JR shakes were not included in the DX. Adult shakes from the bar at JR I did not ask about specifically. Adult shakes are spiked with a shot of something alcoholic. Kraken rum for example. When do you sail? I'm on her next in September and can explore this in greater detail.

Here is what the cruise compass has to say on the matter for Alaskan ports: Bottled water only.

Nope. Even when visiting St Thomas for example no food is allowed off the ship per US law. People may sneak stuff off but once a ship touches international water everything on it is subject to customs rules and regulations even if that ship started in US water.

It's an option only spotted in Asia before. However its not clear to me how it differs. Perhaps a traveler who visits the region can let us know :)

In the words of the crew member I spoke with... "If you stand still long enough they'll charge something for you too". As I understand it the business model they went with in China was created by Dr. Zinan Liu and it's based on cultural norms for China. This is what separates Royal from other cruise lines that failed in China. Instead of just taking a Western product and sending it to China they started from scratch and created something unique to that area based on norms for that area. In reality what does that mean? Unfortunately I don't know specifics about what exactly they charge for beyond North Star which was the start of my conversation with crew.

It has been mentioned before and is known from exposure on these message boards. Part of the problem is limited participation from that region on Western based forums such as this one. Up to this point it appears to been limited to Quantum OTS. Ovation OTS held on to it's ways after leaving Sydney for Singapore while it seems Quantum held on to it's way after leaving China for Singapore. In China they do charge for everything on board. I had an interesting discussion with a hotel director about China based cruises since he had spent 9 contracts in that region before coming to Alaska on Ovation in May. No free North Star rides is just the start. However this business model suits the market in China or so he explained to me. It's accepted as normal. Or perhaps they just don't know any different since that is what Royal does in China.

Most countries and ports ban food from the ship for public health reasons. In general, ships (cargo, container, tanker, cruise) have been to other countries and normal domestic import controls haven't been applied to food arriving on a ship from unknown sources. For this reason the vast majority of countries have laws banning food coming off ships to keep it from being introduced into their country. It's easy to become myopic and focus on just one itinerary then argue "my ship is coming from XYZ" but laws are not written for specific circumstances, they are written to cover generalizations and there are far more non-cruises ships visiting a country compared to cruise ships which represent a small fraction of shipping world wide. In reality when you arrive in a port you are arriving from another country. If you flew in an airplane and went through that countries customs process you wouldn't typically be allowed to bring these same forms of food into their country (such as food from a buffet or served at a meal in a dining room). Certain processed food is often allowed such as a bag of potato chips or a candy bar.

Keep an eye on eBay UK but prepare yourself for sticker shock. It was given out on one Indy cruise (I think) that had many travel professionals aboard who seem intent on paying down the mortgage with the sale of their free Monopoly game gift. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=monopoly+royal+caribbean&_sacat=0

On Carnival I have seen the popcorn in the hot tub effect. That was my basis of understanding. Crew would sweep it up off the pool decks at night, it was in the elevators near the pool.

I've always considered the popcorn charge a means to an end - keeping it from being everywhere. If it was free during movies nights the pool and hot tubs would be full of it as would be the pool deck. Kids would be throwing it around without a care from their parents. When there is a charge though, suddenly people become responsible with it since they paid for it.

I should have included that Monday, Sunday night and Thursday games should be available since there is only one game playing at those times.

Awesome Joe!

I think you need to understand the Azamara culture and approach to cruising. They tend to visit different ports that their smaller ships allow. They have tended to be focused on the experience integrating local culture into the experience compared to Royal who brings the standard Royal experience everywhere they sail. That's not a bad thing, just different. Royal offers land tours in Alaska but infrequently anywhere else. For example a land tour in Europe before boarding a Med cruise isn't offered on Royal. Or in Greece, or Australia, or... The tend to operate very different itineraries compared to Royal.

In previous years ESPN Caribbean has tended to carry NFL games from CBS. My home team usually is played on Fox so I'm often out of luck. A Voom Surf and Stream plan with a tablet has been used several times to watch my team when other teams were played on the ship TV system.

You might be overestimating the value of Voom under Sky Class. There are discounts for multi-device plans. On one 7 night Oasis class ship in my cruise planner I see: One device $13.99 per day Two devices $18.99 per day Three devices $21.99 per day Four devices $22.39 per day Round this up to $23 per day in case the price varies for your cruise. This covers four devices. Seven nights is $23 x 7 = $161. For eight devices, buying two (4) device plans would be 2 x $161 = $322.

I think you are giving them too much credit ( or maybe you were given too much (OBC) credit) :) I've never had an issue spending all my OBC so I can't comment. I suspect if 100 people each had this scenario with some non-refundable and some refundable OBC we would likely observe mixed results. For some of those 100 the non-ref would be consumed first and some the ref. would be consumed first, and for others they would both be consumed simultaneously yielding a 3rd possibility.

I wear hiking pants with zip off leggings. Shorts by day, long pants for MDR and back to shorts in the evening with nothing but a zip on each leg. Good from far. Good enough with a collared shirt to look dressed up enough while keeping my suitcase light. I like them for flying as well. Planes can be cool but when I land in hot, humid Florida the legs come off and instant shorts.

Put something on a website and if someone approaches you then you go to the cruise line with "I've got a buyer lined up. For a small finders fee I can put you in contact with them". What's a "small fee" when dealing with $100M deal? Good question...