twangster

It basically looks like a bar that is closed and never has a bartender standing behind it. At least while in Alaska.

Royal's 0344 493 4005 functions like one of those 0870 numbers?

Moving back to Port Everglades will help her in this regard. Port of Miami has a channel that must be transited at or near high tide (for Oasis class). Depending how timing works out that may require leaving the previous port early or increasing speed to make a window of opportunity. Without top speed available Allure can't rely on making up time on the way so in some cases that may have involved changing departure times. Port Everglades doesn't have this concern. She is free to enter port whenever she gets there and the port pilots can accommodate her.

I see. US cell phones used to have plans like that but largely have switched to unlimited domestic calls across the country. My provider includes Canada in that region. I suppose there may be some pre-paid cell plans that charge per minute rates. The US website accepts payments on-line but only for direct bookings. If you book through a TA you must make payments through that TA.

Drinks will still be free for a Star Class guest wearing a Wow band. It's the not the color of a Seapass card that makes drinks no charge. SC includes the DX drink package and that is coded onto your account, just like any other guest who buys the DX drink package. As a DX drink package holder I have used a Wow band to order drinks and wasn't charged. The downside of using a Wow band to order a drink is that is usually requires you remove it and hand it to the bartender. If enough people were to do so I could see a bartender mistakenly returning the wrong band to a guest. When I use my SeaPass card to order a drink a quick glance at it let's me know it's my card coming back to me. Wow bands can be used in water, that's a perfect time to use them leaving your card in the room to go in a hot tub or pool. On Anthem that backfired on me when the towel station RFID reader couldn't scan my Wow band. They tried several times and reverted to using my cabin number. Same issue trying to return my towel and for several days. Had to double check my bill to make sure there were no towel charges. That may have been an isolated issue with one reader. Some people have a reaction to the silicone band. Some people are allergic to silicone, some allergic to latex, some allergic to copper, etc. No perfect solution that everyone will enjoy wearing. Some people don't like the prospect of a watch like tan line on their arm. Like everything on a cruise, it isn't for everyone.

I'm not familiar with phone lines or cell phones in the UK. Is a charge for each phone call common in the UK?

Dress jeans are fine, ratty old worn out jeans would be frowned upon. If you have access to CK I'd eat as many meals as possible there. Save the Bistro for another cruise when you may not have CK access.

Cozumel doesn't observe daylight savings time and it will depend where your cruise starts from and what time of year. A lot of the time they change the ship clock to match the island to avoid guests missing the ship at the end of the day.

I think Royal has trademarked a series of names that included (among other names) Pulse and Passion. I suspect this site is guessing and plugged them in as Q ships.

OA5 steel has been cut. No word where she will be based. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/04/24/royal-caribbean-begins-construction-of-fifth-oasis-class-cruise-ship

Another video from Oasis 1738: Near the end he gives his opinions of the basketball court.

Welcome to the message boards! Here is a Youtube video from Harmony 1738: Different decor but balcony view is pretty much the same. Fast forward to around the 3 min mark.

In theory no, but they don't often check each and every individual card. Sometimes they do though. Anthem was more thorough at inspecting cards compared to other ships.

Platinum and higher are invited to a "Top Tier" event. It's a one time event on a specific day. Diamond and higher have a nightly happy hour that is hosted in the Diamond Lounge when the ship has one (all but Empress and Majesty). On those two ships there may be something like the sail away party on Empress for higher top tier members.

It's not a safety issue, just a speed issue.

There are exceptions made but I don't know how that process goes. I once had an agent get a transfer done shortly after final payment was made. I don't know how hard they had to fight to get it transferred but they did.

I find the cabin door lock the only reliable feature and purpose for Wow bands. I have some so I bring them when I sail a Wow ship but if I had to buy them each time I wouldn't.

Some SWAG and speculation at a delivery ceremony estimated dates: Quantum was the first in her class and took 630 days from the steel cutting ceremony to the delivery ceremony. Anthem took 616 days from the steel cutting ceremony to the delivery ceremony. Spectrum took 603 days from the steel cutting ceremony to the delivery ceremony. This puts the delivery ceremony for Odyssey in the range of 9/26/2020 to 10/23/2020. Royal's UK website has a reference to Odyssey "Autumn 2020". Royal's US website is void of any Odyssey reference. November 2020 is a banner transatlantic month for Royal with both Anthem and Allure departing the region 11/1/20 for America. Allure's suites are sold out for this crossing. This is on top of the "regular" transatlantic crossings for the other ships that summer in Europe. This leads to the question when will Odyssey's transatlantic sailing occur? If she finishes in September will they have her spend time overseas competing with Anthem in Southampton and Allure in Barcelona before coming across? That doesn't seem like a wise idea. Some booked guests may cancel Anthem/Allure cruises to sail Odyssey if she was to operate from that region before coming across. If they bring her straight across after delivery that might impact Anthem and Allure transatlantic bookings. Is it wise to have three mega ship transatlantic sailings that might overlap or at a minimum compete with each other? Perhaps there will not be a revenue transatlantic sailing with guests on board. Maybe they'll avoid cannibalizing Anthem/Allure bookings and bring Odyssey straight to America for her inaugural cruise. Now with Spectrum in service and off to China hopefully they can begin talking about Odyssey. It's going to be a busy Autumn with Oasis leaving Bayonne, Anthem coming home plus Allure coming home AMPED and refreshed. Hopefully they'll start floating some dates out there soon so people can make plans.

The UK website has a PDF that outlines Next terms and conditions. While that doesn't mean the same applies in the US it's the only documented Next terms and conditions I could find and some of it applies since a UK resident could be on a US sailing and visit the Next desk. https://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/assets/pdf/discover-cruise-holidays/next-cruise/NextCruise-UK-ROI-Terms-Conditions-Website-LA.pdf UK RESIDENT GUESTS - NEW ONBOARD T&Cs AS OF 1 November 2018 ALL ONBOARD BOOKINGS ARE SUBJECT TO THE ROYAL CARIBBEAN U.K. BOOKING TERMS INCLUDING THE NON REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT POLICY, CHANGE, AMENDMENT AND CANCELLATION FEES SAVE INSOFAR AS THEY ARE VARIED AS BELOW. ALL ONBOARD BOOKINGS BENEFITTING FROM U.S. PROMOTION BENEFITS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE FEES AS SET OUT BELOW. 1. NEXTCRUISE DOLLARS OFF AND OBC PROMOTION: (1) Guests who make an onboard booking with U.S. promotion benefits are eligible for our NextCruise dollars off promotion or Future Onboard Credit (up to $600 per stateroom depending on length of voyage and type of stateroom or suite). Guests who make an onboard booking with U.K. promotion benefits are eligible for a Future Onboard Credit (up to $600 per stateroom depending on length of voyage and type of stateroom.). 2. CHANGING A U.S. PROMOTION BOOKING: Within 30 days of making a booking onboard, a change to the ship or sail date will not incur any change fee. Changes to ship and sail date made after that 30-day period has expired shall be subject to a change fee equivalent to $100 USD per person to be applied at the prevailing conversion rate in GBP. For any other type of change, different change and amendment fees may be applicable in accordance with the terms of the UK booking conditions. Please note that for all changes, where other services have been subsequently added to your onboard booking in addition to your cruise e.g. flights or land based hotels, any changes to those aspects of your booking may result in cancellation and rebook charges. Any deposit payment made at the time of booking shall always remain non – refundable where any change is made. See the booking conditions at www.royalcaribbean.co.uk for full details. 3. Be advised that for any other change type, they shall be subject to change amendment fees as set out in the U.K. booking conditions available at www.royalcaribbean.co.uk. Deposits paid onboard shall always remain non - refundable where any such change is made. 4. CHANGING A U.K. PROMOTION BOOKING: In the event of a change to the booking, different change and amendment fees may be applicable in accordance with the terms of the UK booking. However for changes to ship and sale date up to 57 days prior to the sailing date, change fees will be waived. For any other type of change, different change and amendment fees may be applicable in accordance with the terms of the UK booking conditions. Please note that for all changes, where other services have been added to your onboard booking in addition to your cruise e.g. flights or land based hotels, any changes to those aspects of your booking may result in cancellation and rebook charges. Any deposit payment made at the time of booking shall always remain non–refundable where any change is made. See the booking conditions at www.royalcaribbean.co.uk for full details. 5. FOR ALL NEXTCRUISE BOOKINGS: If you decide to change your booking onshore, the onboard benefits obtained onboard will still apply as per the original booking made onboard, but changes to the price of the booking will be charged at the U.K. prevailing rate as of the date of the change. 6. CANCELLATION: See www.royalcaribbean.co.uk for applicable cancellation terms. 7. FOR ALL GUESTS, a NextCruise Booking may be combined with certain group booking but may result in possible loss of your promotional offer and/or Onboard Credit offer. 8. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit your Cruise Sales Team onboard for full Terms and Conditions, visit www.royalcaribbean.co.uk or speak to your travel agent.

@JohnK6404 is correct. No Wow bands on Radiance class ships. Newer ships only.

So what was happening is that people would book a cruise with zero intention of sailing it. A place holder. Fast forward to final payment due date and they would transfer it to another ship a year or more away. Fast forward to final payment due date and they would transfer it to another ship a year or more away. Finally 5 years later they would cruise. The other problem with hundreds of people cancelling right before final payment was due is that they suddenly had a surplus of inventory showing up 3 months before sailing. That isn't a lot of time to sell out a ship so they had to drop prices to sell the ship. The intent of the extra OBC was not to encourage people to cruise five years later but encourage people to return soon. It ended up hurting more than helping because it was being used in a manner that wasn't intended. With people booking suites in this manner it hurt even more because expensive suites are even harder to sell with just 3 months to do it. Next is a part of the Crown and Society team. It is a loyalty program. They were leaving a lot of money on the table. Royal is a business first and always. They have shareholders to answer to. Solution: Change the policy. Encourage people to commit and only book with an intention of actually sailing. This create less booking volatility and that translates into higher revenue since they avoid the surplus inventory flooding the market closer to sailing. At the same time it's grown more competitive. So many ships. They have to offer promos every few weeks now. Back in the day there was maybe one or two a year. Margins are thinner, less fat to throw away at things like loyalty OBC. With the need to keep fares low in a competitive market there isn't money to throw at loyalty rewards like Next OBC.

The 25% off is based on starting with the on board pricing, not the last sale price from last week or last month. It's confusing because they never sell it at the on board price in the cruise planner so you never see the "regular" non-sale price until you go on board. We all want the BOGO to apply to the last sale price we saw but it doesn't work that way.

Indeed! Happy cruising!

The email I got to confirm my combo purchase broke it out as if I bought them separately: $21 for a full day waterpark pass. $44 for the zip line, The Labadee zip line was almost twice that. Not bad. DAY 3 Perfect Day Cococay, Bahamas Zipline G 01:30 PM Total Cost: 44.00 USD Thrill Waterpark Full Day Pass G 07:30 AM Total Cost: 21.00 USD

Different sailings get different promos. Pricing is relative to on board pricing which also varies. Short cruises cost more than longer cruises. Unless you are Diamond Plus or higher it is always cheaper to buy it before sailing. If you buy it now and the price does drop again you can refund the purchase and buy it again at the lower price. If you are happy with the price now, buy it since it might go up and never come back down. If other people buy it and sales are good they will increase rates on a cruise by cruise basis.