twangster

Welcome to the message boards! They are purchased and not for the faint of heart. If you are booked on a cruise when they believe they will be ready you can find them in the cruise planner. They don’t exist today, they will be added over the coming months.

RFID enabled cabin doors have no slot to swipe a card. You hold your SeaPass card (or Wow band) up against the lock and the door unlocks. The SeaPass card with RFID has a chip inside and antenna wire layered into the card. If you punch an RFID card you will likely cut the antenna wire rendering the card useless. Older ships have cabin door with a slot. Cards have magnetic stripes. By inserting the card and swiping it the door reads the magnetic stripe. These cards can be punched. Magnetic cards can be wiped by cell phones and other sources of electrical energy. RFID can not. The trend in door lock technology is away from magnetic since magnetic is less reliable.

1. Suggest you visit the MDR (main dining room) as soon as you board and ask them for group tables. You'll need their names and cabin numbers or if possible, go as a group. No promises but they generally try to accommodate requests of this nature. 2. Bars close at various hours. This site has 'cruise compass' from past guests who have sailed. They list the hours for all bars: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass The cruise compass is a daily newsletter dropped off in your cabin each day. The ones posted from past guests won't be identical but pretty close to your sailing. Often the casino bar is one of the last ones open in the early hours. 3. Come and go as you please but you will have to pass through security each time (xray and metal detector). If you happen to come back during a peak like when an excursion just returned there can be a short wait but usually it's pretty quick. 4. You can buy bottles of wine/sparkling wine and enjoy them in the MDR. 5. If you are sailing in February then you are on the same sailing as me, 2/24/19. Royal hasn't explicitly said if cabins are being touched in this upgrade. In the past some ships did get cabins updates, some did not. Mariner for example did not. That's okay, I don't spend a lot of time in my cabin so I'm happy with the public areas getting all the love. At the top of this page is a menu bar with a tab called "Getting Started". Start there. Until then, see you on board!

Candlewood Suites had "guest laundry" machines. I wasn't overly impressed with the hotel itself but for one night pre-cruise it was fine.

I think the point was for ships that you can't punch the SeaPass card, you have Wow as an option. It will be interesting too see if Oasis goes RFID in October. If so, Allure will follow.

I'm sure you are correct, just wishful thinking. Although an enclosed solarium is going to be hot in South FL. Granted Texas isn't cool in the summer either. I'm hoping they rotate more ships into Galveston with the new pier. Sticking with one 'anchor' ship for so many years in a row will drive people to look elsewhere.

Heh. Yeah it's not a cruise term. Transportation Worker Identification Card. It's an enhanced TSA clearance that comes with a federally issued ID card. At a US port I can walk onto a pier without a SeaPass card (in theory). Since I have one I can leave my driver's license in the safe. That way if my stuff gets lost or stolen I know I can drive home after the cruise (legally) since my driver's license is waiting for me in the safe on the ship. A bad guy with my TWIC card in hand can't very easily steal my identity. A bad guy with my passport or driver's license is another story.

Just booked Libery early April. I'm not sure I'll live blog, not much else to add that this blog didn't cover, but I'm looking forward to meeting miss Liberty again.

Yeah, I once used my "free" slot pull $5 offer and that gained me "Choice". No benefits really.

Or perhaps it's newest one... Odyssey! One can only hope... Actually a cold weather ship makes sense in winter out of Galveston. I'm not saying an OA class isn't coming, but I think Odyssey would be cool for Galveston and very unique. Bring OA at a later date.

When it comes to passports I'm #TeamSafe. If you miss the ship, for whatever reason, security goes into your safe and removes your passport. They then give it to the port agent on the pier. Security always has access to your safe. If get locked out (like the time I forgot my passcode) security can open the safe. A water damaged passport becomes invalid because they can't verify it isn't an forgery attempt. Fall off a tour boat, get soaked in a rain storm, etc, a water damaged passport is useless. Stolen on a beach, mugged or it simply falls out of your pocket on a bus by mistake all can happen. That is a much worst case scenario for me compared to having to track down the port agent, IF I miss the ship. You will need some sort of government issued ID for any guest who isn't a minor. This varies by port but Nassau has been known to insist on it. Driver's license works great. My TWIC card works great too. This is the port people requiring this, not ship security. The port employees are not Royal employees, they work for the local port. Perfect Day (CocoCay) is Royal's private island and you only need the SeaPass card. Bring some cash if you want to shop in the local market on the island. No other documents are required at CocoCay.

Michael Bayley fielded the Voom question for non OA/QU ships and suites. His answer was simple. They did not include Voom in the pricing models for suites on those ships. It all goes back to the fact that nothing is "free" on a ship. MDR, Entertainment, Windjammer - none of that is "free". It's "included" in the cruise fare. You pay for it all - in the base cruise fare. Many folks who book suites on the older ships have been booking them for years. Years before Oasis and Quantum came into existence. They've never had and in most cases don't want Voom. They like to disconnect and have no use for it. If Royal changed the pricing for those suites that have never had it and increased prices for all suite guests so that it is included, many guests would be up in arms because now they are paying for something they don't want and won't use. When Sky and Star Class came into existence they rolled it out onto Oasis and Quantum class only and at that time they took the opportunity to include Voom in the pricing model for those classes. Sky and Star never existed before. No one used to buy Sky Class and didn't have to pay for Voom. Therefore no could complain they are paying for something they didn't used to have to pay for because Sky Class had never existed without Voom. Personally I'd like to see the Voom and the deluxe drink package included in all cruise fares. Since I tend to buy them, that would be great for me. For many guests though, they don't want their fare to go up so that I can drink for "free". Maybe they are recovering alcoholics, maybe they are pregnant, maybe they are 5 years old. Doesn't matter to me, if everyone pays just a little bit more, I get it for "free". If Royal said they were going to raise fares by $250 per person and make them all inclusive, Voom and booze, that would be great for me. However they would have lots of upset people who don't want it. They could increase everyone's fare by $50 and everyone gets free photos. increase by another $75 and everyone gets a free three night dining plan. Increase by $20 and everyone gets two free t-shirts. Increase by $60 and everyone gets a watch. Where does it end? What if you don't want a watch, photos, t-shirts or specialty dining? Should you pay more so those who do want it get it for "free"? That is why suites that are not Sky or Star Class do not include Voom in the fare that you pay.

Voom prices vary much like drink package prices vary. No rhyme or apparent reason. In some cases the two device Voom plan was discounted for select sailings. Many people myself included took advantage of the great two device sale price. How Royal decides what Voom will be priced is anyone's guess. Even the onboard price still deviates between ships. For an Adventure booking in October 2019 I see Voom SURF for $17.99 per day for two devices and Voom SURF & STREAM for two devices is $19.99 per day for two device. You may see something different. That is still a long way out. Wait and it will probably go on sale at some point. For suites, Voom is included with Sky & Star Class Suites. Sky & Star Class is only offered on Oasis and Quantum class ships. Therefore no other ships include Voom with suites (because no other ships offer Sky & Star Class). It's just like Coastal Kitchen being included for Sky & Star Class suites on Oasis and Quantum class ships. Other ships don't have Coastal Kitchen.

The room service menu below has a lunch/dinner section on the left below and a breakfast section on the right below. There is a $7.95 (plus 18% service charge) fee per order. Order one of everything on the menu and it's one $7.95 fee. Order just one thing and it's $7.95. Call back 20 minutes later and add one of something else, it's another $7.95. The fee is per order, not per item. For breakfast only the Continental Breakfast is free (no $7.95 fee). The American Breakfast section is subject to the $7.95 fee. If you stay in a Grand Suite or above there is no fee for any room service order. For breakfast there will be door hang tag that you can fill out the night before and hang on the outside of the cabin door. They collect them overnight and deliver at the time you select (i.e. 6am - 6:30am, or 7am - 7:30am or 7:30am to 8am, etc). They typically call first to let you know they are on the way (in the morning only). If you purchase a drink package, you can NOT use the drink package with room service.

@JeffCruiser - welcome to the message boards! Shorter cruises and Caribbean cruises tend to be less strict on dress recommendations. Some European cruises can run a little more strict. The key is that Royal has "recommendations" and not a absolute dress code. Bathing suits / swimwear are more likely to get called out in the MDR. Regular shorts and any shirt is generally okay for breakfast and lunch on the MDR. Casual dinner in the MDR with long pants and a shirt with a collar (polo or button shirt) is average. Cut off jeans and a t-shirt may work on one ship but catch the eye of the restaurant staff on another ship or different night on the same ship. I have hiking pants with lower leg sections that zipper off. At night I zip on the lower leg sections and I have full length pants, by day they are shorts. They work fine on casual nights.

The terms and conditions of both packages require overlapping reservations on nights 1 and/or 2. For the BOGO 2 night package - "Each reservation must be used on the first and second nights of the sailing respectively." For the 3 night package - "One reservation must be used on the first or second night of the sailing." While the cruise planner may or may no allow you book both, you may run into difficulty once on board if you try to purchase both.

If you don't mind heading to FLL airport and dropping them your bags before exploring, give this place a call, they are right at FLL. Another option is rent a car with a trunk. Last option is Royal excursion with airport drop off.

Fixed.

I see a 5 night package on two cruises but both are longer cruises, 13 and 14 night.

I am almost always booked through a travel agent and once in a while that link will appear. My payments are processed by the agency and i can't pay direct using the website even i wanted to. Royal IT... the mystery continues.

Fixed.

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo has tweeted some pictures of Millennium after her retrofit. Looks pretty amazing. https://twitter.com/lisalutoffperlo/status/1094192332562407424?s=21

Don't believe @Matt, he is a solarium-roof-open denier ? They had the Vision solarium roof open this past January during a port day but not at sea. This was in Miami when we stopped there for the day. You can see the roof open in this scope at the 57 s mark. https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1ypJdOAkVPoGW This is the Vision solarium with the roof open from the scope:

Musicians of this nature are not usually on the ship for long periods of time. It's quite common for them to perform for a few weeks or even less, disembark and move to another ship for a small stint. If you knew a particular sailing you might be able to look over the cruise compasses posted on this site and find the name in one of them. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=1167

All ships of any size can be influenced by sea conditions. If you felt it more on this sailing, it isn't because you were on an Oasis class ship, but because that it how the ocean was behaving on this sailing. There is a lot more to it than just wind or waves. The two are not always coming from the same direction and the direction and speed of the ship relative to wind and the sea conditions are factors in the perception of motion and how it feels on board. It's possible to have wind and following seas (wind and waves coming from behind the ship) but a distant storm in a completely different direction is producing a swell that originates hundreds of miles away and produces a sea condition that causes the entire sea to rise and fall slowly in an almost imperceptible manner. I call that a slow roller because it's like a very slow and gentle rise and fall of the sea but covering a much larger area compared to a smaller wind driven waves that may be present. When the whole sea is rising and falling even the largest ships rise and fall with it. They aren't massive waves that are high and obvious rather just a slow and spread out swell. If the ship was heading perfectly straight into this swell, the motion would be of a porpoising like action where the front and back rise and fall at different times (pitch). When the ship is moving in a direction at an angle relative to this swell it can cause the front and back of the ship to move at different times causing the subtle side to side feeling (roll). Captain Rob recorded some videos played on the Symphony TV system during the transatlantic sailing this past fall. He explained the sea factors that can create a feeling of motion in this video starting around the 7:30 mark into the video: I shot this next video as a time lapse. Even though there were no waves to speak of (the sea looks quite calm) there was a swell coming from the remnants of Hurricane Oscar hundreds of miles away to our North West. When played back in real time the time lapse makes it much easier to see the swell of the sea. When viewed live and in person the swell is nearly undetectable. As Captain Rob explained you might have one swell coming from the North and a second swell coming from a different storm hundreds of miles away to the South. These "slow rollers" can create a feeling of motion and depending on the angle relative to the ship heading, it can cause a pitching movement (front to back) or a rolling movement (side to side). Bottom line - you felt it more on this Oasis sailing because of the sea conditions that you just happened to sail under compared to other cruises. Any ship big or small is influenced by sea swell.