twangster

Well, I booked Oasis for 11/24/19, one of the first sailings after she returns to Miami from Europe. So far the transatlantic westbound is not supposed to have guests and it's rumored will be used to complete finishing touches. This might be one of the first cruises post-AMPED.

Very likely. Quantum class and Harmony has had these for years. Now Mariner. Self help excursions with one or two employees to float around and assist compared to a queue like at guest services. Makes a lot of sense. Mariner's new Shore Excursion area:

Royal runs different promos and sales that can vary sometimes week to week. It's possible at one point OBC was part of a promo but then a few days later a BOGO came along that didn't include OBC.

I also just sailed Mariner. You have now experienced one of the benefits of Royal Caribbean. They took a ship (Mariner) built in 2003, now 15 years old and updated it to create the experience you had. This is part of what Royal does. As other's have mentioned, trying other cruise lines is always a smart idea. We are all different and what "floats my boat (ship)" may not be what floats someone else's. Only by sampling them will you know if Royal is best suited for you. Royal isn't always the cheapest and for some people the cheapest cruise is the best. I suggest you research any ship from any line you are thinking about. Mariner is very different than Symphony. There are different classes of ships. Carnival's largest ships, even their newest ships are similar to size compared to Mariner albeit with a few more guests. Carnival, Norwegian and Royal all have smaller, older ships. Royal's Symphony of the Seas and the Oasis class in general are in a league of their and there is nothing like them on any other cruise line. By researching a ship you are thinking about booking, proper expectations will be set, regardless which cruise line you go with.

There are different types of OBC. OBC granted by Royal during the booking process is normally available for use prior to sailing (cruise planner) or onboard. OBC offered by a travel agency is typically loaded onto your onboard account on day two of the cruise and therefore only available onboard. When you log into the cruise planner, it should indicate if your have Royal OBC available. There may be a pop up message that tells you the OBC you have or if you have already used some of your OBC it will indicate the top of the page if you have OBC available. Going through your "Order History" and expanding any previous purchases will display where you have used OBC in the past.

Once in a while Anthem will sail past Lady Liberty, but don't count on it. It's up to the ports authority and depends on other traffic. Lot's of barges use that stretch. I was lucky enough to experience it once. Which Serenade repo are you doing in October?

Yes, I believe so. 80's party on the last night usually. 70's party the first night.

Royal has a solution for long lines... sell tickets. Don't laugh, the CEO of the company suggested it was a possibility to manage crowds on Indy when she was getting AMPED.

Congratulations on making Emerald!

I was on the cruise before you. Being from Colorado we have a saying that continued to pop into my head... "Rode hard and put away wet".

For my Cuba cruise a few months ago we did not surrender our passports, we kept them (after showing them during the check in process).

I'm now seeing both 'Surf' and 'Surf and Stream' Voom packages available in the cruise planner for U.S. based sailings. Historically for the U.S region the cruise planner has typically only offered 'Surf and Stream' with a few rare exceptions. To purchase 'Surf' in the U.S. region you typically had to wait to board the ship. Pricing is now consistent through the middle of 2019 for my sailings. SURF 1 device @ $9.992 devices @ $17.993 devices @ $24.994 devices @ $27.99SURF and STREAM1 device @ $11.992 devices @ $19.993 devices @ $28.994 devices @ $33.49 While Surf is a slower performing package, for basic internet chat and 'dial up' type access it may fit the needs for many who just want to keep in touch, or chat with friends and family at home. If nothing else, pay attention to which plan you are picking when making cruise planner purchases. This is the first time in a long time that Voom pricing has been consistent over a number of months. In my experience Surf is speed limited to 0.5Mbps down and 0.25 Mbps up while Surf and Stream has typically offered around 4mbps down and just under 2Mbps up. Surf Surf and Stream

What is your country of citizenship? Hotels in Europe have at times have done so, but I've yet to experience this on a cruise, especially one based from the U.S.

I had an issue with a new reservation that is under 60 days away. I can't add it to my dashboard so I can't check in or use the cruise planner. US site. If I go into the cruise planner for another cruise then exit, that leaves me on a page where I can access the cruise planner by manually typing in the details for my new cruise. For check in I had to use a browser I never use. I then went to royalcaribbean.com (US site) and used the "Already Booked" link and selected "Online Check In" . This would not work on my regular browser since it takes me directly into my dashboard. On my never used browser it brought me to a page where I could manually enter name, sail date, ship, reservation, etc and then I could check in. Royal's website is Royally FUBAR.

Wine has to be in carry-on. Not checked luggage. It's been that while for a long time, even if somehow you've escaped until now. They x-ray'ed your bag, saw bottles of something so it went to the naughty room. Why upset?

That makes no sense. Why would a TA tell you NOT to pay in full so you CAN get price adjustments if they don't want you doing price adjustments? When did you make price adjustments? Everything changed Jan. 2018.

Hold back $100. I've been advised by multiple travel agencies that once a cruise if paid in full, regardless of final payment due date, you are no longer eligible for price adjustments. I've been told that people loosely throw around final payment due date (90 days) as the trigger for losing price change adjustments when in reality it's actually when it's been paid for in full. For the vast majority of people that is final payment due date (and hence their confusion) but for the rare person who pays it off prior to final payment due date they lose the ability to obtain price changes should rates drop. In the past price adjustments even after final payment due date were often possible. Now though, apparently they are getting very strict about it all.

Is that a premature single digit dance I see?

Yep. Will watch PTZtv webcam on Oct. 5 to see.

Part of the streamlined check in process for all ships. By EOY 2019 they'll all be like that. Boarding Enchantment I had my printed SetSail pass but I kept that in my pocket and flashed the app boarding pass everywhere just to see. Outside, Security, Upstairs before check in queues, at check in. No issues, just comments like "Oh, you have the app". It was new to them and I was the odd ball (nothing new) but it worked. In this case the check in folks in Canaveral don't have cameras, ship security took my photo while stepping on to the ship.

I'm not as sure about that. Labadee's transfer is within a sheltered bay. Any Cococay transfer would involve open ocean where it's too rough at times, hence why they are building the pier. Trams on land can whisk people anywhere. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.

Very possible because that could be done in name only with no actual changes, or they could give it a minor update. Either way it's likely a low cost "upgrade".

Not this week ?

Adding slides and Skypad to Mariner was a lot of work but they did it. Demolishing a bar is easy. That won't stop them. I suspect it's a matter of weight balance and budget balance. Water slides would be a bigger bang for the buck but could be more costly and heavier. It's anyone's guess. They might just change a few minor things, add a Playmakers Sports Bar. Laser tag is easy, it's inflatable in Studio B. Escape Room would be easy. Convert Solarium Bistro to Hooked. Some of those changes generate new revenue.