twangster

I emailed them recently about updating upgrade and gift preferences and received this reply:

We strive to give our high level Crown & Anchor Society members an especially warm welcome onboard.

[omitting irrelevant verbiage]

To ensure your preferences are updated, please contact our office directly at 1-800-526-9723.

You may choose your selection by calling us at 1-800-526-9723, or e-mailing us at crownandanchor@rccl.com.  Our representatives will be happy to assist further. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 11:00 pm EST; and Saturday and Sunday 9:00 am to 8:00 pm EST.
 

6 hours ago, Ray said:

Was the coke included in the drinks package? If it was then at £45 per day that's not to be sniffed at  

Probably the only time there's been a straight line on an RC cruise 

If so I bet no one was complaining about long lines.

Following!  We board Explorer in Seattle on Friday for the Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise!

I did your itinerary on Celebrity last year.  It was an incredible experience. 

Flying to ANC I had a window seat on the right side and had great view of many glaciers as we got close to ANC.  Have your camera ready.

My recap blog from last year is here:

This year on Explorer we get into Juneau on June 24th at noon until 9pm, then Skagway on June 25th from 7am to 8:30pm.  Am I mistaken or do these ports overlap with Radiance?

If so you'll need to keep an eye for the Royal Caribbean Blog team of eighty plus led by none other than @Matt!

My best hibachi experience in life to date was on Allure.  Even better than any land restaurant version I've been to.

Yeah, I rarely get the drink package even when I'm solo and just need to buy one. 

Even before making diamond and getting diamond happy hour drinks, 8 nights or longer and the drink package was too much for me.  Drink fatigue kicks in around day 5-6.  That isn't so bad on a 7 night cruise but 8 or longer and no way, the drink package is just too much to justify.

I have some 13-16 night cruises next year coming up.  I'm not even going to do the math.  Just no.

Bring two bottles of wine.  Buy some drinks in port.  Use the BOGO beer/wine C&A coupon.  Go to the Captain's address.  Go to the top tier event if platinum or higher.  Buy an occasional drink.  Hope for the drink card.

SMH.  And here I ignored my initial reaction and kept it on point.  What's wrong with y'all? 

8 minutes ago, DunkelBierJay said:

Entering the Port and Check-In it’s necessary you have your passport and cruise docs ready to enter the port and terminals. This is where having a print out of your set sail pass is handy, even if you are using the Royal App. A short line of cars to enter the port gave us a chance to get everything ready for the officer at the gate. We entered the building with our passports and mobile phones in hand. We had our backup printed set sail pass at the ready just in case.

 

When the port staff saw that we had our apps ready for scanning, we were ushered to a central area where our Mobile SeaPasses were scanned and our passports checked. Those who did not have expedited check-in with the app we’re on either side of our area as best I could tell. We turned a corner to our right and went through security with the suite guests and Pinnacles. Wow, I thought.

 

After security. We entered a separate line adjacent to the suite guests, which was shorter. I gather a small percentage of overall guests are able to use or even know about expedited check-in. There were a few ahead of us, and when we went to the check-in desk, we provided our apps with SeaPass cued up along with our passports. The agent checked everything against the pics we uploaded at home during online check-in, handed us boarding vouchers and we were on board in as long as it took to walk there. Wow, I thought.

I didn't realize Allure was using Mobile Check In already.  It sounds like it worked really well. 

2 hours ago, monctonguy said:

They could just charge a small fee to visit the WJ after  9pm..like $5.95 per guest or something.....

Plus 18% gratuity. 

Eternity?  Is that like the Hotel California?  "You can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave..."

For some reason I keep getting images of a funeral parlor, or line of caskets in mind.  "This is our Eternity series, because only the best for your loved ones".

Elegance works though.

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Why does this site named Cruise Law News read like a supermarket tabloid?

He is interesting to follow for the entertainment value.  Clearly one sided and often written as click bait.

It was a charter.  Enough said. 

Having sailed on Liberty and Freedom, both of which have the new cabins (Liberty got more than Freedom did) I'm a bit surprised.

I noted a lot of people complaining about it even before Indy went into dry dock.  Especially on some other forums. 

I wonder if the complaints you have seen are because of the pre-dry dock complaining or if there is something to it.  With a seed planted, people will 'find' it so because subconsciously they are predisposed to, having read dire predictions. 

It could also be that she is selling really well right now due to all the hype.  Perhaps she is carrying more than she will once everything falls into a pattern and settles down.   Summer crowds on any ship tend to be high just because it is summer so perhaps that is a factor.

Having sailed her just prior to dry dock I'm going to hold my judgement until I experience it myself, but I will be booking Indy again, for sure. 

2 hours ago, whenismynextcruise said:

Dogs are allowed on Harmony????

Royal has to comply with the ADA and other laws governing service animals.  The intent of the law in the US is to ensure people with a disability who need a service animal are not treated differently from businesses such as restaurants and stores.  For example, a blind person who uses a properly trained guide dog is allowed by law to take that animal with them into a restaurant or on a cruise ship.  

Service animals has to do their stuff so all ships have a designated relief area.

Following!

You'll learn to ignore BigDuckRon - most of us already do.

12 oz curls

This simple Xmas ball was found right in the security building at the dockyard just before walking onto the pier.  That may vary depending what section of the pier your end up at.  It was pretty cheap but it also isn't super fancy.  There were different colors. 

There are quite a few shops in the "mall".  Some of them are pricey but the value of art is very personal. 

Coming from Colorado and living at 5,300' I always find exercising at sea level much easier. 

Mixed use of any space on a ship is tough.  There are some folks walking, some folks running, some with strollers, some with toddlers, some with drinks, some with food, etc.  On ships with the jogging track on higher decks this is even more pronounced because the "jogging track" is part of the primary public deck space. 

There are a lot of factors involved with feeling motion and even the mega ships can be impacted.

Wave height, pitch and direction.  Wind speed and direction.  Ship heading relative to wind and waves.  Subtle combinations of all those can create more feeling motion on any ship.  

Always be prepared and have some motion medication with you.  Research a bit, look for non-drowsy variations, try them on land well before your cruise so you understand the side effects.  Talk to your doctor about it well before sailing.  That applies to any cruise on any ship.

Just now, JLMoran said:

The "Flight of the Snowbird" itinerary? That looked awesome from what I could see when I was looking Canada / NE options. Wouldn't at all mind sailing that one, but have to wait until I have a budget that will allow for two one-way flights.

Correct.  First cruise I'll have been on where the ship stays in port on day 1 and basically serves as your hotel.  A lot of history in Quebec City.  I'm looking forward to it and 13 nights on Adventure.

I just sailed on the Adventure repositioning cruise from San Juan to Bayonne in May.  Great ship.  They did a great job on her recent dry dock.

I'm taking her in October her on another repo cruise from Quebec City to Port Everglades.  I'll probably be live blogging from the ship again so watch the Live Blog section of these message boards. 

When Royal first created the Oasis class ships they built terminal 18 in Port Everglades specifically for her knowing they would have to manage large crowds.  It's something Royal has done really well and they have since taken that experience to other ports and to other ships.

That's a great rate, they've quoted us much higher prices in the past.

Here is a picture from my balcony on Oasis in 2016:

Did it rain recently?  Perhaps the river current was abnormally strong?

If you both purchase a Voom/Deluxe combo you will both get a different Voom code as if you were strangers. 

That's different than a two device Voom plan where one code is used but the system allows two devices to use the same code. 

Same end result, different implementation.

That's great!  Where is your next cruise?  What ship?