Bazza

We have our first HA cruise next January (please don't hate me RC fans!) and I am finding the excursion reviews very helpful when planning the days and knowing which ones to avoid! 

Thank you all for your help here!  We have decided that being able to select the dates and times we want to dine is more important than the discount, so we didn't buy either the dining package or The Key.  We would rather do fewer times, and get when we want to dine.  Any idea how far ahead the reservation system becomes available?
Regarding the reviews... with HA they are not anonymous, and you have to have done the cruise in order to write a review.  I found them very helpful.  I am happy to find this place to ask questions, but it is a lot more digging.

As a comparison, we were in Tahiti recently and paid 150 each to stay at a Hilton with coffee, snacks, and pool privileges. We had about 7 hours in comfort instead of standing in line at airport in 80 degree heat. So there can be value to this Royal option. (Our other cruise line didn't offer the stay awhile option.)

Actually, Royal Caribbean DID have excursion reviews and ratings but they removed those a few years ago.  Shame really.  I liked being able to look at prior remarks and ratings of the various excursions.

Got my Royal Up!
From Inside GTY to Ocean View Infinite Balcony. Great location, Deck 10 midship. Zero complaints.
The minimum bid was $170pp. We booked day 1 when Icon opened so we only paid $1100pp. Always fine with GTY and Inside. Our Icon is not selling well, so we figured we would have a good shot and only did a bid for fun. It's just a nice perk. Did we need to spend another $340, absolutely not. It was a YOLO kinda thing. 
So far I'm reading on message boards, Facebook, etc that people are doing well with Royal Up for our sailing. 
Only problem is people aren't getting there documents/luggage tags changed on website. Seems to be a running theme. Does it usually change or is a call in my future tomorrow? 

Just got the new documents and luggage tags. About 7 hours later. Not bad. Best part, I don't have to make an hour long phone call. LOL.

In certain ports we overpay for a Royal excursion due to the guarantee. Most of the time we are very comfortable with 3rd party.  As for the couple from SC, I have zero sympathy. Their take is that the other thousands of guests should have been inconvenienced because of their issue. Yes stuff happens in life but taking to the Today Show to accuse NCL of an overly strict all aboard policy is entitlement at its best. The couple is threating NCL that they will not board the ship! Ha Ha! please don't throw me in that briar patch.   

Not RCI but a nice reminder to make sure you are back in plenty of time, especially when not using a cruise line's own excursion! Ouch.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/norwegian-cruise-passengers-stranded-africa/index.html
 

Exactly will my reasoning for booking through Viator. Thank you for validating! 👍

We did hop on hop off in Cartagena. We got straight off the ship without going to the theatre to await a lucky sticker!
Got on 'same' bus and had same route. About $30pp cheaper and with hop on hop off you still have to rely on your own time keeping even if booked through RCI as they are not with you anyway!! Sensible choice @RCIfan1912!

Yes, our two 3rd party excursions are through Viator. Boston it's the hop on hop off bus too so not much chance of issues there. We have to keep track of the time, that's all. 

We have done a few (usually through Viator) and it has all been clearly set around the cruise schedule and fact they are 100% reliant on cruise passengers. Reviews and testimonials are critical for us before booking.
If this was done with a 3rd party with minimal, or zero, prior cruise experience it is one hell of a risk.
You hope they are all ok health wise, but they must have known the gamble they were taking.  
 
 

I've been following this story a bit on the regular YouTube cruise channels. It sucks, but it's how it works. You didn't pay extra to be on a cruise excursion then you and the tour operator have to be super duper careful and mindful of the on board time. We are doing our first 3rd party excursions this October but it's on Boston. Not much to worry about and we just have to be extremely responsible. 

It's one thing to take an independent tour with a company reliant on cruise passengers.
 
It's quite another to take a tour where cruise passengers are a rarity and they don't respect the importance to get you back to your ship on time.

NCL are actually reimbursing the costs incurred for the last part of the journey where the ship could not dock at the one port and they had to go on to the next port. 
The latecomers are obviously having to cover the initial costs and rightly so. Whoever was running the excursion has a lot to answer to!
Cruise lines should not have to be responsible for people's inability to follow clear instructions. All aboard means ALL aboard!
(I am now praying I never get left behind!)

Saw this story a couple days ago. Naturally, it paints Norwegian in a bad light for the Captain being inflexible.
As for me, I say "Bravo, Captain!!!" If the all aboard is clearly stated (it always is and in multiple ways) and all excursions purchased through the cruise line are back, it's time to close up and go.

Not RCI but a nice reminder to make sure you are back in plenty of time, especially when not using a cruise line's own excursion! Ouch.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/norwegian-cruise-passengers-stranded-africa/index.html
 

Hope you get them back soon.
Based on our positive experiences we only see RCI through rose tinted glasses....actually probably not an appropriate phrase on this occasion... 😎😎😎😎😎

Hope you get them back soon.
Based on our positive experiences we only see RCI through rose tinted glasses....actually probably not an appropriate phrase on this occasion... 😎😎😎😎😎

Congratulations!! We had our first Diamond cruise on Oasis in January.
I guess it all depends what you usually 'do/purchase' when it comes to drinks and internet. I bought the soda package and bottles of water as I didn't want to use our 'free' drinks on Dr Pepper and water during the day, and then used our free drinks on wine (I don't drink alcohol so the 'boss' did well from it!). At the end of the night if we had any drinks left we would grab bottles of sparkling water to take back to the cabin. 
For internet we pre-purchased the 1 device as we usually do and flipped between us, but we then chose to have our 'free' days on sea days so we both had access if/when required. 
The Crown lounge was a nice place to get away from the crowds, and when the coffee machine was fixed on week 2(!) it meant lattes etc were accessible without queuing. The snacks were quite nice and despite it being a huge ship with lots of Diamond and above guests, it was never crowded in there. On Oasis it was ideally placed for the theatre for pre and post shows! 
We also took the chance to get our 1 free photo each (well 2 each in our case as we were B2B) so make sure you do that on your last night if you have had some pics taken.
We didn't really use any of the other benefits although we did get the complimentary waters and snacks in the room each week.
There will be much more experienced Diamond members on here with more/better advice!
Enjoy! 
 

Congratulations!! We had our first Diamond cruise on Oasis in January.
I guess it all depends what you usually 'do/purchase' when it comes to drinks and internet. I bought the soda package and bottles of water as I didn't want to use our 'free' drinks on Dr Pepper and water during the day, and then used our free drinks on wine (I don't drink alcohol so the 'boss' did well from it!). At the end of the night if we had any drinks left we would grab bottles of sparkling water to take back to the cabin. 
For internet we pre-purchased the 1 device as we usually do and flipped between us, but we then chose to have our 'free' days on sea days so we both had access if/when required. 
The Crown lounge was a nice place to get away from the crowds, and when the coffee machine was fixed on week 2(!) it meant lattes etc were accessible without queuing. The snacks were quite nice and despite it being a huge ship with lots of Diamond and above guests, it was never crowded in there. On Oasis it was ideally placed for the theatre for pre and post shows! 
We also took the chance to get our 1 free photo each (well 2 each in our case as we were B2B) so make sure you do that on your last night if you have had some pics taken.
We didn't really use any of the other benefits although we did get the complimentary waters and snacks in the room each week.
There will be much more experienced Diamond members on here with more/better advice!
Enjoy! 
 

Congratulations!! We had our first Diamond cruise on Oasis in January.
I guess it all depends what you usually 'do/purchase' when it comes to drinks and internet. I bought the soda package and bottles of water as I didn't want to use our 'free' drinks on Dr Pepper and water during the day, and then used our free drinks on wine (I don't drink alcohol so the 'boss' did well from it!). At the end of the night if we had any drinks left we would grab bottles of sparkling water to take back to the cabin. 
For internet we pre-purchased the 1 device as we usually do and flipped between us, but we then chose to have our 'free' days on sea days so we both had access if/when required. 
The Crown lounge was a nice place to get away from the crowds, and when the coffee machine was fixed on week 2(!) it meant lattes etc were accessible without queuing. The snacks were quite nice and despite it being a huge ship with lots of Diamond and above guests, it was never crowded in there. On Oasis it was ideally placed for the theatre for pre and post shows! 
We also took the chance to get our 1 free photo each (well 2 each in our case as we were B2B) so make sure you do that on your last night if you have had some pics taken.
We didn't really use any of the other benefits although we did get the complimentary waters and snacks in the room each week.
There will be much more experienced Diamond members on here with more/better advice!
Enjoy! 
 

Congratulations!! We had our first Diamond cruise on Oasis in January.
I guess it all depends what you usually 'do/purchase' when it comes to drinks and internet. I bought the soda package and bottles of water as I didn't want to use our 'free' drinks on Dr Pepper and water during the day, and then used our free drinks on wine (I don't drink alcohol so the 'boss' did well from it!). At the end of the night if we had any drinks left we would grab bottles of sparkling water to take back to the cabin. 
For internet we pre-purchased the 1 device as we usually do and flipped between us, but we then chose to have our 'free' days on sea days so we both had access if/when required. 
The Crown lounge was a nice place to get away from the crowds, and when the coffee machine was fixed on week 2(!) it meant lattes etc were accessible without queuing. The snacks were quite nice and despite it being a huge ship with lots of Diamond and above guests, it was never crowded in there. On Oasis it was ideally placed for the theatre for pre and post shows! 
We also took the chance to get our 1 free photo each (well 2 each in our case as we were B2B) so make sure you do that on your last night if you have had some pics taken.
We didn't really use any of the other benefits although we did get the complimentary waters and snacks in the room each week.
There will be much more experienced Diamond members on here with more/better advice!
Enjoy! 
 

Congratulations!! We had our first Diamond cruise on Oasis in January.
I guess it all depends what you usually 'do/purchase' when it comes to drinks and internet. I bought the soda package and bottles of water as I didn't want to use our 'free' drinks on Dr Pepper and water during the day, and then used our free drinks on wine (I don't drink alcohol so the 'boss' did well from it!). At the end of the night if we had any drinks left we would grab bottles of sparkling water to take back to the cabin. 
For internet we pre-purchased the 1 device as we usually do and flipped between us, but we then chose to have our 'free' days on sea days so we both had access if/when required. 
The Crown lounge was a nice place to get away from the crowds, and when the coffee machine was fixed on week 2(!) it meant lattes etc were accessible without queuing. The snacks were quite nice and despite it being a huge ship with lots of Diamond and above guests, it was never crowded in there. On Oasis it was ideally placed for the theatre for pre and post shows! 
We also took the chance to get our 1 free photo each (well 2 each in our case as we were B2B) so make sure you do that on your last night if you have had some pics taken.
We didn't really use any of the other benefits although we did get the complimentary waters and snacks in the room each week.
There will be much more experienced Diamond members on here with more/better advice!
Enjoy! 
 

Congratulations!  Same situation for us in May.  For us, the main thing is the 4 complimentary drinks (up to $14) per day, excluding Starbucks of course.  We like to purchase internet access for the entire cruise, but if you don't do that you would get one free day for one device.  I see those as the two main items that would be new for us.  There's a few other changes, but nothing that I will get too excited about.
I guess I should add the Crown Lounge access too.  That will be new for us.  Others might have better info on this.