LetsTryThisPlace

It also depends on the type of debit card. Here in the Cayman Islands, we have been using the visa debits for a very long time. Whereas, in the US they are relatively new. If you a visa debit as a visa card (ie they process it as a credit card) it will have the same holds that they would have put on a credit card and not an overestimation. This is what we have done in the past when using our debit cards at hotels and have never had an issue. I would confirm with your bank, however, to ensure they don't have any fees (I have a Canadian card that charges for this). Also, they hold purchase by purchase from my experience. So I do agree, make sure you have double of what you plan to spend so that you can handle the holds. I am not sure what your spending habits are but at least for onboard 1000 should be enough but don't know about at the stops.

10 minutes ago, cookie10* said:

assume uber, lyft, etc pick up at the port as well?

Yes, they do :) I actually find better service with ride-sharing companies and normally better cars (not always though).

When we were booking freedom I chose it because oasis class would have been way too big for my wife and I. After being on Freedom I am not sure how I feel about going bigger or smaller. We have found a prefect size. We are planning to go on it again for March 2020 out of San Juan. I just can't imagine having to plan everything so far in advanced like you need to on oasis. We are very spontaneous last minute people and on Freedoms MTD I never had to wait longer then 5 minutes without reservations (the reservation line was actually longer as so many people are starting to do that more). And we had the same waiter (the best one) for 4 of the nights.

Just now, Sabrinaklai said:

Maybe it's ship dependent then?  I've only ever used the multi-device plan on Anthem.  On Allure and Harmony we had our own plans.  We need @twangster to chime in lol

That's also one thing I should note, I had a one user plan so that might be part of it too.

On my recent Freedom cruise my wife could kick me out and vise versa we never had to sign out first.

Does it need to be taxi or would you be willing to try uber/lyft normally much cheaper.

Yes no Izumi on Freedom (I don't think any of the class has them yet) I would recommend the murder mystery dinner that had dinner in Giovanni's (very good), chops was alright wasn't too impressed, Sabor was amazing try the pork tacos mmmmm. They normally limit you to 1 main each but we got an extra one to share (always ask and try for the most).

One question about oasis class though, are the elevators just as slow? I swear on Freedom the days I did use the elevator it took FOREVER was sometimes faster to grab one going the other way and take it back. Did oasis fix this? (I ended up doing so many stairs)

42 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

I followed your blog. You moved around a lot unlike us lol. 

We actually didn't move around that much though. Lol

14 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Last week we went on Anthem and she lost weight...she's one of those...

I think its the stairs, I ate so much (including 2 deserts some nights) and I actually lost weight. I am still so confused.

Welcome to the Forums :). It all depends on what you feel comfortable. We were just on Freedom and it wasn't really that cold. It was freezing on deck in Fort Lauderdale as we come from the Cayman Islands which is more south. It was cold in our room until we cranked up the heat but overall it wasn't bad. Not sure how it is in Asia though. If you plan to do something like ice skating you will need socks for that. 

I think they are testing the waters to see how bringing OS elements to the smaller ships will react. They will notice the difference quicker on cheaper shorter trips. In all honesty for us a quick 4 day cruise may be better so we can go for a long weekend and have a great getaway. I also know that when I was on Mariner it never felt crowded or too big (although I preferred freedom), my parents who went on Oasis said after Mariner it felt way too big and it wasn't as fun for them. That being said yes I do want to try both. I like the idea of a more modern ship doing the short routes. I have done an old ship (NCL Star) where it's lacking the fun and you have nothing extra to look forward to. Seeing how they are moving the Freedom around I don't think it's going anywhere different for a long while (we have at least until mid 2020). As Matt said, Royal will not jump the gun unless it really works but at the same time these other itineraries will still need ships and they only have so many OS class ships scheduled. I think Freedom up will be safe for now.

On my Freedom cruise, one couple we spoke to told us they were able to get the Deluxe package for 1 person when they were on board. So I guess since you're paying higher on board they may not care as much or just haven't worked out the rules yet. Also with the refreshment package adding alcohol to my drinks were around $7 (depends on bartender as well) I didn't do it too often as my wife would want something without alcohol and I would want something with so we would just trade since it was covered. 

14 hours ago, CGTLH said:

Heck it is all a mental game of what seems to be the better price.

It's like how stores will put prices like $4.99 or $9,999 your brain thinks oh that's less than $5 or that's under $10,000 but is it really. Especially in Canada now where there are no pennies lol. 

Maybe minus Labadee not a fan of the cruiseline trap they have there. Much rather another place. But all those sea days could be fun depending on the ship.

I just thought I would share some insight on the gluten-free pizza. I actually really enjoyed it and so did Sandra. Was it the best pizza I have ever had..no (oh how I miss Gluten lol). Was it the best Gluten-free absolutely lol, well long as the toppings stayed on had a few times they all fell off. I can definitely tell you it is nowhere near healthy for you with all that grease lol. 

I looked at it but having a terrible cruise with NCL before (yes an older ship but had supposedly had a referb just before should have been in its prime) I don't think we will return anytime soon. Maybe one day we will try a newer ship but the food was terrible and it just was not Royal. So back to Royal we went and have a few more planned (or at least keeping an eye on). 

From my understanding of the package, as long as a member of the primary room is in the photo (so put someone in every photo or at least most of them and buy the remaining separately.) So if you have mostly family group photos it should be all included minus some individual photos. In regards to the shots they take, it is really how involved you want to be. The biggest ones are the formal nights with multiple backgrounds. They have some on embarkation and some at different port stops and some casual nights they set some out. They are out almost every day taking photos of something it just really depends how involved you would like to be. For the individual photos, as far as I know, they are prints only. If you had 1 package and a couple extra pictures you might be able to work out a deal to add them (if you give them some money it's going to be better for them then no money.) I wouldn't count on it but you could try for sure. 

For my past cruise we rented a car from Alamo at the FLL airport location but the only shuttle went to the port location. They didn't charge anything extra and gave me an upgraded car and I was able to drop it off at the airport. If you see a sign play stupid and they normally will sort you out. I didn't have my documents because I booked the car rental from the cruise and forgot to take a screenshot so I wasn't sure which office I had booked so they took me to the port office and sorted me out.

31 minutes ago, twangster said:

Pizza - let's talk about pizza.

mmmm pizza (the gluten-free pizza was the best I have ever had, well if the toppings would stay on lol)

31 minutes ago, twangster said:

Especially as it relates to gratuity. 

Ya, I would like to know more especially if I'm in MTD. If I had the same waiter every night they might have got a bonus gratuity from me for good service but we alternated between a few and I was a little confused how I should have handled it. I did leave extra for my room attendant but still was somewhat confused (even going in with a plan lol). 

We were on deck 6 and you could hear the music from the bar below, in the future I will be going 7 or higher because of this. Sandra sleeps through anything so she was fine but it would keep me awake at night (not that I had planned to go to bed too early and hung out a few times with @joost instead.) I think nap time around 2-4 should be okay. Close to 4 it might start to pick up for dinner time but I think the morning rush would be the worst you will get and should be a lot less then our music lol.

23 minutes ago, The Sangster’s said:

Thank you , wasn’t sure as  on previous cruises, we have always bought a package . We are doing the 13 night Scandinavian/Russia cruise on Serenade of the Seas in July , and we have only 1 sea day , so may not buy package this time ( we don’t drink lots ! Honest ) .Thanks again . Karena & John 

and you are allowed 2 bottles of 750ml wine per cabin so that might also help offset your spending. We actually only drank 1 on our 8 night cruise because we found so much free stuff around (mainly the auctions, you also get free artwork so added bonus).

On 3/12/2018 at 10:10 PM, Chris_Wallace said:

I have booked a sailing with Expedia (Travel Agent) but I think I'm much better off booking with RC directly!

I mean if I were to choose Expedia or RC...

Expedia provides virtually no help or benefits as a Travel Agent. They don't reply to your emails. Even if they did, the replies are those auto-generated ones.

And when you turn to RC, they claimed they can't do anything or update anything for my booking because I have booked the sailing with Travel Agent.

So basically none of them will (or can) answer my inquiries.

I guess my best alternative for help and answers come on RoyalCaribbean blog, @Matt's podcast (EXTREMELY informative, LOVE IT) and the helpful contributors on this forum  

The funny thing is Expedia's child company, Travelocity, is WAY better. If I have a question they work with me to fix it. There was one error on my last cruise and they ended up calling me to let me know and they fixed it right there. I recommend Travelocity myself as that's who I use and I use Ebates to get extra $$ back but you do a lot more work yourself. I prefer it to Royal's terrible site but might not give the same quality as a good TA. It really depends on what your needs are. If you want service MEI is for sure a good place to go. If you are looking for price then one of the online agencies might be an option. Also, not all agents are alike. Some do not specialize in cruising and may not be as helpful as the ones who focus mainly on that.

A Cuba cruise is on our bucket list and if I can get a good deal for a 4-day cruise around one of our long weekends we would be set. 

@twangster so how does it compare price wise with the "free drink" package (also they charge grants per drink).