LetsTryThisPlace

We went with Fantastica. It was only a few dollars more but doing the math would have saved a lot. There was no Aurea available when we were booking and could not afford the YC. We are doing it as a group cruise with the family and one of our other rooms was $200 more for an extra adult. My parents were also pricing another room and it was going to be more until they added it to our reservation. So they seem to definitely reward bringing a group. So @SFLcruiser if you do go with the family make sure to call it in (I dealt with Travelocity who have been great to me) and you may get an even better price for each additional room you reserve.

One more thing to add to @JLMoran is you could even try a mockup of the new promo to actually get numbers you can share with RCL or your agent. If you get to the checkout and have a lower price then you have proof to send them.

cruisecritic.com is also a good one too. But nothing compares to @Matt's resources

I can't remember how long their penalty-free period is 24 or 48 hours (call to confirm). But you could technically just cancel and repurchase at the new price. The other option is to find a good TA who can get you that price and just transfer it to them. That's why many here recommend going with TA's.

We are booked on Bellissima in May next year. We got upgraded to a balcony (according to deck plans) for about $1200 total. I actually didn't pick it my wife did, and it was due to price and itinerary. It will be a brand new ship when we go. We are going in knowing it's going to be different but that's why we are going to the Mediterranean. She will be the Meraviglia's sister ship.

I didn't have the exact same price but when I was trying to book my cabin. The price was listed as one thing but every time I tried to reserve it (with any site) it wouldn't go through and my local TA was like 1.5x the price ?? so I tried to call RCL and they had no idea what was going on. Now comes the next day the price went up $50 pp and now I was screwed by the good old RC IT department. I would agree with a good TA (need to still find one who accepts me lol).

You're on a cruise, that isn't something you should be concerned about lol. I would have 3 split between my wife and I, just because lol.

I too went from RCI to NCL and was comparing the 2 dramatically. I was on an older NCL (the Star) and it was a horrible experience for me. I have heard that the newer ships are much better but considering it was refurbished the same year I was on it and still seemed run down means they don't put nearly the effort RCI does in making them better. I must agree O'sheehans is the best part of them. We found the food subpar and my wife did not have a great first cruise. I have convinced her to give RCI a shot before giving up and just in the research she has done she is beyond excited. 5 Days :o Great write up :)

So firstly, I wasn't hungry but now I really am. I can see why norovirus (or any virus for that matter) would spread so easy with people putting the tongs back inside the food. (This is why I ALWAYS reach in the back under the top layer to try and get the safer stuff. Thanks @twangster so looking forward to next week.

Darn too bad you weren't on the Cayman bound itinerary so I could say I saw your ship lol. The food looks so good I can't wait to dive in.

I remember seeing Freedom coming from FLL in December so if it repeats it seems like it goes from FLL between December to May

So as Royal's way its left open so no one can complain.

Also is the deluxe and voom actually voom and stream or just voom? That would also have a large impact on performance.

Welcome and look forward to meeting on board :) this time next week ;)

Sadly the flu shot didn't seem to cover every strand this year. Good news though, now you have it you should be good. I got it twice a few weeks back but now I have been around sick people and never got sick again so think I should be good for the next 2 weeks. So get it out of the way, it may suck now, but it is WAY better now than the start of the cruise. Hope you feel better though :)

Going to be on MSC's Bellisima next year. I too would like to know how it differs from Royal. Most of the complaints I have seen are people who are used to the American style cruising so wonder if it's just not for them so they feel the need to complain or something else. I have heard many from either side and it's literally split down the middle.

Reminds me of something I was trying to get the other day. Me: So I can't seem to select a time for the St. Kitts Zipline. I think the site has gone weird again Rep: Yeah, Let me look into that Rep: okay I see it let me try to add it Rep: Oh, it won't let me book it either so must be sold out. Me: , So why does it show it? Rep: I'm not sure maybe someone booked it a recently. So what do they have to manually adjust this? Royal's IT is terrible how the hell did the get the internet right.... Oh, wait that has its own issues lol.

I am hoping it is still available on Freedom. I heard so many good reviews and it's the main reason I booked chops lunch, just for the cake lol.

Plus you got people like us and RCperiscopers who all want to share cruising with the world.

Welcome to the boards :) have you cruised before?

It all depends what you are going to a TA for. Are you wanting them to just get you the rock bottom price or do you want more of a personal experience? I do it most things myself so I would usually try to just get the best price I can (maybe even get some Ebate's rebates) and check daily for the price (its just habit for me.) I don't normally get my cruises further than 90 days (except my next years) I don't benefit from price drops anyways. I always get told to check my local TA and we only have like 2 and they were higher then I could get it on my own so was not worth it to me. For my next cruise going to hunt for someone in the states who will accept me (may need to give my US shipping address lol)

My 2019 cruise is the first cruise that I have ever booked in advance. I am always in the 90 days mark for my previous cruises. So we have never actually known the $$ amount. With my job I need to be somewhat flexible so we put a rough amount of what a trip would be into a savings account like others and that way when I know dates, I can escape we have it saved like if we planned a year out.

In regards to the Murder Mystery, I will be doing it on my March 3rd cruise on Freedom so I will be doing a bit of a review (may have to do a non-spoiler and a spoiler version). I am not sure if photos will be allowed so not sure if I'll be able to share that or not yet. I'm not sure if it is available on your cruising though.

I wanted to test something and I could put that I wanted to board at 5 when it leaves at 5:30 so it shows how they really don't have this setup properly. I put a later time hoping if I run late they wont be wondering where I was.

I guess the biggest issue would be the other person kicking you off the network if too many devices logged in.