Balsam

There is absolutely Zero benefit to the dealer in "ripping you off". It's not like the dealer can pocket the difference, so if you were given an incorrect payout, it would have been a straight out mistake. For a winning $25 bet as you describe, you should have received winnings of $425 + your $25 bet. I'm not sure about RC procedures, but in some casinos, the original bet will be left on the table for the next spin, and in other casinos the original bet is handed off to the player with the winnings. I'm also not sure how you could possibly have received $297. If you did accidentally place the bet where spiralqueen suggested, the payout would have been $275 + your $25 bet. There is no possible payout for a $25 bet on a roulette table that would result in a $297 payout. The only thing I can think of is that the dealer paid you out as a bet on 0/00/2, but had a $2 chip mixed in with some $5 chips (called a "dirty stack" in the casino game.

Nope... nothing there. Maybe it's just not available for our sailing?

Where do you find "The Key"? I'm looking at the cruise planner for my March Voyager sailing, and can't see anything about it...

Hmmmm.... I can't see "Should I get the Deluxe Beverage Package?"

Never having been to those destinations, can someone explain what you get for $650+ in a cabana? I thought the drink package covered drinks on private islands, and you can always go back aboard for food. Are you simply paying that money to have a shelter from the sun?

...and nobody else travelling with him was kind enough to offer to get some for him while they were out and about in port? That's not so cool either...

I would have thought you would at least be able to buy souvenir type underwear on board... after all, it's another thing they could make money on. Still, by day three, having realised there were none onboard, I would have purchased some while the ship was in port...

I think you will find that all types of underwear are available in Spain... from boxers to g-strings. There is no reason he had to wash a single item every day for 12 days... other than stupidity.

Really? Looking at the itinerary for that cruise, day three was in Malaga, Spain. Surely he could find some underwear during an 11 hour stay in port?

I'm on the cruise immediately before that 24 day gap in April, so if nothing more is learned by then, will find out.

If you are happy to pay for the third person who will not be joining you, there's no need to even mention it until you actually board the ship. Just tell them it was a last minute thing, the person was unable to come, and it will be too late for them to move you to another cabin anyway. The only time I would bother telling them in advance would be if I wanted to get some money back.

This is an interesting subject.... I just did a mock booking for a sailing from Sydney, Australia in 2020, and the finance option was not available. Maybe it is only available in certain markets? I am using the ".com.au" website. As with most people so far in this thread, I would pay the minimum deposit, and then either make multiple regular payments until I had paid the full amount, or just wait until final payment is due and pay the balance then (leaving the money in my bank, earning interest for me until the payment date). Without trying to sound funny, if my partner and I don't have the full cost of the trip in the bank, we wouldn't make the booking in the first place. Again, as noted by someone else, a cruise is a luxury, and we would never use credit for anything vacation related. I understand that not everyone thinks the same, and I'm not passing judgement on people who feel differently. Anyway, as to why the "financing" option would be made available... 1. RCI thinks people are stupid, and will pay 15% pa without realising they can do the same thing interest free. 2. RCI are going to remove the option to make multiple part payments on bookings. Not sure how this would work unless they made it "Payment in full at time of booking", as most people would still pay minimum deposit, then just put the rest aside until final payment is due, and if full payment is due at time of booking, I would see that as a huge mistake on their part. 3. Can you take the "financed" option without making a deposit? If so, that could look attractive to someone who can't come up with a few hundred dollars at time of booking, but knows they could make regular payments. At the end of the day, even if this option were available in Australia, it would not appeal to us, but as another option for those who either cannot budget, or have "different" cashflow situations, it could look appealing.

So this was something you paid extra to add to your travel insurance? If so, I stand corrected as I haven't heard if that one before.

Not sure if travel insurance would be helpful in this situation. In effect, this is simply a change of mind by the OP, and travel insurance doesn't cover that. The original change was due to Zika virus, and the situation with that outbreak did not change between booking the cruise and the first change. In any case, it seems the OP was actually satisfied with RCI's solution there anyway. The cancellation was just a change of mind, so an insurer would not pay out there. The issue here is the information provided by RCI, so that's where the focus needs to be. The credit card provider avenue could be helpful, and it's also another reason not to pay the full amount until the last possible moment.

Sorry, the previous poster actually said 25 feet, not metres.

I give up. You obviously know so much more than me, and therefore rules that apply to everyone else simply don't apply to you. Think about it... you may buy a brand new cord to take on the ship, but the next person just grabs one out of cupboard. Do they really have time to inspect every cord in every bag, then make the determination that yours is OK, and the other person's is not? Extension cords are banned on RCI ships. You know it. You even posted earlier in this thread that you know it. You then brag about how you manage to smuggle banned items on board. Must be good to be above the rules.

Except that the ones supplied by the ship have been tested, and the one you bring on board has not. The first time you see a fire in a cabin caused by a frayed extension cord that should not have been on the ship in the first place, you might just change your mind on deliberately breaking the rules. Do you really think these rules are put in place just to annoy passengers? As has been made evident multiple times, if you require things for medical reasons, the ship will happily provide them for you.

Yes. Yet some people still come here and brag about how they have managed to get extension cords on board. Blatant disregard for the rules and the safety of the ship.

Extension cords are banned. Everyone in this thread knows it, and some have even posted the same statement in this thread. You are talking about intentionally breaking rules that have been put in place for the safety of the ship and passengers. A 25 metre cord could easily have most of it's length stuffed under the bed, so would not be a trip hazard. From someone that has worked on cruise ships and seen what untested electrical equipment (including extension cords) can do, I hope I'm never on the same sailing as people who break rules and smuggle things aboard.

This is an interesting question for us as well. At home, we normally have dinner at about 7:30, so at this point have chosen MTD for our first cruise. We also don't like being "rushed" when eating out if the restaurant is trying to get us out so they can seat someone else for a later booking. People in this thread have suggested the shows have two times, designed for people with both the early and late dinner times... if we had a 7:30 reservation, and didn't want to be in and out in under an hour (dining out for us is normally at least a two hour thing) how would that place us for the shows?

Interesting... my sailing is in March 2019, yet that is the only month that doesn't seem to exist.... Cue the conspiracy theories ?

Since booking our first cruise (Voyager, Singapore to Hong Kong March 2019), I have been regularly checking the Cruise Planner for the availability of beverage packages. These are still not available, however the dining packages appeared as of yesterday, and I have a couple of questions that hopefully someone can assist with... If we book the First Night Done Right, are we able to choose Chops? I understand that a restaurant will be allocated, and that we won't know which one until boarding, but I have also read this can be changed once on board. Unfortunately, I can't find which restaurants can be used. If we take the three night package, do we have to dine in three different restaurants? There are only two restaurants that really appeal to us (Giovanni's and Chops), so would prefer to have say one meal in Giovanni's and two in Chops. Is this allowed? How can we find out which nights will be formal nights in the MDR, and if there are two formal nights, is there any difference between them? Finally, If we purchase the ultimate drinks package, does that cover drinks in the specialty restaurants in the same way it does in other areas of the ship? Thanks in advance, Alan

That sounds OK... just seems a bit silly if there's only myself and my partner. Could go the entire cruise and not actually see each other.

Thanks for the responses folks. The cruise is at the end of a nearly month long trip, so I would prefer to have it with me for the journey. Is collecting items on disembarkation a pain? Are tools like this, which only has a blade about the same size as a swiss army knife, permitted on board at all?

Hi All, First time cruiser, booked on Voyager from Singapore to Hong Kong in March 2019. Will probably have a few questions that I can't find answers to, but the first one concerns items that are not permitted to be taken on board. I usually carry a Leatherman tool with me whenever I travel (Obviously not in carry on for air travel), but I can't see if this is permitted on the ship? i see some places where it states "blades and scissors under 4" long are permitted", but others where it only mentions "scissors with blades under 4" long". Does anyone know if I can take it onboard? If not, is there a simple way to just hand it (and any other non-permitted items) over to security at embarkation, then collect on disembarking? Cheers, Alan