AlohaLivin

25 minutes ago, Firemanswife2 said:

What is this? I'm afraid to ask

It is my iPad, my iPhone and my PC all playing MyVEGAS games simultaneously I just tried it for fun, my husband thought that I was mad (I tried to post it smaller so it wouldn’t take over anyone’s screen).

@KLA  the user groups over at FB are extremely helpful, actually shockingly helpful compared to much of FB. It won’t take yoy long to get it to speed, it would be much longer than a post to explain it. I have a UN just for play there, if you decide to try it let me know and I can link up with you.

17 hours ago, spiralqueen said:

It really is addictive! When I saw people talk about it, I always assumed it was one of those online gambling things that required real money. Then I found out a bit over a week ago it’s free. Aaaaand now I have a bit over 25,000 reward point things.  Halfway to $100 OBC!

Me too! Free is fun lol

I think that you have created a monster!  Is there a cure?!??

I want “Has Road Rage” under mine (or maybe “Stubborn American Crab”, I cannot decide). But “diamond” has a nice ring too  

59 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Good idea BUT you only get points IF you actually sail. Lets say for example, you  cancel 5 days before your sail date, you lose your money, cruise and cruise points. It doesn't matter  when and if you paid. What counts is IF you completed the sailing. 

Yes, I understood, we have cruised since I was quite young  But I was saying that was on my wish list.

I do wish they would award points on full payment at least. Booking a year and more out means that we don’t get the benefit of the status we would otherwise have. Old complaint I know, but I still find it irritating! Oh well!

The sale somehow ended for me before the 26th; it was 16.00 for 2 devices (Voom basic) and jumped to 17.99 when I went in to finalize the purchase today (since I was waiting on info from our travel agent first). Geeez...

1 hour ago, Atlantix2000 said:

OBC from Royal's deals will show up and be usable in cruise planner to purchase Voom and anything else right away (plus/minus Royal's IT department).  Travel Agency OBC won't show up in your on board account until day 2 of the cruise (generally).  $450 is a lot of OBC, any chance some of that is coming from Royal?  If not, that sounds like a nice deal from your agent.

I've never heard of someone transferring a pre-cruise card purchase to OBC onboard.  I'm sure they would let you cancel something (with refund to card) and then repurchase with OBC but I would assume you would then be paying the onboard price for the item which will almost certainly be higher.  I don't think there's a limit to how many people can purchase VOOM, so the only advantage to pre-purchasing is price.  So next question is whether your OBC is refundable if you don't use it all.  If your OBC is use-it-or-lose-it AND you wouldn't spend that much, maybe you don't care about the price so you just wait to purchase onboard.  However, for something like an excursion with limited spots, that's a harder decision.

Thank you for your reply, I was a little disconcerted no one had to be honest. The OBC is definitely 450 and from the agency vs Royal. I have written to the agency to try to figure out if it’s refundable (I assume that it is, but need to be sure). The agent did initially email back and say that the obc would not be provided until shortly before the cruise (a week or so); she did offer to reduce the obc and instead discount the cruise price by that amount and if they will do that for the full amount then that may be the best way to go...). I agree that it could be best to wait until we are onboard to buy it a (but even more the case if for some reason it isn’t refundable). But, I would never have imagined that an agency obc would not show up until day 2. 

Any chance you know the usual price of 2 device package of Voom basic? Currently it is $16.99 a day, but no clue how much it would be day 1 onboard. Thanks again for your help

Lynn

Very helpful, thank you

Lynn

We will sail on Grandeur in May 2019 and we would like to purchase Voom on the current sale. The problem is this: (1) the travel agency won’t add the $450 OBC until just before the cruise and (2) I called RCL and they won’t hold the product so we can charge it to our OBC once we are onboard (NCL would do this with tours and other issues but it seems RCL will not).  We really want to use the OBC for this and possibly other pre-purchased items since it’s rather large, therefore this is a real problem for us.

Does anyone know whether or not if we charge the VOOM package (and/or other product/service) to our CC prior to the cruise we can have it moved to the OBC once we are onboard (either with guest services or the suites concierge)? I could call RCL and ask, but I don’t get the best info that way many times so I am certain that I will get higher quality info here! Clearly the purchase on the website are transient since people often comment that they reverse a purchase to buy the same thing at a new, lower price. Still, I don’t want to assume anything.

Thanks all
Lynn

Tell Nancy that the McBee’s miss her and (1) watch out for the ghost of the Deck 11 Owner’s Suite and (2) we will be back with more peach taffy as soon as we can!

11 hours ago, mworkman said:

Maybe we should publish a list of hotels/Areas that are NO-GO for cruisers.

Great idea. If you do, please send us a copy!

3 hours ago, jurrjurr said:

Thanks for the review.  I was going to book this hotel with points on my SPG Amex. 

That is what we did, points... sometimes you win and sometimes...

@tonyfsu21 It is a great location for food... and I love Foxy Brown’s too!! But I will have to use Uber, the hotel wasn’t up tp snuff and there are other options  I could have lived with the construction, it was the bad food and the service attitudes that were really the killer. Hoping for better luck next Nov!  I was looking at something on Dania - I will definitely check back through the posts for suggestions.

We stayed at the Olas Blvd Fairfield and we were very unhappy with it (and we don’t tend to be easily put off by minor issues). We normally find the Marriotts good options and this one seemed new so it was an obvious choice, but...

The staff was not friendly (one female was problematic enough I wrote down her name to remember), the location was near a lot of big construction, the room was smaller in comparison to most Fairfield’s, the food was a 3/10 ( usually Fairfield’s do a good job with breakfast, but even the coffee was either cold/out most of our stay and that is very unusual). We sail from there again at Thanksgiving next year and I am already searching for new options!

On the positive side we are very excited about the B&B we have booked for Bermuda in the late spring (plus it’s close to one of the Caesar’s casinos). ️

Lynn

@Matt gets the award of the month for best idea (even if it happened almost a year ago, I just found it). I am the bargain shopper, the coupon user (except with groceries LOL), I feel better when I get a deal... and this freebie way to add value is fabulous (and many of us would never have looked for it or found it since we either aren’t on FB or aren’t online game players). Good job on asking @Jeepgeek to post (and Russ shares the award for his willingness to provide the info here!).  

Lynn

IMHO it devalues the suites (I guess it determines what value one places on various parts, hard to create hard data for those variables). But based on what I understand about this option, it would make it less likely I would book a suite on smaller ships.

Ok, so this question will sound strange I am sure, but... I do not have a personal FB account (it is not a good idea given what I do for a living, my personal life and work life would be far too easily merged - FB after all no longer lets you have a truly private and non-searchable account). I do have a fake account from way back - it’s not under real name and I haven’t signed in for years (it was used back when a few places only had discounts via FB or nieces had photos only there).  I would like to check this out, but if the mobile accounts aren’t useful for really racking up points I wonder if using the fake account at FB to play would cause a hassle in the end? That is, the different name from the cruiser...

For those of you who have used for significant rewards, any thoughts? I’m pretty peaved with M Life right now due to a sudden difference they are making on benefits for military spouses with their  military pearl status (and without any way apparently to contact anyone in marketing to get to the bottom of it ). But, if that should get worked out, I might be on board with adding to the coffers. Thanks all!

Lynn

Having been with other lines primarily beforehand (mostly NCL), we too wondered exactly the differences since we first sailed on RCL on Allure in an OS and our next two bookings for 2019 are on non-Oasis Class ships. Since we have to pay for VOOM for those two cruises, I started to really worry that we had made a major mistake with those bookings! In some emails to RCL with inquiries, they sent this link.  I found it helpful and you may too!

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-the-suites-program

See you on the sea 

Lynn

We did that very recently. We had booked a Nov ‘19 cruise in the Panoramic Suite and my sister learned she could be off and go with us. I had the agency call (since that one I didn’t book directly) and we just paid the cost for her passage (seems it was maybe 30% plus fees/taxes at that point and another $250 deposit for her). Didn’t take too long to accomplish and I was relieved to have it done!

have fun

Lynn

4 hours ago, Sweety said:

. This is a thank you for being the best parents in the Global World. 

I didn’t know we had the same parents!!!!! Cool, I need some generous, cruising siblings!

Lynn

We have been trying to decide what we would do - we had a cabana with two friends last Oct, but thought it was overpriced for what we received (including the relatively short time we were there).  With it just being the two of us in May, we are trying to decide if we wanted to try the bungalow or beds. Has anyone tried either while staying in a suite? If I am remembering correctly, there are only various types of cabanas at Barefoot beach.  So is it a matter of having to choose between the relative privacy and increased lunch options at barefoot beach or enjoying a bungalow/beach bed?  I am leaning toward a clam shell since we stay in the water snorkeling or walk around (with relatively little time on a lounge chair), but my sister will be with us next Nov so I am also looking forward.

The only thing that I worry about “catching” there is a cold (and from the non-Caribbean bunch!)

Lynn

On 11/3/2016 at 1:42 PM, Flypped73 said:

Does anyone know of any way to purchase Royal Caribbean merchandise off ship? 

It’s funny you ask - I was wondering just that thing yesterday! The prices on some items are past ridiculous (frig magnets no less than at least $20, some were more...errrr).  

42 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yes.  Complimentary for GS and above guests.  I don't know about the smaller ships.  I have only done LV on Oasis class.

Would be nice if the benefits were far more consistent. I will try to find out (at least before May!).

On 11/27/2018 at 8:50 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Hopefully it is still $25pp plus your airline checked baggage fees.  This service includes Royal printing out your boarding passes for you.

It was free for suite guests on the Allure, and we really loved not having to deal with the luggage that morning - any idea if it’s the same on other smaller ships like the Grandeur or Adventure?