AlohaLivin

8 hours ago, Scott_gunerman said:

Yea, she was listed as a recommended TA along with others.  I recall contacting a few of them to help plan my 1st ever trip to WDW and she replied first so I gave her a chance and she’s been a legend ever since.  What is a GS resident??? 

As you likely already guessed it was a typo, it was GA resident (neighboring FL)

15 minutes ago, Scott_gunerman said:

It’s the greatest resource for anyone interested in the Walt Disney World Resort!  One of the co-authors is Len Testa, who was on the WDW Today podcast with Matt [and a few other guys] many years ago.  The Unofficial Guide also publishes books for Disney Cruise Line, Washington DC, Las Vegas and probably other places too.  If you’re ever going to a destination they cover, its must reading.  Absolutely the best non-biased coverage you can find [my opinion].  Thanks for the reply!

Ah, that was what I remembered, your post said “she” referring to the TA that you found so I was making sure it was the book that I remembered Being a long-time GS resident, I’m to the point I’ve been to WDW enough that I am okay not go go back again but glad to know that they offer guides for other cities. 

21 minutes ago, Scott_gunerman said:

I have not called Royal once and my TA is an absolute rock star that I trust with every possible situation.  I found her over 10 years ago in The Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World where she was recognized as one of the top TA’s in the country!  

I remember that book - I thought that a guy wrote it (I remember it was written with humor). Or did my memory fizzle during the last decade?! Def possible!  So wonderful that you found such a good TA !

5 hours ago, Jakejosa said:

Hi Everyone! I am trying to print my calendar for my upcoming cruise. In the "old" cruise planner, I could print my week on one page. This would list arrival/departure times for each port as well as start time for excursions and other items on my calendar. I would appreciate any tips on how to do this in the "new" cruise planner. I like to take this with me on the trip to help plan my show bookings and dinner reservations. Thanks! 

I can’t help you with the printing of that calendar, but if I can recommend an app to easily track your vacation plans and reservations - TripIt (there is a free version snd paid version, but we’ve dropped down to the free version because we are not traveling many times a year).
 

I will attach a sample of the one that I have done, this was for a cruise last November (I different colorful icons designate specific types of events, but that is just me being “extra” ). You can add in PDFs or JPEG‘s, anything you may need for a particular activity/event. Note - I try to set up most of the schedule prior to the cruise using reports from other cruises and the concierge on show times and previous cruise compasses).

I’m not a big fan of the taste of alcohol, and so I stick with the drinks that are sweet and fruity I second the Lava Flow But also there is a Pineapple Guava Sangria and a Curaçao Cosmo that are pretty tasty!  

13 minutes ago, EJK said:

Good idea - I am on a Mac.  Will try pc. 

Checking a different IOS is good, but as mentioned earlier also try different browsers, they can vary wildly on how they deal with forms and data (try Chrome, Firefox, etc.). 
 

We were in one of those two suites on Adventure.  Neither if us felt that there was more movement there than in other areas of the ship. We ended up using the bunk bed “second bedroom” area for luggage, but nice for privacy for kids. We loved the view, hard to beat that. The downside for me was the bathrooms - we were pretty spoiled by the CL and OS bathrooms and that space ship shower was just not fun But there is a second “half” bath and a very large vanity / desk area with tons of storage room for getting ready so that was no issue. And, there is lots of closet space!  A bonus is that due to its location you get virtually no foot traffic (noise). Plus, you get full suite benefits. 
 

We have one booked for a B2B holiday cruise on Voyager in 2023, so we are voting with our wallet on this suite. Not our #1, but definitely a yes

P.S. As @Ampurp85said, you are *very* close to the bridge - make sure to close the curtains in the evenings, you don’t need those on the bridge to see far more than you wish them to see!

1 hour ago, Dicey said:

As gamblers we think RCL needs to improve their casino program.  The Princess casino attend to players' a lot more and closer to what you would expect from casinos on land.  

Would you please elaborate? My parents sailed princess quite often 20-30+ years ago, but we have not and so I don’t know how the casino programs compare. 

3 hours ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

The comment was sarcastic... I have no beef with the OP's carpet.  I have issues when people give unsolicited advice to people.  The poster asked whether they can bring these on a cruise, not how they should be using these in their home.

It may have been sarcastic, but it was also insulting (and definitely not funny). I believe that you can make a point about your “issues” without being rude

On 5/7/2022 at 1:20 PM, Walt Golas said:

Can i use all of these?

 

And I just need to say I am sincerely sorry that one person decided to be personally insulting to you. While any of us can say something awkwardly here (or anywhere), it is very rare that someone is just outright rude. I cannot explain it, but know without a doubt that most everyone here that read that post winced.  Most participants here are interested in helping others and learning even more about cruising (here, with RCCL) not making fun of people OR their homes.  Happy cruising ✌

3 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

#6 makes it seem like the only requirement to book onboard is to receive the bonus upgrade or FreePlay offer. The typical offer earned you should still have 30 days to redeem.

It was 30 days until we got to May 1 Now they want to go to next cruise and book something before you get off the ship or within a short time after (the latter may be an option) for the bonus.  I don’t know that there are 30 days play here or not, but the bonuses are a pretty major loss.  I don’t know how long Royal is going hold the line on this, or if it will change again, I guess time will tell.

There is a second page to the original “new” onboard offer that I came across - just adding it for extra info. Hopefully with more and more reports we will figure out what’s going on with this new “system”  Thanks all. Hoping for a few offers vis email and mail, but with only 1 cruise behind me where I was below what I needed for Prime, I don’t know if there will be (even though in 2019 I did get several even though I was Choice - hard to know their calculation at this point).

@Pattycruise the varied options for sailing is odd, rather than being the same list. Maybe they are experimenting

Is anyone with choice getting any offers at this point? Anyone that is prime getting offers? I will somehow figure all this out

I usually bring some powdered drink mixes (such as crystal light singles) to add to water (for the beach mostly); many have 0 calories and are pretty tasty (it is mostly what I drink at home since I do not drink soda). We never get the drink package since we don’t drink a lot of alcohol (definitely not more than we can get free in the suite’s lounge or with Diamond vouchers).

I live like a nun for 2 weeks …. not taking any chances on our needed vacays. But since the pandemic started we have been using Instacart and never stopped. We used Hello Fresh and so all that helps. My husband is going back into the office now so that does change things, but we will do our best and cross our fingers.

2 hours ago, recogneyes said:

We've enjoyed having the shareholder's credit applied to some of our cruises.  I have been advised by the shareholder dept that complimentary sailings / casino sailings are not eligible for the credit but I'm wondering if anyone has had any success when paying to upgrade a casino offer.  Does paying to upgrade now change this from a complimentary sailing and thus allowing for the credit to be applied?

I have never known anyone to be able to apply the stock OBC to a casino cruise. I have been been told repeatedly that you cannot. In fact, had an email to that effect just today.

5 hours ago, JJOparty said:

Hi all, 

my first post.  I have been watching the youtube blogs religiously, driving my family nuts , anyway..

My question is regarding the day beds, I did rent one for our day, however it said one spot left.. what does that mean?  there are 3 of us, I would not be sharing with a stranger, correct?

I could only put my name in when booking.  all our other excursions include all 3 of us.  

thanks so much! 

That does throw people, I’ve seen a lot of times the same name on multiple beds because someone registered under everyone’s name. As other people have said, you reserve it under one person and up to four people total can be at the bed. We love them, the only problem is when it rains hard and the bed gets soaked like it did for us two weeks ago, unless it’s really hot they don’t dry off for hours and hours. And my purpose is to nap in the breeze so that is a bummer But it comes with a good view of the ocean, two lounge chairs, and two floats (and an ice chest with some bottled water). Have fun!

On 5/2/2022 at 1:14 PM, SpicyCherry said:

I’m aboard Symphony now and on my 2nd Lava Kraken Flow!! Well on my way to my 3rd,4th & 5th…. Great recommendation

Too good, far too good!

I don’t know why they transfer any status to children. I mean it’s seems ridiculous to me to have an 18-year-old be D+ when they haven’t actually had to earn that. Certainly Pinnacle would seem wildly unfair. Just my opinion. I realize it’s hard to have a fair and balanced opinion of this if you have children in your home that would benefit, people don’t often to go against what is in the best interest of their children regardless of the fairness to others, but still looking at it objectively it seems quite unfair. It would be like if I was able to pass the education I earned onto my children without them having to also earn that education. Maybe it’s a silly analogy but it’s early on a Monday

18 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

I tried searching the posts for cruising duck posts and found very little mention, so I am starting a thread.

We cruise on the Ovation on June 10th.  Just bought a pack of ducks and tags off of Amazon.  We think this is a cute activity and tradition to keep going especially now that cruising is nearing full force!  Help me get Royal Caribbean Cruising Ducks going!

BTW-any comments, posts, suggestions, etc. are welcome since this is our first time hiding ducks (though we have found a few in the past). 

I may be wrong, but I think this is a FB-based phenomenon.

Hmmm well I answered my own question LOL

The promo did change, although I am not sure this is it all positive since there’s been some troubles with the casino bookings and NEXT CRUISE (and  if they don’t allow for the open booking option, it would be extremely difficult for some people {including us} to book within the narrow window of a single sailing or to know for whom we might want to book).

There have been a few people who suggested that the casino promo that has been running (the one shown in the attachment below offering free cruises / money-off offers from 800 pts and up during a single cruise) would bite the dust on May 1. Some hosts denied this was coming, others claimed the opposite. So for those on any RCCL ship now, does the promo continue, has it been replaced, or was it trashed?!

45 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

The MDR on Oasis was seating parties with strangers on the last sailing, at least in the fixed dining time. They had lots of smaller tables available as well, but I was a solo sat at a table of 6.

Do you enjoy the group tables? My long ago experience  with the honeymooners made me gun shy, but thinking it could be interesting. When I cruise with my parents in the 1960s and 70s, that was the way it was always done, and it usually was very positive.

kraken lava flow (royal uses strawberry). Nearly lays me out though, it is so good it sneaks up on you 🫠

31 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

And you can still get it on your next sailing on Empress or Majesty

Now that could create an issue  heck of a forwarding address!