Pima1988

Maybe they were confused. On CocoCay. just like Labadee and the ships, they have specialty drinks. I believe on CocoCay it is called the Cocoloco. It is an alcoholic beverage in a pineapple that is more than the dbp allows. Thus, they will be charged that cost differential plus grats. I remember the 1st time we went to CocoCay yrs ago. Many purchased that pineapple. We had the deluxe. I said can you make the same drink and just place it a cup? Yep. Since it was not in a pineapple we were not charged a dime.

To me I would get rid of it completely, but again my position is that I think this is a market research program under the guise of discounts. Not one poster here has been able to use it. Just like they have discounts for certain state residents or age group. RCCL, just like many hospitality companies will not let you pile on discounts you are eligible for when you book. Again, we are now retired military and hubby works for the govt. My oldest is currently ADAF living thousands of miles away from our home. None of us has found that the military discount works for airlines, cruises or hotels. Disney Shades of Green, yes. Certain stores, like American Eagle yep. However, if I contact Marriott today and ask for the rack room rate, 10 will get you 20 it will be cheaper than the military discount, and on top of that they will tell me, just like RCCL that I can't combine the two. Just saying.

OBTW, my husband is a wise arse. He still takes/wears that outfit, but he says that he does it now hoping he will make some tips while on board to offset the cost of the cruise! If now only he would use youtube to learn how to make towel animals!

I have 2. 1st story I work for a national mens clothier. I go off and buy what I think is a great outfit for my husband. White/navy blue striped cotton sweater, and navy shorts. One a.m. we were at the pool and it was kind of chilly, but he knew it would warm up, so he wore this outfit. It is @ 10 a.m. and he is sleeping on a lounge chair next to me...snoring. Passengers are walking by and glaring. Thus, I nudge him so he will stop snoring. He stops snoring, but they are still walking by and mumbling under their breath. Huh? I don't get it, why are they looking at him this way. A few mins later a bar staff member walks up to me and asked if I needed a drink. I looked at him, looked at my husband and broke out in laughter. His outfit was almost identical, just different stripe design on the sweater. I am positive all those passengers thought he was part of the crew sleeping on the job! 2nd story We as a family (siblings and cousins) decided that we were going to surprise my Mom for her 80th with a cruise. She got wind and said she was not going. We (siblings/cousins) decided we were still going and celebrate my Mom's Bday without her. My brother is a practical joker. He went to Staples and had a 24x32 picture of my Mom printed up. In his mind, she was going on this cruise with us no matter what. He took it with him on the ship, but kept it a secret. Formal night rolls around and VOILA he pulls this picture out for the photos.. I can't recall the Captain's name, but he was European and needed staff to translate. There is my brother asking the Captain to take a picture of him holding this huge picture of my Mom. The captain could not wrap his head around he was being asked to do. I am pretty sure when he got back to the bridge, he told everyone, now he has seen it all for the photo ops. My brother also makes calendars for every family member as a xmas gift. Every month is a photo. That yr. her bday month was the picture of the Captain holding this picture of her

Part of me thinks that they also use it for market research. IE Check the boxes that apply to you and they than can start seeing trends to use for advertising.

Add us to the list. My husband is retired AF and we have never used the discount.

I would agree with bhageerah, but for another reason. WEATHER. NorthStar will not go up if the weather is not just right. For example, the last day and a half it did not go up because they deemed it too windy. Thus, if you wait to the end you might not ever get on it.

I agree the last time I saw one was 10-15 yrs ago. I remember our very 1st cruise (the med) and those midnight buffets were more like a show than anything else. My assumption is that they ended this due to the fact passengers came to take pics of ice sculptures, amazing desserts, carved fruit, etc., but ate very little and it was a waste of not only food, but staff time, and storage room in the galleys. Personally, I would love to see a mini-version of this in the WJ. Open up the WJ from 11-1. They could theme it just like they do for dinner/desserts service in the WJ. IE do BBQ, and have a suckling pig as the showcase with multiple sauces. Anyone that enjoys BBQ sauces knows Texas, Kansas, Memphis and NC are not the same. However, the pig or brisket starts the same way. They can also do a Fish and Chips night. Beautiful fish for display. I know they do themed nights in the WJ, but many people go to the MDR for dinner, thus they don't see that ever. I do see it, because we always do late night seating (8 pm). We go to the WJ @5 to hold us over until dinner. Think happy hour. Love their desserts in a cup night. Also love their seafood in a cup. We than grab a plate and make our late night snack instead of their pre-made food or pizza at their select spots. IE, grab deli meats. cheeses, breads, veggies, dip, fried chicken, dessert, etc. Anything that grabs our eye and does not need to be re-heated. We take it back to our room and place it in the mini-fridge in our room. Get back to our room at midnight, go into the fridge make a snack while we sit on our balcony and watch the waves go by.

Doing any 3rd party excursion, if it is suppose to return less than 90 mins to sail away. G forbid that company has transportation issues getting you back, RCCL is not going to hold the ship. Using the RCCL excursion, which may be 10-15 bucks more for the same type of excursion, guarantees you the ship will wait for you. I can't recall where it was, but a few months back posters on this site or another forum someone stated their bus broke down. and the ship waited about 30 more minutes because it was an RCCL excursion. Another reason we shy away from 3rd party is because 18 mos ago we sailed on Anthem. 48 hrs prior to the cruise, RCCL contacted us and said due to a hurricane, we were no longer going to Bermuda, but now New England. Had we booked 3rd party we would have had to fight to get our money back, whereas, with RCCL, they just immediately credited our charge card. The only time I would not use RCCL, is something like my upcoming cruise. We could pay RCCL for the Graycliff's tour at a much higher cost, or do it on our own. Same with the Queen's Anne Staircase. Our ship will be docked for 12 hrs. We don't have to worry about getting back to port in time, and we can just walk into Graycliffs on our own. They close at 5 so I am not concerned about getting back to the ship on time.

I am sorry this is happening. However, as others have stated, I would contact someone directly via the phone, and not twitter.

As twangster stated they have very limited numbers available on line. When we sailed Anthem we had to do it when we got on board. We had no problems getting IFly and NorthStar. I want to say we did IFly on day 2, and NorthStar on day 3, or vise a verse. We traveled as a group and everyone was able to book the exact same time. ~ IFly they take about 6-8 people together. You sit there as a group in the area right outside, and they take you in one by one. Once the entire group is done, the next group comes in and repeats the process. I know we did a 5 pm IFLY, ~ NorthStar is the same process. You go up as a group. It was kind of comical when reserving the time, because we traveled as married couples. The husbands went and signed us up. The wives went and hung out at the pool.

I remember seeing it in HS. and I am laughing now because I was thinking about the scene where they throw popcorn at the back row. I guess everyone that sit in the back didn't have to worry about any popcorn hitting them. I thought it was a rite of passage as a HS kid to see that movie. I don't know anyone in my graduating class that did not see the movie.

JMPO, make sure you get travel insurance. We don't travel without it. G forbid something happens prior to the sailing where you can't go, a good insurance plan will cover your costs. Same as if something happens while on the cruise. You have saved a lot of $$$, but now as you say you have to make this trip at all costs.

We sailed out on the Anthem and the only problem we had was the last night coming back as we skirted a hurricane.

I got a cabana on Chill for 449. It holds 8, and for us, it basically comes out to $56 pp for 8 hrs. I get shade (SIL is very fair). With the cabana I get lounge sofas, + chaise loungers, and on a more secluded part of the beach. This is not our 1st trip to Bahama/Bermuda/Coco Cay. We've done a lot of the excursions. We also buy Voom Surf/Stream, but only 1, so in the end $56 pp (2 of us) is basically the cost of buying another Voom for the cruise. Just saying we have a limited budget. If our 2nd grandbaby wasn't due 3 weeks from our sail date I wouldn't buy Voom. Have I done the cabana's before? Nope. Why, because I was paying for the dolphin excursion, the stingray, the para-sailing. This is our excursion for this trip.

The 1st time we went there, we were on Enchantment and Empress was there too at the same time. That would put the numbers up to the 4K marker and there was no problem finding loungers or tables to sit at to eat for the BBQ.

Confused, RCCL is charging you per person and not per cabana?

I am going in July also, and I have seen the prices that high, but on sale they drop too the 500 USD marker. I got our Chill cabana for 449.

Anthem, at least a yr ago did the 70s night. I want to say on the 5 night/6 day cruise it was the formal night (day 2), but I might be confusing that night with the Silent party. Either way I know we did the 70s. I can't recall if Anthem did the white party, but I want to say they did.

The jet skis are from the beach side of Coco Cay so that should be available. The parasailing use to be where the tenders came in, so that should be no problem either. We did the parasailing a few yrs back. There are only about 8 people on the boat. Make sure they bring their cell phone with them. When we did it, we just handed off our phone to one and asked them to take pics. One person brought a Go-Pro with them. He was by himself and we all were in awe and laughing...he was literally doing back flips when he was up in the air. Not saying that every boat operated would allow that, but ours did. It is definitely worth the money impo.

Every ship as far as I know. The 70s night is like Quest and Trivia. They all have it.

On our 3 cruises, the room was packed elbow to elbow dancing for the 70s Maybe it has more to the CD than the passengers. It has always ranked in my opinion as the 2nd best night on the cruise. Quest is the 1st. For us the white party was always a bust. We still go, in white/khaki, but never stay more than 30 mins.. I think the silent party is fun to watch, but we do not participate.

If something like cabanas, bungalows or beach beds are in your purview, I would not wait until Black Friday if you are sailing a few weeks later on a Christmas cruise. The cabanas, bungalows, and beach beds are limited in number. Waiting for them. is like the key, you could find them booked out. As others have stated you can always rebook, but at least you have it. I would think that Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day you will see good sales. I would book the beverage package when you see it drop to the 25-30% off on board. IE right now it is running on my cruise 25% off, we got it for 30% on Black Friday, however, if they raise the cost, 25% off now might be cheaper than 30% off come November. To me they just keep creeping up with time. I also agree with melski94. Go onto FB. They typically will not only have a FB page for each ship, but also another group for the week you are sailing.

LMAO. We went to Italy for 2 weeks as a family of 5. Hubby drops us all off at the curb and parks the car. 2 weeks later we return and he can't remember which aisle he parked the car. At 10 pm with a 90 min ride ahead of us, he is walking up and down every aisle with us in tow spread out in other aisles hitting the lock button on the Fob. I now not only make him take a pic, but also text me the row and number of where we parked to my phone if he loses his phone.

As a woman, I could not see dancing in those shoes. ? When we were on the Anthem I would say 25% were dressed up.