AshleyDillo

I have also noticed some rooms within the same categories will be a slight increase in price because of a more "desirable" location or a higher occupancy room. I'm talking like $8-$17 increased in a room 3 doors down. I think when someone does a mock booking it may even lock that specific room so no one else can currently quote a price on it. So definitely need to break it down and pay attention to those options when you do your mock booking as someone else may click on the nextdoor room to compare and come up with a slightly different price. I know on Royal's site when you get to the room selection option and you see the list of the rooms some of them will show the price difference. So you may want to screenshot that step in case they end up clicking one of those more "valuable" rooms in doing their quote.

Since you are driving in I would recommend parking at the Fulton Garage. It's a couple blocks walking distance from the cruise terminal. You pre-pay the parking and reserve online. It is cheaper than parking right at the port and to me was convenient enough to be worth the savings. They have a shuttle that runs to/from the port but I usually just walk it since the driving route has to go around the New Orleans Convention Center that's right in front of the port.

I would screenshot it so they can see what discounts Royal is applying through their website. Make sure you click on the view pricing by guest to break it down that way and perhaps they can identify why they can't get the same pricing to pull. I know that DEAL discount randomly pops up when I'm trying to do mock bookings and it will be a random $ amount like $48. I have also seen port taxes and fees differ depending on when a booking was made.

Charge on the slots to your room. Hit collect on the slot machine. Redeem ticket. Cash issue solved and more credit card points for you!

I think these cabin crawls are a good way to sell the suites and Star Class experience, so I hope Royal takes that into consideration when they allow their Genies to set up good experiences like Shane did. That would be my approach in the "ask" but I have seen Genies be accommodating for even just large family groups with some non-SC members mixed in. Let the Genie know about the party for your dad as well and what you would want or expect. They should arrange a personalized cake but you need to tell them how else you'd like to celebrate -- specialty dinner served in your suite? A small gathering with all members of your sailing party? Or if you want to be surprised let the Genie run with it completely -- but if you don't ask for something you can't really just expect it to happen. Genies are good but they aren't mind readers (most of the time!)

The Oasis class pricing I have seen is $199/per person for unlimited and it regularly goes on sale for $175/per person. For an Oasis class ship I think it's definitely a good value to get to try all the specialty dining options especially when you consider there are more ala carte options on those ships as well as options to dine at lunch. However if you are truly out to maximize the package you will find yourself in a world of food fatigue and nearly exhausted from trying to take advantage of it. There are just soooo many options!

There have been reports of it working on several other ships. No charge to pull it out off the slot machine. I used the slot machine to liquidate my OBC when I was on Allure a couple weeks ago. If you use a credit card to pay you onboard account you will see a single charge from Royal Caribbean after the cruise which is the balance of what you owed for your onboard account. My credit card categorized it as a travel charge so I got the extra bonus kickback for that type of charge.

A lot of the welcome aboard stuff is a ploy to push the shops onboard, spa services, bingo, and port shopping. If you have never cruised before I would say give it a try but be prepared for the sales pitches. It's a good way to get an overview of what's available. In my experience the one free gift offered on all cruises (and I have seen this on other lines) is often a charm for a charm bracelet. You will see these charms offered as free gifts at different port shops all over the Caribbean. Each port has a different charm. It's a cute way to get a free souvenir and some cruisers get very into collecting them. Obviously it's a ploy to get you into the shops to begin with, but it's still something to take home and remember your cruise by. They will also have gifts like earrings with teeny tiny gem slivers and the art gallery usually offers free prints to folks that attend the auctions. The liquor shop offers sampling too, so keep an eye out for that.

We stayed at Doubletree Suites in Jersey City. It was walking distance to the PATH which takes you directly into the city at the World Trade Center. We took Uber/Lyft from Newark airport to the hotel and also from the hotel to the port on embarkation day. The Doubletree had a mall as well as a grocery store all in walking distance so it was in an excellent location for everyone for our pre-cruise stay.

Port of Miami is closer to Miami International Airport than Port Canaveral is to Orlando International Airport. If you have to fly anyways and Navigator is cheaper anyways, then definitely go with which overall cost will be lower for you all-in.

if you get the right customer service rep when you call Royal, they will allow it with an official medical excuse (doctor's note). It's easier to get it taken care of by pre-purchasing over the phone than attempting to argue this when trying to purchase onboard. And I say right customer service rep because you should never take no for an answer as they will honor a doctor's note stating you can't drink the options in the packages for medical reasons.

Anthem had the Quest when I sailed it a few years ago. It was held in 270. Kind of a crazy venue to have it in with all of the folks throwing stuff down to the stage, but it was fun to watch!

My GTY inside for Freedom of the Seas NYE cruise was assigned at some point before the 110 day mark. The sailing was showing (and still is showing) sold out for insides. There seems to be really no rhyme or reason when the assignments happen, but it's great when you have plenty of notice for sure!

I've attached the Diamond+ offers and Emerald offers sheet that I got on Allure on 9/4/19. Diamond D+ Offers.pdf Emerald Offers.pdf

We're on 10, port side.

PS: At the end of that article it says: ???

The seas near the storms are still a little bit rougher but overall seas will be calmer because the hurricanes suck up all the ocean's energy into a more concentrated area. I've noticed a huge difference between nearly still seas during hurricane season and choppy seas in the winter.

Christmas sailing?

I have a feeling @CGTLH will be there ?

Oooh..me too me too!

You can't make reservations with the dining package until you are onboard the ship. Hopefully at that point they can tell you what's going to be open at lunch on each day.

The room service coffee comes in an insulated carafe. You will have to select a quantity when ordering and that will mean how many mugs you want delivered with the carafe. If you need sweetener and/or creamer you have to specify that as well. No clue what brand the complimentary coffee is but the additional cost specialty coffee (espresso based drinks) I have seen as Seattle's Best, illy, Cafe Bustelo, or Starbucks. Depends on which ship you are on.

Entertainment for the major shows do not change with a new year. Most of the time the entertainment will stay until the next dry dock, at a minimum..so at least 5 years.

It really depends on what it is and where it is being held. If it is a tasting/experience in a bar/venue then it likely comes with a cost and is not covered with the drink package. Some of the tastings are held in the shops which are free thimble-sized tastes of liquor pours. The Bloody Mary Bar is covered with the drink package.

That's just for his stuff. He's gonna make his poor wife handle her own stuff and the stuff for their kids ?