AshleyDillo

This is what I would suggest. Bring all the snacks in their original sealed packaging and make up the individual snack bags once you are on the ship. That way you don't risk the chance they do say no and make you throw it out.

Getting a little ridiculous with these Gotta keep those who must be first, first, first on their toes!

Yes, you each will be able to use VOOM at the same time. You don't get a code, but rather your VOOM account will be tied to your name once you are on the ship. You will each be able to set up your own login/PIN number combo that will give you access.

You have to pay the cover charge for brunch/lunch and dinner. They do have a small bites menu available at the bar that is ala carte, but it's not available until the evenings and is a limited menu.

Maybe hitting a jackpot?

140 points.

The learn to play sessions in the casino are for the table games. They are usually held 15-30 minutes before the casino opens on the first day Each slot machine is different and yes, it can be very confusing. There isn't much skill involved, it's more of understanding how much you are betting per spin and how many payout lines you are playing. Everyone gets at least $2 in freeplay loaded to their SeaPass card that's only available on days 1 and 2 of the cruise. That's always a good way to give it a try -- use the free money for a few spins.

We have a Roll Call started for this one already under the main Roll Call heading as it is a Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise! Please come join our discussion over there!

Yes...thanks for sharing! It will be interesting to see how this program evolves over the next month before I give it a shot

Maybe they won't need to make it as short of a day when they don't need to haul it over to the Bahamas to hit CocoCay like those runs from Florida usually do.

I'm also interpreting that list of exclusions to read SIP.TOUR.BRUNCH is included? Why am I not shocked I have so many questions about something Royal put in writing?

That sheet says gratuities ARE included...hmmm

Wouldn't that just be a floating bar?

This one with the lies again. She was a delight to meet for the whole 5 mins that we ran into one another.

Mine hasn't updated.. still excludes Star. But if I lookup my offer code on the menu the exclusion isn't there.

If you have the time/patience and want to save the money, just have one person use the shuttle. Use the rental car to drop off everyone and luggage at the cruise ship and return it to the car rental place and shuttle back alone. Do the reverse when leaving the ship -- one person can jump in the shuttle to go pick up the rental car. It's way easier to squeeze one person with no luggage on a nearly full shuttle. I get impatient, so if I see waiting on a shuttle is taking awhile I'll always opt to pay the rideshare/taxi cost instead of waiting around.

If you want to check out MEGA, it's about 2-3 blocks to the right when facing the port area. You can even get a cab from there to Paradise or you can have your cab from Paradise drop you off there on the way back. There is a Starbucks right at the port too and they have the Been There mugs if you know anyone who collects those. Most of the shopping in downtown is to the left of the port area. You can walk down the road that runs parallel to the coastline and it's storefront after storefront.

If you're planning on doing Paradise Beach, I would just make that be your day. There's shopping in the immediate port area for your typical souvenirs. Downtown Cozumel is really just more of the same...if you weren't planning to do anything else for the day and wanted to shop, then maybe it's worth a cab ride down there but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. When I'm on a ship that docks downtown I usually only get off to go to MEGA, which is basically a Mexican Walmart. My type of souvenir shopping looks more like local snacks, though, so it's a great place for that.

IMO there's not much to walk around outside of the port that Royal uses (International Pier) which is right across from the Hard Rock. The pier that NCL used (Punta Langosta) was located more downtown and there's more to walk to in that area.

Make sure that if any of your group decides to make a Next Cruise booking while onboard that they specifically request NOT to have your current TA assigned to the booking. Next Cruise bookings bring over the current TA by default. From this experience it sounds like you need to shop around for a new TA.

You are under no obligation to stick with the same TA or even book with a specific TA after getting quotes. Shop around and decide what's the best fit for you. Word of mouth is good, but different TAs do keep different schedules and response times. If you are comfortable conducting all your business via text message, email, or by phone, there's absolutely no reason not to switch to a non-local TA. Don't be shy about discussing with them what your expectations are about service either and see if they can accommodate. Ask about guaranteed response times, specific office hours and who you would contact in the event you couldn't get in touch with them. You are already using a TA, so you're used to not being able to contact the cruise line directly about your booking, so shop around for the TA that will give you the level of service and additional perks that you want.

All you need to do is tap or insert your Seapass card at the slot machines and make sure that it's showing your name on the little screen. If you did that, then you were earning points. At the tables, they ask you for your Seapass card when you sit down to play so it's earning you points already. You can use http://www.clubroyaleoffers.com to check your points. Your Club Royale number is your Crown & Anchor loyalty number. The casino year runs from April 1 - March 31. Points are accumulated during the entirety of that year no matter how many cruises you take during that time. These points count towards your annual tier level. There are four tiers: CHOICE, PRIME, SIGNATURE, MASTERS. CHOICE is no points, PRIME is 2500 points, SIGNATURE is 25,000 points, and MASTERS is 100,000 points. Once you cross a tier threshold you have earned that tier for the remaining of the casino year AND also the following year. So, earning PRIME on May 7, 2025, means that you will be PRIME through March 31, 2026. If you don't re-qualify between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2026 you will reset back to CHOICE. If you hit PRIME, SIGNATURE, or MASTERS you qualify for an annual tier cruise which will be issued in your Club Royale account during the April after the year that you qualify. Slots points are earned at a rate of 1 point for every $5 played. Video poker is 1 point for every $10 played. Table games vary based on how much time you play and what you are betting. 200 points earned during one sailing is the threshold that they say you can potentially start to receive cruise offers in your Club Royale account. You can login at the URL I gave above and it will show any offers that you have available. While on a cruise you can also earn instant certificates from the amount of points you earn during that cruise. The casino host desk will have a QR code to scan that will show you what is available. Each of those instant certificates has a bonus offer (additional freeplay or a free cruise or better cabin category) that you can only get if you book a Next Cruise open booking while on that cruise.

This is very subjective and differs from person to person and can even differ from cruise to cruise. An experienced cruiser who is familiar with the cruise line's offerings may need much less service than a brand new cruiser. For those, the likely attractive perks would be good group rates and/or OBC. A TA can create a group to lock in pricing so as the prevailing fare increases, they can book cruisers into their group at the lower pricing. The ability to have access to group rates depends on the larger consortium that a TA is affiliated with. Group rates also tend to be refundable which is another benefit that provides flexibility. Group rates are also only for certain cabin types, so those who book the pricier suites would not benefit from this. However, offering large sums of OBC can be attractive to suite cruisers. For newer cruisers, more dedicated customer service and availability to answer any questions may be attractive. Anyone can book a cruise directly through Royal's site, but a travel agent has the same access to website rates and shouldn't cost anything extra to use. The difficulty can be finding a TA who offers the level of service that you expect or need. In the example of the longer cruise, I'd be looking to book with a TA that gives tangible perks such as OBC or maybe free prepaid gratuities. Those perks affect the all-in price you pay for the cruise which can be a better deal than perhaps a TA group price.

Basically the same pizza. I found it to be a bit more well done than on the other ships.

There are two small surface lots close to the terminal. When those are full there is a garage a few blocks away that runs a shuttle if you don't want to walk it. The surface lot that is closest to the terminal routes you through the baggage drop first, so I always suggest you drop luggage off prior to parking just to make it easier if you have to park in the further lot.