Wilson

No updates. Still showing “in process” since 07/26

I forgot to come back to this thread sooner, but wanted to report that I received my new passport two weeks after I applied paying for the expedited service and R/T Priority Mail. So, it seems worth the cost if you can't wait months. After years in the military and few years as a federal civil servant in my past life, the expedited passport service is the most incredibly efficient thing I've ever seen the government accomplish. ?  My stress level about my upcoming cruises is way down!

We applied for new/renewal passports for 2 teenagers 6/11 at local post office. Current passports were expired.  Sent standard processing. Changed to in process on 7/17 when check was cashed and to approved today 8/10.  Email I received says to expect by 8/16.  

Here's another data point, received In process status email on June 9th, two months and still waiting. 

We went to our local post office in late June to renew my son's passport (it is not really a renewal for under 18).  We just received his new passport this week so less than 2 months for us.

I'll play.
New passport for grandson (9)
Made appointment at local PO for July 20.
I filled out paperwork prior.  Had photo taken at PO and wrote 2 checks.  1 for PO 1 for Dept of State with expedited fees.
My checks cleared in 5 days and by July 26 status was "in process".
August 8th status said "approved" and i should receive in the mail on or around  August 15th. (mmmhmmmm)
That seems crazy fast for a first time passport.
We also did this for my daughter's first time passport on August 4th and no status update yet.  Checks have cleared.
I will report back if we actually get my grandson's passport this weekend.

I didn't even have a chance to check the status. The paper we got said to start checking the status in 4 weeks so I never even bothered. It just appeared one day, never got an email or anything.

Feel free to follow along as we play the game of hurry up and wait. Let’s see how long it takes to get our renewals completed. We paid extra for Expedited service and 2 day return mail. $187.56 each
Passports arrived in 28 days!

07/20/2021
Pic taken and paperwork completed 

07/21/2021
Dropped off at the Dallas Main Post Office at noon and sent overnight mail  
07/22/2021
Arrived at Philadelphia Post Office at 10:22 am. However it will not be delivered to the actual Passport PO Box until tomorrow by 6 pm. 
 
07/23/2021
Passport renewal package delivered 
07/26/2021
Checks cleared my bank and now status shows “in process”
08/17/2021
APPROVED and we should receive on or around 08/20! 
 
08/18/2021
Passports arrived!
 
 

Buying an upgrade would be significantly more than I paid for the cruise, this is a cruise I got a pretty good rate on a long time back. I’m going about half what the upgrade to a grand is. Which is still a fairly big bid but also still a deal. 
 

Just checked two of my sailings. Price reduced for current sale and when I go to checkout it says gratuity included. 

We also toured with Bernard's Tours and highly recommend them. We stopped at Orient Beach for a couple hours while on the tour. You'll get to see a lot of both sides (French & Dutch) of the island. Please see their TripAdvisor reviews.

Welcome to the DRAMA FREE message boards!

Welcome to the DRAMA FREE message boards!

Welcome to the DRAMA FREE message boards!

Welcome to the DRAMA FREE message boards!

Welcome to the DRAMA FREE message boards!

Welcome to the DRAMA FREE message boards!

Feel free to follow along as we play the game of hurry up and wait. Let’s see how long it takes to get our renewals completed. We paid extra for Expedited service and 2 day return mail. $187.56 each
Passports arrived in 28 days!

07/20/2021
Pic taken and paperwork completed 

07/21/2021
Dropped off at the Dallas Main Post Office at noon and sent overnight mail  
07/22/2021
Arrived at Philadelphia Post Office at 10:22 am. However it will not be delivered to the actual Passport PO Box until tomorrow by 6 pm. 
 
07/23/2021
Passport renewal package delivered 
07/26/2021
Checks cleared my bank and now status shows “in process”
08/17/2021
APPROVED and we should receive on or around 08/20! 
 
08/18/2021
Passports arrived!
 
 

My update today- my daughter's passport came, took less than 3 weeks.  We paid for expedited, I wonder what would have happened if we hadn't.

Updated original post. Delivered to PO Box. 
I have located our state issued certified birth certificates in the event we are not as lucky as @NC State. 

‘Diamond is 4 per day, Diamond Plus is 5 per day, Pinnacle is 6 per day ……… yes they’re on your Seapass card …… each new day loads around 4am, you don’t get them on the day you leave the ship.  When ordering drinks just tell the bartender if you want to or don’t want to use a free drink for your current drink ………. Yes they can be used anywhere at anytime for drinks up to $13 each.
 

Last week I tried this on two of our sailings. One under 60 days and the other under 90. I get a never ending spinning "checking offers" image. I contacted Royal via Twitter and they advised me the link was no longer valid unless you get it in a Royal email attached to a reservation.
EDIT: I just tried again and it says reservation must be within 30 days of sailing. Who knows. LoL

Sorry, but the Black Friday sale hasn't been what it used to be. I would not recommend waiting for any one sale.
The best strategy is to track prices over the long term. Book early, and then cancel/rebook if/when a price drops.

Only if you tell them you want to use your Diamond drinks for the purchase. 

I believe you just have to tell them you when ordering that you don’t want those drinks as your free D+ drinks ….. then when ordering alcohol tell them to charge those as D+ free drinks 
What I’m not sure about is if they’ll let one adult in your room get the deluxe beverage package and not make you get it if your reason is that you only plan to use your 5 free drinks to get alcohol.  If that does work …… I’d love to do the same …… the 5 free drinks a day is enough for me ……. But not for my spouse.