teddy

35 minutes ago, Mr. Candyman said:

Did Voom retain the price you had originally purchased it for?

Yes.  

We like to get a coffee mug in each place we visit. 

One thing to be aware of is if you lose obc that you used to pay for something in the Cruise Planner.

We repriced our last cruise a number of times, and the last time we netted a lower price even factoring in the loss of on board credit.  

We had used the obc to pay for Voom and promptly forgot to go back in to the cruise planner and pay for it with our card.  When we got to the port, we had a "Pier Collections" to settle when we checked in.  It was no big deal, but it is something to be cognizant of.

20 hours ago, FionaMG said:

It's a great itinerary and has been an excellent cruise. 

Just two sea days left now till they make us get off.

I don't have to go right back to work when we get home, so I will have time to do the recap next week. If you have any particular questions, feel free to ask.

Thank you.   

I am looking forward to having two sea days back to back.  

Facetime worked on Mariner for us pretty much everywhere other than our balcony.

If you only want two devices online at any given time, one person has to buy the two device plan.  

On our first cruise, I made the mistake of buying my wife and I each a two device plan....the result of that was we could use four devices between the two of us and paid twice as much as we needed to.

Edit:  @SpeedNoodles  you are living up to your name.  You were so speedy that I didn't even get a notification that you posted as I was typing.   

Thank you for this.  My wife and I will be on the same ship and itinerary Jan 18-26.

Just added this to do a back to back

Adventure Jan 26, 2020 - Feb 1, 2020

@bobroo  Thanks!!! 

12 minutes ago, JennyJenny said:

I don't use Facebook but my gentleman friend and I use gmail/google chat to keep in touch when I travel. Assuming as long as I have the Voom/am connected to wifi on ship, I can message him the same as if I had Facebook?

He does not own a smart phone so can't download the WhatsApp ap.

Voom is the name Royal gives to their on board wifi (you have to pay for it).  Once you get it and connect, you are on the internet via wifi just like anywhere else.

Gmail and Google chat will work for you once you connect to wifi on the ship (ie. Voom).  Your friend won't have to do anything different than he usually does since he will be connected to the internet the same as always.

 

4 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Anyone else having issues with the website? It has me stuck in an endless loop. I sign in to my cruise planner and get a message "Congratulations you are already booked! Sign in below to see our black Friday deals for your cruise". The only thing I can click on on the page is the sign in button which just brings me back around.

I haven't been able to figure it out despite trying.

Sometimes clicking "log out" then logging back in works.  Sometimes clearing cache/cookies works.  Sometimes an incognito browser works.  Sometimes a different browser works.  Sometimes a different platform (PC instead of tablet) works.  Sometimes I just have to wait for a while.

See your other thread for a some in-depth answers.

What Consumer Cellular told you is you will be charged for any calls or texts you send/receive.  

Royal Caribbean does not have a cellular plan to use on board its ships.

Some major carriers...like Verizon, ATT, Sprint, etc have additional plans you can purchase for using your phone internationally or on cruise ships (these plans are in addition to your regular plan).  If you do not purchase an additional plan for international use (or cruising), you will most likely have a large bill.

Here is what we do with our iPhones.

We pay for Voom (this is wifi) before our cruise via the Cruise Planner.  We put our phones in airplane mode when we board and absolutely leave our phones in airplane mode for the duration of the cruise. Putting the phones in airplane mode avoids any accidental roaming charges.

With an iPhone, you can send/receive text messages to/from other iPhones using iMessage using wifi. 

When I want to text someone who does not have an iPhone, I personally use Facebook Messenger.  There are other apps/programs out there that will allow you to do this as well.

There is a feature called wifi calling that some people use to make calls.  The phone stays in airplane mode and the call is placed over wifi.  Our cellular carrier does not support this feature, so we call using Facebook Calling.  Again, there are other apps/programs that will allow you to call over wifi if your carrier does not support wifi calling.

Edit:  I see emsff02 mentioned WhatsApp.  That's one of the other apps/programs I was talking about that allows you to communicate.

@bobroo  Would you recommend Cozumel Marine World for a new PADI Open Water certified diver?

Thanks.  

Done deal.

A huge thank you to Michelle at MEI for helping me with EVERYTHING.    

I like to bring a travel coffee mug.  It makes it easier to carry a cup of coffee around the ship. 

Interesting how sometimes my Google-fu works, and others it doesn't.

I just found a thread discussing this very topic.  Thank you all for pleasantly answering my original question even though it had been asked and answered.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/10544-last-minute-cancellation-only-one-person-will-travel/

Form filled out.  Thanks again.

Thanks Twangster.

I guess I never noticed that.  I have the forum bookmarked and just go straight here.

Moving past the "Should I do this?" phase to the "What will this cost?" phase.

I know what I can see for pricing by doing a mock booking, but we've said we want to use MEI for our future cruises.

@Matt is there a certain person I can ping on the here on the board?  Thank you.

On 11/23/2019 at 1:13 PM, PatsFanBrian said:

I'll be in the stands making noise for my team

We were on Vision Oct 10-14 and watched the Pats game from a hot tub.  Not too hard to take.   

Hopefully this won't be too rushed.  Five confined dives and four open water over 4-5 days.

I went to a local dive shop that I drive by on my way to work and talked with them about getting a mask/snorkel as well as their thoughts on doing an open water class while on a cruise.

They were really friendly and helpful.  The consensus is that I'll have more fun taking the course in the Caribbean than I will in Maine since the water temperature will be much more pleasant.  They feel that since the course is an actual PADI course, I should be good to go as far as instructors, and they are all about signing me up for Advanced Open Water up here this summer.   

I appreciate you sharing your experience with me.  
 

20 minutes ago, Allen2 said:

As a diver, there is nothing like diving while on a cruise - imagine diving in four different islands/countries in a week!  There is a serious downside: if your spouse is not a diver, there may be a little friction and you may need to reach an agreement regarding how many dives per cruise!

This was my concern before signing up for the course.  My wife encouraged me to do it and, for this cruise anyway, understands that I'll be busy with the confined and open water dives.

I'm trying to finagle staying on the ship for the next cruise solo to dive in Georgetown, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.  

Finished the eLearning which has made me even more curious, so I've been reading all I can find about diving.  I'm very excited about the actual course and am already looking for ways to put the certification to use sooner than later.  

@twangster  I see what you mean about diving and flying.  Very interesting information about how nitrogen leaves the body.  

34 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

You can book a double and only have one party show up. The taxes for the second booking, which will be a no-show, will be refunded to the original form of payment.  In addition, you will get double points being a solo in that cabin. Hope this helps.

Thank you very much  

Hopefully I'll be able to do this.