cobra614

My first cruise was on Symphony a few weeks ago. We have since already booked a May cruise on Harmony.  So I have no first hand knowledge myself.

But, we went with some family members who have cruised on Harmony twice before and this was their first time on Symphony as well. The husband didn't realize they were on a different ship until day 2 or 3. He just thought they moved a couple of things around.

So my take a way is that they are very similar,  made my choice on booking harmony easier.

Thanks to you both.

2 minutes ago, AnnetteJackson said:

I have reached out to her about this.  Later tonight you should see a reply.  The system auto generates periodically to you until the invoice is signed.  It could be that what you got today is a resend automatically of what she originally sent since it has not been signed.  Because i only see your board name,  I cannot look in the system for you.  

If you do not get a reply tonight, please reach out to me directly and we will get you all straightened out.

 

That's what I figured.  I also thought since I replied to the contract email it might not of sent correctly. 

Thanks for the help. I dont mean to disrespect Stephanie in any way, I'm just new to using a travel agent. 

8 minutes ago, AnnetteJackson said:

Hey,

I have reached out to Stephanie for you.  Michelle is an IC at MEI-Travel just like Stephanie is so it could be awkward for Michelle to reach out to Stephanie for you.

Stephanie will be in touch soon to you.  Or if you would like to reach out to me directly, I can check in on things for you.

I resent an email requesting that travel insurance be add to our contact to Stephanie a couple  of  days ago. I got the same contract stating refusing the coverage today. I tried calling her but it went straight to voicemail.  To be fair I didn't leave a message,  I did resend a email requesting the  coverage and already paid my deposit.  Just thought I'd respond to this post.

3 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

No.  Not on Royal Caribbean. 

Out of respect I'll defer your experience, but I'm pretty sure I saw that on my recent sailing on Symphony. 

Either way, we are accustomed to bringing cash. Just thought there might be a credit card points exploit,  lol.

6 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

The casino is cash only. If you want to charge against your onboard account (Sea Pass) you can do that either at the cashiers cage or at a table but unless you are at least a Prime level VIP player with Club Royale (their casino rewards program) you will be charge a 5% “convenience fee”.  I think there are some provisions for MLife players too but I don’t know those rules.  I believe that all has to be prearranged prior to boarding.

There is no such thing as putting your Sea Pass card into a slot machine and getting credit to play.  Carnival does that (or used to) but Royal Caribbean does not.

Bottom line....if you are new to a Royale Caribbean, bring cash to play in the casino.

I thought that I saw an option to take credits out as a room charge whenever I swiped my see pass card. I do remember talking to a fellow gambler that mentioned that her husband was upset on how much she kept "downloading "to their room account.  Like I said, we brought cash, so I never tried it. 

6 minutes ago, TJ! said:

If you don't mind me asking, how much or/and how long would you have to entertain the casino to make it to prime status.

about 90% of my stay at vegas has always been at the bellagio but I've been to the golden nugget before for ultimate texas holdem.

TJ!, please refer to Waytoo. He,(or she) is WAY more versed in this subject than I!!

48 minutes ago, TJ! said:

Thanks! That answers my question, looks like im bringing cash!

Since I'm not too keen on slot machines im mainly sticking to tables and poker tournaments.

I wonder how much is the poker tournaments 

If you gamble regularly (since you mentioned being to LV a hundred times or so), you might make prime status during your first cruise. We live on the east coast, so if we are lucky we go out to LV twice  a year. That being said we are fully comped at the golden nugget (love that place, old Vegas FTW), and we made prime by our last night in the cruise.  If you gamble enough you could make prime early on your cruise and enjoy free drinks for the remainder from what I've read. 

A great resource I've found is a Facebook page dedicated to casino royale. Check it out.

BTW. I asked on there and they did confirm that a slot download for cash is treated like a purchase,  not a cash advance!!

4 minutes ago, TJ! said:

I'm glad you brought up the casino part of the cruise! I've been to Vegas hundreds of times and know how that operates but for the cruise I had questions as well.

Since most things will be linked to my credit card would I also use the CC to gamble with or do they require me to bring some cold hard cash?

If CC is acceptable for the casino what method does the slot machines take for payment, most takes cash but I assume you can swipe your card or something of that nature?

for tables and poker tournaments how would that work too?

I guess the question would be can i use my CC to gamble in all aspect of the casino.

If not, do we just bring cash?

First off, my past cruise was our first cruise,  so we just brought cash.

Now that I have researched it, I see that you can "download"  credits onto a slot machine and it will be debited to your sea pass account.

What my question is, does your credit card treat that like a regular charge, or a cash advance, with the highercash advance  rate. As opposed to just a regular purchase?

@Michelle.

I am currently working with Stephanie.  I have a May harmony cruise booked,  but haven't signed the Edocs with MEI. I asked her to add the travel protection a couple of days ago and I only got the reply to sign the original docs without travel protection.  I tried calling her number,  but it went straight to voice mail.

A little help? Perhaps she is on a cruise??

I already posted my past experience on Symphony above.  That being said, my next booked cruise is on Harmony next May,  the DBP right now is $65pp. I can't justify locking in that price which is including gratuities is over $1070. We also made prime in the casino which means our drinks are free for the both of us, but in the casino only 

Now I do like the freedom that the DBP allowed us, at this point I can't justify that price. I paid just over $800 instead of $1070 for the same thing. So I will keep checking the cruise planner for a sale. I keep seeing mention of a black Friday sale. Holding out for that.

Worst case scenario,  drinks for the wifey and I are free in the casino,  and pay as you go elsewhere. 

See Matt's post above. 

8 hours ago, TJ! said:

Thanks for replying cobra614, the information is greatly appreciated!

Thats so cheap!!! it's currently $61/pppd on the cruise planner 

If you know for sure you want it, go ahead and buy it.  If the price drops you can just cancel and rebuy.  That's what I did, originally bought it for 52 or 55, can't remember which,  then when it dropped I called and rebought it. 

My first cruise ever was on Symphony,  I bought the deluxe beverage package for 49pp, saw it go as low as 47pp for that sailing. This was for July 27th thru August 3rd.

5 minutes ago, cobra614 said:

Just booked our second cruise ever. First one was booked by family members of ours and we just paid them, this one is on Harmony next May in a JS. I was quoted a price of $288 thru our TA who said it was RC's coverage. Is this a fair deal?

Total cost of cruise was $3500 after casino royale discounts.

I meant to put this post in the general discussion area, please move it there, sorry.

Just booked our second cruise ever. First one was booked by family members of ours and we just paid them, this one is on Harmony next May in a JS. I was quoted a price of $288 thru our TA who said it was RC's coverage. Is this a fair deal?

Total cost of cruise was $3500 after casino royale discounts.

31 minutes ago, VinceC said:

I just came off the Allure and this was the Boarding Day deal, $490 for 1st and 1/2 off 2nd ($245) totaling $735 for 2 persons.

$367.50/person and $52.50/day/person.  Are we getting ripped off?

If this is before gratuities  than I paid less at $49.00 A day per person on my July Symphony cruise.

I booked our first cruise ever for this past July last December,  watched the cruise planner almost every day and bought the key for $19.99 and the deluxe beverage package for $49 plus gratuities on Symphony.  I just booked a May 2020 cruise today on harmony today (thanks Stehpanie from MEI) and the key is $37.99 and the deluxe beverage package is $65 before gratuities.  No way I'll pay those prices, so I will be stalking the cruise planner for sure.

I booked our first cruise ever for this past July last December,  watched the cruise planner almost every day and bought the key for $19.99 and the deluxe beverage package for $49 plus gratuities on Symphony.  I just booked a May 2020 cruise today on harmony today (thanks Stehpanie from MEI) and the key is $37.99 and the deluxe beverage package is $65 before gratuities.  No way I'll pay those prices, so I will be stalking the cruise planner for sure.

The wife and I earned prime status on our first ever cruise also, a little over a week ago. She got a certificate for an inside cabin or $500 off, I got a outside view or $750 off. We are gonna combine the cash offers for $1250 off of a may harmony sailing.

I tried the website above and got the same message posted above. 

In addition to our certificates are we each entitled to a free "prime" cruise??

A couple of weeks ago on Symphony you only had to bet $15 a hand for 3/2 blackjack. For craps it was a $25 line bet for double odds, but if you went to 15 instead of 10 on the line they would let you bet 20 in odds on the 5 and 9 and 25 on the 6 and 8. So I started betting 15 for the better odds and just press up to 25 on hot rolls.

I filled out the contact form on this website and have been communicating with Stephanie from MEI. She has been helpful. Now I just have to decide on which cabin we want. Either a OVB or a JS. We just had a JS on our very first cruse on Symphony a little over a week ago and we want to take advantage of our casino royal offers. $1250.00 off combined between both!

Did you try a mock booking to compare the rates?

7 minutes ago, Cat mom said:

When did they move the lunch to the MDR? My cruise planner is still saying Chops. 

My cruise a week ago on Symphony had us eat in the MDR on embarkation day, but it was the chops menu.

7 hours ago, DRLPP said:

if you have someone back home not cruising with you then have them check you in at the 24 hr mark before your flight. I do this a lot for my daughter. Usually she ends up with a late A group or early B. Just need to make sure they do it at the 24 hour mark. Do not wait to check in at the airport. You will literally be the last to board. Another option, befriend someone on the cruise that has the internet package and check in via your new found friend. Just remember to buy them a drink. I actually did this for someone on a cruise and was happy to help. Just need to ask.

Early bird used to allow you to check in at the 36 hour mark. At least that was the case for us the last time we did it a couple of years ago.