PurdueFlyer

5 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

In my opinion the Diamond lounge is the least of the perks.

agree 100%.  it took so long to get there, but when I finally got to taste that forbidden fruit, I realized that most of the time, the lounge is only good for sitting around and looking at other diamonds.  

it's nice having the concierge there for questions, but depending on the sailing the lounge is usually packed during the nightly event so running in and grabbing your hors d'oeuvre and drink loses appeal if you can't find a seat.  if the drink is free anyways you might as well get it anywhere.

likewise, the priority check-in is nearly worthless now.  I havent seen a diamond-dedicated check in line at Miami, Tampa or Los Angeles since I re-started cruising in September.  there's usually a separate line for "Pinnacle / Suites" and that's it.  but even this seems moot with the adherence to strict check-in times at the pier.  I check in on the app and am always shepherded right along in the process until I'm onboard.  so it's quick, but doesn't feel very "elite." 

personally I enjoy the balcony discount if you like to book direct, but its really about the free drinks for me.    

Well, I didn't "take myself to Chops or something"  but I did learn something else.  You can use OBC to add extra gratuity for staff on the ship, instead of using the little envelopes they give you and putting cash in them.

I asked at guest services if this was possible, and she said yes.  You have to fill out a little piece of paper with the crew member's name and work position and write in the amount that you want to tip them.  So I frittered away an extra $60 of OBC ($20 each for attendant / head waiter / assistant waiter) instead of my own cash.

Something to keep in mind if you practice additional tipping at the end of the cruise anyways and have remaining OBC that you can't figure out how to spend.  

if it's a nonrefundable OBC, and you haven't used it all by the end of the sailing, does anyone know if they can roll the rest of it over to another future booking?  or does it just go to waste?  I'll have about 100 bucks left over when I disembark Freedom on Monday unless I take myself to Chops or something

11 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

If you cancel under the reason "do not like the new protocols", can't you get a refund?  I seem to recall a few here on the boards getting refunds for that reason.

Correct.  I did get a cash refund for my Grandeur sailing out of Barbados in December, which was paid in full, using this exact reason, and they didn't argue. (my TA made the phone call, but I instructed them to use that verbiage when explaining my desire to cancel). 

OP:  All you can do is ask!

55 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Ever the optimist, my wife got on the phone with Norwegian and long story short, we are boarding on Norwegian Joy in 17 hours. What a wild ride!!

that's like the Hail Mary of last-second cruise rebookings.  good work! 

I just use "snipping tool" to cut out the boarding pass and paste it into a word document.  That way the ads don't get printed, either.

Highly annoyed by this. 

On one hand, we were already bringing masks with us for the cruise.  It's not like we have to get a test on embarkation day now, versus 2 days prior.  Or PCR tests only instead of antigen.  You just have to wear your masks more of the time once onboard.  It could be much, much worse. 

On the other hand, I'm sick of this "health theater" nonsense.  Unless its an N95 mask, its not preventing squat.  Public health, and the collective population's commitment to it, is an interesting paradox.  The administration's promise that getting vaccinated will allow us to get back to doing the things we used to do, hasn't materialized.  I don't want to spend my vacation under siege.  If I am hassled by staff in between bites or sips, I might lose it. 

I have 2 short solo cruises booked in January, both after the seemingly-arbitrary end date of 1/5.  These sailings will get me to Diamond Plus.  If that wasn't at stake, I'd be cancelling them both as soon as the new protocols are released, and demanding a refund.  I'm done. 

On 11/18/2021 at 1:51 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is one of those gray areas and as far as I know there is nothing in writing to validate this policy EXCEPT for the email notification that is sent to either the TA or directly to you, if you did not use a TA.  I have never seen it anywhere on the website.  The image below is an old protocols announcement (October), but I use it as an example of the language that refers to the ability to cancel for a refund (last para).

 

thanks so much for this! 

update:  I called my TA today, and explained that I had seen your note above circulated before.  Since he had to call Royal to initiate the cancellation, i told him to specifically mention that the "protocols were finally announced" and that the client isn't OK with them, blah blah blah.

result:  FULL REFUND!  Said the Royal agent just "entered some authorization code" and it'll be credited back to my AMEX in 30-45 days.  Even though I knew months ago I wasn't going to sail on this, I think waiting until the health protocols were issued definitely helped my case in this instance.

sorry for the bump, but looking for a clarification with regarding the CWC policy.  

I *thought* at some point along the way, there was verbiage that covered you with a refund option AFTER they released the health protocols for a particular sailing (ie, if you didn't like or couldn't comply with those protocols you could get a refund in lieu of the FCC).  I cant find what I'm looking for at this point.  anyone else remember this, or is my brain foggy?

protocols are finally out for my Grandeur / Barbados sailing and in addition to the litany of testing requirements you must purchase a Royal shore excursion for all of the ports of call during December.  womp womp.  

I wonder if he gets to 10,000 if the system will even be able to handle 5 digits of C&A points ... Royal may have to prep for this like Y2K 

mixed emotions on this.  haha.

for one, Fain's comments came 2 months ago.  if Mabel Diaz said this more recently and specifically cited "Americans desire to have a self-served buffet" then I can't imagine Fain doesn't have the same information, and signed off on it.  like it or not, consumer surveys rule corporate decisions everywhere. 

anything with tongs, IMO, is gross.  You hanitize to get inside the Windjammer.  then watch as someone shovels a hamburger into the gaping hole in their face.  then they go back up and touch 8 different pairs of tongs as they continue to construct their next cinder-cone shaped pile of food.  in this case the initial hanitizer when they first entered, is useless.  

however there are sections like coffee and individually-plated dessert items that I think would be safe enough to let guests handle it themselves.  take a clean coffee mug from the rack and fill it from the carafe. it's not like you're putting your mouth on the spigot

I'd say overall I'm in the "nay" camp for the purposes of this survey, but with considerations.  

14 minutes ago, Matt said:

If you remove or add someone from the reservation, yes, it can cause a price change.

You're probably better off just no-showing with the other person. Trust me when I say that no one cares (in a good way lol)

I figured as much lol.  

the only wrinkle is that I'm the one with all the FCCs in my name, because I've been churning bookings during the pandemic.  so I risk paying more in cash for both of us, knowing that the 2nd person won't be there.  even if it's a moderate increase in price for just me, I could probably cover all of it in FCCs

I might wait for any Black Friday deals and look at a reprice for a solo and see what happens.  I can always just tell them "never mind"  

late to this thread...sorry! 

if there's 2 of us booked in a double-occupancy cabin and the other no longer wants to go, but I want to keep it as a (now) solo traveler, would that automatically trigger a re-price no matter what?  

this is probably going to play out in Feb for us on a quick 3-nighter on Freedom.  all we have paid so far is a $100 deposit for each of us.  sounds like @Matt has been on this rodeo before. 

I didn't find out until 2 days prior to my sailing last week, and it ended up being a successful bid.    There have been other reports of people getting the "yay or nay" email after they've already boarded.  

I, too, was showing the "pending" status and was unable to modify or cancel it.  don't sweat it.  hope it works out in your favor! 

well I was just in Cozumel yesterday and we had 4 ships here at the same time ... everyone fit.  this is at the INTL cruise terminal down by Señor Frogs. 

there is another cruise terminal closer to downtown and I think Disney? was up there as well, but it was too far away with the rain and clouds to really tell which ship that was.  

I'd echo everyone else:  negativo 

23 hours ago, IRMO12HD said:

Thank you, @PurdueFlyer.  What port(s) did you sail from?  We'll be going out of Miami.  

2 from Miami, and 1 from Tampa.  

If Twitter says its good, I would agree that you're good.  I've done 3 cruises so far with an electronic screenshot from my care.CVS account.  nobody blinks and nobody has asked for the original paper CDC copy.  

now, it does say "CVS pharmacy" at the bottom, but the information is all in one paragraph.  it doesn't say "name of administering medical provider:  CVS Pharmacy" like a line-item list.  just "CVS Pharmacy".  so there's some level of inferencing here, but I can't be the only American who has been on a cruise so far that got the jab at a CVS.

(from my card)

4 hours ago, SummerRose said:

The drinks of a 14 day cruise would be a game changer.

THIS.  

DO IT!!!

I'm curious what you ended up doing here, as the letter from Royal stated they would hold the 1-bedroom Grand Suite until Friday, 11/5.  but this thread was started on Monday 11/8 so that date would have already passed.  

As a former airline gate agent, I get Royal's intent here.  they want you re-accommodated in the balcony and off their books, so they can work the rest of their oversale . 

But-  if they didn't offer the other half of your party an option besides the balcony, I would have pushed back on the arbitrary date of 11/5 for how long they hold the 1-bedroom suite for.  Just as how a suite became available for you, another one could become available for them.  guests could be cancelling their suites as I type this because Royal gave them the same crappy re-booking options.  maybe there should be a bit more leeway since you had 2 cabins from the beginning.  

just my .02

there's a multitude of threads on this subject, with everyone's own spin.

years ago I used to follow a blog called "WaitButWhy."  back in 2014 the writer did a totally unscientific piece on tipping and the results he found.  it's pretty interesting and you can read it here:  https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/04/everything-dont-know-tipping.html

warning:  his writing style isn't for everyone, so proceed with an open mind.  but the parts in the middle are particularly interesting to me, "other factors that should influence tipping decisions" including time, effort, their salary, etc. these are the parts that are quasi-relateable to cruising.  (ie, the bartender cracking open the bottle of beer at the Schooner Bar versus poolside making your labor-intensive Miami Vice.  there's a difference in effort here.  something to consider!) 

bottom line, OP, just remember that US tipping culture is beyond bizarre, and its totally OK to be unsure of protocol.  whether you "pre-pay" gratuities before your pay-in-full date, or whether you're having them deducted daily on your seapass account, you're still paying them.  anything you do above and beyond that is totally up to you. 

update: 

signed into rc.com today, and our Nov 3rd 4-nighter on Oasis has changed from Cozumel to Nassau / Coco Cay.  The cruise planner reflects the stops although there are virtually no excursions to choose from (Thrill water park at Coco Cay not even showing up).  I think this is a very recent change.  Have not received an email from the TA yet.  This sailing was already swapped once, from Labadee, to Cozumel, and now to the Bahamas.

I have a Side-to-Side right after that, on Monday Nov 7th on Serenade out of Tampa, and that one is still showing Cozumel / Costa Maya.  I wonder if this will be the next domino to fall. 

Similar to viewing the seatmap of an airplane flight without having to buy the ticket first...

I'd like to see a map of available cabins on each sailing without having to go through the booking process.  

ie.  I hate selecting "connecting balcony" because it's cheapest, only to click through and discover there's only 1 cabin on Deck 6 remaining and that's it.    Then I have to back out and pick the next "spacious balcony" category or whatever it is, and repeat the process.  

Even better would to be able to just view Deck plans for a given sailing and "hover" your mouse over the cabin and have a price displayed ... like how on aa.com I can see my Main Cabin Extra seat is $35 right on the seatmap.  

Hi all-

About 10 days ago, my friend and I booked a sailing on Navigator in December.  We each booked our own "connecting balcony" stateroom as solo travelers, since we both wanted to take advantage of the double-points promo before it expired.  We booked directly on royalcaribbean.com and picked our own staterooms (this was not a GTY), 7364 and 7362.  Or so we thought.  When the confirmations came back, my companion actually ended up on Deck 6.  I can't prove that the website booted him out of his original room, or if he fat-fingered the room selection, but either way, we aren't together.  Unfortunately it took a few days before we noticed this.

I called Royal today, and because the actual "connecting balcony" category doesn't encompass that many rooms to begin with, there weren't any left that were side by side.  I asked about changing to another balcony category (since we don't really care about the connecting door).  The next category up is "spacious balcony." 

If you price a cabin today as a solo traveler, the connecting balcony price is $461 and the "spacious balcony" is $472, so thats only 11 bucks more.  Not a big deal.  Here's the problem:  when we booked this, the "promotions" were better than they are today.  According to the phone rep, the fare difference for me (Diamond) would actually be $30, but for my companion (gold) it was closer to $80 to go to the spacious balcony category.  All this so we can get 2 rooms side by side.

So the question is:  Do I have any recourse here?  Can Royal be swayed to honor the promotions that were in effect when we made the original booking, so we just pay the fare difference?  Or the minute we change categories, is it an automatic re-pricing according to whatever promotions are in effect right now?  I feel kind of stuck but maybe there's a better department at Royal that can handle one-off requests like this.  The general reservations agent was very polite but couldn't offer any solutions beyond re-pricing the whole thing into the new category, even though its effectively the same room. 

Any advice or prior experience with this sort of thing is welcome!  thanks !

CVS opens their booking window for appointments 2 weeks out ... just punch in your zip code and it'll show you which brick-and-mortar stores are doing testing, and whether it's rapid antigen or NAAT PCR. 

I went through a dummy-booking process a month before my cruise just to identify which stores were doing the rapid antigen tests.  then came back at the 2 week mark and snagged an appointment on a Saturday (for a Monday sailing) without any problems.  admittedly this probably was easier living in a large metro area with plenty of CVSs.  I had the results within 30 minutes.