JG1209

25 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

You were told that you could not use your FCC toward an already-booked cruise ?  Unless they have changed the rules for this FCC, that is completely incorrect.

I have been told both ways. Yes I can and no I cant. My TA says I cannot use it for an already booked cruise... and RCI says yes. I am going to wait and see once I actually get the credit and fight it then. There is almost always someone you can talk to you make things work out. It might take a few calls, but theres almost always a way to be satisfied, within reason.

Just now, ebeck88 said:

Is the 500+ rooms for the Symphony sailing on March 14th?  We contacted our travel agent yesterday to see if they could get us an upgrade, but apparently they are swamped as we were told they are calling people back in the order they received our call.  Haven't heard from the travel agent yet, fingers crossed that they are able to try and get an upgrade for us

No. It is for Harmony.

There is a Facebook group that I belong to for my sailing.. originally the boat was sold out... and as of yesterday- someone in the group counted over 500 rooms available.. Yes, I said counted... She actually sat there and did a mock booking to see how many rooms were available. LOL

25 minutes ago, Matt said:

FWIW, my parents think I am crazy for going on my cruise this weekend.

My thoughts on the situation are no one in my family has a high risk factor (underlying health condition, elderly, etc) and you cannot live your life in fear of "what ifs".

Moreover, I've seen countless reports from cruisers on the lengths the cruise line is going to sanitize the ships.

I agree with you too.. These ships are probably cleaner than they have ever been before... Id rather be on a ship rather than a plane-- or even worse, WalMart LOL

I will be on the same ship with you..  Harmony-- we will see you soon!

I dont know if this has anything to do with it.. you have to make sure that you are using the correct last name on the reservation.  For example, I am going on a cruise with my mom - we have different last names. If I look under my last name, it gives me that error message... but if I use my moms last name, I do not get the error message. Even though we are both on the reservation, she is the one that booked it.. so I guess it goes by that. This is just a thought- if this happens to apply in your situation.

29 minutes ago, lalaB said:

Also sailing from Singapore on 4th April. I noticed in the past couple of hours I'm unable to go into the "Plan My Cruise" section for this sailing - it's redirecting me back to https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked

My other booked cruises are working absolutely fine, I can get into the planner easily - just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this?

I was having problems getting into my cruises earlier too. It seems to be working now for me.

10 minutes ago, Mayooo said:

Tried them both. Nothing... no reply on my emails either

I have utilized the Facebook messenger chat with Royal Caribbean quite a bit. You should try them and ask them to call you.

I found this. not sure if it is valid.. worth checking into.

You can make ship-to-shore calls from your stateroom, 24 hours a day. The cost is $7.95 USD per minute and will be automatically charged to your SeaPass account.

Your friends and family can contact the ship by calling (888) 724-7447. Or from outside the U.S. they can call (321) 953-9003. The cost is $7.95 USD a minute and can be charged to their MasterCard^® or Visa^®. From outside the U.S. additional long distance charges will also apply.

You can also use our onboard Internet Cafés, stateroom Internet connection, or Hot Spots to send an e-mail to your friends or family for a minimal fee.

If you to Hotels.com and put in the zipcodes 32931 and 32920 (Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral) there are a ton of hotels- and they are all within 5-15 minutes of the Port. 32920 is closer.. this will give you a good idea of hotel options.

1 hour ago, KristiZ said:

Until the Kids Sail Free special comes around again... then it’ll be “it’s 4 of us in a suite for the price of 2!”  

Unfortunately, the time of year we go- kids sale free doesnt apply. We go during spring break so we do not have to use vacation time from work. I wish though!

4 hours ago, melmar02 said:

I'm in the food industry as well (make wedding cakes). Since I'm self employed, I set my pricing to include my salary draws, and I don't expect tips. It's really a nice surprise though when a couple feels I have gone the extra mile for them and gives me something extra when I deliver on the wedding day. We look at our tips on a cruise the same way. I treat the standard daily gratuity as the base line. Your basic good service won't get you an extra tip - you earned the daily gratuity rate at that point.

For our room attendant, if they just clean the room, bring us ice every one in a while, and leave a couple towel animals we don't feel that warrants anything extra. When they personally check in face to face daily (sometimes multiple times a day), take care of every request, and make extra towel animals for the kids (one room steward made us 12 in a 7 day sailing!) we'll give an extra $50-75 for the 4 or 5 of us. We haven't had a 'bad' room steward, but when you get a great one, it makes a difference.

Same goes for the MDR. We have had waiters do the basic level of service which we don't tip extra for. And then we have had waiters who would remember our drink orders from the first night, fulfill special requests in the same dinner service, and have a couple of different jokes or tricks for the kids every single night. We even had one MDR waiter that worked the Windjammer at lunch, and when he saw us he would stop what he was doing and would find us a table. We tip them an extra $25-50.

Bartenders - if I can find one that mixes the Kraken into the strawberry and not just float it on top of my Lava Flow, well, he's getting a buck or two every time I order. 

Ugh, yes.. I hate how thy just float the alcohol on top of my daiquiris.. Its just not the same! LOL

You will be spoiled with a suite! I know I am. My mom took me on a cruise for my graduation/birthday/mother-daughter trip-- and we got grand suite to celebrate... when we booked our next cruise, we originally booked a balcony room but then sat down with NextCruise and was like- oh heck, why not- we upgraded to a suite again... and now on our 3rd cruise together, you guessed it- we are in a suite (to celebrate my 40th bday). We seem to always find some "excuse" to book a suite. LOL

Next year, my mom and I are taking a cruise with my 6 yr old and 10 yr old... and we will have to down grade. The cost of a suite for the 4 of us is just too much... so we will have to down grade to balcony rooms... We couldnt find an "excuse" to book a suite for that trip LOL

I

9 hours ago, Matt said:

Thanks for sharing this @Mr. Candyman

I dont see it for my Harmony cruise in 3 weeks, but perhaps it's offered onboard?

I do not see it there.. but when you look on the screen where it shows your room, it shows the Muster Station there. I am not sure if it showed it there before or not..

I am on the Harmony in March 15 too 

Here are 2 good blogs.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/02/10/8-things-you-should-know-about-the-coco-beach-club-you-go

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-340-coco-beach-club-live-review

5 hours ago, brianmorris said:

Has anyone done the guacamole making class since Sabor was removed? I see it on the cruise planner and am considering it but not sure. 

Here is the post that I was referring to

"We did the Guac class on Harmony on the 1/26/20 sailing just a few weeks ago. We booked three of us, including our son, who LOVES guacamole. We were a bit disappointed to find out that the class isn't participation at all, it's basically a demonstration. No one from the class will actually make guac, you'll watch the waiter at your table make it, and then they give you the recipe to take home after. You do get all the guac, a great meal and a margarita out of it, so for the fee it's still worth it in that sense. Had I paid more attention to the description I probably would have known this going in to it, so I don't blame Royal at all, we had just hoped it was something different and didn't realize it.  "

3 hours ago, brianmorris said:

Has anyone done the guacamole making class since Sabor was removed? I see it on the cruise planner and am considering it but not sure. 

I have not personally done it but I saw someone else posted the same question. I think they said  that it wasnt a hands on thing. You watched the person make it, learned how to make it and then given the recipe.

1 minute ago, Cat mom said:

Finally got some clarification this morning it seems there’s been “ a Mass Cancellation of excursions on my sailing” At least seven excursions have been canceled I think somethings up will be a bit surprised in my next email is an itinerary change.

Where were you sailing to?

Dont shoot the messenger LOL I do not know the details behind this -- someone posted this on FB so I thought I would pass it on. 

19 minutes ago, Matt said:

If it were me, I'd give it 5 business days (so basically a calendar week). If it's still there, call RC.

I agree with Matt. Anytime I have gotten a refund- no matter what the reason, they have always said 5-7 business days.

5 hours ago, Branderson610 said:

I have been watching a lot of videos of people ordering room service on their cruise. The room service menu has a lot of good looking food on it! Sad to say, I am so excited to order room service and just eat it in my room or on the balcony. Just relax and chill doing nothing. This may be one of the highlights of the cruise for me! LOL....BTW, I am a mom who will be taking a vacation from cooking too!

I am a mom of 2... married... and I work full time... I think most of us moms can relate! I am going on a cruise in April with my best friend to celebrate our 40th birthdays. We are SOOOOOOOOO looking forward to not cooking, to not constantly hearing  "mom mom mom mom" ... or the kids fighting...  or even the opportunity to go to the bathroom by myself LOL  This cruise will be all about relaxing and having some drinks.. and enjoying someone wait on me for a change LOL I LOVE the idea of room service too! Thats one reason to get a balcony room- a meal with a view

BM vs bm. Ha ha ha.  Made me laugh.

I am in the process. But I also want to make sure she isn’t trying to surprise me either. Lol I don’t want to fuss at someone if it really isn’t screwed up.  But I think it is.  They didn’t see the thing that I ordered- but I could. I got the email confirmation and I could see it in my planner. It’s so strange.  I was also trying to buy a Royal gift and it kept telling me that my reservation couldn’t be found.  So so so strange. This is not the type of glitch I like. Lol

I dont know what RC is doing- other than stressing me out right now .. Has anyone ever ordered royal gifts, get a confirmation stating it was ordered-- and then get another email a few days later having different items on it? Well, I have! I do not know what is going on by it is really bothering me . I am going on a cruise in April to celebrate my BFF's 40th bday (and mine) and I was trying to surprise her with a few things. Well, now I am having to ruin the surprise because I have to ask my friend if she has gone into the reservation and ordered anything or made changes.. This is so stupid! LOL

7 minutes ago, bcruiser said:

Water park passes! Sorry for the confusion, I updated my original post. 

Its ok.. We still you LOL

It is possible that certain areas that require passes are sold out. I believe that the Thrill Park section has a capacity of 1900 or so.... and the CocoBeach Club has a capacity of 450.  If you see it sold out in your cruise planner- keep checking, I have seen sold out items become available again... or once you are on board, you can ask.

But admission to the island itself is free. There are several beach areas and a pool area that are complimentary as well.