BrianB

If I rent a Prime movie and then download it for later viewing, it will not let me access the movie without WiFi. Makes sense as they need to keep track of when I view it…to start the allowable viewing window, usually 48hrs. If I download a Netflix movie, usually no problem viewing it without WiFi. I just have to keep an eye on it in my downloads because it may expire if it’s there too long. Then I’ll just delete the expired download and then download it again before boarding. If I buy a Prime movie and download it then it’s mine and I can view it offline as much as I want.

The evening glass bottom boat tour is pretty good. It leaves after dark from the pier where the ship is docked. The captain/guide narrates the tour as you motor out into the sound and gives pretty interesting information about the islands and their history. Then you will linger over some of the coral reef as everyone goes downstairs to look through the glass bottom. You’ll also view the sunken ship Vixen and learn about her interesting history. Lights are turned on beneath the boat…which attracts fish. There’s rum swizzles for the adults along with a basic bar. Virgin swizzles for the kids. Waters and soda. And, of course, a restroom. Sometimes it can get chilly out on the sound, especially at night, so bring a sweater. The ride back as you approach the dockyard is nice with the ship lit up. Nice photo op as the ship is reflected in the water. The boat leaves you where you boarded…steps from the ship.

@Ampurp85 Me too! I just sent in the renewal application and my ‘Walgreen’s’ passport photo…then saw this notice. Oh, well…….

When I see what appears to be a one-and-done, everything-was-awful post…I usually quickly scan through it to find the buzz-word terms. Especially the ‘trip of a lifetime’…or ‘nightmare cruise’.

In my opinion… Encore Ice Show is really good…as are most of the ice shows on Royal. Saturday Night Fever is very enjoyable…a full Broadway production with great 70’s music. Jason Bishop is an excellent illusionist. Try to keep up with his funny one-liners. His card trick finale is cool!

@Sharla But that’s only regarding a casino comped full cruise, right? If I have a booked cruise that I did online or through NextCruise…or through a TA…and then I subsequently want to apply an instant rewards dollars off certificate earned in the casino…that cruise would still be eligible for the TA’s full commission? Also, if it’s a TA reservation, would the TA be the only one who could call to request the certificate be applied…as they now control the reservation? I ‘dabble’ in the casino when I cruise and usually end up earning a dollars off certificate which I apply to one of my future booked cruises. ps…sorry for all the questions. Not a newbie cruiser…not by a long shot…but a potential newbie MEI customer.

I’m a solo cruiser. On applicable sailings, the way I figure it is to divide the basic cruise fare (minus tax, fees and add-ons such as insurance, pre-paid gratuities, cruise planner stuff, etc) by 4. Subtract that result from the cruise fare and then add on the rest.

I believe the minimum action is a warning. Then comes an additional charge added to the room account for ‘sanitizing’ the room to remove the smoke smell…whether or not you think there is any. After that comes the more drastic penalties like disembarkation and finally…banning. I’m thinking it depends a lot on the attitude of the offender. Being rude, nasty and insulting will likely result in elevating to the higher penalties. As will repeat offenses. As it should.

Currently on the Liberty. Captain Dustin. He’s originally from Canada but currently living in the U.S…dual citizenship. Very nice gentleman! The other is Captain Mal. Also from Canada, but currently living in Texas. Also a really nice guy. Loves having the Loyalty event in Studio B so he can show off his hockey skills.

With the huge demand for cruising happening now…I’m thinking the planners are trying very hard to come up with new cruise schedules to take advantage. They realize that as soon as they float the new schedules…reservations come flooding in!

MSC re Ben and David…what’s the nautical term for ‘oops!’?

@Traveling Mike I heard, on these boards, lots of advice telling me to avoid the ‘big box store’ travel agents like Costco. That they were just interested in initial bookings and not good on follow-up or responses. I'm guessing you have a contact person who actually monitors your reservation and gives you personal service. Sounds like you got lucky. What you suggest is my plan….do all of my research and monitoring and then, instead of wasting time and effort, have a contact person that I could reach out to who would promptly take care of all those annoying follow-up details. Plus, maybe get a better price or a few extras by using the TA.

It used to be much easier to call RC directly and have an agent make a change on a cruise when the price dropped. Once in a while, I’d have to call back and get a more knowledgeable agent to make the change, but usually it went pretty easily. Even after being put on hold for a bit. Recently, it’s been much more difficult…and frustrating. Yesterday, I received the email announcing a sale on cruises from Port Liberty. Many of them were cruises I already booked and some had very attractive price drops. So I did my thing and called. I knew to call Club Royale for the cruises with a casino connection…either a casino group rate or applied certificate. But that became difficult when the agent told me that some weren’t really casino related unless there was a monetary discount applied on the confirmation page. When I called Loyalty, the agent told me they were casino related anyway and I had to call them. Even after calling different agents, I still got conflicting answers. Then there was a new glitch…they couldn’t give me a correct quote because they had to call another department to remove my single cruiser discount, reprice the cruise, then put the discount back on. Even when I had the page on the website showing me the lower price for the same cabin category on the same cruise. The website applied the discount when I entered my C&A number, as usual, but the agent couldn’t apply it. That never happened before. That reminded me when I booked cruises onboard at NextCruise, they also couldn’t apply the single cruiser discount. It had to be applied by land side. I took the risk and booked anyway and the next day I received the new confirmations with the discount applied…but it was a bit worrisome. Im guessing that due to such high demand, things don’t go as smoothly as they did in the past. But, I was never really on hold very long to speak with an agent so they weren’t too busy at the time. Eventually I was successful getting the reprices, but it was difficult. Time to book through a Travel Agent from now on.

Sorry this happened to you. But I’m sure your warning will be drowned out by the stampede of those rushing to make reservations as bookings have skyrocketed. The best advice is from @SpeedNoodles…use a good Travel Agent (operative word ‘Good’!)…someone who can be easily reached and is responsive whenever you need to make a change, or even just ask a question. Alternatively, I have found success by just calling back and getting a different agent. Sometimes, the agent you get when you first call may be uninformed, confused or just mistaken. Especially when they put you on hold to check with a colleague or another department. It’s like playing a game of Telephone with someone whose primary language is not English. Misinterpretation changes everything. You can also speak with Resolutions and they will most likely give you the right information. Good luck!

I made the same mistake as a lot of others….thinking this was the list of available cruises. Got excited until I read it here. C’mon Royal IT! Even a non-IT savvy person like me would at least put an ‘Excluded Cruises’ watermark diagonally over the pages.