BrianB

Update: As expected…the ‘balance due’ charge has been refunded to my credit card today. The day after I paid it. Now I’ll wait for another ‘balance due’ email for the same charge. Your move Royal.

I did have an issue in the past with OBC. When I booked a cruise, OBC was included. I subsequently used some of it to pay for a Beach Club pass. Later, I repriced the cruise for a nice savings, but was told by doing so I would lose the included OBC. That, in turn, affected my Beach Club pass and I had a small balance due. I was happy that the pass wasn’t automatically cancelled because I got it at a great price. I paid the balance and had no other problem. Easy peasy. It just seems that this ‘Balance Due Phantom’ pops up occasionally and causes annoyance, irritation and discomfort for a while and then just disappears. Sort of like a cold sore…except there is no ointment to soothe the symptoms.

@Lovetocruise2002 No. Just seems random. I did purchase and then cancel to repurchase CocoCay stuff, but I do that all the time without any issue. The surprising thing was when I entered the reservation number of the cruise I’m currently on into the payment page. It said I had a balance due of $38. I didn’t purchase anything extra on this cruise. It’s definitely a glitch…I’m just hoping I don’t get burned last minute.

I saw two cruises were added to the Northeast sailing out of Port Liberty in Bayonne NJ. I booked a 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Odyssey sailing March 1 to 15, 2026. Then the Odyssey will go transatlantic on a 15 day cruise to Spain. Just waiting for the rest of the 2026 bookings to open up…

I’ve been hearing that they are strongly considering amending the Suite Designation Policy to the following… ‘Any cabin will become a suite with all of the benefits associated with the highest suite level on any ship if that specific cabin is occupied by any passenger who’s first name begins with ‘B’…and ends with ‘N’…and has three letters in between, the last two of which must be vowels.’ Figure if I repeat this enough, it will take off!

I’d rather not deal with confrontation…especially if it can be avoided and alternatives are readily available. If I knew without a doubt that chair hogs had staked their claim and then disappeared…especially if they left the ship…and I really wanted that chair…I would move the chair and replace their stuff on the floor exactly as they had it placed. I would move the chair close by so I could see the reaction if and when they returned. No one to confront.

After having gone through these seemingly random ‘balance due’ emails in the past, I thought Royal corrected this annoying glitch. Today I received two emails informing me I had balances due on two upcoming cruises and reminded that failure to pay in full would result in a cancellation…along with the warning to review the cancellation policy. In other words…pay or lose it all! Both balances due are less than fifty dollars. Interestingly, on the email it shows the reservation number, date of sailing, and ‘paid in full’. But when I search the reservation number on the site’s payment page…there it is…payment due. So I paid it. Both of them. Just for the heck of it, I also searched the reservation number of the cruise I’m currently on…Liberty…and sure enough ‘Payment Due’. Obviously this is another glitch. I’ll expect notification shortly from my credit card showing a refund has been posted by Royal for the amounts I just paid.…….and then wait for another email telling me I have a payment due for the same cruises. This time I won’t worry as much. It’s just very frustrating!

Keep in mind… If you booked through a Travel Agent, call your agent and tell them about the lower price. They can confirm it and call to have it re-priced. If you booked through the casino, or using a casino certificate, or the booking has a casino instant cash certificate subsequently applied…then you must call the casino number as only they can service a casino-related booking.

I’m guessing somebody up high issued an edict to…”Henceforth and Forever Ye Shall Tie With Zip Yon Balcony Chairs and Pity The Fool Who Undoes Said Tie! So Let It Be Said, So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done!”…that would sort of explain the tongue-lashing meted out to the Guest Services guy when he called somebody to ask about it. …at least until they figure out something else. If they zipped them upright, some would complain they’re uncomfortable for lounging. Can’t please everyone. I don’t think they would go so far as removing someone from the ship if they were caught with unzipped chairs. Passengers could always claim ignorance and say they thought the previous occupants did it. The reason for the zipping is not published anywhere…at least not yet. So no warning. Doesn’t really matter to me, but if someone is really annoyed, they could just bring heavy duty zips and quickly replace them locking the chair upright. I wouldn’t leave them unzipped. Until a reason or a ‘Don’t Do That’ is issued by Royal, that seems reasonable. But…I’m also a rule-follower, so for me… So Let It Be Done!

I’m on the Liberty. Using their WiFi on my iPad, I booked the Beach Club for over twenty future sailings…then went back and cancelled Hideaway passes on each of them. Fortunately, I had no difficulty navigating in and out of each reservation. **I did this at about 9pm Friday. Maybe there was less demand on the website at that time?

@tonyfsu21 You do what you gotta do. Talking about following the rules…there are two conflicting rules; 1) Royal’s rarely-enforced chair hog rule. 2) Fellow passenger’s ‘my stuff=my chair’ rule. Only one of these rules seems to be respected. First come, first served. Regular cruisers can complain about it all we want…because we see it all the time. But new and less frequent cruisers seem to understand this is the way it’s done. Not only aboard cruise ships, but also at many land resorts. I think as far as the company is concerned…if it seems to work itself out over the vast majority of customers, then don’t get involved. I agree with you. If you (and Royal) can’t beat ‘em…join ‘em. Until some workable, enforceable and respectable process is created…nobody’s going to give you a pat on back for sacrificing a great set of chairs for you and your family just to show you’re not contributing to a problem that most people don’t even know exists. Enjoy your vacation!

If you’re sailing in the winter…there is only the one ship (Odyssey) so the parking garage will be available. If there happens to be overflow, they will usually go in the open lot across the street.

Excellent news! I love that these new private destinations are being built at ports where other cruise lines visit. Great publicity and marketing value. CocoCay is on its own island and unless a potential cruiser researches videos and blogs, they really don’t know what they’re missing. I can imagine families coming off their ships and seeing a beautiful destination steps away…but it’s not for them. Sorry…no entry for you! You’re not Royal! It will help build the customer base. I know more demand equals higher prices, but Royal is still building ships and bringing more and more inventory into the market. This huge business growth would have been hard to imagine a couple of years ago when so many people were predicting the demise of cruising as we knew it. On the other hand…they were right; Cruising is exploding. I wonder if the constant focus on the cruise industry during that time, especially it’s successful comeback, put the idea of cruising into the minds of many more vacationers looking for something different…and now are repeat cruisers. Just thinking…..

@skywalk640 Thank you for a great, comprehensive review! I love this itinerary and do it every September. We went Sept 12 and it was fantastic! As we were expecting cooler weather going north, we packed lots of long sleeves…turned out every day was in the 80’s! Went to Macy’s in Boston to buy some short sleeves. Loved Boston and Portland. Sydney was a very nice change from Bar Harbor. Although Bar Harbor is a beautiful, picturesque port, I never liked the tendering process. Lots of waiting sitting in the tender. Plus, on our last trip there…the ship had to anchor much further away from the tender dock…out of view from the harbor area. All of the Canadian ports are great. Halifax has that really nice boardwalk area with lots to see and do and never feels crowded…even with another ship in port. The Citadel is very interesting…get there for the noon gun (it’s a blast) and go on a free guided tour. Lots of pubs and really good restaurants nearby. Saint John is also great. Docked right on a main street with plenty of shops, restaurants and pubs within easy walking distance. Very nice, friendly people who welcome cruisers to their town. Already booked for next year. Also, Liberty is one of my favorites. Dated, yes…but clean, bright, airy and maintained very well. The crew is, as usual for Royal, fantastic!

The article says it’s ‘rare’…but it happens quite a few times at Port Liberty. Oasis-class is enormous and the channel is pretty narrow where she docks. Large container ships come and go to the Bayonne port. Usually they are not scheduled to arrive or leave during the time the cruise ships are docked, but sometimes it happens. So Oasis has to move out of the way. Even the Liberty and Anthem (changed to Odyssey starting this winter season) can be affected by commercial ship traffic. There have been times where a RoRo car carrier is docked just across the channel. Or a large container ship passes by. On the Anthem, we didn’t untie and move the last time it happened when I was aboard. They just delayed boarding for a half hour or so and disconnected the gangways so any motion caused by the passing ship wouldn’t result in damage to those really expensive sky bridges. Oh, well…ship happens. And everyone should know that the most important thing to pack on embarkation day is…patience. **photo from the Anthem Solarium as a cargo ship passes.

@Ken L Welcome to the boards…and welcome to cruising!

Mine are usually added in about a week after the cruise. But there are times where mistakes are made. I’m usually solo in a balcony and sometimes they only give me one point per night…or if I’m solo in a suite sometimes I only get two. Every time I called Crown and Anchor, they took care of it immediately.

I received the full refund back to my credit card yesterday morning. I also received my Future Cruise Credit certificate at the same time… Ten days after the cancellation notice went out. Still bummed about the cancellation…but pleasantly pleased on how quick I got the refund/FCC.

I really loved my cruise on the Jewel to Greenland last September. The ship itself is older, smaller and the interior spaces seem darker than the newer ships…but therein lies the charm. My balcony room was pretty good, as expected for a ship that size and age…everything worked and the bed was fine for me. The food was just as good as on other Royal ships. The crew was fantastic as usual. I always book early traditional dining when I make my reservation, and I don’t know if this is what happened to you or not, but if I then book specialty dining, it seems to automatically change my main dining to MyTime. I guess the reason is then a table won’t be held empty because I won’t be there every night. I’ve learned to go right to the MDR host desk as soon as I board and make sure I get changed back to early dining. Greenland was wonderful! I can best describe it as ‘the beauty of natural desolation…undisturbed and barren for eons!’. I hired a taxi in Qaqortoq for a very reasonable price and went beyond the city (more like a village) to some really great, expansive viewing areas. It was really cool experiencing the complete and total silence! The people of Greenland were friendly and interesting. We took an excursion into the bay to view icebergs up close and personal. It’s amazing how blue the clear ice can be. We even had some local whiskey with a piece of the ice in the cup. To prepare my expectations for the cruise, I did my due diligence. I researched the weather for that time of year; I viewed videos from fellow cruisers showing the ship and cabins; I ordered some Danish Krone from my bank so I could bring local currency; ….and, most importantly, I searched this blog for helpful tips. I had a great ‘bucket list’ Greenland cruise and would love to do it again. Hopefully another one will be scheduled from Port Liberty in the future. **full disclosure…I may be a little bit biased about this cruise because I won a jackpot/hand pay in the casino which paid for several future cruises!

A strike will affect cargo operations…so the supply chain will suffer. It's fine that there will be no issue docking and undocking cruise ships…and luggage loading and unloading. But…if there are no supplies available on turnaround day due to supply shortages, then it’s reasonable to think that cruises will definitely be affected.

According to the statement issued by the ILA… Cruise ship operations will continue to be serviced by the ILA as to not inconvenience those tens of thousands of passengers who have booked cruises. However, it seems reasonable to assume that if the supply chain is affected by the strike…then there would be a challenge getting needed supplies to the ship each turnaround day. Hoping for a quick resolution.

I know it was asked, but are they ‘pending’ charges. If so, hopefully it just drops off after the Royal charge clears.

Yep! Gotta try the Icon. I have one of the Sky Juniors…so I should be okay being one of the first walk offs. Just don’t want to sit in the airport for the 1:45pm flight. Hoping the 10:15am will be doable. I will monitor as it gets closer and keep an eye on the weather forecast. If there’s a system that may form and possibly interfere…then I’ll definitely keep the later time. Just hoping I can get out of Miami earlier.

I have an available flight leaving Miami Airport at 10:16…so boarding about 9:30-ish. If all goes well and the ship (Icon) gets back in port on time on a Saturday…and I’m one of the first walk-offs with my luggage…can I just grab a taxi and make it? I’m hoping that will put me in the airport by 8.

Maybe they can pay homage to their IT department and name a new ship ‘Glitch of the Seas’. It can be a niche ship with lots of interesting elements that just don’t work right. For instance, if you push a floor number in the elevator…it delivers you to a different floor. Or, when you order a steak in a restaurant…they serve you jello. Maybe something as simple as randomly numbering the decks in no order at all. Everyone’s SeaPass card has someone else’s name on it. All of the automatic doors are open and when you approach, they close. Stairs that only go up, not down…this one’s my favorite! Any other suggestion?