BrianB

I have uploaded my vax card multiple times for most of my recent cruises. They still want to see the card at check in. There have also been times where I uploaded the card, and at the port they still took a photo of it. I don’t know what would happen if I didn’t have the card and told them I uploaded a photo on the app. I always brought the card. Maybe someone has an experience where the uploaded photo was sufficient.

When I tried to apply it to a cruise where I had already booked a CLS, the agent told me there were no interior rooms available. So I had the option of applying the $200 benefit…or finding another eligible cruise with interiors available. Luckily, as it is a b2b, the next cruise had interiors available and I received the full benefit of an interior applied to my booked CLS. I checked by doing a mock booking of an interior room with all of my eligible discounts applied (C&A, NJ resident, senior geezer, etc) and the price was similar to the amount applied. **also, both of these cruises had been re-priced at least twice…most recently about three weeks ago, so the current pricing was pretty close.

I received my concierge email on April 18 for my May 1 sailing on the Oasis. I responded with my dinner reservations and Nadia answered the next day. But usually I received the email a few days before…so this was not typical.

Just to clear up what I posted earlier….when I said no inside rooms were available, that means inside rooms held by the casino to be used as complimentary rooms. They place a hold on a certain amount of rooms in all categories and then release the holds as the cruise gets closer. Sorry, forgot to add that.

This made me nervous ….I just checked my confirmations and they show the original final payment due date. Whew!

I had booked these cruises myself months ago with all of the usual options….my C&A number, senior citizen, NJ resident, first responder….and received the discounted price at the time. I then re-priced each at least twice over the months as sales came out and the prices dropped. Being solo, the best is when the 30% off each guest is offered. Even with the lowest price to date, the casino rate on the inside room…along with the upgrade to the CLS…was still much lower. It pretty much resulted in the value of me getting interior room being subtracted from the total.

No. The bookings were made by me, online. Not casino rates. Yes. They were from casino play. At the Clubroyaleoffers.com site, they listed the offers along with their redemption codes. There were links next to each offer to redeem, but I didn’t try clicking them…I just called.

No. It just lowered my balance due. The due date remained the same.

…and the turtles. Don’t forget the turtles!

Yes. In the first instance, the cruise had to be listed on the eligible dates. I had already booked a cruise for September on the Oasis out of Port Liberty (actually two of them…b2b). On one there were no inside rooms available so I couldn’t use the benefit of a free inside. But, the second cruise had insides available, so I got the full value of an inside applied to my existing CLS reservation. I tried using a $200 off certificate on a cruise next month, but was unable because it was past final payment. So I just used it on another booked cruise in October.

www.clubroyaleoffers.com I entered my last name and C&A number and it listed my current offers, eligible sail dates and offer expiration dates. I called this morning and after the usual long wait (PLEASE change the recorded commercial!) I was connected with a very patient, helpful agent. He checked my eligible, booked cruises…only those not yet past final payment date were eligible…and found which ones had interior staterooms available. I had already booked CLS on the Oasis and wanted to apply the value of the interior room to my booking. I could only do it if there were interior rooms open. I was able to apply the full value of the interior to one booking and that dropped my final payment. I applied another interior room to a different booking (offers can not be combined) and that, too, dropped my final payment. I then applied two $200 off certificates to two additional bookings. The most important advice is make sure you have at least two hours to invest being on the phone. Speaker phones are great!

Done!

Done!

I don’t know why. I thought maybe it was only on the older Cruise Planner. So I did it again just now. This time on the new planner. See the photo. I booked a beach club pass in November for this cruise. I just booked another one now. Both in my name. Amex sent me the text that the charge went through. Now I’ll go back and cancel the one I just purchased.

I do it quite often when I see a price change. I always purchase the same item before I cancel my original purchase. I do it for the beach club pass, beach beds, dining…. When I saw others saying it’s impossible to do that, I thought maybe it was because I was doing it only on the older Cruise Planner system. So, I just tried it now on the new Cruise Planner. I purchased another Coco Beach Club pass. See the photo. My original purchase was made in November. I just made another purchase today. Same item…beach club pass. Amex sent me the text notification that the charge went through. Now I’ll go back and cancel the purchase I just made.

Easy procedure. I get a letter in my cabin usually mid-cruise with a QR code. Scanning it will open the page where I register for my complimentary Covid antigen test. Info includes name, email, cabin number and passport number. Once registered, it will generate a QR code that I save and use that when I enter for the test. But don’t worry…even if you can’t register due to a WiFi or phone glitch, they’ll do it when you show up for your test. So far, for me…tests were given in conference rooms and dining rooms…early on the last full day of the cruise. In and out in minutes. Results are emailed back to me within a few hours. No need to print them out as I didn’t need to show it during turnaround day. They already knew I was negative. I’ve done this procedure on the Anthem and the Wonder. I don’t know if it’s different elsewhere…or if protocols will change. Just keep checking the website. Enjoy your back-to-back!

So far, there have been lots of posts regarding passengers experiencing the new arrival procedure. When you get to the port, you will be allowed in at your assigned time. You then check in and walk right onto the ship. If you arrive early, you’ll have to wait outside. It’s been this way for me in Bayonne NJ and Fort Lauderdale. There have been some instances where they allowed you in early, but only because there where no passengers with the current boarding time. But, as capacity keeps increasing, I don’t think that’s going to be the case too often. Enjoy your cruise!

@GKMCruising

I use an iPad to stream Prime, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube etc…..so far onboard the Anthem, Oasis and now the Wonder, I have had no problem streaming movies during the evening. I have had some issues when the ship was going through stormy weather where the internet was interrupted, or even one time where the entire fleet wide service was shut down for over a day. So, to prepare for this, I now have downloaded movies and shows on my iPad before boarding, just in case the Voom goes out.

Can I get on an airplane with Bessie? She’s my ‘emotional support’ cow. Plus, I really like a squirt of fresh milk in my coffee. **Yes...this is humor. I’ve also seen people who are ‘disabled’ at boarding day getting on the ship early…walking with a severe limp, using a cane…and them see them doing early walk-off with a pile of wheeled luggage. With the cane strapped to a bag, they literally run off the ship. It’s a shame someone feels the need to ‘get over’ by feigning a disability.

The Oasis has the open outdoor area forward of, and part of, the Solarium. It's a great space! Especially while in port.

I’ve never had that happen to me. There was always one or two of the machines that were ‘down’ but not all of the credit card machines. Seeing as I take most of my cruises out of Port Liberty, I’m now going to make sure I have sufficient cash when I get off the ship just in case. Thanks for the tip!

I agree with the elevator issue. I sail out of Port Liberty regularly over the winter. Several times there has only been one working elevator. One time both elevators were out of service. I was on the second level and was able to carry my bags up one flight…but I’m sure a lot of people had to go back in front of the terminal with their luggage and wait for one of their party to bring the car around. That must have been a mess.

Here's a good therapist...

As you turn into the terminal area, there are workers directing traffic and they’ll point you to a spot to drop off your luggage with a waiting handler. Then pull forward to the entrance of the parking garage. An attendant will hand you a ticket with the advice to ‘not leave it in the car…you’ll need it to pay before you go back into the garage’. Then you park and as soon as you walk out of the garage, the terminal entrance is steps away.