BrianB

I keep getting an email telling me I have a balance due of $68.38 on one cruise in February that shows zero balance due. 
When I first got it…I paid it, just to be sure. The next day the amount was refunded to my credit card.
A week later…another email…I paid it. The next day the amount was refunded to my credit card.
This kept happening…I felt like I was in the movie Groundhog Day.
I emailed Royal and they responded…assuring me my balance was paid in full and instructing me to ignore all future balance due emails for this cruise.
I keep getting them…at least once a week. I keep ignoring them. So far I’ve received fourteen…with two months to go. 
Fingers crossed!🤞

Should be out the week of February 12th as part of the "Northeast & Long Caribbean" schedules. 

@Larry Muster Yes. You should upgrade to a suite…I mean Junior Suite. Disregard all that talk about becoming addicted to the suite life. It’s all just exaggeration, rumor, innuendo…myth….legend. Do it! You know you want to! 🤣

I have bought the Key many times and have learned some lessons. Here’s my take;
I would watch the price fluctuate and if it came close to the price for purchasing Voom internet, I would snag it as I would get Voom anyway. Even though the Voom price also dropped at that time…I still convinced myself that it was a good bargain.
I’m usually going on ships from Port Liberty in NJ and mileage may vary at other ports, but…in NJ, Key members are allowed to check in and board early. The Guardian of the Portal announces through his handy dandy electric megaphone that Key members may enter through the hallowed doors pretty much as soon as they open. Regardless of the time on your boarding pass. This is, of course, to ensure we get the benefit of the Key luncheon (which ends around 1:30pm) and we get to drop off our carry ons. 

As far as early entry to the shows…this usually never happened. A lot of people show up early and begin to line up. When the doors open, they just admit anyone with a reservation. Only once on the Anthem, did they open the doors and announce, “Suites, Pinnacles, Diamond Plus and Key members first!”. 

So far on the Anthem, Wonder and Oasis…the ‘reserved seating’ for Key, Suites and Pinnacles at the shows was in less-than-ideal areas of the venues. Usually way up in the balcony of the theater and Two70….or off to the side in the upper rows of Studio B. I felt more like we were being hidden away rather than given good seats. 

I never took advantage of the ‘private times’ for the Flow Rider or the Rock Wall…but the times offered were pretty slim. Usually very early on one or two days of a seven day cruise. 

Since the restart, Key priority disembarkation at the various ports was nonexistent. Just had to join the line. 
On the Anthem, on the final morning…disembarkation for Key members was usually prioritized. I always did the early walk-off with all of my luggage. Sometimes they would take Key, Suites and Pinnacles from the line and place us up front. Other times they had us wait near the Excursions desk directly across from the exit and we were the first to move off the ship. It seemed to change depending on who was the supervisor in charge at the time. It was never consistent.
Bottom line…I would get it mostly for the Voom. Plus, I usually sail solo so I only had to pay for one. Early boarding and the Chops lunch were pretty good, along with dropping off my carry on and jacket. The only other perk for me was the priority disembarkation on the final day. But, then again, I was usually one of the first in line anyway. Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

CFO folks never will fund IT based on a better potential experience.  Their position is… We are making billions, why put money into IT?   That won’t help us make more money.   
Until the system crashes and it costs them money, IT will be minimally funded.   Look at Southwest.   Same philosophy.   

Hope the rest of your cruise goes smooth and eventless!  Keeping my fingers crossed 🤞🏻 for you and everyone aboard!
Merry Christmas 🎄!

Wow…that’s a crazy night!  Yes…that could definitely be a “thanks but no thanks again” for a first timer!  Never really thought about how the crew handle the rough seas but how sad those first couple of days went for them!  That would mean a huge tip coming for my attendant if I was on that sailing!
Glad it didn’t really affect you personally.  I’m also a non-motion sick kind of person.  However…my husband…different story!  Had we been on this sailing…he would absolutely NEVER try another cruise again.  Which would be horrible as we have 2 pretty decent ones booked, especially our TransAtlantic…which I am already placing my prayers to please provide as smooth of a cruise as possible crossing the Atlantic!
Thanks for sharing!

@PPPJJ-GCVAB
Weather overnight Sunday night was ‘interesting’. Even for me.
I'm in a balcony cabin on deck eight forward.
Lively seas…very high winds. Started getting worse around ten at night. Lots of movement. Wind kept blowing through the seal of the balcony door…sounding like a train whistle. Lots of huge bangs as we hit the swells…sometimes felt like we were running over speed bumps. Bouts of heavy wind blown rain, combined with sea spray occasionally hitting my balcony door. Lucky none came through the seal.
Managed to save my coffee service tray as it slid across the table. Unable to sleep due to getting shoved around and the intermittent train whistle. 🚂 
Forgot to clear my toiletries from the counter top in the bathroom so had to go clean them up after they bounced around the bathroom floor.
Finally started to ease around three in the morning. Still motion during the day Monday…just more typical of a winter sailing from NJ.
I feel really bad for those suffering from seasickness….and I hope those on their first cruise don’t decide it’s a ‘one and done’.
Capt. Toni reported at the tier event on Monday that the top wind Sunday night was in excess of 64mph.
Some of the shops had displays knocked over and the Solarium Bistro suffered some minimal scattering of items.
Probably similar issues aft in the Windjammer and maybe the crew mess.
I also felt really bad for the cabin attendants. After a busy and tiring turnaround day on Sunday…I spoke to some who said they couldn’t sleep due to the motion. Many were sick. When they tried to service the cabins Monday morning, many passengers slept in due to being unable to sleep during the storm. This caused them to have to extend their work day. A very difficult time for them…but they always do their best.
All in all…it was an exciting five hours or so overnight. But, I knew we were safe and in good hands…on a ship that was built to handle much worse.
If I had to decide whether I would do it again under the same circumstances…absolutely. For me it was really no big deal. Been in worse.
But, again…I feel really bad for those who were sick and hope that this experience doesn’t turn them away from cruising in the future. That would be a shame. 

@PPPJJ-GCVAB
Weather overnight Sunday night was ‘interesting’. Even for me.
I'm in a balcony cabin on deck eight forward.
Lively seas…very high winds. Started getting worse around ten at night. Lots of movement. Wind kept blowing through the seal of the balcony door…sounding like a train whistle. Lots of huge bangs as we hit the swells…sometimes felt like we were running over speed bumps. Bouts of heavy wind blown rain, combined with sea spray occasionally hitting my balcony door. Lucky none came through the seal.
Managed to save my coffee service tray as it slid across the table. Unable to sleep due to getting shoved around and the intermittent train whistle. 🚂 
Forgot to clear my toiletries from the counter top in the bathroom so had to go clean them up after they bounced around the bathroom floor.
Finally started to ease around three in the morning. Still motion during the day Monday…just more typical of a winter sailing from NJ.
I feel really bad for those suffering from seasickness….and I hope those on their first cruise don’t decide it’s a ‘one and done’.
Capt. Toni reported at the tier event on Monday that the top wind Sunday night was in excess of 64mph.
Some of the shops had displays knocked over and the Solarium Bistro suffered some minimal scattering of items.
Probably similar issues aft in the Windjammer and maybe the crew mess.
I also felt really bad for the cabin attendants. After a busy and tiring turnaround day on Sunday…I spoke to some who said they couldn’t sleep due to the motion. Many were sick. When they tried to service the cabins Monday morning, many passengers slept in due to being unable to sleep during the storm. This caused them to have to extend their work day. A very difficult time for them…but they always do their best.
All in all…it was an exciting five hours or so overnight. But, I knew we were safe and in good hands…on a ship that was built to handle much worse.
If I had to decide whether I would do it again under the same circumstances…absolutely. For me it was really no big deal. Been in worse.
But, again…I feel really bad for those who were sick and hope that this experience doesn’t turn them away from cruising in the future. That would be a shame. 

Hello!
I'm booked!

Hi Lisa! congrats on booking your first cruise!
To make it simple - no you do not HAVE to purchase anything extra. It is entirely possible to pay nothing additional when on a cruise and have a fantastic time.
Free (aka included food) is available in:
the Main Dining Room Buffet Cafe Promenade (a cafe with small bites) the Pizza place(Sorrentos) and other ship-specific places like el loco fresh, mini bites, boardwalk dogs Free beverages are going to be at these places as well and generally include:
water lemonade hot tea iced tea various from-concentrate juices basic coffee  
There are additional For Charge restaurants and attendance at these are completely optional. These tend to include the steak house, mexican, sushi, Italian places onboard. If you are interested in trying but want to save money, all of them offer lunch menus that are significantly cheaper than the dinners.
Beverages that will cost you extra are, obviously, any alcohol or mocktails, and any starbucks or specialty coffee (lattes, mochas, etc), and the Soda. Yes, the soda requires at bare minimum the Classic Soda Package (between $8-10/day online and $15/day onboard) because the soda machine requires a chip in the bottom of the package cup to work. No package - no cup - no soda. BUT you CAN bring on your OWN soda! "12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom."
You can also bring on your own wine or champagne - 1 bottle per adult per room.

Oh yeah...it was our spot! Our room was a few down from the 2nd level entrance to MH on Oasis so we ended every night in there, you walk in and there is a bar, then a pool table, then the rail to look over to see the stage below, along with some tables along the walls, which you can not see the stage from. But it ended up being our favorite bar, and I can honestly tell you we never went to the first floor part, so I don't even know what that bar looks like, lol 

$105,177.58 for the Family Townhouse?
Sorry, but that’s $177.58 more than I would have spent for it.

If you earn a cruise by hitting a certain number of points on a sailing you have to choose a sailing off of their list or you can use the trade-in value on any cruise.  The annual tier cruise that you earn by hitting Prime can be any ship more than a year old and 7 nights or less and not over the holidays. There is now also an exclusion list for the tier cruise. This past year it excluded most of the Wonder sailings even though she's over a year old.
Yes.
Points are based on money played through. If you win on a spin and play those winnings it counts the same as if you put in fresh money. A $20 bet gets you 4 points on slots. The max out of pocket for Prime would be $12,500. That would happen if you didn't win a single cent on any of your spins.
One tier cruise, yes. However you can earn comped cruises based on points earned in a single sailing. Those lists change monthly and are specific to the number of nights of the sailing you are on and how many casino points you earned. Right now the comped cruises start as low as 1200 points on the sailing I am on.
If you earned 2500 points on April 1, 2024 you would get free drinks for the rest of the 2024 casino year (April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025). You would not get your Prime tier cruise until April 2025. You would be considered Prime for all of the 2024 casino year and also for the 2025 casino year (April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2025). You are basically qualifying for Prime for the following casino year but you get the Prime perks as soon as you hit the 2500 mark. They will put a sticker on your card on that cruise you hit it and free drinks start immediately.
You also will get other cruise offers throughout the year but those aren't guaranteed.
The tier cruise and the comped cruises earned on a sailing are double occupancy. Sometimes the random cruise offers are for singles only, basically you have to pay for one person in that case. You can combine your tier offers and result in a better room.
You can also upgrade your comped room and pay the difference in price between your free room and the upgraded room.

I’m genuinely curious about someone who could afford this price but would still choose a royal Caribbean cruise - book your own yacht! That said, I am insanely jealous of the people booking this. 😂

And how about $4500 for the smallest, tiniest inside cabin? 
Complete insanity... 

Like @Lovetocruise2002 said, after the Icon prices, I'm not surprised one bit by Star's prices. 
What's interesting is how the Icon prices fell since going on sale.
You can get on the Icon inaugural now for ~$3800 for 2 in an inside cabin. It wasn't too long ago that was about double. With a new ship, it seems a lot of people book just to book it, but end up cancelling before final payment.
I'm not saying Star's prices will also fall later, but it's worth noting the trend with Icon.

$105,177.58 for the Family Townhouse?
Sorry, but that’s $177.58 more than I would have spent for it.

Doing back to backs gives us a good idea of how quickly they do the turn around after reaching a zero count.
In Bayonne on the Anthem and Liberty…after virtually all the other passengers have disembarked, we are escorted off the ship and through the CBP facial recognition screens (when they’re working) and then stand in line in the baggage hall. Sometimes there’s a straggler or two coming off the ship behind us.
Then, immediately after the zero count…which usually takes just a few minutes…we’re escorted back aboard.
General boarding begins shortly after. Usually around 10:30 and sometimes before.
There are times when there is a delay that keep us in the baggage hall for an extended period. Usually it’s a Coast Guard or Public Health inspection. Then all boarding is pushed back until the inspection is completed. Sometimes disembarkation can be delayed due to a late arrival time back to port…or an issue onboard…or with the port facilities or staffing. Anything can happen to cause a delay so it’s best to just expect it and hope for the best.

I appreciate the company’s position of withholding information out of respect for the family…and the process.
I agree that they have more substantial evidence including cameras and witnesses. But there’s no immediate need to satisfy curiosity or quell rumors at the expense of prematurely reaching an official conclusion until all of the investigative processes are complete…from all agencies involved.
Then they can issue a carefully worded statement addressing the cause. Litigation will likely follow, as usual…a life was lost and all avenues need to be explored as to how it happened, what preventive measures were reasonable to ensure it didn’t happen, and can anything be done to prevent it from happening again.
Condolences to his family and friends.

$105,177.58 for the Family Townhouse?
Sorry, but that’s $177.58 more than I would have spent for it.

$105,177.58 for the Family Townhouse?
Sorry, but that’s $177.58 more than I would have spent for it.

$105,177.58 for the Family Townhouse?
Sorry, but that’s $177.58 more than I would have spent for it.

$105,177.58 for the Family Townhouse?
Sorry, but that’s $177.58 more than I would have spent for it.

$105,177.58 for the Family Townhouse?
Sorry, but that’s $177.58 more than I would have spent for it.