SweetHomeLady

I know this wasn’t the purpose of your post but I just have to share this story…
I am 100% Filipino, born in NYC, raised in Jersey. And while I’ve only been on one cruise, I absolutely love cruising!!
The worst part of cruising for me - the amount of times I got asked a question by people who thought I was a crew member.
“What time does [insert place here] open?” “Where is the nearest restroom?” “How do I get to [insert place here]?” And my personal favorite “Wow, you have to stand in line with the rest of us?” 
 
I must have said “I’m sorry I don’t work here” a dozen or more times! Anyway, I chuckle at it now and if that was the worst of my vacation, so be it haha.

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair. Hot sale on casitas, rising up on planner

We're not here to debate masks and their efficacy. It just ends up with a fight between people with no benefit.

@twangster I am supporting you in spirit. Personally I wish for you a great outcome to the situations at hand. You will beat down all that has ganged up on you for sure!!  Family comes first is the best motto. Happy New Year to you and I am personally looking forward to your return. Here's also hoping the FCC world is kind to you, you deserve it!

I wanted to share this story, my Wife and I have been together 10 years. We went on her first cruise last week and she wasn't happy about the $30 usd a day ($40 ish Canadian dollars) for gratuities. I didn't say much before the cruise and her plan was to go and reduce the gratuities at guest services.
 
To clarify, I love her very much! She hasn't travelled much, this was my 3rd cruise and I have travelled a lot in the past. Day 1 she questioned why I was leaving cash tips for our lovely room attendant and still keeping reduced tips. I still didn't say too much because I was certain I knew the ending.
 
As the cruise went on she was going on and on about all of the wonderful people being so great. We had great conversations with many of them in the Windjammer, main dining room, hallway etc. 
 
Our 2nd last day we were relaxing on Deck 12 at night and she said you know what...I feel so bad that I even considered reducing the tips and if anything we should give more. That was an amazing moment watching her come to the realization 🙂
I never judged or faulted her for feeling that way, but I knew she would change her mind!

I am thinking about bringing Christmas cards and putting some extra cash in them.

Gratuities are a per person/per day flat fee based on your stateroom type (in your case $14.50 is correct), not a percentage of the cost of your cruise.  Suites pay more per person per day than non-suites.  Other than that, they are the same whether you have an inside or a balcony, or what price you booked the cruise.  You're complicating it.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense

I had a severe case of this when I sailed from Vancouver to Hawaii. I think there were 5 or 6 sea days in a row, and some choppy seas the first couple of days.  On my first port day  I felt like I could barely walk on land!  I called my brother who was a commercial fisherman, and asked for advice.  He advised me to eat something salty, drink something cold like ginger ale, and sit down or lie down with my eyes closed for a few minutes until the feeling passed.  I tried it and it did help.  Each episode thereafter I did the eyes closed and lie down if possible, and each time got a bit better.  Now before and on each day of sailing I take one Sudafed (little red pills) and it seems to help my inner ear.  Good luck!

Enjoy your cruise!

You can do quite a bit of the check in from the website.  The rest they'll check at the port.  It just slows it down a little. 
Follow this thread for more information:
 
 
 

I also tip a few dollars cash to anyone who brings my room service tray.

I also tip a few dollars cash to anyone who brings my room service tray.

Given that ships aren't normally in port overnight, I feel like it's rare to get a photo of the ship all lit up at night. I've got one of Mariner from a few years ago when rough seas kept us from going to CoCo Cay, so we wound up with an overnight in Nassau instead. Anyone else have some good pictures of the ships all lit up?

Yes - I've picked up 57 points since they've been offered.   I think its a great idea, helps you get over the bump to next level.  I think they should offer points based upon how much you spend on-board (excluding OBC).   Maybe offer 1 pt for every $1k spent on merchandise, spa, dining/drink packages etc.  I believe it would boost on-board sales.

Now we can only hope they continue to listen to the people and bring back the tuxedo rental perk too!!!
 

Each block has a hologram of that ship class and the name of the ship.

Hope you have a wonderful time!

For the first time ever, I will be sailing on Christmas Day.  Have you ever done it, on Celebrity or another line?  Good or bad experiences?

Sailing on Summit for Christmas.  I have sailed on her sisters, Infinity and Constellation.  So happy to be heading back to sea!  This will be my first time in Aqua class.

At the moment if you cancel you are entitled to a refund of everything except the per person deposit (since you are before final payment due date).  If the deposit was $250 per person then your refund should be all of your payments to date minus $250 per person.  Of the $250, $100 per person is lost as a fee and $150 will be issued as an FCC per person.
I guessed you booked a 7 night cruise and the deposit was $250.  If it was a longer cruise then the deposit could be $450 per person.  If so the same rules apply, $100 lost as a fee, $350 in FCC per person.
If you choose to exercise the Cruise with Confidence program you will receive 100% FCC but allocated per person.  All of the named or booked people will receive some FCC regardless who paid for the cruise.  Only those people by name can use the FCC in the future.  If, as you suggest, it will be challenging to get all of these people to book another cruise then it's likely there will be some lost FCC since FCC is not transferable to other people.
While you and I see the cruise cost as X and the cost per person as X divided by the number of people, royal math works in strange ways.  I've seen FCC for each guest to be different with no rhyme or reason. Maybe guest 1 gets 43%, guest 2 gets 37% and guests 3 & 4 get 10% each, or maybe something wildly different.    If going forward guest 2 doesn't go on a future cruise and never cruises again then 37% is lost.  

Hi everyone, I know we get heated debating which dessert is the best one to order, or if a balcony room is worth it, but let's keep these basic rules in mind when chatting here.
No profanity No personal insults No political discussion This includes tropes about politicians and generalizations about political parties No debating religion Keep your posts relevant and accurate to each specific thread. We can all have our little fun within each thread but please make sure the information you're putting out there is correct and current.   Topics not related to Royal Caribbean may be removed. Posts or comments encouraging cruisers to break any Royal Caribbean policy is not allowed and will be removed.

This is probably going to be an extremely unpopular opinion, and I really love this cruise line, but Royal needs to start suspending operations ASAP for the health and safety of their passengers. Human life is more important than cruising.

In my humble opinion, life is too short to wrangle my own straws on vacation.  I did find that if my paper straw gets yucky the bar staff are always willing to give me a new one.

This is extremely easy to avoid. When you go in for any kind of spa procedure there is paperwork to fill out and forms to sign.  At the bottom of the page in HUGE letters, I write “ NO SALES !!”.  That will alert them that you are not going to participate in any sales talk.  If they start, just get up and walk out.  Works like a charm.