WesKinetic

38 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

I tried searching for an answer to this question - Does anyone know what time(s) Harmony is on (EST or CST) when sailing out of Galveston on the Western Caribbean (Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel) cruise? Are there any time changes? Thanks in advance. 

Ship will be on central time. Local times may be different depending on daylight savings time when you go, but the ship will always stay on central time. 

March 17 on Harmony. Can't get here fast enough. 

Two weeks away. Anybody else on board? 

Wait, so some people have had their refunds taken out of the paid balance? I'm one of those who is always cancelling and repricing and I've never had a problem with getting the refunds back to my credit card in a matter of days. 

Now you've got me paranoid about if I've been playing with fire and have just been lucky to this point. 

2 hours ago, Leroyr55 said:

We’ve taken a few cruises but just never went in the casino one main reason is the smoking. Have to try to keep her  

Just an FYI: Oasis class ships have now converted what used to be their jazz clubs into smoke-free casino areas. 

I prefer early just because (a) like others have said, I like having more free time in the evening and (b) on those nights when I might "overindulge", I don't like that feeling of trying to go to sleep when I'm still completely stuffed. 

That said, I lot of times I will skip MDR altogether and just head to Windjammer or Sorrentos whenever I feel hungry. 

4 hours ago, Gilley said:

Is cafe promenade drinks also included in refresher package or do you need deluxe drink package.

Yep, pretty much anything nonalcoholic is covered. So as long as you're not ordering Bailey's or whisky shots in your drinks, you should be good to go. 

I'm not aware of any "official" list, but I do know that RCCL always tries to book a priest for Christmas and Easter sailings. Same with a rabbi for Hanukkah and Passover. While they obviously can't guarantee the clergy member won't have to cancel at the last minute for some reason, the odds are very good that there will be a priest on any Easter sailings. 

More info at RCCL FAQ: Does Royal Caribbean offer Religious Services onboard?

I'm a sucker for Baked Alaska. 

First thing, consider what package you might purchase if you DON'T get the deluxe package. Are you a soda drinker and would get your money out of the soda package? Do you like your iced coffees and lattes and would take advantage of the refreshment package? If you think you would likely get one of those packages, you need to subtract out the cost of that from the price of the deluxe package and then decide if you would order enough alcoholic drinks to make up that difference. 

So many people asking this question make the mistake of "worth it" based on comparing the deluxe package to getting nothing, which is rarely an apples-to-apples comparison. 

 

On 1/15/2024 at 9:11 AM, Doug_Texas said:

Drinking is a science and does involve math.

BRB, off to share that quote with my wife, the math teacher!  

I just tell my family, when in doubt, check the British pub. 

If you get a promotional onboard credit from RCCL, is it only good on the ship? Or will you get it in advance to use for pre-cruise purchases? 

Long story short, RCCL is currently offering OBC for booking a new cruise. I booked last night for a cruise that meets all the fine print criteria, but it's not showing up in my cruise planner. So I didn't know if this was normal or if RCCL was just taking its sweet time adding it to my cruise? (The fine print does say "is applicable to cruise only", but I was a little unclear if that meant only while actually on the ship. The only other times I've ever gotten OBC, it was from a travel agent and showed up in the cruise planner.) Thanks. 

@Pattycruise Thanks for clarifying. I figured there had to be some kind of catch.   Fortunately, I've only had to go this route occasionally so I've never run into those restrictions. 

2 hours ago, barjpoe said:

I've read that you can get 'cash' from the slots that can be taken from your OBC. How is that done? Please, very simple explanation as I'm can be 'slot machine challenged'. Thanks.

Follow the instructions @PPPJJ-GCVAB posted above to access your account. There will be a "personal banker" button (or something to that effect) and one of the options will be to charge an amount to your room. Just charge the amount of your OBC (or however much cash you want) to the machine and then cash it out. 

Even if you don't have OBC, this also works as a way to get out cash without paying the ATM fees. You can charge an amount to your room and then cash it out instead of withdrawing cash from the ATM. (Not sure if/how much of a limit they have, but I've done this before for getting smaller amounts of cash as needed.)

Royal Caribbean's refund math is notoriously wonky with no explanation of where the numbers come from. But as long as you're confident the total amount refunded is correct, there shouldn't be any reason to worry. The excursion still showing up will most likely clear out soon. 

There's nothing to stop you, and I've done that when I've had a can or bottle of something that I hadn't opened. It is technically unlimited, but generally they're just going to give you one can at a time. So you probably don't want to think of this your personal grocery store and expect to bring home cases at a time. 

6 hours ago, TexasNative said:

Tipping seems to be popular to pre-pay then tip additionally if need be/desired?

If you buy the drink package, an 18% service charge will be added automatically. So you don't really get a choice in that. (They add the same fee on each drink when you buy on board, so it's really six of one, half a dozen of the other.) But on board you can always give an additional tip for good service. 

As for whether the drink package is "worth it," I think @Atlantix2000 hit it on the head with something a lot of people don't think about. You need to factor in how many sodas, bottles of water, specialty coffees, energy drinks, etc. will you drink in addition to the alcoholic drinks? Those are all included in the deluxe package so, if those are things you would take advantage of, that may factor into your equation. 

Just now, CanHardlyWait said:

The soda package doesn't include bottles of water.

Oops, you are correct. I misread the post. My apologies. @CanHardlyWait is correct--bottled water is only with the refreshment package. 

Yep, they're included. You can order at any bar. Sometimes you'll have to ask for a can if you want that instead of just a glass, but I've never had a problem doing that. 

If you like sushi, I would recommend it. It was a lot of fun and a lot of food. And a pretty good deal for the price, IMHO. 

4 hours ago, PL8SWPR said:

Prices on food are extremely reasonable too.  Wings are cheaper (and bigger) there than most local places we go to on land.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality the food there. If you have the dining package, you can get up to $20 worth of food there each day, in addition to your other dining reservations. So a lot of times we will do that for lunch instead of Windjammer or another specialty reservation. 

And as @PL8SWPR said, even if you don't have the dining package and just want to grab a snack there, the prices are very reasonable. 

11 hours ago, matt_b said:

And I assume a Johnny Rockets drink package for milkshakes is not cheap?

Sorry, I wasn't clear--it's not a Johnny Rockets specific package. If you buy the Deluxe Beverage Package (aka the open bar package) or Refreshment Package (basically everything except alcohol), those can be used for shakes at Johnny Rockets. But those aren't cheap and, based on how you describe your drinking habits above, I think both of those would still be overkill for what you really need. If you go on a ship with a Johnny Rockets (Ovation of the Seas does not have one, so this wouldn't be an option there), you can always go there and just buy a shake (I want to say it's about $6, but it's been a while since I've been in one on board, so hopefully someone can chime in with more recent pricing.) Buying them a la carte like that would probably be the most cost-effective way for your party. 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not aware of anywhere to get free milkshakes. There are several places to get free ice cream. But for actual milkshakes, you can generally only get them on board at places like Johnny Rockets (shakes included with drink package) or Ben and Jerry's (shakes cost extra). 

One other option (and I'm not saying this is a great one) is there is bus service between Vancouver and Seattle. So if there is a better-timed flight out of Seattle, that might be something you could consider. 

Having a day in Vancouver would definitely be more fun, for sure. But if you have to be back home by a certain time, Seattle would at least give you some extra options.