Mr. Candyman

47 minutes ago, Tim B. said:

I was on Independence of the Seas early May 19 and the 10 drink card came out the evening on Day 3 of a 5 day cruise. I don't drink a whole lot so I didn't do it but it seems that they were offering it at $79 or something like that. As I have read from others it seems it comes out when their bar sales are a little low on the cruise and they need to put on a sale to pump up sales.

That seems about the going price and it's a good deal (price wise), but now you'd have to down 10 drinks in a couple of days versus having the entire cruise to milk 10 drinks.  It's shareable so that helps.  

32 minutes ago, OrlandoDad said:

Greetings!

We are sailing on Allure in a couple weeks.  Family of four with two connection staterooms.  Travel agent booked my wife and I in one room, and children in the other, which I suppose is OK since they are connecting rooms.

But I would want to have keys to the children's stateroom for myself just in case, to make specialty dining 'purchases', getting on/off the ship, etc. without having to worry that they can't locate their key on the way out of the room to go to dinner.

Is it possible to get extra keys once on board?  Will those keys also have 'stickers' for dining plan, refreshment package, etc?

Thanks!

Yes, you can get an extra key to their stateroom.  You won't be able to make purchases with it as it will be a card to open the door and not another Seapass card. With that being said, I doubt it will have any stickers on it since its only use is to unlock the cabin..  

4 minutes ago, nrgMike said:

Hi.

I'll be going a navigator of the seas in October. When the cruise is over my flight isn't until 930pm at Ft. Lauderdale airport. What's the latest you can get off a ship leisurely before they kick you off? Just curious this is my first cruise so I'm not aware of the disembarkation process. Please let me know.

Thank You

Michael

I believe they want you off the ship by 10:00am and you'll probably get the the stink-eye look if you're one of the last to disembark.

24 minutes ago, dflynnrubino said:

There are 4 of us traveling on the same cruise, 2 separate rooms.  My Husband and I in one room and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law in another.  If I buy the package for 4 devices, will I get 4 separate codes that we can use 1 for each member of our party even if we are not sharing the same stateroom?.

It will be one code to be shared for the 4 devices.  It doesn't matter what passenger makes the purchase as you can give the code out to anyone you'd like; but you can only have 4 devices connected at once; whether that's phone, computer, tablet, etc. 

7 hours ago, Marlena said:

When I read the fine print for our cruiseeit said you could not bring wine on. Has anyone done it recently  o  symphony?

You should be fine....Current FAQ on RCI website states:

On boarding day, guests may bring onboard two (2) 750 ml bottles of personal wine or champagne per stateroom in their carry-on luggage. If more than two bottles of wine or champagne are brought onboard, including any alcoholic beverages purchased in ports-of-call or in our onboard shops, they will be stored by the ship and delivered to your stateroom on your last day onboard.

Guests on consecutive cruises may bring two (2) 750 ml bottles of personal wine or champagne per voyage, per stateroom. Additional bottles will be stored by the ship and two bottles at a time will be delivered to the stateroom on the first day of each new voyage. Guests bringing more than two bottles at the start of the first sailing should have documentation for any consecutive sailings available to share with security on boarding day.

4 minutes ago, WaterBaby said:

Do they still offer the 10 Drink Cards ? My travel agent seems to think its been discontinued. Does anyone know for sure ?

They're still out there but there's no guarantee that they'll be put on sale.  I think it depends on the alcohol sales.

2 hours ago, Paige said:

I realize that this isn't precisely on-topic, but I can't seem to find the photo package in the cruise planner. Can someone tell me where to find it?

It may not be showing yet but when it appears, it will be listed under Internet & More

8 hours ago, goblues38 said:

For around the pool or at coco cay.  I assume its ok to bring our yeti tumblers too keep cold.  with the ultimate drink package, will the make my drink in my cup, or will I have to transfer on my won?

You can use your own tumblers, and I think for contamination reasons Bartenders wouldn't be able to make it in your cup; but feel free to transfer it yourself 

5 hours ago, spiralqueen said:

No headliner or comedian reservations? Thank you for this list by the way!

Depends on the ship.....They took reservations but it was still first come first serve.  On Allure it was for almost all types of entertainment but not for things like

• Flowrider
• Ice Skating
• Zip Line
• Rock Wall 

10 minutes ago, MKSglitz said:

Does anyone know if you can use "on board credit" to pay for a spa service?  Also, when you look at the pricing it states "from*…."  then they list a price.  It makes it sound like that the price starts off one price and can go up from there.  Another question to this topic, can the on board credit be used to also tip for the service?

Absolutely you can use your OBC for spa service..  The price fluctuates depending on the day and time you select. An additional 18% gratuity will be added when you make the purchase.  If you choose to give more, that's up to you.  

5 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

A related question...we are checked in for our cruise in July...I’m platinum so my husband is platinum.  My 16 year old is only gold...I thought they keep my status until 18??   Jane

Unless they have changed the policy in the past few months, your 16 year old will always keep whatever status achieved upon turning 18 (not including Pinnacle), but at 18 they only have points for cruises that they've actually sailed.  Give C&A a call and make sure they link them to your Platinum status (800) 526-9723 

I did read somewhere that prints can be in either 8x10 or 4x6 depending on the event that the photos were taken at.  So I'm led to believe you wouldn't only get 8x10's

5 hours ago, SolariumSnoozer said:

Yes, I have approached bartenders and asked to purchase the drink card?  I was told they can't sell it before it's advertised and that even if they did it would not do me any good since again no bartender would honor it before it's advertised.

5 hours ago, Matt said:

Yes, I have. There's no flexibility with getting it early. Until it gets advertised onboard, it's not for sale and most of the time the bar staff have no clue if it will appear or not.

You cannot use it on another sailing.

Thank you both!.  Those were the type of answers I've been looking for.   

Ok, let me see if I can explain this.  If you are a new guest, yes you don't get assigned a number until your 1st sailing. But when you have kids that you are linking to your account, you should call Crown and Anchor to ensure they've been linked to your current status.  If you wait until after the sailing they won't be considered that status; therefore they won't get any benefits from being a Crown and Anchor member at whatever status level you are at until their next cruise. My oldest daughter, since she's 19, cannot get our benefits so she is considered Pre gold while the other three kids are already considered Gold members; which none of the 4 have ever been on a ship.

Update: After re-reading The C&A benefits I see that it does say the child won't have the same member status until after their first sailing but that's not necessarily true. My travel agent handled it all, so he gave me all their numbers assigned by Royal.  Since I only made accounts for my 2 oldest (because of using the Royal App onboard) I can't see that status of the younger two. But I see, when logging onto each of their accounts, it indicates that my oldest is Pre-Gold and my 13 year old is Gold. 

53 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I'll let you know this weekend.  I turned off charging privileges for my youngest and she has $25 arcade credit.  I know she'll burn through it quick and so hopefully she can't continue to play.

Our first cruise many years ago, we could just buy arcade credit onboard.  Last year on Harmony, I was told we couldn't buy it onboard but could only refill anything already charged. I think it varies ship to ship but right now I would rather just buy it upfront rather than wait and see what I can do onboard.

 I appreciate it. These boards are wonderful for getting information. The problem is a lot if the gathered information is obsolete by the time some of us sail again.   Enjoy your cruise

Just now, Baked Alaska said:

Port days are the cheapest days for spa appts on the cruise planner.

Ah....gotcha!  I wasn't thinking of choosing the appointment times in cruise planner on those days as opposed to just choosing the massage....thanks!

3 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Hello! If you'd like to take advantage of the reduced price PLUS having the ability to pick the time you want (meaning greater availability), reserve on the Cruise Planner. 

I've also read in blogs and threads that you can save money by having massages on port days. But if you purchase through cruise planner, you're not able to take advantage of that supposed lower price offered onboard.  Are you saying the port specials offered once on-board are still more expensive than cruise planner? 

34 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I’m all about saving money but the arcade credit is incredibly difficult to use.  Yes I tried it on Harmony and it was so hard and some of my kids cards worked and 1 wouldn’t work in the arcade and then we never got the discount! It was so frustrating! You need to allow full charging privileges for your kids.   Then it’s on you to keep count of every $1.25 charge in the arcade (good luck if you have more than 1 child), then you go to the loyalty desk to prove that you should get your credits applied.  Then maybe you receive your $5 or $25 after a lot  of work.  

It is so much easier to prepay on the cruise planner for arcade credit.  You don’t get quite the discount but you save yourself so much time and frustration.  

The kids C&A benefits kill me!  So worthless!  Discount on coffee for my 8 year old...Umm no thanks.  I’d rather have a discount on a milkshake but they aren’t going to give you a benefit that you’d actually use! 

Thanks for the heads up.  I knew about having to keep tabs on the arcade card but it's the same thing with the cruise planner credits; once the pre-paid are gone it starts to charge their seapass.  A work-a-round other passengers have said is they've turned off the charging privileges but according to you that won't work.  I think if you were to set up the daily spending limit, you'll know once the arcade credits have been depleted without having to keep track.  I don't mind being the guinea pig to test out a few things to get the right info for others.  My two youngest won't be in the arcade without us, so will be easy to ensure they don't go excessively overboard.  

The other thing about the pre-paid arcade credit discount is that I saw somewhere that it was the same discount offered on board; just not in such high denominations....don't know if this true or still the case?  

I agree with you on C&A kids benefits being worthless.  Our internet packages have been pre-purchased for much more than 10% off, my 5 & 8 year old don't need spa treatments, and I'm not paying for them to sit in the cabin to watch a movie and then a second when they show several throughout the cruise outside of the cabin.  The only thing most would ever use would the arcade.  And as you said, they should offer some Milkshakes, Ice Cream, a toy from the gift shop.

11 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

We're taking our kids on their first cruise, and I know they will have the same C&A status as we do. I'm curious if there is a kids' version of the C&A discount coupons that are loaded onto their sea pass cards, and if so would they need their number issued before hand? We're only lowly Gold level, so it's no big deal, but I wouldn't say no to discounted arcade credit or the like. I was wondering if we need to get them a number before the cruise, should we stop by the loyalty desk once on board, or are they only issued a number after their first cruise? 

 

I'm pretty sure they need the number issued before the sailing as it will make them Gold before they board.  I'm in the same situation as you and this is what I've discovered as far as their benefits which may vary ship to ship

1 minute ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

60 days.

Thanks for the verification....I wasn't sure and didn't want to throw out the wrong info.  

54 minutes ago, spiralqueen said:

That is correct. If the travel agent you want to use for that cruise is the one you used for the cruise you will be on then you don’t have to do anything. If you used a different travel agent or no travel agent, you need to bring your agent’s information to Next Cruise and I recommend telling them at the start that you want to assign it to a different agent. If that’s the case, I’d recommend asking your agent what information of theirs you need to give Next Cruise in order for them to get credit for the booking. That serves 2 purposes. 1. You get the correct info 2. It gives them a heads up to keep an eye out for that booking on their end. 

I believe you have a certain amount of time (I'm thinking 30 days) to transfer if you dont have all the TA's information handy.

2 minutes ago, teacherdl said:

Okay, thanks. Where was the key?

Its listed under Internet & More

There is not an exact date, time frame or way to figure it out.  My entertainment had finally popped up around 120 days from my sailing. The excursions, drink/internet packages, and dining all were there after booking was made.   The Key was there in the beginning, then it disappeared and it just came back a few days ago.

40 minutes ago, videjuca said:

On all prints package, only 8x10 size is included?

Thanks.

 

I think there are 2 different sizes and believe I read that the prints will include up to 8x10.  I'll do some research to see....Maybe someone will verify.

5 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

99% certain the card has to be used on the cruise it is purchased on, never purchased one to be sure though.

The card is a "last ditch" sales tool they use mid-cruise to try and pump up the alcohol sales if they are down, so they try not to use it unless they have to. Would be surprised if they would bring it out early on request but you never know if you dont ask.

That's my guess as well...but as you said, you won't know if you dont ask.