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17 hours ago, Meangreen said:

Can the Emed tests be done over a cell phone?  We are leaving for our trip early 2 days out from when we set sail and aren't planning on taking an ipad or laptop. 

Assuming you have a camera on the phone to show the proctor what you are doing....My son used his Iphone for a recent cruise test.

If everyone has a cell phone, I recommend they all download the Royal App.  It makes it easier to upload vaccination cards, scan passports, etc. even if you initially check them by name just to get a time slot.  

Emphasis on rebooking each day.  I exited checkout and re-entered to book each night.

34 minutes ago, David A said:

This is my first cruise on Royal.  I noticed they automatically set me up with a Crown & Anchor loyalty number, but not my wife and daughter.  Does anyone know if they will automatically do that for them after the cruise or do I need to apply for a number for them?

You might talk to the Loyalty Ambassador on the ship, otherwise, call Crown and Anchor Society after the cruise.   When my son got married, he had to call CAS to get his wife credited with his status.

12 hours ago, jabberwk said:

I've always hated having to carry around a purse while I'm traveling but I can't get by with just pockets (and sometimes there aren't any pockets anyway). I'm considering a fanny pack but haven't used one since I was a teenager. Opinions? Other suggestions for something small that I don't have to *carry*?

If you wear a fanny pack in port with valuables, I'd suggest sliding it in front for security.  

16 minutes ago, MrHaga said:

If things happen and you do not reach your scheduled arrival time, is it a problem to board a few hours later. (As long as its before latest Arrival time.)?

I've read posts that if you miss your scheduled time you are told to wait in line and periodically those in line are processed in as time permits.  Royal wants you to sail.   

On 6/2/2022 at 11:15 AM, BlueTroop said:

We have the early traditional dining for our upcoming cruise on HOTS. If we can't make our time due to being in port or doing something else on board are we able to go to the MDR later in the evening?

If you aren't too late, you can still make your seating time.  We once had an excursion that returned late, I stopped by MDR at 5:30 to say we needed 15 minutes to change clothes, and we were accommodated.  Now if you are 45 minutes or more, I don't know if they would seat you.  We were at a group table, so folks tended to arrive at different times.  We saw people who routinely arrived 30 minutes late.

7 hours ago, Gary maebry said:

I went on a cruise a few years ago I had my wallet stolen while I was on the cruise so I couldn’t pay when I got off I promised to pay but never did…. How do I see if I still owe the money so I can book another cruise?????

Check your credit report.  See if you got dinged for nonpayment, e.g., a judgment against you or account turned over to a debt collector.

In 2015, Royal lost my wife's suitcase disembarking at Southampton.  We filed a claim with Royal first, because their negligence caused the loss.  They asked for receipts on lost items and after a lot of hassle gave us $300.  My wife contacted a Royal executive who upped the amount to a total of $400.  The items lost were worth more than that.  We then filed our claim with Allianz, and we received additional $$.    Our claim with Royal was started at the port when we discovered our bag wasn't there.  Best of luck!

PS.  We now carry our luggage off the ship to avoid accidental losses.

14 hours ago, D Alt said:

Do you guys do anything different or pack anything interesting for a holiday cruise, whether it be for Xmas, New Years, Halloween, etc.?

Let me know!  I plan on doing a xmas cruise at the end of this year myself. I imagine there will be more kids on this cruise. Maybe i'll hide some xmas treats/toys throughout the cruise for kids to find.  I just joined one of those hide a duck cruising groups on facebook, so thought that would be cute. 

Pre-Covid, when we took Christmas cruises, Royal gave each guest under 18 a gift from Santa. While we enjoyed the cruises, it just wasn't the same thing as being at home and going to a Christmas Eve service.  if you aren't concerned about missing church, it can be a lot of fun.  The Royal Singers helped with Christmas carols, etc.  What we did as a family was buy each other one cheesy gift from the ship shops - our "good presents" were opened early at home.  Have a great cruise!

Your carryon bag would go through the screening equipment like other bags.  I don't think a button or safety pin would be considered a prohibited item, but you could double-check the list provided by Royal.  

Just remember there is an annual cap on benefits for annual policies.  So depending upon how much you travel and how much each trip costs, you may use up benefits before the year is out. 

The big difference I see in policies is how much you are covered for medical and evacuation.  What you actually need should drive your decision-making.  We found that even Allianz had different benefit levels with different premiums.

2 hours ago, not easy being green said:

We were wondering, with the eMed Tests, do you pack them in luggage (no temperature control or do you bring them with you in your carry-on luggage?  I don't want to take the risk of ruining any tests due to heat and or cold, conceding the cost and we do NOT want to scramble at the last minute.  We are flying a few days in advance and sometimes it is really hard to get a coivd test.

Thank you!

We did both on a recent trip, mostly because we didn't trust the airlines-- a couple in carry-on and a couple in checked bags.  Supposedly, cargo holds are now pressure and temperature controlled.  (If you think about it, our boxes of test kits were probably shipped to us by air.)  My concern now is that I notice the boxes bend a tad with handling, and sometimes the seal becomes unstuck at one edge.  I just push it back down.

The cruise insurance should cover cruise issues caused by common carrier delay or cancellation, but the carrier would be responsible for its portion. If you don't  insure the air travel, carrier could claim weather or ATC caused your delay, hotel costs, or rerouting costs to the cruise. So I believe in insuring your  air travel. Just had a problem with AA who switched planes and then claimed ATC caused our delay! Now waiting on Allianz to reimburse lodging.

17 hours ago, 10-42 said:

In a thread in here somewhere I promised that I would save the "Cruise Compass" from my May 13th cruise on Ovation of the Seas from Seattle to Alaska, 7 night cruise, round trip.  Well, they got thrown away on the last full day of the cruise by SOMEONE in my party.  So, I'm sorry for promising and not delivering.  I'll do better next time .

 

  

Hey, it's not a complete set of "compasses" unless you save multiple languages!  Not sure what they print in Alaska, but I have found variations like Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese on other itineraries.

On 6/1/2022 at 2:30 PM, celticmermaid418 said:

I purchased the RCC luggage tags but not sure when i receive the paper to identify name room etc Is that something I print before or is it given at checkin 

Thank you

If you have a Travel Agent, the agent should be able to print and mail them to you.  We follow the advice of SPS .

On 6/1/2022 at 10:27 AM, jaedam0820 said:

Oh shoot. I am not sure if we should go then. My son loves the water. It's what he enjoyed the most in the cruise. He didn't like the cold water coupled with the strong wind when we did Symphony two weeks ago.

We were taken on a boat several miles out, so the spot we were in may have accounted for the cold.  Beach water should be OK, as others have noted.  On the whole, we enjoyed TG and Xmas cruises to the Caribbean, and our son found a great group of kids on the ship during those times of year.

54 minutes ago, jaedam0820 said:

Anybody experienced cruising in November in the Caribbean? How was the weather like? 

We took Thanksgiving cruises, and I recall the water in Nassau was very cold for snorkeling, but pleasant outside for sight-seeing.  Ditto our other ports of call.

Check with the hotel concierge to see which pharmacies/test centers are near your location.  Or you can Google test sites in Barcelona.

5 hours ago, Megan86 said:

We are leaving Friday to go to the Bahamas and I am so torn on whether or not we should cancel due to the chance of a tropical storm.  I am taking my daughter for her 13th birthday and all she wants to do is spend time in the sun and visit the different stops.  Does anyone have any advice.  I am driving myself crazy trying to make the right decision. 

I don't think you can guarantee you'll make the right decision, but you can follow a sound process.  Have you engaged your daughter in the discussion?   Even when there is a low chance of a tropical storm, you could encounter bad weather along the way.  My bias would be to complete the cruise, but only after I considered my child's input.

18 minutes ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

Out of curiosity, I checked on this.  It appears to me that on the backend side of the bundle, the beverage package portion of it is discounted less compared with purchased by itself while the internet package portion is discounted more than when bought alone.  So even though there's a lower overall price with the bundle, the gratuities are higher because the beverage package portion of the bundle is getting less of a discount.

I thought this at first, but with the gratuity about $17 higher, the soda price would be about 90CAD higher... which doesn't make sense to me.  it is almost like the soda is being charged (for gratuity purposes) at the on-the-ship price or something.

5 hours ago, Rfloyd7522 said:

How difficult is it to do the test with you cell phone? Any tips or suggestions are appreciated 

If you are overseas, you may need to wait until disembarkation day (or the wee hours the night before) when you are closer to your return port and have better signal strength.  My son reports he was disconnected a couple of times during proctoring, but was reconnected and continued the test successfully.

On 5/30/2022 at 7:59 PM, Willamy said:

Just got on the ship (Explorer) Sunday and experienced the following so far....delayed check in at Miami, no greatings from host in concierge room, restaurants closed, wait time for my time dining with reservations was 45 minutes to 1 hour, severally understaffed, portions way smaller and simple condiments unavailable.  No soft serve  ice cream. And it's only Monday. 

If our cruise in two weeks is like this, I think we'll explore dining options other than the MDR.  Since our My Time reservations are so late (8ish) I am hoping we'll fare better.

My advice is to look at what you can control, and don't get overwhelmed by what you can''t...

As you already know, the beverage generates the gratuity. As for its calculation, perhaps the VOOM was discounted in the package and the soda remained full price (e.g., higher than the soda sale price).  No one seems to understand Royal Math...  I do agree with you that the gratuity on the package seems too high, so your question is a good one!

There seem to be two types of cruisers, lanyard people like me, and "pocket people".  So it is really a matter of preference.  Now what I do some of the time is wear the lanyard and stuff the card in my shirt pocket...There is also a phone-sized lanyard that is great for going to the pool or beach, and you can stuff valuables in it instead of your phone.  For some, lanyard hunting is kind of a sport when cruising.  I will tell you this: Some holders are soft plastic and tear easily, so I recycle old conference name tag holders that are hard plastic.  Whatever you choose, have a great cruise!

Many cruisers swear by the luggage tag holders.  We haven't yet ordered them, but it is a bit tedious wrapping paper tags with clear tape!