sk8erguy1978

17 minutes ago, klemire626 said:

 I reserved My Time Dining 2 months ago and I dont see the times I requested on my cruise planner. All it says is "At your leisure"  Does this mean I am unable to make reservations for the times I want?  I'm a planner so this is giving me a bit of anxiety as we leave in 2 weeks

I personally do not make reservations for My Time so I'm not sure how he cruise planner should look afterwards, but we know people who do and they never had an issue. Therefore, you can rest assured your reservation is in the system. 

After boarding, just head over to the dining room and confirm your times. If for some reason the reservation isn't in the system, they will plug you in; the dining room times are flexible. 

3 hours ago, luv2sail said:

I like it much better on the upper deck.  I like to choose a chair on the railing side of the track and turn my chair around to enjoy the sea.

If a railing side is available they are our favorite too.

1 hour ago, RCVoyager said:

There are tons of chairs.  They just may not be in the shade or right near the pool.  There are lounge chairs on several decks.

YES! We love heading AFT for a little peace and quiet, and plenty of chairs! When we want to be closer to the fun, usually the deck above pool (jogging track) has some available chairs.

2 hours ago, spursfreak21 said:

Do you just book the cruise and hope you can find an reasonable accompanying flight later? 

Another, yup to the list. I too as mentioned, do mock searches to get an idea of prices (but know that's in no way an indication of what my flight cost will be) but also to get an idea of what routes various airlines fly.

I also consider convince when determining what is a fair price. JetBlue for example flies to MCO from SWF which usually comes with a higher cost but I could walk to SWF so if it's $100 more, so be it. I'll save more than that in parking at EWR or similar, plus gas, toss, etc.

Welcome! Looking forward to your report!

Welcome to the forum! Sailed Anthem 3 times, great ship, you'll love it! 

I've been to St. Thomas and Puerto Rico a few times and never needed bug spray. In Puerto Rico we have walked around and did the forts, the Bacardi tour, a mall, and stayed once pre-cruise. In St. Thomas it's usually a beach day at either Magens Bay or Sapphire and ALWAYS end the day at Paradise Point. 

For a point of reference, during the summer months, the NY mosquito's love my sweet Irish blood.

8 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

I'm more afraid if being denied boarding because one of us caught a cold right before the cruise (not Asia).

I would drink an entire bottle of DayQuil, take lots of decongestant meds, speak slowly and keep answers short, and hold back every cough and sneeze possible.

#gettingonthatship

We are fans of chops, good steak house menu and excellent service. Jamie's was also very tasty, we did that on Oasis back in 2012.

Let them know it's your honeymoon and keep spreading the word. Most staff will make a big deal about it. In regards to "your arrival" you can buy various stateroom decorations on Royal's website. Honestly, it's expensive. Might be more fun to sneak decorations onboard, ask your new bride to run and get drinks and decorate real quick from dollar store stuff. My wife did this for my (sigh it's been a while) 30th bday and I loved it. She probably spent $10 bucks to my $100+ when I paid for Royal decorations on an anniversary.

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. Stick around!

3 hours ago, ellcee said:

At least June. Because mine was up for renewal and I had to find my entire life (it felt like that with all the forms needed) and I got mine then.

Ugh, yeah I did the check list, utility bills, passport, social security card... Mine is up next month, wife and I will go together, get the enhanced and be done with it :).  

NY didn't start issuing them as default untill recently (last October I think) Luckily mine is up for renewal in March, so needed to renew anyway. Wife isn't but she's going to just request an Enhanced license when I do. We will both still cruise and travel internationally with passports, but for $30 more, might as well. 

Not sure if I'll get blasted for this, but a good starting point might be The Points Guy latest podcast (Talking Points) where they discuss the major chains and the reward programs they offer, including the credit card perks.

Battle of the hotels:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/battle-of-the-hotels-points-and-miles-experts-help-you-decide-where-to-invest-your-loyalty/

Actually, this is a difficult question for me. Solo, sure, all day long. With my wife, we really enjoy the balcony, we relax and enjoy each other, so it gets a bit more difficult to say 2 insides vs 1 balcony.

So, think I'd rather have that one, extended, relaxing experience with my wife with our own slice of the ocean and if we can swing it (assuming we can cause it is about $1000 difference or so) take a few long weekend land trips. 

On 2/13/2020 at 12:33 PM, sk8erguy1978 said:

A travel agent / friend I used in the past (I am now using MEI not because of other agent, just wanted someone dedicated, so trying them out) tried to re-price and stated per Royal Caribbean, the re-price wasn't lucrative because I am bound by the port fees when booking, which brings the price higher.

I've been meaning to run this by my MEI agent. Thought I saw the price a few dollars less this weekend with cheaper port fees... However, I had an ADD moment and never went back to it LOL.

So, my MEI agent repriced the cruise with two different port fees no issue. The agent never heard of this ... BUT, my port fees didn't change resulting in even less than online. I wonder if my port fees from that cruise were so high, that it brought the sale price higher than my price. Assuming port fees stay during a reprice. 

Oh, and I didn't ask, I just received an email saying changes were made!

I noticed this for our 7 day Oasis cruise in September. Assuming I read the "rules" correctly, you have to eat at Chops night one or two, which works well for us since we do chops on formal night (which will be night two). For my sailing it's $75 per person, seems like a no brainier since we were doing Chops night two anyway, now we get a second for $25!

You can also ask fellow passengers to snap a photo, most are more than willing (I'm usually asked as I walk around with a DSLR).

Last cruise with a group we asked a crew member on boarding day to snap a photo of us. Granted, it was two steps after boarding, so just a random wall.

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

UUUGE mistake.  $73. Our Uber ride over was $18.80.  Now I see why nobody takes a taxi anymore. How do they even stay in business ?  I guess they catch the few country suckers like us !

I live in Orange County, NY a little "upstate" about 90 minutes from Cape Liberty and the taxi service has always been subpar around here, soooooo glad to finally have decent Uber/Lyft service.

One night, leaving a bar with my wife as the Uber pulls up I notice that obvious taxi yellow color. Didn't think it was for us until I matched the car and plate to what Uber was providing. Yep, the guy was moonlighting in his taxi as an Uber driver. 

Cannot beat them, join them he said... Smart man.

Not exactly the same thing but, I once repriced a cruise which resulted in the loss of onboard credit which I already spent in the cruise planner.

Royal gave me a time period (one or two weeks) to pay the difference and sent emails almost daily as a reminder.

I assume your situation would be similar, but hopefully someone has a direct answer for you.

1 minute ago, SteveinSC said:

I figure God gave me two arms, two legs, and half a brain, so I can do most things myself...

YES! I remember once staying in a suite, we needed ice, I called the Suite Concierge for the request. He responded: "right away sir, I'll have your Stateroom Attendant deliver it." I thanked him, hung up, and said to my wife ... "I feel like a jerk, I could have asked the Stateroom Attendant." 

I cannot even tell you what I tip each cruise. I tip what I feel is appropriate. Don't think I've ever tipped more than $50. We are, very low key people, we don't ask for much and keep a tidy room. I'll admit, seeing the big tips people leave for a Genie freaks me out, because we would barely use the person, even less if we are cruising with friends not in a suite.

5 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

My pre-MEI travel agent was a turd about repricing, too.  I actually had a price drop and called her, but she said that I wasn't "eligible" for price readjustments (read: I've never heard of this and have NO idea how to do it). Such great service considering they charged me a $100 booking fee.

A travel agent / friend I used in the past (I am now using MEI not because of other agent, just wanted someone dedicated, so trying them out) tried to re-price and stated per Royal Caribbean, the re-price wasn't lucrative because I am bound by the port fees when booking, which brings the price higher.

I've been meaning to run this by my MEI agent. Thought I saw the price a few dollars less this weekend with cheaper port fees... However, I had an ADD moment and never went back to it LOL.

I did notice the new login screen this AM. I too however didn't notice anything 'slower than usual' the last few days.

That's across different web browsers (Chrome & Chromium) on different laptops (MacBook & Lenovo) using different operating systems (macOS & Arch Linux) on different networks (work SHHH & home).

Oh, and my Pixel 2 XL & Verizon's network.

Unless you're a light packer you'll be lugging around your luggage until rooms open up (2pm or so). Porter service is technically free but a tip is STRONGLY recommended.

I tip about $5 for both of us. 2 large rollers & 1 thin cheap garment bag.

10 hours ago, MinnesotaCruiser said:

I agree as well.  I went on my first cruise this past January and felt so well prepared from all the advice.  I never felt judged or that I was asking an annoying question.  I talked to several other first timers on our cruise and they felt lost and overwhelmed (I recommended this blog for next time!). Thanks everyone for the guidance- it was one of the best vacations we have ever had.  Looking forward to Symphony again next year!

Our first cruise was a themed 3-day Bahamas trip on Carnival ... Overwhelmed is an understatement! We didn't even know how dining worked LOL.

I've been cruising for 13 years and still learn stuff every day from this site.

The biggest thing this forum has is kindness. In my short time here, I've seen some posts that could get people's blood boiling (like people who create an account just to complain about Royal like this is their Twitter account and will get a freebie), instead people jump in, be slightly sympathetic to their situation and calmly explain the policy or whatever.

That's in addition to people jumping in sharing their knowledge ... FOR FREE!