CrimsonCruiser

Royal as a cruise line doesn't have self-service laundry services (iron room falling into that category by my definition). Instead they do offer pressing for an additional cost. Here is the laundry item pricing list. Pressing is the second column. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/laundry-service-price-list.pdf

I tried to load one but we already have the soda package so it wouldn't let me get "another one" and I didn't want to try with the other packages cuz I was only curious about the soda. But that makes a lot of sense. I guess I never really thought about it.

I think you should be good if you're truly feeling better. You're most likely out of your contagion period for whatever you have (if it's even transmissible in similar way). You could be doubly safe and wear your own mask for the first days or in crowds/small spaces just to be safe but if I were in your shoes and ruled out transmissible illnesses and overcame them..I'd go and feel okay about it.

I can't find any mention of gratuities but I also can't find a breakdown of what we paid. Where would gratuities go though...since the soda package is mostly for the freestyle machines...? Like...to who?

I actually don't think there is gratuities on the soda package since 90% of the soda you're getting is from a machine. We don't tip machines...yet...the robot uprising my change that.

I fortunately have to deal with just me myself and I when it comes to laundry post-vacation but yeah, there's a lot of it. Almost 2 weeks worth on a 7-night considering how much I change clothes on a cruise vacay (got your shore excursion outfit, your swimwear, your dinner outfit and your comfy outfit!). Fortunately I started using a laundry service and I save up (clothes and money) so they can deal with it instead of me. $60 bucks and they take my giant 40 lbs of laundry wash em, fold em and drop them off at my door.

As the others have said no irons are allowed period. It's not a matter of electrical draw or space or greed it's a matter of a potential fire hazard. I would recommend Downy Wrinkle Release spray (which comes in travel size). I've not yet met a fabric it doesn't work on and it leaves the clothes smelling nice too. Second option is to use the steam of your showers to loosen up wrinkles but I find this works best if the clothes are in the shower which is risky if you're washing up at the same time.

Congrats on a great price! We're in a GS on allure this august (sooooon!) and got it cheaper than a GS on Explorer since she hasn't been amped! It's such a win cuz Allure is still an Oasis class and still looks like an amazing trip! Truly, we didn't think we'd be able to afford a suite on an Oasis class ever and would only even have a chance at sailing it if we dropped down to balcony after we hit diamond.

I'd be tempted if you can show this works. I will have proof the new package is paid for but no worry over the condensation cup

I'm on the one right after you so PLEASE update with if you have them or not! I've been debating packing one of my old ones if only to use to transfer from the crappy cup (though that then means I'm carrying around two cups all cruise....)

Omg yay! I almost want to cry with relief! we're just over 30 days out and I'm PRAYING the return of the cups stays!

I make lists... I try to condense... But no matter how hard I work my carry on is essentially just toiletries and makeup lmao

I have pre-check and renewed it and plan on keeping it even though I literally travel once a year on average. But I do think it's best for places where TSA have their own lanes (I fly from O'Hare) I've left from Kansas MO before and they don't have their own lane, so no perks on skipping the lines (fortunately, I've never experienced excessive length there). Once I got to the agent they highlight where my boarding pass says TSAPre but it's up to me to wave and holler and make sure the person at the scanner sees it well in advance so I don't have to remove my shoes. Also had a not great experience leaving I think Houston. We had one of the first flights of the day and security was only just opening. They made the choice not to open pre-check. I thought it would be fine but my boarding pass was on my phone. Phone had to go through the scanner. I showed one person my precheck info and that person was going to tell the person on the other end of the scanner. Only they didn't. They vanished like a ghost (literally no one knew who I was even talking about) and I had to stop the whole line while I fought with my shoes which were not TSA-friendly. So yeah....if your home airport doesn't have a dedicated lane...maybe think twice.

We always wait to pay until final payment date. Aside from the fact that this allows for easier re-pricings it also feels safer in a post-covid cruising world where so many more things can happen that could cause a cancellation. Less money floating out there in that event.

Griff and Alyssa recommend: ShoreExcursioneer.com and ShoreExcursionGroup.com and we booked a resort day pass through Excursioneer for our trip this August. So far it was painless and I like that they only require a deposit upfront and have a great cancellation policy. I can update more once I've completed the trip.

Battery operated night light (primarily for the bathroom but also great if you have an interior room) Dry erase board (I put it in the room instead of outside, but for the same purpose of telling my travel companions where I am or leaving notes for my room steward) Snacks! Call me crazy but simple midnight munchies snacks like chips or candy cost an arm and a leg on the ship so we bring just one bag to nosh on after a late night. A backpack. Seriously. even if you don't plan on doing anything more than going to the beaches at port backpack is easier to carry and less awkward than a tote or purse. Travel clock. I swear it's intentional that there are no clocks in the room. I hate taking the extra seconds to find and check my phone while running around trying to get ready for something. A small battery operated clock for a central area changed my life. A boring ol' watch. Your cell phone will most likely (unless you want to pay for roaming charges) be in airplane mode the whole cruise and shouldn't change to match the timezones in port but you don't want to risk it and miss the ship. a boring ol wristwatch (or pocket watch if you're fancy) that isn't affected by satellites will keep you on ship's time. And this is my own personal must have just because I am paranoid and don't want to lose my phone - an old or cheap point and shoot digital camera. Something under 80 bucks that takes nice enough photos but you also won't care too much if it gets lost, damaged or stolen.

Photo packages are sold to the room. While it does (annoyingly) force you to put in under one person's name at purchase (and this is both onboard or online) the package will apply to all photos taken for those staying in the same room number. So you only need to purchase one. Also happy honeymoon! And now for some (Unsolicited but well-meaning) Tips for getting the best use of your photo package. Have fun! The photographers are all really nice and really get into the photo taking if you're into it too. So what you don't know what to do with your hands? make funny gestures! They ask you to do a pose that's awkward or feels funny. Make a funny face! I always cruise with my mom and sometimes they like us to do cute mommy and me poses and I think they're so weird. So now, some of our favorite pictures are us pretending to start a fight, me rolling my eyes behind her back, her sticking her tongue out behind me etc etc. TAKE ALL THE PHOTOS. The package only limits how many you walk off the ship with NOT how many you can take. Give yourself plenty of choices by jumping in front of that camera EVERY time you see it. Check your photos often in the photo lounge. I do this for lots of reasons but what I get out of it is (a) knowing if a certain area worked for me (b) figuring out what photographer I like (c) making sure I'm not repeating too many poses. While you can't redo a shoot if you didn't like it, you can do similar ones (i.e another dinner shoot on the stairs). While Onboard. - Take Boarding day photos. There is usually either a photo area with a backdrop of the ship in the terminal or a section on the deck of the ship where you can take a photo. - Dining Room. A photographer will generally be floating around offering to take photos while you're at the table. While you can of course decline if you're elbow deep in lobster night, this is an option. You could probably have fun with it and grab photos of you guys feeding each other or re-enacting the cake-in-the-face that probably didn't happen at your wedding. They can sometimes be awkward and the lighting isn't always the best, but it's all about how you make it. - Dinner Time/Formal Night. Every night there will be 3-5 stations set up at hot points around the ship (crystal staircase, promenade, backdrops by the dining rooms etc). You can go to as many as you can put up with and, depending on the line, take as many photos as you and your photographer can think of poses for. - Pool and other events. Occasionally photographers will roam the ship at the pool deck or at the big events. If you see them, strike a pose While at port: - For the first few hours after docking, there will be crew stations on the dock (seen up to 5 stations once!) for photos. Crew in costumes, someone set up for the glamorous ship shot, crew with props etc. These are by far my favorite ones to do and I try to make sure I get off the ship early enough to take advantage before I head off to my excursions. Why early enough? Because they will almost ALWAYS be gone by noon (assuming you dock at 8AM ish) and they do not come back out. I have been very bummed to miss port photos. Finally...give yourself plenty of time to go through all those photos you took. Like an hour...easy. If you do all the stuff there will be lot to pick from and even the 100 photos package can seem small if you've taken a lot that make you happy (btw you can purchase additional photos but at $20 a piece they add up FAST).

O.O well...someone certainly lied to me lol

Due to timings and finances we have always booked right at the start of hurricane season in late Sept. And honestly...it's great. We did have one or two rough embarkations that were either pushed up to avoid storms or on rocky waters, but nothing that made the start bad. What's great though, is the traffic in the ports is less. The summer season is just dying down and there is a lull before the holiday pick up so it's not super crowded. I personally recommend it for sure and would just echo what others have said about flights.

Marketing emails? Yes, yes they do. You can update your options to receive them in your account online. They do also send upgrade and status emails directly to you unless you have a TA in which case you'll be getting a lot less as most status emails would go directly to the TA.

This might be something best done on board. You could talk to the staff at the MDR on boarding day and request that you be partnered with whatever room they're in. They're usually really good about those uncommon requests in person.

You should be able to take on powdered drink mixes or Mio (those squeezey things) to flavor the water you can get at the bars. You can also bring on a case of water so you could opt to bring on flavored water. Refreshment package also allows for the fancy juices so maybe she can drink that?

It seems to take them quite a bit to update this list. When we went on odyssey - a good couple months after she had her first sailings - it still wasn't in the list. I'm certain Wonder has them. They seem to be standard fare in the new ships.

I found the trivias to be a great place to meet people. Since they are often done in groups there will always be a nice group that is happy to adopt a stray. TBH in my experience they've generally been older than me but it did stop me from being lonely when I did my own thing. Also - silent disco was a great place to find people.

Glad I popped in here - we just had a cruise planner excursion cancelled on their end - so now I know to keep an eye out to make sure this doesn't happen to us.