CrimsonCruiser

It certainly isn't necessary and if they find it a hassle to carry them, it better to leave them onboard then risk the teens leaving them on the island and having to pay the replacement costs. That said, i did like having a lid on my non-alcoholic drinks since we ate at our beach bed and sad was likely to get blowing. Plus it was just generally easier to carry the soda cup vs the small plastic ones. Finally, I liked that I could top fill it with water at any station so I was hydrated and cool while, for example, admiring the shopping booths.

ohhhhhhhhhhhh...interesting.....

I think it's only if the deck that would be 13 has rooms on it. The superstition usually means no one wants to "live" on deck 13 but public areas like the pool deck or sports deck are usually fine.

see this just goes to once again prove that I know nothing about bars and booze because I thought you were complaining about floaters (ie bugs, hair, spit, dirt etc) in the drinks being served on board..... granted I still don't know what you DO mean...but context here has shown me it's definitely not what I was thinking lol

I hear this and as we are also currently booking hotels for Galveston, I have looked in these recommended areas....but we can't justify over $200 a night for a single night in what is essentially a layover spot. And that's what webster or league city are running right now. We often land early afternoon, do errands, grab delivery for dinner and then just watch crappy hotel tv until travel day exhaustion wins and we crash.... so....for us...we're looking at the hotels around Hobby. I currently have a list of brand name hotels all of which are $150/night or lower.

We literally never got one before and I've never known to ask after.... well...now I do know....gonna make a note to ask the concierge...worst they can say is no

Are bridge tours only available on certain classes of ships? We've sailed in grand suites on all but one of our cruises and I've never known it to be a perk... I do see where OP got the information (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-the-suites-program) but I wonder if this is another instance of Royal not updating their site...Or maybe it's new and a good perk to booking a smaller ship since this isn't offered on the Royal Suite Class perks

I was just coming to say I got lucky and this totally random midweek sale had the package back down to the $220 it was last week haha... really did think I'd have to fight longer for that. Snagged and paid and still hoping something miraculous will happen and we can get it for a smooth $200

I suppose it may be true that I just have bad ones. my first foray into microfiber towels are ones that came in a college room-in-a-bag set (2 towels, a lamp, pop up hamper and a whole bedding set for maybe $100) and then some kitchen ones from dollartree I have washed both several times with multiple different soaps and fabric softener methods but they still suuuuuuck lol. maybe I'll give more pricey ones a try....maybe

I have never had a microfiber towel that actually feels like it's drying....it either sticks to me like static or the water just runs off of it and doesn't take it off of me....lol what is your secret

It so seriously looks like it was MADE to be there. You can really tell by that picture just how much PDCC impacted the design of the upper decks and family area

For adults? Beaches, pools, plenty of food. For kids there are a few toddler-sized slides that are free as well. But here's the thing...I thought that so little free to adults would make it boring and a let down but it really wasn't. I brought my own snorkel gear and spent like an hour just playing with the fish and then another hour just enjoying the water. Actually never made it to the pool lol

Definitely depends on sailing. We did our first jr suite last year and booked CK for dinner on boarding night. It was crowded and we weren't able to get a seat until I think 8 or so. BUT on the flip side, on the second to last day we got a call inviting us to have lunch, comped, for no other reason than the CK host wanted to. I can only assume they had lower-than-normal numbers eating there and therefore opened it up to JR suite guests.

Eehhhhh.....6:45 seems to be a really popular time and there are lots of folks with reservations getting in so I don't know how fast the non-reservation line would go. That said, the reservation line is usually fully seated by 7 so I figure worst case, maybe a 15-minute wait?

See this is one of those bent/broken rules it's best not to talk about. Per the rules of the package, no the bar tender is not to give you a drink if it's not your card. That said, it can get busy and there's not always a foolproof system to verify who is using which card. It happens and I'm sure the increasing cost in the package is reflect that royal knows that. BUT if at any point you get caught...they will penalize you. Period. Probably by either taking the package from your partner OR by adding the cost of one to your card. Of course all of this is moot if you're planning to get the Deluxe Beverage Package because, in an effort to avoid this, royal requires all adults in a room to buy the package and even if you call for an exemption (medical, religious, AA etc) you will be told to buy the non-alcoholic package. So.....there's really no way around paying for it.

I don't even get why do it more than one night... it's a celebration of all that was accomplished on that particular sailing...once toward the end, as a nice send off and big thank you (and a one-and-done way to remind us about the survey at the end) and that's good enough. There's no reason to have it more than one night....

Maybe it was a test for something? Crappy AI though that didn't even really reword it...it's 98% my words lol

You can easily get towels for free from the pool deck on the ship at pretty much anytime and you can take them off board when in ports so you can use them at the beach. There is a fee if you fail (or seem to fail due to a card read error) to return the towel, so some people like to bring their own to avoid the potential of this fee or the headaches of remembering to take them to the pool deck after a long day in port In regards to shower towels, the towels in the rooms are standard bath towels and I've traveled with many a fluffy person who prefers to pack their own towel because the ones on the ship do not wrap around them comfortably.

I'm in the minority and actually like the bionic bar. I'm not well versed in bar...well..anything. I don't know a lot of cocktails, don't like trying to wave someone over when I can see they're busy and don't like sidling up to a stranger to try to get a seat or to yell over blasting music to get a bottle of water. The bionic bar eliminates most if not all of that for me. I just wish my diamond vouchers could be used there. When we were on Harmony last year, I watched the BB longingly but I was struggling to use the free drinks so couldn't justify paying for one even if it meant avoiding people haha. This year, we're skipping any drink package so I'm looking forward to using my diamond drinks on cans of soda or water or MDR drinks while I use a couple real dollars to play with the robots

Very good to know. They're low on my "brand to try" list since i don't think they rewards match but good to know all those pretty features and sales don't shine as much as they seem to

I had a feeling something was up.....though for as long as I've been on the internet I've never known someone to "chat bot" what even is that and what even is the point.....

OBC offered by Royal will be available in your cruise planner for any pre-cruise purchases (drink package, shore excursion, dining etc) as soon as you're booking is made. I have also heard, though I've not tried it myself, that it can be used to pay your daily gratuities (I imagine for this, you need to not pay them ahead of time, have them on your bill and your OBC will automatically be spent first as a credit on your account).

We think so much the same that we even write the same! haha. (my reply from 2022 below):

Probably something like "there's just one person here, it's fine they can share" basically deciding for you that you wanted strangers next to you or had no other companions (children, friends joining later etc). And then probably doubled down after you walked away with something like "well see now we get the whole thing anyway" OR some shade to you like "even you [to 8-yr old] know it's nice to share. That person is just angry" because people like that always think they've made the right choice and others are being unfair to be angered by their decisions.

The only thing I can see that is possibly different is that at a "suite guarantee" there is a small, itty bitty, microscopic baby chance that you get a Grand Suite. whereas the guaranteed junior is only junior suite and there's no ifs, ands or buts about it.