Biff215

Just definitely be aware that your stateroom attendant may be “nice” and take the towels without actually returning them in the system. Through six other Royal cruises we’ve never had this issue and I would have thought they were told not to take the blue towels. Maybe they get a cut of that $25!

Update…got a call back from the same rep at Royal who said she heard back from the ship and could now process my refund. So hopefully in the next few weeks it will go through.

Lesson learned, don’t ever assume your stateroom attendant is taking care of it and don’t leave the ship until you’re sure everything is accounted for!

22 minutes ago, dodgestang said:

Why am I getting emails for all members of my cruising party telling us to schedule Antigen testing for day of sailing when of the 5 of us, only 1 is under age 11 and needs the antigen test day of cruise?

Calling the help number associated with the email is 100% useless as the poor woman can do nothing more than read the policy and not answer the question of WHY all 5 of us got a request to schedule the antigen test.

Additionally when trying to sign up/register for my 10 yr old...I am presented with "We are unable to verify your information. To complete your registration, it is important that you contact Royal Caribbean International. Click here for contact information" error message that RCCL rep on the other end of the line when calling the number provided also can not assist with.

Unfortunately this is “normal” from my own experience, we got the same emails for our cruise out of Nassau two weeks ago. You can ignore those that that don’t pertain to certain guests. Of course Royal could have narrowed this down on their side, but I just assume they’re placing the responsibility on the guest, but it can be confusing.

I also got the same error when trying to sign up my son for testing. The workaround is to copy the reference number they give you then do it manually. You can do this by clicking the link they give you when you get the error. I apologize for not remembering the specific wording, but it will work that way.

For us it was super useful to use a roll call here or Facebook group to deal with these various “issues” as someone else is most likely dealing with them too!

50 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

I've never had any issues with the stateroom attendant handling our pool towels.  I let them know we need 2 each day and they keep switching them out.  It sounds like your attendant messed in logging you old ones back in.

Yep. If they had traded them out that would have been appreciated and then my responsibility to return them.

1 hour ago, cdixon22 said:

I find the account feature on the app really nice as it post charges quickly. I usually check it every morning while eating breakfast. Mistakes can happen. 

I agree completely, I checked that often and it helped catch a discount we didn’t get in one of the stores. Unfortunately towel charges get tacked on after you’re off the ship. It would be nice if they connected that system to the app so you always knew how many towels you had out. Well that and telling the stateroom attendants not to take them during the cruise.

18 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

I have had a few issues with bad charges.  Last cruise, we were charged for a drink at Coco Cay even though I had the drink package.  It was easily fixed but it definitley pays to watch your on board charges closely throughout the cruise.

I assume you were smart and got it fixed while on board? So far it has been extremely difficult to get in contact with Royal to fix this from home. An email I sent over a week ago hasn’t yet been answered. It took me about ten calls to finally get someone on the line (disconnected or hung up on the first nine), and even when I got someone, it took over 20 minutes to get where I am now, still waiting on a resolution that I’m guessing may never come.

It’s a shame as it was otherwise a great cruise. Just leaves a bad taste in my mouth until it’s fixed. 

16 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I'd love to know how many people actually try to steal the towels. Better yet unintentionally take them home. I'm guessing not many.

Agreed, they’re certainly not worth it. I’m assuming the charge is an effort to prevent loss when guests take them off the ship in foreign ports and don’t bother to bring them back.

I’d be interested to know just how many people get charged for towels yet never notice it or bother to complain. After 7 nights and over $1,000 in various charges it could be easy to miss on the final invoice, especially since it doesn’t show up on the paper invoice you get on your last night.

18 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

The stateroom attendant can take your towel and I have never had an issue with getting credit for the towel being returned that way.  I always make a point to return any towels on the last day directly to the towel guy at the pool and make sure I am current and avoid any issues. 

It most likely showed on your final onboard account the morning you left and it is important to check all charges before leaving as it is much easier to deal with on the ship vs off.

Unfortunately, this won't help you now.  I would email the ship as they suggested and then escalate if you can't get a refund.

Thanks. The rep I talked to on the phone is supposedly emailing the ship and will call me once she is able to issue the refund. Guess I’m just hoping for the best at this point. 

I’m sure this is everyone’s favorite topic but I need advice. We were on Adventure July 3-10. Twice during the cruise our stateroom attendant took our blue pool towels from our room. This has never happened to us before but I just figured he was being nice and took care of it for us. Fortunately I asked the next day when I went to get more towels because they were still on our account. They took care of it and all was well.

On the full last day of our cruise our stateroom attendant took them again. This time I didn’t get the chance to go back up to the pool to check to see if they were returned, but sure enough there was a $75 charge on our final invoice after leaving the ship.

I’ve called several times and get disconnected most of the time, but I was told today that they would need to email the ship to verify they were returned and only then could they refund it. This sounds kind of ridiculous as I told them what had happened and I’m sure no one on board could verify anything.

Anyone else ever come across this? Is there another department I should be contacting? Either way, lesson learned. I will always check on this before leaving the ship and might have to start hiding my pool towels. Crazy!

Yep, we did this on Harmony in 2019, similar situation. Just make sure they label them for you as they’re blank and impossible to distinguish between otherwise. Took just a few minutes to get at guest services once we verified who we were and that we should have access to both rooms. 

Agree with Twangster. Even with the chairs more spread out right now, there really isn’t room for something like that. Not only could it block someone else’s view, but it could also be considered a tripping hazard.

If you really want some decent shade, you might want to consider a beach bed.

We found this odd as well when we cruised July 3-10. The production show (Invitation to Dance, which we’ve seen before on other ships) was only shown twice on the second night. Honestly not sure what they have them doing the rest of the week as the other shows did not make use of them.

Fortunately having Kieron Cox in the pub made us not care about the rest of the entertainment as much. Definitely one of the better ice shows too even though it’s been around a long time.

We were on Adventure July 3-10. I know Harry was the pianist in the Schooner Bar the previous weeks but he was nowhere to be seen during our cruise which seemed strange. They seemed to try to fill the hole with the orchestra pianist and classical guitarist. Anyone know what happened?

52 minutes ago, twangster said:

Probably just an inversion layer pushing her exhaust down rather than letting it rise into the sky.

Quantum class are known to use a lot of water in the scrubbing process that makes a lot of steam that some people think is dirty exhaust gases but is mostly water vapor.  I've sailed a number of her sisters and they all do this at times.  

If she had a fire yesterday there is no way she would be at anchor today.  She would be required by convention to get to shore and be inspected by the authorities and her classification society.  A captain who failed to do this would be up for review and could lose their license.  

Thanks for this. My daughter was being told by staff in the teen club that the fire was causing Odyssey to push her first sailing off until September.

We just left CocoCay and passed Odyssey while eating dinner. The North Star was up so it looks like all is well!

So blessed to spend two days back-to-back at Perfect Day but it’s still not enough! Jumping on the first cruise to offer three days there!

We’re on Adventure now and fortunate to so far be completely unaffected by Elsa. Just a couple of notes:

1. We’re staying here at the CocoCay pier overnight. Pretty sure all previous cruises have left and come back. Some seem to think it means we have enough fresh water, or maybe it could be weather related?

2. Last night for the 4th, we were floating next to Odyssey for the fireworks. A decent amount of smoke was surrounding her on the starboard side. Hearing today that there may have been a fire at the Seaplex but haven’t been able to find it here or verify it any other way.

3. Last night was pretty amazing out here. Seeing all the other ships while we rolled up was incredible. As we all gathered on the top deck, it was certainly the most “normal” feeling I’ve had in the past 16 months. Just so great to see cruising back and Royal making a big statement!

If we come across anything else interesting, I’ll post it here. 

16 minutes ago, 0_0 said:

Got a push notification exactly at noon. Got on shortly afterward and my check-in and health questionnaire was available to complete.

Same here, one more step closer!

10 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Realism. Hurricanes are obviously no joke and making plans several days out based on what the forecast is now is often a very bad idea. 

 

Straight from the national hurricane center's latest update:

[T]he general consensus is that Elsa should turn northward 
by 96 h through a weakness in the subtropical ridge created by a 
mid-latitude trough.  However, the guidance is quite divergent 
around this consensus, with possible tracks ranging from a 
west-northwestward motion through the Yucatan Channel or western 
Cuba to a northward motion through the Bahamas.  Thus, the latter 
portion of the track forecast remains low confidence.

I’m not suggesting this shouldn’t be taken seriously but I trust Royal will keep us all (and their ship) safe no matter what happens. It’s the benefit of being on a mobile vacation, I’d be far more concerned if I was headed to Florida or an island to stay for the week.

9 minutes ago, 0_0 said:

Got my email asking me to answer health questions. Now my check-in button (where the health questions are located) on my app has disappeared... Royal IT strikes again. 

I’ve heard it tends to become available around noon so check back. 

29 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Anymore it's tough to put much stock in a projected storm path past 72 hours. 

Can always count on you for some optimism! 

Yep, I think we'll be okay!

On 6/30/2021 at 4:50 PM, Matt said:

That was still a thing on Adventure when I was on the other week.

Just to confirm, that was without Voom and the messaging in the app?

We’re on Adventure this Saturday so I’ve been debating this, particularly because we have a 12 year old we need to keep in contact with. On Harmony in 2019, iMessages came through with no problem. I assume they use the same port as the app. Messaging through the app was hit or miss then though.

I’d really love to be completely disconnected and spend that money elsewhere!

Update…talked to Royal today. They confirmed that this policy is only currently in effect for the June 26 Adventure and July 2 Freedom sailings. Beyond that, decisions have not been made or announced. 

On 6/25/2021 at 5:16 PM, joshgates said:

It's specifically for parents who's children can't get a vaccine because of age, they're the only unvaccinated ones on the Adventure.  Likely the result of two of them testing positive yesterday so they're adding a layer of additional precaution. 

From what I heard they were both 14, meaning they could have been vaccinated. It’s just not required by Royal until August 1 since the approval came pretty close to the June sailings. My 12 year old will be two weeks past full vaccination when we set sail this Saturday. 

On 6/25/2021 at 4:59 PM, joshgates said:

Looks like as a result of this any groups with unvaccinated guests can only do sponsored excursions, they're not allowed off ship into ports on their own.  Vaccinated parties are still able to explore freely.  Just notified everyone that it starts effective tomorrow's sailing.

I’m very frustrated with this right now as those of us on the July 3 sailing have received nothing to notify us of this change. I’ve reached out to Royal and can’t get a straight answer, still waiting for them to get back to me. I just need to know so I can plan accordingly and give the private companies I had booked the courtesy of a proper notice. Royal’s offerings are pretty slim so it’s certainly our preference to go third party if we can.

Anyone know more?

It’s official, Royal bumped Adventure for Freedom on July 4th at CocoCay, citing the CDC for why two ships won’t be there together. Still interesting that it’s ok in Nassau on July 3, definitely seems like it’s more about the marketing and having the first US sailing there on the 4th. Royal is promising to bring Adventure in close enough to see the fireworks though which is a nice addition. 

57 minutes ago, Reigert2008 said:

I know it's not a popular opinion, but booking through external private parties and not the cruise line is a risky take since ports are never guaranteed. The advice I've received on here is to make sure that it is refundable and if possible that they know the ship schedule where they may be able to shift if the cruise docks on a different day.

 

We've only ever done one excursion and it was the train in Skagway.  Doing our research, i did not feel that the price was out of line with what the train company was offering, but of course other options may exist.

I hear you, but you should see the slim offerings available right now in Freeport and Cozumel. We actually booked one through Royal only to have it canceled a month before the cruise.

We’ve booked plenty of private excursions in the past with no problem. I’m fine with being flexible, but now that we’re 10 days out, there’s not much you can do if they do adjust the itinerary now.

Don't get me wrong, we’ll be happy to be cruising again!