Biff215

My daughter has found most of the teen events via the app since the restart. If the activities aren’t loaded yet for you, you can check out an earlier itinerary on the same ship to get an idea of what will most likely be offered.

If you haven’t done this before, go to the person icon at the top of the app and choose “Select a different sailing”. Then scroll down and choose “Get more details on ships we support”. Choose your ship and the current week’s sailing to see everything that’s going on. 

That’s super fast! We disembarked Symphony around 9:00 in December. After waiting in about a 15 minute line on the ship, we quickly got through luggage collection and customs. The taxi line was pretty long, however, especially if you had 4+ people with too much luggage to fit in a standard taxi. We probably waited about 20-30 minutes but fortunately weren’t in a rush. 

36 minutes ago, Matt said:

When I was on Independence last weekend it was still Grease in concert.

Recap of what it's like here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/01/12/independence-of-the-seas-live-blog-day-2-sea-day

Thanks, Matt, I knew I read that here too but hoped it had changed by now. I’m guessing that it’s more than just COVID related as Harmony still seems to have the full version. Maybe a cast member left the ship before their contract ended? I just really hope this isn’t a permanent change due to Indy’s shorter cruises.

10 hours ago, Jill said:

Is it because ocean view are on quarantine decks? This is happening on Wonder too. During the omicron surge weren’t the quarantine decks ocean view cabins? 

Typically yes, they use a lower deck for quarantines. I also think they try to keep the occupied cabins together for staffing purposes, so if there are less bookings or lower capacity, it pays them to move some people around. 

6 hours ago, jack_4321 said:

I believe that was during the peak of omicron and it was because the some of the performers had to isolate. It should be back to normal grease now.

4 hours ago, bryresangel said:

We just were on the Independence in November and it was normal Grease. Not sure if it changed after we sailed, but it was fine for us.

I had assumed the same thing but some recent vlogs I’ve seen appear to show the “new” version still. Even the app for this weekend’s sailing lists it this way:

Slick back your hair and pack your poodle skirts. Summer Lovin’ is in the air with our larger than life concert version of the hit Broadway’s musical, "Grease." Including all of the famous songs from the 70s hit movie, you’ll hear the romantic twists and turns of Sandy and Danny, two summer loves who navigate the tricky social waters of Rydell High School while keeping their reputations — and relationship — together, so come and join in on the fun and get your singing voices on!

I’ve noticed this same thing. While I like the guess that it helps keep the unvaccinated numbers low, this falls apart when someone simply goes around it and books two rooms for that same family of four. Either way you’re giving Royal the ages of the kids so they can still figure out the potential percentages. My guess is that it’s been used to keep capacity at a certain number while also keeping the used rooms together as much as possible for staffing purposes. 

I’ve read a few reports of a modified Grease show on Indy. Apparently it’s called “Grease in Concert” and primarily only includes the songs?

Does anyone know why this is happening and how long it might continue? We were on Symphony in December at the height of the Omicron wave and they still managed the full Hairspray performance so I was just wondering what was going on. 

45 minutes ago, DLJ2020 said:

Yes! Hoping to get them scanned in the next couple of days. There was no showing of Hairspray on our sailing. I was a little disappointed. But most of the items should stay pretty close to the same.

Wow, that’s crazy. We are on the 5 nighter this Saturday so that makes me think we may miss that or Flight unfortunately. It’s going to be interesting to see what they manage to salvage from the 7 night itinerary. 

We’re on Symphony December 18. Someone in our Facebook group heard from someone on board today that they’re expecting 5,800 for our cruise next week.
 

We’ve been on Harmony at full capacity so we know it will be ok but that was pre-COVID. I just hope Royal makes the necessary adjustments to other areas like entertainment and Adventure Ocean. 

We have unlimited dining booked for Symphony in two weeks. I’m looking at the available times for guests reserving them a la carte and it’s concerning me. Some nights, there are only late reservations available. With a 9 year old who lives for Adventure Ocean and a teen who always finds friends, we definitely want to eat around 5:00-6:00 each night.

Should we just cancel now, eat in the MDR, and avoid the disappointment? Or do they hold enough spots at each time that we can likely grab something as soon as we get on the ship? We do have the earliest checkin time fortunately.

My thought was to give it a shot and if it truly doesn’t work, then I would go to guest services and request a refund. I’m sure that’s not guaranteed but I’m hoping they would consider it given the situation?

On 11/15/2021 at 10:43 PM, good_day said:

Are the excursions marked "sustainable" safe?  I've been at an excursion that I booked via a resort, and it was not sponsored by the resort.  When I went to it, we were the only tourists and we felt unsafe the whole time and couldn't wait for it to end.  Because we'll be in a foreign area in Cozumel, just want to make sure which ones are the safest and most popular excursions

“Sustainable” has nothing to do with safety, it’s just a certification for tour operators.

You’re typically going to be safer on excursions sold by the cruise line as Ashley mentioned above. 

Is the teen club considered “vaccinated only” since 12+ technically has to be? Or are masks required while in the club?

We’re on Wonder in April and only the 3 night package is available. Now it’s only a 5 night sailing but I’m still hoping they’ll offer it. Three nights isn’t enough to try them all (neither is 5)!

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.