Rackham

2 hours ago, Joe01 said:

Seen some really cheap fares going for the Allure from Galveston in August compared to the other Oasis Class ships in the Caribbean. What's the deal there?

Schools in the American South typically go back early August. Thus less local families are vacationing in the middle to the end of the month, and I'd imagine Texas is a less attractive port to people flying in than those in Florida.

Seeing in the app for a sailing at the end of the month, out of Cape Liberty, that every evening at the 'Jammer now has a specialty burger listed.

Day 1: All American Classics: BBQ Burger

     Pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and cheddar.

Day 2: Savor La France: French Onion Burger

     Sautéed onions and swiss cheese.

Day 3: A Taste of Tex Mex: Na'cho Average Burger

      Cheese sauce and salsa.

Day 4: Mangia, Mangia!: Caprese Burger

      Pesto and mozzarella cheese.

Day 5: Flavors of the Caribbean: Buffalo Burger (style, not animal)

      Buffalo sauce and blue cheese.

Day 6: Flavors of India: Indian Burger

      Mango chutney and mint yogurt sauce.

Day 7: Meal in the Med: Med Burger

     Feta cheese and red pepper.

It was probably a notification that the DBP was up to 40% off. Not that it was 40% off.

My go-to is Blue Lizard 50+ Sensitive. Reef safe, and does protect all day without reapplication (if I forget to reapply) as long as I'm not swimming. The downside is it does lighten your skin, being mineral based, if that's something you're trying to avoid.

12 minutes ago, Vlad said:

All of I just bid the lowest allowed. I don't want to spend much more and other people bid much more than I am. 

It's almost guaranteed I won't get it 

Right? 

You won't know if do or don't until the end of embarkation day. I'm currently sitting at 2 for 2 with sailed sailings in which I've bid and won from an interior to something with a window and haven't bid too much more than the minimum. My bids aren't accepted until around 72 hours prior to sailing, however.

18 minutes ago, Vlad said:

I've received email as well 

So how it works, I mean who wins 

Person who bids higher price? 

I've also checked how much is the suite they offering to bid for upgrade and or doesn't show any available. 

So why they are giving all this options to bid if it's not available. For example Junior suite. 

Who wins is based on whichever bid chain nets Royal the most amount of money based on a black-box algorithm. They're not just looking at your bid, they're looking at how much people are willing to spend to move out of their cabin and into a higher category one (which might be yours). 

As for why they're accepting bids on sold-out cabins is because people cancel or don't show up to the pier on embarkation day. If Royal doesn't feel like they can reasonably sell the cabin, before sailing, they'll have PlusGrade accept an offer to fill that cabin and make additional money from the bid chain that PlusGrade determines on the new vacant cabin.

7 hours ago, Bowen said:

We’re looking at a PC cruise for next year, but we see only one (and I’m unable to open it for some reason). I see quite a few for this year though. Does anyone know when these cruises typically open up? 
 

Thanks!

They may already be sold out of the 7-nighters in 2024. I've got one booked in February 2024 and the RCB group cruise is March 16 - 23, 2024.

51 minutes ago, Okgladgal said:

We saw it on Explorer last January 

I don't know if I'm more surprised that the drink card was offered or that it was only $89 ($8.90 / drink).

26 minutes ago, morganpink2001 said:

"They aren't gonna put it in Tupperware and reuse the next night if nobody orders all." That is kind of a good point, especially for the second seating. I wonder the logic then with making folks wait when they do request to have certain things out at same time, in example of building your own Surf & Turf meal. 

The self-created Surf and Turf, if they bring out both entrees at once, is the only time I'll consider Royal is encouraging people to spend money with their dining room policies as S&T is a nightly premium selection.

33 minutes ago, NoobCruise said:

I think I am about to pull the trigger on an Icon cruise next February (24th). The midship traditional ocean balcony rooms are almost sold out. Floor 7 is the only floor available and all the rooms available (about 6 or 10) are clustered near each other on the starboard side. Is there known reason that I am missing why these are the only rooms left? I feel like I am about to book a spot at a campsite and these spots are next to the highway or sewage pump and that is why these are the last rooms to be booked.  Any idea why these are the last to go?

Without knowing their exact location, could it be because they're above Playmakers or the Schooner Bar? There's also a live entertainment venue and the fitness center over there too.

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I had done this on my Grandeur Jan 22-27th sailing.  It was a five night so cannot attest to the lobster. The first night I ordered two apps and one entree. They brought out one app then the other after I finished, then my entree. The portions were small so the second night I ordered one app and two entrees. They brought the first entree and then when I was close to done, they brought the other. The third night was Mexican night and I wanted to try a couple of apps and two entrees; apps all separate. But my waiter asked if I wanted the entrees together, so she brought them out within five minutes of each other. Since she was my dedicated server, she would bring my apps still separate but entrees together for remainder of the cruise. They do this to ensure the food is still hot, but you can ask for all of it to be brought together. 

Only bringing out the next dish after the first is finished sounds like an easy way to prevent people from ordering way more food than they can eat. By night three, the waitstaff knew Ampurp85 could finish what they ordered so they were allowed more leniency with the policy.

20 minutes ago, KristiZ said:

Just got our cruise docs for our March 5 departure and I noticed that bringing soda or water onboard during embarkation is no longer allowed. Curious if anyone else has seen this? Might just be a Barbados thing. I just wouldn't want anyone to be surprised by a change if this is a new direction:

"Guests are not allowed to bring beer, hard liquor, fortified wines (vermouth, sherry, sake, and port wines) or nonalcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use. Guests may bring personal wine or champagne onboard only on embarkation day, limited to two (2) bottles (no boxes) of 750 mi per stateroom. Wine should be brought onboard via carry on if possible. Luggage containing wine or champagne will not be delivered to the stateroom and guests will need to retrieve their luggage from security once the ship has set sail."

I have the same verbiage for a sailing from NJ later this month. Looking back on ticketing booklets from 2022, the same statement is made there as well. Unless someone here says otherwise, I'm assuming the 12, up to 17 floz, non-alcoholic beverages on embarkation day are still allowed.

Just finished mine. Here's the grand list of options for the curious.

Edit: They also asked what the most important thing was when it came to pool deck cuisine besides asking for the most and least appealing option alongside your reason for choosing each option.

You've got it. It's credit once per day per restaurant which operates a la carte. So you could start at Playmakers, swing by Izumi (sushi), and end at Portside with the UDP paying at each. You couldn't go to Playmakers twice in the same day, for example, but any unique combination is okay.

On 1/18/2023 at 8:21 AM, Xaa said:

My guess is that you will get the cooler bag folded up in its packaging and the drinks sitting unchilled next to it.

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

It appears the coolers are delivered wrapped up.

Photo courtesy of Warren Caesar

Looks like Xaa was right!

Port arrival and the all aboard time is in the daily planner as just another card. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a way to only show the cards with a "deskbell" icon.

Edit: These particular cards don't appear until closer to the sailing which is somewhat annoying.

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

Also, if you look under departure ports, there's a mysterious "MISSING PORT CONTENT" tab in the Latin America and Caribbean section... I wonder what that could be?

 

My vote is going for Havana, Cuba.

Other lines returning to the traditional muster drill might be due to staffing.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/cruise-ship-muster-drill-changes-reasons/

Carry-on only? Tom Bihn Aeronaut (45, I have the original model which was updated to become the 45) with their(Co-)Pilot as my personal item. Depending on how much additional stuff I'm packing determines if I'm grabbing the Pilot or the Co-Pilot, its smaller model.

Carry on only does mean, at least for me, either buying sunscreen aboard the ship or after arriving in at embarkation destination. Pricy, but cheaper than checked luggage fees.

https://www.tombihn.com/products/aeronaut-45?variant=42243021799613

https://www.tombihn.com/collections/travel-bags/products/pilot?variant=15776076824639

https://www.tombihn.com/collections/travel-bags/products/co-pilot?variant=41432330993853

I am and I am not cruising between 2022 and 2023 for the points. I’ll save the entire story, and why I chose Royal, for another time. I will say that with the loyalty rewards Royal has in place, the lack of a requalification period (loyalty status doesn’t expire if you don’t cruise for a year, unlike hotels and airlines), where cruise pricing was in 2021 and 2022, my finances due to work covering certain educational expenditures of mine, and sailing solo, it seemed like a good idea at the time to reach Diamond in two years over seven cruises. I’ll have enjoyed plenty of vacation and will have a nice set of comps with future bookings.

A few things to note:

• I live close enough to a port where Royal regularly runs cruises and has for years.
• I have enough time off during the year to easily do an extended sailing (9+ nights) or a land/sea combo whether on my own or through Royal.
• Royal has enough itineraries which interest me during times of year I can get away.

To sum it up. I’m in a position to actually use the benefits earned due to loyalty status.

An aside on pricing:
With how the rest of the leisure travel industry had sharply increased their prices over the years, I was confident Royal (and other cruise lines) would be following suit. It was a question of time, not if. In some ways, I’m viewing this as an investment in future vacations. Yes, Royal can change the benefits at any time. However, they’ve publicly stated they’re happy with the response the program has had and have increased benefits with time. They’ve also tied promos when bookings are soft to C&A level. So higher the level, to a point, the more discounts or benefits for booking a cruise. I don’t see that changing either.

"Prohibited items:

• CBD Oil / CBD Products"

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

It's honestly quite simple. It doesn't matter if CBD is legal in the US when the ship is traveling to countries where it is not. And since most people won't cross-reference international law before bringing products aboard, it's easier to issue a blanket ban than attempt to enforce regulations depending on ports of call.

1 hour ago, BennyandBo said:

I would go back to them with the argument of how you came to your figure. I would argue for a refund in this figure. I would point out how an unpleasant, already extremely unhappy, passenger on a future cruise with FCC could become more trouble to guest and crew alike, then would be worth to them to have on board. 

That sounds like a great way to get future cruises canceled and added to Royal's watch list with threatening to interrupt operations. Based upon section 12 of the cruise contract, Royal owes nothing due to the arguments OP is making in their email. Making threats if they provide FCC you're going to go on that cruise and make trouble is a surefire way of receiving absolutely nothing.

A group of 19 requires a different approach when serving than a party of, say, 8 and Royal might not be interested in reserving that many tables for one party with their current wait staff. Though I'd also believe that there's simply not table availability either that evening due to pre-existing reservations.

The responses here won't be any different that what was said on Reddit. If Royal is saying they can't accommodate a reservation for 19 at Wonderland on your birthday the options, if you got to have Wonderland, for your birthday meal are:

• See if there isn't availability for 19 at Wonderland during a different part of the sailing. If there is, make that your birthday celebration instead.
• Ask if you can buy out Wonderland for that evening or at least a few hours. Royal may or may not be willing to let you buy the place out for a few hours, but they're going to be more willing to cancel people's reservations (and refund payments) if you're cutting them a very nice, most likely non-refundable, deposit.
• Ask if catering from Wonderland would be available at another location aboard the ship.

25 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

Thank you for asking this. Izumi really confuses me too - so much that even though we like sushi, I've totally written it off for our next cruise. We've always enjoyed the MDR and never did specialty dining, but we will have $100 dining credit on our next cruise and were trying to figure out how to use it. Can you just go in to the location (is it one restaurant? or two?) and order some sushi if you want it?

There's a hibachi side and a sushi side. Yes, if there's space available, you can go to the sushi side and order without buying the prix fixe menu in the cruise planner.

1 hour ago, SilentDreamstate said:

This seems to have been an issue over the years from my research. I ordered chocolate covered strawberries and champagne and 2 towels at different times for our upcoming cruise. I never recieved confirmation for the fruit and didn't screenshot it since the website said an email would be sent. I DID screenshot the towels for this reason. 

I messaged gifts and gear advising of such and asked for confirmation of the orders and they.... asked me for the confirmation numbers.

Searching around for the transactions to give them something further than the info already provided, I have yet to see a pending transaction for the towels I purchased just the other day. 

Is this issue really still happening for RC? I saw complaints about this same issue from a lot of people all the back to 2013!

I had the same issue when ordering through Royal Gifts with the website when not logged into the Cruise Planner concerning not receiving an order confirmation email. I did, however, screenshot the confirmation screen to be able to speak with customer service aboard the ship if it's not delivered as the charge did go through. The charge for the cooler didn't go through immediately, it took a few days before it appeared. I'm wondering if someone has to manually approve the Royal Gifts, when not signed in, to make certain it's going to someone aboard the ship.