Va4fam

Several years ago, we booked a virtual balcony for the kids. Higher priced than interior room, lower than actual balcony.

Speculation but it might take a few days for Costco to let Royal know about the reservation? Contact Costco to clarify. We have booked with Costco multiple times and had no issues.

For dining reservations.....don't do what we did. We went to Izumi thinking we were booking hibachi. Nope, we had a reservation for sushi. Luckily we caught it and changed in time. Teppenyaki is the name of the hibachi on Odyssey (maybe some or all ships). As @BrianB posted above, make sure to specify when you use a Diamond voucher. Congrats on becoming Diamond and enjoy Symphony, she's a great ship.

We were on Odyssey in April. The bungee/VR was gone. They had cornhole and ladderball instead. The exterior "dome" of the skypad was still there and looks nice lit up at night.

They encouraged attachment, but I just used a selfie stick and it turned out fine. Make sure not to drop it!!

Keep watching and reading about the ship and the ports. Depending on your level of planning, you can prebook dining, activities, excursions. My favorite precruise activity is to go online and look at future cruises and go to NEXTcruise and book the next trip. Being on a cruise ship is the best feeling, but having future cruises booked to plan and anticipate in the future is great too. Enjoy your first cruise!

When the profits are rolling in, the message is probably not heard. As long as someone is willing to pay $4000 for a cabana or $80k for a suite, loyalty sometimes takes a backseat.

Pretty confident we can look back at this thread in a few years and see some of these ideas became reality. Maybe we should delete before it's too late

If you don't have a drink package, Playmakers is home to one of the best values on Royal---the under $20 pitcher of beer. You get 4-5 beers for $16-18.

I'm pretty sure we used our Insta360 Camera for the zipline.

Take the Jazz on 4/casino space and charge for entry based on if you want it to be smoking or nonsmoking 50/50 raffle every day for cash prize $5 per day for the cooler/mini fridge in the room Charge for a sea pass card/but app is free $ 5 each waterslide $ 1 each minute you speak with Guest Services $10 per day to reserve chairs at pool/solarium I hesitated suggesting these.........Royal is listening

Quick update--the confusion continues. For the past week, all excursions for the San Juan port day (or Puerto Plata) have gone away. No options to choose from any more. None. Reached out to the Shore Excursions team and waiting for a response. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

We have been loyal to Mr. Sanchos but the seaweed and overcrowding are making us consider Nachi or Paradise. Do either of those offer on-site massages like Mr. Sanchos?

We did a Game of Thrones walking tour inside the City Walls. It was fantastic. Try to walk the top of the walls before the tour if you have time.

Agree with @Ryan79......look in the Cruise Planner for your specific day. You can book as a driver or a passenger.

In Mazatlan, try the Plumeria golf carts for a tour. We hire a driver right outside the port. He took us to the lighthouse (we climbed to the top) and to downtown and boardwalk, and go to a quiet (non-touristy) Mexican place that our driver knew well. The captain of Navigator used the same driver/golf cart taxi that we did that day.....the driver basically shuttled between us that afternoon. We also did the kayak tour in the morning.........it was.........okay. For Cabo and PV, we did beach days on our own. Los Muertos Beach is fantastic in PV. Check the water taxi times in Cabo, they all went home before dark and we had to walk back to the port.

Yes, it seems to be sold out frequently. We booked during Black Friday (2022) for our April cruise. It was truly amazing and fun. Book the morning if you can, it gets humid and hot later in day.

So many questions........ Is the goal 2 or 3 ships each day? Does current pier have capacity for 3 ships? What is capacity of the waterpark? Will that be limited or expanded? Would they ever consider using tenders again for the smaller ships to keep increasing capacity? They did that until 2017, right? As much as I grumble about the changes, it does seem to be good for my RC stock price.

If you have access to the Diamond Lounge, they may be able to assist you with airline check-in.

Agreed. We are booking an all-inclusive ocean front suite at the Hyatt in Puerto Vallarta for less than an Ocean Balcony on Royal will cost at the same time. Can eat all the pizza, steak, hibachi, Italian, Mexican, and all the drinks we want 24/7. Cancun and D.R. have amazing deals that cost even less.

Not sure if this was already brought up, but last month Princess announced fees for some previously complimentary venues including Pizza. Don't want to pay more for the all inclusive pricing......you NOW get to pay a la carte pricing for pizza, or burgers (they used to be included in standard cruise fares). Probably got attention from somebody at Royal. Bring back the interns!

This sums up our feelings as well. When did Royal turn into Disney? -We are D+ -Since we are flying anyway, land based vacations offering better values now and in 2024-25 -4 cruises this year but only 2 planned for 2024, and 2 in 2025 (1 is a Celebrity cruise with wifi, drinks, tips included)

You could try to review past cruise compasses for a general idea of the entertainment. Many of them are posted on this site.

Didn't they used to offer Beginner Pickleball sessions for free? Maybe they should include a racquet, $ 70 pp seems quite steep.

Congrats @KevinK and @RCIfan1912 for your upcoming Diamond cruises. You can start using your Diamond drinks as soon as you get on the ship. Friendly tip-make sure you specify when you want or don't want to use your Diamond vouchers........no use having a bottle of water count unless you want it to. On Alaska cruise this summer (different cruise line), we ordered Hot chocolate with Spiced Rum. It was amazing and perfect after a chilly day outside. Imagine you could create your own on any Royal ship.