Va4fam

2 hours ago, Mike6453 said:

to add, Anthem while a nice ship is not known for their specialty dinning options. if you are not going to go places more than once this may affect your decision in purchasing a package or just trying the D+ BOGO. The ship has Chops, wonderland, izumi and jamies italian.

Agreed.   Part of the reason we were looking at the BOGO and Chops +1 is the price and lack of options.

4 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Math is a little off. The onboard price of internet is $29.99. So, you would get the 4 days and pay 7*29.99 for $209.93. Making it a $31 savings. 

I have not seen Chop+1 since earlier this year, it is not offered on any of my sailings from Oct-Feb 2024. The 3N package would be great and you could potentially also take advantage of the D+ BOGO, giving you 5N of specialty dining for the cost of less than 3 if you had purchased a la carte. 

 I was using the regular cruise planner pricing which is typically less than the onboard price.  Good catch. 

Mrs. @Va4fam and I will be on 11 night Anthem cruise in January.   We are both D+.   She typically gets the internet package and I use her login once or twice a day.

Current Labor Day sale for internet s $19.99 per day which equals $240 before taxes.

Do I remember correctly that D+ get 2 free days each cruise?   Wouldn't it make more sense to share our D + days, pay a la carte for 7 days of internet at $26.99 for a total of $189 before taxes?   $51 savings....Are my calculations correct? 

Having same thoughts about the 3 night dining package?  D+ gets a BOGO speciality dining meal but the a la carte pricing is much higher.   Is Chops + 1 still a thing, not seeing it on the dining options.  

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

But they don't come with the surprises you get onboard ships like Liberty. Too soon?

What happened on Liberty?  

Odyssey is a great ship.  Not an Oasis class ship but modern with the best SeaPlex/Playmakers combo in the fleet.

Anthem, Mariner, Navigator, Freedom would be solid choices.

Agree with the other posts, it's a fun class and great value.

We had so much sushi we asked for doggie bags and took them back to the room to enjoy later.

Hiro was good.   We give Aqua 80's our highest rating (music we grew up with) but HIro is worth seeing.  

@PerrysburgRon...we've been on 3 Oasis class ships in the past 15 months and not been able to reserve comedy shows.

BUT....we got to standby line early enough to get in.    Not sure what the current recommendation is but maybe 20 minutes before show time would be a good start.

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!!

17 hours ago, AndrewJL said:

So I'm just extremely excited to go on my FIRST ever cruise. We're going to Cozumel and Costa Maya on Radiance of the Seas. I continuously find myself watching videos on cruises and constantly checking this message board. Anyone have any tips?!

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!

10 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

This is the type of direct communication that needs to go to Royal.  They should be concerned they are losing customers to other lines

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.  

13 hours ago, CruiseMsclDad said:

Did you video your run if so what did you use?

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.