WAAAYTOOO

Yes. Everyone pays gratuities

Thank YOU. We are. It’s a shortened cruise but it’s going well. Beautiful weather today given the awful weather enroute. Happy Dan has quite the red face from hot tub lounging earlier this afternoon.

Texas does have some funky tax rules, so the choice of drinks while still in port is limited to those for which the Texas alcohol taxes have been prepaid. So while the options are limited while in port in Galveston, the opportunity to enjoy a drink is still immediate. Once you get into international waters, the options for drinks are greatly expanded.

Yes, I believe that they are using Blaze as an overflow area for the a Diamond Lounge when it’s necessary.

You can use the drinks package the minute you board.

I don’t think privacy would be issues. While the door is glass, it is frosted so it is opaque. The opening at the top isn’t really any worse, as you pointed out, than a privacy curtain.

Reporting back on The World experience. We did it ! It went off without a hitch. Showed up at the door a couple minutes before 8:00, got a table, got our dessert and were out of there in 15 minutes ! The dessert itself was scrumptious. Worth the effort and the wait. I still will never eat dinner at Wonderland but The World was excellent.

The noise issues had nothing to do with people outside....it was due to a blaring sound system (newly installed during the amplification) on the pool deck. It was horrific but they finally removed one or more of the [new] speakers and it reduced the noise to an acceptable din. What I would like to know is whether or not that speaker(s) has been permanently removed or whether they put it back after our cruise. The door on the bedroom is glass but it does not go all the way to the ceiling. There is an open space above that door. We never closed the door the whole week.

No, if you have prepaid these, they are paid. You will not be charged again.

For those who wonder about Johnny Rockets and the dining and beverages packages... We went to JR today for lunch (no $$ limit) and our shakes were included with our refreshments packages. SCORE ! On a similar topic...we had dinner tonite at Chops. I had the spicy shrimp (yummy) and Dan ordered the lamb shank being served in the MDR tonite. We advised them, when we arrived at Chops, that Dan would be ordering the lamb shank so that they would get a bit of a head’s up. It was delivered in a timely manner and was excellent. We decided that we were full and didn’t want dessert right then (burgers at JR may or may not have played a role, here !). Instead, we made reservations for dessert only at Wonderland on our way back to the room. The Wonderland concierge seemed a bit confused with our request but made the reservation for us. We intend to go to Wonderland to sample The World - finally - at 8:00. I will let everyone know that goes. I have high expectations. So far, we have run into Yen every day of this cruise. We’ve seen her almost as often on this cruise as we did last year when she was our Genie. She told us that We Will Rock You has been cancelled for tomorrow (due to reduced #of pax on this cruise) and will only be performed on the last day - once in the afternoon and once in the evening. She is such a sweetie. She told us to call her if we need anything but of course, we would never do that.

The Panoramic Suites (Grand and Owner’s) on Oasis and Allure are original builds. They have been on these ships from the beginning. Starting with a Harmony, they removed these 2 suites to make room for the Coastal Kitchen kitchen. The “new” SC suites are the Ultimate Panoramic Suites which were added last fall. They are far forward (above the bridge) and have no balcony at all. I stayed in the Grand Panoramic Suite on Oasis in a December. I loved this suite. Yes, the balcony is very small. That is only downside of this suite, IMO. We loved that it had no stairs as all of the other S.C. suites (excepting the ATS) do. We have the Owner’s Panoramic booked (Oasis) for Dec 6, 2020, Jan 9-16, 2022 and Jan 16-23, 2022. I have never even been in the Royal Loft Suite but I’m certain that it would be incredible. I would avoid it due to the stairs but if stairs aren’t an issue for you, I would say get it if you can ! Check out the very recent Rags1 live blog. As far as privacy goes, it is not an issue, IMO. I wouldn’t give that another thought. We also book all of our SC cruises through the casino. The casino discount isn’t nearly as it used to be but it still beats paying full price !

Yes, it is. Kind of odd, TBH.

I know. I was kidding...making fun of myself

Yes.

No, unfortunately. Grand Suites and above (and Pinnacles) can eat breakfast in either Chops or Giovannis (whichever that ship uses....I think it’s Chops) but that is the only meal. JS are not included in this.

Not that I am aware of.

Over the years we have found that walk-ups are actually a better option than trying to reschedule a reservation. Almost inevitably, if we try to rebook a reservation late in the cruise, we find it difficult; however, if we just walk up to the restaurant and ask to be seated, we usually have better results. Be prepared for a “no”, however. If you go during peak dining times (6-7), the restaurant could very well be booked. If you eat very early (as we do) or after 8:00 I don’t think you would have any trouble. We are often very surprised at how empty the restaurants are. Also, realize that if you do not use your dining package you will not be reimbursed so there is a risk to not making reservations.

Hey, Jim There is a great deal of discussion regarding this issue on other threads around the forum. The truth is, nobody can say for sure if it’s a permanent situation or not. The emails have been coming out around 1-2 weeks prior to the sailing stating that “due to the large number of high tier Crown & Anchor members on this sailing”, they are sending the D+ down to an “enhanced” Diamond Club (which means that they are opening up all or part of the Music Hall as an overflow venue during Happy Hour). Since this exact same email has been coming out for nearly every single US embarked ship recently (that still has a CL) I think we can all anticipate that this is Royal’s way of pushing the D+ out of the remaining Concierge Clubs, permanently....but they (Royal) have not admitted this to be the case. The fact that, despite our sailing going out with only a 60% capacity, they did not re-invite the D+ back into the CL for this sailing, says a lot, IMO. I cannot say for sure, but my prediction is, that your sailing will follow this current trend and the D+ will be restricted from going into the CL. Hopefully you can find a new stateroom more convenient to other venues. I find the CL to be very inconveniently located on Anthem. Even though we are permitted to go there on this sailing, we have been there exactly once and that was on day 0 to get Alex to help us with dinner reservations.

Welcome to the blog, sirdaniel ! I am with you on the long ride to Paris. We were in Le Havre only once and unfortunately it was a Sunday so much was closed. I do recall that we had a very nice day just walking around. It seems that there was a nice open market that we enjoyed. Skip the long ride to Paris and do that another time !

You can do Izumi takeout on Anthem. I saw it posted in the Compass today and I saw someone picking up takeout when we were there having dinner tonite. Of course, you would still e restricted to $35 PP ( or subject to additional charges) but you can do it on Anthem.

Guilty as charged ! Enabler and proud of it !

The full price for the DBP on Anthem this week was $74 PP/PD

We use the RCCL Visa and love it. For casino OBC it works the best, IMO. No annual fee.

Is that the second cake that Delaney has gotten ?

Thanks ! It seems that we have gotten all of the refunds now....dining pkg, refreshments pkg, gratuities, Beach Club excursion, port fees. Yesterday we had more than a $3K negative balance ($500 of that was a RCCL Visa redemption and had nothing to do with the cruise fare rebate). We took care of most of that with our first night casino visit ! The weather is awful today. Lots of wind, lots of waves. Lots of motion. Cold. Luckily, neither Dan nor I get seasick - thank goodness ! Still enjoying the trip though. There are a couple of C&A and suites events today which we will probably skip. We have not received our C&A welcome amenities. I suspect this is due to the delayed boarding. I’m thinking they waited until everyone boarded to avoid delivering gifts to rooms that were ultimately cancelled. If we don’t get them by the end of the day, we will pay the Loyalty Advisor a visit.