WAAAYTOOO

15 minutes ago, 12thman said:

when it drops you think it's a good deal, in reality the sale price is the price Royal wants you to pay.

The clearest (to me, anyway) and most recent example of this is with The Key.  They started out selling it at a price point that made it profitable for them.  Then, they immediately raised the price, only to bring it back down again to the original "profitable" point to make people feel like they were getting a bargain, when it was, in fact, the point that they wanted it to be, all along.

Subsequently, there has been some fluctuation in the price of the Key, mostly around the differing ship classes.  It's simply not the same value on the smaller ships as it is on the bigger ships and they've had to adjust that price down....but it is pretty much still holding at or above their original introductory price on the big ships.

I'm not saying this is a bad or misleading practice.  It's marketing.  But sometimes you can see how it works, and it's fascinating (to me).

Since this is your first time flying, I will just reiterate (probably totally unnecessary) that you must be at your gate and ready to board your plane at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.  My daughter, as worldly as I thought she was, totally missed a flight not long ago b/c she fiddled around and was late to the gate for boarding.  They will close the airplane door around 10 minutes before departure and they will NOT reopen the door, even if you are standing on the other side ready to board.

Have a GREAT TIME !

Congratulations, JT!  You are on a wonderful adventure.  The most important thing to remind you about is that you must have the proper documents to fly and cruise.  These are really the only things that will keep you off the ship.  Everything else can be improvised, if needed, but if you do not have the proper documents at the port, they will turn you away.

11 minutes ago, amcooper said:

Do I have to wait until I board to make reservations using unlimited dining package?

Yes, unless you are booked in a Grand Suite or higher, where the Suites Concierge can help with booking reservations prior to boarding.

The trade-off with purchasing the dining package at a discount is that you must wait until you board to make reservations. Those who pay full price, get first options for dining locations and times.  That being said, you should have no problem getting your first or second choices for dining times at the restaurant  you want.  There will be a kiosk somewhere on the ship (ship-dependent) where you can make all of your specialty dining reservations as soon as you board.

Likely, you are still too early. When is your cruise ?  There is really no schedule of when the dining reservations will open...it varies widely.  Sometimes, you just to wait.  Keep checking.

If a passenger is added to the cabin, the cruise fare will be recalculated based on current prices but Royal is always happy to take more money from you.  The only possible restriction with adding a passenger at the last minute would be if adding someone upset the balance/availability of life boats. My guess is that this would be unlikely to be a problem if your son was a single, but it could happen. Otherwise, I don’t expect there would be a problem with adding someone to the room as long as they realize the fare will most likely increase.

2 hours ago, GMusick said:

That's why I said my name would stay and the best option would be for a single to purchase the reservation. A transfer is not necessary in that instance.

Then I assume you are suggesting that you would add someone’s name to the reservation and you would simply be a no-show.  That won’t work either b/c they would reprice the ticket when you add someone. The cruise fare would be significantly higher, almost certainly. 

Unfortunately, you will not be able to do this.  At least 1 name on the original reservation must remain. Since there is only one name on the reservation, you cannot transfer this cruise reservation.

I’m afraid that at this point, you will lose all or the greatest part of your cruise fare due to cancellations policy.

1 minute ago, JLMoran said:

Last year during a group cruise on Harmony, @Matt and several others were on board at the same time that Hallmark Channel was filming the movie "Like Father" on the ship with Kelsey Grammer, Kristin Bell, and IIRC Seth Rogen. Some of them actually wound up being extras in a couple of the scenes!

We were on that cruise (it was actually a RCCL Blog group cruise) but I never even saw any of the people in this film although the only one I would have recognized would have been Kelsey Grammer.  We were staying on Deck 17, too !

Just now, Birdman325 said:

My daughter has a nut allergy so I need a fridge to store some stuff. I haven’t called Royal Caribbean, but does Anyone know if there are (mini) fridges in the rooms on Navigator? 
thanx in advance. 

It depends on the stateroom category. I know that the balconies and above have fridges (coolers, really.  They don’t keep stuff very cold at all) but don’t believe that the interior and OV categories do.

12 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

Probably true, but I was hoping for something different.  My understanding is that Allure does not tender so that would rule out GC (and Belize) as it stands now.

I hear ya.  Something different would be nice

We had this one on the second half of our Anthem B2B

Almost certainly the price will be much higher onboard.  That is particularly true on the shorter cruises.  I would NOT count on that price being offered onboard.

YAY !!!  Boarding day.  The best day of the cruise !

Sorry, Sabrina.  I didn't realize this was your old thread !!  once again, Raye #readthethreadtitlebeforeposting

We were on Anthem in Feb 2019 on B2B Star Class cruises (16 glorious days !!).  We had Yen Lee as our Genie on both of these cruises and while Yen is not a "I wanna be your bestie" kind of Genie, she is very efficient and professional.  I would be happy to have her again as my Genie.

I have been SC on both the O class and the Q class.  While I will always be a O class gal, I did really enjoy our time in SC on the Anthem.  There are so many things that, having a Genie, makes so much easier on the Q class ships.  We only did the bumper cars once (it was enough !) but being able to go to the front of THAT line was worth solid gold.  Also, getting to go to the front of the line for North Star any time you want to go, is pretty incredible. We did NS 4 times (twice on each leg) and I definitely prefer going while in port.  When you are at sea, well....not much to see except the sea.  We absolutely loved We Will Rock You (I think it's the best show Royal Caribbean offers on ANY ship) and got seats waaay up front the first time and back a little further the second time. I am not a huge fan of being up front but Dan wants to be right up front for some reason...  We did not do the IFy.  Dan was a real world sky diver and so the simulator didn't really appeal to him.  Yen got us front row seats for both Spectra (twice) and the cover band concert held in the Music Hall (twice).  BTW, I would NOT recommend getting seats right up front for Spectra.  There is a lot of activity that ends up behind you, if you are in the front.  I would request seats back a few rows rather than right up front.  Either way, you will not have to rush to get there before all of the good seats are taken.  That is very important for 270 unless you want to sit in the balcony.

Since you've been SC before no need to warn you about the SC food coma or the dangers of ordering the Seafood towers in Chops.  I'm sure you've already made those mistakes... we all do. On our SC cruise last week we asked our Genie (Joyce...incredible Genie) not to bring ANY unsolicited food to the suite at all.  We just can never eat it and I hate wasting food.  It was wonderful not to have food scraps all around and then feeling guilty about not eating it.  We did have individual meals sent to the suite, but that's different.  It's the random STUFF that they just send...all that fruit !!!  I suspect that if you have children on the cruise, it is nice to have a few things to have them gnosh on, but with just the 2 of us, it was just waaaytooo much.

24 minutes ago, Jmconn said:

Going on the Anthem on the 28th. 

I am assuming that you mean Dec 28th.  If that is the case, I would NOT expect any onboard deals since it is a holiday sailing. Holiday sailings are notorious price gougers to begin with. If you’re going to see any kind of price break, more than likely it will be pre-cruise.

Dan and I were on the Oasis 1 Dec cruise, too.  We don’t feel like we missed out on anything except some casino time and honestly, it was probably a bigger hit, financially, to a Royal than it was to us. In fact, I’m certain that it was their loss, not ours ! It had -0- impact to us.  We got a good night’s rest for disembarkation. 

I would recommend dropping the car off NLT 9:30.  When to request the car rental on the other end really depends on how/when you are deboarding.  If you “walkoff” with self assist then probably 8:00 would be reasonable. If you have your luggage taken down the night before and go with a departure tag, I would recommend 9:00-10:00.

Wow ! ANOTHER one !  Which GLS did you get ?  Hopefully you will hear from your Genie very soon.  Such an exciting time.

11 minutes ago, MichelleWags said:

star class! We are beyond excited, as we have always dreamed of sailing SC. 

Yippee !  Another one !  You should hear from your a Genie at about 30 days out.  Have you already received your Questionnaire ?

Woohoo !  Another Star Class snob.  Can’t wait for your review. I’ve never had Luciano as a Genie so I can’t offer any information.  I have heard good things about him, however.

Your parents are going to love the Panoramic. Do they have the Grand or Owner’s ?  We just got off the Oasis in the Grand and it was, by far, our favorite room, ever.  It is just incredible. The only negative is the smallish balcony but it did not impact our enjoyment one little bit.  Do they have Luciano as their Genie, too ?  We have the Owner’s next Dec on a Oasis.

3 minutes ago, chris25 said:

 what is royal considering a active volcano?

That's the real problem....

I have never heard of any such issues at the Ports.  

How DARE work interfere with your cruising research ?  oof !