WAAAYTOOO

I have experienced some very hard mattresses in the past but it seems that lately they’ve been better.  Maybe I’m just getting used to them. I used to write and ask for a mattress topper but all they do is add one of those thin, quilted mattress pads so it was a waste of time. I no longer do that.  I do, however, ask my cabin attendant to place 2 folded duvets beneath the sheet and it helps some.  It’s just easier to deal directly with the cabin attendant.  

Honesty, I really do not know whether daily gratuities cover CK staff or not. Many MANY suite guests do not tip extra when dining in the CK.  It is not required.  We do, but many do not.  We tip at each meal b/c you may or may not get the same waiters from meal-to-meal.  We tip $5 for breakfast, $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner regardless of where we eat - even if we eat in the Windjammer  

If you do not prepay your grats, you will be charged daily.  We always prepay ours.

Yes, if there is a dish being served in the MDR that you want when dining in the CK, you can ask to have it brought to you in the CK.  For instance, if you choose to eat in CK (or any specialty restaurant, for that matter) on the second formal night and they are serving lobster tails in the MDR, you can ask your waiter to bring you a lobster tail. Please note that when doing this, they are going out of their way to accommodate you, so please “appreciate” their effort.  If you anticipate that you will do this, it is generally appreciated to give the restaurant a “heads up” the night before and let them know that tomorrow night you’re going to ask for a lobster tail.  That way they can be prepared. On LIB last month when having our breakfast in Chops the morning of lobster night, our waiter asked us if we would like to have “surf & turf” for dinner that night (he knew that we were coming to Chops for dinner that night).  We told him, “yes, thank you” and we get our lobster without even asking.  We often make similar requests/arrangements on nights when they serve lamb shank, as that is Dans favorite but we never visit the MDR anymore.

41 minutes ago, SuperNinja said:

 Would it be better to wait for Next Cruise to take advantage of the OBC that they give through Next Cruise

With this being a new ship and the fact that it APPEARS that they have reduced the number of SC suites on Odyssey, I would recommend booking as soon as possible. IMO waiting will only produce higher prices that would likely cancel out any OBC that you might reap from NextCruise.

1 minute ago, Baked Alaska said:

So, I could use a luggage valet for FLL for a ship arriving at Terminal A Miami? I was under impression that that option would only be available for flights out of Miami. This would be good news. Where would I find the luggage valet times?

Yes.  I believe (but don’t quote me) that the earliest flight you can book if you are traveling from Port of Miami but flying out of FLL is 2PM.  Luggage Valet is awesome.  Best $25 you can spend.

1 hour ago, RatedPG said:

I have never used the services of travel agents for booking my cruises but I've been reading about the advantages of doing so in these message boards.

My question is, if I have already booked a cruise with Royal (online or over the phone), can a travel agent still have my booking repriced if I endorse/transfer my booking to them?

Yes, as long as final payment hasn’t passed

3 minutes ago, Jill said:

 I’m almost 3 years NED, Stage 4b endometrial cancer.

WOW !  That is incredible !  Congratulations !!!

14 hours ago, Miller Lite said:

Do you ever get pegged by customs about how much cash you have on you? Has only happened to me twice, out of around 20 cruises, "luckily" I lost on those trips lol

Never but we never carry more that $10K each. 

I just can’t justify the flight for a 4-nighter and I don’t have enough vacation to do a B2B. Enjoy, everyone !

49 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

So that 99 bucks included the gratuity?

For the time being (this could change any day), if you purchase the dining plan from the cruise planner prior to sailing, the gratuities are already included.  If you wait until you get on board to purchase, the gratuity will be added onto the base price you pay.

43 minutes ago, APM said:

Curious if anyone knows if the rules have changed again.

I just booked by my first 2020 cruise on Mariner for the Super Bowl.  I upgraded a COMP Junior Suite to a Grand Suite.  The pricing breakdown shows that I basically paid the full non-discount rate between the Junior Suite and the Grand Suite.  Correct me if I am wrong (and I am aware the rules change frequently) didn't we use to receive a casino % discount on that $$ amount between the Comp Room and the Booked Room?  And last year weren't we eligible for C&A discounts on our bookings?

Really, just curious if anyone knows what the current rules are from talking to a Club Royale attendant.  I have been getting the overseas call center folks every time I call and I try to get off the phone as quick as possible because they are normally provide very little assistance.

 

Thanks

Things have definitely changed.  There are so many factors that affect what kind of rate you but the biggest discriminator is STILL the agent that you get on the phone.  If I get one from Guatemala I just hang up.  The rule of thumb that I use is to call later in the evening...after 7:00 and I seem to get the CONUS agents.

How far in the future you book matters also. In the old day we would get about a 5-10% break on the fare if it was greater than 6 months in the future, knowing that we could reprice later and still get a good deal.  Now ?  Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t.  Honesty for distant cruises I just take whatever they give me with the intention of repricing it once it’s eligible for the free Prime deal.

However, the days of 60-70% off rates are gone forever.  Now the going rate seems to be 30% off, max.  I just looked at the last cruise I booked prior to April 1 (the beginning of this cruise year, which is when all the new pricing rules seem to have gone into affect) and I calculated that my casino rate is a 91% reduction off the current price for the Grand Suites still showing available on that cruise (25 Nov on Brilliance).  The current per person rate AFTER applying the BOGO is $4239.50.  I paid $367 PP.  Grand Suite 5 night Thanksgiving Cruise. I’ll never see another deal like that !  But even if you compare the casino price we paid to the “full” price at the time we booked, it’s still a 75% discount (PP rate after BOGO was $1440.50).

On 9/12/2019 at 2:16 PM, RazorbackIslandGirl said:

I felt the same way! Te only reason I gave him a little extra time is because of the extended hurricane cruise. But 2 1/2 weeks out is NOT a good way to start with me. I will give him the benefit of the doubt & start fresh with him. If I don't think he's doing a good job I will speak with his boss quickly.

He’ll be fine. He’s a great guy.

We use our RCCL Visa on every cruise and usually have a final bill in the neighborhood of $20K depending upon the length of the cruise.  The CC company has never questioned the charges with the single exception of one cruise a few years back.  But even that one, it was not the amount, but simply the fact that they somehow thought the charges were elicit until we got it squared away (this is when Sebastian came to the rescue).

We get double points for all RCCL purchases, so that’s an easy $400 worth of OBC for basically doing nothing.  I don’t think the CC company cares. They hope we will run up a balance and not pay it off (which we NEVER do).  I’ve often worried that the ship would balk at us taking large sums of their cash off the ship but they never seem to mind so I guess it’s a win-win-win for everyone.  The ship gets a very high revenue number, the credit card company gets to charge Royal for the credit card transaction and hopes for some interest from us (which they don’t get) and we get our double points.

33 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

CK is likely in the same place as the rest of the Q class ships..right next to the WJ.  The other eatery is whatever they're going to put in the Johnny Rockets/Fish n Ships space that's open to the pool deck.

Agree. Like I said, one of the unnamed eateries. Most likely that one on the left, which is where it is located on Anthem.

The dining situation on 14 is different, too. Where is the Coastal Kitchen ?  Maybe it’s one of those 2 unnamed eateries before you get to the Windjammer. 

31 minutes ago, CGTLH said:

Personally I'd rather seen the lofts on 9/10 vs 8/9. That way they could have a buffer from Two70.

Totally agree. We loved our Star Loft on 8 but when 270 was going it was LOUD.

I didn’t see any room descriptions so I don’t know if they have ditched the Star Lofts on 10 or not.  Hopefully they did

They’ve definitely reconfigured the big suites in the aft...if this is accurate 

58 minutes ago, BB1 said:

Wow, a concierge lounge. I wonder if they might be making the suite lounge exclusive to suites.

Does Odyssey even have a Suites Lounge ?

11 hours ago, Aiycon said:

I’m cruising in Jan 2020...is the Key worth it for a Diamond Plus member?

The Key doesn’t really duplicate any D+ perks except for possibly earliest boarding. I think some of the ships still allow D+ to use the reserved seating in the main theater but all the ships (to my knowledge) have kicked D+ out of the reserved seating in the ice skating theater.

 I would say if you want lunch on boarding day and Voom you should probably still consider The Key.

22 minutes ago, FManke said:

I know it sounds kinda silly, but maybe you could give RC a password that you would have to use to make any changes? Whatever works.

I was going to suggest something like this but I’m not sure Royal would do it.

Not to scare you, but I have actually read of this happening before.  I don’t think it would be hard to do if you are booked directly through Royal.  Are you the primary POC for this cruise ?  That might make it harder but I definitely think you should take some precautions if you can.  Transfer the booking, and as Twangster suggested, call and have them note that you do not intend to cancel your cruise.

1 minute ago, melmar02 said:

Pop up hampers. We planned on taking 1 for the kids and just a mesh laundry bag for me and DH. Amazon was selling a 2 pack, so we went ahead and brought the second one. It's a little thing, but we loved being able to just toss dirty clothes in instead of having to mess with finding the opening on a shapeless bag. 

I love this as well.  Mine lives in the big cruise suitcase so that I never forget it !

It’s been a number of years since we did the All Access Tour (excellent tour.  Well worth the money) but 1 thing I do recall is that we went up and down some of the staff staircases when going from one deck to another.  That is not to say that they couldn’t have made special arrangements for someone who could not have climbed the stair....perhaps they can. It’s just that I do recall having to climb stairs.  I know they have shortened the AAT from what we did, so maybe that aspect has been removed.

I will agree that the specialty restaurants are getting more and more crowded.  I am not happy with the way they are shoving 2 tops so close to each now, just like they do in the MDR.  I won’t sit at one of those if they try and put us there.  I’m not sure where you go once the specialties start looking and sounding like the MDR.

I put this in my last post cruise survey (not that I think they will read it).

19 minutes ago, vanelli56 said:

One of the beachs at one of our ports of call?

When I read this, the video in my head played a scene where you get down on one knee, flip open the box, the ring does a triple axle out of the box into the sand, never to be seen by other-than-crabs, again.

<chills and shudder>

5 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

One of my life sayings:

"Buy now, think later.”

Impulse, much ?