WAAAYTOOO

I LOVE that you went to the MDR.  I regret that we did not when we were on our Anthem B2B.  As you say, once you have memorized the menus, it's time to try something new.  You had the guts to do it.  Good for you.  I am going to do it though, when we do our B2B on Anthem next year.

I agree, Matt.  I think it's almost a kind of psychological thing.

I do not mind walking down the Promenade at all....but walking the same distance down a narrow hallway is pure torture.

1 minute ago, Matt said:

Now imagine when they add the water park, Beach Club and other offerings

Can't wait !!

There is only 1 down side to using casino discounts or upgrading a casino offer....you must pay the FULL amount at the time that you book a free cruise (which is only taxes and port fees if you do not upgrade it) or upgrade a casino offer.  So while you're getting a GREAT deal, you will have to cough up the full balance up front.  I actually prefer to pay off my cruises on a monthly basis so putting out the full amount up front stings just a little bit...BUT it's paid in full and I don't have to worry about it again after that.

Are you at least a Prime tier level with Club Royale ?  If you are, you are exempt from paying the 5% "convenience" fee and can get $$ on your Sea Pass card at the casino.

I know nothing at all about the gift card(s) so I'm no help to you there.  Sorry.

If you are NOT a Prime or higher member of CR then (aside from the gift card idea, of which I have no information), I'm afraid cash or opening a line of credit with CR would be your only options.

If you do not know whether or not you are a Prime tier level, call Club Royale and ask.  888-561-2234

I’ve noticed the same thing. I think they are pushing the UDP.  5 nights was perfect for us as Dan always wants the lamb shank. I haven’t seen a 5 night plan in a while. 

1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

One thing to kee in mind is that most major airports offer “on-arrival” global entry where you can complete your in person appointment when you fly back into the country. 

I haven't heard of this before.  That's pretty cool !  

We are lucky.  Our CBP location for GE is at Dulles Airport which is only a 20 min drive for us.  I do feel for those people who do not an office nearby.

1 hour ago, Sweety said:

I am following your advice next week. I might be able to go STAR Class. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

OH YIPPEEE !  I am so happy to be of help !  GOOD LUCK !

1 hour ago, Adpcruise1 said:

Hi,

First post here. Was wondering..... if you have soda package and get soda from bar, not Freestyle machine, do you get the can with a glass of ice or just an ice filled cup of soda? If I gave bartender my Freestyle cup would I get fountain soda in my cup? I’ve never had the Freestyle machines run out on me yet, but wanted to know what to expect just in case.

 

Thanks !

What a great question !  I am a big time Coke snob...and I have the answer !!  LOL

If you have the refreshment or soda package, you are technically only entitled to "fountain" drinks.  If you have Deluxe Drinks Package, you are entitled to EITHER fountain drinks or canned drinks.  This is one reason why we always get the DDP.  I cannot stand fountain Cokes.

In the past, before they started including canned Cokes in the DDP, I often requested canned Cokes even though they were not obliged to give me one.  So sometimes I think they will give you a can if you ask for one.  If they decline to give you a can I really don't think you have any recourse..but it never hurts to ask....and give them a $1 tip.  

Welcome to the Boards, BTW !

A couple of years ago we had an inside room on Deck 4 on Grandeur RIGHT BEHIND the R Bar.  I thought for sure it would be noisy but it WASN'T at all.  Other than being small it was a great room in a great location.

13 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

I have a dirt cheap Central Park GTY Balcony. I highly doubt anything would top it.

Wouldn't it be nice if something comes up that DOES top it !

WOW !!  That sounds great !  have a GREAT cruise !  Talk to you when you get back !

8 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

But you have to dine there. I think this might be where people are getting confused, they just want to walk up and order the shakes and no food and have it covered by the DDP, IMO. I may be wrong.

..but didn't Twangster say that they wouldn't give him the shakes even if he DID pay the cover charge ?

Maybe I read it wrong...

10 hours ago, laylay said:

I'm from the UK but used an US travel agent for mine and my parents cruise on the Harmony next month.

I booked my parents cruise 3 weeks ago and paid in full but now seen the price dropped by $500 .

Reading a lot about getting priced adjust/matched on this site .

Does this apply to me? 

 

 

Even if your cruise is paid in full you can still take advantage of a price drop as LONG as the final payment date has not passed.  If it is past final payment date, as Ashley said, upgrading is really your only option as you would have to pay a rebooking penalty which would almost certainly be more than any price difference.

6 hours ago, Matt said:

I reached out to the head of RC Food and Beverage. There is no change in the policy and milk shakes are still included, provided you pay the cover charge to dine there.

Unfortunately, some crew members are misinformed.  Best you can do is speak to a manager at JR about it.

Thanks, Matt.  You are AWESOME !!

8 hours ago, kuruczpa said:

We are cruising Feb 2020 and I'm hoping everything (or the majority of things) are completed by then! *fingers crossed*

We are, too.  In fact, I booked the Feb 2020 JUST so that everything WOULD be done but now I'm beginning to worry !

12 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

Lucky, mine are still $49 for all of the ones I'm watching.

Freedom is the only one that is that low.  The rest are $47, $49 and $52.  UGH.  I did buy the one for $49 but I'm not paying $52.  That is for a 5 night on Brilliance right before our next Star Class on Oasis.  I will just wait until we get on Oasis to drink anything !

4 hours ago, SolariumSnoozer said:

We usually get fresh towels the night before and have them in our cabin so we are ready to go the next morning

This is SOOO smart.  I never remember to do that !

You cannot combine a free cruise with a certificate of any kind.  But you CAN upgrade your free cruise by simply paying the upgrade fee, which is very reasonable, as a rule.

If you are both Prime, you can actually combine your annual "free" Prime cruises to upgrade from your free inside to an ocean view BUT combining your cruises in that way is very inefficient, IMO since they will only upgrade you 1 category. If, instead, you chose to use both of your free cruises on B2B cruises (or any 2 cruises even if they aren't B2B)  then you get the full benefit of both cruises.  We recently did that with our free casino cruises.  I booked each of us a cruise on Anthem, for 2 consecutive weeks in Feb.  So we basically got a free 16 day cruise. Well....it would have been free if I had not upgraded both of them to Star Class...You definitely get more benefit from taking both of the cruises individually than you do by combining them but you CAN combine them if you choose to do that.  Keep in mind that your "free" cruise is based on the lowest category inside room on the ship....

Our upcoming Freedom cruise is offering the DBP for $44.  It had been as high as $52 but has come down with the latest sale and pretty much stayed there.  We snagged it immediately, of course...

You cannot combine casino discounts.  If you are starting off with a "free" cruise (whether it comes in the form of a certificate, an email offer, a snail mail offer or your free annual Prime level cruise) you cannot add anything more to it - so you cannot combine a certificate and a free cruise offer.

What you CAN do, however, is upgrade a free offer (no certificate needed).  So if you are awarded a cruise for an inside room (or use your annual Prime free cruise), you can upgrade that offer to any level of stateroom that you want - all the way up to Star Class (assuming it is available, of course).  You will just pay the upgrade fee.  I have found that the upgrade fee is very reasonable.  As a general rule, you will end up paying about 40% of the already discounted price.  So if you are looking at a Grand Suite that is BOGO30 and the net price on that suite (after deducting the 30% off) is $5K, you can expect to pay $2K for that upgrade.  I'm totally making up those numbers, but you will generally end up paying 40% of the net, already discounted price.

There is only one way (that I know of) to combine casino discounts and that is if you and your spouse BOTH receive a certificate on a cruise, you CAN combine those certificates towards a new booking but the value of those certificates will be subtracted from the retail price of the cruise so it's rarely as valuable as a "free" cruise certificate that is upgraded.  That is why we just toss all of our "$$ off" certificates into the garbage.  They are basically useless.  Now, the offers for free cruises ?  That's a different matter...

AND if you upgrade to a JS or higher, you will still get the double C&A points !

3 hours ago, KenCP said:

Thank you WAAAYTOOO!

Should have no problem asking the Concierge to make reservations for anyone in your party.

We always tip as we go.  We always leave a cash tip for every meal.

...but aren’t some reporting that the shakes aren’t included even if they DO eat?