WAAAYTOOO

I guess I will take the dissenting side of this argument and speak up for the virtues of the inside balcony. When we first started cruising on the Oasis class we enjoyed the Boardwalk balconies very much. On Oasis and Allure the Boardwalk balconies, in particular, were an excellent value, IMO b/c you can still see the ocean if you are far enough aft. It certainly is NOT what I would call an "ocean view" but you CAN see the ocean (not so much on Harmony with that awful slide thing smack dab in the middle of the Boardwalk). BUT the true charm of the Boardwalk balconies is being able to watch all of the hustle and bustle down below on the Boardwalk. I loved watching the kids on the carousel and people eating and drinking AND of course, there are always the activities associated with the Aqua Theater. I guess I'm just not that worried about people trying to peek into my room from across the ship. I never felt like people could "see in" or were invading my privacy in any way. Is there ambient noise on the Boardwalk ? Yes, at times. Did it bother me at night ? Never. I will admit that I have never stayed in a Central Park balcony room but I have never really heard too many complaints. You will have similar views other than the ocean. You canNOT see the ocean at all in a CPB. ...but you have the serenity of Central Park below. I have heard people complain that it sometimes gets hot in the Central Park areas b/c there isn't as much air movement and I have heard that the noise on the pool decks can be an annoyance but I can't imagine that it's any worse than the loud speakers from the Aqua Theater ! So...I would consider an inside balcony if the price was right and especially for "extra" younger family members if you're looking for a less expensive option for the kids (say, across the hall from the gr'ups in an OV balcony).

Truthfully, I have never heard of them ever booking anyone to Izumi with this plan. #1, Izumi is an expensive option (for them) so I'm sure they would prefer you to eat somewhere else and #2, Izumi is really more of an "exotic" option for too many people. I think they stay away from booking that restaurant with the BOGO program. I think you'd be safe...and as others have mentioned, you can always change your booking once you get onboard. I have never heard of anyone being "stuck" with a restaurant at which they did not want to dine. If you WANTED Izumi I am sure they would let you switch your booking from whichever restaurant they chose for you but I doubt very seriously they would pick Izumi for you without your requesting it.

No. I agree with @mbk999. I don't believe that you would have enough time to really get your money's worth out of the water park with that limited time in port. I have never even priced a ticket to Aquaventure but knowing how expensive everything else is in Nassau and ESPECIALLY at Atlantis, I can only imagine what those tickets must cost. I'm sure it's a huge disappointment but I think you would be disappointed PLUS resentful if you spent that kind of money on something for which you will, unquestionably, be disappointed.

Alas, I believe that they have discontinued all of the aerial acts in the Centrums. I was only able to catch 1 before they ended. I have read (who knows what the truth really is....) that they have had trouble finding qualified "riggers" to operate the aerial rigging on the smaller ships. Apparently with the limited space to operate it is a very difficult job. I don't know of any of the ships that are still having these shows. Too bad. It was very enjoyable - the 1 that I got to see - I think it was on Grandeur.

Twice we have stayed at the Best Western Hotel & Conference Center, 5625 O'Donnell St. Baltimore. Is it new and exciting ? Nope. If you want something with atmosphere and surrounding attractions, this is not your place, but if you want something affordable, clean and safe with shuttle service to/from the port and complimentary parking while you are on your cruise, this works. We are paying $179.99 plus tax for a 2 room "suite" over the Labor Day weekend. As I said, it includes very reliable shuttle RT service to/from the port and you can leave your car in their parking lot for the duration of your cruise. While the hotel itself is not in a "happening" part of town, it is very close (driving distance, not walking) to Fells Point, where we like to go and have dinner when we stay there. There is a complimentary breakfast at the hotel as well. We have stayed in other "cruise port" hotels in Baltimore but this is the one we have continued to use.

Whatever you do, do NOT cancel your cruise yourself. Let them come to you with whatever offer they are going to make.

Yes, that is the only massage option that qualified for the lowest price/highest discount. I purchased a couples massage and in order to get the lowest price I had to book on boarding day but that's fine.

Sorry to hear you've been sick ! Nothing worse than a summer cold. It'll all be over in 2 minutes. You've saved yourself a lot of hassle.??

Yes, my cruise planner has the banner and all of the sales flags.

Nothing for any of my cruises except for the Group Cruise on Harmony. Same discounts on the same excursion I already booked the last time they had the Cruise Planner Sale. Oh well.....

Yikes !!!!

Welcome to the blog site, Dave !!

I agree with you, Emerson. If people are SO unhappy that they actually want to cancel the cruise, I think Royal should let them do just that. I think it's pretty short sighted of the passenger to do that, but if you are really THAT upset about this [better, IMO] change to your itin then by all means, we do NOT want you on our cruise !

Yes. They usually have a "bundle" kind of offer where you can choose 3 services/procedures from a list of several and they package them together for a bundled price. As you suggest...facial, back massage and foot massage (this is usually what I get !!). As @RestingBirds mentioned, the best deals (IMO) are on port days since most people get off the ship and I suspect business is slow at those times. That's usually when they run their bundled deals. They also tend to vary by times of the day. The earlier appointment times are the hardest for them to fill (I guess) and are often cheaper than those for the afternoon or early evening. I'm not a huge spa person but I recommend that you wait until you're onboard unless you see a pre-cruise special online (I never have except when they run the very scarce cruise planner specials) as they tend to offer better discounts onboard - at least, that's what it seems like to me ! If you ever go to Costa Maya, be sure and get the beachside massage in Mahaual. They are very very affordable (like $20 for an hour...you have to haggle though !!). We always get them when we go. In fact, we sometimes cruise just to go to Costa Maya just so that we can get a $20 beach massage. How sick is that ??

I just noticed that this it SAYS that this package is only available for pre-booking which means, presumably, that it will not be offered once onboard. Guess we'll see about that in 30 days !

When I had the Celebrity Reflection booked for the Mardi Gras cruise next year (I have since cancelled it) we chose the Best program. It did a nice job of bundling all of the packages together.

A few years back it was always cheaper to fly into FLL than to MIA but lately, it has switched. For our Group Cruise, we are flying into/out of MIA this time b/c the flights to FLL were so much more expensive. Of course, by the time you pay for transfers it probably is a wash but MIA was a better option for us this time. Since we are flying in the night before we will find alternate transport from MIA to the hotel in Fort Lauderdale but on going home, we will take the RCI transfer from the port to MIA. You just have to check the prices. They seem to switch back and forth.

Well, I guess this answers the question about whether or not Allure fixed the propulsion problem(s) it had been experiencing the past couple of sailings.... Personal opinion - I would WAAAY rather visit San Juan than St. Thomas. I think the schedule change is a GOOD thing but that's just me.

Trust me, this DOES happen. Even when the food and beverages are all included, we still cannot eat or drink that much. When we had a Star Class suite in Feb we tried and tried to eat at specialty restaurants for every meal but we just could not do it ! Granted, we are not early risers so if we had eaten breakfast at 7AM then maybe we would be hungry enough by noon to eat a big lunch and then hungry again by dinnertime to eat another big meal but we don't get up early enough to get that early start on binge eating ! There was just no way I could eat more than 2 big meals in a day, try as I did.

This combo is being offered on our Group Cruise for $71 PP/PD but it is not being offered at all on my 2 Sept. Grandeur cruise. It is a savings over buying both packages separately ($46 for the beverage package and $29 for the dining package) but not a significant savings. $4 PP/PD. I guess $56 is $56 (for 2 people).

I have never noticed the shops in the square closing during the afternoon. Perhaps they do and I just never noticed. I am not an avid shopper so perhaps this escaped my eagle eye.

It is still showing $46 PP/PD for the Group Cruise (16 Sept.). It's $44 PP/PD for my 2 Sept. Grandeur

I knew what you meant....

Thanks, Marc. The convenience fee is a big thing for us as we take a lot of cash at the tables. I'm not sure how quickly we would be able to accumulate 15K points. Sounds like a lot to me !!! I agree that they are much freer with their "free" cruises than Club Royale.

Matt, you are so cute ! Royal Caribbean - GIVE us something ! Are you kidding ?? No.