WAAAYTOOO

Yes, This is a real offer that i took advantage of... I am going on the 4 night Dec 15th trip.. I paid $167 including a upgraded oceanview room and taxes and fees.. I live in Florida 35 min from the port so for me this is a no brainer and I am happy to have taken advantage of the offer! They seem to have fixed all the "issues" with the boat and after watching Michael Poole go twice I feel like I will have a great 4 days!

What a lovely invitation.  Be careful what you wish for....
 
:o

if you're ever back this way, stop by Annabelle's and I'll cook ya'll something special

I used to live in New Bern back in the last century.  :)
 
We were stationed at Cherry Point 3 times during that 20 year stint.  Boy, that was a lifetime ago !

"We love the main dining room and we like to eat early so we always do MTD at 5:30.  That leaves the entire evening open for whatever we want to do.  Some don't like eating that early but not only do you get eating "out of the way" but because you are the first to sit down, everything is ready and waiting for you.  The staff hasn't had time to get backed up or delayed for whatever reason.  NEVER any waiting.  Obviously, we have to make modifications around port days but we rarely stay off the ship very long anyway."
 
I used to love eating late, but the older I get, the more the early dining times make sense! #aSleepAtTen!
 

Assuming you are booking under US rules (full refund up to cancellation date) you are probably better off to book now and then wait to see if a KSF sale comes along. If it does and it actually does lower your price you can switch to the lower rate. In many/most instances if you wait for the sale you want to come along the prices will have increased so much by the time that the sale hits that you end up paying more under the sale than you would do by booking now.

No C&A perks (including discounts) until after you have completed your first cruise...so not this time, but next time !
 
What ship are you sailing ?  You will have a GREAT time.  Everyone has to have a "first"...but then there's the next one and the next one....

Hi, Heather
 
I am also sailing a Christmas (plus New Years) itinerary. We will be on Navigator 23 Dec -3 Jan. No dining reservation options for Chops or Giovanni's for 24, 25, 31 Dec or 1 Jan. There is no way it is booked up as I checked the same day the reservations opened up. My guess is they are planning on charging a premium price for these holiday nights which is completely unsat to me. If that is the case, we will be eating in the MDR those nights, which is fine with me. I'm not going to pay scalper rates just b/c they CAN charge them.
 
I believe you will thoroughly enjoy cruising during the holidays. The ship will be beautifully decorated and festive. They will [most likely] have caroling and a visit from Santa Claus.
 
W cruise nearly a very Christmas and love it. I know you will too.

Interesting.  I was not aware of this rule.  I really don't get it...but I guess I don't have to.
 
If this is a change made by the cruise line then I don't see how it's not incumbent upon them to accommodate you.  Good luck !

The statement that using a TA will cost you more money is absolutely NOT true.  The TA is paid a commission by the cruiseline and you will NOT pay more when using a TA.
 
Having said that, you should be aware that you lose some flexibility when you use a TA.  If having absolute control over your reservation is something that you want, then you might not want to use a TA.  If you find a situation where you want to make a very quick change to your reservation (either a price drop or a room becomes available that you want to change to) then you will have to wait until the TA is available to make that change for you.  If you have a very good and responsive TA then this will not be a problem but SOMEtimes you can be in a situation where the TA is not immediately available and you need to make a change immediately....and you can miss getting the room you want or take advantage of a glitch price drop.
 
I have never had this happen to me, BTW.  I have an excellent TA.  But for all of the advantages of using a TA there are a few drawbacks and giving up some control is one of them.  You will not be able to look online and find out what your cruise balance is.  All things dealing with money are removed from the website when you use a TA (the Payment tab mysteriously disappears !).
 
Some people expect miracles from their TA but even the best, most attentive TA in the world is never going to care as much about your reservation as you do.  So it's going to be up to YOU to look for price drops and up to YOU to be on the lookout for a room in a better location, etc.
 
It's a teamwork approach as are all good things !

Don't worry about those negative reviews.  Some people are just never happy...and I tend to believe that they're bogus to begin with.
 
I admit that I am very easy to please so I rarely find anything to complain about anyway....but I am a firm believer that if you BELIEVE you will have a good time you WILL have a good time.  Just go in with a positive attitude and reasonable expectations and you will be AMAZED !
 
I am on Navigator over Christmas and New Year's and I cannot WAIT ! 

Don't worry about those negative reviews.  Some people are just never happy...and I tend to believe that they're bogus to begin with.
 
I admit that I am very easy to please so I rarely find anything to complain about anyway....but I am a firm believer that if you BELIEVE you will have a good time you WILL have a good time.  Just go in with a positive attitude and reasonable expectations and you will be AMAZED !
 
I am on Navigator over Christmas and New Year's and I cannot WAIT ! 

No. That's the only place I've seen it....and I've never seen it on a single ship.

Single malt scotch. Lagavulln 16

The statement that using a TA will cost you more money is absolutely NOT true.  The TA is paid a commission by the cruiseline and you will NOT pay more when using a TA.
 
Having said that, you should be aware that you lose some flexibility when you use a TA.  If having absolute control over your reservation is something that you want, then you might not want to use a TA.  If you find a situation where you want to make a very quick change to your reservation (either a price drop or a room becomes available that you want to change to) then you will have to wait until the TA is available to make that change for you.  If you have a very good and responsive TA then this will not be a problem but SOMEtimes you can be in a situation where the TA is not immediately available and you need to make a change immediately....and you can miss getting the room you want or take advantage of a glitch price drop.
 
I have never had this happen to me, BTW.  I have an excellent TA.  But for all of the advantages of using a TA there are a few drawbacks and giving up some control is one of them.  You will not be able to look online and find out what your cruise balance is.  All things dealing with money are removed from the website when you use a TA (the Payment tab mysteriously disappears !).
 
Some people expect miracles from their TA but even the best, most attentive TA in the world is never going to care as much about your reservation as you do.  So it's going to be up to YOU to look for price drops and up to YOU to be on the lookout for a room in a better location, etc.
 
It's a teamwork approach as are all good things !

Welcome !  I was on the Freedom in June/July.  You are going to LOVE it !

As with all things RCI, there is no way to predict how long any particular promo will be offered.
 
If you really want to take advantage of one of them, I would get it now.  You can always cancel and rebuy something different if you find a better deal down the road.
 
BTW, scuttlebutt is that they will be offering a new beverage package beginning Sept. 6.  At least, it is being advertised that way in the UK.  Whether they push it out to the entire fleet is yet to be determined, but that is what they are advertising.  Better...worse ?  Who knows.  It does appear to be simplified, if nothing else...

I will be on Liberty October 30th and am already taking the approach that I will only be able to scope pre cruise, embarkation day, and from the ports thanks to having global travel pass with Verizon. I did call crown and anchor about it and even told them what Ken Jarvis was told about Voom on board last week. If I'm not able to scope while at sea, so be it, just stop advertising it and selling it as Voom. :)

Thank you all for your words or reassurance and I'm going to stop reading the negative reviews and start the count down to our holiday, I'm hoping this will be our first cruise of many to come as I think it's a fab way of seeing the world, thank you GrubbyGrubbles  I too was very close to cancelling but I'm going to enjoy the experience to come, I will have a look at your review and once again thank you.

Don't worry about those negative reviews.  Some people are just never happy...and I tend to believe that they're bogus to begin with.
 
I admit that I am very easy to please so I rarely find anything to complain about anyway....but I am a firm believer that if you BELIEVE you will have a good time you WILL have a good time.  Just go in with a positive attitude and reasonable expectations and you will be AMAZED !
 
I am on Navigator over Christmas and New Year's and I cannot WAIT ! 

I agree with Matt and others that the internet has been greatly improved in the past year across the fleet; however, I also feel it is disingenuous to advertise Voom as if it is the same fleet-wide especially if this is influencing someone's decision to purchase the service.  In the long run, a disgruntled customer who doesn't receive what he/she expects is not likely a good customer. 

Hello All,
 
I wanted to see if we could commence a running Cruise Director and Activities Manager list here on the Royal Caribbean Blog Boards.   As many of you know, the Cruise Director can be very influential in providing a fun and interactive experience while on a cruise and for this reason the question is often asked "who will be the cruise director on my sailing?" However, as with any position of importance, the Cruise Director also enlists the assistance of his or her Activities Manager to host a number of events throughout a sailing (e.g. trivia, bingo, karaoke, etc...).  Therefore, I would also like to keep the list updated with the current Activities Managers whom many of us develop strong relationships with based on our varying degrees of participation in ship events. 
 
While I know there are similar lists maintained elsewhere on the internet, my desire is to provide an easily accessed (thanks in part to the long-term edit function of these boards) and more user friendly document than what currently exists.  In addition to receiving regular updates from the fantastic blog community that fill these boards with Royal Caribbean knowledge everyday, I also hope to leverage Kat's evergrowing Periscope community to obtain real time and accurate updates as to who holds these very important positions throughout the Royal Caribbean fleet.   Below is my first stab at a draft of the list based on information I was able to retrieve from various social media and online content.  As you can see, there are some blanks, which I am sure many of you will be able to assist with filling in.  Please feel free to respond here with any list updates or any comments as to the format or layout of the document.
 
I would like to thank all of you in advance for any assistance you can provide with making this list a useful resource for Royal Caribbean cruisers.
 

You are a brave soul for taking this on.  Thank you!!

Not a dumb question at all !
 
Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this one. Dining rez can open at most any time but you can expect it to be open at LEAST 60 -90 days prior to sail date.
 
My upcoming Harmony dining will have been open for nearly a year by the time we finally sail in Feb 17 but my upcoming Navigator Christmas 16 dining bookings just opened up a couple of weeks ago approx 140 days out.
 
There's just no right answer to this question. I truly have no earthly idea what the criteria is for opening up the dining reservations ! They just do it when they do it. Keep checking.
 
...and it doesn't have anything to do with whether not you have an outstanding balance, BTW.
 
If you want to change your dining option, I recommend you call RCI directly or have your TA call for you if you used one. The sooner you get that changed the more likely you are to get the option you really want.

Don't know about the size but to answer your first question - no.  Just book for yourself then you can add up to 5 additional people.