JohnK6404

... When I go to the old site and click on any of the links, it immediately redirects me to the new site to log in...

Looks like it must be another website glitch... I too do not get both deposit options and once again the cancellation policy states you lose your deposit if you cancel after TODAY... defaults to the non-refundable deposit pricing and cancellation policy. PS - I'm using Chrome too...

We've booked 2 cruises in October in the past... one on Explorer in 2013 to Bermuda (1st week) and the other was on Liberty in 2015 to Bermuda & the Eastern Caribbean (last week through Halloween)... thankfully no storms!

Sorry for the "panic" on my part! Looks like it was a website glitch... I'm modeling cruises now and getting both deposit options now and also the "usual" cancellation schedule/policy. It seemed a little extreme to change their policy (see my screenshots) so that you would lose your minimum deposit ($500 for the above examples)... So, if that were the actual case you would need to cancel the cruise the date you booked it or risk losing your deposit!

Did RC just change their policy for deposits/cancellation? We booked a couple of weeks ago and went with the fully refundable option. I went in today to see if the current promo is better, but the website no longer gives you the option of selecting non-refundable or refundable rate... I've even checked other cruises/ships/departure dates and I no longer get that option. The refund policy keeps stating that any cancellation after the booking date is subject to a penalty of the minumum deposit... Am I missing something? Or is this only for the current promo that these rules apply?

These are the tough decisions we all love to have to make!

Thanks for the suggestion... will definitely take a look. Yeah, we've cruised from Cape Liberty twice so far... first on Explorer in 2013 and then on Liberty in 2015. We also cruised both times in October, so no pool until we were near Bermuda for sure! Needless to say, we settled in and became acquainted with the ship during the travel down the coast. Only the last evening during the trip back on Explorer in 2013 was a little rocky... my wife actually liked the rocking and joked it was like being rocked to sleep in a cradle. I believe they were moving faster on the return trip which did not help! We really want to try Anthem after our Allure cruise... NJ is too convenient for us (90 minute drive from where we are on Long Island). Maybe next time we'll cruise in the Spring/early Summer when the seas are calmer in the Atlantic too! Unfortunately, the 11-12 night cruises are usually in Dec & Jan.

Soooo jealous! We will have to find a way to make that work! I agree, anything less than 7 is a tease... over too fast. My wife hates when I point out the changing day of the week "tiles" on the elevator floors... We are thinking seriously about the 11 or 12 night Southern Caribbean cruises on Anthem... ahhh, one day!

I got that old screen today, but when I enter the reservation number, etc., I'm immediately sent to the new log-in screen. I cannot find the old breakdown of charges by person and category we used to get... does that exist anywhere outside of having RC e-mail your invoice???

Thank you. To date, we have never taken advantage of a cruise planner sale and did not know that you lose reservation flexibility when you select a specialty dining package. I guess we'll just book them now while we have total flexibility and play it by ear! Side note... today's promo saved us a little (only $75). Called RC during lunch and was off the phone in literally less than 10 minutes with an updated invoice via e-mail... will help with those specialty restaurants!

FYI... check the cruise planner on the RC site even if you're over 6 months away from your departure date... dining reservations (specialty & My Time) just opened up for us tonight... we are just under 14 months out! Not sure if it's a glitch! My wife and I are booked with friends on Allure for the 5/19/19 (Western Caribbean) sailing... can't wait!!! My question is regarding the specialty dining reservations and excursions. If we book some of them now at the regular price, how does it work if/when the next Cruise Planner sale comes along. Does it work the same way as making adjustments to the cabin rate (until final payment)... can we simply call up RC customer service and have it adjusted? Or do we need to cancel the reservation and re-book if we want to take advantage of the sale? Thank you!!!

Mean, very mean. LOL! We have to wait until 5/19/19! Nooooo!

Have an amazing time!!! My wife and I were booked on Allure for the 4/22/18 cruise (Western itinerary), but had to cancel due to happy reasons. This would have been our first experience on an Oasis class ship. We just booked Allure again for 5/19/19 (same Western) and this time will be going with good friends! They cruised on Oasis last year and had a great time. Can't wait!!!

RE: drink packages... My wife and I are not big drinkers so we find most of the drink packages are not worth it for us. To this point, we've tended to stick with the basic "soda" replenishment package and we buy drinks/wine a la carte. I'm just not a fan of being locked into a daily $50-$70/person/day package from the date of purchase through the end of a cruise especially when you have days in port where you're off the ship enjoying excursions and not drinking so much. That's just us... yeah, we're boring! :) I do like what I've heard here on the forum in the past that sometimes RC will sell drink cards for either specialty coffee drinks or alcoholic drinks onboard that give you a set number of drinks per card (say 10) to use until the end of the cruise. That I would be very interested in!

IMHO, RC is still the best bang for the buck. We've been on Disney (our honeymoon back in 2004 and absolutely enjoyed it), but to me it's not worth the significant premium (50%-100% more) especially for smaller, older ships with very limited itineraries (and no casinos - LOL!). We've never felt "short-changed" or disappointed on a RC cruise even after cruising with Disney (that first ever cruise tends to set the bar and it was set high for us with Disney). We're currently booked on Allure for April 2018 (7-night Western Caribbean)... I modeled the closest cruise itinerary with Disney in a balcony (verandah as Disney calls it) cabin and it came to double the RC rate at $4,700! We're paying just over $2,300 for the two of us and we have $100 OBC (Deck 12, mid-ship, oceanview balcony cabin). Disney needs to expand their fleet and hopefully start to lower their rates... bottom line, with such limited capacity and the Disney brand, they don't need to...

I've always loved Blackjack... there is some strategy which I enjoy and the pace is slower than say playing Craps. Yes, it can be intimidating for a new player. I definitely agree that you should learn the basic rules, maybe play with family or friends first at home, before sitting at a table onboard (unless you have the courage to play alone at an empty table!). Or... as many suggested, try playing during the day at a $5 (if available) minimum table with family/friends first (so you don't get the stink eye from some crabby player). I agree that the RC dealers are friendly and will, if asked, give you basic strategy (unlike some casinos on land). The one seat to absolutely avoid as a newbie is what they call "3rd base"... the seat to the right of the dealer from their perspective (farthest person left as you sit at the table facing dealer). The dealer deals clockwise around the table. That spot receives the last card(s) before the dealer has to turn over their cards and possibly draw. Some people get nasty if you take a card "when you shouldn't" that possibly could have busted the dealer if it turned out that they needed to draw. I prefer playing blackjack with a relatively full table and try to sit in the middle (like the few extra moments to decide what I'm going to do before the dealer gets to me). With a full table, the pace is more leisurely and you actually have time to think about what you have in front of you and what the dealer is showing! Maybe actually take a sip of your drink! When there are only a couple of people at the table, the pace can get a little frantic for someone new to the game.

That's awesome! Love that the itinerary is different!

We are booked for the April 22-29 (Western Caribbean itinerary) next year. I've always wished RC would offer longer cruises on the Oasis class ships since there is so much to do... I would love to be able to do a B2B one day! Are both cruises the same itinerary or do they switch from Western to Eastern Caribbean or vice versa? Do you have the option of keeping the same cabin or is it effectively the same as booking two separate cruises in that respect?

We've done the trip to Bermuda (7-night) on the Explorer of the Seas in 2013 and Bermuda/Caribbean (10-night) on Liberty of the Seas in 2015 out of Bayonne, NJ/Cape Liberty. I believe our Liberty cruise was the last, or one of the last, trips out of Cape Liberty before they moved her and brought in Anthem. We went in early October both times, so it was of course a little cooler out of NY/NJ until we were half way down the coast. I remember the trip down was smoother, but that may be due to the fact that the ship's cruising speed south was a little slower from what I recall. The trip back was a little "rougher" (I remember the last night was a little rocky) due to the time of year, the ocean that night, and the fact that the ship was moving faster to get back into Bayonne. I definitely believe you will enjoy yourself even more than we did since you're going on Anthem and in August! Anthem is on the wishlist since we live here on Long Island, but the next booked cruise for us is Allure in APR 2018! We also are eyeing the 12-night Southern Caribbean cruise they offer on Anthem during the winter months! Have a great time! It's fun sailing out of NY harbor, past the Freedom Tower, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and sailing under the Verrazano Bridge... you get so close to the decking you think the ship will not make it! Here are a couple shots from that hazy/misty OCT 2015 departure day on Liberty of the Seas!

If you book through the RC website, you can call them directly (I don't remember the exact office hours, but they have long hours) and they will make the adjustments immediately if you are keeping the same cabin. I've made these calls at least 5 or 6 times over the last couple of years to adjust the rate ($200 here, $300 there!) when a new promo would save money. I've never spent more than 10 minutes on the phone and you immediately receive the updated reservation docs in PDF format via e-mail. The CS reps are very friendly. I've been told on the forum and by the CS reps that these adjustments can be made up until the final payment is made. They will of course run the numbers for you, but I usually go into the website and pretend I'm making a new reservation to see if the new deal is any better before calling to request an adjustment. As you know, it's not good enough to know what % savings is offered with the promo since the underlying base price generally escalates the closer you get to departure date as the number of available cabins decrease. So say, as an example, you booked a deal with a 20% discount a year ago and now the deal is 30% off... the odds are you still have a better deal since the underlying cost of the cabin is much higher now. Onboard credit and other promos like free wifi also muddy the waters! If you are looking to change cabins and/or categories, then I would assume they will have to cancel your existing reservation to create the new reservation. PS - I priced my cabin today under the current promo and it's $335 more than what we're currently paying... we booked (double-occupancy) an Ocean View stateroom with large balcony (Deck 11) back in mid-April on Allure (4/30/17 departure) for price comparison/perspective... always worth checking just in case! :)

I do recognize the value of a travel agent (especially for busy folks), but we like to book directly through RC's website... I like the simplicity of selecting the exact room I want (24/7) from the comfort of my home through their website. As a general rule we like to book early (at least one year in advance) to get the better/best rates and best cabin selection... I actually enjoy monitoring the sales by watching the RC website and by visiting this forum (plus I have the Ship Mate app on my phone which e-mails me when the rate has changed!). Up to the point of your final payment, a simple 5-10 minute call (literally) to RC is all it takes for them to update your booking with the new rate (If a new sale is actually a better deal for you). They are extremely friendly and they e-mail you the new revised booking information to you immediately. It cannot be any easier for us, but once again, we like to monitor the new sales/promos ourselves!

We are able to put all of the luggage (nested), including empty garment bag, and shoes under the bed too.

Thanks! Figured that!

A couple of quick questions! The prices listed on the RC site ($395 & $495 on water for Nellie's Beach)... is that per guest or the total cost of the cabana... I'm assuming it is total cost! I'm surprised I'm even able to book the cabana now (11 months ahead of departure date)... both are available. How do you all think the water will be during the first week of May? Thanks in advance!!!

Yes, it's very tempting, but our rule is to never even consider buying anything onboard unless you have a decent idea of what it generally sells for at home and/or on the internet. Especially when the prices start to rise.