Pattycruise

7 hours ago, Maryann said:

My husband and I will be taking a 14 day Royal Caribbean cruise in October.  Does anyone know what nights menus will repeat on these long cruises?  I want to book our specialty restaurants and don't want to book them on great food nights in the main dining room.  Thank you for your information!

Once you board the ship you can move the reservations around, subject to availability 

6 hours ago, bobroo said:

When those super competitive chair hogs figure out that each seat cost $1,465, I bet they fly in a day early just to stake their claim.

You’ll soon have to pay to book a seat in the waiting area if you want a premium seat for boarding.  The “free seats” will board last. 

7 hours ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said:

The air mattress I have is super nice. I can easily deflate it and store it in the closet with no problem. Afterall, these junior suite cabins have a pretty large walking closet. It would not be an issue with stateroom attendant. I would make sure it was put away before we left the cabin for the day. 

When I saw the size of the walk in junior suite closet I recall thinking one of my kids could sleep in there!

You were likely too low?

9 minutes ago, Fastfaller said:

Don't believe any royal ship has a deck 13

Anthem does, just looked and Ovation does.  Perhaps all Quantum class does?

if it’s Ovation most people would not walk down deck 13 to get to the solarium.  They’d go to Deck 14 and walk.  

Carnival has reportedly made plans to bring their current sailing into Norfolk.  I’ve not heard about the Baltimore cruise that left this past Saturday-I believe they are a 12 day sailing so they have some time to figure it out. 

Whatever you pack toiletry/med wise for a 7 day cruise multiply by 4.

Id  bring an extra set of glasses if you wear them.  Hubby’s disappeared out of the cabin one cruise-sucked for him! Also if you use hearing aids extra batteries.

Oasis doesn’t show a deck 13 on the maps

I'm so jealous.  I was all set to book this and then a family friend decided to get married, monkey wrench in the whole planning.
Enjoy!!

On 3/22/2024 at 9:48 AM, twangster said:

I've always favored Brilliance and Serenade.  Both were updated with LED lighting in the Centrum and a few other discrete upgrades that may be missed by many.

Radiance always feels a little tired to me in contrast to her sisters.  I still sail Radiance and would again in a heartbeat but to be honest and fair it does feel the most tired to me.

Jewel is probably my least favorite and that is in a large part due to the NASCAR bar.  This bar is open to the casino so basically it's a smoking area.  Good luck enjoying a drink if you don't smoke.  The others in class have a distinct pub that has passages to the casino but are not wide open to the casino.  The first few feet of these pubs may get smokey but the bar area of these pubs do not.  The NASCAR bar on Jewel just feels very dated and is usually empty except when a show lets out and transitory guests going somewhere else stop to acquire a beverage.     

There are subtle differences such as a Centrum staircase on some, deck 11 balcony cabins on one but not the others, an oceanview suite off the Centrum on some but not others, Centrum hanging art on one, and the number, location and types of specialty dining venues varies.

Having said all that I do have 27 nights coming up on Jewel so even though her NASCAR bar sucks it's not enough to prevent me from sailing her.  Itineraries matter.  The ship less so. They are more alike than different.  Pick based on itinerary and price.

Not sure the last time you were on Jewel but I found recently that the smokey smell was not noticeable (unless I was immune to it being a gambler) when sitting on the non smoking exit from the casino.  The bar was used quite a bit too,however it was football season and some big games were on, it was very difficult to walk through it!
I personally feel the bar does not fit with the rest of the quaintness of Jewel.  It's just "in your face".  
Watched a number of shows in the theater, LOVE the theater.  Unfortunately they need to fix some of those seats, so if you go, be prepared to be like Goldilocks until you find a seat that is '"just right".

1 hour ago, Matt said:

Sorry you ran into this situation.

As others pointed out, in retrospect, always deal with problems like this onboard. Start with the shore excursion team, escalate to their manager if necessary. If that doesn't get what you want, I'd ask to speak to the Hotel Director. If you're in a suite, you could start with the suite concierge.

Unfortunately, once you're off the ship it's tough to get resolutions for an issue like this. 

The above and

If it’s not logged in at guest services it’s like the conversation never happened, take the time for guest services to LOG the complaint-not just listen to you-LOG it. Logging will take about 5 minutes by the time they go through all their screens. 
additionally a phone call to Royal from the ship is an additional log that you attempted to resolve the issue while onboard. 

On 3/22/2024 at 12:25 PM, Fastfaller said:

When you say it showed up on your cruise planner, where exactly is it showing up? That's what I am unclear on. Mine might be there but I don't know where to look 

 

Log in on the website

click on plan my cruise

tHE OBC should show at the top (on a computer)
Or
If you click on the 3 white lines at the top left of the home page (on my phone) that will drop down and at the bottom it will show OBC

if it’s not showing call the credit card points people I posted the number in a response above

In the end

after they said I owed money

they put a credit on my credit card on file for the first portion, and then put a charge for that same amount  on that same card which zeroed out my balance due
Then they put another credit on my card on file for the remainder of the balance of the item purchased and again a charge of the same amount to zero out the charge.

i wholeheartedly believe it was an IT issue. Somehow the system showed an additional refund of $ -taken from a fully paid cruise balance-  on returned items that were already credited to me from the original form of payment.  The original refund was accounted for.  There was no way anyone owed -me to them or them to me. I think the only way they could clear this bizarre accounting error was to issue a refund and then charge it again. The reason it was done in 2 parts was the purchase was done for a few cabins and despite paying “$100 for 2 cabins item reservations” when Royal refunds it shows as “$50 and $50”  their refunds are broken down to “per cabin refunds” so essentially 2 different charges/refunds had to be done to clear their system. 

On 2/1/2024 at 1:18 PM, beer12 said:

Don't know what you paid, Patty, but the staterooms are staring at $339 right now.  Theoretically, they'll match the price if you're rate is higher.

It was a casino comp. My donation is not refundable!

12 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

In general though I don't like this. Embarkation day I don't eat till that lunch at noon. I did want to wait even longer. I didn't like this development at all. Not being able to choose check in time and earliest 11:30. 

Me being very cynical especially with Royal Caribbean I wonder if they are getting ready to charge for the earliest check in time? Wouldn't completely surprise me unfortunately. 

Maybe more cost cutting? Less time for people to eat and drink free. 

The other day I moved from promenade to balcony  no charge since the balcony was cheaper.  Liberty of the seas Bermuda cruise in June out of NJ.  I called my friend for her to change her ocean view to a BalGTy  for a Sept Liberty to Bermuda but she didn’t move quick enough.  

Mbayley@rccl.com

make your complaint much shorter and more concise.’

cruise date and ship
reservation #’s
Brief sentence-booked abc cabins.

problem -did not get your full days worth of hours due to late arrival

State asked about compensation from (insert names ) while onboard
State call /email to customer service
State response by  Marth  F and date
State what you want from them

Prorated $back?

closing:looking forward to a resolution to this.
Sign off
Name, 
Crown and anchor #
Phone # 

not sure if attachments are a good thing…could send your email to spam so perhaps offer to forward correspondence if needed

4 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

They're usually self-led and if they're advertised in the Cruise Compass, it is usually listed as Friends of Dorothy.

I’ve never seen Friends of Dorothy in the past two years and I’ve sailed on   Number of ships during that time. 
 

anthem meetings were at 8.  I recall this because it’s second seating dinner and the solo/single was at 5 (first dinner seating)  I complained about solo/single and they moved it to 4.  (I think 4:30 would have been fine but I was just happy it was moved!)

When you board go to guest services and ask to swap out your wife with the minor in your cabin.  It CAN be done, if their cabin is adjacent or across from you.  You still might want an extra key  for “the kids room” to grab things, wake them, check on them etc.  if guest services tells you they can’t move you then just ask for extra keys. 

If it let you continue it is likely ok.  If the people at the port don’t think your photo is appropriate they will redo it.

Personally I’ve never read of anyone using their passport photo.  

51 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/03/06/royal-caribbean-requires-cruise-ship-passengers-only-app-check-its-app-vancouver

Looks like this is a Royal policy shift just for this port.

I tend to have issues checking in via the app when I'm using VOOM on another sailing. It always gives me a headache and usually I give up and use the website, which wouldn't be an option in this case because Vancouver is the embarkation port.

Well that explains that! Poor technology challenged people!

thank you

17 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I always have trouble checking in with the app…so much so that I have ceased even trying.  I just go straight to the website now.

@Pattycruise you do know that now that you’re Pinnacle you don’t need to worry about a check-in time, right ?  I used to stress but now I just wait until I can easily get to the website and whatever check-in time I get is entirely moot.  It’s one of the best perks of being .Pinnacle.

I wasn’t sure if it’s “an hour before” what you pick.  If that’s not the case I’ll be stress free for most of my future cruises. However Bayonne had a heart attack when we approached the Pinnacle line as a group and then wanted set sail passes-though 1/2 of us were with hubby and I (we had split ourselves between 2 cabins) and  one was disabled….made disabled go to a long handicapped lane! And 2 of my group accompanied her, then the “nice lady” got her panties out of a twist and let us go -seapass cards unseen. 
Vancouver we are alone-do whatever accommodations for Pinnacle shouldn’t be an issue. 

I stupidly chose to stay awake until 3am to check in for my Alaska cruise when check in opened.  (3am isn’t a big stretch I’m normally up til 1 or 2)
Check in opened at 3am eastern since it was midnight in Vancouver where we would be sailing from. 

the website has a message that only the app can be used -which is quite strange-that message has been there ever since we purchased the cruise but it does not appear on my cruise preceding, or following this one so I could not use the website for check in. 

The app would not allow check in via the button OR the check in under the profile. It kept saying “check in had checked out.
I closed the app and reopened it about 3 dozen times.
I deleted the app and reinstalled it
I shut down my phone and restarted it
I even tried to edit the check in for the cruise preceding this one.-same “check in has checked out)  others in the FB group were able to check in via the app. 
and my issue was still the same at 8:30am til present. 
The only thing I can figure is I’m on a ship in the Bahamas and the app won’t allow this action due to my location.
Hubby was home so I didn’t call him at 3 am but when he got up he saw my “message for help” and did the check in.  I went back again to try and edit, but still get the message check in checked out. So I’m thinking location usage issue. 

now, to make it more  bizarre-while I could not access check in I did click on “view setsail pass” and  they were complete and we were assigned 12:30….I took a screenshot in case that disappeared later and only later check ins showed. 
After the husband did check in the times he secured showed on the setsail pass (I took a screenshot that too in case it disappears later)

wonder why some of us on this sailing had the “use the app to check in” message.l there’s a number of folks on our sailing who don’t use smartphones!

anyone else have issues doing check in when on a sailing in the Caribbean?

1 minute ago, TessFromFlorida said:

So, I priced out 2 cabins but both kids are under 21 and even if I could get around that, it is >2k more, which I would rather spend on excursions. I hit the 24 hour back out now or you lose $100 ticking clock in just a few hours, so I think I will stick with the 1K- how bad could it possibly be? Appreciate the advice- I have learned a ton from this community.

I think 3 in a cabin is great.  You’ll have tons of room!

4 hours ago, TessFromFlorida said:

Thanks for chiming in, two rooms may work. I will price this out but there will be a single suppliment to consider with two rooms. There are only three of us and we all share one bathroom now, so that is nothing new, but a great point!

I did watch a few videos but they don't really dive into the negatives- just tour the room, which looks perfect, but I am leary. I am reading Lovetocruise2002's Independence blog now to learn about their experience in a 1K.

Didn’t realize you were 3 people.  That’s not so bad!  The price for 2 cabins will likely kill you, but definitely can’t hurt to look.  When I was looking at cabins/sharing I considered deck 8 where at least there was a public restroom nearby if needed!