billdauterive

4 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Book it online from your offers page..they come back with an invoice and you can decide whether you want to accept or not. If you don't want it and want to check out another sailing pricing with the offer then you can call. I redeemed a couple of those BOGO offers (before they cut my offers off again) and it was surprisingly cheap. I ended up with a 4 night solo sailing for $300 total which is better than I can usually do booking with no casino interference. 

Good advice as well.  I'll do this when the offer is just a gty and I don't have a strong urge to try and upgrade, but I still like to call in when the offer allows me to pick my room (or I'm really curious about upgrade prices).

5 hours ago, twangster said:

I booked the Joker's Wild July offer as a solo.

I often don't cruise in July since it's blacked out for the DP340 reduced single supplement.  I saw the casino offer as a means to book solo in July.

The offer was explained to me this way -  the casino player can get a complimentary cabin fare but they must pay for the 2nd guest's fare based on casino friend and family rates.  Since I was solo I had to pay for the 2nd guests fare even though there is no 2nd guest.  

As opposed to free cruise offers based on points the July Joker's offer requires the 2nd guest fare be paid.  

Given that July is a peak month and difficult to book as a solo without paying 200% supplement I chose to pay a modest amount for my non-existent second.  

It came out to about half what I paid for Liberty last week which was a non-casino last minute deal.  So while it's not a free cruise, it's a rate I haven't seen in a long time in a peak month when I can't normally afford to sail.

Casino had to call revenue mgmt to get a GTY authorized for a solo.  I haven't had a lot of success with this lately but the casino team got it approved so I'm getting some extra free play.  I'm also paying port fees and taxes for one.

It did not require a Book Later NextCruise booking.  

This was exactly my experience with the bogo offer when I tried to get around it by booking solo once too.  I was quoted full casino fare for the non-existent person, but taxes/port fees for 1.

You do make a good argument for their usefulness as a solo cruiser during a high demand time though.

2 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We actually booked one of the “complimentary for one person” offers recently.  It was the oddest thing…so long as we stuck with the interior offer, it included both of us.  When I tried to upgrade to a higher category, suddenly they wanted to charge for person #2.  So for the first time ever, we have an interior booked !  Yikes !  I plan on hitting the RU HARD when it comes around.  It’s only a 4 night on Indy, so I guess I would survive if I don’t get any upgrade….but I won’t be happy !

Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard of anyone getting a double comp on one of those offers.  I'll usually ask about one of those offers if I'm already calling in to redeem another just to see the extra amount to compare to full fare and have a good laugh.

I'm Prime with 13k+.  I was on pace for Signature earlier this casino year, but I'm fairly certain they changed the formula for points on craps.  The last 2 cruises I've been on I only earned about half as many points as I would have in the past.  I even verified they had my avg bet and time at table correct so a formula change is the only thing I can come up with.

On 3/17/2024 at 5:00 PM, KWong said:

- Craps - is it still the same odds as before?

- Roulette - double or triple zero? Wanted to play when I was on Regal Princess, but they had triple zero and that was the end of that. 
 

Yes, Explorer is the same as the rest of the fleet for craps.  $10 min, 1x odds.  $25+, 2x odds.  $50+ 3x/4x/5x odds.

I only play roulette a little but it's definitely a double zero (American) wheel.

On 3/18/2024 at 9:41 AM, Ampurp85 said:

For me the ones that include Freeplay. Since I am prime only and average about 2k a sailing, my offers are mostly interiors and OV. But they can include $25/50 Freeplay. Currently 3/7 offers are the "get 1 complementary guest when you buy one" and those imho are the worst offers. 

Pretty similar to me.  Those comp plus buy 1 are beyond worthless.  You can usually get the 2 full price fare through your agent for cheaper than the 1 comp + casino rate.

I've only received the cheap wine once, which happened to be the first time I really played on board.  I've never received anything else since even though I've earned a lot more points and/or lost a lot more on individual sailings.

4 hours ago, wordell1 said:

Congratulations!

A few tips:

Make sure you specify whether you are using your diamond drinks or not when you order.  Waiters will often apply them automatically if you don't specify and you may waste one on a low cost drink.

The coffee machine in the Crown Lounge is an underrated perk.  They also have a nice hor dourves set up at happy hour and a waiter to get drinks.

The concierge located in the Crown lounge can do a lot of things you used to have to go to guest relations for.

The free photo (each) is another nice perk.

 

This is a great summary of tips.

The free picture (per person) is a very underrated perk.  I forgot about it my first couple of times but now it's a nice little souvenir to remember each cruise or port individually.  Now I have pictures taken at every opportunity and then just pick the best 1 or 2 to download free on the last night.

I was on this exact same cruise as @Matt and agree with most everything he says.  I know he doesn't specifically call out Sydney, but it's a good indication of what to expect from a fall New England cruise.  Let's just say I enjoyed it so much, I booked it again this year (minus the Bar Harbor stop of course )
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/10/30/first-new-england-cruise-what-surprised-me

The area around the port is really walk-able and very little vehicle traffic so I wouldn't be too hung up on making exact plans but be open to calling an audible as far as eating establishments go.  All the little house museums near the port are interesting and don't take up much time but give a good insight into the history of the area.  There are several pubs that are nice and one we went to had a fiddle player playing traditional Scottish music which was really cool.  There's also a nice little cidery close by.

Basically I was very surprised at how much I liked this port.  It's a great one to not really have a set plan but just kind of wander around until you find something that seems interesting to do/see/eat.  We were supposed to do a tour of Fort Louisborg, but it was cancelled last minute, hence our need to just wander around that day.  In fact, besides Bar Harbor, I think this was my favorite port stop.

26 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

I guess I will find out next month when I call in.  Thanks for the feedback.

Keep us up to date how this goes.  I'm curious about it too, especially since you're going to try and apply it to a cruise that will almost definitely be on a blackout date since it's over Christmas.

13 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Labadee or Coco Cay?  You may find me headed back to the ship 20 minutes prior to All Aboard.

Good point.  No need to worry too much about the private destinations, they won't leave without you there (but not for a reason you're going to like...)

And ALWAYS double check what the ship time is before getting off the ship.  I always check the time in the app as well to make sure they sync.  I've heard too many stories of people almost or actually missing the boat because they were on local time and not ship time.

1 hour ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Like the others, I plan to be back aboard about an hour before all aboard time (to avoid any delays and any super long lines). If I want to play in the port area, I aim to be back around there 2 hours before.

Ditto.  On non-RCL excursions I always plan to be back at the port 2 hours before and onboard 1 hour before.

Just to be clear, it's comps only.  I believe dollars off or applied to a current booking doesn't count against the inventory (but I definitely could be wrong)

1 minute ago, Cez said:

place in the almost full sailing (Baltimore->Bahamas)

I don't think that matters.  The casino only has a certain amount of cabin inventory available to them.  So the ship can be almost empty but if the casino inventory has already been taken then you won't be able to book it on a casino comp. 
i.e. booking a room on an non-comp fare in hopes to "save" a cabin for yourself to book a casino comp later won't work, it's 2 different buckets of inventory.

18 hours ago, FloridaMac said:

We're booked for Zipline at 10am and Coaster at 1pm.  

• How long does the Zipline take? Will we have time for lunch?
• Does our reservation time for the Coaster matter, or can we go anytime?

I don't know about the zipline, but I don't think the coaster reservation time matters.  I personally had the all day pass so the time definitely didn't matter, but other people with single rides checking in at the same time as me weren't asked about reservation times as far as I could tell.  Now that doesn't mean it wasn't actually checked, I just didn't notice it if it was.

There's also a self guided audio tour for free from the National Parks Service app.
https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/walk-the-freedom-trail.htm

I'd recommend just taking an Uber to the start/end of the Freedom Trail and just walking it if you're physically able to.  There's so many sites to see along it that it can easily take up a full day and yet each stop can be just a quick picture or hours on end if you want.  Most stops are free (or at least freeish) except a few that have a nominal entrance fee.  The North End by Paul Reveres house also has a lot of restaurants for lunch/dinner. Cheers isn't far from the start in Boston Common so you could start there.  It's really close to the port so the Uber shouldn't take more than 10-15 mins (depending on traffic of course).  We enjoyed it so much last year we will probably do it again this year and just spend more time at sites we enjoyed and try different restaurants.

https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/sites/default/files/content/page/hero-image/ft-map.pdf

5 hours ago, twangster said:

If a ship does not yet have shore power capability that will likely be added during a dry dock.  This type of modification may be best done with the ship completely dark, no power.  A dry dock while doing other required scheduled maritime maintenance is an ideal time to slip in a few days to add shore power capability.  Quantum needs shore power capability to operate from California so if she hasn't already had this added, it will be added during this dry dock.

Great observation.  I completely forgot about the California requirement for shore side power.

2 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I was going to say the Oasis class ships in my opinion have the better jogging track set up. It's lower and that's all it is, it's not where chairs are set up to sunbathe. 

Oasis class definitely has the best track setup for running.  It's longer and covered and out of the way. 

Quantum class is ok-ish as long as the top deck isn't too crowded. It's longer and usually not too many people (and usually colder weather itineraries), but the front has a slight slope and can be a wind tunnel at times.

Freedom and Voyager class, forget it!  Too many people and too short of a track.

Radiance class, definitely too small.

21 minutes ago, ScottD said:

I haven't been yet, but is it true that the tracks on the freedom class ships incline a little toward the front? On liberty it looks like they gradually go up a deck when you get to the fwd section of the ship. 

Freedom and Voyager class, no.  Quantum, yes (and the front can also be a pretty bad wind tunnel).

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I wish everyone was like you. As a serious runner, I only ever use the track on Oasis class ships (on other ships I use the treadmills in the gym) and it's clearly marked that walkers should keep left and runners keep right. I've lost count of the number of times this is ignored by groups of several people who spread themselves across the whole track and don't listen out for runners. Sometimes they don't move even when I yell at them that I'm coming through and I end up having to try and dodge around them. On a couple of occasions it hasn't been possible to avoid them and I've bumped into them.

Glad it's not just me that has this problem.... 

I'm the same way, I only run on the Oasis class track and treadmill for the other classes since only the Oasis class has the potential to not be running people over every 10 steps.

You can buy cruise planner items for other reservations as long as they're linked.  I've personally done this several times in the past and for future cruises.  So in your case, if login to your husband's account and then go into your husbands reservation, you can purchase a drink package for your reservation if they're linked.  You can verify your reservations are linked if you see both reservations when logging into your husbands account.  If you don't see the linked reservation, just add it with the "Add a cruise button" at the bottom of the page