Andy & Sheryl Unwin

Our last cruise on Allure (6 night in JS) was a result of a FCC from a cancelled trip (5 nights balcony) on Independance. We love the JS, but werent able to justify it again until we received that FCC. 

So to go from an expected 5 points, to the 24 we received (6x2 for JS, x2 for promotion) was simply wonderful.

13 minutes ago, YOLO said:

Ceil and I cruised 22 years to get 171 points - all pre Covid and all non-suites.  We averaged about 1.5 cruises per year, but not all Royal.  So we make D+ on our November cruise and sailed for the first time as D+ last week.  Double Points didn't help us at all.  And I don't think they ever will.  Seriously we will never get to Pinnacle...

I think we have been incredibly fortunate with the Double Points offers. It was an incredibly astute move by Royal to offer it. I wish more had been as fortunate.

13 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

We have three double-point cruises, one in 2021 and two in 2022. All are plain-Jane 7-day cruises out of Galveston. That 21 extra points won't do anything as we are already Diamond and well short of Diamond+, but it's three less cruises I need to take to get to D+. And I'm cheap so that's several K $ for free! I like free!

7 minutes ago, LovetoCruise87 said:

Yep...that's a big jump from Diamond to Diamond+

My own feeling is it will remain that much of a jump too. If Royal were to (say) make the gap 50 points, it would I think be unfair to those who already made it to Diamond+

8 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

I/we have 49 points now, mostly earned in suites.  We cruise in 30 days on a 7 day cruise, so that's 14 more points because it's a suite, double those points and that's a total of 77 which puts us into Emerald.  But, we won't benefit from that because we earn it while on a cruise and were in Star Class so it doesn't matter anyway.  Our next cruise after this one in 30 days is in November on an 8 day cruise.  So, 8 points + 77 = 85 points, that puts us into Diamond but because we earned it on that cruise, we don't benefit from it until the next cruise after that.

Very similar yes. We did our last cruise as Platinum, the next one as Emerald, and the one I havent booked yet as Diamonds.

In and of itself, its not the most important thing in the world. But we really do want to feel we have achieved something out of the debacle that was the last 2 years.  Besides, its a bit of harmless fun.  I doubt we will make Diamond + till I am well into my dotage though.

16 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

Almost exactly the same situation here.  

For sure Diamond status will come in useful when I book our 25th anniversary cruise. The official date is 12/10/2023, but likely we will celebrate any time between 12/01/23 and 03/31/2024.

It will be first cruise for example where we dont have the DBP. There will be plenty of other opportunites for booze.

5 hours ago, p5woody said:

Is there an easy way to ask for a premium alcohol instead of the standard?  Can I say make it with premium or something like that every time I order or do I have to specify brand?

A little background, I am more of a beer/cider guy, I typically only drink cocktails when on vacation. This is my 2nd time having the drink package and I am not sure what is in each drink and not sure which brand to ask for.  We met some people on our last cruise toward the end that had us try some drinks with specific brand alcohols and they were much better, not that the others were bad, but I could tell the difference.

Bonus question 1: What is your preferred brand of alcohol like Bourbon, Tequila, vodka, etc.

Bonus question 2:  What drink is not on the menu I should order?  

Easiest way is simply to specify the choice. eg: A lava flow with "Kraken Rum" or a "Pussers" Painkiller

Bonus Question 1: Rum, specifically Pussers Rum, with Kraken as a second alternative.

Bonus Question 2: Grog !

• 1 oz Lime Juice
• 2 oz Pussers Rum
• 1/2 oz Brown sugar
• 3 oz Water

47 minutes ago, fa-li said:

If you bring on wine, remember to pack a corkscrew and a bottle stopper! You can ask your cabin steward for wine glasses. 

Another option here is to take only screw top bottles. Shock, horror, the purists will be irked. However, it does mean you dont need a corkscrew and that you can re-seal the bottle without an issue.

A fun thing about discovering wine with screw top bottles, is doing the research to find which you prefer to take with you.

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

So, correction for US sailings it was extended to all bookings sailing by Dec 2022 if booked before that Sept 30th, 2021, deadline.

Ahhh, thats pretty good news for us then, it means another double helping from Serenade in October.  14 points not the meager 7 we had anticipated.

After what seems like an eternity as Platinum, Sheryl and I really made out like bandits on our latest voyage on Allure.

We were already going to profit from having a Junior Suite, with double points our 6 night cruise was to net us 12 points. However, because we satisfied the terms of the (sadly no longer happening) double points offer. (book by end september 2021, sail by end of march 2022 I think) that was doubled up to 24 points.

The result was to pole vault us high into the Emerald level. We now have 73 points.  We have a 7 nighter in October on Serenade, and that I believe will take us to Diamond at long last.

So, has anyone else managed to benefit from the double points promotion ?  It would be interesting to see some positive outcomes

3 hours ago, jay1021 said:

LOL.  On my first Royal Cruise on the Oasis, I had just had total knee replacement.  Man was that an effort to get into the bathtub.  Not complaining though, once in the tub it was a lot better than those little plastic shower thingys.  I spend a lot to time in the shower, I love a good shower experience along with good bodywash and the tub provided that.

I did exactly that on Allure recently, 5 weeks post op. I was really grateful to be able to lay down in a hot bath too.  I should have taken my cooling machine with me, but opted for gel packs instead.  Cabin attendant went above and beyond keeping me supplied with ice to chill the gel packs.  A life saver.

1 hour ago, silenttuba said:

Checking the weather for my cruise next week on Anthem, and it looks like there's gonna be some relatively strong wind the day we're at CocoCay, in the 15-20mph range. I know this was a bigger problem before they built the dock, but is there a chance that kind of wind will put the port stop in jeopardy? I'm hoping it won't, because that's the thing I'm most looking forward to!

Given the freeboard (distance from waterline to deck) of Anthem is over 18 decks tall, and she is over 1100ft long it acts very much like a gigantic sail.

That being said, much depends on wind direction and berth.  The wind could for example assist in berthing. However, I doubt anything under 25knots would be an issue either way.

The ultimate decision of course, rests with one man. The Captain. He is responsible for the ship in its entirity so it is his call yay or nay.

16 hours ago, heythere said:

Hello. Looking to book a cruise for June 10-17th, departing from Cape Liberty NJ and returning to Cape Liberty NJ. It is the oasis of the seas and stops in the Bahamas if I am remembering correctly. 
From what I’ve seen online, I’ve received mixed messages in terms of passports being required or not. Since the cruise is so soon and we unfortunately were not able to pay for it sooner, we are really short on time. It’s five of us going, and I plan on getting my passport next week. However I am nervous that the five of us will not have passports in time for the cruise. I have read online that this type of cruise would allow for birth certificates, and was wondering if anyone could really confirm that they’ve used this ( mainly since Covid) 

Did you experience any issues? Two of them are five years old, and my mom has to get a new birth certificate as well which takes 5-8 weeks alone. Passports seem to be difficult at this point. Just hoping I can get any insight on this.!

Some years ago, we had a last minute panic when we could not find our passports. We were 24 hours from leaving and had no way to get replacements. So we did use the althernatives.

For me, naturalization certificate, and birth certificate for Sheryl.

Getting on and off the ship, was not an issue as we had the appropriate legal documentation. However, we did feel very uncomfortable the whole time we were outside the USA, and breathed a big sigh of relief when we were allowed back in. Had we needed to disembark, missed the ship, or had any other reason for needing alternative travel, we would have had to jump through hoops to get home.

So my thought would be passport, passport and passport.  (we eventually replaced ours)

14 hours ago, Chris M. said:

Can you access FB with the non-streaming Voom?

Yes, we do this all the time. Non-Streaming is fine for social media applications, just dont expect to be able to watch any shared videos withouth mahoosive interuptions. Textual content is fine.

The first RC cruise Sheryl and I took was on Brilliance out of Tampa. Since then, we have sailed on Serenade and are due to do so again towards the end of this year.

Everything about these ships is incredible and although we have a preference for the Voyager/Freedom vessels, there does seem to be a certain something about the smaller ships. As has been said, its unlikely they will be replaced when they reach end of life, thats just the unfortunate effect of economics. I say enjoy them while you can.

As we do with excursions, we usually follow the sage like wisdom provided by Matt and purchase the DBP (with Voom) about the same time as we book the cruise.  Then keep an eye on it.

Invariably there are fluctuations based on discounts and if its significant, we cancel and repurchase.  I wont go through the process to save $2 if you get my drift.

Certaily, with excursions (and specifically the Coco Beach Club), it can save a whole bunch of money.

2 hours ago, Diesel said:

Friends of ours were on Allure a couple weeks ago and experienced the same thing.  They might want to update the DBP description as it states that Crown Royal is still included.

Interesting. I dont drink the stuff myself, I much prefer Pussers Rum. However, there was a goodly supply of CR in the Schooner Bar and pool bar when we were on Allure 3/13 - 3/19. 

Murphys law always states that someone who doesnt drink it, will spot it.

A word of caution about the new coffee machines. We didnt notice on Allure a couple of weeks back, but we didnt get larger cups, just the demitasse size for espresso.

While thats usually fine for espresso size, if you hit the full cup version, get ready to fun and games....  That stuff goes everywhere lol

I found the answer to the CBD oil in the FAQs.  It seems CBD products are prohibited

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

Almost always Schooners, (exceptions are Solarium and pool bar).

1. Pussers Painkiller
2. Lava Flow with Kraken Rum

3 hours ago, TracyB said:

I’ll be on symphony of the seas in a neighborhood balcony and wondering if anyone thinks a twin air mattress would fit in front of the couch area. I didn’t see air mattress in the list of things not allowed. Thanks. 

I am curious why you would need an air mattress?  There should be sufficient bed space for all the room occupants as is.

2 hours ago, Fairlynew said:

What motion sickness medicine do you recommend?  I've never needed it, but one of my travel companions does.

Best I can suggest is your companion talks to their medical professional and gets an assessment on what will work for them

Any ship, no matter the size is subject to the prevailing winds and swell.  Designers can mitigate ship movement with stabilisers and such, but it can never be eliminated. That being said, I know for sure Royal are really good at routing their ships to avoid the really bad weather.

We have had one cruise (Serenade) which was a tad lumpy using the seaward passage around the Bahamas. Personally, I loved it but then again I spent 10 years bobbing across the worlds oceans in the Royal Navy. There were other passengers, my wife Shery chief among them, for whom I had the deepest sympathy.

On the plus side, the pub was virtually empty for 2 days

On 3/25/2022 at 5:12 PM, Buffalo to Lakewood Ranch said:

If you purchase the drink package, all adults have to purchase as well. If I'm buying the Deluxe Beverage/Voom one device package, does that mean my wife and I both have access to the voom one device?

The DBP and Voom will be applied to both room occupants. Each can connect their own device. This has been our go-to since day one and it works pretty well. I would say go ahead and book it, but remember to check back for price drops. Its easy to cancel and redo if there is a sale

11 minutes ago, CruiseMom82 said:

Awesome info! I’m not sure if I have a euro plug adapter but I definitely have one for the UK, if these are the same or if there’s also a UK plug. I know all about the voltage requirements, having fried a blow dryer in the past when traveling abroad! And I already got a nice set of binoculars ready to go. Thanks again you guys! The information about the Internet and phone usage is especially helpful.

Europlug and UK plugs are quite different. We always carry an international power converter which has both. In addition with regards to power, the suggestion to have a USB hub was one we picked up from the live blog on youtube a few years ago. This is a huge one and I cant recommend it enough

9 hours ago, Mark_A said:

Impressive - I also had full knee replacement in December, and was concerned that my Cruise in March (12 weeks post surgery) would be a challenge.  looking back, I shouldn't have been worried as at 12 weeks, I was about 95 percent healed and had no limitations on any activities (except running, and high impact type stuff).  My leg was still "tired" after a long day or a lot of walking on board and on excursions.  It never occurred to me that there was a service to help someone in your situation!  glad you had a good time!

Thanks tis much appreciated. Another idiot move of mine was not taking my ice machine. Electing instead for cold gel packs as a substitute. Our cabin attendant was amazing in keeping me supplied with ice buckets to chill them down. Not as good as the ice chiller, but took the edge off. Honestly, I cannot praise Royal enough for the help I had.

Incidentally, my surgery was delayed by 2 weeks, so I should have been much further along in the recovery process. If I were to go this week it would be a completely different experience, although I would still gladly accept the Pier Assist again.