Chuck586

Frankly, the whole tipping system is nuts. Moreover, it is really the cruise companies' fault. They want to collect gratuities as part of your cruise fare but then provide no information regarding how that money is allocated so the passengers have no idea who is getting what and we feel guilty if we don't give more. Frankly, I think that is the plan so that the companies can pay their employees less out of the fares that they charge yet the employees still make a living wage out of the extra tips they receive. It is a system that begs for clarification.

I understand the food coma problem! That is why I said after Wonderland -- not sure I, oops I mean my friend, is a Wonderland type of person...lol. I think we might need some late evening sushi after that.

For the sake of argument let's assume I just got back from dinner at Wonderland and I now have a hunger for a Ribeye from Chops. Where do I call to get it delivered to my room? Do I call the restaurant directly or go through the regular room service number? Of course, I am asking for a friend!!

I absolutely agree. But if you are staying in suites, you should be moving up the loyalty rankings a lot faster than than the person that is staying in the interior room. Just like I believe that you should move up the ranks faster if you are staying in a balcony room if you are consistently buying the dining and drink packages. They should be rewarding the dollars spent and not the number of nights spent.

The whole loyalty thing based on nights aboard seems nuts to me. It seems that a more equitable system would base the status on the amount spent, whether on the room selection or during the cruises. I have heard of several people being pinnacle because of the nights spent in an interior cabin all the while demanding that they be allowed in the suite lounge etc because of their status. That seems like nonsense to me. In my case, my wife and I are spending $14,000 + on a 7 day cruise this summer. I am paying for all of the perks. I am getting 2 points per night because I stay in a suite. We are going to generate about $500 per point awarded by Royal on just our cabin fare. I could have booked an interior cabin for two people at $1221.00 per person per day. That works out to $174.00 per point based on 2 people in the interior cabin. Now perhaps a couple in the interior cabin will spend an additional $325.00 per day each on food, drink and other purchases and if they do, they should be rewarded. If they are drinking lemonade and eat at the Windjammer all week they should not be rewarded the same as if they are staying in a suite. Just my $.02!

I don't swim in any water that has things that can sting me and take a bite out of my leg.

We sailed out of Port Liberty a year ago on the Oasis. At that time we stayed overnight in Jersey City and drove into the port the next morning and parked at the port. If I had to do it again I would do the exact same thing. Given the amount of congestion in that area and the time it will take to find a shuttle and get back to the hotel to get my car I think I would want to just pick it up at the port and be on my way. The cost of parking at the port is expensive , but the cost of parking everywhere nearby is expensive. Just my $.02

Is it me or does Royal have a surprising number of computer or technical issues? Between the double bookings, wonky calculations for the cruise fares and now the inability to keep track of loyalty points I think it might be time to send the tech department to a dry dock. Seems like they are running the company on a bunch of old Commodore Vic 20 computers and somebody can't keep track of all the floppy disks.

LOL.....Sorry to offend but I am from Michigan. Here in the Great Lakes State, we refer to everything on the water, including "boats" up to 1000 + feet as BOATS!

There is some merit to this idea. Many loyalty programs allow their members to buy up to higher levels to get their points. I personally think Royal needs to rethink the way they award the points in the first place. There is a significant difference in terms of the value of a customer that takes multiple 7 day cruises in an interior cabin as compared to a customer that takes multiple 7 day cruises in a star class cabin. Even with the double points for suites deal, that does not even come close to equitable. A better system would be to award a point for every $500 (so some number) that a person spends on their cruises. That incentivizes the customer to spend more on their bookings and on the boats themselves. They get credit for the actual customer that that they are, not just credit for some arbitrary number of days spent on the boat.

Exactly why I think that the suite lounge should be reserved for those that are paying for a suite. The sense of ownership or entitlement among some, and I am stressing not all, of the pinnacle members is simply irritating. The looks and comments my family would get from some of those folks is really shocking. My kids were never disrespectful or exceedingly loud it would just be the reaction and the whispers when we would disrupt their private meeting room with our presence. It would seem that they believed they owned the lounge and coastal kitchen. Every time we would go into there they were always sitting in the same spots. I can only assume that they were they from morning until night as they were always in the same spots whether we went for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

From what I understand the port at Galveston is really easy to get in and out of, but now I am trying to figure out how to get in and out on a flight. It looks like I can only fly direct into the Bush airport. Are there any difficulties getting from there to Galveston by Uber or some other kind of transfer? I remember the old days when you could book a cruise and airfare through the cruise line and if you flew in the day before they would coordinate your stay in a couple of different hotels, based on what you wanted to spend, with hotel transfers and even check in at the hotel the morning of your cruise. It was so seamless and easy with nothing extra to book or coordinate. Those were the days!

I have to agree that Royal should phase out the lounge access from the reward program and stick with additional drinks or a specialty dining benefit. The suite lounge and coastal kitchen should remain a suite level benefit. Folks who are cruising at that level are paying dearly for that benefit and the quality of their experience should be protected.

Harmony of the Seas, June 23, 2024 here we come! We have been to Cozumel a couple of times but the Roatan stop is new for us! Something to look forward to at least!

So, after gathering more information I can affirmatively state that the app has apparently not been updated with the correct times. I can say that because my new friend Nityam has us scheduled for lunch there on day 2 (Saturday) at 12:00. I can only assume that the johnny on the spot IT guys at Royal will some day get around to updating the dates and times on the app as we get closer to the cruise. We still have a couple of weeks so there is no rush!!

Everyday. It has it opening for dinner only at 3.

Looking at the app and it says that Portside BBQ is only open for dinner after 3. I think I have read some posts that said it was open for lunch. Is the app just not that accurate or is Portside available for lunch on some weeks but not on others?

Did they move you to a new room or are you in your room in quarantine?

What time do you prefer to dine and why? In other words, when do you prefer to dine in the specialty restaurants??? Thanks!!

Can any Star Class cruisers that have arrived by car point to (or describe) the location of the Star Class entrance and porters on the picture above?

So we checked in for our cruise that leaves on June 17 and have uploaded all of the documents. The check in process on the app indicates that the vaccines are being validated. Is that something that we should watch or does it stay that way until we show up at the pier and they actually look at the original documents? Thanks all...

Just a side question but would he need an ID if he was under 18? At what age do they require government ID's?

Those of us on the great lakes often refer to ships as boats. Kind of like some people refer to pop as soda....downright cringeworthy...lol

I saw a post somewhere about the cruise limits and it got me to thinking. Are the passenger counts on the cruise ships now being experienced the result of limits by Royal or is it folks just not ready to get back to cruising and the ships sailing at less than the currently allowed capacity? Anyone have any insight?

It can't be the couple of free drink vouchers that makes everyone eager to be Diamond, there must be some crazy stuff going on in that Diamond Lounge!!