Chuck586

Is Royal requiring certain kinds of masks? I saw at some point that they were selling cloth masks but those have been determined all but useless. Are they going to be requiring N95 now?

I have not been keeping up with all of the covid restrictions and changes but I had heard that they were restricting access to the lounge and CK at one time. Has that been lifted now? Sounds like, from some of the posts, that it is getting quite busy.

What was that about "little brother?" The problem with having a little brother is that sometimes they grow up and kick big brother's (&(!

I can't imagine why anyone would work so hard to watch either of those two teams play each other. Especially considering they will have both been through the band saw which is Michigan State before that date!

I suppose whether it is worth it depends on the subjects of the photos. In my case I have a mug better suited for radio than television so it probably would not be "worth" it, no matter the cost!!

They mean a lot....the people that have the white or pearl colored cards own the ship.... (It's a joke folks, don't shoot me....lol)

I have seen probably 15 posts in the last year about tipping onboard. I think the way that Royal (and most cruise lines for that matter) structures the tipping system so it is intentionally foggy. I just looked up the current Q&A regarding tipping and it seems to say two different things. It says that you will be charged a $14.50 per person per day pre-paid gratuity which will be applied to your account. That gratuity is then "shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams who work behind the scenes to enhance the cruise experience." A few paragraphs below it says that "A 18% gratuity is automatically added to all beverages, mini bar items, and spa & salon purchases." So if you read both of those statements it sounds like the bar staff, for example, will receive a share of the $14.50 gratuity, but you will also be charged 18% against any beverages. It is never clear if the 18% goes into the tip jar for everyone or if it goes to the individual that brought the drink. It is also unclear if the gratuity fund into which one is contributing on a daily per person basis will go to those who serve that person or are just divided equally among the hotel crew. It just seems to me that these policies are intended to keep everyone confused. I think most people will tip at the time of service as they are receiving their drinks or food as that is what we are all trained to do.

I don't know how I missed this thread but I am just now catching up. Lots of great information! As for the Michigan State Cup, I can give some insight. It was given as a gift because someone obviously has great taste in schools. Go Green, Go White!

A recent conversation I had with someone on a Facebook page brought a question to my mind about tipping. The conversation on that "other" site went something like this: There was a question about the amounts that people were tipping while star class passengers. I asked the question: What does everyone tip to their room attendants for example? The answers I received were several hundred dollars to each attendant. I asked if they were including the amount of their room that was already allocated to the tips and they responded that they suppose the attendants were just getting extra. This leads me to my question. As I understand it, the gratuities that are recommended as policy by Royal are already included in the cost of my cabin. So, for the room attendants in my cabin there is already the $7.50 per person per day amount allocated to that attendant out of the amount that I paid for my room. If I have 4 people in my room then I have already paid $210.00 towards the tip that my room steward would receive. Anything I would elect to tip would be above and beyond that if they provided exemplary service. Based on my reading of what others are posting there are people that are tipping hundreds of dollars above and beyond the standard policy. It is also my understanding that the same thing is true for waiters and bartenders. For example, if I order a $10.00 (just to keep the math simple) drink poolside, a tip of 18% is added to that drink automatically out of whatever amount of my room cost is allocated toward tips. In other words the bartender is already getting a $1.80 tip when he gives me my drink. I am reading in other posts that people carry around $2.00 bills to tip waiters at the bar. This is above the amount already allocated towards the tips. Now I am no cheapskate but it seems to me that a $3.80 tip for a $10.00 drink ($1.80 automatic tip + $2.00 = 3.80) is a bit excessive. Am I looking at this correctly or is this a problem with the transparency related to the star class included gratuities and how those are paid out to the waiters, bartenders and cabin stewards? I don't want to short anyone their tips if I am looking at this wrong. Of course, nothing I said above applies to the genie. I understand their tip is not included in the "complementary gratuities." Thanks all!

Suites are worth it to some but not to others. That is why Baskin Robbins makes 31 flavors. Everyone enjoys something different.

What's next, are they going to limit bacon to every other day?

While this wasn't on the ship, it was during a cruise excursion. Let's just say it was on St. Martin and was at Orient Beach. I will only say that it was a parade and leave the rest to everyone's imagination. Simply put, some things cannot be unseen. I am reminded of the words of caution given to us by our tour director as we were being let off the bus: "Those that can, don't and those that do, shouldn't!" More accurate words have never been spoken.

Between the loss of the Seafood Tower and the cancellation of the cupcake class I may just cancel my whole trip.... Maybe I'll think about it first...lol

So this thread raises a question. My understanding was that Star and Sky Class passengers could invite other guests to dine with them in CK whenever they wanted. Perhaps something has changed with the covid restrictions??

Being constantly at the front of the line for the flow rider might be worth the price of admission for my 13 year old!

I will never wear a tie. Formal night seems more like work than a vacation for me. I have enough of the ties at the office -- vacations are for getting rid of ties. But to each his (or her) own!!

That is exactly how we ended up booking a Star Class cruise. We spent a week in a concierge room at the Polynesian in Disney World -- Star Class is cheap after that week...lol We then priced a week on one of the Disney ships in their concierge level...wow....talk about wallet popping!

I'm always available if you want to make others happy too!!!

I saw some comments in another thread that leads me to believe that some may have experienced some Star Class hostility when they were taking advantage of some Star perks such as jumping to the front of the line for certain events or getting seated in the front row for shows etc. Just wondering if anyone had actually experienced some comments from other passengers on board.

Can we select where or which cabana we would be booking?

My guess (fingers crossed) is June 1. Likely with a vaccination requirement for over 16. Here is my logic. First, the emergency health order expires on April 21 or so. That order trumps the CDC order in that the CDC conditional sail order is based upon the emergency health order and if the first one expires the second one automatically expires. Second, a member of our facebook cruise page contacted customer service for Royal about our check in process being shut down. They were told that the cruise has not been cancelled and that the check in process is temporarily down to be updated with additional CDC requirements. They were adamant about that Royal wants and intends at this point to cruise from the US in June. Third, the leadership of Royal and Carnival have become a bit more vocal and political in the last few weeks suggesting that the conditional sail order is no longer relevant or needed etc. Seems like they are all starting to turn up the heat. This plus the fact that politicians (most notably the Governor of Florida and Senator from Alaska) are pushing for answer to the question of when cruise ships can operate and why are they being treated so much different than say hotels, airlines etc. Finally, If you listen to the statement by Carnival it almost seems as though the cruise lines know something that has not been made public. Perhaps their work with the CDC has resulted in them being give the additional guidelines etc. They may have both volunteered to be the first to go and therefore guinea pigs for the industry. In any case, it seems odd to me that both have come out with public comments about the same time that seems to put them both on June 1 start dates. Of course, I could be making all of this up....lol Here's to hoping.

I just thought I would throw in my $.02. I have nothing against vaccines, in fact I volunteered to be in the phase II for the Pfizer and Moderna tests but was not needed. Unfortunately I had not qualified for the vaccine and ended up coming down with Covid. For those of you sitting on the fence of whether or not you should get it because it might make your arm hurt or you might have a headache for a day, take it from me, I would have done that every day for a month instead of getting Covid. It is not a pleasant experience and I did not have a case which required hospitalization. A friend of mine caught the virus the day before I did. She is now dead. The shot is better than either of the alternatives. If you get a choice, choose the Pfizer injection because, after all, that is "Made in Michigan"!!

Following this topic as we will also be cruising out of NJ in June 2021.

Thanks for the reply. My family of 4 is traveling with 2 of my wife's sisters who are sharing a balcony room. They purchased the unlimited dining and unlimited beverages plan so there would not be any issues expected in terms of riding on our check etc. I am just hoping to coordinate the dinners together at a table for six instead of four. What is your experience about inviting folks to the coastal kitchen? I understand that we can do that as well. Have you ever had any instances with that? Again, thanks for your wisdom!!

We are booked for the Oasis in June in a Star Class cabin. We understand all of the "perks" that we are paying for as part of that room. Our question centers around the fact that we will have family members on board who will not be in a star class cabin. On those days when we would like to eat together at one of the specialty restaurants will our genie arrange for reservations for our entire group including the non-star passengers? I am just trying to understand the logistics and don't expect the family members to get some kind of service that they did not pay for but we also don't want to end up at Chops at the same time but at tables on the opposite end of the restaurant. Thanks all for your experience!