LogicallyLazy

Yes, that’s one of the things that is frustrating me. Cause if a company like RC can’t remove a simple misleading line on their website, how many people are going to go in thinking that they’ll be getting what is stated. But also, as someone who works in retail, if we have a change in offer and we accidentally left something where the customer can see, be it the old offer, we generally have to honor it as we know it’s our own fault

Thanks all. I’ll go through the proper channels first. Hopefully I don’t have to involve too many people

Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ll gladly be on the phone or contact RC any day. But it doesn’t seem like they are gonna budge on it. Whatever the case, I’m going to keep trying. Just wondering if you think I’m being difficult by expecting them to honour what’s shown on their website

So, this is kind of a rant/ getting opinions if I’m being unreasonable So before this, I will preface that I do not use a TA as most TAs in my region seem to just be simple middle man with exactly the same pricing as RC’s website. Also, I like to have control in regards to be booking so this isn’t about if having a TA or not would have been better. To start off, I was planning on booking a new sailing in the coming year. Went onto RC’s website, found a sailing that was to my liking and proceeded to book the sailing. For context it’s a 4night cruise. So after imputing my CAS number, I saw that I was getting $100 OBC (as I was booking a suite). Went through the entire process of filling everything out and was going through the payment page when I kept encountering an error that the transaction could not go through. (It was not the card’s issue, since I managed to do it later on with the same card). Tried the booking on multiple devices on multiple browsers but still had the same issue, which led me to believe it was an issue with the website itself. Just to preface that I’ve book directly through RC multiple times in the past with no issue. So anyway, I went to their Help chat to let them know as well as check if it was something that had a workaround. The RC rep mentioned that they’ll highlight the issue and to complete the booking over the phone. So taking their advice, I called into their hotline and made the booking. Everything seemed to be going good. They mentioned the price for the room which matched what I saw online. I also mentioned the $100 OBC offer I was seeing online to which they said they could add in without worries. They also put me on hold at the end while they added this into the booking. After the entire process, there was a slight delay of around 30mins before I received the email confirmation with my guest contract. In the past, when I’ve gotten OBC, it was also listed in my contract, so I was a little worried that I saw nothing about in in the contract. Cruise planner also showed no mentions of OBC. Thinking maybe there was an error, I called in again to enquire about this. The specialist mentioned that they do see the OBC credited and it would just take some time for it to appear in the cruise planner. I was all happy and patient, until they mentioned that it was a $50 credit. Confused, I said that on the website it was showing $100 and the previous specialist I talked to never mentioned it was anything less than that. All I got as a response was that since the cruise is less than 5 nights, it’s only $50. Perplexed, but thinking maybe it was a mistake on my part, I ended the call. Just to see if it was a mistake on my end, I went back to the website, chose the same booking with the same room category and I saw that it was stated $100 OBC there again for the sailing. Thinking maybe they’d overlooked something, I took a few screenshots on the offer I was supposed to receive on their website as well as what I was credited which was already showing in the cruise planner and emailed their contact for my regions office asking if they could honour what was being shown on their website. Half a day later, and I received a reply saying that offers are subject to change and that online offers cannot be honoured as it wasn’t booked online. To add salt to the wound, the person who sent this email was also the same person on the web chat that told me to book it through the phone since the payment couldn’t go through online. Naturally, I was already a little bit frustrated. And replied with the chat transcript that showed they were the ones who told me to book through the phone and just surprised that they were not honouring what was clearly listed on their website considering that I would have booked online had their website not have an issue. Received another email from a different specialists who again just said that it was $50 for a 4 night cruise. At this point, I was full on angry. Being someone who works in the service line, I know that we have to honour whatever offers even if it was an error on our part. So naturally, I did send another email expressing my displeasure at how they were handling this. Also as of this post (4 days after the initial email) the $100 is still showing on their website. I know $50 isn’t a huge sum. I’m more angry at the fact that they are having false information on their website until now, and that none of them seem even the least bit apologetic considering I was simply following their recommendations and reassurances. Am I being unreasonable in expecting them to honour their offer?

I got my first contact with the Genie around 1 month before the sailing. The pre cruise survey around 10 days before that

Oh my god yes. Its not so much how much to tip since the amount differs quite a bit, but whenever travelling to the US/ places with tipping Culture, I get anxiety about how to go about tipping. On my last cruise, we brought along cash and wasn't sure how to hand it over. Do we leave it in the bill folder or hand it over personally? What if we ate at a complimentary venue where you don't get a receipt? Do we still write the amount in tips on the receipt or will the money inside be indication enough? So. Many. Questions. Once, we left some cash in the folder and wrote the amount on the bill as well. I noticed that I was also charged on my onboard account.

Ooo seems they’ve added new headlining acts.

The food is definitely colder compared to eating at the restaurant. I think it really depends on how much the food experience matters to you. Especially for Wonderland, I think one of the main things is the experience you get in the restaurant. For room service, the food also all arrives at once, so you don’t get the courses spaced out.

I wear a few different pairs of specs and depending on their design, I will either get fogging or not regardless of if I put the nose bridge over the top of the mask. A little tip if you can’t get your glasses to stop fogging. Get a small piece of tissue paper and fold it into a thin strip. Place it under your mask just below your nose bridge. It almost always eliminates fogging. It is a little troublesome whenever you take off your mask, but it was something we learnt at work since we have to wear one all day.

Oh, I didn’t know there was an antigen test at the terminal now. In other news, super excited for you. Sad that the seafood tower is gone though. ?

I personally have never seen a no tipping sign here. Tipping itself is getting slightly more common with ride hailing and food delivery apps becoming the norm. Whenever its raining (which is quite often) we tend to tip them just for the slight inconvenience it causes them, but of course it's not expected. And yeah, with ride hailing apps, flagging a taxi down is now a thing of the past lol

As someone from a country where tipping isn't the norm, it gives me a little anxiety whenever I'm tipping. Am I tipping too much, or worse, too little? I feel like the staff are in the back scowling because we short changed them.

Yep I received 1 right when I booked the sailing even though it was over 6 months away. I was like, that can’t be right. Even before covid, check in was 90 days earliest

Thanks everyone Yeah that's what I was thinking too since there is different accounts for both getting and not getting it. That's good to know. I remember sticking to the mini bar last time as I was worried we would get charged for it

Guess I just want to clarify on special case scenarios where the dining and beverage packages can and cannot be used. For the most part, I understand what each of the packages include, but what about the small clauses that is not immediately apparent. Also, what is part of the package itself vs Suite/Star class benefits UDP - Does it include food served in snack locations around around the ship that cost extra (e.g La Patisserie / Bar foods) DBP - Does it include drinks that are ordered from room service? Does it differ if you're in a suite with free room service (i.e Sky class) or star class with in suite dining? - Starbucks isn't included but what about drinks from Vitaly Bar on ships that have them. While I know it may differ from ship to ship, curious on what has your experience been for those who have purchased these in the past.

I hope it’s only temporary. I’ll be really sad if it’s a permanent change

Yep waiting for more info as well

I filled out this form for my CPAP as well. They will provide an extension cord as well as distilled water for your humidifier (If you're using one) They did forget to put the extension cord and water in my stateroom on the first night, but a quick call to guest services got that sorted real quick

In general, the first few emails were spaced around 3 - 5 days between mails. With then having to assist more immediate guests. Once it got closer to the cruise, emails basically went daily for the most part.

@Leikela Awesome! I remember getting crazy excited once those Genie emails started coming in. Eli was amazing. I’m pretty type A as a person and she was very accommodating to my requests and plan changes. Super friendly but not overly overbearing. I wouldn’t mind getting her as our genie for my Jan cruise too.

I’ve only been in Star class, well actually cruise in general, once so I can only offer what I experienced. I too sailed from Singapore with covid restrictions so mine may be very similar to @Leikela This may differ with others more experienced with star class and from other locations Speciality dining is only available when the restaurants themselves are open, meaning lunch or dinner time. For this we did order in advance with our genie. For all other room service, especially those late in the night, we called room service ourselves. Reason being that we figured the genie was resting and we didn’t want to bother her. You can only get stuff from the room service menu at those times anyway so no real issue I remember reading somewhere that bar drinks are not included in room service charges, meaning that even though you have the drinks package, it does not apply to room service. For my cruise, we ordered drink with in suite dining through genie and once through regular room service. Both were not charged. I will say though that it’s definitely not gonna be the same as having a drink at the bar, since it is prepared before hand and sitting there for some time before reaching your hands. Can’t give any info on alcohol since my family doesn’t partake but yes mini bar is stocked with your choice of drinks. Maybe alcohol can be one of these

I’ve slept in various sofa beds over the years. Most of them on vacation and I owned a sofa bed for a good portion of time too. After trying the sofa bed on Quantum’s OLS, I can safely say that it’s the comfiest sofa bed I’ve used. No, it’s definitely not comparable to a real bed, but it’s no where near as bad as many sofa beds out there

I’m not one to complain too much about certain restrictions. Wearing masks outdoors? Sure. Bars close at 1030pm? That’s fine. Shows are reservation only and Low capacity? Understandable. But for me, this just goes beyond what I would tolerate. For people who bought drinks and dining packages, they would be refunded those as it doesn’t apply with the restrictions. But for star class, as those were included to begin with, I would say it’s more a drawback. Essentially, you’re not compensated whatsoever for not being able to dine in. Sure, they may give you an extended menu for in suite dining, but it would still not come close to the value of the drinks and dining package on its own

Ooof thats bad timing on the increased measures. I think for Royal the same measures that were introduced during the last heightened alert should apply. But, as star class the impact on you should be quite low, except for when all specialty restaurants were closed. Your sailing is a few weeks after the tentative date for HA so there is still a chance for it to have minimal impact on you. Hope all works out for you. I understand the need for a holiday urgently

Oh, I did not know this. I hope it opens. I skipped it the last time as it’s not really our thing in terms of dining experience. Figured since I’ll have more time the next sailing I’ll give it a shot.