Reigert2008

Interesting article about all the up sell on the ships.  We don’t spend much after the cruise costs, other than a soda package and maybe one excursion, so we don’t see a lot of extras cost.  Of course it’s not my place to tell anyone how to spend their money either!  The only thing i do recommend to first time cruisers is to not do speciality dining and to eat in the MDR, after that first cruise then you can expand the dining.

https://www.businessinsider.com/cruise-industry-business-model-changing-bad-news-for-travelers-2023-4

This would also be a good time to get a passport.  While it won’t help for this particular cruise, they would have an additional ID in the future.

I wouldn’t fret about moving from Diamond to Diamond plus since you are going to move on your next cruise anyway. Even with a “cheap” four night cruise, you may end up spending more than the extra D+ benefits would get you. the jump to D+, doesn’t get “much” more than you already get at Diamond.  The biggest difference is the 30% discount on the DLB, but with cruise planner sales, you can probably get a similar price.
 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf

now, we did a 3 night cruise last summer since it would push us to Diamond for our first cruise this year and save us $300 by. It buying the Refreshment Package.  The 3 night cruise wasn’t even on the list, but then it turned out to be the cheapest option of the other vacation spots we were looking into.  We paid for the cruise, gas for a 13 hour drive, and cruise port parking  for less than what just the hotel was going to cost at a location only 4 hours from home.  We turned it into a longer trip and visited St. Augustine while we we in the area.
 

We’re a family of two, so others experience may vary.

3 hours ago, twangster said:

I think Royal realizes it is misleading so they appear to have updated invoice verbiage.

This is how my balcony guarantee appears that I booked a few weeks ago.  

 

Same here, we have an Inside GTY and it say the obstruction is pending.   hopefully it’s 100%, or that means we have a hole in the wall.  

7 hours ago, Navymom said:

Would it be worth my while to compare several travel agents for the same sailing to see if one has a better price over another? I suspect they may have different onboard credit but didn't know if all agents get the same block room pricing from RCCL.

You should certainly do your homework to make sure your TA and you are a good fit.  I had A TA with AAA for many years who booked all Disney World trips,  four Disney cruises, and three Royal Caribbean cruises.  She was nice and great to work with, but at the time AAA had a policy of not  repricing and you paid AAA who then paid Royal.  So, we switched to a different agency that a family friend was a TA for.  She was great but once again the agency had some weird policies and then dropped the ball during COVID.  I was already shopping for a new agent when COVID happened, and was randomly matched with an agent from MEI and it’s been a great experience. 
 

In case you don’t know, MEI can book way more than cruises!  We’ve used our MEI agent for six cruises, a trip to Disneyland, and an Adventures By Disney trip. 
 

Could we get some OBC for using another agency? Maybe, but we tend to book inside cabins so the OBC wouldn’t add up to much, plus we don’t spend anything once on the ship, since we pre-pay for everything in the cruise planner and sometimes the OBC isn’t available in the planner.   For us, the benefits of using MEI are priceless.

If you’re interested in working with MEI, do like I did and request a quote using the form on RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com

*If anyone cares, I still have AAA for the discounts, triptiks, guide books, and roadside assistance. . A lot of it is digital now,but I’ve been a member for 25+ years and don’t plan on leaving

Good Luck!

I'm starting to get a little disappointed in Uber/Lyft experience.  I've had to cancel rides because the car smelled of marijuana, had times where the car trunk had a lot of junk in it, cars not being "neat and orderly"  etc.  I've started looking for other types of car services in the various areas i travel for personal and business just so I can have a bit more control of the situation and have a real person to complain back to.  

we once had a driver who apparently didn't have drivers license (only their passport) and security almost did not let them into the port area to drop us off, that was a wild ride.  

We used to always have great experiences, but it seems like it has tapered off a lot.

26 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Sorry.....I don't really know of any site that provides this kind of information.  I just purchased a policy that provided the most emergency medical/evacuation coverage.  I'm sure that's not the best process for purchasing insurance, but that's what I did ! I have the AllTrips Premier Plan plan from Allianz Global Assistance.

 

 

 

Thanks!  I'm running into the same issue.    I'm also looking at the All trips Premier options and spoke with them on the phone to ask my questions   On insuremytrip.com they had some providers that provide more medical coverage, but then the trip cancelation/interruption options were not high enough to cover the trip i'm most worried about.  

Allianz is a name I know and have some confidence in, but have never had to make a claim (an hope to never make one).  

While also not the best method, I've been comparing plans to the Trip protection plan that Royal has since I have purchased it many times without even investigating it, so I'm looking to have the at least the same coverage as that   
 

Insurance is such a fun thing to look at  

On 4/11/2023 at 10:24 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

I would not dream of cruising without cruise insurance.  We have had an annual policy for the past 6 years.  I even kept the policy active during COVID when we were barely leaving our house.  We have never used it....thank God.  

I've been looking at annual policies for a few week now to cover all our trips.  We have a "large" Europe trip later in the year that I am most concerned about    Can you point me in the direction of any places that provide guidance on how much Emergency Medical coverage to get.  The policy I am leaning towards included $50,000 per insured, per trip and I'm wondering if that is sufficient.  Ideally, i never have to find out, but also don't want to find out the minimum coverage should have been a Million

Thanks. 

On 4/10/2023 at 9:41 PM, Cactus527 said:

If I have a RC cruise departing the Port of Miami on the same day as another RC cruise, how do I know which terminal to go to? Are they all departing from the same terminal? If not, when/how will I find out which one to go to? If they ARE from the same terminal, is it fairly easy to navigate where to go to get on the right ship and ensure your belongings given to the porters wind up in the correct place too?

Also, how far is the airport from the port? I mean in terms of travel time.

Thanks in advance!

It should be in your cruise documents closer to sailing, but could change at anytime (in theory).  However there are lots of electronic signs with the ship names, so if you’re driving on your own follow the signs to the parking. If you're using a service, just tell them the ship name and they will get you there.

good luck!

5 hours ago, Djkozware said:

I know there is rules about power strips. But this is technically a power brick that happens to have extra outlets. I just don’t know how Royal would classify it or if it would be ok to bring. 

I’d bet that it gets “confiscated” since it’s more like a power strip. Even though it may not have surge protection, staff at the port will probably be more cautious.   Your best bet is a charger that only contains the USB  ports. Anker makes several that include both USB-A and USB-C ports. Good Luck.

19 minutes ago, Biaggio said:

Diamond member, how many bottles of water do we get in our room? Per day? 

My understanding is that each Diamond member will get the following for the sailing:

1 bottle of “welcome water

1 bottle of “Diamond water”

So that’s two bottles of water total for the sailing.  
 

so, My  wife and I are each Diamond, and we would get 4 total bottles of water for the sailing.

13 hours ago, Wheeler825 said:

I doubt it would be a problem, but might I suggest just mailing them home before goin on the boat?

I agree, it would probably be easier to mail them home so you don't have to deal with anything on the cruise or possibly the airport on the way back.  Plus it's one less thing to lug around on embarkation day.  

When we did our Alaska cruise from Seattle, I bought each of my nieces a Starbucks mug from the original Starbucks and I shipped those things back home to make life easier  They were heavy and I wasn't going to deal with it and the chance of breakage. 

Breakage is probably not an issue with cleats  

56 minutes ago, whitsmom said:

Our VPN didn't work either.  We had to turn it off while on the ships internet so hubby tried to do more when we were in port.  There may be work-arounds for the VPN but we aren't that smart.

This is my fear as well.  My company just switched VPN providers, so I need to test out things before I commit to a work week

4 hours ago, Eyeonhevn said:

Those are always great ideas! Thank you. I checked and I’m up to date in all. I did find roll call on CC and the last few posts are folks with same issue. 

No problem!  I'm the family IT worker and every once in a while my in-laws phones don't auto update like I have them set to and it causes issues with several apps, not generally the Royal app since they only use it like 2 weeks before we cruise so i fix it when I log them back in after a year away.  

15 hours ago, Last Lion said:

How many laps to a mile on this track? Thanks.

According to this picture I took in 2018, it’s 4 laps for a mile.  
you may need to tap the picture to see it, it’s being weird on my iPad.
 

Good Luck!
 

From a tech perspective, are all of the following at the latest available versions?

Royal App

iOS / Android OS

Windows / MacOS

browser (chrome, safari, IE, Edge, etc…)

I always check in via the website, but any number of out of date software things could throw a link in things.  
 

Good Luck!

On 2/17/2023 at 7:51 PM, chrloc said:

I am booking 2 staterooms and considering not specified location = Royal C. will choose the state rooms

We are a family with two teenagers, 15 and 19 years and we would like to be fairly close to each other

Do you RC will take this in to consideration?

If we get state rooms on different floors, do you think we can change them?

 

I wouldn’t take the risk.  We’ve done interior GTY cabins twice while traveling with my inlaws.  The first time on Freedom, our cabins were right next to each other (9365 and 9367). The next time on Oasis, we were on alternating sides of the same deck, but one at the near front of the ship and one near the aft of the ship (10406 and 10277).

when the rooms were assigned, we looked into moving but there wasn’t anything available that made the situation better.  It really wasn’t an issue for us, but with children or aging family,  I would not take the risk.  It’s more than the room location. You also need to consider the muster station in the unlikely event of an emergency.  In my case we were in completely different muster locations, which on boarding day was inconvenient to get both of our cabins checked off. While the chances of an emergency occurring are extremely low, it’s still not zero and for that reason alone we probably won’t do GTY rooms with my in-laws in the future, since they are aging and not as mobile as we’d like for them to be.  It would also be nice to be closer to them in case they needed something during the night and such.

Good Luck!

3 hours ago, StayFrosty said:

The only ones that I see also have regular outlets.  Am I missing something?

I agree (it’s my image  ) the only USB ones I saw on the table had regular power outlets as well.  I was surprised to see it since I’ve seen that particular one touted by several cruise blogs as being great and not getting confiscated.

if anyone cares, my current wall charger is an Anker 747 charger. I it has 3 USB-c ports and an USB-A port. It’s a 150W charger, so I got it primarily to run my laptop as needed, with the bonus of charging multiple devices.  It’s worked really well so far.

https://www.anker.com/products/a2340?ref=naviMenu&variant=41974288777366&discount=WSCPSRC7E0

If you’ve never cruised before, I think committing to even a month to start could be overwhelming.  I’m currently taking steps to be able to work from a cruise ship and am nearly ready to try it once to see if it’s really feasible. some Things I’ve done to prepare include:

getting a second usb-c travel monitor (ASUS ZenScreen, had it for a while and it works great)

building a “charge bag” with all the needed cables and chargers for my work and personal devices

extra full size keyboard and mouse kit (packs in suitcase when traveling)

“Test cruise” by working remotely in a hotel room using only the items above, used my works Verizon MiFI device for internet

it worked about well and I believe I can do my daily work from a cruise ship with the wildcard being the internet connection. I may not be able to do video calls, but maybe audio works well?  
 

I tagged along with the wife on her work trip and used that as my “test cruise”. I travel a bit for a volunteer position and this setup I now have will allow me to work remotely away from my home with great ease.

Since the OP has never been on a cruise before, I would recommend the following before spending money on a bunch of cruise.

1. take a couple of cruises on differing classes of ships where you don’t work.   This will allow you to see what each ship offers and find several spots to work from, since internet in your cabin may not work as well as other locations.

2. do a test cruise where you plan a “light” work period so you can test out your tools on the ships Wi-Fi connections.  Maybe take a short cruise where you only work one day as a test.

cruising is not for everyone, while those of us here on the board love it, I’ve met several people who were excited to cruise, but after taking a couple, it just wasn’t their “cup of tea”. No need in committing a bunch of money to a solution that you hate.  
 

there are several places that “recruit” remote workers that could be options or just move to a place for a month and work from there. If you travel to places “off season” you may be able to get some deals on the accommodations.

good luck!

2 hours ago, MamaMaggie said:

Hi all, just wondering, are there coffee pots in the cabins? Some pics I've seen, they have coffee pots, but not all. 

Thanks in advance.

Maggie B.

It depends on your ship and cabin.  We cruise in interior rooms and they do NOT have coffee pots.  

Here’s the penalty table from our recent Oasis sailing.  I saw several items on it where people on the board have stated they had no problems getting them on.  I wonder if Royal is really cracking down and updating the policies.

25 minutes ago, Martin65 said:

Just checked into our paid balcony room for ocean waves and views. Do not rent  7054 or others on this deck level. Life raft structure hinders view of the ocean waves. Very disappointing and we have 7 more nights at this premium balcony rate. False advertising!!!

Sorry this happened to you.  The deck plans on Royal’s site do list this an obstructed view. If you didn’t use a TA this time,mid suggest using one in the future. A good TA can help to avoid things like this.  Good luck!

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/jewel-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2144/07

Kinda late to the party, but for our party of two adults we pack as follows:

1 each  “carry on bags” that we check with the airline(Southwest) and give to the porters. These bags contain all our clothes, toiletries, etc..

1 small under seat roller bag. This contains my CPAP machine and medical needs

1 backpack. This contains my tablet, maybe a camera, the travel docs, passports, charging needs etc…

1 small purse.  I’m too scared to ask what she puts in that

It does get tougher when you are changing climates, but we survive.  

this is how we pack for any trip up to a week”ish”. We have a two week trip to Europe planned and currently we plan to pack the same, but add 1 rolling garment bag for the fancy clothes.

 On cruises we don’t dress up. On formal nights I wear the same jeans and a polo shirt each time. For the casual/Caribbean, etc… nights I wear my shorts and t shirt(and ignore the stares  )

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I don't think so. I am always shocked at the number of suitcases some families pile on lol

I’ve never seen a listed number limit, but I do remember seeing in the travel documents something about only brining “what its reasonable for the cruise”. Who’s to say what’s reasonable?  We just used that line to give my father in law grief about his 14 pairs of shorts he took for a 7 night trip