Reigert2008

On 3/30/2024 at 7:27 PM, Kesha Jagdeo said:

Besides Uber/Lift (which will be last resort) what are my options for 3 people for under $150? I thought a shared shuttle would be an option but they seem to all be either scams or the reputable ones only serve the airports and airport hotels or hotel packages? The private services I've seen are $200+.

We did this back in November and I agree prices are ridiculous.  We used Mears Auto a standard sedan and it was $220.  We looked at going back to MCO and then using a shuttle, but our cruise check in time was early and it was much faster to just go straight to the port.

here is the link - https://www.mearstransportation.com

we don’t use Lyft/uber since we’ve had some bad experiences and try to use a professional company for better service.

Good Luck!

On 3/22/2024 at 2:33 PM, manicmonkey said:

It's the 30% off sale price of $25.99/pp/pd but if I'm doing my math right, it's still 2x what I would pay onboard. I get that it's much more flexible in what you get, but will I be annoyed with trying to make it worth it? We do a fancy coffee and tea each am, then would maybe do a soda a day. If they offer the alcohol card onboard, I would do that rather than the deluxe.  

 

Refresh package x2 people ($430) + $90/10 alcohol drink card ($106) = $536

Coffee card x2 ($74) + $90/10 alcohol card ($106) + roughly 10 sodas ($42) + water bottle package ($27) = $249

Remember that there are no refills on soda, so if they bring you a second one in the MDR at dinner, you'd pay for both. 

We buy the soda package since we know there are days were we will drink 2 sodas and then days when we will drink 10.  Also the Fresstyle machines have many non-soda options we enjoy.

Good luck!

9 minutes ago, Atricks said:

Clearance will likely take a least a month (maybe a few weeks if they really pile on).  The entire bridge and the cargo ship need to be cleared out.  (cargo ship would need to get unloaded first) 

As for the bridge itself, the closest analog in the Tampa Bay Sunshine Skyway collapse in between Bradenton and St. Pete in 1980 and that didn't reopen until 1987.  It'll probably be years before they rebuild a bridge there.  One key difference is Skyway had two spans so they just converted the undamaged one into a 2 lane road until the new one was built.  Key bridge is gone in both directions.  (They potentially may have an opportunity to make it taller to allow the bigger ships)

They are building a new bridge between Ohio and Kentucky and they expect it to take 8 years.  This new bridge was prioritized in the Infrastructure act, so 8 years is after it was given priority. 

Hopefully all sides will pull together to resolve it quickly. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Spence_Bridge

@Matt posted an article about it -- https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/03/26/royal-caribbean-working-options-its-cruise-ships-following-baltimore-bridge-collapse

Officials were searching for "upwards of seven people," according to the Baltimore City fire chief, James Wallace. Two people have already been rescued, with one declining medical service and the other being transported to a trauma center in serious condition. 

2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

I would stay over by Dania Beach off of I-95 instead.

@Magoody We don't drive, but we stay at the AC Hotel Fort Lauderdale Airport, it's a nice hotel and has lots of dining/shopping options in walking distance.  IT has a free airport shuttle if needed as well. 

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/fllac-ac-hotel-fort-lauderdale-airport/overview/

Good luck!

Sad news out of Holland America.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/2-crew-members-die-incident-holland-america-cruise-108423549

According to this, the former Splendour of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas are up for sale by their current owners.

https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/cruise-ships-for-sale/?fbclid=IwAR2NcFWAuodOzc3O2ibs2XchsggZ7W85EbhF34vyumWj4ZTUX6-X-igbTHA

Related article here

https://www.cruisehive.com/coast-guard-performs-complex-passenger-evacuation-from-royal-caribbean-ship/126243

On 3/15/2024 at 10:55 AM, CanHardlyWait said:

dreading another potentially long Royal phone call.

For what it’s worth, a good travel advisor can handle these requests for your before your trip. We’ve had ours add it to many of our cruises that way it’s done and paid before we even leave. One less thing to deal with while we’re relaxing.

1 hour ago, Sharla said:

I will request that the guest combine them on the Disney gift card site

This is what I do.  I have an "older" Disney Gift card that accepts up to $1000 in total value, so as we acquire Disney gift cards during the year, i move those balances to my "trip card" and then when we make a visit (we're annual passholders), we have them swipe that one card on our room and put the rest on the credit card.  

11 minutes ago, warrenz1963 said:

So this means we would have separate boarding times?

since you are in the same room, you would board together.  When someone does the check in, they can do it for all the cruisers in the room and pick the check in times together.  I don't believe D+ gets a special check in, but I am only Diamond.  

Good Luck!

5 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Ok, so decided to push the boat out and hire a car and driver to get from Miami airport to Hampton inn Brickell. (We have too much luggage for public transport).

Supposedly Hampton inn Brickell works with a 3rd party vendor (Still trying to confirm) to get you from hotel to port for a small fee. So that can save on an Uber XL (again lots of luggage. LOL).

So.... looking at Royal Caribbean transportation from port back to airport at end of trip. (OIA/PC so much easier and cheaper). Royal says to call 2 weeks before to purchase/arrange transport from port to airport. So questions.

Is this how it's done?

Is a few weeks out enough notice?

Does it have to be a phone call? (Don't see any online options.)

What is the cost?

Do they use large buses? (This would be great since amount of luggage doesn't become an issue unlike Uber size etc)

Do they ask about flight times? (Delta moved us to a 230pm flight, so in no rush that morning. LOL).

Thanks 

Not sure on this Royal Transportation, but we've used Larry's Limo to go between Fort Lauderdale to Port Miami, several times.  With the distance, it was comparable in price to Lyft.  If you need a larger vehicle and such for the luggage, they may have some options as well. 


https://larryslimo.com/

20 hours ago, Donnie said:

Can I use them to save up for a cruise at like $50 a week?

1 hour ago, Matt said:

An alternative is to open a new checking account (should be free at your bank) and start stashing the money there

@Donnie I would not recommend getting that many gift cards for anything.  It would be better to do like @Matt suggested and open an extra account someplace and save the money there.  With how things in the world can change rapidly, you'd want your money to be more "liquid" than in gift card that can only be used in one spot. Also you'd have to keep up with all the cards and then spend some amount of time getting them applied to the booking.  

I've done it in the past with Disney gift cards for the fuel points, and even with using $200 gift cards, it was a terrible pain to deal with.  

If you have the cash available,  you could even put the amount needed for the trip in a short term CD that earns more interest than a savings account and "make" some extra spending money for the trip!

*I am not a financial advisor and this is not intended as financial advice.  Please contact your financial advisor or tax professional for specifics to your situation. 

Good Luck!

10 minutes ago, A-A Ron said:

The gift card policy is pure theft. I was given a gift card and applied it to my first ever cruise at booking. Unfortunately,  we had some things happen that will prevent us from taking this cruise. I needed to cancel and book again at a later date. I realize I will lose the deposit, but the rest I was just asking to be put on another gift for a future booking. I'm told that they can't refund a gift card. What I was asking for is NOT a refund. Issuing a gift card that is only to be used for them is not a refund. I either lose all the money paid, or pay and extra $100/person to apply it to another cruise. I don't know when we can rebook at this time. This is the worst customer service I have ever seen. 

Welcome to the boards.    Please note that this is a fan site and is not an official Royal Caribbean site.  

Unfortunately, that is the policy for NRD cancelations regardless of gift card use.  If you have travel insurance, you should file a claim with them and see if any resolution can be made.  

Good Luck!

51 minutes ago, warrenz1963 said:

I will be traveling with my sister. She is a Diamond+ member, I am a complete newbie who has never sailed with RCL before. Considering we will be sharing a cabin, will I receive the same Diamond+ benefits that she is entitled to?

16 minutes ago, twangster said:

Unfortunately you will not receive a cabin mate's CAS benefits.  Benefits are unique to the individual.

Like @twangster said, the benefits are specific to the individual, however your sister can use here "diamond vouchers" to purchase drinks for you if she is not using all her vouchers.  We did that recently on a cruise with my in-laws.  My wife and I are Diamond, so we all got the soda package and just got my in-laws the few "mocktails" they wanted during the trip. Event then, we never used the 8 total vouchers a day we had access to.  At some point, we may even drop the soda package, but if you get it at the right price, it's hard to pass up.  We don't drink alcohol and have to watch the sugar, but I can put a way some iced coffee at the cafe!  

Good Luck!

On 3/4/2024 at 2:01 PM, Jolly Ogre said:

My concern is that we have cruises booked now thru 2025 and they are all MTD. If they get rid of MTD do we get to pick which meal service we want? Or is it just randomly assigned? I would not be happy with either early or late time dining.

I’d contact your  travel agent and make your request now so they have it on file. Then they can make the change quickly should they get notified.

our MEI agent has it listed in our file that we want early seating and a table for two.

good luck!

7 minutes ago, wiltsw said:

Hi All, 

We are due to check in for our sailing this evening. And given we are in the UK and will have to get up at 4am to check in, I have a question. 

We have booked the RCCL provided shuttle from the airport to the cruise terminal. 

What time should I select the arrival time for? 

Does it even matter, if we are on a Cruise line organised shuttle? (When we sailed with another cruise line, your arrival time was ignored if arriving via one of their shuttles) 

For context, we meet the cruise line representative at 10.30 and the coach leaves at 11. We are only going from EWR to Bayonne. 

 

Thanks, 

 

W

In my opinion, I would book the earliest time available, in the off-chance your plans change and you do transportation on your own.

Good Luck!

Royal is involved in a new terminal in Seward that plans to open in 2026.  Should support Quantum class ships.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/03/seward-company-releases-plans-for-new-cruise-terminal-in-alaska/?fbclid=IwAR1eDpBooLSFtwfgMdPkgyQmMjjnEpZW-Lg8PyZR5CWTBpLx7uVpZ28RxGc

9 hours ago, Eighty8 said:

 

Don't forget you'll likely also get repeats of the same MDR menu. No Royal night, etc... Definitely not the same as a true 7 night. 

This is what keeps us from from doin B2B on the short cruises. The wife loves baked Alaska and we can’t miss that!

34 minutes ago, Magoody said:

All great points to consider! We often "wonder" if we ruined ourselves by going on the largest cruise ship at the time for our first few cruises. My husband and I think we would appreciate a smaller ship at sometime in the future, but the teens/young adults in our group like the amenities the larger ship had to offer. 

What amenities do you think they would miss and do they really use them?  Most ships have a Flowrider, Rock climbing wall, sports court, clubs, etc.  And the food is "nearly the same" you may need have to find it in a different spot (i.e no central park, so no Park Cafe)

That's the argument we used with the in-laws.  They kept wanting to do Oasis class ships, but we then "tricked" them in to a Voyager class ship and now they agree that they enjoyed the entertainment options better and all the activities they do were still there.  I'm not saying you drop down to a Vision class, but for us we enjoy the Freedom/Voyager class for the options we need and the price point.  

Also remember that there are (at least) two kinds of credit:

Refundable OBC -- anything not used can be refunded back to the original form of payment

Non-Refundable OBC -- anything not used is forfeited

There is a "trick" where you can do a room charge in the casino and "cash out" the non-refundable OBC which we have used a few times.  However this last time they asked "you cashed out and did not play?", so I wonder if they are monitoring that and looking to remove that as an option in the future. 

3 hours ago, Rick LaTouch said:

I’m sure this has been asked a thousand times, but….

generally speaking, how early should you be back to the ship before the posted sail time?  I don’t have any “all aboard” times for my cruise yet and am trying to independently plan shore excursions.  Thank you,  RL

The ship port times should be listed on your booking receipt from Royal near the bottom where it lists your ports.  but also for general times that the ship is in port, you can use a site like CruiseMapper.com, search for your ship, find your itinerary and then use the times listed (they are LOCAL port times) and plan to be back at least 30 minutes prior.  Also note, that you will need to be on SHIP time and not all cruises change time with the time zones, Ship time is the mot important time there is and the time in the Royal app is always ship time.   If you're looking for something to do, it could be easier to book it through Royal and not have to worry about it.  

Good Luck!

https://www.cruisemapper.com/

I didn't see a post created for this sailing and I wanted to share the Cruise Compasses with @Matt and anyone else who may ever want them.  

Thanks. 

Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02232024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02242024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02252024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02262024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02272024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02282024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02292024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_03012024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_03022024.pdf

5 hours ago, Lexster said:

The mindset that causes the back-ups to begin with

Exactly. Everyone has the opportunity to get an early time and I really wish Royal would enforce times at all ports and be consistent.  If more people had to queue outside and wait for their time, maybe people would start showing up at the assigned time and the whole process could be smooth for everyone all the time.

Of course, I’m a rule follower and will arrive during my window, but  I’ve also been able to get early times by being online when they open the check in window.

Happy Cruising!

2 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Next year we're planning a cruise with some first timers who (obviously) don't have a C&A status. When I do the mock bookings to see what prices out best for us all, I've noticed an up to $300 difference between the rooms because of our status discount. BUT...I've also noticed, in my laziness, that Royal let's me put my info on both rooms (C&A number included).

Is this glitch happening or can I put my name on two rooms, get the C&A discount, then switch the name to the correct passenger after booking?

 

And before anyone tries to attack me  - I'm not trying to skirt or break or bend any rules. I'm asking if this is a thing I can do because the royal booking site hasn't balked at me essentially living in 2 rooms and I've never booked more than one room before. I don't know if this is a hidden perk of my status.

I would certainly work with a good travel advisor in this case.  They may be able to get a group rate or something that may be cheaper for the other party (or even your party).  

Good luck!