Reigert2008

17 hours ago, EK Travel said:

We love RC for our family of 5, 3 children ranging from 9 to 14. We booked a cruise for next year and saw that there will be a very large group on the ship (Oasis) called Atlantis. They specialize in Gay men’s travel. From the pictures, it looks like one huge party!  Has anyone been on a cruise with this group and know if it would be family friendly?

If you still have time, I would move this booking to a good travel agent.  They can ensure you are notified in a timely manner if the full cruise is chartered.  No one wants thier vacation plans changed at the last minute and a good travel agent can assure things go smoothly.  Good luck.  

17 hours ago, teddy said:

I was on our balcony back in September when people were running for the ship.  We were very overdue for leaving and lots of people were yelling from their balconies.

Turns out that they were all on a Royal excursion and were late because there was a traffic accident with a fatality in front of them and the road was impassable for a while. 

Came here to say about the same thing.  We were on a cruise and docked in Puerto Rico when they were bringing peoples belongings off the ship and people were heckling some of the family members that were standing around.  Turns out a Royal excursion was in an accident and two members of the family were now in the hospital.  

Sure, it's fun to watch the runners, but I'd caution against the heckling.

Was just on Oasis and and had a 10:30 AM check in time.  We arrived at about 10:15 AM since our shuttle drove too fast   No issues for us, but there were people already lined up in the 1:00 PM line, so they had to wait some amount of time to board.  I personally like that they are enforcing check in times, it makes the day easier when you just know your time and arrive close enough to the slot.  Since the time enforcement began, we have certainly waited far less at the port than in previous time.  I know everyone wants to get on as early as possible, but I'd rather wait in the lobby of my hotel and relax more than go stand in a line at the port.  Heck, I'd even wait at the airport for a bit before heading the the port, if I "broke the rule" of flying in on departure day.

Here's the Cruise Compasses from the sailing.  @Matt can use them freely as he likes.

I had to scan one in, since I forgot to download it. Next time i'm setting a daily alarm to download the thing.

Oasis_CC_7N_EasternCaribbeanPerfectDay_02052023.pdf Oasis_CC_7N_EasternCaribbeanPerfectDay_02062023.pdf Oasis_CC_7N_EasternCaribbeanPerfectDay_02072023.pdf Oasis_CC_7N_EasternCaribbeanPerfectDay_02082023.pdf Oasis_CC_7N_EasternCaribbeanPerfectDay_02092023.pdf Oasis_CC_7N_EasternCaribbeanPerfectDay_02102023.pdf Oasis_CC_7N_EasternCaribbeanPerfectDay_02112023.pdf

We don't really buy much, but we are careful to not buy anything made from wood.  On our first cruise, we bought a wood shark with a fancy Bahamas sticker on it, and when we were going through customs at the end of the trip, there was some conversation about it.  While we did get to bring it home with is, it was an extra hassle that stressed us out for a few minutes, being it was our first trip out of the county.  Things have changed since our first cruise just over 10 years ago, but figured I would put our experience out there. 

We’ve cruised with Disney before we crossed to Royal and with each line we’ve had a cruise where we never saw our cabin steward.  Honestly, I don’t really “need” to see them.  As long as the room is taken care of, it works for us.  We’re up early and out of the room and generally don’t come back to the room until we’re getting ready for dinner.  We’ve learned to just leave a note on the bed if we need anything “different” .  
 

We’re an easy cabin.

Wife had this issue a while back on the Allure.  We asked our room attendant if they had something we could soak the item in and explained why.  They took it to laundry and removed about 99% of the “stain” at no charge.

We now “wipe down” the seats in the aqua theatre before watching the show.  
 

Getting the stain was a small victory for me, since I always told her to check the seats and she told me to leave her alone.   my lava flow that evening was extra refreshing!

Let's take a moment to send good thoughts to those on Liberty who don't even get a Freestyle machine. 

It baffles me why Liberty doesn't have a Freestyle machine.  Maybe she will get one or two soon!

We haven't been to London yet, but we are planning an Adventures By Disney trip and the hotel they have us in is the Kimpton Fitzroy London. It looks to be close to a lot of the touristy stuff.

https://www.kimptonfitzroylondon.com/

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I would be shocked if they decided to take away one of the simplest, cheapest yet most popular complimentary beverage items on board

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I would be shocked if they decided to take away one of the simplest, cheapest yet most popular complimentary beverage items on board

I agree, it’s a crazy world over on Facebook.  I suspect someone is just trying to start trouble   

So, over on the Facebook Royal Caribbean Dining Group, someone on the Oasis is reporting that they were informed that they were no longer going to have unsweetened tea on the ships.  Since it's Facebook and all, I figured I would swing by here to see if anyone on @Matt's staff can confirm, deny, or has better information.  Since I travel with someone who has to watch the sugar intake and can easily drink a gallon of iced tea a day, i need to plan ahead for upcoming travels and set some expectations.

Also, i find this very hard to believe, since I've never seen sweet tea in any venue. I suppose they could be going to some pre-made instant mix or something from a machine, but even then it seems weird to only have sweet tea.

I suspect sweet tea "could" be available at the Mason Jar, but we've not dined there.

Thanks.  

37 minutes ago, Rory said:

Greetings!

I am sailing Navigator of the Seas in Feb. I have read the tender process is not good unless you are booked on a RC excursion. I want to see whales, but that excursion is sold out. My question is as a Diamond Plus member can the Diamond Lounge Concierge provide me with an early departure ticket? If I can get to port early, I will book a local tour. 

Thanks for any advice! 

In general, the Royal Excursions will be “first off the ship” and then everyone else can “line up”.  we just tendered in Grand Cayman and I don’t remember getting an actual ticket.  I’d caution you with doing your own tour to make sure you leave plenty of time to get back to the ship, including the tender.  Id plan to be near the ship at least a couple of hours before all aboard time to allow time for the long lines that tend to occur as you get closer to the deadline.

It probably doesn’t hurt to ask the concierge.  I’d also check a recent cruise compas and see if there is a tender schedule based on C&A status.  
 

at tender ports, we typically plan for breakfast when the tender line opens and then when we’re done eating the line is gone and we’re right off the ship.

good luck!

I’d highly recommend getting some travel insurance.  Travel insurance covers far more than just the cruise, like medical costs in a foreign country.  Sure, your credit card “may” cover your travel expenses, but neither of our cards cover medical when we’re out of the country and our regular medical doesn’t either.  

8 hours ago, JoeOfTheSeas said:

Hey, so as you know, we are going on a cruise soon, 2 passengers, and we would like to have a private table, not to seat with others. I read online about the dining department email, and also about the fact that if we are on traditional dining time, we will be seated with others, and that if we want to have a private table, we need to switch to My Time Dining.

 

We sent an email to the dining department (we understand that approx. 3 weeks prior to sailing is okay) asking to switch to My Time Dining and have a private table, however now I read somewhere that this email is only to request a private table for traditional dining time. We are very confused at this point. 

 

If anyone can clear this up for us, we would highly appreciate it!

 

Thanks!

For what it’s worth, we’ve never sat with strangers on Royal and we generally cruise as a party of two. We never requested a private table before COVID and was always by ourselves.  Since COVID we have our TA note it on the reservation for a table of two and we’ve always received that.

We cruise frequently enough and have only done  My Time twice (neither time by choice) I’d highly recommend keeping your dining as traditional and having your TA make the request or do it the first day when your get on the ship.

We cruised Disney before we switched to Royal and were ready to dine with strangers, but it never happened.  Now we’re just being extra cautious and we seem to get out faster as a table of two.

good luck!

No matter what the menu is, Royal can’t win.  Some people complain that the menus never change, so Royal makes changes and then people complain about the change.

I’m personally excited about the new menus. We’re frequent cruisers and have rarely done any speciality dining.  We truly enjoy the MDR and as a party of two we’re in and out quickly without even rushing.  We tend to plan our dinner selections early so we don’t overlap during the day, no sense in eating chicken twice!  So when we sit down we already know what we’re ordering and it goes really smoothly.

i also hope these changes “get rid” of the “secret menu”, like the curry dishes since I mostly forget to ask about them and hopefully they are just on the menu so I can easily see them

im sure we will miss some of our favorites over time, but I bet we can find a new favorite!

50 minutes ago, John63 said:

Learned, that I have a kidney disease, so that means a diet.  Requested and sent a message to Royal Caribbean.  There reply was, that diet staff will meet me on board.  Has anyone had experiece with this.

Not sure who you contacted so I wanted to share the special needs form/department just in case.  I’d also reach out to your travel agent as they may be able to get some traction for you as well,  good luck!

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/resources/guest-special-needs

25 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/05/12/8-mocktails-try-your-next-royal-caribbean-cruise

The blueberry nojito was pretty tasty.

You can also get it “frozen” and it’s really tasty!

31 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

Did you use a travel agent? It may have come from them.

did you book at Next Cruise? It would be from them if you did. 

we used MEI, but I think we booked this on our own and then moved it to MEI.  There was not any OBC when we booked and MEI typically doesn’t give OBC and our TA hasn’t mentioned it, it’s just weird that it showed up.

not a big deal, just curious.  When this happened in the past a lot of fellow board users were seeing it and no one really had an answer then either.

14 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

When is you cruise and has anything been cancelled? 

I checked all of mine and they have the OBC I started with or none.

It’s in the next 1 to 3 months, but all my purchases are still there.  We’ve not used any OB and never had any OBC since booking, so what we have is “new money”.  We had this happen before and never figured out where it came from the either.  

Logged in to the cruise planner for an upcoming cruise and both my cabin and my in-laws have $50 in OBC.  Never had OBC since we booked and made cruise planner reservations, but it pooped in there sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Anyone else seeing this?  I’m all for free money, but not sure why we have it.

3 hours ago, ArkmanNoah said:

I have my first Alaska cruise coming up in 2023. When I sail out of Port Canaveral, I usually don't book my flight after the cruise is over until after noon on the day we arrive. What time would you book a flight for a cruise arriving in Seattle? I want to make sure I give ourselves enough time to disembark from the ship and get to the airport. Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Anything noon or later should be safe.  We never book before noon, regardless of the port.  There’s no point in being stressed out your last night and morning after having a great vacation.  
 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/03/10/mailbag-what-the-earliest-flight-i-should-book-after-the-cruise

7 hours ago, Zville Cruzers said:

We are booked on Harmony of the Seas in June in 2024. This is the first time sailing out of Galveston.  What is the best Pre cruise hotel to stay in?

we stayed on Galveston back in November and it was OK. However on the ride back to the airport we saw this hotel and plan to stay here the next time we cruise from Galveston. It’s next to a Buccee’s and an Outlet Mall,so has enough for us to check out for the one day before a cruise.  Good luck!
 

https://www.marriott.com/reservation/rateListMenu.mi?scid=b9e45c84-5019-4753-a0d0-5a9612c9a3cf&dclid=CIPFi4msmPwCFY2qwAodJx4FCg&defaultTab=standard

Here’s the official word from Royal and how to remove it.
 

 https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense 

As someone who just became Diamond but. It yet sailed as a Diamond, I’m shocked about how many people just hang out in the lounges.  To this point, I imagined that I would only be in the lounge to get coffee and maybe use the concierge if guest services is packed.  We’re looking forward to the combo of the coffee machine and the vouchers which allowed us to drop from the refreshment package to the soda package.

of course, once I get into the lounge my story may change

8 hours ago, brdjnr said:

update

on Dec 8th I received this email:

 

On Dec 16th I received this email

On the 17th I received my new passport.  Very smooth procedure doing the entire process online.  I received no instructions on what to do with my expired one, that may come later.

 

Did you do the expedited service or standard service? Resubmitted ours online before Thanksgiving and they are still “In Process”, but we did the standard service.

thanks!