Reigert2008

11 hours ago, BMW Hoosier said:

I thank you all for for this resource. I have seriously stalked this forum for a couple of months and watched all of the videos and feel like I am way more prepared than I would otherwise be as a newbie. 

 

So, the sometimes girlfriend is being a little flaky on dates for January and February. I am willing to do it as a solo. I understand the single supplement thing. I do have a question as to why the rate is more than double (and in some cases a LOT more than double) for a solo. So, I have read about booking someone that never has any intention of going. Are there any risks with this? I read that you get the taxes and port fees back when the other person doesn't show up. Is half of the amount of the taxes and fees shown? Specificallly, I am looking at the Oasis of the Seas four day sailing next week. The fare for two  is showing $568 - 172 for a total of $396 plus $204.14 in taxes and fees. Would I basically get exactly $102.07 back in this case? The cheapest single person rate I see is $765. 

i recommend that you work with a good travel agent.   Many of us here, use MEI travel (a sponsor of this blog) and have had great success with many “odd” booking situations .  If you go to the main page of the blog, there’s a box you can complete and someone will contact you shortly.

using a good travel agent doesn’t cost you anything and then you have someone who will go to bat for you in all types of situations.

good luck!

We've always had our amazing agent make the request for a table of two and then just confirm when we board by walking through the MDR and finding our table.  We've never seen what our table was before we boarded and I'm not sure how much that would help unless it says how many people are at your table?  If you tell me table 203, i'm still going to have to look.

Can anyone tell me what information you get ahead of time?  

Thanks!

On 10/17/2022 at 5:31 PM, lv2flip24 said:

if i say dont want the veggie that comes on the plate with my meal and its not mixed in, can i ask them to leave it off?

Totally, we swap out items all the time.  However, if the thing you don't want is due to a allergy or health thing, you would want to have that conversation so that they can accommodate you throughout the cruise.

1 hour ago, VTHappyGirl said:

Picking out a cabin for my older parents and a walk-in shower is a must. 

Last cruise was in a Grand Suite and the 'ledge' to get over and into the shower/tub would be too now after more knee surgeries.  All of the handicap accessible rooms are booked and we really only need the shower setup but do not need the rest of the features of the handicap accessible room.

Can I go by the pictures on the RC website of the cabin types? 

Specifically, we are going on Harmony next Spring and pictures show either the Owners Suite and AquaTheater Suite with a tub and a separate walk-in shower.   Crown Loft is out due to the stairs.  Grand Suite has the big ledge.  Is it safe to assume all OS/ATS cabins have the same setup as the pictures or say a 50/50 chance that some cabins have different layouts?

Or it is safer to get a Ocean View Balcony cabin as it seems those cabins do not have a tub at all?  

I would contact the special needs department to discuss this.  I'm sure you are not the first person to have this as a real need.  

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

special_needs@rccl.com 

(866) 592-7225

I drink a ton of coffee and enjoy both the included options and the options at café promenade.  My only complaint is that they do not make the drinks correctly.  If you order a latte, macchiato, or a cappuccino, you're really getting a latte.  I drink mostly Americanos and shots of espresso with a "splash" of almond milk, so it doesn't affect me too much.  I've been listing it on my post cruise survey for a couple of years now and hopefully it will get corrected.  I'm sure it's just a training issue.

On 10/21/2022 at 11:54 PM, TessOR said:

One thing to consider is the Starbucks coffee you can have made sugar free.  I am not sure if the specialty coffees have that option. We liked them on our last cruise, but hubby is diabetic now so we will be getting his from Starbucks if there is not a SF option. 

In my experience, the only sugar free syrup available at cafe promenade has been vanilla.

6 hours ago, RJ22 said:

Hey all,

We are on the Nov 19-8 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean.  I was wondering what is there to do early in the morning since I am coming in on a redeye at 5:45AM and have my schedule boarding time at 11:30AM.  Anyone have suggestions on what to do for a couple of hours before boarding time?

Thank you in advance for all or any suggestions.

I have no suggestions as to what to do, but want to follow along. we have a cruise out of Everglades in 2023 and are staying near Las Olas blvd, if that helps.   I hope your early early morning flight works out.  I’m way too nervous to fly in on embarkation day!

I guess we’ve been lucky. Anytime we’ve wanted a chair, we’ve never had issues finding one that was acceptable.

15 hours ago, Marathon Man said:

Four couples are booked on the Mariner in January.  How important is it for us to link our reservations in the app?  I know that it allows one of us to make reservations for all of us, etc.  Does it allow one of us to check all eight of us in so that we all get the same check in time?

14 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

That's not guaranteed. My last cruise with another couple, despite our reservations being linked, we weren't at the same table.

2 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

We had the same experience.  We linked reservations for 8 staterooms and made a request to be seated in the same area.   One family in our party was assigned to a table very far from the rest of us.  I had to sort it out with the MDR manager.  This is the reason why no matter what has been discussed over the phone with agents or what is on paper, I still spend a good hour or so as soon as I get onboard to confirm everything.

Royal or your travel agent need to link the reservations for dining.  This allows people to sit together, but not have to link the whole reservation. Some groups may go travel together but not want many of their reservation details shared.   You can see it on your RCI receipts under Stateroom dining with booking Id.

8 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Don't forget you can carry on 2 bottels of wiine, 12 bottles of water/soda combo.   Check here for proper sizes.  https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E211US105G91649&p=royal+caribbean+carry+on+beverage+policy

 

Totally!  we're not sure yet if we will carry anything on, since it's one more thing to lug around all day until the room is ready.  It'll probably depend on the boarding time, length of cruise, and ship.  thanks!

52 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

perhaps, but its highly individual. I drink like a fish on cruises at baseline, but i also get specialty coffees and drink nothing other than pelegrino mineral water at all meals. So even without the booze lumped in there that adds up quickly.  So for me, even with diamond vouchers, it makes sense to get a booze package as long as its not astronomically priced.  I understand i am an outlier. 

I totally agree that it is certainly a choice that differs greatly for each individual!  For those of us that don't drink alcohol, it gets even trickier to figure out the best plan of action.  We have always purchased the Refreshment Package and generally do not drink sodas much at home, but on the cruise it's different  .  However I drink a ton of espresso based drinks and sparkling water, while the wife drinks no coffee or sparkling water and does plain water and sodas.  So trying to find the balance has been difficult so far.  We will turn diamond after our next cruise and our first diamond cruise will be in early 2023.  Here is our current plan:

Crown and Anchor "Welcome Waters" - 2 bottles in the room
Diamond Lounge Coffee Machine - will use for hot and iced espresso  type drinks (i mostly drink espresso alone or make it "americano")
Diamond Vouchers - 4 per person per day - plan to use for Frappuccino style coffee drinks, smoothies, and mocktails
Soda Package - for each person - plan to use for sodas in venues and Powerade, sodas, and sparkling Dasani from the Free style machines

Maybe we end up back at the Refreshment package or maybe we end up dropping the soda package at some point, but we were too nervous to not have at least the soda package (it was $8.99 a person) for the first time while learning the new diamond ropes.  

We know we can "carry on" some things, but since we typically fly to the port and not have a car it is sometimes difficult to find small packages at reasonable prices.  It's also a pain to carry heavy items on since we travel very lightly. 

As long as we spend less than $400 total on the drinks, we're still ahead of buying the Refreshment package ($23.99 pppd for 7 nights, plus 18%)

2 hours ago, teddy said:

I’ve been doing Babbel Italian lessons for our upcoming cruise

How is Babbel? They have a Lifetime subscription for 50% off and the I get 10% back from my credit card, so I’ve been looking into that.  I can get a lifetime for barely more than what a year would be.

In some video on Youtube from RoyalCaribbenblog.com (that I cannot find now), @JennaRCB mentions that she took some brief language classes while onboard Harmony.  I've looked at some of the cruise compassed here on the site, but cannot find the section where they may be listed and what languages they may offer.  Does anyone have any insight as to which languages are offered and when they may occur?  I agree with @JennaRCB where it is nice to at least know some basics for various ports of call.  I need to learn some French for a land vacation in 2023 and maybe I can learn some French while on a ship!  

Thanks!

1 hour ago, Robert M said:

Are they numbered in case someone accidentally takes yours?

No, they are not.  If someone "steals" your towel, you should go to the towel station and report it so they can update your count.  It's also a good idea to check your count when you return your towels.  We always return all of ours at the same time, so I always ask to make sure I'm back to "zero".  In my opinion, it's best to return the towels at the end of each day and make sure you are back to "zero" and then get new fresh towels each morning when you need them.  Doing this we have never had an issue with being charged for a towel.  

34 minutes ago, RorySC said:

Yes I use a very good agent from MEI, I originally book this sailing downstairs @ Next Cruise, then transferred over to MEI. While I started to have these issues, I immediately contacted my agent who responded to me very quickly even know it was 1:30 in the morning where she is located because she just happened to be on a cruise out of California herself. She opened her system and noticed that it is not listed as a Interport sailing. She even went on to say that none of the sailings are listed as Interport anymore because agent atempt to steer customers away from them because of these issues. I guess it would not be so bad, if they had dedicated people onboard to help with all these issues during Interport. But being that there were so many if us took a lot of time. Yes the terminal was very fast and quiet, yes the saftey briefing was quick and they did it in person, but in today's world in technology I can not see why this could have not been fixed months ago. I am sure is there POS system or something in the Casino went down. It would have been fixed right away.

That's good to know!  Thanks!

Did you use a travel agent to book this?  I'd suspect a good travel agent would have been aware of the interporting and at least been able to prepare the guests for differences or suggest an alternate sailing.

On 9/28/2022 at 12:08 PM, ScooterScott22 said:

Did pack our emerald pins on one cruise with some friends to wear as a joke

my wife and I will turn Diamond after our next cruise this year.  We already have a cruise booked with her parents and that will be our first as Diamond, while they will be either Platinum or Emerald (I forget).  We’ve been having so much fun “reminding” them of our future status. Any time we talk about the trip, one of will say something about “I wonder what snacks will be in the Diamond loung on the sea day” or “we’ll get you settled before visiting the lounge”, it’s been a hoot and they kick it back to us as well.

We’ve also started referring to ourselves as “pre-Diamond” or “pre-pre-Diamond plus” 

it all started when my father in law asked why our set sail passes were different colors  they will actually move from Gold to Platinum with the next one.

MCO is ceasing operations at 10:30AM on Wednesday 09/28/2022.  I read some place that is was through Friday the 30th, but have not seen a verified time of re-opening.

If it helps, we used Lyft on September 11th after our cruise and it was $67.78 plus tip to get to Hobby.  We did some walking around after the cruise and was picked up at 11:09 am about a half mile from the port.

37 minutes ago, dustfsu said:

Just got off the Allure and had a great time.  I was on the Symphony last September and also had a great time.  Has anyone noticed in the past few years that it seems like they don't keep the ships as cool as they use to?  Even in my cabin I use to keep it all the way down and wake up feeling nice and snug under the covers and comforter. The past two cruises all I slept with the sheet and still felt warm every night.  Even in public area's that use to be cold in some spots, like the theater aren't kept cool like they use to.  I don't know if it has to do with their AC filter system pulling out more of the germs out of the air to make it cleaner or what it is.  Interested to hear your thoughts.

By chance, did you turn off the “master switch” by the door?  We were on the Oasis back in February and my in-laws were complaining about the A/C not working the first two nights (it did during the day) and I showed them how to not use the Master switch at night and the A/C magically worked the rest of the cruise

3 hours ago, _1stTimer said:

Thanks. The cruise is in December. How does an agent make money at this point?

im not a TA, so I don’t fully understand the process, but you have a short window to move it to a TA and the cruise cannot be fully paid for. A good TA is the most valuable thing you will never pay for   we’ve used our MEI TA for both cruises and land vacations.

1 hour ago, _1stTimer said:

Hi, I booked 2 interior rooms as GTY for my family. Is there any chance they will be connected to each other? If I want them connected, what's the best move at this point?

Wait to see, then try to change (upgrade) if not?

There are no 2 interior connected rooms available right now -- only in balcony rooms. That's a major price change, of course.

We could give up on connecting and try for side by side or one outside and one inside across the hall.

Thanks for any advice.

With GTY rooms you may not even find out your cabins until the week of your cruise.  If having connecting or close rooms is a requirement, you may need to move out of the GTY category so you have more control.  If you still have time, I’d recommend moving the reservation(s) to a travel agent ( I recommend MEI travel) as a travel agent has expertise in these matters and can guide you through options.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com has a big yellow box where you can fill out a form to be contacted by an agent.

good luck!

We just returned home from our first cruise out of Texas.  One thing that struck us as different was that the Texas flag was hanging on the promenade, over the "TV" at the pool, and off the bridge.  These were only there on embarkation day and then disappeared until the last night / early morning of disembarkation (next embarkation).  

With Royal, we have cruised from Maryland, Washington State, and multiple ports in Florida and we've never seen a state flag being displayed in this manner.  Is this some Texas regulation or something that requires ships to do this?  

1 hour ago, Galveston Steve said:

It's a busy road but there are sidewalks most of the way.  There is a nice new waterfront park for the first part of the walk near the hotel that you might enjoy watching folks fish and launch small boats on the backwaters, then keep walking to the beach if you are ambitious enough.  It's almost 2 miles from the hotel to the beach but plenty of businesses along the way for rest breaks.

perfect!  Thanks so much!

10 minutes ago, KristiZ said:

I would not. It will be hot and not particularly interesting on the way there. You can take the public bus (minivan thing) there, though -- only caveat here is that you'll need local currency to do so. We enjoy using the buses to get around Grand Cayman!

Thanks!  We're still taking things slow and are trying to avoid public transportation as much as possible.  We've been looking at a couple of excursions that may work, but we also enjoy walking and tend to walk pretty far anyway   We were last in Grand Cayman with Disney way back in 2013, and i think we ended up about half way without even trying and was just wandering through town hitting up shops and such.