CruiseRoyalDad

boo!! The only thing consistent about RCCL IT and policies is the inconsistency! Thank you for the heads up I'm going to give them a call. I just need to hype myself up for hearing "weekend like you mean it" a million times while on hold. Always use a TA folks.

Tried to do this the right way in shore excursions but got a response of crickets. Surely someone has feedback here. Has anyone used the charter company Boomerang in Sint Maarten. Trying to use them for a half day private snorkel tour and they seem to be reputable but would love to know if anyone has used them. Got the feedback from this blog for Sonic Charters in St. Thomas and they may have been the best ever. Hoping for the same real life experience and reviews for this company.

Thank you for the tip, I just tried. I do see the modify option for other purchases, for example, the waterpark purchases at coco cay. What would be modified there, I have no idea. However, there is no modify option for our 3 night dining package. I think we are being passively aggressively limited since I got that one at $28.99 a person.

WHAT!? This is a direct contradiction to what we've always experienced with the 3 nights. Fine print per our booked package. Please teach me how to do this because I definitely don't have this option. As per the OP comment you have to do it as soon as you get on board. Often the best times are gone, snapped up by suite concierges. You can still make those ideal times happen you just really have to work at it. Book what they have and keep calling and returning to try and update the time. What's Included Three nights of dining at specialty restaurants. Please see Important Details and Advisements section for exceptions and surcharges. A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing. All additional reservations or changes to your courtesy reservation must be made once onboard at any specialty restaurant.

I thought you were on the Eastern Harmony last August with us!? Weren't we on the same roll call? I see Western in your signature so maybe not. Anyway, we are on the Wonder during the same timeframe this August with a stop in San Juan. You can spend every port hour there, as others have said, exploring el morro and old town. Dip in to a few jewelry shops, restaurants for a local drink, people watch, often music breaks out in the square (plaza colon by Sofia's restaurant) as you get closer to evening. It's one of our favorite ports hopefully we don't lose it because of pier issues. Walk up hill to tour the city and downhill if you feel like you can't find the pier. You'll find it! As many times as we've done the Eastern carib itineraries we've missed St Kitts..so no advice there. Do let us know what you come up with as far as a non-beach day for that one.

Looking for recommendations on a half day 3rd party private boat charter. We have a group of 10 and found boomerang to be competitive and responsive to our requests. Has anybody used them or any others?

Ha!!! Yep. I'm as average as you can get but for some reason I get a kick out of Danny's shower measuring. It's just funny. Harr should be the official RCCL travel agency of the NBA. His cabin tours are absolutely thorough and not to be overlooked. Best resource for detailed RCCL cabin tours. It's probably because this is my life with four kids, the oldest 12 and the youngest 4 but the knowledge that you can add 6th being an infant by calling in, to a cabin that is "max 5" needs to be common knowledge when booking a cruise line that is family focused. Maybe it was a newer agent or one that doesn't specialize in family travel. Now the CALLING in part is precisely why you need a travel agent. Sure you might get a short wait but you might not. Let's say you have to call in 3 times before your cruise and you end up spending 1 hour total on the line, sometimes much more, that's free time that you didn't have to waste. Also, a good TA with product knowledge, can identify erroneous information given by a TA rep and call back to speak to another. The aforementioned Harr travel TA may not have picked up on that. Or maybe they worded it "can I add a child" not "can I add a an infant".... In the end though, nobody is perfect, the TA PROs far outweigh the CONs.

Suite better than no suite. We've only done GS on the allure which did have the curtain and NOT the wall. I assumed that the wall would be preferrable but seems it might not be and that the curtain provides more space flexibility. We've done the GS, 2 Bedroom GS, and crown loft, the Crown Loft wins every day and twice on Sunday. It's lovely. Feels palatial. Unfortunately, with our family of six we can no longer fit it. To get into sky class at an affordable "entry level" price we need the 2 bedroom GS on the symphony and below. They have gone extinct with the new suite neighborhood set up of the wonder and utopia. Strictly speaking Oasis class, now that they've ripped our 7 night itineraries away, this whole conversation doesn't even apply to us anyway.

@WAAAYTOOO join us. Don't fight it. You know you want to be on one of her last 7 nighters.

The crickets chirp loudly in this one.

Don't be afraid to dream bigger. The island itself has beautiful beaches and a great charter company, sonic charters, gives you access to some of the prettiest pieces of sand in the hemisphere. Stop by Honeymoon beach in St. John's and you'll love port stops at St. Thomas forever! A charter either private or group will often only be a short stroll from the ship and then you're off to paradise.

The last time we were on the Symphony was in a crown loft. It was beautiful and will ruin you. We've never asked but they likely will not be able to do the flowers upon arrival nor the luggage transfer. I do envision them responding to the luggage transfer with a 3rd party vendor that they recommend. They do provide those types of suggestions. Dining reservations are a big one but so are reservations for shows and sometimes they can get you on a some shorter versions of behind the scenes tours free of charge without paying for the big on ship excursion. They are supremely valuable with errant charges to the sea pass account and getting that laser tag, ice skating, or escape room type reservation that is tough snag. I think what you need to remember is if you don't ask for the accommodation don't expect it to happen. Also, ask for things that may seem outside of their role and if they are able to assist great, if not say thank you and move on.

We also have an August San Juan visit on Wonder. Love that stop. It's unique in that while it can be, it's not necessarily a beach focused stop. It has educational and beautiful cultural exposure for the kids. Would love a concrete answer from Royal on where it could be switched to and if they will take away St. Maarten as well. Seems like St. Thomas could be a natural replacement for San Juan though they usually pick a much less desirable island.

I understand all of the, it happens any where, can come from any where, but the old adage....where there's smoke there's fire. Seems Symphony is making too many negative headlines. At some point the coincidence stops and there's culpability to be found. I blame New York. Don't get mad I grew up in New York, spent nearly half my life there. It's a huge metro area with hours access to other huge metro areas and many international visitors. Oh and Symphony is my 2nd favorite Oasis class after Wonder. Doesn't everyone wish those piano steps were on all SHIPS!? It's just the nature of the beast, looks like SOS needs an SOS right now. Offer me a free cruise on her and I'll do my best to help.

I jumped in here because I saw @AlmondFarmer responded. The sarcastic comedic timing never disappoints.

Not a problem you can have him sleep in whichever cabin. Especially considering the European RCCL age policy copied and pasted above. You know, there were once Americans as young as 17 storming beaches in France off the English channel. Your son is going to be doing just fine living life in a solo interior cabin on the med. He's lucky to have parents like you!

This is smart advice that you just wouldn't get without having access to the experience that this blog/forum brings. I'm pretty sure AI would not be able to come up with this hack. I might go ahead and do that. Grab another private lesson slot, then convert to a private hour for later in the cruise after they had the 1 hour instruction. The non-instruction discount would be nice. At that point we'd be pushing $800 worth of flowriding but I think it's worth it. Some people like to lounge by the cabana others like to shred waves on a hot Caribbean morning! This is just me justifying the expense.

Yes! Good info. The first time I saw the offer it was actually a private tour no instruction. But my kids definitely need instruction. It popped up again with instruction on sale for about $100 more at $442. I've got it booked and will get a refund if something changes.

Has anyone done the private 1 hour private flowrider instruction before? It comes with a hefty price tag, and I won't ask the subjective question as to whether or not it's worth it. But I'd like to know if you have done it, how many people participated with you? Was there a breaking point as to where there were too many students in the group to where it just became a "private" long line as opposed to a normal long flowrider wait? What should we do to plus up the experience? Would you do it again? Thank you!!

Not boring at all. It's like us here in the US that could do the Caribbean 7 day itineraries over and over without thinking twice about it. Doesn't get old!

And we did snag that sea class CK resy one night...and in hindsight, could have done without it. Very underwhelmed. The lounge/CK combo that we experienced on the Allure, Harmony, and Symphony were phenomenal. A well positioned cabin made no need to even consider a DBP. Now that we are priced back out of sky class with a family of six, unless we can snag the 2 bedroom grand on one of the older oasis class...we will think fondly of what was.

It was photo finish but @smokeybandit won! @twangster The quantum class addition did plus up the answer though so don't feel bad! We did coastal kitchen on the Anthem on our only Quantum cruise once. Good view did not love the whole sea class experience or the Quantum experience. Is there even a bar in the Quantum coastal? Can't remember.

You might at least on ships with sea, sky, and star suite classes. It's a bit semantic BUT if you are ordering a cocktail in the suite lounge outside of the "happy hour" you may very well use your diamond drink voucher to save on the cost of drink. This applies to sky class only as Star Class have the DBP included. Sea class do get take advantage of the happy hour but only if they were able to get a dinner reservation that matches up with the suite lounge happy hour. If you're looking to use your voucher for beer and wine that's normally complimentary in the suite lounge from ~11AM - 11PM so you can also save your voucher then.

We've been BOTTED!

Wow. Take it easy with all the you's and your's there partner. Not that it matters to anyone here but never tried the aforementioned oil and wouldn't know where to begin with it. @Jolly Ogre matter of fact statement of penalty was objectively less Jolly. Just pointing that out.