Temeculaguy

We have an Alaska cruise in August booked for a suite guarantee. It was our first RCL booking ever but lifted and shifted twice, originally set for 2020. We've gone on 3 RCl cruises and booked another while waiting for this one to happen. All of our covid cruises have been on fairly empty ships ranging from 25% to 50% capacity so we've been spoiled by getting royal ups or booking suites outright for not much of a premium, our smallest room has been a grand suite. We are cool with a JS and understand that is what the guaranty usually gets you but can they downgrade us if all the JS's are booked. The can't give us what isn't available or do they hold some back or do they just hope there are cancellations? I don't see any possibility of a royal up, they only have a handful of balcony rooms available at this point and it's still a ways off. Trying a ghost booking, it seems this summer in Alaska is going to be busy and have full ships due to all the pent up demand, anyone have experience pre-pandemic with a guaranty that didn't actually get a suite? The one JS they have left they want 9k for it.

1 hour ago, RCVoyager said:

I might also mention, the OP claims this was the "worst cruise ever".  I can think of plenty of cruises that were way worse than this one.  Today is April 17.  One in particular ended rather suddenly 110 years and 2 days ago that I'm sure was way worse.

The SS America circa 1978 is a runner up, those passengers would have loved to have a one hour delay on coco cay as their biggest problem.

https://www.history.com/news/cruise-ship-nightmare-ss-america-mutiny

14 hours ago, Ja-sun said:

If you haven't heard, there are starting to be spikes again of Covid. It seems Philadelphia might go back to a mask mandate. This being said, if this starts happening in more cities, the CDC may bring this back to our cruise ships. Lets sure hope not. Being that it was also just spring break, we may see higher cases soon. Sorry for the Friday bummer.

The news on spikes can be misleading, check this article from the philly newspaper  https://www.inquirer.com/health/philadelphia-mask-mandate-covid-cases-20220406.html

they have a arbitrary formula to bring back masks, if two things happen they bring them back, one being if cases increase 50% in 10 days, another being more than 100 cases a day. Look at the charts, in January they were averaging 4,000 cases per day, it fell to 55 and has doubled to 110 so a rational person wouldn't panic but it triggers their arbitrary and outdated formula for 1.5 million people. Google "philadelphia covid" and you can also see the chart for the entire pandemic. In the lulls, 200 cases a day is a low period, 6,000 plus is the high period, plus they don't report on weekends so there's spikes on Mondays. Those policy makers are making it hard for the rest of the country to navigate the pandemic or if, god forbid, there is another one by being statistically unreasonable and giving credibility to conspiracy theories. The media is complicit in hyping statistically insignificant blips which will cause actual spikes to be dismissed by the public. There's a fable about this, has to do with a boy and a wolf, didn't end well.

I did it for the first time in January and it beat any offer i've ever gotten plus I was able to call the casino royale afterwards and stack the $500 discount. We often travel with family strewn across the country so there is the added convenience of having three or more couples from different coasts sit down and book the next one without time zone issues and scheduling a conference call with a TA. It might seem easy enough to pick a date but picking rooms and the whole suite class thing like coastal kitchen or suite lounge access and other things it's so much better when everyone is on the same page, either we are all in or we are all not in on certain accesses not to mention the OBC they throw at you.

We had our 2020 early August Seward to Vancouver cruise lifted and shifted twice and in February I went to book the train, completely sold out the day of the cruise and only the regular tickets available the day before, no gold star available. We booked the day before train and a night at a hotel in seward, which was also almost booked up. I read there are more ships going to alaska this summer than ever before, so whatever you do, book early, it may already be too late. I think I booked the train and room in February and there wasn't much left. Anchorage was also pretty booked up, some hotels already sold out, the same hotels I had booked in 2020 with no problem. After going on 3 pandemic cruises ranging from 25-50% capacity I've gotten complacent, looks like this summer in Alaska will look nothing like our recent sailings.

Can anyone advise on transatlantic, New Jersey to England across the Atlantic? We luckily have never gotten seasick but have only cruised in the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. We've cruised at various times of the year and have experienced storms and hurricanes but we were not affected physically even though we felt the boat rock, small things fall off counters like others have reported. Now that we are booked on a transatlantic I have this impression based on TV and movies that it will be on another level however it is likely irrational. But after reading this thread I researched "May transatlantic weather" and found this post on another site from 13 years ago:

"Having crossed the North Atlantic many times at all times of the year and on vessels as varied as a 9000t tramp powered by a balky Doxford and the smooth pod powered progression of the QM2, I can categorically state that the weather in May will be fine and sunny, grey and dank, warm enough to sunbathe, freezing cold, dry and crisp, pouring down with rain and/or wind driven sleet and snow, calm with zephyr breezes, howling gales, sea like a mill pond, mountainous waves, occasional hailstorms,glorious sunshine and dense fog. Then on the second day........"

Normally I disregard all worries about sea sickness but now I'm a little worried....

On 3/17/2022 at 2:39 PM, smokeybandit said:

No masks in Cozumel? I thought they just recently reaffirmed masking.

We went to Cozumel at the height of Delta and the height of Omicron and masks were almost never required anywhere but we did go off the beaten path both times on those cruise stops. We also went to Mexico a bunch of times during covid not on cruises and it made Texas look strict with how lax things are. Right now the entire country of Mexico is in level green https://datos.covid-19.conacyt.mx/#SemaFE so what minimal restrictions they had are long gone. Masks and precautions were mostly a marketing thing in the tourists areas, we went to some places in mexico without airports and few foreign tourists and it was hit and miss, some towns you would never know covid ever happened. We went with another couple on one trip and I was the only non-hispanic who wasn't fluent in Spanish and I could see taxi drivers or waiters see me and reach for a mask only to be told by everyone else that I didn't care and then they would all laugh and put away the mask. It became obvious that it was just theater for the one gringo.

Just got an e-mail for my cruise leaving March 11th and it linked to the healthy sail center which has some changes starting March 11th. The most significant is a positive PCR test between 11 and 90 days ago exempts you from testing. The e-mail sent me this link, some ports do not accept it yet but we aren't going to those ports, looks like I don't need to test! I have a test scheduled for tomorrow, I'll probably still go because I am not comfortable with anything on the first day of implementation.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-recovered-from-covid-19-need-to-be-vaccinated-or-take-a-test-to-sail

6 hours ago, CruiseGus said:

 

Both of those were what they said when our state was discussing the indoor smoking Bans.

Both Bars and Casino's now have indoor smoking banned and not only did none of them go out of business, they make just as much money now as they did before the bans.

As someone said while it was banned on the ships the Casino was still crowded.

Let the market decide. Carnival experimented with an entirely non smoking ship but that failed. Now they converted a convention center area into a second and separate non smoking casino on three ships as an experiment. if that is successful, expect Royal to follow suit and find a minimally used area to create a second casino. Cruise ships and tribal casinos are immune from voters and government bans so they are the true test of market economies, a la Adam Smith. The market will decide. I have a single buddy that thinks cruises should have strip clubs and brothels onboard since they are immune from local laws but I regularly remind him that they would do that if, and only if, they wanted him to cruise more at the loss of thousands of others who disagree with him. The reality is, it is a business and they decide, not my buddy and not the non smoker casino fans, they do what works to maximize profit. Until then, they will allow smoking in the casino, their research shows non smokers aren't as valuable, when that changes, so will the policy. Let the invisible hand of economics prevail.

Count me as one more vote for avoiding the buffet before covid, during and after. But not for hygiene, wait times or covid. I don't like the food, so many better options most of the time. We "end up" there sometimes but rarely set out for it, usually because we missed the hours for the other choices. Never been there for breakfast or dinner but a lunch or two on a 7 day cruise is enough for me. On Embarkation day with an early check in before the rooms are ready is usually enough for me, maybe one sea day. MDR is just as free and so much better IMHO.

We had Jr suites on a cruise 6 months ago, three couples traveling together, reservations linked, rooms in a row. We got our GS royal ups and were separated but not by much since on that ship the GS and OS were all in a row on the same floor. That is not always the case on Quantum and Oasis class or with 2 br GS, but for many ships the suites are clumped together anyways. I've noticed the royal up doesn't take into account groups as much as guarantee suites or guarantee rooms does. On our GTY they've put them together but that's just our experience. But I understand, the royal ups are just filling in the gaps well after the GTY rooms were assigned.

On 2/24/2022 at 6:33 PM, csrsue said:

We are about 11 days out from our sailing.  If we haven't heard about our RoyalUp offer being accepted by now, should we just assume it was rejected?

We sailed in December 2021 - just a few months ago - and our offer was accepted about three weeks out.  Granted, I did bid more for that sailing and so that may be the reason.

I've done dummy or ghost bookings and there are still a ton of cabins available.

Don't give up hope just yet, when the ghost booking shows all the suites are gone, then you can. If there are ton of cabins still available, they likely haven't done the majority of the royal ups, you are still in the game! most royal ups are the week of the cruise.

I have one observation that might help reduce anxiety or at least narrow it. During the covid era I've noticed most of the royal ups happen all at once for a particular ship. I know we see the one offs where someone gets theirs months in advance but mostly it's within 7-10 days of the sailing. If you log off and search for your cruise you'll see lots of upgraded rooms available, then one day they will mostly be gone, leaving only guarantee suites available or whole categories of suites gone. If you want to see it coming in advance, check the sailing before yours or the one before that, then you can see when it will likely happen. That being said, on one royal up our group had two exact rooms and two exact bids yet the e-mail, credit card charge and the cabin number change was 36 hours apart even though the rooms went blank at the same time online. But both were in that 7 day window, they just didn't act for some reason at the same time, albeit it was at the beginning of the restart when things were a little wonky. We have a cruise leaving in 12 days and I just noticed the same ship leaving 5 days from now just started to shuffle up and all the GS and OS suites vanished all at once, so I figure it will happen about a week from now for us.

To make your anxiety worse, the e-mail was the last thing to happen. Card charged first, cruise planner changed next and then the e-mail came.

I'm on an Alaska cruise this summer and I'll be wearing my tux at least on the first formal night. I think women look beautiful dressed up and my wife loves me in my tux so even if we are the only ones, we will be dressed up.

I'm guessing under one year out. We had a few lift and shifts exactly one year out and never noticed prices were unavailable but in January I booked a May 2023 and it still has no prices. This thread made me realize I've never booked anything more than 12 months out until now which may explain why  I've never seen the planner blank until now. So if you have a Jan or Feb 2023 I'd say very soon but a July 2023, you may have to wait until July at the least. But I didn't check regularly, just when sales were going so it could be well under a year since I didn't check exactly at 1 year just when I got an e-mail about a sale.

I can't pick between the two survey choices, I prefer Royal amongst the big ship major lines but for reasons unique to me. I'm intrigued by viking ocean cruises for Europe and plan to go on some European river cruises where there are a variety of lines to choose from, but it is a different vibe and experience so it's not an apples to apples comparison. Also frequency is an issue, If were only going on 1-3 cruises a year, I'll stick to Royal but if we are going on 6+ as retirees which starts in 12-18 months for us I'm going to add some variety. I think royal has the suite program nailed, Carnival has limited suite perks and cabins, NCL's Haven goes into Viking prices and is overly segregated, same with MSC yacht club, if your traveling people not in those areas they are cut off from you. Princess suites are barely Royal's Jr suites in size on many ships and the bigger suites jump exponentially in price, plus I'm not sure the kids or 20 somethings will be happy. Royals beverage package allows for drinks above the limit and you just pay the difference, some other lines make you pay the full price if you go over. I really like the 40% off bottles with royal, I like to keep a bottle of red in the room for a nightcap. MDR menu for room service in suites is also something we like as we dine in the room once or twice on a 7 day cruise if we overdid it at the pool and took too late of a nap. Some other lines advertise free drinks and specialty dining but then when you toggle between taking the "free" offers or not, the price changes dramatically. Viking ocean and all river cruises lack casinos and I like casinos, so I can't see myself being a regular on the luxury lines but more of a dabbler.

The main reason I think we will be loyal to royal is the lifetime loyalty levels and the variety of ships and appeal to our family and friends. Once you hit a certain level like diamond or diamond plus, you keep it, unlike airlines and hotels who reset annually. We can take our adult children, grandchildren or go with friends with different budgets and all can be happy. I just think Royal has the edge in serving groups that have different budgets or multi generational groups. The creature comforts or luxury for those desiring things they are willing to pay for, the value for those seeking it, the thrills for youngsters and everything else in between.

Oh no, we just booked anthem for a transatlantic next year, I hope they get it together by then since some of it may just be a staffing attitude or protocol related issue. I purposefully started with older ships to avoid letdowns (Radiance, Adventure, Liberty and Navigator) before moving on to quantum class on Anthem, then continue, avoiding Wonder until the last. I also planned the room class to rise from suite guarantee to owners suite to do the same. Truth is we loved them all despite the pandemic placing them out of order due to lift and shifts and the grand suite ended up our sweet spot so that is what we booked on Anthem. Last thing I wanted to read was this especially since some of our relatives who are regular RC cruisers said Anthem was their favorite ship.

But as others have stated, it still beats working!

We had fantastically friendly staff on Adventure and Liberty, best we've found on any cruise line pre-pandemic. Many have not been allowed to go ashore in most ports and many accepted demotions (ie. busboys were formerly lead waiters) in order to stay employed so the lifting of restrictions should improve crew morale but since our experience with RCL thus far has been fantastic, I'm only hoping for equal service when in fact it might be better.

But I employ a secret weapon, call it an ugly american thing but I slip the waiter a $20 bill each night at the MDR or the specialty restaurants at the beginning of the meal, it's a fraction of the tip I'm expected to give for a comparable meal at home with inferior service and I know they are earning less on these limited capacity sailings. I also tip a dollar or two a drink even with the DBX, I request a receipt I can sign so I can tip if i don't have cash on me but prefer to tip in cash as they don't have to share cash tips, just keep it discreet or palm it with a handshake. Other cruise lines always provide a tip opportunity receipt, I noticed royal rarely does without a specific request. A lesson I learned from all inclusive land resorts, only drawback is the odd look I get at my bank when I ask for a few hundred dollars in 1's and 5's before the trip. Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton and Jackson have an incredible influence on service, and will make you friends on both on land and sea anywhere in the world. 

We went in January and broke with our conventional wisdom of staying near the port and stayed in downtown Houston (pre and post cruise). Hilton americas and downtown embassy suites and took a private shuttle at 1030 am for a noon check in and were early (Sunday had no traffic). Downtown Houston was neat and you could walk everywhere. Friends had told us Galveston in winter wasn't great and not walker friendly or transport friendly since it only needs ubers/taxi's one or two day a week it's not a robust industry, but their experiences were pre-pandemic.

We enjoyed it with one exception, our return to the hotel was unknowingly during the houston marathon and our hotel was the finish line so the streets were blocked off for about two blocks in all direction. Our driver dropped us as close as he could get us and we all had to take our luggage a few blocks through a crowd, but it's a funny story now.

Some of our group cam in more than one day ahead and some stayed more than a night after so it was more about entertainment, dining and things to do than proximity for us as we faced flight disruptions and cancellations due to the Omicron peak. None of which will apply to you.

It was included on Liberty last month, I think once a ship is "amplified" it may go away and become a free standing starbucks and not included, which seems a little silly. Adventure's cafe promenade had pizza , breakfast mcmuffins and lots of food, the one on liberty was pretty much just a starbucks with some pastries but it was mostly dedicated to coffee. Yet both say cafe promenade so its included. but liberty has sorrentos for pizza in a separate shop.

All cruises have a formal night, usually once on a 3-5 day cruise and twice on a 7+. How formal can vary wildly, my brother and I own tuxedos and wear them on the first formal night but we are the outliers, Most men wear a suit and ties seem to be 50/50. At the same token I saw a woman in yoga pants that same night, but she was an outlier as well. To each their own, in her defense they were lululemon yoga pants so at least they were fancy yoga pants!

7 hours ago, Bill S said:

Here's my problem:  We have a balcony stateroom. We bought the Deluxe Beverage Package, and the Key.  The beverage package barely makes sense for us. However, if we were to be upgraded to a suite (other than Junior, which we didn't bid on), we probably wouldn't need either of those, right?  We would also pack 2 bottles of wine to have, if we didn't have the beverage package. 

We can only cancel these and get a refund up to 2 days before the departure.  Otherwise it's cruise credit, and who needs/uses $1200 in credit? So, at this point, we will probably remove our Royal bids the 2 days before the trip - or at least substantially discount them. 

First off if you are cruising in the next few months, I'd get a refund on the key regardless of if you get upgraded. Other than over Christmas, most ships are at a fraction of capacity right now, there are no lines. If your cruise is this summer or to Alaska, then it may very well feel like pre pandemic crowds so you have to make a decision. As far as the beverage package, if you aren't diamond and if your upgrade isn't to star class, it barely factors into the DBX. Grand and Owners suites only get you free drinks for an hour or two before dinner in the suite lounge, the rest of the time you are paying. If two drinks between 5 and 7pm are going to swing the math then maybe the DBX isn't for you either way. I had an OS and an GS and the suite lounge happy hour was only about 4 drinks total all week because it only works in a specific place for a short time. The free 4-5 drinks for diamond available anytime, anywhere and every day makes the math different but has no relationship to your room because diamond has a similar lounge. Unless I'm wrong, but I went to the cappachino machine in the suite lounge quite a few times and there was no staff or alcoholic drinks to be had outside of happy hour.

We were on Liberty in January and I hate the stress of trying to make flights so I booked a later flight and stayed onboard until the bitter end which was 9:30ish. Our car service was scheduled for 10 and we made our way out of the room at 930, with so few passengers onboard we were off and and picked up our luggage by 9:45 (ours were the last pieces of luggage in our designated area so they were easy to find). MDR and the buffet breakfast had a deadline like Patty mentioned but we grabbed starbucks and something like fruit or a pastry, went back to the room and had that while we finalized packing. They called our section but that doesn't mean you have to go, it means you can go. We left with the last group. You don't need to ask for a late exit, our last two cruises we were given the earliest exits because of our suites had priority but we left with the final stragglers. I wouldn't have your ride come much after 10, by 1030 or 11 people will be arriving to board and most ports have limited seating or amenities for those waiting. 10 was perfect, it was nearly empty by then, we ate at the airport later since we had time to kill once there. Adjust my experience with regards to your kids and their feeding schedule, my wife has never eaten breakfast on a cruise or any vacation on any day, let alone the final day. Her idea of vacation is sleeping through breakfast so the 0830 coffee and the 930 walkout is a struggle as it is.

the first cruises out of the Bahamas that didn't touch US soil and avoided the CDC had those adhesive waterproof paper wristbands that never line up correctly and stick to your skin. I was happy to see the slip knot satin ones on our next cruise. Mine was loose enough that I guess I could have gotten it off but I didn't, the beverage package helped me to not care or notice I had it on.

5 weeks ago it was Amit C. As far as drinks, they brought them to you and they were very quick. Since I had the drink package I wouldn't know if they were free. For some reason the Kendall Jackson Cab was out at most places onboard and it was our favorite by the glass cab o their menu. They always seemed to have it or could find it up there so we started just going there to meet the other couples in our group before dinner just for the wine hookup! First world problems.

4 hours ago, gatorskin76 said:

I wonder if anyone will ever consider natural immunity in their protocols.  Would be a breathe of fresh air, imo.

Carnival now counts it in lieu of testing but only for 90 days. The CDC recently released Delta data from California and New York showing natural immunity was more protective against the Delta variant for hospitalizations than any brand of vaccine. It's their study so they should consider it, hopefully soon. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e1.htm

I'm not being political and the CDC isn't hiding it, it's just not getting a lot of media attention. The link is the cdc website and this is their summary on their website:

During May–November 2021, case and hospitalization rates were highest among persons who were unvaccinated without a previous diagnosis. Before Delta became the predominant variant in June, case rates were higher among persons who survived a previous infection than persons who were vaccinated alone. By early October, persons who survived a previous infection had lower case rates than persons who were vaccinated alone.