Bowen

We've got room 12729 booked on Allure in April. It's a 5 person Boardwalk Balcony on the very end (the only thing further out would be the Aquatheater Suite), so we've got a view of the theater, a view of the boardwalk, and a view of the ocean. We have stayed in a Central Park balcony and we really liked it, so I do like the room we have now. It's also aft, which is nice because it seems like most of the stuff we do is aft. One of our options for upgrading is a JS. The good thing is that it comes with Coastal Kitchen dinner. I love CK a lot! But it's not all day access, which would certainly tip me over the edge to bid for it, and we do not get access to the suite lounge. Not a huge deal because we are Diamond and have access to that lounge. The other option is a spacious oceanview with a large balcony (and I'm going to be honest, I think this must be a typo because I don't think the spacious OV rooms come with a balcony). The upside here is more room and having that little nook where the kids have bunk beds. The downside is that it would be at the front of the ship (if I'm right) so loads of walking to get places. Here's a picture with the minimum bid selected for each. I'm leaning toward sticking with my room, but I'd love your thoughts, especially if you've done the JS or the SOV before. Thanks! Also, is there any reason to keep checking back to see if they let me bid on suites that do give access to CK all day? Or is this going to be the max I'm offered because of my initial room selection?

I have never gone in and checked my Casino Royale points or benefits, but since I got $100 off a cruise recently because I'd managed to spend the same two hundred dollars enough times, I figured I'd see if I had any points. I do have $100 off a cruise before June 1, and I do have one booked for April. I was wondering if I could retroactively apply the CR discount or if that was only if I booked with that code at the time? Thanks!

Not at all! My kids have never done it, it’s always me and my mom (45 ish and almost 70). It’s fun!

This reminds me of the one we did on Harmony. It was my least favorite. The one on Allure was my favorite, followed by Explorer. We did it at Giovanni’s on Explorer, Wonderland on Harmony, and in the ice cream shop on Allure. But in the ice cream shop they closed down for the duration of the class.

We’ve done it three times! It’s so much fun. We’ve done it on Explorer, Harmony, and Allure. Totally worth the price. We’ve made fish, butterflies, a frog on a lily pad (probably my least favorite because I don’t like fondant), and a puppy. On Allure you also got a free scoop of Ben and Jerry ice cream when you took the class.

I second the two cabins, if possible. Having two bathrooms is so nice.

We’ve also had issues with extra money being spent in the arcade. I don’t buy the cards anymore and my kids are so busy that they don’t miss it. If you do get the cards I definitely recommend making sure your credit card is not associated with their Sea pass.

Another question: Do you get a discount on this for being Diamond? If so, does that automatically apply if you are signed in to your RC account?

Alright, I'm going to sign up for this for my Mom and I. She can get a little crazy when she drinks, so hopefully she'll reign it in.

One more question. If my husband and I are both stock holders (we have 200 shares), and we have two rooms booked with one of us on each room, can we both request the OBC, one for each room?

Thanks guys!

When you’re looking for rooms are you checking the box that says “connecting cabins”? Is that something your family would want?

You just go to your favorite search engine and type in the name of the ship and the dates. You can also add the terms “group cruise” and you’ll see if anything pops up. You can also go to those pages that pop up and it’ll tell you typically how many rooms they’ve blocked, so you can decide if it’s a small enough group that it won’t change the feel of the cruise, or if it’s very large, in which case the line might actually add or remove onboard activities to suit.

It really depends on what you drink. I don’t drink cocktails so my $9 glass of Prosecco wouldn’t make sense, but if I did drink cocktails then I might consider it.

If it helps the OP at all I did send an email to Royal after the cruise asking why they hadn’t notified passengers that there was a group cruise booked. They said it wasn’t in their policy to do so. It will be up to the OP to figure out if the group is booked. If it’s not a full cruise booking then RC doesn’t inform you of any other groups booked. I look up my cruise dates now and check to see if there are any bookings for groups of any kind. There are some you’d never expect, like a quilting cruise, dialysis cruise, fitness cruise. Something for everyone.

I was pricing a cruise recently with two people in each room, three rooms side by side. I put myself and a kiddo in one room and my husband and other kiddo in the other room. When I put in the ages of each passenger my price changed because it wasn’t two adults in the room. I’m not sure why it matters, but it did.

You’re right, I don’t want to go on a cruise where adults in bondage gear are leading other adults around on leashes. That’s why I replied. I’ve been on one of these cruises accidentally, I had my kids on board with me. It was not family friendly. You do you, I’ll do me.

What are you talking about? Are you implying I’m saying they acted differently because of their sexual preference? That’s a you thing, not a me thing.

Is the double sofa bed in the suites the same as the sofa bed in the regular rooms? We’ve done suites but only ones with regular beds for everyone. We had a Central Park balcony on our last cruise and there was a sofa bed, but the idea of sleeping two people on it was pushing the limits. That would make sense since the room was a category that only slept three. My hope is the suite sofa beds that sleep two are bigger?

Thank you!

How was it sharing a table with people you don't know? There are only two of us who are thinking of doing this, so I'm wondering how awkward/normal this feels?

The water rides would certainly be more interesting if they put you in a sack.

Oh great! I'll do it today then.

Awesome, thanks!

One of our first cruises had a similar group booked, but we didn't know it at the time. It was not family friendly at all. I've never seen adults act in the same way in twenty years of cruising. I'm not a prude by any means and I was way past uncomfortable.