recogneyes

19 hours ago, rjac said:

Didn't find an answer online at the C&S website. If I pay for my daughter and her two children to accompany us on a future cruise, do I get their cruise points added to my account? Thanks.

rjac

As many have stated, points are assigned to the names on the reservations.  Make sure they have crown and anchor numbers so they can start tracking their points if they haven't done that already.

16 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Finding Harmony on Harmony???  HM 3/11/2023 – 3/18/2023

 

This is Us – A Little Bit CRAZY, A Little Bit LOUD, A Whole Lot of LOVE! 

10 people, one cabin, crazy cousins, “set in their ways” older parents, plus a Genie…Will we find Harmony? Nobody knows? Not even us!

This sailing as been a long time coming. I am beyond excited, and a little bit sad. Originally, we had booked this sailing for December 2020 to celebrate my Mom’s 70^th birthday. We lost that sailing, and we were most fortunate to be able to reschedule it to now. However, as much as we tried to retain our original group, my other sister and her family could not make it. That leaves 10 of us, instead of 14. I am sure that our Genie is breathing a sigh of relief lol.

This is our 3^rd time on Harmony, but for my parents and sister’s family, it’s their first. It is by no means anyone’s first cruise though. My parents have cruised more than any of us have, but never in suites. They are pretty stubborn inside cabin cruisers, well my Dad is anyway. This cruise is another way that we are trying to thank my parents for everything they have done for us.

We last cruised as an extended family in December 2017 on the Disney Fantasy. The kids were all a lot younger then and I am sure this experience will be a whole lot different.

This is wonderful.  We will look forward to following along.  Have the best time!

21 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Sorry, I didn’t notice as we didn't do either.

That's ok, thanks again for the heads up on the WWRY.

15 hours ago, BabyCruiser said:

Thank you for all your kind and helpful responses! And apologies I’m just now seeing them. Our room is 2032, so there is one pullman bed over the main bed, but not two. Two rooms does sound nice, but we have a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old and a one-year-old—pretty little kids who sometimes need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or otherwise need us and wake up earlier than us in the morning and all that. In other words, in this case there really are benefits to having everyone together in the same room. Plus, we don’t really want to give Royal Caribbean even more of our money when they have already, we feel, robbed us of what we rightfully paid for. 
I think the last response in this chain really did answer the question: after calling Royal Caribbean several times, they said that yes, you can fit a crib in this room. It’s very hard to tell from the pictures, but apparently there is enough room to squeeze a crib either to the side of the main bed or at the foot of the main bed, and there’s still room for the couch bed to pull out too. Will it be comfortable? No. But we planned and paid for comfort and that was already taken away from us so it just is what it is. So long as it will *technically* work, that is our main concern now. 
Thank you again!

I can appreciate what you are saying - when we travelled when our 3 kids were little, figuring out the right configuration was so important.   One time on Oasis, we booked a balcony that showed an allotment for 5 but there was physically no where to put the play pen.  Just my opinion but I would contact Royal again.  The cabin you are referencing only sleeps 4 which means the lifeboat set up will count 4 in your cabin.  Do you have a reservation that shows 4 people and another reservation showing 1 (and all showing the same reservation number).  I just don't want you to have any issues when you board.  

4 hours ago, FionaMG said:

That's correct. Everything else was walk-in, first come, first served. You should have seen the queue for the first performance of WWRY. People started lining up an hour before it was due to start and 15 minutes later it was all the way past the Schooner bar almost to izumi!

Yikes, that's not good!  We were on Anthem last March and the option to book was only available once on board but at least that allowed for things to be organized.   We are sailing her again in a week and only Spectra's Cabaret has been available.  Thanks for the warning so we know what to expect.  Did times open onboard for ifly and northstar?

26 minutes ago, Colombia20102018 said:

Thank you for the extra advise but my question is if there’s a way to know what rooms have the bunks

Very few rooms have actual bunk beds but some do have beds that drop down from the ceiling and over the beds below.  Without an actual tour of the room (you can google videos of rooms from Jewel of the Seas) I don't think you will be able to figure this out.  Even if they drop down, if the room doesn't allow for 5 I'm not sure you are getting accurate advice that you can simply add a 5th passenger.  The safest thing you can do is book a room for 5...if you're kids are all little perhaps you can time this with the kids sail free promotion and 2 of your kids would only have to pay taxes and fees.  Otherwise, you may want to consider one cabin for 3 and one cabin for 2 (one adult in each room).  There is far too much risk in "hoping" to get the room you want and being able to add a 5th person - the gamble you are taking in not locking in a cabin and price now could result in a re price later and you will find you end up paying more.

26 minutes ago, Wheeler825 said:

I have a pic of the rewards from the casino for earning points on the cruise.  1500 points = "Interior Stateroom" with "$100 freeplay" bonus award with nextcruise.. In contrast, lower points bonus awards are "Complimentary Interior Stateroom on Select Dates".. When I got my instant reward thing, it gives me a rather long list of cruises I can get the interior stateroom on, but doesn't this verbiage for 1500 points mean I should be able to pick an interior room on whatever cruise?  I did the book later thing through nextcruise,(actually on 2 cruises), but now I'm trying to figure out when and where to go.

Also, cant view my offers on the casino royale website, dont know if that is normal.

You will have to pick from the list of ships and dates that were provided to you.  We've learned to visit the casino host early in the sailing to ask to see copies of the lists so we know what the options are.  I have found that these offers do show up in our club royale accounts after a few days.

Another option is to contact a travel agency to see if they have any group rates.  There are times when an agency purchases a block of cabins and creates a group booking.  With those your deposit is usually refundable up until final payment.  One thing to be aware of though is if you book with a travel agent, all communication must continue to go through them.  Royal will not discuss details about payment or room choices etc.  

22 hours ago, Xaa said:

I don't see this surviving even the mildest pushback.  I'll be on Anthem next week and I'll be ordering 2 and expecting 2 at once simply by saying "Please bring them both at the same time" 

If offered the rule that he has to wait until I eat the first, I'm simply going to tell him "I know that you want me to be happy and I know that you would like to receive all 10's on the survey at the end, and I want to give you all 10's.  I really want to do that.  I'm only going to be able to do that if I'm able to enjoy my meal the way I'd like to enjoy it.  Please bring me both"

I should also say, before I sit down and order anything on my first visit, I will have tipped him.

1 hour ago, Xaa said:

While the status of their job isn't up to me and I would never mention it, the status of the review, a review they will want me to be sure to complete, is up to me.  They have always satisfied me and always received full scores.  I think they will again next week and probably without additional conversation.  The person sent to my table will understand my needs and has access to all of the decision makers to allow this to happen.  While it appears anecdotally that there is some directive to stop 2 plates from being delivered at once, I'm not certain it's a hard and fast rule against it.  If it turns out to be one, I will in the end have to live with that.

If this random new rule comes in conflict with my enjoyment of the meal, then I will express that.  I see why some here see it as bullying the waiter, but it won't be like that, it will be an exchange of information.  There will be no hostility or anger.  Just my truth expressed clearly.  He/she will either be able to resolve the issue themselves, will involve someone who can or will accept that I am not going to be satisfied.

What Royal decides to do with my review scores is up to them and based on the current survey anxiety, I think more bullying is coming from Royal to the servers.  I can't put myself in that equation, I can only express what I want and review the experience I have.

Remember that garbage about new menus so they can speed up dining?  How in the world does sequential plating speed anything up?  Of course it doesn't and we know that was the secondary concern with the primary being dollars.  This passive discouragement of the second plate is also about dollars.  The menu change won't impact my enjoyment as I see many things that I like, but asking me to eat, wait, eat, wait etc will impact the enjoyment of the meal and elongate it.  That's just my reality.

It certainly won't ruin my cruise or stop me from cruising, but it will be the first time I felt a cruise line wasn't able to provide service above and beyond.  But that is all whatif talk.  I sort of think there's a strong chance they'll just bring it as I ask.  

We will also be on Anthem in a few weeks and will plant to take a similar approach.  I don't mind the menus being changed and some items no longer being available each night but having to wait while each person at our table receives different portions of their meal, that is only going to increase the amount of time everyone spends in the dining room.  This seems counteractive to speeding up the dining process and I feel for the wait staff who will undoubtedly being dealing with a lot of unhappy passengers.

I would say that an air mattress would not fit in your cabin.  Once the couch is converted to a bed there is just enough room to walk between the bottom of the bed and the desk area and there is no room anywhere else in the room that the air mattress would fit.  Since you mention you will have 4 adults in the room, I would look at 2 cabins - if not 2 balconies then 1 balcony and 1 interior.  Even just thinking of 4 of your trying to get ready for shore excursions and dinner and only having one bathroom will be a feat.

13 hours ago, Martie said:

We have a cruise booked with RC Freedom on the Seas. Its a balcony adjoining room for 3 people. RC say it has a sofa/bed for the 3rd person. But from what I've seen online it looks like any adjoining balcony room just has a chair because of the door.  We are senior citizens and cant sleep on a pullmen bed. The room numbers are 6326 & 6328 category 5D. We have called them 3 times and they assure us it has a sofa bed.  Does anyone have information on this that might help?

Thanks Martha

I would suggest your third bed is likely a pullman.  In our experience, unless there is a triangle symbol on the deck plan, the sofa does not convert into an actual bed.  I would reach out to your travel agent if you have one, otherwise I would contact Royal again and see if you can be moved to a cabin that can accommodate 4 (with a sofabed) and hopefully not incur a price increase.  Only other option I can think of is that sometimes it is cheaper to book 3 rooms of 2 rather than 2 rooms of 3.  If this is an option based on price and availability, you could change to having 3 cabins and 3 bathrooms and everyone would have their own bed.

22 hours ago, FloridaMac said:

On the Wonder, the other side of the boardwalk is all booked up, and the last eight rooms on this side are available.  Is there a major obstruction blocking the Aqua Theatre and wake view?  Anyone got pics?  Thank you!

 

We've stayed in these exact cabins on both sides of Oasis, Allure and Symphony and there was no difference in our view.  We do prefer the side where you currently show no cabins available only so we can look down into Playmakers and see the televisions on the ships that have a Playmakers.  I wouldn't think the view to the back of the ship would be any different on Wonder.

16 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I have already booked my annual prime cruise; I will just call and have the cert added to the booking. I did the same thing last year and really lucked up. 

I was thinking of doing the same but when I called Club Royale they said that while we could apply our certificate (prime inside cabin comp) that since we booked a balcony for our Europe cruise this summer, the cruise would be repriced on the day we call to apply it.  This makes sense - but since the cruise has significantly increased in price since we booked it, there won't be any real value in applying.  I suppose this strategy works best if you are not upgrading the cabin type or amount of people beyond 2 passengers.  

We've stayed in the last room on deck 11 a few times and loved it.  The view is amazing.  I would pick deck 11 over 9 if it is available.

Comfort Suites Brickell is in a nice location for walking to Bayside.  Rooms are spacious (they do offer suites and not much difference in cost).  Rate includes wifi and breakfast.  We also did the Island Queen Millionaire's Row boat tour and it was great.  

It may take about a week to show but if you go to www.clubroyaleoffers.com and input your last name and crown and anchor number, you should see a minimum of 2500 points in earned tier credits (the amount needed to achieve prime) and in the  club royale tier column the word prime should be underneath.

You can check here monthly for any additional offers which you may receive and then you call in to redeem accordingly.  

My favourite thing about Allure is that when on the boardwalk you have a clear line of sight to the water.  The other oasis class ships all have the Ultimate Abyss in the way. 

This also happens to be one of the sailings of the College Party Cruise which is organized for a couple of sailings each year during this time.  We experienced this years back during our March Break.  Certainly lots of fun going on on the ship as the college kids were living it up.  

23 hours ago, CJS2766 said:

Hello all,

It may only be January, but I'm already excited for our Oct 2023 cruise on the Harmony. I'm reaching out to the wonderful RC Blog family here to recommend a place to stay that's close to the port, but also a place that won't break the bank (I know, it's Miami, what do I expect!!! LOL)

Also, anything that we must do when in Miami? Thank you all!!!

We just completed a stay at Comfort Suites Brickell.  It was great.  You can walk to Bayside.

You could take an Uber to Bayside Marketplace.  Nice spot to walk around as it's on the water - you can see the cruiseships.  We booked a tour with Island Queen Cruises which leaves right from Bayside.  You take a tour all around the port of miami and Fisher Island and hear some stories about the houses on the island.  The Millionaire's Row Tour is about 1.5 hours.  Margarittaville has a nice patio to come back and enjoy lunch at before heading to the ship

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It still worked like that on Oasis over Christmas.  It happened dozens of times.  UGH

Likewise on Symphony over New Year's....and it wasn't the kids...it was the adults.  

16 hours ago, ScottD said:

It's hard to determine because the prices have changed a little and we had discounts/ kids sail free so not sure if it would come out exactly the same

yes, that's true but how Royal will calculate the upgrade cost will be to take what you paid when you made your reservation and then charge you the difference between that and whatever the current price is of the cabin you are looking to upgrade too.  There could be resident discounts, flash sales etc that are available now that were not available before.  In the end it's simple math so pricing the difference yourself is really quite easy.

You could also try doing a mock booking on Royal's website and then compare that to your current booking price.  You will then be able to calculate your net difference before you call and make any requests.

47 minutes ago, Adriana said:

Good morning! Okay, I am sorry, I am just venting. Cruising is great. Royal is great. I am typically quite positive, but good golly, what a cruise this time! I arrived at port at my assigned time, around 11am. I have cruised many times, but never had seen this traffic. The garage was only for handicap and we had to go to the overflow lot. It took an hour just for that. The line to get into the terminal was wrapped around the building. I found The Key line and while short, it took forever. Every other line was moving smoothly and quickly. About three quarters of The Key line folks were in walkers or wheelchair or some sort of implanted medical device, so security took longer, plus most seemed to not remember to have their needed items out. After that, I was asking about where to go for The Key, no one knew. I walked around, no one knew. I found a sign and went to the dining room. It was chill, food from Chops. I did not like it, but that is just me. The bags had been sitting for some time, so I grabbed mine and took it to my cabin. Then, I find a family of three in there. The cards are on the door now, so although it had my name, they took it and settled in my cabin. They were Chinese, so I could not chat with them, but I think they were just confused about their room, went to the wrong place. I go to Guest Relations and they did not know what to do or how to get in contact with them. I explained they were in there now, but no one went to talk to them. The lady with whom I was speaking was wonderful, the manager, not so much. He was telling me to move out of the way so others could get help. Alina was trying to tell him that she was helping me with dining reservations, but he kept going on and on until he finally heard us both say it. Since this was taking hours, I could not get the times I wanted and when she checked, the times she made were not correct and the restaurants would not change it. After more time, I was assigned a cabin. My luggage never got to my cabin, I had to go find it, it was near my original cabin. It is my first time as Diamond and was looking forward to seeing my benefits, chefs gift, pin, etc. I had none of it. I go back down to Guest Relations and tell them again what happened and the response was, “okay, no worries.” Pardon? I am not apologizing, I am saying I did not receive anything. He directs me to Crown and Anchor. It was almost 9pm, except for lunch, I spent the entire day there, even missing sail away. So, I just went back up to my new cabin.

     This cruise just seems different; most means, I am getting exactly what I say o do not want (like seafood), not bringing me what I order, stateroom attendant not doing much of anything, just a bunch of stuff. I do not want to continue to gripe as I know I am just agitated more since sitting here for hours at immigration since we all had to get off at Miami (we were given contradictory info about it; when you get off, you do have to wait for every single person to clear before getting on; so glad I did as I was told and got off at 8am (“don’t worry, you can get right back on” so not true) and have been here for hours. 
 

 I keep hearing that things have change since COVID, different level of service. I have no doubt that most things are wonderful. I just am having poor luck every day. Thanks for letting me complain for a bit. I am solo and do not like to complain, just have been telling everyone everything is fine and lovely, so now I feel better. Thanks! Back to being pleasant. 

Wow, what an awful way to start your vacation.  I can't believe they didn't simply have someone from Guest Relations escort you to your room and have the family who were incorrectly taking over your room, removed.  They would then be taken to their actual cabin.  That would have saved so much time.  The seapass cards that they would be trying to use wouldn't be correct so they couldn't use them to charge or get off the ship.  I really hope you have a great week after all of this.

7 hours ago, KANSAS CITY CRUISER said:

 

Central Park Balcony vs Promenade Balcony 

Which location offers a quieter location?  Does one area offer a cool breeze?  Can the water shows be seen from the Central Park Balconies on the ships offering them?

I think what you are referring to is Boardwalk view balconies - those are at the back of the ship and offer views of the aqua show and the ocean.  The further to the back of the ship you go the better your view will be.  You will hear noise occasionally from people on the boardwalk and the sports deck but the views are worth it IMO.  They are usually marginally higher in cost than the CP balconies and cheaper than OV balconies.   Since they offer great views and nowhere near as expensive as the aqua theatre suites at the back of the ship I think they provide a good option.