CruisingfromClayton

Thanks Smokeybandit! Turns out that he was still listed as Emerald while I was at Diamond. VERY glad to have noticed and RC corrected it immediately. 

Good morning! Nothing like waiting until the last minute to check on things before your cruise! lol

Just went to print my luggage tags for our cruise this weekend and was surprised to see Emerald instead of Diamond. If those are incorrect, does that mean we'll be facing issues with our onboard diamond benefits or am I overthinking this?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Hey everyone! Question for anyone who has sailed since the Unlimited Dining Plan revamp please: as I understand it, we get one specialty restaurant per day during port days and a dinner and lunch on at sea days. Is it possible to use Playmakers as a lunch then go to Chops or Izumi for dinner? Not seeing a great deal of value in paying for the plan under the new rules but it would make sense if it could include a Playmakers lunch so appreciate the clarification! 

Second question: has any of our Diamond members had success with seeking assistance for dining reservations through the Diamond lounge concierge? We had great luck on our cruise last fall with the Suite concierge but wasn't sure if it could be expected with the Diamond one.

Thanks so much for the help!

19 minutes ago, OrlandoDad said:

You getting anywhere?  I'm not

An hour in - they opened a ticket. I was advised to keep calling in to check the status.  How's it going with you? Just to add, it advises my booking is locked when I attempt to access "pay now" via the link in the email. Good times!

47 minutes ago, CruisingfromClayton said:

I just received one as well for our cruise in Aug. It advises "balance due" with an account balance due of $0. I'll send good vibes while listening to the hold music with you!

So I am on with RCCL. They are stating the their system identified a portion of my final payment (roughly $40) as an overpayment, which was refunded to my credit card. Both the email and my landing page show a balance of zero so there is no way for me to remit payment. I believe my favorite part of this conversation was the statement that my cruise will cancel within 48 hours if I don't settle the balance. Dear Lord! 

I just received one as well for our cruise in Aug. It advises "balance due" with an account balance due of $0. I'll send good vibes while listening to the hold music with you!

Be super careful - CVS has been known for last minute cancellations of testing. It was a huge issue back in October - so much so that we went ahead and did the proctored/home testing. It was super easy - all three of us sat at our dinner table and performed the tests one-by-one. Good luck and hopefully it won't be an issue for much longer! 

4 hours ago, CrznTxn said:

This is in our Cruise Planner for our cruise next week. The "learn to play" in the casino we have purchased onboard. Hope yours shows up soon.

Thanks CrznTxn - we sail in August and are basically in the infancy stage of planning but were starting with our 'staples', and this is one. Appreciate the response!

Hopefully it'll come back: seems like a silly profit-maker to abandon. I appreciate the feedback guys!

I'm just chock full of questions this week so thank you in advance for your patience here! On our last cruise (and the ones before it), RCCL had the option to buy $25 in casino cash - came with gaming lessons. When we cashed ours in, we were provided with "Complimentary Drink Vouchers" to be used in the casino bar. They also had a pre-pay for arcade games. Both are missing - is anyone aware if they've discontinued that option? My daughters enjoyed time in the arcade and I like the ability to set aside a hundred or so for the casino.

Thank you!

On the Oasis class, we missed the parade, the character breakfast, and although I can't name many of them, the Compass spanning multiple pages, full of way-too-many choices of things to do. I bring up the last as it was a serious issue on our cruise on Oasis this past October: because there were limited activities, even the remote activities were full. For example, my daughters and I decided to show up 30 minutes early for the daily trivia so that we could grab a drink and our 'choice' of seats. We were stopped at the entrance as no seats were available... FOR TRIVIA. Same went for evening karaoke sessions. Unless you committed to arriving an hour early, most events were impossible to attend. They made an amazing effort to return us to sea but unless you wanted to attend the art auction for a fifth time, there weren't the wide selection of activities we are accustomed to. 

2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I like Danny's videos (although when you're someone who watches them frequently you can get tired of hearing "I'm a big guy, I'm 6'6" and "I love ice cream", and watching him try to putt at mini golf and shoot hoops), but I choose to support MEI Travel (I also have Michelle as my agent, but there are many fine agents there).  I'm one who kind of feels like Royal Caribbean Blog is kind of an odd sort of "family" and MEI is an extension of that.  She's never steered me wrong!

Don't forget about having to bathe his kids... that's a constant on his suite reviews! 

2 hours ago, Sharla said:

Sort of- TAs make payments, changes to your cruise such as the ship/sail date, change staterooms, etc. 

Cruise Planner- that's mostly you. I do it for some clients in complicated situations or if they really need it, but for the most part people would rather do the Cruise Planner themselves. 

Royal Up- you can do it yourself. Sometimes it's actually cheaper to upgrade through the TA and not through Royal Up.

If you want to transfer your bookings to a TA, you can, but they must have been booked less than 30 days ago and not paid in full.

So if I booked it more than 30 days ago, I'm on my own? This is bad news 

I am trying to manage 4 reservations simultaneously and am finding it to be a bit overwhelming. I've read a number of posts on this site from individuals who are either thrilled or have regrets from booking under an agent. Would you please share the benefits of having a travel agent manage your reservation? Can I still try for Royal Up? Am I effectively severing my ability to communicate with RCCL altogether? Appreciate the experiences!

Hey guys! We will be sailing on Allure August 6th for the 8 night Southern Caribbean out of Ft Lauderdale. We booked 3 cabins on deck 6 mid-ship ahead of my sister deciding to go. As she was concerned being close to the elevators mid-ship, she is looking into cabin 6326, two from the stern, close to the aqua theater, kitty-corner to Sabor.  It looks like she would be able to access her cabin from the aqua theater deck. Does anyone know if there is outside access or would she need to walk the hallway closer to the inside elevators to access her cabin? Also, I know that I've read to avoid the cabins behind Johnny Rockets at all costs due to noise: does anyone know if she'll have issues with noise in this cabin? Thank you for your insight!

48 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Yes they are!  We did the UDP on Allure in October and we thought it was worth it (usually is on an Oasis-class ship).

Thanks SpeedNoodles! They noted an additional fee for Izumi and as Chops was far more expensive, I assumed it wasn't. 

Happy holidays! ISO information on the unlimited dining program - specifically for Allure. Is Chops included? Is Johnny Rockets? Trying to determine if it'll be used enough to justify the expense. Thanks guys!

3 hours ago, DanielB said:

I sail Oasis this Sunday and got my upgrade email  at 11:50a this morning.  I see others on FB have posted that they have received theirs as well.  I am no expert at all just sharing.

Thank you so much DanielB! I had assumed as much - hope you got the cabin you wanted!   See you on board soon!

Hey guys! I know there are multiple threads out there on Royal Up. This question specifically goes out to anyone who has sailed (or will be sailing) on Oasis of the Seas, primarily to appease my two cabin-mates, who were "JUST SURE" we were going to win  . We sail this Sunday and haven't heard a word, plus all 3 offers are still pending and can be modified. That coupled with the cabin categories I bid on having all disappeared from inventory, I'm assuming we didn't win. Two questions to the group - has anyone both bid on and won an upgrade on the 10/17 sailing? Or if you've sailed on Oasis since lockdown, how far in advance did you hear ahead of departure? I understand that it's a crap shoot to win an upgrade but would prefer to set expectations accordingly for my daughters so appreciate your experience. 

Question - if it is raining/thunderstorms in CocoCay, is the Thrill Waterpark closed? I saw the weather provision under the hot air balloon attraction but nothing under the waterpark. Asking as the language for cancellation under T&Cs notes that you can cancel CocoCay excursions up to 48 hours ahead of arrival at the port and know that my daughters would see little value in going on waterslides in the rain...

I understand that suite guests are able to board an hour earlier than your reserved time. Our sailing for Oasis was pushed to a 7pm departure. Is it safe to assume that they won't board anyone until 12pm? We successfully moved to that time a few weeks ago so I wasn't sure if there would be any value arriving at 11am...

Do cruise documents need to be printed out or is the app sufficient?

4 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

True..and while we can blame Royal IT for not figuring out how to apply the 5% charge like they do at the cashier cage it will ultimately be abuse that makes them figure it out. 

Ashley, do you happen to know if there's a cap (either daily or for the duration of the cruise) for the advances? 

5 hours ago, BrianB said:

Sail away is from Bayonne so we do not pass the Statue of Liberty. She’s further up the harbor…as is all of Manhattan. We pull out, turn right and head for the bridge. 
Once in a while, usually for publicity photos, the ship will turn left and head upriver to the statue…spin around…then head back down to the bridge. 
We still have views of the statue off in the distance and the downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines. Going under the bridge is very interesting as there are just a couple of feet clearance. The ship lowers her funnels so she can squeeze by. Nice view from midship on the upper deck. Did you receive an email regarding the departure time changing? Usually it’s at four…but the last two trips I took in Sept it was pushed back to five. Even if it is at six…you should have enough time to get to dinner at Chops…providing there is no delay leaving the dock…and you go right after we clear the bridge. You dine at your pace…they just allow a general time frame for dining. Enjoy the cruise! I’ll be there also.

Hey BrianB! Thank you for the info - and yes, I received that email. Strange as this week they departed at 5pm but ours is pushed to 6? I believe you and I are the only ones from the Roll Call - very excited to jut be on board! See you next week! 

~Kimber

59 minutes ago, Big Red said:

     Just Update from yesterday..  All but one of our bids have expired last night(9-days out).  One shows pending(the one we wanted to get the most, will give those details later).  We checked the website for available rooms still available for our cruise, and all the rooms have the same amount still available.  With having all but one offer expired, that is usually a good sign from what I have seen on these posts.  Will update in in the following days to let everyone know if we got out upgrade or not.  As of this morning we are 8-days till sailing!  And so looking forward to just getting away!

    Again this blog has been a great help in navigating and learning the process of RoyalUp, and what to look for, and excited when I hear someone else get an upgrade as well!

What ship are you sailing on Big Red? Good luck on your Royal Up!!!!