Swar

8 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

That was before they started charging people.

Ok, I'll sign up for a test next week and report back. Retired and have nothing else to do with my time.

19 minutes ago, Moby Dick said:

Oh, so you are Don Juan OR Mal Content

My wife would say no to Don Juan and yes to mal content.

I would rather sit next to a fully infected, coughing COVID person than a smoker. Saying that, I live in the casino with all my peeps. I just wear a mask and cough a lot and complain about my recent positive test. lol

One time, at band camp...

Door #3, it's me when I get bored.

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Others have done that and then been told they will be charged when they show up. I would verify it will be free if you actually plan to use them at some point.

I used them a week ago with no issues. 

I just made a fake appointment with my local Walgreens near Tampa Florida for a rapid test (then cancelled it). Seems the same as usual - free. Except: They REALLY want your insurance info now, but still free to me. Walgreens does appointments about a week out in my area. 

7 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Something seems off with this calculation. You are going to get far more then 10 points in an hour at $10/hand. 

Getting points at the tables is quantum science level stuff. Generally though, $10 bets will get you 10 points an hour (totally subjective). Slots every $5 dollars betting will get you a point and $10 video poker betting gets you a point (totally objective). My wife and I both made prime on our first 7 day cruise on 1-8 April. It's the churn that does it. 

You can also disembark at the Port and do things. They will give you a pass to speed your way back on board.

Go for the Royal Up. A view or balcony would be great. Location, might end up being  good. It can't be bad, because your on the Wonder. We did a Boardwalk balcony. It was worth trying. but we will stick to ocean view balconies from now on. More air flow, quieter, and the ocean is a nice backdrop. To each his own.

Some ships allow you to use your phone to open cabin doors. The wonder is a tap opener. Most ships you slide the card in like a hotel. 26 ships and a dozen ways yo get into your room. On the Wonder, they do not want you to punch out a lanyard hole that may disrupt the internal electronics. Most other ships it's ok. Guest services have the hole punch.

You can always get extra "keys" that will only be used to gain entry to other rooms under your preview.

8 minutes ago, Spang1974 said:

As long as they keep Wonderland though October so my Sister can try it for her birthday that will be fine by me, LoL

We did Wonderland once. As an entertainment venue, it was amusing. As a place to eat food - not so good. Pouring the hot caramel sauce on the dessert globe was neat though.

Hooked, on the Wonder, has the best steak (and you get included lobster). We have eaten at Chops over a dozen times - very good overall. I tried to deviate from the filet one time and was severely disappointed and sent the bone in ribeye  back for a filet. Mason Jar is also better than Chops. RCL needs to banish Wonderland and bring in  Hooked / Mason Jar as replacements.

Short answer: You can pay for as many rooms as you want, but can only use one casino offer at a time, per cruise, for each individual. Can you have a paid room and a free room? not sure, but probably. Club Royal can answer that.

Long Answer: Paid for rooms is a different category than Casino "free" rooms. I can book two people in one free room for the same price as booking a person in two separate free rooms (I pay taxes and gratuity based only on the person assigned to a room). The problem is that I cannot use two offers in my name on the same cruise. So, I book one room in my name and another in my wife's name using our separate offers (we both usually get similar offers). We can then add an extra person in each room for the price of taxes and gratuity. Then we link the other couple's (my kids/friends) credit card to their Seapass Card and get an extra room access key so that the right partners are in the right room. I can also combine each of our offers to get an upgraded room many times (a balcony plus an interior room usually gets us a Jr. Suite). We get multiple rooms for the points and the potential to add people onto our cruises for a very reasonable price. Another benefit is that we can cancel at any time and get our tax and gratuity refunded in total. At present, we each have 4 offers, for cruises, between now and December that I cannot use due to time constraints. For the price of "churning" enough money to make Prime, it is a heck of a benefit. One cruise, we even get $750 of freeplay due to booking the cruise while on a cruise. My entire gambling losses, over the last year, would not amount to one of my Jr. Suites on one of my cruises. We also do not do the drink package (free casino drinks and 4 Diamond drinks + free Wifi for one device). We have our fellow travelers just pay for drinks a la carte.

Generally, it's a crap shoot - mainly affecting embarkation/debarkation days. The ships can adjust their sailing dates and locations to avoid most of the hurricane effects. Actually safer on a ship than on land in most cases. I know of very few cruise ships sunk (stray ice burg, torpedoes, pilot error) - one river cruise boat that sunk ,due to adverse weather was in China in 2015. Google may prove me wrong lol

We had problems just staying in our same balcony without upgrading. We moved our stuff to the 2nd room, went off the ship to shop, and they had changed us back to our original room by the time we reboarded.

We did a Boardwalk balcony on the Wonder to test it out. Will not do an inside balcony again, No air movement, loud (especially the aqua show), no water views. Great to try, but not our thing. 

We did 5 cruises on Brilliance back in Jan/Feb 22. Cancelled the 6th one due to being tired of the ship. We stay on the ships a lot now, but do get off on new islands to look around. Our goal is to get on each of the RCL ships and then visit every port possible over the next few years.

2 hours ago, RogerC1 said:

Dang @Swar, I am jealous of your upcoming cruise list. Good to know on the boarding times though. I want to be early and avoid the crazy lines I've been seeing on Youtube.

RogerC1,

I'm retired and try to do a cruise a month now. See how long that last. So far, so good.

Go with the 10 AM. I have yet to be actually denied earlier boarding at 4 different Ports. Seattle was the lone exception.

We had an 11 PM departure out of Haines, Alaska. They did not open the casino on Radiance that night.

I like all classes of RCL ships. The Radiance class seems to have less children/teens and is not the "party" class. Plenty to do, but more laid back. My favorite is the Independence followed closely by Wonder. My spouse did not like the Wonder at all - too big and crowded for her. To each his/her/they/them own. lol

I don't mind the test as much as I hate the vaccine mandates. I have friends that I want to cruise with without any shots. They are more than willing to do daily tests.

Unless your room changes it should be okay.