Traveling Mike

On 11/27/2022 at 3:29 AM, twangster said:

How they handle divorces and kids turning 18 isn't documented.  

As such it varies on an individual basis.  Some get to retain status while there are reports of others losing their status.  

Absent of written policy its totally YMMV.

It is in the written policy

A Crown & Anchor Society member can be added into a relationship with other family members in the same household and receive equivalent tier status; however Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system described above. Pinnacle Club member tier status will not be awarded to dependents if earned by their parent and/or guardian. Pinnacle Club member tier status can only be earned by an individual, spouse or significant other by one of them accumulating 700 Cruise Points or more in the CAS program. For all tiers except Pinnacle Club, a relationship is defined as a spouse or significant other and children less than 18 years old. For Pinnacle Club a relationship is considered a spouse and/or significant other.

13 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

No, this is not accurate at all. The points are correct but “his” status now Diamond. If the child is under 18, they are Diamond as well. 

You need to read what I wrote.  They will cruise at Diamond level, but their true status is not Diamond level.  If they divorce, he will go back to gold level.  He only has her level as long as they are married.  The child will hold the Diamond Level when they turn 18 but they will not move to Diamond + until they have enough cruise days on their own to reach that level.

When I was on the Ovation in July there was a person in the CS Line punching holes for people.

Maybe this visual will help this confusing subject.  Each person will earn their own status as a C&A member.  In the example below you have earned Diamond Status, Your husband is only Gold Status, and your child is Emerald based on the 7 cruises.

Now with that said:

1. When you cruise as a family your husband and child will cruise as a Diamond member because you are Diamond, and your child is under 18 years old.
2. When your child reaches 18, they will hold the status that you have BUT they will not go any higher until they have earned it from their cruising.

I am home and I was very happy with the Starlink on the Navigator of the Seas doing an Ensenada Cruise.  When doing a speed test, it did not look great BUT I was able to do all my work and stream movies at night.  On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to do Microsoft Team meetings with the camera of myself running.  During one of the meetings, I was able to do the Teams Meeting and Remote into our servers at work to check data for the meeting.  At night there was not much on TV, so I loaded Netflix on my laptop and watched movies without any delay.  If I get this type of service on my other cruises, I will be happy and will be able to work on vacation.

Note:  I work on Vacation to be able to take more vacations. 

Something I just learned while I was on the Navigator of the Seas.  I have the Unlimited Dining Plan and as soon as I got on the ship, I got a burger.  Later on, that day I went back to try their chicken and was told that I only get one meal a day on the UDP.  All the other places I can have as much as I want but not at Johnny Rockets.

PS:  I just went to Playmakers and got some good chicken wings.

here is something for you network people.  Yesterday I signed into my Microsoft account, and it would not let me until I verified it was me.  The problem is I was signing in from Canada.  Yes, I was between LA and Ensenada and my IP said I was in Canada.  Today I am in Ensenada, and I am showing I am in LA.

These are the kind of issues where I call RCL and ask for a supervisor.  Do not tell the person anything or they will try to fix it and waste your time.  Just insist on a supervisor.  Then explain to the supervisor you did not approve the travel agent and you expect RCL to remove them. (period).  it is their mess up without your permission.

12 hours ago, mistertomatohead said:

I'm not sure if this was answered before. Are the free sites like RoyalCaribbean.com listed from login.com a good indication of the experience you would get if you paid for Internet? I was on Navigator of the Seas from 11/11-11/18 apparently before they switched to Starlink and loading Royalcaribbean.com was terrible.  Are they doing something different with the free access versus paid Internet?

There are three different levels, and they are all different.  The more you pay the less restrictions are placed on your data.

15 hours ago, twangster said:

Curious what public IP addresses they are using and if it stays consistent over the cruise.  What do you get if you browse to ipchicken.com ?

I am a computer programmer, and the network stuff is beyond me.  When I run the speed test the IP address changes every time.  The first 4 stay the same and the last 5 change.

This is on the Navigator of the Seas from my Cabin.  I am able to play Matt's latest YouTube video without a delay while I am remoted into my server at work.

It amazes me how many people have opinions and have not done their research.  Starlink is an entirely new concept of satellite internet.  As far as throttling the internet they have to do it like most companies.  The bandwidth is only so big and they need enough to go around.  

Update:  Nov 19, 2022

• Freedom of the Seas
• Independence of the Seas
• Liberty of the Seas
• Enchantment of the Seas
• Oasis of the Seas
• Navigator of the Seas
• Allure of the Seas
•  

I am cruising on the Navigator next week and wonder if it has Starlink.  I have searched and the only thing I can find is Matt's article from October 14th.  This was his list.  Can anyone help update the list? 

Note:  List below updated Nov 19, 2022

• Allure
• Enchantment
• Freedom
• Harmony
• Independence
• Jewel (very close)
• Liberty
• Mariner (very close)
• Navigator
• Oasis
• Symphony

I am guessing you have kids because of your name and two cabins.  The basic gratuity comes automatically out, and I am assuming you are talking about tipping on top of that.  (Lots of assumptions).  I have traveled for years with me, and my son and I have always done my tip up front.  The room steward will introduce themselves the first day and that is when I give them a cash tip and apologize for what is going to happen.  I tell them my son will come in a leave a mess when I am not there, and I am sorry and hope the tip helps a little.  Now that he is grown up and I cruise alone I still give a tip the first day from habit.  I think most of the time it gives me a little better service and I feel better for asking for extras.

Royal Caribbean has a bus that runs between FL and Miami.  When I did a RCL cruise with a b2b on Celebrity, they put me on the bus for free.  The bus went from Miami to the FL Airport to the FL Port.  I am sure they have one that goes the other way.

Good time to Quit

I am sure it is related to the server issues Royal have been having all day.  The strange thing is the origination I work for had major server issues today also.  Makes you wonder what upgrades Microsoft pushed out last night.

1 hour ago, Scooter6251 said:

Their website is shaky at best anytime of the year.  Black Friday seems far beyond their capability.  Sad how poor their IT department functions.

I am almost ready to retire from IT.  Maybe they need to pay me lots of money to fix their sites.  It just takes a little bit of common sense.  

I love Cabo on my own.  I would recommend getting off the street that is next to the bay and get ready to say "No Thank you" 50 million times while you do.

• Food:   La Taquiza Centro - Google Maps  Last time we were there they had to go get someone off of break that spoke English.  Food was great.
• Drink:  Monkey Business Bar 
• Beach:  Just have one of the water taxis take you to lover's beach.  

If you are looking for cost effective in Miami I always stay in an Airbnb.  

I do not know what will work for you but here are a few things from me and my son cruising for the last 15 years.

1. He had to do sit down dinners with me.  If I would let him, he would spend 24x7 in the kid's area.  What did help him is they would bring his meal when we got our appetizer.  Then he would eat his desert when we had our main meal.  Then he could excuse himself to go play while I enjoyed the remaining of my meal.  Yours are a little young to make their own way to the kids' area but I think I read someplace that the ship would escort kids to the kids area.
2. Plan everything but realize you will only do 1/2 of it.  You do not have to do everything.  Don't be afraid to say I don't want to do that now.
3. Make time to rest and watch the water go by.

He does not live on the ship.  He might have been doing some B2B but you will find there are people on all cruise lines that think they are entitled.  I am 62 years old and have been on over 30 cruises and I am entitled to wait in line with everyone else, apologize when I make a mistake and cut un line, and be nice to everyone I can.

33 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Sadly I can't check the price of my cruise because the cabin category we booked is sold out unless you guys have a suggestion on how that can be accomplished?

When my category is sold out, I keep an eye on the category's above mine.  If the price gets to one I am willing to pay I will upgrade.

In the Online Planner (RCL Site) you just select the Dining tab.  Near the bottom you will see My Time Dinning.  Click the option to schedule a dinner and one of the options is to "Add a Guest".  Then the form below will pop up to add your friends.  you will need their information to add them to your reservation.