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On 10/20/2022 at 9:39 AM, PatsFanBrian said:

This will be our first time back on a Quantam class ship since the initial sailing of Quantum (2014).

This is a Southern Caribbean & Perfect Day itinerary.  It will make up for our recent June sailing which had to divert from Aruba and Curacao due to a tropical storm.  We want to get back to those stops, plus we really enjoy Coco Cay.

Only 457 long days to go.

1 hour ago, PatsFanBrian said:

One year from today.......

Ill be on that ship in 2 days. For 4 weeks.

13 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

 

Even that statement contradicts itself - "guarantee to get you to the ship" vs "do everything possible to get you to your cruise". Will they do everything possible? Probably...whatever that really means. But there's no total guarantee they can get you to the ship. They can't add seats, or flights, and often times Air2Sea tickets have special terms and conditions versus "normal" tickets so you may not be a priority to the airlines even if Air2Sea wishes you were. When it's a Caribbean cruise, which often visit islands with fairly limited flights, it starts becoming clearer and clearer that it may not be as easy as they want you to believe. 

If they cant deliver, they eat the costs for refunds. l have had changed flights from day of to day after. They paid for the hotel and any added cost for the flight. Its basically an insurance policy built into the price. Plus they guarantee the lowest price. Always worked for me.  But I am retired and dont give a hoot for changes, and further to that all my cruises are comped through Club Royale.  I can cancel to the day of without any financial obligations.  If you are a gambler, this is the ONLY way to cruise.IMO

54 minutes ago, KJones said:

RC does not allow this anymore.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/different-departure-port-city

I never read that before. Interesting, because if you book through Air2Sea, it is allowed. 

This post is for experienced  Club Royale gamblers  who have achieved either Prime, Signature or Masters status.

My wife is Signature and I am Prime.  We enjoy the benefits and complimentary cruises we have earned.  We have already achieved that status level for The April 1st reboot date which will take us into April 1st 2024.  We both play , but from the start we both play ONE sea pass card in order to boost the points quickly and present a stronger level of rated consistent play.  Once we reach Signature, we double up on the other to achieve Prime.   After that we coast and take it easy and enjoy with mild moderate gambling, as to achieve Masters, it would take far too much of a bank roll to get there and perhaps not worth the comped Grand Suite.  Many times having achieved 8,000 points you now have earned a Junior Suite.  You can also combine your spouses certificate if one is awarded.   So here's the question, should a "Prime" player continue with the assistance of the "Signature " partner continue to play to earn  Signature status?   If that is the goal, then getting there has weakened the Signature players rating.... as far as I know.    We get an annual complimentary cruise with balcony with Signature status, and a Inside room with Prime. Combine those and  you get a Junior suite.  When 2 Signatures are combined , you get a Grand Suite or higher.   Everybody is different I know, but I am researching what is the best way to achieve  their goals.  Our bank roll is $5,000 most of the time.   Looking forward to some strategies from seasoned Club Royale Players.  THX,

Just order the second entree. Otherwise you might be in for a long wait second time around

I always book Air2Sea. A guarantee to get you on the ship. The Royal Caribbean Air2Sea program is a seamless, worry-free way to purchase flights in conjunction with a cruise reservation. Book airfare through our Air2Sea program and should an issue arise, our Emergency Travel Team will work with our airline partners to do everything possible to get you to your cruise.   If you booked this yourself or through an agent and your flight is delayed, then you will have to make arrangements to get yourself to the next port.   I suppose this is why, many people say book the day before your cruise to have more peace of mind.   If Rhapsody of the Seas leaves at 10:pm, you should be fine.  Not sure what time they embark. 

4 hours ago, fa-li said:

For an all day private tour for two with VIPCuracao, it was $325.  This included our guide, entrance fee for the caves, and her fuel costs for driving us all over the island.  We paid for our own lunch in a restaurant she chose for us based on our preferences - and bought her lunch but that was not expected or required.  Of courses we tipped as well, I don't remember what, probably another seventy five or  hundred.  

Sounds a tad pricey., but thanks!

The showers in the cruise cabins are so small,I bring a lazy susan and just soap the walls and spin around a few times!

On 1/12/2023 at 6:16 PM, Pooch said:

Nope

Lol, wait til they go complete digital. Bring your phone.     

16 minutes ago, KevinJ said:

4 days into our 8 days on Odyssey and I’ve been quite pleased with the MDR, had two Indian dishes which I’ve never tried before and found them very nice. So far we’ve had a positive experience.

Good news. Ill be there this Sunday

23 minutes ago, Lmort53 said:

Good Day to All

I chose to start a new request, because I was really getting confused trying to go through the previous discussions about this.

My husband and I have a (hopefully) simple question.

if we do not purchase a beverage package, what is the cost of a simple cup of coffee or a soft drink? I’m just not sold on the price of the beverage package (which to me is ridiculous that you have to pay for non-alcoholic beverages?) BUT what am I going to end up paying if I don’t reserve it?  We’re rarely alcoholic drinkers, maybe one or two each - and probably not even everyday.  Anyone have some advice? TIA
PS We’re sailing on the Enchantment of the Seas, Western Mediterranean Cruise to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Looking forward to visiting the ports in September

If you have a suite, you will get a coffee machine similar to Nespresso. Free.  Sodas are $3.25  Latte $4.25     Coffee in Main dining room free.

17 hours ago, SpicyCherry said:

Edge is a beautiful ship and you will absolutely LOVE the Captain. He was hilarious!! As I said previously, we really took Luminae for granted....I suspect it was because we thought it would be similar to Coastal Kitchen, which doesn't always 'blow up our skirts'. NOT!! Luminae is way better and worth dining there multiple times, both for lunch and dinner. We did not try breakfast but will remedy that situation on Beyond next year....And I agree with you that you get what you pay for. In my opinion, the extra you pay for Celebrity is worth it because you do get more.

sold.

20 hours ago, Avfrattner said:

Only 400ish points lol.

15 hours ago, Phd1003 said:

Sounds like you Aussie know how to party...

well that gets you zero. I thought you were a high roller. lol

https://www.facebook.com/reel/535330515309490?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw

1 hour ago, Traveler said:

I think you will find there allot of good information , the problem, like in trip advisor people tend to add revue when they want to complain about something so as any site like that you need to read it with a grain of salt.

I myself,  go to read the CC royal Caribbean boards whenever I want to humor myself , when I want real good direct easy to find info about RCL cruises I always come to this site. 

 

True enough. I know exactly how to  extrapolate  from Trip Advisor.   I always look at how many contributions the reviewer has posted. In most cases the extreme negative ones are only  a  "one off" reviewer. ( revenge post)  Then I look at the extreme 5 star positive reviews... again , one off"  reviewers. and not seasoned experienced travellers.   So I try to find middle ground if its there.   Apples to apples comparisons.    I think mainstream cruise ships are all basically very very similar. Royal seems to have an edge with more "bang for your buck" meaning best value equation. Is it 5 star luxury? No. Not even in a sky suite.  You have to go to the ultra luxury premium lines for that... and usually very few complaints.  You get what you pay for.... seems to be true enough.

On 7/21/2022 at 11:09 AM, McFU said:

This will be our 2nd cruise overall, 1st with Royal Caribbean.  We really like the itinerary this sailing has and can't wait to see what is different from our Carnival Cruise we took earlier this year.

The kids are really excited about Perfect Day at CoCoCay since we didn't make it to the beach this year.

15 minutes ago, McFU said:

Getting close now!  Only about a month away!

Ill be getting off that date after 4 weeks. Great ship

7 hours ago, Avfrattner said:

I will begin with saying I am very loyal to royal l and will always still be loyal to royal.

So I like to break down my post cruise reviews in three parts, the good, the bad and the fantastic!

 

The Good- 

Being back on a cruise ship after the pandemic is quite a feeling and a good feeling of that and knowing crew can again earn income.

Being a suite and having some form of access to coastal kitchen each dinner was amazing.

Was given a 70% refund on the key.

Was 70% refund on three night dining package.

Drinks package as per usual, got my worth x2 lol

Well......that was the good.

 

The Bad- 

Port staff absolutely stressed the hell out of guests in the key line and suites line, I don't know whether it was a miscommunication between Port staff and Royal Caribbean, but it was poor when they were threatening to push people back to their arranged embarkation time regardless of their status.

We missed three-port days out of four, and only got compensation of $200 per state room if you're in a suite. I will not add to the rumours of why royal keeps missing certain ports from sydney and ship capacities from Australia...... Should have of sailed from Brisbane on Quantum lol.

The key program is an absolute joke! Tried to do the the good thing by booking everything first up. We were told to go from the sports desk to Northstar to ripcord to call the number to go to guest services and even try booking it at focus????? Also, the key lunch took over an hour to get to the mains.

People cutting lines was absolutely horrendous, someone would be in line and let 10 in with them. 

Not so much a bad thing as it is my own fault but I'm never ever booking a cruise in school holidays. It was like Lord of the flies lol. What 1am curfew hahahahaha.

Parents letting children gamble on the slot machines right near the entrance of casino Royale. I saw on four occasions children aged from 10 to 15 ish gambling.

Underage drinking and I'm not saying just on the cusp of being legal. I'm saying I saw a 11-year-old with a vodka in a lift.

Underage smoking and not even in the designated smoking areas.

Was lightly hit with the craps stick at the casino on the hand by a certain dealer, I was new to the game of craps and didn't know the rules too well. Also, it wasn't a mistake because I saw him hit other guests on the hand throughout the sailing. I wonder what would happen if you hit the crew on the hand with a craps sitck????

Internet was absolutely non-existent. Apparently the ship server crashed.

Had a really bad dinner at izums, salmon had a metallic taste, Tuna looked dry however the kingfish was good. I must say I've had two really good dining experiences at izumi's in the past.

Royals lack of care for overworking the crew with missed port days, I'd rather royal just close the casino and reduce staff shipwide then work these poor people to the bone, absolutely hated that and I felt bad even having to ask for a drink from these absolutely legends!... Royal if you want to miss a port day due to "1.5 m swell"...your loss....not the crew!

People defecating and vomiting all over the ship. My heart goes out to the poor crew who clean up after these pigs. Folks who get that messy should be charged a fee and the fee should passed in full to said crew who cleans it up!

Royal cutting back on jr suites and diamond members, Enuff said!

 

The fantastic- 

The crew! The crew are always amazing and fantastic. Doesn't matter. Post COVID pre-COVID no COVID.....They are amazing!

The service is that amazing, thats why I always tip everytime even in Oz, our tips are included cause most Aussies are cheap ####'s and don't understand "American based customs" hahaha

 

Now.....In order of legend status.

Coastal kitchen - Eguardo, a amazing guy who will go 1001%. Eguardo, if you ever read this, I hope you got to see your kids and sorry we missed you at the airport.

Coastal kitchen - Wef and Nomsa, booked us in every night even tho we were in a jr suite.

Casino bar staff - Umeish, I did not need to even ask for a drink nor give my seapass card. He saw me and bam! My usual drink was there. Great dude!

Casino bar staff - Reymond, when at tables he sorted me out first....every time! Awesome hardworker.

The pub staff - Dinesh, really cool guy always sorted me out and was real...he did not take shit from drunk bogan idiots.

Music hall bar staff - Michael, really nice guy. Service was great and the only person we let make a "Cesar" for us.

Casino staff - Miriam, awesome dealer, she always had the time and patience with not just us but other players. 

Casino staff - Lay, another great patient dealer who also was working with her husband on the same sailing! Really good to hear that they had a couple's room.

Casino management - Bobby, good old Bob. I've seen Bob on quite a few sailings and he's always a good laugh and will always help you with problems as above with two other shithead staff. Good to see that he's climbed the ranks to casino manager!

Casino management - Leonardo, He was great. Knew how to have a laugh and really looked after us.

Ship cleaner - Mansesh, I saw on two occasions of him cleaning feces from the Royal Promenade and three lots of vomit.

Guest services - All of the staff they absolutely copped it...poor guys!

 

Summary-

So in summary if you were to ask me, would I cancel this cruise that I just went on? The answer would be yes. A very bold hard.....Yes......waste of money!

Did I let it spoil my trip......nope!

I do feel like Royal in Australia has dropped the ball overall. They do lie to you and I will not get into how I know but I do know.

I don't know if it is a cost recovery measure from COVID. I'm not sure.

But one thing I do know is it is not the royal that I was used to pre-COVID.

Will I cruise with Royal again? Of course I will and only Royal.

But will I do a different form of non cruising holiday? Yes! 

I think I shall be waiting till they are in a positive cash flow position.

 

Thank you for reading!

I think all the cruises out in that area had similar issues due to weather. How many points did you score in the casino? Enough for another Junior?  Minors in casinos should be reported and escorted out.  Have you considered Celebrity(sister to Royal)  and their casinos? 

On 1/16/2023 at 5:35 AM, FREDDY said:

I have the soda package but where can I get water to put in my soda cup ?

the taps in your sink.

Frequent Royal cruisers are obviously a member of this blog. Just curious if anybody refers to Cruise Critic for up to date data?   I believe it is the same company as TripAdvisor which I participate frequently on my land resort vacations. , and find that very helpful as I can contact the poster directly to find out more detail on the property they just reviewed.   RoyalCaribbeanblog has been helpful getting answers in detail much better than the monday night Q&A which is the same old ...over and over again.... and obviously great for newbies. 

1 hour ago, cruisefam86 said:

How is the weather cruising in mid February out of Galveston? 

14 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

We cruised in February 2020 and 2022 from Galveston. Live blog posts are in my signature, but here are the weather highlights"

February 13 out of Galveston last year had snow on the drive down from Dallas. We had to put on sweaters when in the shaded part of the pool deck for sail away, but it was warm enough in the sun on the upper deck to shed that layer. Day 2 was about 65° F. Day 3 was still to cold for the pools in my opinion. Day 4, 5, and most of 6 were great warm, but around 4pm on the 6th day, you could definitely tell we were headed back into cooler territory. Day 7 was too cold for the pools. No weather issues when we arrived back in Galveston, just a little chilly. 

February 7, 2020 we had snow and ice, not in Houston, but in Dallas and Lubbock where all of our party was coming from. We moved up our drive and MIL's flight a day to miss that mess. I don't recall hearing about delays at the airports after the weather hit, but I'm sure there were some. Build in time for connections / cancellations if you are flying. It was warmer on day 1 on this cruise, but not by much - no sweaters, but we were all still in jeans in pictures. Seas got very rocky on this trip. We came back to 40° weather and fog. Debarkation was delayed, and we finally made it to our car about 11am. 

Yes, it can be warm in February in Texas too, but after two trips where the kids couldn't use the pools for a couple days, we decided we would push future spring trips to April. 

 

On 1/16/2023 at 5:30 AM, ScottD said:

Looking at the gifts section of my online planner and all of the sudden, cooler bags filled with various drinks have appeared. You can get them with water, beer, soda or hard seltzers!  Seems like a pretty cool little thing to have waiting in the room, water is 25, soda is 35 and beer\seltzers are 55.  Are these new, or have they just finally popped up for my cruise? 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/account/cruise-planner/category/gifts?bookingId=4225955&shipCode=OA&sailDate=20230129

Yup, is just ordered Coronas for the room. Being Diamond plus there is no charge.

25 minutes ago, Dr. Facilier said:

We've got a balcony stateroom  - which is more than we usually get on  DCL - the price was unbeatable!

Reading past reviews on Disney, the value equation is simply not there,,,, unless you are a Disney fan fanatic.   Royal offers so much more bang for the buck.  If you want real Disney, then go to Disney World  but everything is changing real fast in that domain too. 

Wife and I will be there for 4 weeks!

What vegetable isn't allowed on cruise ships? 

Leeks!

On 6/21/2022 at 9:37 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

I second this one.  It is really fun.

On 6/29/2022 at 3:22 PM, fa-li said:

For what you want to do in Curacao, I highly recommend reaching out to Edo at VIP Curacao.  http://www.viptourscuracao.com/  He will customize a tour for you that can include all three, and your guide will drive you everywhere.  We have done this twice now, and had two completely different tour days, both amazing. 

We happened to have Bernice training as a guide on our first tour, and she was so good we requested her again when we went back.  She took us to local lunch spots with great food both times.  We didn't want to shop, but it was an option and she did show us around the shopping area in case we wanted to go back.  In addition to all the usual tour stops - the plantation, a snorkel one trip at the turtle spot and the other at the tug boat, scenic overlooks, the bat cave, etc - she also was willing to hike to the top of Mt. Cristobal with us and on our second visit she walked us through a neighborhood that has engaged in a mural painting revitalization project, where we saw some beautiful paintings and learned a lot about local culture.  Basically, anything that you are interested in, this tour will cater to.  

All of their guides are very good and Edo's communication is superb.  Just tell him what you are thinking and he will make it happen.  Or, if you have no idea, ask him to curate a best day for you. 

what are the fees?