Peter D

We have a suite on Oasis in August.  As this will be a first time for us, we are planning to go to CK as much as possible to try it out.  As always, we will preview the menu and go on nights that interest us.  MDR will be there next time.....

36 minutes ago, Neesa said:

Okay and one more gees, someone kept charging drinks to our accounts after the first two I told the concierge, he tried to help but I heard the person on the other side saying it had to be us! No, we are sailing next week and they had no White Zinfandel so we had water & ginger ale. Okay while not removed 0.00 was reflected on account. Day 3, Day4, Day 5 more drinks, Trellis Bar, Chop's Grill. Problem being there were so many people we avoided this area so someone was just writing down our cabin number or giving our cabin number or the servers in put our number. I had to go to the Guest services several times to have them removed. Ugh, it was so frustrating, so accusatory. I missed my Genie, he/she would have that under control in a minute. Pulling up my account and seeing drinks charged to the cabin felt like a violation, who does this?? Oh boy, Rant OVER!

We were on Symphony back in March while at CocoCay with Independence.  While at the floating bar, the bartenders also just asked for cabin number.  There was nothing preventing a person from picking a random cabin from either ship.  If the cruise line is not going to require the card every time, then they should have given you the benefit of the doubt from the very beginning.  It's surprising and disappointing that guest services would not make it right, because they typically do.  

Depending on when you get to Seward, you might want to consider one of the Kenai Fjord boat tours.  We did one after our northbound to Seward couple weeks ago and it was well worth it.  They generally leave between 10a-12noon, so it might not fit into your timing before all aboard, but if you can do it, I recommend it.

44 minutes ago, Eddy said:

What about drinks? Does elite give you that? Or is it included anyway with Celebrity all incl program?

Here is a link I found for the Celebrity benefits. 

https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/a54eb4aa#/a54eb4aa/1

I'd say they are comparable to the old Diamond/Diamond Plus benefit for RCL.  The drinks are unlimited for 'happy hour' from 5-7pm.

The announcement is perplexing, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.  Keep in mind that many places have 'no refund' policies, but do give store credit.  it just means you cannot get the money back.  It would be interesting to know the reasoning behind the change.  Maybe it is related to the fact that they dropped expiration on FCC and want to limit them going forward.

I would like to see royal Caribbean, go back to showing the refundable pricing option on their website.  I hope with this change they do so. (though I doubt they will).

9 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Canadian border patrol didn't even ask for our arrivecan today, unless it was linked to our declarations printout in which we scanned passports

When we drove to Vancouver, the border agent didn't ask to see it but instead said 'I already have it', so you are probably right.

On 6/1/2022 at 8:41 PM, D Alt said:

Can we collect points just the same with Celebrity? 

As Diamond, D+, and Pinnacle, on your first Celebrity cruise, you get an equivalent status on Celebrity (Elite).  Then you start acquiring points from zero on Celebrity.  Higher levels than Elite must be earned with points on Celebrity.  Further, points obtained on Celebrity do not increase your Royal Caribbean status.  That has been the limitation that I haven't gotten past.  That said, I am also interested in trying Celebrity at some point, but not sure when that will be.

This is a risk we all face traveling abroad for cruises and having to fly back.  The fact that testing is required to come home via plane, but not via car or ship just shows how arbitrary it is.  At the very least, all citizens should be able to freely travel back home without need of testing.  At least with Canada, you have the option to rent a car or take a bus to get back to US.  Then once you are within US, you are free to travel by plane (covid or not).  In Europe that would not be the case of course.

One can argue the ethics of doing that or not, but I have no doubt it happens everyday.  Hopefully the cruise and travel lobbies will be successful in convincing the current administration to drop it (at least for citizens).  

57 minutes ago, shof515 said:

be aware that is an unofficial site and is not from the canada government. Arrivecan is free and there is no payment required like what that site claims

 

here is the official arrivecan form from the canada government:

https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/services/arrivecan.html

Wow  that is pretty sketchy that a 3rd party website would try to get people to pay for the arrivecan forms.  

Not sure of the entire beer listing, but I've not noticed any reduction in availability.  Also, on the Radiance of the Seas (20May2022 sailing), the Quill and Compass Pub was fully open and had several beers on draft including Newcastle Brown Ale.  I saw the standard beers available, Heineken, Amstel Light, Miller Light, Bud Light, Fosters.  I am sure there are others that I cannot recall.

I would expect similar on Serenade of the Seas.

Quick follow up on this topic for those who may be interested. 

We entered Canada via the ArriveCan on 20May2022 to board Radiance of Seas for one way trip to Seward.  We used the cruise terminal as our address where we would be staying in Canada.

Canada Place Cruise Terminal
999 Canada Place    
British Columbia, Canada V6C 3T4

We got on the ship (after a ridiculously long delay) and off we went on our Alaska Adventure, leaving Canada on same day 20May2022.

Three days later (23May2022)... I received an email and telephone call from Canada Health Authorities stating I had been selected for the mandatory PCR test and their records showed I had not done so within the required 24 hour period.  This was the first I had heard about it, 3 days after leaving the country.  Border agent did not say anything about it. 

Anyhow, with all the threats of fines and quarantine facility transfers, I decided to call the general inquiries number provided in the email (1-833-784-4397) and a helpful representative walked me through the steps to change my contact information and certify that I had already left the country 3 days prior.  After it was submitted, I got the email that I was off the hook.

My wife got the same messages the following day....

Anyhow, figured I would share the experience in case it happens to any one else entering Canada for cruises.     

When we entered Canada from Seattle (by car) for our Northbound trip last week, we put the cruise port address:

Canada Place Cruise Terminal
999 Canada Place    
British Columbia, Canada V6C 3T4 

If I were on the southbound, I would do the same.

Radiance canceled the Sitka stop on the May 20 sailing and going to Icy Straits instead.

On 5/14/2022 at 4:46 PM, SFaz said:

Hello. My husband and I are booked for Alaska in September. We were looking to book the Back County Jeep Adventure at Icy Strait Point. We noticed that this excursion is per person versus per Jeep. If it is just the two of us, how likely it is they will put other people in our Jeep? Thanks in advance. 

If you are looking for a similar experience, last July we did this.

Onboard Experience - Royal Caribbean International

The ATVs are two person vehicles and overall I think it was good excursion.

This is where I saw it.

Onboard Experience - Royal Caribbean International

This is the generic description of the excursion on RCL website.  If you look in 'Important notes' it says 'parties under 3 guests will share a jeep'.  If it doesn't say so on your cruise planner booking, maybe that is no longer the case.

On 5/14/2022 at 4:46 PM, SFaz said:

Hello. My husband and I are booked for Alaska in September. We were looking to book the Back County Jeep Adventure at Icy Strait Point. We noticed that this excursion is per person versus per Jeep. If it is just the two of us, how likely it is they will put other people in our Jeep? Thanks in advance. 

If I recall correctly, I think the excursion description states that that Jeeps are shared if less than 3 people.  

Current Cruise Director (CD) List, starting 12-2021 - Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Community

This is a pretty reliable resource for cruise director lists.  Harmony currently has Jeff Arpin.

3 hours ago, Ken Edgar said:

So we are booked on the 1 way North bound Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Seward this Friday.   Today we got an E-mail from RCL  It says that ArriveCAN is needed as the sailing 'leaves and returns' to Canada.   We have no Canadian ports scheduled other than the one we are leaving from.  Is it saying this is required as we might be passing through Canadian waters, or might cross over during a shore excursion in Skagway?  Otherwise, the ship will be returning only with another set of guests so not sure why it would be required.   Not even sure what I would put on the form for destination.   I think it more likely that RCL os just made a mistake in sending this E-mail out for the 1 way sailings.   They were also wrong about Canada requiring ESTA for green card holders.  On this one I kind of understand as the requirement was dropped only a couple weeks ago.  (4/26).  Still seems RCL should be more on top of the ever changing requirements then they are.

 

Dear Guest,

We’re so excited to welcome you onboard for our Canada & Alaska sailing! Before you head to the cruise terminal, we have some important reminders.

ArriveCAN

Since our sailing leaves then returns to Canada, all guests – including Canadians – will need to complete the mandatory ArriveCAN travel information form prior to arriving at the cruise terminal. Guests, or their legal guardians, can complete the form for free at the ArriveCAN website here or via their app available in the AppStore or on Google Play. This form needs to be completed before boarding, and we highly recommend completing this at home since Wi-Fi connection in the terminal is not dependable. Once complete you’ll need to print or show the QR code provided at boarding.

We got the same email.  it does seem like a mistake because it's a one way, but who knows.  Maybe Royal does not want to have different rules for the different sailings.  I guess we just fill out the form pretending that we are returning to Vancouver on 03Jun2022, even though we are not.

Many people do what you are suggesting but I don’t think it always works out.  You are basically “cancelling” your refundable dep reservations and re booking as non refundable.  My experience has been that non refundable pricing goes up over time and you may find that as you get closer to final payment.  
 

i would also recommend keep watching the prices for the refundable and if it drops you can get it adjusted.

In the end, it’s still probably safer to keep it as refundable and see how it goes.  

On 5/12/2022 at 10:11 PM, Sez said:

So are all the quad rooms now only fold out sofa beds (cruising in Australia), I am very disappointed as who wants to share my kids dont and paying all that money and you don't even get a proper bed. Anyone else feel the same.

You might want to consider booking two connected staterooms (or adjacent even).  It probably cost a bit more, but there are definitely benefits to doing so.

3 hours ago, steverk said:

Be sure to read the blog post for day 1 Radiance of the Seas Live Blog | Royal Caribbean Blog. On that sailing they needed to have an ArriveCan form to get in to Canada and a second one to get on the ship.  I haven't heard of this changing, but please let us know if it does.  I'm sailing in early June and I want to make boarding as seamless as possible.

I called the ArriveCan hotline (1-833-283-7403) and I got some additional information for my specific situation.  As I am only doing a one way trip from Vancouver to Seward (open jaw) and not returning to Canada, I was told that I will not need to complete a second ArriveCan form to get on the ship to leave Vancouver.  I looked at the 'enter by marine' form on ArriveCan app and it clearly  identify 'port of entry' and date of arrival', so it makes sense that I would not need it because I have no port of arrival.  I am sure the southbound cruises from Seward to Vancouver would use this form, but not the northbound Vancouver to Seward.  I believe the issue described in the above referenced live blog was that that particular Radiance OTS cruise was closed loop returning to Canada which does make sense.  I'd expect the same for the closed loop Serenade OTS sailings out of Vancouver.

As for the land point of entry, they stated that the point of entry needs to align with the ArriveCan app, so I cannot put one and change mind to go through another.   I would need to create a new form.

Next week we are driving from Seattle to Vancouver for Radiance.  It seems there are two possible point of entries available: Douglas (840) and Pacific Highway (813).  Does anyone know if one is better than the other?  If you complete the ArriveCan form for one, and end up at the other, is that going to be a huge problem?

It  requires two nights of specialty dining. I have seen them apply 50% off for two different specialty restaurants or 100% for one and second reservation is free.  The BOGO requires the first reservation on night 1 or night 2, but it might require a solo person to do both night 1 and night 2.  It's best to confirm at one of the specialist dining desks as soon as you board.

9 hours ago, Scott_gunerman said:

Great call on formal night being night 2 in MDR!  Don’t want to do 2 specialty in a row, trying to space those out.  Day1 / Night 1 everything will be so overwhelming as this is cruise #1 with Royal so i am guessing specialty is better on night 2 so we have our bearings a little.  What are your thoughts on the hibachi restaurant being available through the 3 night dining pkg?  Matt really promotes this as “cant miss” so we are really rolling the dice that this will still be available once we get on board and can make the reservations.  Looking forward to Chops and Giovanni’s.  If hibachi is no go, I guess Central Park 150 would be nice but kids might not love it [age 18 and 16].  In any event, cant wait!

I've have never done Hibachi, so I cannot comment on its availability when you get on the ship.  While you didn't mention which ship you are on, I assume you are doing Oasis class based on mentioned 150 Central Park.  We dined there for first time in March while on Symphony, and it was terrific.  I would definitely recommend that one.   Also, if Wonderland is available, it is an adventurous and unique dining experience (though may not be popular with picky eaters).

I recommend reviewing the menu at main dining room on night 1 and start from there.  You can see it on the app under the dining tab.  You may or may not know that night 2 is typically the first formal night at the MDR and its usually a bit more upscale of a menu.  That menu is also available on the app.  So maybe you might want to consider night 1 as first specialty and night 2 in MDR.  

I have heard that solarium has not been open lately for dining, but that may change soon.  However I have never actually eaten there for dinner, so I have no idea how that is.   Same goes for Windjammer.

Lastly, you could always do specialty on both night 1 and night 2