jbrinkm

Mine haven't shown up yet for April either in the cruise planner. I'm hoping as the cruise draws nearer that they will appear!

Yes, I was asking both. Someone could answer no and explain why, which I find interesting (i.e. always getting early flights, breakfast ends too early, food is not good on the last day, etc). Then the follow up - if you do eat breakfast - where? I learned some new breakfast spots from the answers. Is that what you were questioning here? Why my title and follow up message body had two different questions? The times for breakfast on the last day may vary from ship to ship. I'm not an experienced enough cruiser to know. What I see for the 2/27 sailing on Allure is: Main dining until 8:00am, Windjammer until 8:30am, Park Cafe until 8:30am, Cafe Promenade until 8:30am, Solarium & Johnny Rockets & Vitality Spa not open

What do you tend to like to do on vacation? Culture? Architecture? Active pursuits? Relax on the beach (Culebra & Vieques are very nice)? You can go to TripAdvisor or Viator or just Google "San Juan" unique tours (or something like that) and then pick an activity that aligns with your interests. Or enjoy the ship at low capacity.

I'm sorry, @rjac... I was curious but I understand your pain! P.S. It does seem to be a helpful topic for some people?

The February 27 is a 6-night Western Caribbean on Allure and a few people on that sailing have said they will bring the Compass back with them. One person said they will do a live trip report as well. I asked for this in the roll call for that sailing, and I'm not sure if it was here or in the other cruise forum I use, but I'm planning to send to Matt on the Cruise Compass page once I see it so hopefully it will be there shortly after the cruise. The last one posted for Allure was a 7 night from November.

Wondering where y'all eat breakfast the last morning (if you do)? Is it your usual breakfast spot on the ship, or somewhere else? I remember eating in the dining room that morning once (we had a later flight and were last off of the ship that time). Is that still an option? It was really nice.

This happened to us (reusable straw taken by waiter) on our last vacation! I second the recommendation. A little case for those collapsible straws is a great idea as it can be a reminder to pull your straw out when you finish. @Ampurp85, I'm sorry yours were stolen! I don't understand that at all... Maybe someone thought it was earbuds or something technological?

Hi @Markp1! I am able to see cruise options when I select number of days. Perhaps it was a momentary glitch, or some aspect of your phone/browser that could be blocking something? Could you tell us more, or send a screenshot, and perhaps we could help?

We always travel with one. I've heard of people taking an Alexa or similar device on vacation, for white noise at night, but not sure how this would work on a cruise ship.

Do you just get assigned to one randomly, or is there a logic to where you end up dining?

I like to go back and reminisce about past vacations and cruises. I'll look at my pictures and/or anything else related to the past vacation and relive the memories. I also keep a planning document or folder for the upcoming cruise to keep track of all the little details - if I read something on the boards that seems like it relates to me, I'll note it in my planning docs. I try to find a cruise compass for a similar sailing on my same ship. I'll update my packing list if I think of something. Other than that, I try to stay busy with other projects and just keep my mind off of it for a while.

Hi again @bsilver Pretty sure I know you IRL! I'll tell my kids to leave you alone on the ship if they see you & to leave you to your vacation (if anyone else is confused, I originally asked in this thread if she was a teacher but then edited and switched it to a private message in case she didn't want to share publicly) Here is our roll call on this forum:

Yep! Have you checked into our Roll Call?

I'm on Allure and we're thinking about trying a specialty restaurant for the first time on a cruise ship. Which one would you recommend for fish and/or vegetarian food? If we're not eating the fancy meat, would it be better cost wise to just order off the menu, or pay ahead of time through the cruise planner?

Maybe it is because my sail date is not until April? But the menus have something wrong with them - we have a 6 night sailing, but the app is showing dinner on day 7. Day 2 only has the children's menu. Day 3 is showing lunch, although it is a port day. There are a bunch of menus missing for the late time slot. I don't think I can trust it at all right now, LOL! Does anyone know when the menus "settle down" and become more accurate?

This may not be allowed due to fire hazard. You might want to check the rules on your ship before planning on this. We've never had a balcony but I've seen lots of discussion about balcony-drying on this forum.

This is not a question but rather a struggle I'm having and just looking for conversation about it. I got a Royal Up invite for my April sailing and I'm so tempted to bid on a suite. The prices seem very reasonable, although I'm aware there is no guarantee. I have decided not to bid (reasons in a minute) but my itchy trigger fingers really, really want to. I imagine it is similar to the thrill when gambling? I don't really care for gambling myself, but I LOVE a good deal on anything. We have connecting balcony rooms, on a great floor, in a great part of the boat, that we got for a GREAT price (2 adults, 2 teens). We've never had two rooms and we've never had balcony rooms. I really, really want to just enjoy the rooms we have without feeling like I'm missing out on something. I also don't want to upgrade and leave my teens in a room that is far away, especially with a balcony. So, very logically, I am choosing not to put a bid in. But it is really hard!! Anyone else in the same boat?

We've cruised as a family twice before, the last time in 2017. Our kids were younger, only spent time away from us when they were in the kids' club, and we shared a room. I did all the planning and didn't even consider that anyone else in my family might need an account (we all do have C&A numbers). This time, the teens are in a connecting room and will most likely be away from us on the ship a good deal of the time. Should everyone have their own account? Especially so they can download the app? How does your family do it?

Awesome! Thank you!!

I find myself really annoyed at people who come on to message boards just to be difficult. Come on - if you don't like the question, just don't read it or answer it! Leave it alone! I don't understand why there are some posters who have to tell you why your question is wrong, or how it would be better if you did it this way (instead of the question you asked) or will just turn up the volume instead of engaging in debate about a topic. Sometimes *maybe* they are trying to be helpful? and they just phrase their response really poorly, but a lot of it feels like people just want to argue & be difficult. And honestly, searching for a thread is not super intuitive or easy in this forum, so even if you look, what you find might be related but not exactly answer your question, or you just get a TON of answers that you would have to weed through. Plus all the stuff that the posters above said! I was on a board (not this one), arguing a topic- very respectfully, but there was definitely a difference of opinion. I only used words that contributed to the conversation and nothing personal. Because I was firm in my opinion and didn't back down, I was called names, made fun of and cursed at by two different posters. The posts were taken down after I reported them - but why? Was it a power/bullying mindset? Or they can't think of a good counter-argument, so they lashed out? I don't know. I always try to choose my words carefully when answering someone's question and to be as kind & helpful as I can. This is all just to say that I'm really sorry someone was unhelpful and unpleasant to you, and please keep asking your questions! Many of us on here will ONLY try to be helpful and try not to let the other ones bother you too much...

Me too! The last one is from November 2021. What do you think about asking in the roll calls? I know the Feb 27 sail date for Allure is the same itinerary as my April cruise...

That seems like a really reasonable way to handle teen spending on a ship - a balance of independence, resources and consequences. I love that you can see all of the charges in the app - the app is completely new to me as the last time we cruised was 2017.

Oh my goodness, I didn't even think about having a problem with check in - I was only thinking about reservations on the ship. How does it work to do online check in? Can you just go from one to the other in both linked reservations, or do you have to do check in for one room and then check in for the other room. What if my kids get a different check in time than us? I'm obviously not going to leave a 15 & 12 year old (two weeks shy of 13 on this cruise, so I've been referring to him as a "teen") by themselves to handle checking in.

I think it is wonderful that different families have different ways of doing things. I'm glad you were both able to chose how you wanted to cruise, and that I can choose how I want to cruise, which might include letting my teens have some choice about some small items to purchase. The soda package on our ship would be $8.99/day/person plus tip for six nights. For my two teens, that would be $127. I don't want to spend that much on soda especially since we're bringing a pack on board with us and we don't drink that much soda (plus 3 days in port where we won't be on the ship much). I'd MUCH rather let them buy - if and when they want - one or two sodas total, plus $25-30 each for the arcade (if they want). More cost effective (if it can be done) and more in line with how my family would like to vacation. I'm really hoping that we can get the arcade credits in the travel planner that @Meplus2 mentioned - that sounds perfect. And then the kids will just have to find us for anything else since Royal doesn't seem to have a good system for kids' independent spending within limits.

If you want to see some *potential* excursions, you can download the brochure for your ship: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/shoreExcursions/downloadBrochure/ Just don't get too attached to any of them in case they're not offered or cancelled. But depending on restrictions and your travel party at that time, you might see something you like and be able to book a similar tour with an independent operator offering the same or similar excursion.