jbrinkm

I actually did that right away, and I do see both reservations on the main page when I log in online, but they don't both show up on the app (only my kids, which is really weird to me...)

I'm super confused & hoping someone here can help... We have connecting rooms for the first time ever. The other two cruises we took when the kids were younger, we had a cabin with the two Pullman beds for them to sleep in. For our upcoming cruise in April, now that they are older (and bigger), we got two connecting rooms for the extra space and bathroom. But I'm clueless about how to manage this! I see a lot of questions about linked reservations (which our TA says ours are, linked) but most of them seem to be extended family, not two parents on one reservation and the two kids on the other reservation. The kids are 15 and 12, so easily capable of functioning in a separate room with connecting door, but they are also minors and I am doing all of the planning, reservations, etc. for all four of us. The website seems ok - I see both reservations. They have different reservation numbers - is that normal? Again, the TA assures me that they are linked but I'm not sure what that entails, exactly. If I try to book something for all four of us, I have to copy and paste the other reservation number to add them to it (like shore excursions). But the app only shows my kids' reservation?!? That doesn't seem right... Why am I (the legal adult and the one who made the reservations and the holder of the RC account) not the reservation that shows up on the app? Why don't both show on the app like they do on the website? The last time we cruised was 2017, pre-app so I am really nervous about making reservations for shows, dining, anything else, with two separate reservations. Will we run into problems? How do I fix the app so it shows my reservation as primary? Thanks!!

There's a whole article about this exact issue on the main blog page today, LOL.

We booked through a TA and I was able to get it to work, but I used a Royal TA - did you use a different TA? Maybe ask the TA you used to check on the status of Labadee? I don't really have any other "inside" information, LOL - this is only our third Royal cruise over the past eight years, so I'm clearly no expert. I just saw that link posted by someone else on a roll call and used it. And then switched my cruise to Mexico ports after seeing all of the island port cancellations and switches and added cruising days instead of ports, etc. etc.

Is it still showing at the link I sent? I'm only asking because that spot was the only place it was updated - the planner still showed us going and offered excursions. Someone in the roll call for that sailing shared that link for the most up-to-date info. I was really looking forward to Labadee - the cancellation was one of the reasons I switched ships.

I highly doubt that Labadee will be an option. Double check your itinerary: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/reservation/lookup It was already cancelled for the Jewel sailing in April (when I was booked on that ship before switching) and replaced with a cruising day.

So if I had looked two days ago, I might have seen a higher price on the Voom package? That makes sense to me because I just switched ships for my upcoming cruise, and I was surprised that the newer, bigger ship had a lower per-day price than the older, smaller ship we would have been on.

On the Royal website now, they are advertising 35% off the onboard price for certain items - including the Voom packages. However, the price is exactly the same as yesterday, when they were claiming it was 10% off of onboard prices. Same price, just a different number % off in the corner triangle stated. Is this just a gimmick, or do you think they raised the prices onboard?

I can confirm that shore excursions open up on the ship after boarding. I have an unpleasant memory of this happening on a Royal cruise we took in 2017. The excursion we wanted in Jamaica wasn't showing at all before the cruise. I knew it was sometimes offered from the cruise excursion brochure. I started checking early and kept checking up until about 2 weeks before our cruise, by name, by code, by sorting features, etc. I even called RCI and asked if it would be offered and they told me it would show up if it was offered. At that point, I decided to book my own transportation and, separately, tickets through the same operator (who offered the excursion to regular guest on the island, not just cruises). Paid for both, made all the arrangements, chose a time on my form that fit in the cruise docking schedule, etc. Got on the cruise, went about our business, and the day before our port stop, we went to the guest services desk for something else (maybe a hole punched in the cards for my kids' lanyards?), and I happened to see some piece of documentation on the counter that showed additional excursions offered. Lo and behold, the one we wanted was listed there. I wasn't sure I would be able to cancel my prior arrangements, but I asked about it, and it had actually filled up during the first two days of cruising and no longer had space. So I kept my existing plans. Driver picked us up, took us to the shore excursion (we had hired him for the whole day so he was just going to wait until we finished, and we went to check in. They told us we were booked for a later time - I said, no, here is my confirmation. They said that time is only for cruise passengers, we can't accommodate you. I said, I AM a cruise passenger and I can't make the later time and still get back to the boat. And why didn't you tell me that when I booked my time? Then they started berating me - why didn't I book through the cruise line, was I trying to avoid paying what the cruise charged, they can't just shift their schedules for anyone who shows up, etc. etc. I was in tears - my kids were SO looking forward to the activity. The driver was trying to comfort me. I had to walk away, but my husband went back and was able to talk them into accommodating us for a surcharge (I guess what the ship would have charged... I genuinely didn't even realize there was a different price - I didn't even know what the ship charged vs what I paid). We ended up being able to do it, my kids were happy, but it left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks, @FionaMG! This is really helpful. What a great write-up of your experience!

Addendum question: If you've done this tour, do you know what time it leaves from the ship and how long it takes?

Thanks! I'll be a responsible poster!

I'm just trying to find the place where it will tell me. Is there a forum post that lays it all out? When will my posts not be monitored any more? How many posts? Or is it a length of time as a member of the forum?

I just looked through some of the Compasses and found a few of the "Social Feed" inserts (i.e. the Compass for teens) that say activities for ages 13-17 (from 2021). I thought 12 year-olds were considered young teens on Royal Caribbean? Is it different on Oasis? (both I looked at were from Oasis - we're traveling on Jewel). Has anyone traveled with a 12 year old on Jewel before, and how did it work for you?

Where can you see what the rankings mean? I was just moved to Gold, I assume because I have 10 approved posts now. But I'm still monitored, which is ok, I'm just wondering what the different levels mean and when you can do certain things. I've been looking for the "key" but unable to find it...

We're not cruising until April but I don't want to miss out on 1st choice of excursions if we end up being able to make that stop. We'll just get a refund if we don't end up stopping at that port, right?

Thank you everyone, and @Pattycruise and @Atlantix2000 for the help with Verizon. This is exactly what I needed to know and super helpful! We will activate our TravelPass and hope for the best, that we don't need to use it, and that we remember to go back on airplane mode while on the ship... Plus we'll get one (or maybe two, still thinking about it) Voom passes for DH work (he is now saying he won't need it 24/7 and the kids and I can have a few hours each day to "borrow" it, LOL). Do either of you (or anyone else) know if the Verizon TravelPass gets charged only for the phones that use it for that 24 hours, or do all the lines get charged? We have 4 lines - if two of us use it one day, do we get charged $20 or $40? And, @Pattycruise, I don't think anyone ever INTENDS to lose their kids (although maybe some would argue with me on that ), whether it has happened before or not, but I prefer to have a backup plan just in case and phones are the easiest back up plan for us. My teens are savvy city-dwellers who are used to a lot of independence and freedom of movement, keeping in touch via their phones (my oldest uses public transportation to go to and from school every day). I can totally see them stopping to look at something while walking around, the rest of us keep moving forward, and voila, separated! It is a Spring Break cruise and I'm imagining busy ports. The good news is that the place it would be most likely to happen, due to our tentative planning, is Puerto Rico and luckily Verizon considers that domestic. Yay!

For those of you who have done the Arawak Aqua park, do you know if you have to buy tickets to that beach if you are NOT going on the inflatables? My almost-13-year-old and 15-year-old would have a blast doing the water adventure but DH and I would prefer to just be on the beach watching. Do they check your excursion to get onto the beach, or just onto the attraction? Also, out of the coaster, the slide and the zip line at Labadee, which do you think adventure-loving teens would prefer? I'm leaning towards the coaster because I can bundle with the Aqua Park but open to suggestions if the coaster isn't that great.

The Voom is just for on the ship, right? It doesn't do anything when we are in port (and off the ship)? Anyone have experience with the Verizon cruise package that can tell me about it? (It would be in addition to my husband's Voom, maybe in addition to a 2-device package Voom also). And, my kids will listen to logging on/logging off - that won't be a concern. Maybe we'll make up a schedule and/or restrict times when DH REALLY needs it for something urgent. But thanks for the heads up on that concern!

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE this park but there are no reviews that I can find since 2020, so I imagine it is still closed. Is that what you are wondering? When they will re-open? Or did you have other questions?

Our flight is not until 6pm (at FLL) the day of disembarkation in Miami. I'd love to take the family on a boat tour of the Everglades as we've never been to Miami before. Would you recommend the cruise ship tour? It seems like less hassle in terms of airport transfer and luggage, etc. but if it's not very good, I'd prefer to book on my own. For anyone who did a tour on their own, how did you do it? Rideshare or rental car? What company did you use and would you recommend? Was it more or less expensive than the one offered by RCI?

We're a family of 4 (myself, DH, DC14 and DS12). DH has his own business and needs to keep in touch (may need to do a teleconference or two). My tween, teen and self would like *some* access to download shows, keep in touch at home, etc. but don't need 24/7 access like he does. We use Verizon wireless unlimited for our phones. Voom Surf & Stream isn't horribly priced (relatively) for our cruise right now (<$20/day) but it is an 8 day cruise with 4 in-port days. We'd also love to be able to keep in touch with the kids during port days just in case of separation. I'd love advice on the least expensive way to manage this. I'm pretty sure DH will need the cruise ship Voom package, but what else should we do for the lowest cost? Has anyone used the Verizon cruise package? What would that be good for? Should I get both Verizon AND cruise ship package(s)? More than one Voom package? What about in port (4 islands, not Mexico where we'd be covered...) Thanks for any info/advice!

We'd like to book at least one snorkeling day trip (just snorkeling, not beach or booze on this excursion). Any suggestions for which island has better snorkeling? If you did a tour, which one, and would you recommend it? Family is 2 adults and 2 young teens. [Original Post: Our stops for our April cruise are: Labadee, Haiti; San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. John's, Antigua; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten. We'd like to book at least one (maybe two) snorkeling day trips. Any suggestions for which island and which tour you used & enjoyed? Which of these stops/islands do you think would have the best snorkeling in terms of variety?]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I think I got too late of a jump on Allure for the sailing I wanted, plus the prices were getting a little steep for what was left, and there were no interior connecting rooms left either. My issue was that I knew there were rooms that existed on Allure with at least one Pullman - as many of you mentioned - but I couldn't GET to them using their website. I kept trying different room searches but they just weren't coming up. I don't know if they didn't want to show those rooms because we only had 4 people and not 5, or if all of them were taken already. Either way, we ended up going with Jewel instead (I know, a smaller ship with less to do but we were able to get a pullman + sofa spacious room with an ocean-view balcony with 2 extra nights and an additional port stop for less $$ than Allure would have been). In the future, does anyone know if there is any way to search for particular categories on a ship? Or just the standard "interior", "ocean view", "balcony" etc...?