jbrinkm

Not an answer but following because I have a similar situation (Zipline - the superman one - at 10am and Coaster at 12pm). I booked the soonest time available for the coaster after our Zipline, which had a 2 hour span blocked off. So I'm hoping that the Zipline won't take the full 2 hours and we plan to just pop over to the coaster immediately after we finish. Then have lunch. I *think* I've read that they aren't strict with the coaster times, but hoping to hear it again from someone who has been recently...

I have never been to Coco Cay so I cannot answer anything about that. I will say that I really, really enjoyed snorkeling from Cabana Beach on Cozumel - so many different types of brightly colored fish. Maybe you could bring an inflatable vest to help support -and definitely use your fins! The good snorkeling and the nice beaches tend to be at different parts at Cozumel. If you go a little further south, you get the wide sandy beaches and AI beach clubs, but not great snorkeling. If you are up at the Money Bar and Chankanaab area, it has a rocky shore which is better for snorkeling - it is deeper more quickly and doesn't have as much silt kicking up (some places bring in sand , including Cabana Beach and Chankanaab, but it stays "up top"). There are steps leading down to the water in the places that have a more rocky shore. Also, I didn't finish my answer about the Escape Room. Like I said, some ships have a real escape room which you pay for and reserve a time. You may ALSO see (or see on ships with no Escape Room) a Royal Mystery Puzzle. This is free - may have a sign up or may not - and has no cost. You'll see it in your cruise planner, daily activities. Get there early! It will be more like just solving a mystery rather than a real escape room, but can still be entertaining. What ship are you on?

There is a line for it, but with $0 discount. My husband calls overseas with a free Google number - can you get one of those in Australia?

I have been trying to figure out our MDR menu order for my upcoming cruise and just cannot. The latest cruises on my ship have ports and sea days in a different order and based on the dress suggestions in the daily activities, the menus in the app do not look correct at all. We want to do one night at Wonderland to celebrate my daughter's birthday and prefer to skip Italian night since 1. it is our least favorite and 2. we have a lunch at Giovanni's booked for embarkation day. So right now, I have 4 separate reservations, paid for via the cruise planner, and plan to cancel 3 of them when I board and confirm which night is the Italian menu. The Royal website says I can do this onboard for no cost as long as it is at least 24 hours before the reservation. And I'll get onboard credit. I assume that the onboard credit that I get for these cancellations is refundable at the end of the cruise? I don't care about the booking outlay as long as it comes back as a refund after my cruise. I think I read that I might have to do it AT the Wonderland instead of a booking kiosk when I board due to it being a planner booking. And my first reservation is on night 2 so I'll beat the 24 hour requirement. Although - maybe I can just go ahead and cancel that one? It looks like it will be our first formal night and isn't that usually A Taste of France? (8 night sailing). That might be one that I could get rid of before cruising. Is there anything I'm not considering that might end up being a problem for me? I figure I'll free up some spots that UDP people can snap up once they board since I have pretty good times.

What do you tend to like doing? Sit on the beach, do water activities, do cultural tours, eat local foods, do other adventure activities, etc.? People here will be able to more help you if they know what you like to do. Local vendors are usually less expensive, but Royal vendors give you peace of mind that you won't miss the ship. There are two different types of Escape Room. The paid one is an actual room and has dynamic pricing, depending on the ship and the sail date and when you purchase. So it will have varying prices. Buy it at a price you can live with and keep checking for lower prices. Water is available around the ships from large iced containers and cups. If you bring a reusable bottle, you can use a cup to refill it and take it to go. Regular coffee, as @rjweber3 said, is free around the ship as well. And there are a few other free/included options like lemonade or fruit punch, also around the ship in the containers like the water. You don't have to buy any drink package. You can just go with the free and then buy a drink here or there a la carte if you want. The only thing you can't get a la carte is soda from a Freestyle machine because you need the package to get the cup with the special chip to activate it (if you are on a ship with Freestyle). Cozumel has currents, strong at times. I've found myself working hard and needing fins during Coz snorkeling, even from shore. People who dive here often do "drift diving" because of the currents. There are places right off of shore that have some really fantastic viewing but you should be prepared.

Part of the problem we ran into, however, is that we hoped to do some of the non-reservation game shows instead, like Battle of the Sexes, that 60 second one, etc. that take place in the smaller venues but our ship was so overfull that we couldn't always get in unless we showed up 45 min to an hour early. So it wasn't always the plan to hang out in the WJ but I ended up enjoying my time there.

I often did this as well on our last cruise. We didn't do shows several nights and I enjoyed sitting at one of the back tables that overlooks the sports court on Allure with a small plate with some fruit or dessert or whatever appealed to me - or a vegetarian option if I didn't like the MDR choices. I was usually there towards closing time and enjoyed seeing crew come in to eat, and using the Freestyle machine for some non-caffeinated diet soda and watching people below and waves further out. Sometimes, I wrote my blog posts there if I hadn't gotten to it earlier in the day. If I didn't do WJ, I would grab a slice a pizza or something from Cafe Promenade. 5pm is a pretty early dinner time if you don't go to sleep early!

Didn't know that, interesting! If the kids are next door or directly across the hall, you can have the adults together and the kids together in rooms. Easy with a TA - booking directly with RCI, I believe you have to call?

After reading several trip reports where people were commenting on more movement on the ships than they had noticed before (and experiencing it myself on Allure), I did a quick search and it seems like ocean waves are getting bigger and stronger. I wonder if that might be contributing to more Aqua Theater accidents...

I remember them small but maybe not THAT small. My husband ended up with 4 (well 3 1/2) which made him very happy because my daughter and I don't like/eat lobster so we gave it as our 2nd entree directly to him and my son ordered one, tried it, and wanted no more of it so also passed it along. These new cold water ones were supposed to be tastier from what I remember reading, than the larger warm water ones.

The pool deck doesn't seem that overcrowded... I'm so glad you were able to get this! I remember it is your favorite. Are they still offering lunch in the MDR? Did you see brunch as an option for any of the days?

My parents booked their GTY through my TA and we ended up with a good outcome - however, I don't think theirs was typical (assigned super early for one thing...). I shared my/their experience here: I didn't know that either. Have you ever thought about fake booking another kid/friend who doesn't show up? Do I remember correctly that you try to go during KSF sales?

Especially check in November - you may find the lowest price during the "Thanksgiving/Black Friday" sale, which might start earlier in November than you expect.

Can you now book ice skating also through the app? Last year we had to go in person to sign up on Allure.

The other issue is that my itinerary is in a different order than yours, so I just really have no idea. I remember a RC blog article saying Caribbean night is your first night in a Caribbean port, but does Labadee count? Or is it Aruba? For ours, it makes a difference because we do Labadee first. I really wish they would let you know the order ahead of time...

There are discussion forums like this for Royal but for Disney that might get you more information - I've used https://www.disboards.com/ before. There is a whole strategy also around (if you want to stay on a Disney property) bidding on Priceline or Hotwire to get a better deal, but usually only at certain times of year. There are tiers of on-site properties, value/moderate/deluxe, so there are options and trade offs for different budgets. I'd pop over there and take a look at their hotels section.

I will say, though, looking at that Royal Chocolate cake, that I might try to make our Wonderland night the same as Italian night rather than Caribbean. Also, my husband, son and parents are all huge shrimp fans so they might be upset with me if I make them skip Caribbean night...

Thank you so much for introducing me to this artist. I really love her work. I just added this to our afternoon walking agenda for the day we are in Curacao (we are diving in the AM). Her style reminds me a bit of a children's author & illustrator I know - Susan Stockdale. I used to babysit for her kids when she was working on her books so she gifted my kids with signed copies when they were born. Something about Sanchez' "Yellow House" appeals to me so I may pick up that print, and I love what you said about purchasing a souvenir created by a local artist. Do you happen to know if the prices were on par with what they would be if you order online? I am desperately trying to figure out what the menu order is for our cruise later this month so I know the best day to go to Wonderland (preferably Italian night but also not a huge fan of Caribbean night). The activities populated, so I can see dress suggestions for each night - I know night 2 and 7 are formal & dress your best. I believe usually the Dress Your Best is also Royal Night with the lobster - was that your experience? Was A Taste of Italy also White Night (I've seen a few jokes about this in trip reports)? I don't think our meals are accurate in the app planner... EDIT: I reread and you did say that white night was not Italian, but also that your menus are different b/c of Superbowl so never mind! Italy question rescinded...

I found that the new menus really did speed up our dining experience. They are aiming for 75 minutes, and we were pretty close to that most nights on our last cruise. The night they did all the announcements and dancing took slightly longer but not much. ALSO we were always asked by our waiter if we were trying to make a show (we never were) and I assume they would have tried to be a bit faster for those tables. You do get a small grace period from your dining time, but remember also that there may be more traffic for elevators, stairs, just exiting from your show that might take a few minutes longer than you expect it to (also depending on how close your show is to your dining venue). I really think you could do it either way. One other thing I noticed is that the show times seem to move around more than I've noticed in the past. One night, 7:00, the next night, 8:30, the next night 10pm. So I wonder about swapping shows for a different night if that time works better for your dining time.

I was curious about that statement as well. It feels like if the agency screwed up, they should absorb the extra cost, not Royal. They seem to be trying everything to just avoid taking responsibility for their own actions.

I wonder if the chefs are getting better at everything on the menus now that they've had a while to work with them. I remember salting those tofu "tacos" quite a bit to just try to get some, any taste from them. This is a missed opportunity for a sauce since tofu soaks up whatever it is cooked in...

I've never had this happen before I connected to wifi on the ship, but when I go in the app, I can see all of the daily activities for my cruise. I double checked that I'm not looking at a different sailing (I sometimes switch over to look at something or other) - it is set to our cruise on March 23. I can also tell that it is ours because I see my show reservations noted, for example where the adult comedy is listed in the daily schedule, I have the little blue "reserved" rectangle in the corner. I see the little rectangle for all of the items I've reserved mixed in among the other activities offered. Anyone else? I wonder if that also means that our menu order is correct?

YES thank you! You caught it in time for me to edit so I fixed it!!!

So 18% of $14 is $2.52. Where is the rest going? I understand that the daily tips are split - but for a self-pay drink, shouldn't the bartender get the entire 18%? Who else would get part of that - is there a "head bartender"? Does some go to the back of the house staff i.e. dishwashers, the people restocking the shelves

My March 23 cruise opened the entertainment reservations on February 5. I just start on the first of the month before the cruise month, as you said, then check every day.