whitsmom

On the Oasis, I was able to use my phone app to pay for my Starbucks but you couldn't redeem any points for to get free or discounted items.  It worked beautifully.  I am sure that you can use gift cards also. 

We did the Northbound on the Radiance and then a 3-day post land tour.  We loved it!  Radiance was a great smaller ship.  I would totally do it again!

Our Refreshment Packing when down from $23 to $16.99 for both our sailings so I cancelled and re-purchased.  Soda Packing went from $8.99 to $5.99. 

3 hours ago, Ken s said:

I’m trying to price a cruise for 6, 4 adults and 2 children the 2 bedroom suite says it can sleep 8, but going through the website does not allow me to put in more than 4 people when choosing 1 room.  Any way to get more than 4?

I think you have to call or have a TA do it.

Next year, we fly to Amsterdam for our British Isles cruise (Jewel) and I planned our flight according to today's requirement just to be safe.  We need no more than 3 days before our flight and 2 days for the cruise so we will get our test the morning (Wednesday) of our afternoon flight and can use the same test for boarding our cruise on Friday.  It was the less stressful choice for us (hopefully)!  Who knows what the restrictions will be by August; however, here's hoping that we don't have to test at all.

14 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

Sometimes it is advantageous to put one adult in each room for reservation purposes even though, once on board, you switch things around.  You can always get additional room keys (blank) at Customer Service as needed.  Have a great cruise!

This is what my daughter and son-n-law does but it is for the UBP for SNL not the wine.  My daughter just likes the soda package so they didn't want to buy the refreshment package.  They don't have to sleep there but gets an extra room key. 

1 hour ago, BrianB said:

I was on the Oasis (now the Anthem) and I always get surf and stream. I have an Android and my landlubber family back on dry land have iPhones. We send simple text messages and videos back and forth. Sometimes there is a delay, especially if the ship is in heavy weather…but it could also be that they are not in a WiFi zone (thanks for that @twangster). We have used WhatsApp for calls, but found it’s not very reliable. However, we found using Messenger was much more consistent for calls, both audio and video calling. I think Messenger works with them outside of WiFi because we video talk as they are riding in a car. We can also send text messages via Messenger. I have uploaded videos and photos to Facebook without a problem. Sometimes it takes a little while, but it works fine.

I also use surf and stream to stream movies from Netflix and Prime to my iPad. Works normally. Tip…….in the event there is a problem with the ship’s WiFi, and it takes them a little while to fix it…I always download a few movies before I leave home.

That is why I download movies/shows ahead of time for that very reason.

We will be Diamond after our British Isles cruise in August 2022. 

Washy-Washy-Washy

We prepay our tips; however, we have always had excellent service and tipped extra (handed to them personally) in all cruises except one.  On the Oasis, the room steward we had was terrible.  We had both Granddaughters in our room and I asked for an extra sheet/blanket so that they could each have their own and not have to fight over who had more/less cover.  He grumbled and complained having to do that.  We had to ask for ice every single day!  Needless to say, he did not get any extra from us.  However, on that same cruise, they got dining all screwed up with our family of eight at two different (we were linked together) tables (not even close together).  The Maitre'd was able to get that fixed after the first night by putting a "plywood-type" on top of a 4-top table and made it work.  We rewarded him for doing this.  We also had the best wait staff too.  Out of all our cruises only having "one" person to complain about is not too bad.  We didn't complain to anyone during our cruise but I did on the survey.

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

In a GS they should be in your cabin upon boarding.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2014/11/19/royal-caribbean-wowbands-what-you-need-know

We are in a balcony not a GS; however, I will be getting these when we board! 

2 minutes ago, twangster said:

Harmony yes, Jewel no.  

That's good to hear regarding the Harmony as we will be there with the Grands and it will be a lot better using the bands.  As far as the Jewel, it will just be us with two other couples so the seapass won't be an issue.  How do we go about getting the WOW bands?

14 hours ago, Matt said:

I like them for the convenience of not having to fish my SeaPass card out of my pocket when opening up my cabin door

Can you get the WOW bands on all sailings for just certain ones?  We will be on the Harmony and the Jewel.

12 hours ago, VickieV said:

A few years ago we were on  Celebrity ship during flu season. They had crew serving at each of the buffet stations. I liked it from a customer standpoint. They are there to keep the station clean and well stocked. Eventhough C19 isn't necessarily transferred by touching surfaces, plenty of other germs are transmitted that way. 

Many years ago on RCI ship we had the same thing.  I liked having them serving so I didn't have to touch stuff.  They wanted everyone to use the hand sanitizer (it was just a free standing one then); however, they're were many that did not use it.  Some people were complaining that they couldn't serve themselves but it was welcomed by us. 

You just pay for the shot of liquor that you add.  This is what we do too as we aren't big drinkers at all (usually 1 but maybe 2 daily) that is why the DBP is not feasible for either of us.  

On 10/31/2021 at 10:29 AM, YOLO said:

Speaking of the Cruise Planner, I have 4 cruises booked.  Three of them look like what I always remember, and one of them says "My Royal Cruise".  Is this one the new planner and is this what I can expect going forward? 

My July Harmony cruise is the new cruise planner but my August Jewel is still the old format.

Sweet!  We have the KEY for both of our upcoming cruises.  I do hope they keep the no fee room service for next July & August. 

4 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Well let's put it this way... I am with Florida's largest health care provider system and we here on the Suncoast do not do travel covid tests. We defer to the pharmacies.

Now if your are having symptoms and need to be tested for treatment we will do that all day long and on the weekends.

What I was saying is that "if" a doctor's office did a test that it should work as long as it wasn't hand written.  Thankfully, we don't have to test for our two cruises until the Summer 2022.  I am hoping that by then we won't have to but I am not holding my breath...

4 hours ago, Doak said:

I think I read on RCL website that a physician note was not good enough.  The results  had to be from a lab.

If you get tested at say Walgreens or CVS - they are not a lab and those work.  I would hope that a Doctor trumps a "trained" video person all day long. 

We purchased the Key on both of our upcoming cruises.  Our July Harmony cruise is with our 2 Granddaughters and everyone having Surf/Voom will be nice instead of sharing with them (hubby has to have his own for work (we owner our own business and needs to be able to be reached).  The waving of the room service fee will be handy as the girls will use it for sure (maybe Nana too ).  On our British Isles cruise (Jewel) we were going to get the 2-device Surf/Voom so for a little more it is worth it for us plus getting earlier access for excursions will be nice as it is port intensive.  This is first time we have ever used the Key so I hope we aren't disappointed. 

As this point, I am just happy to be getting to cruise again.

On 10/8/2021 at 2:46 PM, Starwalker said:

Hi!  We stayed in Amsterdam before and after our "British Isles Cruise" three years ago.  We chose Movenpick Hotel Amsterdam before the cruise because it is literally located right at the cruise port.  The hotel is also a short walk to the central train station so we had easy access to most areas of Amsterdam.  The Movenpick reminds me of the Hilton Hotel chain in the U.S. by comparison.  We tend to stay in "bargain" places so the Movenpick was a splurge for us as it was somewhat expensive.  We would stay their again without hesitation if we are fortunate enough to visit beautiful Amsterdam again.  

After the cruise we spent additional time in Amsterdam but stayed at the Hotel Herbergh, out near Schiphol Airport, which was smaller and very quaint.  The Herbergh offered a small brick house, on the property, which we rented for a few days - it was adorable!  Although we loved our stay at the Herbergh we grew tired of having to use a shuttle and train to get back into the city.

I hope this is helpful and that you have a wonderful time in Amsterdam and your upcoming cruise!

We are doing our British Isles Cruise in August 2022 and we decided to book Movenpick Hotel due to the location to the port.  I am so happy to hear your experience as it makes me feel like a made a good choice.  I felt like the price wasn't bad at all for the location $301.42 (fees & taxes included) for a Classic King View with breakfast included.

I would think with the results printed (on the nursing homes letterhead) that it should work.  Having an actual RN do the test should be more that acceptable as long as it was typed out, emailed and/or printed.  I would be interested to hear how this pans out if that is what they do.  Good Luck!

29 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

As long as you are the main person on the reservation, you can.  Try to have their passport info available, but you can skip some of the questions and come back to them later - or modify them later.  You just need to get through to the part where the check in time comes up.

Oh good!  I will make sure that I have all that info when we do the check in. 

I would like that when you do your check in that it should be one check in for all people in the same room.  We are going in July on the Harmony with our 2 granddaughters (14 & 16).  Just like checking in when flying - you check in everyone at the same time....

I got my "Key" email also.  I was too looking forward to the Chops lunch, however, with having 2 grands with us this trip I am sure that the room service will be used to its fullest potential