Wanderlust876

There aren't any "must buys", but we love to get in a sort of funky, vacation mood by purchasing such items as:  T shirts for a port we haven't been to, a $10 watch (they last about a year) or maybe a wallet and watch combo, and a souvenir pen for the ship.  When we cruised the Med, we found regional gifts that seemed unique, but the Caribbean itineraries don't really have that flair, except for perhaps rum cake we buy as gifts.  For us, buying items on the ship is really a form of entertainment.   We won a shopping raffle once in about 15 tries....something to do on a sea day!

Is there usually a Presidents Day sale? I’m in the same position, first time cruiser and was only looking at the email where it said 30% off. I was wondering why the RC rep said cheapest price was Black Friday! I looked and seen 30% and was like nah, that’s the same sale they keep sending me! Now it’s sooo expensive, and I see they make up their own pricing daily. I wish I found this message board sooner. 

You can just go back into the Cruise Planner, go to "Order History", cancel the purchase, and repurchase.  The money will return to your original form of payment, typically within 10 business days (although I find it to be much quicker).  If you used onboard credit, that is recredited and available immediately.

Exactly what @SpeedNoodles said. 

Acknowledging every ship and every itinerary has varying prices, I’m curious of everyone’s thresholds for items in the Cruise Planner? 

What’s your magic price point for specific items? When is the DBP/UDP low enough for you? What about Thrill Waterpark? Internet?
On a similar note: what’s the lowest you’ve seen a favorite item? This includes DBP, The Key, UDP, massages, cabanas, ship exclusives (iFly, North Star, etc)
Have you ever pulled the trigger on an item you normally wouldn’t get because the Cruise Planner price was so good? 
 
On our Anthem cruise in December, Thrill Waterpark was around $70 for months, then Black Friday came and it dropped to $35(!). DBP+VOOM was also at $60/day, which now seems incredibly cheap compared to our upcoming Oasis cruise ($85/day). UDP is also cheaper on Oasis ($166) versus Anthem (over $200).

Book now, as the excursions could sell out, and then check frequently for price drops (even between "sales").  And never pay attention to the % off number, as it means nothing.  Just look at the price, or price per day.

My question is, how and when do they determine the 95% vaccinated status for kids? We are booked for April. All are vaxxed except the 5 year old. How are they keeping of with the percentage of unvaxxed kids and knowing when they reach the threshold? 

Yes. 
 
I’ve used a Walgreens rapid antigen test to cruise three times since September. 

If no adults can board the ships unless they have been vaccinated, what is the purpose of the satin arm bands?  I asked an officer on the Harmony, he looked puzzled and said ":good question"

This is great info. My kids mostly stream YouTube shows so if we can downgrade that would save us some $$$

We shall see. I have all boys and sometimes the older ones don't want to be bothered. But I figure 4 nights hitting Nassau, Cococay,and a day at sea is enough time for everyone to have fun but not be completely over each other. Got a separate cabin for the older ones so this should make everyone happy! 

I don't know if there's a single correct answer for everyone.  Some things to consider:
How much of an issue is it to you if you get botted off the Internet and have to log in again? What speed do you need?  I always assumed I needed the Surf & Stream, but recently my wife had Surf and Stream and I had Surf.  We compared them side by side and we couldn't tell the difference.  Facetime, YouTube, DirectTV, email and general web surfing were indistinguishable. Ever since, I've purchased the cheaper surf package and been perfectly happy. What is the price difference?  Looking at the cruise planner, a 1 device surf package is $12.59 per day for one of my upcoming cruises.  I purchased a 4 device package during a Black Friday sale for $23.98.  For me, that was a no brainer Are you planning to get drink packages? If so, it might be cheaper to buy a drink package/Internet bundle. Are you Diamond or higher in Crown and Anchor?  If so, you get at least 24 hours of Surf & Stream one device for free plus a discount off of a package purchased on board.  For a short cruise, this may be a better deal.

I recently had a two device plan with three devices and it was never clear to me how they decided what device to boot off when I logged in a 3rd device.  It may have been the Diamond drinks but I could never determine a pattern, like earliest logged in, or last logged, or value of MAC address, or...
The pattern seemed to be... the device I least wanted them to boot off was booted off and I needed to sign in again on it.

No advice as I'm also a new single parent cruiser, but thought I would reply! Going on an April cruise with my 2 teens and 6 year old. 
Im thinking the little will want to do the pool and other fun kid stuff on the ship as well as the shore excursions. 
My biggest hope is that I can get a few hours of adult time even if to just sit in silence in the hot tub or at the bar for a drink or two. Ahhh. 
I will report back as to how the kids club situation works out! 

Typically it is cheaper to buy one package for 3 devices.  The code will be the same for all 4 devices that are logged in

Only advantage between one three device Voom package versus three one device Voom packages is not having to worry about someone kicking someone else off if changing devices.
Plus a three device package is typically cheaper.

Yes, you will need the cups to operate the soda machine. There is a chip in the bottom of the cup that unlocks the machine and let's you make selections.
I got annoyed constantly carrying cups around after 3 cruises so on cruise #4 I got these carry cases from Amazon. They don't do too much in the way of insulation but they add 0 extra weight, could easily slip onto my forearm  to keep my hands free, and if the cup was empty or almost empty, I just looped it onto whatever bag strap I may have had on me. (no belt loops cuz I'm all sundresses on vacay)

I am a soda drinker and we almost always get the UDP.  I have never, not once, ever used one of the plastic cups that they give you.  No way am I going to haul that piece of junk around !  I have never had a problem getting a drink.  

You need the cup to use the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.
You do not need the cup to order a glass of soda at a restaurant/bar.

I will just add that, if you have the money to spare, extra tips for room steward and dining staff are greatly appreciated, though not expected. We always “pretip” our cabin steward $10- $20 as a nice to meet you/thanks for prepping our room. The service we get in return tells me it is received well.  We also tip and express appreciation on the last night  
There are envelopes available the last night to give tips to those who have helped you through the cruise. Again, it’s not a problem if you stick with  just your prepaid gratuity. But if you are comfortable giving extra, they will be grateful. 
 
 

No need to thank us, that's what this board is all about, helping out new cruisers and don't feel like you're trying our patience, we were all new cruisers at one time. So, feel free to ask away with any questions you may have. Here's a recommendation no one mentioned. Take a picture of the names of your waitstaff, cabin attendant, favorite bar tender, anyone on board who does a really outstanding job for you. At the end of the cruise, you will get a survey from Royal to fill out. There will be a spot in the survey where you can point out the individuals who did a really great job or poor job for you. You can leave positive or negative comments and mention them by name (you will have their photos to help you remember). These comments are read and shared by higher staff and can lead to pay raises, promotion or termination. 
The Allure is a great cruise ship, we have been on her four times! Here's a fun tip when she is leaving port. Go to deck 14, port side and go all the way to the front (bow) of the hallway. Go through the sliding glass door and you will be standing on top of the navigation deck (thirteen). There are "wings on both the port and starboard) that you can also stand on. Go for photo ops leaving and coming into port. Just beware, it is VERY windy. Hang onto your and or toupee! 

When I go on an excursion I take along a backpack and a dry bag.  The dry bag carries things I don't want to get wet at all and everything including the cry bag goes into the backpack.  I SCUBA dive so that bag goes on the boat with me.  Never had an issue of things staying dry at all inside the dry bag.  The backpack gets a little wet but my towel and dry clothes are generally fine.  If I go to the beach and snorkel or something like that the dry bag goes with me into the water with anything that is valuable and the rest stays on the shore.  If someone wants my clothes and a towel that bad they are welcome to it though I doubt they will be happy with what they get.
 
I should also mention that my dry bag is quite large. 10L if I remember right. 

Well... the walls and doors are made of metal and therefore you can affix a magnet to them. I also like to place a small item or picture stuck to the outside of the cabin door. This is just in case you come back from a late night of partying and need a little extra help finding your cabin. 😉

You can use the RC app for free with the ship's wifi. To do anything else that requires internet (incl. email, messaging, web browsing, streaming), you will need to purchase one of the packages.

Ahhh! Great tip! I have a balcony and the older kids have the interior across 😁. I can imagine if you don't clip things down they will easily be blown away!