FSUFAN

This was in the "fine print" of the description further down the page.

I booked a BNA to BOS round trip way back when we first decided to do the Voyager OTS this October. I got a great price on SWA. I keep getting notices of "Low Fare" sales but cannot touch the price I paid back in early June. Both are non-stop legs. There are cheaper return flights between 5:00 am and 8:00 am but no way to make it from debarkation to BOS/Logan in time. Current return is a non-stop leaving at 12:35 pm and that should be plenty of time.

Our June 2023 7-night inside passage on the Quantum is currently at $66.99 and that is the cheapest I've seen yet for this sailing.

7 day out of Boston to NE/Canada - $65. Fair price nowadays, but still too rich for me with Mrs Fan's 1-3 drinks per day consumption.

Sailing on another line, we have had a forward balcony on the lido deck twice. It was great to slip out of the room while Mrs Fan was getting ready, make a plate of cheeses, crackers and meats, then head back to the room and get myself ready for dinner. Due to the location, I was out and back in 10 minutes. We would have a little wine and charcuterie happy hour prior to dinner on the balcony.

Any chance we see the DBP in the mid-$50s range that everyone says they got at one time? I know it is all speculation, but just wonder what folks thought. Also, far too many get confused by the pricing and it just should not be so. But for them to say "for me it is confusing" is their truth. I am a newbie to sailing on RCCL and to these boards, but since I have been online, it seems like every few days someone is asking for pricing clarification and that should say something about the way RCCL prices their add-ons. It may seem very clear to some and at the same time very confusing to others. I myself am not confused with the pricing, but you have to admit, there is some pricing gamesmanship played out by the RCCL marketing department.

Good question @JR&EM We are sailing to Canada out of Boston this fall with 3 of the 4 stops in Canada. I assume that the American Dollar is most always accepted but wondering about buying "street" food, ice cream or similar to where the total is less than $10.

People say if you can get the room for X% of the price of the upgraded room. In my case the room prices are no longer listed on the website (Voyager OTS sailing in Oct). I have no idea what they wanted for a GS 1bdrm which is what I would like to get in my RU. I just bid what I felt comfortable with spending, and I know it is below the initial offering of the GS (at least in the $3k to $4k range). The fact that the website says the room are "sold out" makes me think there is no chance we get our bid accepted. My current balcony cabin is in a great location. Looks like all of the GS 1bdrm are on deck 10 just below the pool area so I'm not sure if I would be happy to win it or not if there is a bunch of morning noise of chairs being moved about.

I get that that it is probably not dishonest. It's just that they seem to make these sales purposefully confusing. Sad to say but we as a society are notoriously bad with math (for the most part). I've stated that they should just list the prices and get rid of the X% off stuff (not that they are going to listen to me). Read the A&W Root beer 1/3 pound burger vs the McDonald's quarter pounder. People actually thought that the 1/3 pound burger was smaller than the 1/4 pound burger due to 3 denominator being smaller than 4. Why no one wanted the A&W 1/3 pound burger

We have traveled with Mrs Fan's family. Her parents (now deceased) loved to cruise but were getting feeble in their old age. The final cruise we went on (another line), they booked into an accessible cabin that was on another floor from the rest of us. I tipped the steward for their room $50 on day 1 and asked them to keep an eye on them for any needs and to ring me if there were any problems or issues. The steward was great and checked in on them from time to time, kept their ice bucket filled, brought them bottled water and more. My MIL was like "the cabin steward is the best we've ever had - he is always looking out for us and helping." My BIL gave him another $50 at the end of the sailing.

Anything I am finding on YouTube seems outdated and just old. I guess that 99.9% of people prefer to cruise to warm weather locations. Raised in FL and really could not care less about going anywhere in the Caribbean or Mediterranean (especially during the heat of the summer. I have 2 booked and both are "cold/cool weather" cruises - this cruise to NE/Canada and another to Alaska next June. My next cruise wish is to go to Norway Fjords either out of the UK or Northern Europe - again another cool weather location. Looks like we will just try to walk around some of the Canadian stops. If there is a hop-on-hop off bus offering, we will jump on that. I am just looking forward to enjoying the ship.

I went to my "Plan your Cruise" page, then scrolled down to the bottom of the page. In the lower left corner was a Shop Royal Gifts link. Funny thing, I use Microsoft Edge browser and it does not work - I get a 400 "Bad Request" error. I have to pull up Google Chrome browser and go from there to see the added "gifts". They have room decorations, chocolate strawberries, Champagne, wine, RCCL branded stuff and more.

In looking at the Gifts section, you get a 375ML bottle with each package. That's about 12 oz per bottle. (375ML = 12.68 oz). From what I can see online is you get the bottle and 4 cans of soda/tonic. Gin/tonic ($49), Rum/Coke ($46), Vodka/Sprite ($44). Lack of selection and mixers are bad. No options for Whiskey, Bourbon or Scotch, no diet soda, no other mixers.

We did the trip several years back and it was an all-day affair (as least all of the port time). As BTB stated, you don't get to see much of the town. The trip was great though and I would still recommend it. The reality is that these port stops in Alaska (at least the inside passage) are very small and most can be walked and seen in an hour or two. IMHO, it is the outlying sights (whale watching, glacier hiking and the like) that make the stops memorable. I don't remember the t-shirt/gift shop I visited in Ketchikan, but I do remember the float plane trip we went on.

We are sailing on the Voyager OTS in late October. We have several stops, and I am looking for ideas on what to do excursion-wise. We have a stop in Bar Harbor, but we have been there several times (including last fall). So, I have that stop down. But the other places we have never been to, and I am not sure what we should try to see. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Don't want to spend all day on a single excursion, but 2-4 hours would work for any stop. - Saint John, New Brunswick (9:30 am till 9:00 pm) - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (10:00 am till 6:00 pm) - Sydney, Nova Scotia (8:00 am till 5:00 pm)

Sorry - $700 total ($350 ea). Voyager OTS is the ship. The room difference is 85 sq/ft. (264 vs 179) I guess that my feeling is that the added perks are not there since the JS is not considered a suite. RCCL offers something like 26 perks for the suites and a JS has 4 of the 26 (Grand has 24 of the 26). I will probably bid the lowest amount and see if luck is on my side. I'd really like to get into a Grand Suite though.

RCCL newbie here and just tried the RU. So, I think my observations are correct. There was a little "slider bar" that you pushed with your mouse (or right arrow key). It started at Zero and then the next bid up was a set amount. Each segment/increment of the slider bar was a set amount. The minimum could be $100 (per person) with $10 or so increments. So, if there was a $100 minimum, you could not bid $101 or similar. You have to slide up the segment. The there is a little fan graphic that says how weak or strong your bid is. See the example below - (I did not bid on these)

They are adding new crew due to staffing issues. Could be a case of not understanding what is allowed. I plan on putting my plug in my backpack laptop carrier when not in use. I usually plug my stuff in to charge overnight anyways. Don't want to lose it due to a lack of knowledge on their part.

RCCL Newbie here - The Key seems to ebb and flow with changing benefits over time. At one time, I heard that it had free room service - that appears to be gone now. I have it for a NE/Canda cruise out of Boston in October as it went on sale for about the price of the Voom S&S package some months back. I am couching my enthusiasm after seeing so many poor reviews about it. I wish that they would add a free drink (Drink of the Day, specialty coffee or similar). Just asking for one single drink or some other perk that would make it more appealing. That or lower the overall price point.

I have been double boosted and they have just added the information to the extra lines on my existing card, so I did not get a separate or new card for the boosters.

We have a family cruise to Alaska next June (our 3 grown kids plus spouses). I did the Big Box retailer in order to save them some money. Plus, I am "subsidizing" the trip (not in total, but they will get an Alaska cruise for about $750. I will take their Cash Cards ($140 x 3) and I used my Visa which gave me 5% back. I am passing those savings on to the kids. I realize that there will be no Royal Up offer. Then we booked another cruise this October with a TA and just got the chance for a RU. We had already booked a Balcony room (mid ship). I have the chance to upgrade to a JS, Grand 1 Bdrm, and Grand 2 Bdrm. I bid on the Grand 1b. Just over the minimum. I'm happy with our balcony room as is. Did not think that an upgrade to a JS would be that big of a difference and we just don't need a 2 bedroom cabin since it is just the 2 of us. I see great value in moving from the Balcony to the Grand 1B. Is moving from a Balcony to a JS worth paying another $700 or so?

It seems that most of the large pharmacies (Walgreens, CVS, even Publix) put pills in large bottles. I assume they are easier to open with larger lids. I take a few prescriptions each day as well as some over the counter stuff, probiotics, allergy pills, daily vitamins, and the like. Keeping them in their original containers would take up a ton of room. I've looked at some of the soft side pill carriers on Amazon, but rather than spend the money, I just use small "snack" sized zip lock baggies and write the pill name on the baggie with a sharpie. If I am going to be gone for a week, I put 10-12 pills in each baggie just in case of flight cancelations or other travel related issues. Then those baggies go into a quart size freezer bag (the freezer bags are thicker). They take up very little room. Always keep them in a carry-on (my laptop backpack). The quart bag kind of rolls up and I am able to tuck it into an open sleave that the backpack has inside for storing papers and such.

Is it 2 days or 48 hours? Big difference. Assume that the ship leaves at 4:00 pm on a Sunday. If I test at home on a Friday before I fly out, can I test Friday morning or do I have to test Friday afternoon (or later) after 4:00 pm?

How did you get a chance to bid this early? I get an error message stating that it is not possible until 30 days out to even try.

We are on the Voyager OTS in October (23-30). Per the RCCL website, all suites and balconies are sold out. Costco Travel and a few other sites show that Ocean View are gone as well (Still available on the RCCL site). RCCL newbie - I was hoping to try for a Royal Up from our existing Balcony cabin, but it looks like a no-go. I am a little worried at this point about the crowds, but what can you do. Also, we grabbed the Key when it was on sale so I hope it will help with getting seats for shows and such.