Marc

From what I've heard, people who weren't invited can enter the $10K slot tournament, but the entry fee is something like $150. I assume they'll have the regular slot tournament (to potentially win a cruise) as well. I don't normally do short cruises either (I really like 8-night cruises), but even though I don't normally qualify for such things, Club Royale was offering me a comped balcony cabin on this cruise, so that intrigued me. In addition, I've never been to Bermuda before, so I'm really looking forward to that. When I had called them up to accept the offer, I got the last spot! Whew!

Heh heh... I think I know which cabin you mean. I saw it was available again. I had that cabin briefly (we had upgraded from a balcony to it), but then a few days later, we saw that it was only $20 more to upgrade again to a grand suite, so we took the plunge and went full suite. It'll be our first time with a gold SeaPass card and all the perks that that offers (except for the Concierge Lounge which we've had before thanks to the Ben & Jerry's "Sweet"). Are you participating in the $10K Slot Tournament, too?

If my math is right, that means you're going to be on the same sailing that I am (October 17). I'm really looking forward to this cruise.

When I had sailed on Freedom of the Seas three years ago, they had been doing reservations for the entertainment, but stopped before our cruise. It seemed to be a non-issue.

As I understand it, the VOOM internet service uses satellites that use a spot beam technology to concentrate their signal in particular locations (Caribbean, Mediterranean, or Asia, according to a FAQ I saw online). A ship in Alaska wouldn't be able to receive the satellite signal there. I guess that's why they're concentrating on the ships sailing in the Caribbean first.

I hope that's a "before" picture and not an "after" one. I still have a bit of stress thinking about a cruise a year and a half ago. A significant snow storm moved in during my flight home from Florida. By the time I got to my car, there was already an inch or two on the ground, and being late at night, not much was being done to clear the roads yet. Getting home was quite a challenge.

That's a lot of bags! :D

By the way, I intended this thread to be open to anyone who wants to post their happy cruise-related pictures. Feel free to share your photos, too! :)

Matt is right that the credit card will be charged for the full amount on the last day (unless you request otherwise and pay some or all of your account balance with cash or a different card during the cruise), however they will do periodic (daily?) authorizations for the amounts charged during the cruise. They are authorizations only and will generally fall off automatically after the final charge is done.

I have those luggage tags, too, Matt, and have used them for several cruises. I saw someone mention these tags and I'm tempted by them. I like the subtle artwork embossed onto the plastic, the metal loops may be easier to attach (not sure).

This picture makes me happy. They arrived today with five weeks to go until sailing. I'm a bit giddy about the luggage tags because I've not ordered them since they switched to suites-only (unless you pay $35 for hardcopy cruise documentation) back in 2011, I think it was.

What feeling do I have that one of my cruises is last on the list? ;) Oh, yes, I know! It's relief that it's not the only cruise I have booked until then!

I don't know whether this will be useful, and I'm assuming that you're next cruise is the South Pacific one you have in your forum signature, but according to Royal Caribbean's age policy: She should be able to go into the nightclub given that the drinking age is 18. Now, that said, on our last family cruise, our older son who had turned 18 earlier that year was in a similar position. He was able to meet up with other kids his age and still had a great time. On US sailings, I've seen meet-ups for the 18-20 year old crowd listed in the Cruise Compass. They aren't officially organized, just a casual opportunity for those who are interested in meeting others in that range to have a place and time to find each other.

Ah, that was my confusion. I knew that the Presidential Family Suite held more people than the Royal Family Suite, so I just presumed it was the better of the two. BTW, when I first started investigating upgrade opportunities for this cruise, I had seen that the Royal Suite had popped up as available. Alas, the upgrade to that suite from our balcony would have been over $3,000 (which was a bargain off the listed price which would have been closer to $8,000!).

#2? I thought that was the most premium suite onboard. Which one is #1?

The casino rate does vary depending on each member's level of play. I usually only qualify for 10-25% off, but for my previous cruises, the regular BOGOHO rates I've gotten before casino rates were even available for those sailings were better than what the casino was offering later on, so YMMV. I did qualify for a comped (pay taxes and gratuities only) balcony cabin on my next cruise on Liberty of the Seas. I normally don't qualify for comped cruises, so I booked it quickly. (Note: For a comparable level of play, NCL does give me comped cruises. I think that NCL has a stronger program for casino players.) From that balcony cabin as a starting point, I was able to upgrade using casino rates, first to a junior suite for $390 total, and then to a grand suite for an additional $50 total ($20 for the cabin and $30 for the additional gratuities).

These days, you have to clarify what you mean by "message". If you're talking about a text message (SMS), then no, you don't need an internet package. You'd instead be using the ship's Cellular at Sea service. Your cellular provider will add charges to your existing bill for the international roaming. Text messages can run up to 25-50¢ each to send or receive (costs vary by provider, so check with your carrier for your particular rates). You should disable "Data Roaming" on your phone as international data roaming can be extremely expensive. If you're talking about some other messaging technology that uses the internet (Apple's iMessage, Facebook, email, etc.), then you'll want to have an internet package. Now, you did go on to talk about emails. In that case, I do believe that Navigator of the Seas would have PCs available at "RC Online" on deck 8 (between the aft elevator lobbies). You would be able to use them to access web-based email services such as GMail. Note, however, that you would still need an internet package in order to access them on these PCs as well.

I'm sorry that you've had many negative experiences. My situation seems to be different. I've received each of my pins promptly upon the first cruise at each newly attained level from Platinum to Diamond, all without request.

Fortunately, the NHC has already downgraded Erika to a "trough of low pressure" and commented that as a hurricane or tropical storm, she had "dissipated". Unfortunately, the NHC does say that there's a 30-40% chance she may form something more serious in the next 2-5 days.

Well, I didn't have any comments about the rest of your commentary. That particular statement just seemed odd that someone who would be trained to look for a gold SeaPass card wouldn't notice it upon looking at one. I've been suspecting for some time that the explosive growth of the number of Diamond and Diamond Plus members will eventually lead to two lounges: Diamond Plus and Concierge (suite). They've been promising that this isn't going to happen in the near future, but there have been some signs that it may happen soon, so if it were to happen next year, I wouldn't be terribly surprised.

That is really odd. You did have gold-colored SeaPass cards, right? One would think he'd notice the gold cards before reading that it said "Diamond Member".

Thank you very much! Alas, I wish we were going to Labadee, but this is a short cruise to Bermuda, so no cabanas for us there. :) I'm intrigued by having dinner in on our balcony from the restaurant. I think I read somewhere that includes specialty restaurants, too. Since I'm thinking about getting the dining package, it could be a lot of fun to have Chops on the balcony.

For our upcoming 5-night cruise in October on Liberty of the Seas, we started off with it being a comped cruise in a balcony cabin. We were given a category E2 balcony right in the middle of the hump on deck 8... prime real estate! I then noticed some Junior Suites were available, and in particular, a beautiful one on deck 7 right at the aft, which would mean an oversized balcony with a view of the wake. So, I called to ask the upgrade price. It was $390 for the two of us. Given the larger cabin, beautiful view, and double points, we decided to splurge and go for it. Well, today, I saw that some Grand Suites were available. The cost to upgrade: just $20! That was an easy decision to make. (I later realized that the cost is actually $50 when you factor in the higher gratuities, but still worth it.) So, this will be our first time in a full suite. Besides a lot of extra room compared to our typical balcony cabins, what other things can we expect? I've read the "Enhanced Program for Suite Guests" PDF, but that lists so much, I'm curious what kinds of things people personally enjoyed about sailing in suites. I know we'll have access to the Concierge Lounge access. We're kind of used to that from sailing in the Ben & Jerry's "Sweet" a couple of times, but still, that'll be nice. Of course, we're Diamond, so we also have access to that lounge as well. One thing I'm quite excited about, as simple as it is, is the ability to order luggage tags again! I love getting the mail in the weeks leading up to the cruise and being pleasantly surprised by the arrival of luggage tags. It's an exciting moment for me.

Are you sure your date is correct? It looks like it'd be April 13, 2014, or April 14, 2013. April 14, 2013, was a Western Caribbean itinerary, which would have been Labadee, Jamaica (Falmouth), Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. April 13, 2014, was also a Western Caribbean itinerary, so it would have had the same ports. (Information was culled from Cruise Critic roll call threads for those two sailings.)

I was also thinking Sabor might be slightly likely since Liberty of the Seas will be homeported in Galveston, which is where Navigator of the Seas was when she got Sabor. That might be stretching the connection a bit, but there's a bit of logic there.