Marc

The food at Johnny Rockets is okay, and I do usually get it at some point during a Royal Caribbean cruise. My favorite thing about Johnny Rockets is getting a late night milkshake. There's something truly yummy about having a JR milkshake as a nightcap.

Given the problem that cruise lines often have with drink package sharing, I'm surprised that Royal Caribbean has bucked the trend by allowing one person in a cabin to purchase a drink package without requiring others in the cabin to purchase it as well. From what I read online, some people do advocate sharing drink packages on Royal Caribbean, providing various justifications as to why it's okay, despite the protestations of many. I'm also pleased that Royal Caribbean is keeping alcoholic drink package prices at an acceptable level (especially with the current sale pricing). NCL raised their Ultimate Beverage Package (comparable to RCI's Premium Beverage Package) to $79/person/day + 18% gratuity. If they weren't including the UBP as a free perk for their bookings (yeah, I know that the cost is ultimately factored into the base fare), I wouldn't be able to justify getting the package at that price.

I have a couple group cruises booked over the next 14 months. One is with a travel agent who seems to do the least he can. He's generally responsive to inquiries, but I don't feel that he's fully engaged; he's missed a lot of details (such as ensuring that everyone in the group had the same dining time, or even that I was the group coordinator). The other, however, is booked with a travel agent who is completely engaged with our group and extremely responsive, even without being prompted. When this WOW sale started, she took it upon herself to work with Royal Caribbean to update the fares for some of the people in our group and get them additional onboard credit, too. That's even considering the WOW sale is technically for new bookings only. I've also booked in the past with a couple different web cruise travel agent companies (nobody particularly notable), solely for getting the additional perks (onboard credit, wine, whatever). I gave that up a long time ago when I realized that those agents weren't in the business of helping me, but instead to get as many cruise bookings as they could, and I much preferred having more control over my booking instead of getting these token perks. Bottom line, if you can get a good TA, they're really worth it.

How far off is your cruise? I've had cases where I've booked a Promenade cabin and managed to get a free or cheap (about $30 total) upgrade to a balcony cabin by taking advantage of a (very) last minute upgrade (done about three or four days before sailing). It's a game, and you might not win, but if you're willing to stick with your existing cabin at worst, and possibly take a chance on getting something better later on, it may be worth periodically checking the prices. The general rule is that if a higher category cabin is priced at or below what you already paid for your existing cabin, you can ask for a free upgrade. (If the price is higher than what you paid, you can upgrade by paying the difference.) By the way, another option you have is that once you're cabin is assigned, people have reported being able to change into another cabin that's the exact same category as what you were assigned. If, for example, you were placed into an "N" cabin, and you don't like the location, you may be able to switch to another "N" cabin elsewhere on the ship. Note that these guidelines are based on experiences from US bookings. If you are booked in another country, your rules may be quite different.

Thanks. Yeah, he was fine after the overnight stint, and we all enjoyed the rest of the cruise.

During our recent cruise on a non-RCI ship, our son was experiencing some troubling symptoms after boarding. We ended up calling medical support to come get him during the muster drill. They examined him thoroughly (blood work, X-rays, etc.), and determined that he was severely dehydrated and he probably had an infection. They gave him lots of IV fluids and also IV antibiotics. He was there for a few hours, and then went back after dinner, staying overnight. They billed us about $5,000 for all of that! Ouch! We have travel insurance, with medical coverage as "primary", so we're filing a claim with them. However, the report from the medical center onboard did list one of his conditions which is likely to be flagged as a pre-existing conditions, so I'm expecting them to deny at least part of the claim, if not the whole thing. We'll then take it up with our medical insurance and see what they'll cover.

By the way, for those who may be perusing this thread in the future and may wonder just how much this excursion costs, I just checked my Anthem of the Seas cruise that's going there in October 2017, and they're already offering the Atlantis Aquaventure excursion for $189/person. At least Anthem of the Seas is at Nassau from 7 am to 6 pm, so one can get a relatively decent value out of the tickets to the water park, but it's still pricey.

I had an issue on a Majesty of the Seas cruise with them following their policy several years ago. They refused to cash my travelers checks at Guest Services. They directed me to the Casino Cashier. There, they were willing to cash the checks, but only exchange for special casino chips that had to be gambled. They were very confused on that ship/sailing.

If you're talking about Aquaventure, the water park, then you're right, it is a lot of money for minimal time. If I remember correctly, Aquaventure doesn't open until 10 am, and most likely you'll need to be leaving there by 12:30-1:00 pm in order to get back to the ship on time (1:30 pm all aboard). So, at best you'll get three hours there.

Royal Caribbean's casinos are cash-based. The use of a SeaPass card at the machines or tables is for player tracking only. You can, however, charge money on your SeaPass account at the Casino Cashier, for which they'll tack on a 5% convenience fee.

I don't think I've ever heard this statement about any game in the casino. :) Actually, that's not true. You can actually get a "positive expectation" (I think that's the expression) for single-deck blackjack when counting cards and under liberal house rules. The only things related to strategy that I know about Roulette are: Play at a table that only has a single 0, if it should exist (pretty much guaranteed not to be found on a mainstream cruise ship sailing from the US). The 5-number bet at the top of the table (0, 00, 1, 2, 3) pays slightly lower than it should because 5 doesn't divide evenly into 36.

Just as an FYI, the last couple of times that I called Club Royale, they did ask for my Club Royale membership number. Despite it being linked to the Crown & Anchor number, and perhaps them doing away with the CR numbers for new members, they do still seem to reference them for existing members.

The price you're seeing is the 20% off, although I don't recognize the $47/day price. To give you some context from my experience, when I bought the Premium package for my last cruise, it was $49/day. I bought it for my upcoming cruise and it was $44/day (20% off). That doesn't make sense unless you think that Royal Caribbean may have increased the base price of the Premium package to around $59/day, which is certainly possible. Given that NCL is now charging $79/day for their comparable package, I wouldn't be surprised to see Royal Caribbean raising their price.

One suggested point of clarification: It's the difference between the currently posted price for the upgraded stateroom category and the price that was paid for the currently booked stateroom. Some people see mistakenly look at the current difference between their booked category is now and the higher category and think that's what they pay.

You would need to pick up your drinks from a bar and then return to your cabin to enjoy them. You can't use room service to deliver drinks as part of your package. You can purchase the drink packages in advance of your cruise through the online Cruise Planner. They're currently offering a nominal discount for some sailings if purchased in advance. You can also buy them onboard either on day 1 or day 2 (you must purchase it through the rest of your cruise and you must purchase at least 4 days). Note that if you purchase it in advance, you must pay for it with a credit card right then. If you purchase it onboard, it'll be charged to your onboard SeaPass account and you can use onboard credit to offset the cost.

Most of the bars and lounges are open to everyone (including kids). The only exception would be late hours at the ship's nightclub. I think that's the gothic nightclub on decks 3 and 4 called The Raven. I think they restrict that to 18 and over, though, so she should be fine.

Thanks! I've learned something new today! :D

I've been puzzling about this since I read your post. What is "POV"? I tried Google, but other than "Point Of View", I couldn't find a definition for this acronym that seemed to match the context.

I do want to caution people. It looks like Royal Caribbean is calling their Wi-Fi service VOOM on all ships, not just the ones with the faster, broadband-like service. So, just because you see VOOM offered on a ship doesn't necessarily mean that it's the super-fast internet that they've been touting.

I used Wi-Fi Calling with my iPhone on Verizon Wireless during my last cruise. I was surprised it worked as well as it did given that Freedom of the Seas didn't have the fast VOOM internet service at the time. I was able to both make and receive calls with it.

VOOM is Royal Caribbean's onboard Wi-Fi service. It's not a cellular service and can be used by your device in "Airplane Mode". Your cellular carrier is not involved at all. Whether it's worth it is a different question. That's going to depend on the ship and how you want to use it. (Some ships have significantly faster VOOM than others, now that Royal Caribbean is calling all their Wi-Fi offerings "VOOM".)

That rule isn't quite that hard and fast. An individual can bring on several carry-on items depending on what they are. The basic rules include one "carry-on" (usually a rollaboard suitcase) and one "personal item" (which can be a backpack). In addition, there are exemptions for certain other items that can be brought onboard and don't count in the carry-on limits (such as medical equipment like CPAP devices).

Would you please add a cruise for me. I'm going to be sailing on Anthem of the Seas on October 28, 2017. Thanks!

During my last cruise, I didn't buy any souvenirs, so I declared $0.00 on my customs form. The agent seemed to doubt of my honesty and questioned me a bit, but when I said "I chose to drink my expenses onboard instead of buying souvenirs," he seemed satisfied enough to let me go. I seem to recall that on a previous cruise, the CBP agent noticed my Citizen watch and asked whether I had purchased it onboard. I explained that I had purchased it during a prior cruise the year before. That satisfied him.

Since you didn't turn on airplane mode, your cell phone connected with the ship's cell phone tower. For some reason, they set the time on that cell tower to be GMT. Your phone synchronized its time with the ship's tower. Given that you were using data with international roaming, I suspect you'll see a very large bill next month. You may want to contact your cellular provider to find out more information about those charges that'll be coming.