Marc

Are you sure about this? In the past when we've done it to get access to our boys' room, they gave us separate cards marked "EXTRA KEY" that was to be used for opening their room only (and wasn't a proper SeaPass card).

Related to this, the latest version of iOS (9.3) allows for Wi-Fi Calling on late model iPhones with Verizon Wireless. I used it last week on Freedom of the Seas and placed and received a few phone calls using the ship's less-than-stellar (non-Voom) Wi-Fi service. I was very pleased that it worked and I was able to call Royal Caribbean regarding an issue I was having onboard at no extra charge. :)

On the Freedom of the Seas cruise I just sailed on last week, the price for the Premium package was a few dollars per day higher onboard than it was when purchased online. However, if one were Diamond or higher, there was a 30-40% discount that was applied, making it cheaper to purchase onboard. The problem is that there is no consistency regarding this Crown & Anchor discount for beverage packages, so it's a gamble whether it's better to buy a package before the cruise.

We've rented from Avis in the area several times. They have a location code specific for cruise ship passengers that includes a shuttle to their location near the port. The Avis location is "QF1" ("Port Everglades Shuttle for Cruise Ships"). You should be able to do a one-way rental to MIA without too much of an extra charge.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a members only mailing, but I wouldn't be too surprised to be wrong. I did receive one of those myself. Mine included a comped inside cabin. Others at Cruise Critic have reported receiving it with comped balcony or just a "casino rate" offer.

Oasis of the Seas - March 11, 2018 If the list gets updated in the next couple of days, I may be at both the top and bottom of the list. :D

Actually, I'm not sure this isn't the case. My cruising friend (Bryan), who's not a Club Royale member, received several offers over a couple months for comped cruises (inside cabin) from Club Royale after our cruise last March while I, a Club Royale member, was merely getting a few cruises at 25% off. I did ask Club Royale about that at one point and I was told that they were indeed trying to entice new members.

What's changed is that the Cruise Planner is no longer showing the price with gratuity included, but instead showing the base price and adding 18% during the checkout process. The displayed price is lower, but the net price you pay is the same.

Congratulations on getting value out of that dubious free cruise certificate! I did call Club Royale to find out what pricing was available for the Oasis cruise I'm considering. There was a discounted rate available, but it ends up being a wash with what I had already. The problem is that the casino rate is not combinable with the Crown & Anchor Diamond balcony discount and the NextCruise onboard credit. Using rough numbers, the casino rate was a discount of $325, while the balcony discount is $225 and I get $100 in onboard credit. For right now, I'll go with the Crown & Anchor rates since I can reuse my NextCruise booking which has the deposit already paid.

I didn't try today because in my experience, casino rates aren't released for some time after the schedule is published. Have you had luck booking cruises through them this soon after they're released? Edited to add... I just saw your other post where you booked a 2017 cruise with them. I'll have to give them a call and see what options are available.

That's certainly a possibility, but given the $300/person price difference now between Oasis and Harmony cruises during the same week, I'm hesitant to believe that it's going to drop sufficiently. Plus, I'm coordinating this cruise with another family, so it's better to pick something and stick with it since it affects others as well. (Since there are seven of us total, that's over $2,000 extra which could be better spent on drinks and excursions. :))

Mario probably gets diamond-encrusted SeaPass cards. :)

My hopes for a Harmony of the Seas cruise in 2018 seem to be dashed. The pricing seems to be unrealistic. Oasis of the Seas out of Port Canaveral was tolerable, running about $1,000/person for a balcony cabin. It's higher than I'd normally pay for a Freedom class cruise, but Oasis class has always commanded a premium. Plus, if history repeats itself, I might get a price drop in the next several months.

I like to book cruises as early as possible in order to attempt to get the best pricing possible. I've found that prices generally go up after the schedules are released. If they do go down, I can call Royal Caribbean and get my booking's price adjusted to the lower rate.

Woohoo! I wonder how they'll enforce members-only bookings for tomorrow. Apparently they failed in that regarding for the previous two weeks' schedule releases.

I know the feeling. I had a bit of a scare this morning when I saw that someone at Cruise Critic had posted that the "Winter Caribbean" schedule wouldn't be out until the week of March 30. I really want to plan my March 2018 cruise in advance of my sailing on Freedom of the Seas next week so I can take advantage of onboard booking. Then I figured out that they had incorrectly posted the 2016-2017 schedule. Whew!

Maybe you should look at the USCG's latest update:

Wow, I didn't know they did that. Thank you for posting that.

Unlike the TSA, they will not open suitcases in your absence. Instead, they will X-ray your suitcase, and if something suspicious is found, they'll hold your suitcase near the security office (in what is colloquially called "The Naughty Room"), have you come down, and you'll open your suitcase in front of them. Any contraband will be confiscated (and generally returned at the end of the cruise). My friend had his suitcase held there due to a bottle of wine. Once they confirmed it was just wine and not a prohibited alcohol (like liquor), they let him have it.

This is exactly my thinking. To simply report that a man "fell overboard" makes people think that it's possible to slip and fall (as demonstrated in the Youtube video) and end up in the water, left behind as the cruise ship continues to sail on without you. To quote a commercial:

I agree with some other posters I've read elsewhere that to say "fall overboard" is inaccurate. It implies that the incident happened merely as an accident when in the cases I can imagine, it requires some sort of human intervention to overcome the obstacles that are put in our way for safety. I really like for his attempt to allay the fears of those who take the news reports of people "falling overboard" too literally.

No, Freedom of the Seas boards on deck 4 (which is "the promenade deck" because it wraps around the ship, not to be confused with the Royal Promenade on deck 5). You'll have to go up one deck to get to the Royal Promenade.

In addition to the excerpt cited above, Royal Caribbean is also a participant of the Cruise Industry Passenger Bill of Rights in which they offer:

I went through the same decision. For me, the two choices were the Refreshment or the Premium package. Given that I knew I'd be spending at least ~$10/day for sodas, then it was the difference of $47/day I needed to cover with alcoholic drinks. That'd only be about 4 alcoholic drinks per day, and I could see that when I figure in a pre-dinner drink, a couple glasses of wine with dinner, and then whatever might be enjoyed in the evenings. My complication was that I'm Diamond, so I would get free drinks during "happy hour" in the evening, but the selection it limited, and I'd rather be able to choose whatever I want. I did get the Premium package at $57.82/day (including gratuity). For some reason, they're not doing the spring break pricing on Freedom of the Seas.

Oh, and I think that spring break pricing has already gone into effect, but I think it only applied to alcoholic packages on some sailings.