djs68

I can confirm that this is still be offered today in Live Chat. As I had already booked it a higher price, they refunded my money and just added it to the booking. They also changed us to MTD too. Very helpful and saved waiting on the phone for ages. 

3 hours ago, DAVIE1969 said:

Booked Anthem from Southampton next month.They want nearly £2000 for 2 people for 14 nights.Absolutely scandalous.Our first cruise and we get hit by this.

Yes this was a bit of surprise when we booked our first cruise recently, though ours is only 5 nights. Would have been nice to have known this at time of booking. I'd wait until they do a sale when the price comes to around £50pppd (or less if they offer that!). You will still pay around £1,400 for the trip though, so depends how much drinking you're planning on doing! You might find that by the end of week 1 you're not at the same pace that you were earlier in the cruise...

Ah ok thanks. I thought it could be something like new posts wouldn’t be pre-moderated at a certain rank for example. (Not that that’s the root of my question. I accept moderation is required!)
Anyway, my curiosity is satisfied!
All the best

Ok many thanks, makes sense. They’d have to reflect that in the relevant menus of course.

Hi, is there a page that details RCB rank and reputation system. I realise the more you engage the higher these go but I’m keen to understand the mechanics and implications of reaching higher ranks. Apologies if it’s somewhere obvious! Thanks.

I see that the Chops Grille menu features USDA steak and Maine lobster. Do they offer those on ships in the Med cruises? Just curious given the logistics involved. I assume the ships resupply with local fresh produce before each sailing rather than sourcing from the States?

15 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

LOL @djs68 I think as a new forum member, one of my first posts was the same question! 

Warning: If you start pronouncing things like MAtt does, you can't stop.  This applies to Windammer and CocoCay.

Thanks @CruisingNewb glad it’s not just me! 

Thanks all for coming back to me. I completely agree with Spang - Matt you and your team do an amazing job and am so sorry that this did not come across in full.

I love the channel and just thought a recent experience would make an interesting content suggestion. I honestly and sincerely apologise if I have caused any offence.

All the best

Hi Matt - thanks so much for personally responding!

OK - to get into the details, I emailed a really helpful contact at MEI and they said they could only take over my booking if I had booked it in USD. As my booking was in GBP (as I'm in the UK) then this wouldn't be possible, so I wasn't able to take it any further with them. I then contacted a UK agent who pointed me to RCCL who told me I couldn't transfer it anyway due to UK rules. So yes, possibly MEI could have done it if I'd booked it in USD (but I'm not sure how many UK direct bookings are made in USD or even if it's possible - but good to know for the future!) NB I had only paid the deposit and it doesn't go fully paid until mid/late July as the cruise is in October.

So it's a bit complicated with various nuances - you are always very good to remind everyone that your recommendations/views etc may not always be applicable in all countries - so I thought it might make a useful topic for future content.

All the best and thanks again for taking the time to respond! 

Ah thanks! That's saved me from some odd looks when onboard.

Hi

This is something for Matt & Co really. As a first time cruiser I am finding your videos and blogs to be incredibly useful and entertaining, so thank you very much for putting such quantities of quality, relevant content out there for us. 

One thing that I have found is that sometimes the rules differ between what is allowed in the US and other countries. For example, I wanted to transfer my directly-booked trip to MEI (as you advise) but while I spoke to a US-based call centre rep, the UK rules meant I couldn't do it all (no matter how close to the original booking or distance from date of travel). 

I think it might be useful therefore to your audience to understand where these differences lie, hence my suggestion!

Thanks

Apologies for the potentially trivial question but I'm curious about this. I'm new to cruising and have heard Windjammer pronounced how it's written but also with a French inflection ("Windjamm-ere"). 

What is the correct way of saying it? 

Thanks!

Many thanks both

According to the RCCL website, Vision has a Sorrento’s…
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/vision-of-the-seas/things-to-do/sorrentos-pizza

Does anyone know if that is correct or a website glitch?

Thanks

Many thanks for responding, very useful. As this is our first cruise I have a couple of follow ups if that's ok?

Does RCCL have any pattern for running discounted extras or do they occur completely at random?

Do you have any insight around what discount levels are common? From your note it looks like the rates can vary - is the variance usually significant or just a few $?

BTW there was no option to choose a refundable deposit when we booked (it didn't even mention whether it is or not).

Many thanks

My wife and I are set to sail on Vision for 5 nights in the Med departing on 1st October. This is our first cruise.

We will be buying the drinks package and perhaps some of the others in advance. They are already discounting these but not by much (drinks package has gone from £56pppn to £46ppp). Is it best to buy these now (as prices may go up) or do they usually offer much better deals the closer we get to sailing?

Are excursions worth booking via them or is it cheaper via third parties (some of the trips are unbelievably expensive...)

Also, it looks like we have to pay for extras in full when we book them. So if we cancel the cruise before final payment do we get the money back or not?

Many thanks for your help.

Darren